The "Mississippi Rifles" or the 155th Infantry Regiment, is

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

's oldest

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

unit. Its history predates statehood, back to June 1799, and it is the seventh oldest infantry regiment in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. They patrolled the frontiers of the Mississippi Territory, captured Aaron Burr, defended

Fort Mims Mims or MIMS may refer to: Acronyms * Mandarin Immersion Magnet School, Houston, Texas * MediCiti Institute of Medical Sciences, a medical college near Hyderabad, India * Membrane-introduction mass spectrometry * Monthly Index of Medical Speciali ...

during the

Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

, and served under General

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

in the

Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...

in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

History

The 155th Infantry is one of only twenty-four currently active Army National Guard units with campaign credits for the War of 1812, and one of only two from a state west of the Appalachians. It has credit for the Florida (1814) and New Orleans Campaigns. The Mississippi Rifles

They were known as the "Mississippi Rifles" under the command of Colonel Jefferson Davis in the war with Mexico. They acquired this nickname because the regiment was the first in American history to have an official issue rifle ( M1841 Mississippi rifle) instead of a smoothbore musket. It was at the

Battle of Buena Vista The Battle of Buena Vista (February 22–23, 1847), known as the Battle of La Angostura in Mexico, and sometimes as Battle of Buena Vista/La Angostura, was a battle of the Mexican–American War. It was fought between the US invading forces, l ...

when other American units began to be overrun by the Mexicans that Col. Davis gave the order, "Stand fast, Mississippians!" The regiment stood their ground and the battle was eventually won. Davis' order later became the regimental motto. Instead of the standard US Army uniform, the regiment was outfitted in red shirts, white duck trousers, and black

slouch hat A slouch hat is a wide-brimmed felt or cloth hat most commonly worn as part of a military uniform, often, although not always, with a chinstrap. It has been worn by military personnel from many different nations including Australia, Ireland, the ...

s. The unit was instrumental in winning the

Battle of Monterrey In the Battle of Monterrey (September 21–24, 1846) during the Mexican–American War, General Pedro de Ampudia and the Mexican Army of the North was defeated by the Army of Occupation, a force of United States Regulars, Volunteers an ...

, and mustered for service in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

World War I and World War II

The Mississippi Rifles went with General Pershing's "

Punitive Expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...

" in Mexico and fought against

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

in 1916. In World War I under the Army's new federalization system, they were designated the 155th Infantry Regiment and served with the 39th Division. In World War II the regiment fought with the 31st Infantry Division in the Pacific Theater. They conducted training for Korea and many members went forward to fight. During the 1950s all but the 1st Battalion were deactivated.

Modern

First Battalion (Combined Arms), 155th Infantry (Mechanized) is now a part of the

155th Heavy Brigade Combat Team The 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team is a brigade combat team of the Mississippi Army National Guard. The brigade was formed in 1973 as the separate 155th Armored Brigade from the 1st Brigade, 30th Armored Division during a National Guard reo ...

(155th HBCT), Mississippi Army National Guard. The unit served in Bosnia as "Task Force Rifles" and in Iraq in 2005–06 and again in 2009–10. The battalion is headquartered in McComb, MS and has infantry companies in Biloxi, MS (A Company), Poplarville, MS (B Company), as well as a Tank company in Kiln, MS (C Company) and a support company (I Company) Brookhaven, MS.

References

External links

Coat of Arms of the 155th Infantry Regiment

Mississippi Rifles Homepage
{{Authority control Military units and formations of the Mexican–American War 155 Military units and formations established in 1799 United States Army regiments of World War I 1799 establishments in the United States Infantry regiments of the United States Army National Guard