1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment Site

1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment

History

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THE NINETEENTH INFANTRY WAS ORGANIZED UNDER AUTHORITY OF A PROCLAMATION ISSUED MAY 4, 1861, BY PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN, INCREASING THE STRENGTH OF THE REGULAR ARMY. ON MARCH 15, 1862, THE PARTIALLY ORGANIZED REGIMENT, WITH MAJOR STEPHEN D. CARPENTER COMMANDING, JOINED THE ARMY OF OHIO, THEN COMMANDED BY GENERAL BUELL AND OCCUPYING POSITIONS IN NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. SHORTLY AFTER ACTIVATION, THE REGIMENT FOUGHT HEROICALLY ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF CHICKAMAUGA, TENNESSEE. THE FIRMNESS OF THE FOURTEEENTH CORPS UNDER GENERAL THOMAS ON THAT DISASTROUS FIELD OF CHICKAMAUGA WAS ALL THAT SAVED A TERRIBLE DEFEAT FROM BECOMING A HOPELESS ROUT. STATIONED ON THE LEFT OF GENERAL THOMAS' LINE, THE 19TH INFANTRY, THEN COMMANDED BY MAJOR E.L. DAWSON, AGAIN BORE THE BRUNT OF THE FIERCEST ASSAULTS. FROM EARLY MORNING UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON ON SEPTEMBER 20TH, THE SHOCK AND CARNAGE WERE AS CLOSE AND AS DEADLY AS MEN COULD MAKE THEM. WHEN THEIR AMMUNITION WAS EXHAUSTED, THE MEN WERE TOLD TO USE THEIR BAYONETS AND HOLD THEIR GROUND. THEY REPLIED THAT THEY WOULD HOLD THEIR POSITION OR GO TO HEAVEN FROM IT, AND THEY DID HOLD UNTIL THE UNION ARMY WAS SAFELY THROUGH McFARLAND'S GAP. MAJOR DAWSON AND SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THE REGIMENT FELL KILLED OR WOUNDED AT CHICKAMAUGA. ITS HEROIC STAND AGAINST OVERWHELMING ODDS ON SEPTEMBER 20, 1863, WON FOR THE NINETEENTH INFANTRY ITS PROUD APPELLATION, "THE ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA." THIS STORIED REGIMENT FOUGHT VALIANTLY IN THE INDIAN WARS, THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, THE PHILLIPINE INSURRECTION, WORLD WAR II, AND KOREA. IT REINFORCED THE BERLIN BRIGADE DURING THE BERLIN CRISIS IN 1961. THE REGIMENT HAS BEEN HONORED BY NINE SOLDIERS AND OFFICERS OF THE 19TH REGIMENT FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO KOREA BEING AWARDED THE MEDAL OF HONOR. THE LIST OF OFFICERS PROUDLY SERVING IN THE REGIMENT INCLUDES GENERALS OF THE ARMY EISENHOWER AND BRADLEY. THE COLORS OF THE NINETEENTH INFANTRY ARE DECORATED WITH THE STREAMERS OF THIRTY CAMPAIGNS AND THE REGIMENT HAS PARTICIPATED WITH DISTINCTION IN EIGHTY-SIX BATTLES AND ENGAGEMENTS.