29th Infantry Regiment (United States)

The first 29th Infantry was constituted on 29 January 1813, and served in the War of 1812. Following this, the regiment was merged with the 6th Infantry.

The second 29th Infantry was constituted on 3 May 1861, as the 3d Battalion, 11th Infantry, one of the nine "three-battalion" regiments of regulars, each battalion containing eight companies of infantry, in contrast to the original ten regular regiments of infantry, which were organized on the traditional ten-company line.

Following the Civil War, the Army was reorganized by Congress in July 1866, and the 11th was divided into three regiments, each battalion receiving two additional companies and being organized along traditional lines. The 1st Battalion retained the designation of the 11th Infantry, while the 2nd Battalion became the 20th Infantry and the 3rd Battalion the 29th Infantry. The 29th Infantry was disbanded in the 1869 reduction of the Army to 25 regiments.

The present 29th Infantry was created by Congressional order on 2 February 1901. The regiment actually formed on 3 March 1901 at Fort Sheridan, Illinois under the command of Colonel W.M. Van Horn.

One year after its organization, the 29th set sail from San Francisco for the Philippines. The regiment served with distinction on the islands of Cebu, Panay, and Negros. After quelling the insurgency, the regiment remained to suppress bandits until its departure in April, 1904. The 29th performed garrison duties in Utah and Arizona until 1907, when it returned to the Philippines. In 1909 it was transferred in garrison duties in upstate New York, where it remained until 1915, when it was dispatched to Panama for duty guarding the Panama Canal. The regiment participated in a number of jungle exercises, and also guarded German prisoners of war.

The 29th left Panama in September 1918 and arrived at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana shortly thereafter. The regiment was assigned to the newly formed 17th Division, which was preparing to sail to Europe. In late September an epidemic of influenza struck which delayed preparations. By the time the epidemic was over, the Armistice of 1918 had been signed, ending the war in Europe. The regiment remained in Camp Shelby, Mississippi demobilizing troops returning from overseas.

In 1919, the 29th arrived at Fort Benning and immediately assumed the duties of the support and demonstration regiment for the then-new Infantry School. In addition, it was given the mission of actually building the post. For eight years the men of the 29th lived in tents while they built the Cuartel Barracks, Gowdy Field, and Doughboy Stadium, among other things. During this time the regiment adopted the motto "We Lead The Way" in light of its mission as Demonstration Regiment and trainers for the Infantry School. During the time between the World Wars, the 29th Infantry Regiment trained infantry soldiers and leaders, demonstrated tactics and tested innovations in Infantry warfare at Fort Benning including providing soldiers for the first parachute unit in the U.S. armed forces. The 3rd Battalion was inactivated at Fort Benning on 3 October 1922, but was reactivated on 1 October 1933 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma using the personnel and equipment from the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment. The 29th Infantry Regiment was concurrently assigned to the 7th Infantry Brigade, 4th Division. The regiment was relieved from assignment to the 4th Division on 16 October 1939.

When the United States entered World War II, the 29th Infantry was still at Fort Benning, but moved to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, on 3 May 1943. Three months later the regiment moved to Iceland, where it defended the rocky coastline until shipped to England in preparation for the invasion of Europe. In August, 1944 the regiment deployed to France where it provided security to the "Red Ball Express", the supply route which kept the armored thrust rolling into Germany. During the "Battle of the Bulge", the regiment secured and defended river crossings along the Meuse River in the vicinity of Namur and Liege, Belgium. The Regiment saw heavy combat near Jemelle and Rochefort, Belgium and was then deactivated in October, 1946. The 29th served in the Army of occupation at Frankfurt on Main and then in the Bremen Enclave near Bremerhaven at Camp Grohn.

Reactivated on the island of Okinawa in May, 1949, the 29th Regiment was attached to the 24th and 25th Divisions from 24 July 1950 to 5 September 1950. The 1st and 3rd Battalions suffered heavy losses during fighting in the vicinity of Chinju, Masan, and during the establishment of the Pusan perimeter in the Korean War. The regiment returned to Okinawa in September 1950 where it remained until it returned to Fort Benning in November 1954.[2]

Battery C (Composite), 83d Field Artillery, was activated on 21 March 1973 and attached to the 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry. It was located at Kelly Hill on Fort Benning. Battery C provided Field Artillery support to the Infantry School. The battery was equipped with six 105-mm howitzers M101A1, and seven 14.5-mm field artillery trainers M31. The heavy platoon had the bruisers of the battery: two 155-mm howitzers (SP) M109, two 8-inch howitzers (SP) M110 and two 175-mm guns (SP) M107. The support section, in addition to providing ammunition in the field, was also equipped with a 105-mm howitzer M101A1 and a 155-mm howitzer (T) M114A1.