The 2nd Battalion, 112th Infantry was formed from units of the 104th Armored Cavalry on 01 April 1975.
The 112th
Infantry Regiment was formed and officially designated as the 16th
Infantry from units or the 13th, 15th, and 17th
Regiments on 22 November 1878. The
regiment however, was allowed to fly Civil War Battle Streamers earned by its
earliest units in 1861-1864.
The 112th
Infantry has participated in five tours of active Federal Service, having
previously seen service in the Spanish-American War, the Mexican Border
Campaign, World War I, World War II, and the Korean Conflict.
Company L, of the old 112th Infantry Regiment held battle
streamers for ten Civil War campaigns. In
the lull between three tours of Federal Service, the regiment maintained
extensive armory and field training exercises as National Guard units.
In this capacity, it finds justification for its motto: STRIVE * OBEY * ENDURE.
At the outbreak of the
Spanish-American War, the regiment was mustered into Federal Service on 10 May
1898. After training in Georgia,
the regiment sailed for Puerto Rico in July of that same year, serving with the
1st Infantry Division throughout the campaign.
It was mustered out of Federal Service in December 1898 and reorganized
as the 16th Infantry early the next year. Again of 03 July 1916, the regiment was called to Federal
Service for Mexican Border duty and after a period of training at El Paso,
Texas, returned north and was mustered out in January 1917. In that same year, the 16th Infantry joined with
part of the 8th Infantry to form the 112th Infantry
Regiment, 28th Infantry Division after receiving its third call to
Federal Service. The regiment
reached France in May 1918 after training in the United States.
It went into the line on 04 July 1918 in the Second Battle of the Marne
at Hill 204, near CHATEAUTHIERRY, and suffered its first casualties.
From that day on the names of FISMES, FISMETTE, FOND de MEZIERES, and
ARGONNE will never be forgotten. Companies
G and H lost 200 men out of 230 when cut off at FISHMETTE and attacked on the
front and flanks by a thousand German soldiers.
From early fighting along the Marne, to the last days north of THIAUCOURT,
the total battle casualties of the regiment were 2,160 officers and men.
The 112th
Infantry Regiment returned to the United States in April 1919 and was mustered
out of Federal Service the following month.
In October 1919 the regiment was reorganized as the 16th
Infantry and redesignated as the 112th Infantry again in 1921.
The regiment was
called to Federal Service again on 17 February 1941, and moved to Indiantown Gap
for training. Landing on the
Normandy Beachhead and fighting with other units of the 28th Infantry
Division in July 1944, the 112th Regimental Combat Team plowed
through the countries of France and Germany, participating in the capture of
Paris and bitter fighting in the HURTGEN FOREST. In December 1944, the 112th Regimental Combat Team
was holding 6˝ miles of front line sector when the enemy threw nine full
divisions against it. Recoiling
under the onslaught, the Combat Team held its ground and managed to inflict
1,600 casualties on the enemy and destroy 18 tanks.
Everyone was put into the line; cooks, clerks and personnel men, all
fighting under a barrage of withering small arms fire and infiltrating German
Storm Troopers. On the night of 17
December 1944, the Combat Team withdrew under orders to the high ground west of
the OUR River. Until Christmas Eve
the 112th Regimental Combat Team was engaged in the continuous rear
guard action, covering the right flank of the 1st American Army.
For its heroic action in nine days of continuous fighting, the 112th
Regimental Combat Team was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for the part
it played in the now famous “BATTLE OF THE BULGE.”
The fifth tour of
Federal Service for the Regiment began in September 1950 at Camp Atterbury,
Indiana, with the 28th Infantry Division.
After extensive training and maneuvers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in
“OPERATION SOUTHERN PINES”, it sailed for Europe in November 1951 to serve
as part of the NATO forces.
The regiment was
reorganized on 28 July 1953 and for the past several years the 112th
Infantry has undergone accelerated armory training and field training periods.
The regimental crest insignia summarizes the history of the Regiment. The original design was prepared by CPT Frank F. Fredericks, Executive Officer of the 2nd Battalion.
The shield is white, the old Infantry color. The blue solitaire cross at the upper left was the insignia of the 5th Corps in the Civil War, to which the regiment is directly related. The red Spanish Castle at the upper right commemorates the Puerto Rican campaigns of the Spanish-American War, from which a battle streamer is borne on the regimental colors. The stone arch bridge with its center portion shot away, represents the bridge across Vesle River as Fismes, France, where the Regiment experienced its hardest fighting of World War I.
The legend beneath, suggested in an address by Divisional Chaplin Charles Aschall, expresses the ideals of the regiments –To Strive, To Obey, and To Endure.
To the old coat of arms has been added a rampant lion, as found on the arms of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, grasping a red cross of the province of Lorraine in France. The lion is in the Infantry blue color. Both symbols represent the locale of the regiment’s combat in World War II.
|
Lineage: Historical Outline |
|
| 10 July 1858 | Organized as Bellefonte Fencibles |
| 20 April 1861 | Mustered into Federal service, Civil War, redesignated as Company H, 2d Infantry PA Volunteers and served in Patterson's Army |
| 26 July 1861 | Mustered out |
| 21 October 1861 | Mustered into Federal service, Civil War, as Company A, 45th Infantry PA Volunteers. Served in 1st and 2d Divisions IX of Army CORPS in both eastern and western theaters of operation |
| 17 July 1865 | Mustered out |
| 12 June 1880 | Reorganized as Company B, 5th Infantry (Bellefonte Fencibles) |
| 11 May 1898 | Mustered into federal service, Spanish-American War. Stationed at Chickamauga, Georgia and Lexington, Kentucky |
| 7 November 1898 | Mustered out |
| 23 December 1898 | Resumed state status |
| 1 January 1910 | Redesignated as Company L, 12th Infantry |
| 1 May 1914 | Redesignated as Troop L, 3d Cavalry |
| 6 July 1914 | Assigned to 1st Cavalry |
| 15 July 1917 | Drafted and mustered into Federal Service, WW I, assigned to 108th and 109th Field Artillery, 28th Division |
| 17-24 May 1919 | Mustered Out |
| 26 August 1920 | Reorganized and recognized as Troop L, 1st Cavalry |
| 1 June 1921 | Redesignated as Troop B, 52d Machine Gun Squadron |
| 1 April 1929 | Redesignated as Troop L, 103d Cavalry |
| 1 January 1937 | Redesignated as Machine Gun Troop, 103d Cavalry |
| 18 June 1939 | Reorganized and redesignated as Company H, 104th Armored Cavalry Regiment (LT) |
| 22 September 1940 | Redesignated as Battery B, 190th Field Artillery (155mm gun) |
| 13 January 1941 | Inducted into Federal service for WW II |
| 16 December 1945 | Inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey |
| 1 September 1950 | Reorganized and redesignated as Company H, 104th Armored Cavalry Regiment (LT) |
| 27 October 1953 | Redesignated as Troop L, 3d Recon Squadron, 104th Armored Cavalry |
| 17 February 1968 | Reorganized, redesignated and converted as Detachment Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2d Squadron, 104th Armored Cavalry Regiment |
| 1 April 1975 | Reorganized, redesignated and converted as Detachment 1, Company B, 2d Battalion, 112th Infantry |
| 1 September 1995 | Reorganized and redesignated as Company E, 2d Battalion, 112th Infantry, 28th Infantry Division (MECH) |
|
Campaign Participation Credits |
|
| Civil War | Antietam |
| Fredericksburg | |
| Vicksburg | |
| Wilderness | |
| Spotsylvania | |
| Cold Harbor | |
| Petersburg | |
| Appomattox | |
| Virginia 1861 | |
| South Carolina 1861 | |
| Mississippi 1863 | |
| Tennessee 1863 | |
| World War I | Oise-Aisne |
| Ypres-Lys | |
| Meuse-Argonne | |
| Champagne 1918 | |
| Lorraine 1918 | |
| World War II | Normandy (with assault landing) |
| Northern France | |
| Rhineland | |
| Ardennes-Alsace | |
| Central Europe | |
Silver
Bands (Civil War)
Peninsula, Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Virginia 1861-1863
Streamers
Spanish-American War
Puerto Rico
World
War I
Champagne, Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, Oise-Marne, Lorraine, Meuse-Argonne
World
War II
Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, Central Europe
Unit Decorations
Presidential Unit Citation for Period 16-23 December 1944