15th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 15th United States Infantry Regiment is a parent regiment in the United States Army. It has a lineage tracing back to the American Civil War, having participated in many battles.
15th Infantry Regiment
1798–1800
1812–1815
1847–1848
1861–present
Combined Arms
(3rd Battalion)
2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division
Fort Stewart (3-15 IN)
"The Old China Hands"
Can Do
Dragon
Presidential Unit Citation
Valorous Unit Award
Meritorious Unit Citation
Navy Meritorious Unit Citation
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
Bravery Gold Medal of Greece Streamer “Korea”
French Croix-de-Guerre Streamer “Colmar”
LTC Kenton C. Komives
CSM Bryan R. Morrow
Previous 15th Regiments[edit]
The official Army history and lineage does not credit the current 15th Infantry with the honors or lineage of these earlier regiments.
The first 15th Infantry in the U.S. Army was organized on 16 July 1798 for the "Quasi-War" with France. The regiment saw no war service and was inactivated in 1800. A second 15th Infantry was activated in 1812 in New Jersey for service in Canada during the War of 1812. The 15th fought in the capture of Toronto and Fort George in April and May 1813, and covered the retreat of militia troops from Fort George in December 1813. A portion of the 15th were the last American troops to abandon Cornwall during the St. Lawrence Campaign of 1813. In this retreat, no member of the 15th was captured, despite taking heavy casualties. The 15th fought in the Champlain Valley campaign in autumn 1814 at Plattsburgh, and participated in General Dearborn's offensive in Ontario in October, and took part in many smaller battles that same year. The regiment was eliminated in the Army reorganization of 1815.
On 11 February 1847, a new 15th Infantry was activated for service in Mexico. As companies of the 15th arrived at Vera Cruz, they moved inland to join General Winfield Scott's army advancing on Mexico City. The regiment fought in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, as well as smaller engagements before storming the walls of Chapultepec in Mexico City. Following garrison duty in Mexico City and Cuernavaca, the regiment returned to the United States for inactivation in August 1848.
American Civil War[edit]
The current 15th Infantry was activated[1] during the Civil War on 3 May 1861 by General Order No. 33.[2] It was one of nine new Regular Army regiments, numbered 11 through 19, which were organized into three 8 company battalions. The battalions often operated independently of each other.
Its headquarters first in Wheeling,[3]: 42–48 West Virginia then Cleveland, Ohio, then on to Newport Barracks, Kentucky and finally ending up in Fort Adams, Rhode Island in September 1862.[4] Fort Adams served as the regiment's training depot were new recruits were trained and organized into companies before being sent to the front lines.
At the Battle of Shiloh on 7 April 1862, the 15th Infantry was the first new infantry regiment to engage in battle in the Civil War.[3]: 105 [5] In April–May 1862, the regiment marched toward and fought in the First Battle of Corinth, Mississippi. By the end of the Civil War, the regiment had fought in 22 major engagements, including Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Atlanta as a part of Brigadier General John H. King's Brigade under Gen. Richard Johnson's Division, XIV Army Corps of the Army of the Cumberland.[6] The regiment was a key element of the only regular brigade in Sherman's Army. The regiment's crest includes the acorn, the symbol of the Major General George Thomas's XIV Corps, and the mountains of stone to symbolize the corps' firm stand as the "Rock of Chickamauga". The four acorns represent the four major engagements.
During the Civil War, the regiment was commanded by Colonel Fitz John Porter from May 1861 to January 1863. Porter spent little time in actual command of the regiment after its original organization, as he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers in August 1861. Porter served as a division and corps commander in the Army of the Potomac until he was dismissed from service in January 1863. During Porter's absence, the regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James P. Sanderson. Porter was succeed as regimental commander by Colonel Oliver L. Shepherd who served as such from January 1863 to December 1870.
Reorganization[edit]
In September 1866 the regiment was reorganized. The first battalion continued as the 15th Infantry and was expanded from 8 to 10 companies. The 2nd Battalion became the 24th Infantry Regiment (consolidated with the 29th Infantry in 1869 to form the 11th Infantry) and the 3rd Battalion became the 33rd Infantry Regiment (consolidated in 1869 with the 8th Infantry). In 1869 the 35th Infantry Regiment was consolidated with the 15th Infantry. (Note that the 24th Infantry Regiment mentioned above should not be confused with the African-American 24th Infantry Regiment which was formed in 1869 by the consolidation of the 38th and 41st Infantry Regiments.) [7]
Service in East Asia[edit]
The regimental headquarters, band, and First Battalion arrived in San Francisco on 16 July 1900. They immediately boarded the Transport Sumner and sailed for Nagasaki, Japan on 17 July. Later in July, Companies I, K, and L left their stations for San Francisco and went into camp at the Presidio. M Company also came from Fort McPherson at the same time. The First Battalion arrived at Nagasaki on 10 August. There they transferred to the Transport Indiana, and sailed for Tientsin via Taku on 13 August. The battalion arrived off of the Taku forts (already captured by the allies) on 16 August. During the latter part of the month, the Battalion reconnoitered and skirmished continuously over the same terrain where the 9th Infantry had lost 100 men killed in action (including their regimental commander, Colonel Liscum). Despite the fact that the Boxers had been dispersed several months before, numerous small bands of them were still operating in the country.
About 1 September, Companies A, B, and D were assigned the duty of escorting junks carrying supplies up the Pei Ho River to Peking. After completing this mission, Company C took station at Tientsin Arsenal on 6 September, while A Company occupied Tongku on 22 September. Through the latter part of November the battalion was engaged in almost daily expeditions against small bands of Boxers in nearby villages. On 25 November the First Battalion was relieved from duty with the China Relief Expedition and on 28 November arrived at Tongku. There it boarded the Transport Rosecrans and arrived at Nagasaki on 4 December, then continuing on to Manila, arriving on 13 December.
After lying at anchor in Manila Bay for eight days, the regiment sailed for Legaspi in the Province of Albay. On 24 December, Headquarters, the Band, and C and D Companies disembarked and took station at Legaspi. The transport continued to Tobacco, Albay, where B Company disembarked. Company A continued on to arrive at Mauban on 29 December. From then until 7 November 1901, the company conducted patrols to track the movement of the insurgent General Cailles. On 7 November, A Company moved to Bulan, Sorsogon and remained there until 28 December. It then moved on to the town of Sorsogon, in Sorsogon Province. It departed there on 5 March 1902 and arrived at Santa Elena, Samar on 11 March.
Company B remained at Tobacco until 30 July 1901, conducting patrols throughout that period. On 30 July B Company proceeded to the Island of Catanduanes. After five months of heavy scout work the company left for San Jose de Lagamoy, where it was engaged in tracking down bands of headhunters. On 31 July 1902 B Company returned to the regiment. C Company remained at Legaspi until 28 January 1902, when it left for the Island of Catanduanes. During the period 18 April to 31 July the company successively garrisoned Tabaco, Gubat, Santa Rita, Tones Island, Quentigean Island, and Balangigo. On 31 July it proceeded to Catbalogan and joined the regiment which was preparing to return to the United States. D Company remained on duty at Legaspi. Between 14 April and 31 July 1902 the company occupied Nueva Cacera (now Naga), Sorsogon, Bulan, and Point Binatao. On 31 July it left for the regimental assembly point at Catbalogan.
By April 1902, the balance of the regiment joined the 3rd Battalion in the Philippines and saw considerable action against the insurgents. The 2nd Battalion, which had remained in New York, did not appear in the Philippines until February 1902, just in time to turn around and return with its outfit in September to the United States.[14]: 10 In September 1902 the regiment sailed for Monterey, California, where it built the current Presidio.
The next three years were uneventful. The unit placing seven men on the team of ten men from the Pacific Division in the Army's annual rifle competition in 1905.
In November 1905, the regiment was posted to Mindanao in the Philippines. When the 15th returned to the U.S. in 1907, it was assigned to Fort Douglas, Utah. After 1907 the next change of station did not come for four years, but when it did come the 15th Infantry left the United States for twenty-six years. Before this removal, the regiment's entrants won first, second and fourth honors in the individual competition, and five of its six contestants made the ten-man Army Rifle Team. The enlistments of 500 men had expired during 1908, and green recruits had filled the regiment at its home station in Utah and took part in a banquet given in their honor by the officers.[14]: 10
Elements of the regiment began to move to the Far East in November 1911.[14] By mid-1912, Headquarters, the Band, and the 1st and 3rd Battalions were established at Tientsin in China as part of a multinational colonial effort designed to protect Western civilians during the Boxer Rebellion; the 2nd in the Philippines.[15] The latter never joined the rest, for the men were transferred from it to the 1st Battalion of the 31st Infantry in August 1916. The 2nd Battalion was reorganized in Tientsin by transfer of personnel from the other two battalions. The mission of the regiment became difficult to define, and in the course of time the unit itself was transferred to the control of the State Department.[14]
In line with new doctrine on organization, three provisional companies, Headquarters, Supply, and Machine Gun, were formed during August 1914, and in 1916 they were made permanent. That same year, World War I broke out in Europe, and most of the European nations withdrew their troops from China. The old "China Regiment" took over their patrolling. As a result, the regiment missed the fight in Europe, but it was often close to conflict in China. Armies of warlords roamed the land and sometimes threatened the American quarter. Christmas Day, 1925 was very tense, for 5,000 troops belonging to Feng Yuxiang, a warlord from the north, entered the area. Captain William "Wild Bill" Tuttle with nine men went out to warn off this force. As Tuttle's detachment approached, the advanced guard of the mass deployed and came on with fixed bayonets. The nine Americans blocked the road while Tuttle proceeded alone toward the Chinese and ordered them to make a detour, which they did. This incident is described in great detail in The Old China Hands (Doubleday 1961, chap. 8) by Charles G. Finney, who served in the 15th Infantry from 1925 to 1929.
The 1st Battalion went to the Philippines in August 1921, where eight years later, it was deactivated. In 1932, Companies G and L were also deactivated. This left six companies at their stations in Tientsin. George C. Marshall, later General of the Army, commanded it from 1924 to 1927.
Much of the 15th Infantry's tradition comes from the 26 years in China. The regiment's activities and way of life in Tsientsin are described very colorfully in The Old China Hands. The dragon on the regimental crest and the pidgin English motto "Can Do" symbolize its China service. Also many of the ceremonial properties of the 15th are from China, for example, the grand silver punch bowl with 50 silver cups and a silver tray & ladle. These items are currently stored in two Regimental rooms, the Audie Murphy Room and General Marshall's Office at Fort Stewart 3rd Battalion 15th Regiment. As Finney mentions, The Chinese Memorial Gate now at Fort Benning was presented to the regiment in 1925 by local villagers in gratitude for being protected against the troops of warlord Feng's army.
Insignia[edit]
The shield is of white and blue, the old and the new colors of the Infantry. The Red Acorn was the badge of XIV Army Corps under which the 15th Infantry fought during the Civil war. The acorn is repeated four times to commemorate the four major engagements in which the regiment participated: Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. The rock denotes the fact that the regiment was under the Command of General George Henry Thomas for the battle in which he earned his famous sobriquet: "The Rock of Chickamauga". The Chinese dragon, in gold metal, is indicative of the regiment's service in China during the Boxer Rebellion from 1900 to 1938, of which the period after 1912 was continuous. The sunburst, triangle, and devices atop the coat of arms is symbolic of the Katipunan flag of the Philippine Insurrection.
The coat of arms was approved on 30 April 1923. It was amended to correct the blazon of the shield and crest on 14 July 1924.[21]
Without inscription
