6th Infantry Regiment (United States)


The 6th Infantry Regiment was formed 11 January 1812. Zachary Taylor, later the twelfth President of the United States, was a commander of the unit. The motto, "Regulars, By God!" derives from the Battle of Chippawa, in which British Major General Phineas Riall noticed that the approaching regiment wore militia uniforms. Having defeated militia troops in the Battle of Queenston Heights, Riall assumed another easy victory, but the American regiment pressed the attack. According to the memoirs of regimental commander Winfield Scott, later commanding general of the United States Army, when Riall realized his error, he remarked "Why, these are regulars!"

History

The regiment participated in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the American Civil War, the Indian Wars, the Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War, the Pancho Villa Expedition, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. Elements of the 6th Infantry were also part of IFOR, Task Force Eagle, which was charged with implementing the military aspects of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In September 1989, the 4th Battalion 6th Infantry deployed to Panama, playing a key role in Operation Just Cause. In January 1994, the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry deployed to Macedonia for Operation Able Sentry as part of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force. In May 1998, Company B was deployed again to Bosnia-Herzegovina in support of Operation Joint Endeavor, Operation Joint Forge. In 1999, elements were deployed to Albania for the initial launch of support and liberation of Kosovo. In March 2003, Company C, 2nd Battalion deployed with HQ V Corps to Kuwait and participated in the initial invasion of Iraq. The rest of the 2nd Battalion and 1st Battalion deployed to Iraq in late April 2003 as part of 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division. The "Regulars" arrived in Baghdad in May 2003 and were the first to relieve elements of the 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad. The 1st and 2nd Battalions deployed again in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in November 2005 and April 2008. The 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn from May 2009 to May 2010. In August 2011, the 4th Battalion deployed to Al-Asad and FOB Hammer in Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn. They returned in December of that year when the U.S. and Iraqi government failed to come to an agreement concerning soldiers diplomatic immunity, making the Regulars one of the last units to withdraw from the Iraq.
Two battalions of the 6th Infantry Regiment are as of 2024 assigned to the 1st Armored Division: the 1st Battalion with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and the 4th Battalion with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

Lineage

Pre-World War I

;Lineage
Constituted 11 January 1812 in the Regular Army as the 11th Infantry Regiment.
Organized March–May 1812 in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Connecticut.
Consolidated May–October 1815 with the 25th Infantry and the 27th, 29th, and 37th Infantry to form the 6th Infantry Regiment. The lineages of the units that made up the 6th Infantry give the regiment campaign credit for the War of 1812.
Consolidated 1 May 1869 with the 42d Infantry Regiment, Veteran Reserve Corps, and consolidated unit designated as the 6th Infantry Regiment.
;Narrative
The present 6th United States Infantry traces its lineage back to 11 January 1812, when the Congress authorized a strengthening of the regular Army in preparation for the conflict that became known as the War of 1812. The unit was first known as the 11th Infantry Regiment and served as such on the Upper Canada–US border throughout the War of 1812.
In 1831 and 1832, the regiment entered the series of actions to be known as the Black Hawk War, against the Sac and Fox Indians. On 2 August 1832, the 6th Infantry caught the Indians at the junction of the Bad Axe River with the Mississippi River, and killed most of Black Hawk's band, earning the campaign streamer BLACK HAWK. In 1837, the units of the regiment left Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, for Florida via Louisiana. As part of a force commanded by Colonel Zachary Taylor, the regiment entered the Second Seminole War in eastern Florida in 1837. It was the first "guerrilla-style" war fought by US troops.
From late 1860 to mid-1861 detachments of Company B from Fort Humboldt were involved in the Bald Hills War, patrolling and in 1861, skirmishing with the local Indians on Mad and Eel Rivers and their tributaries.
At the outset of the Civil War in April 1861, the regiment was directed to hurry eastward from Oregon and California and join the Federal forces. According to one biographer of the time, "Several of the Regiment's best and bravest officers, honest in the mistaken construction of the Constitution and true to their convictions as to their duty, had tendered their resignations and given themselves to the Confederate cause." One of those officers was the regimental commander, Major Lewis Armistead. During the Civil War, the 6th U.S. Infantry Regiment lost 75 men during service; two officers and 29 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and one officer and 43 enlisted men by disease.
For six years after the Civil War, the regiment served at various stations in Georgia and South Carolina.
  • Company G would be at Fort Buford, North Dakota 1n 1870.
  • It moved to Fort Hays, Kansas, in October 1871. The regiment saw duty on the frontier in Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah.
  • In 1872 under Col. William B. Hazen, the regiment was transferred to the Department of Dakota and based out of Fort Buford Dakota Territory, fighting many engagements against hostile Indian forces.
  • In 1872 B & C Companies built Fort McKeen, North Dakota which was renamed Fort Abraham Lincoln.
  • In 1872 and 1873, the regiment earned campaign streamers NORTH DAKOTA 1872 and NORTH DAKOTA 1873. The next several years saw much action for the regiment during the Indian Wars many of which in Montana Territory, and they were awarded campaign streamers MONTANA 1879, LITTLE BIG HORN, CHEYENNES, and UTES.
  • In 1880, the regiment moved to Fort Thomas, Kentucky, where it remained until called to action again in June 1898, in the Spanish–American War. On 1 July 1898, the 6th Regiment took the brunt of the fighting during the charge up San Juan Hill.
The regiment returned to the United States, serving at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, from the end of 1898 until late July 1899, when it sailed to the Philippines aboard USAT Sherman to help quell the insurgents in the Philippine–American War. The Moro tribe was one of the toughest enemies the 6th had ever faced—every one of them fought to the death, and preferred to do it in hand-to-hand style. The regiment fought over fifty engagements, and it left with campaign streamers for JOLO, NEGROS in 1899, and PANAY in 1900. In March 1905, the regiment returned to the Philippines to fight the Moros again. For three days in 1906, elements of the regiment fought in the First Battle of Bud Dajo, one of the fiercest conflicts of the entire island campaign. The successful ending to the battle broke the Moro strength and ended the fighting in that part of the island.
One 6th Infantry soldier received the Medal of Honor for service in the Philippines: Captain Bernard A. Byrne, 19 July 1899, Bobong, Negros
Following service in the Philippines, the 6th returned to the Presidio of San Francisco, California. In May 1914, it entered into service on the Mexican border. In March 1916, it proceeded to San Antonio, Chihuahua, as part of the Punitive Expedition under Brigadier General John J. Pershing. In February 1917, Pershing's force withdrew from Mexico and the regiment moved to Fort Bliss. Because of their action, the regiment was awarded another campaign streamer – MEXICO 1916–1917.

World War I

;Lineage
Assigned 18 November 1917 to the 5th Division
;Narrative
File:American soldiers rejoice at the Armistice, 11th November 1918..jpg|thumb|left|Doughboys of the 6th Infantry Regiment, 10th Brigade, 5th Division, stationed at Remoiville, rejoice as they receive news of the Armistice on the eleventh day of the eleventh hour of the eleventh month.
In December 1917, the 6th Regiment was assigned to the 10th Infantry Brigade, 5th Division, and began training stateside. In the latter part of May 1918, the 6th Infantry Regiment was declared ready for introduction to combat and was placed at the disposal of the French for service at the front. In July 1918, a strategic offensive plan was agreed upon by the Allied commanders, the immediate purpose of which was to reduce the salients which interfered with further offensive operations. One of these was the Saint-Mihiel salient. The First U.S. Army was organized on 10 August and directed to launch an offensive on 12 September to reduce this salient. The 6th Regiment was destined to play an important role in this operation. On 1 December 1918 the 6th Regiment conducted a march from Luxembourg to the city of Trier, Germany, becoming the first American troops to enter that ancient city.

Inter-war period

The 6th Infantry Regiment arrived at the port of New York on 13 July 1919 on the troopship USS America, and emergency period personnel were discharged from the service. The regiment was transferred on 28 July 1919 to Camp Gordon, Georgia, and subsequently to Camp Jackson, South Carolina. on 29 December 1920. It was relieved in August 1921 from the 5th Division and ordered on 2 September 1921 to transfer to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. It conducted a 1,200-mile foot march from Camp Jackson, and arrived 3 November 1921 at Jefferson Barracks. The regiment was reviewed on 3 November 1921 by General John J. Pershing, the former commander of the American Expeditionary Force, and Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France upon its arrival in St. Louis, Missouri. It was assigned to the 6th Division on 24 March 1923. It participated in tornado relief duties at St. Louis from 3–7 October 1927. The 3rd Battalion was inactivated on 31 October 1929, and was subsequently reorganized as a "Regular Army Inactive" unit with Organized Reserve personnel; assigned Reserve officers conducted summer training with the regiment at Jefferson Barracks.
In April 1933, the regiment assumed command and control of the Jefferson Barracks Civilian Conservation Corps District. Elements participated in the “Century of Progress” exposition in Chicago, Illinois, from May–November 1933. When the 6th Division was converted to a "triangular" division in 1939, the regiment was temporarily assigned to the 7th Division's 14th Infantry Brigade on 16 October 1939. The 3rd Battalion, less Reserve personnel, was activated in early 1940 at Jefferson Barracks. The entire regiment was transferred on 2 March 1940 to Fort Knox, Kentucky, and was relieved on 1 June 1940 from the 14th Infantry Brigade. The regiment returned to Jefferson Barracks on 1 July 1940, was reorganized and redesignated the 6th Infantry Regiment on 15 July 1940, and assigned to the 1st Armored Division. It transferred 7 August 1940 back to Fort Knox. In April, the regiment supplied a cadre for the 51st Infantry Regiment of the 4th Armored Division. In August, the regiment moved to Louisiana to conduct maneuvers, then returned to Fort Knox in November.