The 17th Infantry Regiment is a

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 ...

infantry regiment Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mari ...

. An earlier regiment designated the 17th Infantry Regiment was organized on 11 January 1812, but it was consolidated with four other regiments as the 3rd Infantry in the post-war reorganization of the army following the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

, due to the shattering losses it sustained at the River Raisin. The current 17th Infantry was constituted as the 17th Regiment of Infantry on 3 May 1861.

History

Civil War

The 17th Infantry Regiment served in the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confede ...

, in Sykes' Division of the 5th Army Corps. Its badge was a white cross patee. During the

Battle of Fredericksburg The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Bur ...

, the 17th Infantry suffered heavy losses in the assault on

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

's Confederates entrenched behind a stone wall. "For one entire day, (December 14) the men of the 17th lay flat on their faces eighty yards in front of the famous stone

wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the su ...

, behind which the enemy was posted in large numbers and any movement on their part was sure to draw the fire of rebel

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...

s." On the second day of the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of th ...

, the 17th Infantry regiment, commanded by

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

James Durrell Greene, fought in tough hand-to-hand combat in the Wheatfield. The 17th US Infantry lost 24 KIA and 125 WIA/MIA in this engagement.

Coat of arms

A buffalo, displayed on the a shield below the stone wall, represents the regiment's history in the Korean war. The "Buffalo" nickname was adopted at the suggestion of the 17th Regiment's commander in the Korean War, Col. William W. "Buffalo Bill" Quinn. The shield is blue, as it is the color of the infantry. The crest is a

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

taken from the Spanish Arms of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

to represent the fighting for that city in 1898. The five-bastioned fort, shown on the blue shield above and to the right of the stone wall, was the badge of the 5th Army Corps in Cuba in 1898. The two

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers ...

s represent the Indian campaigns the 17th Regiment participated in. The 17th Infantry Regiment was in the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War in Sykes' Division of the 5th Army Corps, the badge of which was a white

Cross pattée A cross pattée, cross patty or cross paty, also known as a cross formy or cross formée (french: croix pattée, german: Tatzenkreuz), is a type of Christian cross with arms that are narrow at the centre, and often flared in a curve or straight ...

, which is embodied in the coat of arms and shown on the blue field above and to the left of the stone wall. At Fredericksburg the 17th suffered heavy losses in the assault on the famous stone wall, "For one entire day, (December 14) the men of the 17th lay flat on their faces eighty yards in front of the famous stone wall, behind which the enemy was posted in large numbers and any movement on their part was sure to draw the fire of rebel sharpshooters.

Medal of Honor recipients

;

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 = (cl ...

* Private

George Berg George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

, Company C * Private

Oscar Brookin Oscar Brookin (or Brookins) (19 July 1869 in Byron, Wisconsin – 18 August 1938) served in the United States Army during the Spanish–American War. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of El Caney. Brookin joined the ...

, Company C *

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

Ulysses G. Buzzard Ulysses G. Buzzard (January 31, 1865 – August 2, 1939) was an American soldier who served in the United States Army during the Spanish–American War and whose actions during that conflict led to him receiving the Medal of Honor for bravery. ...

, Company C * Private

Thomas J. Graves Thomas J. Graves (September 29, 1866 – January 27, 1944) was a private serving in the United States Army during the Spanish–American War who received the Medal of Honor for bravery. Biography Graves was born September 29, 1866, in Milton, ...

, Company C *

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

Benjamin F. Hardaway Benjamin Franklin Hardaway (July 17, 1865 – July 9, 1955) was an officer serving in the United States Army during the Spanish–American War who received the Medal of Honor for bravery. Biography Hardaway was born July 17, 1865, in Benleyv ...

* Corporal

Norman W. Ressler Norman W. Ressler (May 27, 1873 – September 29, 1914) was a corporal serving in the United States Army during the Spanish–American War who received the Medal of Honor for bravery. Biography Ressler was born May 27, 1873, in Dalmatia, Penns ...

, Company D *

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

Charles DuVal Roberts * Corporal

Warren J. Shepherd Warren Julius Shepherd (September 28, 1871 - April 22, 1942) was a corporal serving in the United States Army during the Spanish–American War who received the Medal of Honor for bravery. Biography Shepherd was born September 28, 1871, in Ch ...

, Company D * Private

Bruno Wende Bruno Wende (April 17, 1859 – December 27, 1929) was a private serving in the United States Army during the Spanish–American War who received the Medal of Honor for bravery. Biography Wende was born April 17, 1859, in Germany and after immigra ...

, Company C ;

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

* Private First Class

Leonard C. Brostrom Leonard C. Brostrom (November 23, 1919 – October 28, 1944) was a United States Army infantry soldier who was killed in action near Dagami, Leyte, Philippine Islands, now the Republic of the Philippines, during the Philippines Campaign of 19 ...

, Company F * Private First Class John F. Thorson, Company G ;

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

* Private

Charles H. Barker Charles Heyward Barker (April 12, 1935 – June 4, 1953) was a United States Army soldier in the Korean War who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor. Biography Born on April 12, 1935, in Pickens County, South Caro ...

, Company K *

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Raymond Harvey, Company C * Corporal Einar H. Ingman Jr., Company E * Private First Class

Anthony T. Kahoʻohanohano Anthony Thomas Kahoohanohano (July 22, 1930 – September 1, 1951) was an American soldier who was killed in action on September 1, 1951, during the Korean War. He became a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration for valor, th ...

, Company H * Corporal William F. Lyell, Company F * Private First Class

Joseph C. Rodriguez Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, Company F * First Lieutenant

Richard Thomas Shea Richard Thomas Shea, Jr. (January 3, 1927 – July 8, 1953) was a soldier in the United States Army in the Korean War. He was listed as missing in action on July 8, 1953, during the Second Battle of Pork Chop Hill, and was later declared killed ...

, Company A

Lineage

* Constituted 3 May 1861 in the Regular Army as the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry * Organized 6 July 1861 at Fort Preble, Maine * Reorganized and redesignated 13 December 1866 as the 17th Infantry * Consolidated 1 June 1869 with the 44th Infantry, Veteran Reserve Corps (constituted 21 September 1866), and consolidated unit designated as the 17th Infantry * Assigned 5 July 1918 to the 11th Division * (2d and 3d Battalions inactivated 1 October 1921 at

Fort McIntosh, Texas Fort McIntosh was a U.S. Army base in Laredo, Webb County, Texas, from 1849 to 1946. Fort McIntosh was established on 3 March 1849 by the 1st US Infantry, under the command of Lt. E.L. Viele, to guard the Texas frontier at the site of a strate ...

; activated 24 June 1922 at Fort Crook, Nebraska) * Relieved 24 March 1923 from assignment to the 11th Division and assigned to the 7th Division * Relieved 15 August 1927 from assignment to the 7th Division and assigned to the 6th Division * (2d Battalion inactivated 31 October 1929 at Fort Des Moines, Iowa) * Relieved 1 October 1933 from assignment to the 6th Division and assigned to the 7th Division (later redesignated as the 7th Infantry Division) * (2d Battalion activated 1 July 1940 at Camp Ord, California) * Relieved 1 July 1957 from assignment to the 7th Infantry Division and reorganized as a

parent regiment The Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS), was the method of assigning unit designations to units of some of the combat arms branches of the United States Army, including Infantry, Special Forces, Field Artillery, and Armor, from 1957 to 1981. ...

under the

Combat Arms Regimental System The Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS), was the method of assigning unit designations to units of some of the combat arms branches of the United States Army, including Infantry, Special Forces, Field Artillery, and Armor, from 1957 to 1981. ...

* (4th Battalion activated 1984) * 1986 - 1st and 2nd Battalions re-activated at Fort Richardson, AK as part of the 1st Brigade, 6th Infantry Division (Light). * Withdrawn 16 November 1986 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System * (4th Battalion inactivated 1993) * Redesignated 1 October 2005 as the 17th Infantry Regiment * (4th Battalion activated in Jan 2011 at Fort Bliss TX under 1st Brigade 1st Armored Division) * 4th Battalion de-activated in June 2019 at Fort Bliss TX under 1st Brigade 1st Armored Division (reflagged as 2nd Battalion 37th Armored Regiment)

Campaign participation credit

* Civil War:

Peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on al ...

; Manassas;

Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

; Fredericksburg; Chancellorsville; Gettysburg; Wilderness; Spotsylvania;

Cold Harbor The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought during the American Civil War near Mechanicsville, Virginia, from May 31 to June 12, 1864, with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3. It was one of the final battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses ...

;

Petersburg Petersburg, or Petersburgh, may refer to: Places Australia *Petersburg, former name of Peterborough, South Australia Canada * Petersburg, Ontario Russia *Saint Petersburg, sometimes referred to as Petersburg United States *Peterborg, U.S. Virg ...

; Virginia 1862; Virginia 1863 * Indian Wars: Little Big Horn; Pine Ridge;

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, S ...

1872 *

War with Spain War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

: Santiago *

Philippine Insurrection The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

; Malolos; San Isidro; Tarlac;

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of t ...

;

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, ...

1899; Luzon 1900 *

Mexican Expedition The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the p ...

: Mexico 1916-1917 *

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin, "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain of 14 main, ...

(with arrowhead);

Eastern Mandates The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

(with arrowhead);

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

;

Ryukyus The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

(with arrowhead); Occupation of Korea *

: UN Defensive; UN Offensive; CCF Intervention; First UN Counteroffensive; CCF Spring Offensive; UN Summer-Fall Offensive; Second Korean Winter; Korea, Summer-Fall 1952; Third Korean Winter; Korea, Summer 1953 *

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

: Counteroffensive, Phase VII; Consolidation I; Consolidation II; Cease-Fire * Armed Forces Expeditions:

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

(with arrowhead) * Operation Iraqi Freedom: August 2005 to December 2006 Mosul and Baghdad * Operation Enduring Freedom: July 2009 to July 2010 Kandahar Province, Afghanistan; May 2012 to May 2013 * Operation Freedom's Sentinel: January 2017 to October 2017 Laghman and Nangarhar Provinces, Afghanistan * War on Terrorism: Campaigns to be determined

Unit awards

United States Navy Presidential Unit Citation ribbon

A Company, 1-17 IN, received the Presidential Unit Citation (Navy) for actions in support of Operation Helmand Spider in Marjah during Operation Enduring Freedom 09-11.

References

External links

17th Infantry Regiment Association's website

17th Infantry Regiment at unitpages.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:017 0017 Military units and formations of the United States in the Indian Wars 1861 establishments in the United States United States Regular Army Civil War units and formations United States Army units and formations in the Korean War Military units and formations established in 1861