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The 119th Infantry Regiment was an
infantry 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 mar ...
regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...
of 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 ...
. The unit was an organic element of the 30th Infantry Division ("Old Hickory") of the United States Army.


History


American Civil War

On 19 April 1861, the 1st North Carolina Volunteers was constituted in the
Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
and mustered into service from 9-16 May 1861 for six months from existing North Carolina militia companies. * Company A (Edgecombe Guards),
Tarboro, North Carolina Tarboro is a town located in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 10,721. It is the county seat of Edgecombe County. Th ...
* Company B (Hornet's Nest Rifles),
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
* Company C (Charlotte Grays), Charlotte, North Carolina * Company D (Orange Light Infantry),
Hillsboro, North Carolina The town of Hillsborough is the county seat of Orange County, North Carolina, United States and is located along the Eno River. The population was 6,087 in 2010, but it grew rapidly to 9,660 by 2020. Its name was unofficially shortened to "Hillsb ...
* Company E (Buncombe Riflemen), Asheville, North Carolina * Company F (Lafayette Light Infantry), Fayetteville, North Carolina * Company G (Burke Rifles) * Company H (Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry) * Company I (Enfield Blues) * Company K (Southern Stars),
Lincolnton, North Carolina Lincolnton is a city in Lincoln County, North Carolina, United States, within the Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 10,486 at the 2010 census. Lincolnton is northwest of Charlotte, on the South Fork of the Catawba River. The city i ...
The regiment was redesignated on 11 September 1861 as the 11th Regiment, North Carolina Volunteers, to distinguish it from the 1st Regiment, North Carolina State Troops, a home defense militia regiment. On 12 November 1861, it was mustered out of service at Richmond, Virginia. On 31 March 1862, the regiment was reorganized in the Confederate States Army as the 11th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, and was surrendered and paroled on 9 April 1865 at Appomattox, Virginia. During the war, the regiment fought in 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 the Po ...
, Battle of the Wilderness,
Battle of Spotsylvania Court House The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania (or the 19th-century spelling Spottsylvania), was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's 186 ...
, the
Siege of Petersburg The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a cla ...
, and the Battle of Appomattox, among others.


Post-Civil War and Spanish-American War

On 10 April 1877, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, North Carolina State Guard, were organized in central and eastern North Carolina from existing militia companies.


1st Battalion

* Company A (Raleigh Light Infantry), Raleigh, North Carolina * Company B (New Berne Grays) New Berne, North Carolina * Company C (Elm City Riflemen), New Berne, North Carolina * Company D (Goldsboro Rifles), Goldsboro, North Carolina * Company E (Orange Guards),
Hillsboro, North Carolina The town of Hillsborough is the county seat of Orange County, North Carolina, United States and is located along the Eno River. The population was 6,087 in 2010, but it grew rapidly to 9,660 by 2020. Its name was unofficially shortened to "Hillsb ...


2nd Battalion

* Company A (Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry), Fayetteville, North Carolina * Company B (Lafayette Light Infantry), Fayetteville, North Carolina * Company C (Wilmington Light Infantry),
Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...
* Company D (Whiting's Rifles),
Washington, North Carolina Washington is a city in Beaufort County, North Carolina, United States, located on the northern bank of the Pamlico River. The population was 9,744 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beaufort County. It is commonly known as "Original W ...
* Company E (Hornet's Nest Riflemen), Charlotte, North Carolina * Company F (Charlotte Grays), Charlotte, North Carolina * Company G (Anson Grays),
Polkton, North Carolina Polkton is a town in Anson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 1,881 down from 3,375 in 2010. The town is named after its founder, Leonidas L. Polk. History Polkton was founded by Leonidas La ...
On 10 December 1877, they were reorganized and redesignated as the 1st and 2nd Regiments. The 3rd Regiment was organized on 17 March 1879. From 9-27 May 1898, elements of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiments were organized as the 2nd North Carolina Volunteer Infantry and mustered into service at Raleigh; other elements were assigned to the 1st North Carolina Volunteer Infantry. The 1st and 2nd North Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiments were mustered out of service from 3-23 November 1898. On 8 May 1899, the 2nd and 3rd Regiments of Infantry were organized in the North Carolina State Guard. In 1903, the North Carolina State Guard was redesignated the North Carolina National Guard.


Mexican Border, World War I, and interwar period

On 19 June 1916, the 2nd and 3rd Regiments of Infantry were mustered into service during the
Pancho Villa 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 ...
. The 3rd Regiment was mustered out on 27 March 1917, but the 2nd Regiment was not; after
American entry into World War I American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
on 6 April 1917, the 3rd Regiment of Infantry was called back into federal service on 25 July 1917 and drafted into federal service on 5 August 1917. On 12 September 1917, the 2nd Regiment was redesignated the 119th Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Regiment as the 120th Infantry Regiment, and they were assigned to the 30th Division. The 30th Division participated in the Second Battle of the Somme and the Second Battle of the Lys. The 30th Division was demobilized on 17 April 1919 at Camp Jackson, South Carolina. In 1919-1921, the 119th and 120th Infantry Regiments were consolidated into the 1st Infantry Regiment, North Carolina National Guard, with headquarters federally organized 2 May 1921 at Raleigh. On 8 November 1921, the 1st Infantry Regiment was redesignated the 120th Infantry Regiment and assigned to the 30th Division. The 30th Division was composed of the 117th, 118th, 120th, and 122nd Infantry Regiments; in 1924, the original 122nd Infantry was redesignated the 121st Infantry Regiment. Thus, the 119th Infantry would thus cease to exist until 1942.


World War II

On 16 November 1940, the 30th Division was inducted into federal service. On 22 November 1941, the 121st Infantry was relieved from the division and assigned to the 8th Infantry Division, a
Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a standin ...
division that had lost two of its regiments to other duties. When the 30th Division was converted from a "square" to a "triangular" division in 1942, it also lost the 118th Infantry Regiment. To return the division to three regiments, the 119th Infantry Regiment was reconstituted in the North Carolina National Guard on 24 August 1942, activated on 7 September 1942 at Fort Jackson, and assigned to the 30th Infantry Division. The 119th Infantry would fight with the 30th Division in Europe in 1944-1945 in the
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, Northern France,
Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...
,
Ardennes-Alsace The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...
, and
Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
campaigns. The 30th Infantry Division was inactivated on 24 November 1945 at Fort Jackson.


Cold War

On 8 July 1947, elements of the 119th Infantry and the 1st and 3rd Battalions, 120th Infantry were consolidated, reorganized, and federally recognized in eastern North Carolina as the 119th Infantry Regiment. On 28 October 1954, the regiment, less those elements from central North Carolina, were organized to include the former 167th Military Police Battalion as the 1st Battalion. Elements of the regiment from central North Carolina were consolidated with elements of the 120th Infantry Regiment located in central North Carolina to form the new 139th Infantry Regiment. On 1 April 1959, the 119th Infantry Regiment was reorganized 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. ...
and the
Pentomic Pentomic (cf. ''Greek pent(e)-'' +''-tome'' "of five parts") was a structure for infantry and airborne divisions adopted by the US Army between 1957 and 1963, in response to the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons, on future battlefields. ...
concept to consist of the 1st and 2nd Battle Groups, elements of the 30th Infantry Division. On 10 March 1963, the 1st and 2nd Battle Groups, 119th Infantry, were reorganized as the 4th, 5th, and 6th Battalions, 119th Infantry, elements of the 30th Infantry Division. On 1 January 1968, the regiment was reorganized to consist of the 1st Battalion, an element of the 30th Infantry Division. In 1974, the 30th Infantry Division was inactivated, and the brigade in North Carolina became the 30th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) (Separate), what is now known as the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team.


Recent history

The 1st Battalion, 119th Infantry was nicknamed the "Swamp Dragon Battalion" due to the nature of the terrain in its home area of
eastern North Carolina Eastern North Carolina (sometimes abbreviated as ENC) is the region encompassing the eastern tier of North Carolina. It is known geographically as the state's Coastal Plain region. Primary subregions of Eastern North Carolina include the Sandhil ...
. By the early 2000s Company A was located at Roanoke Rapids. The battalion was alerted for deployment in March 2003 and went to Iraq with the brigade.


Decorations

* Presidential Unit Citation (Army), streamer embroidered STOUMONT,
BELGIUM Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
* Presidential Unit Citation (Army), streamer embroidered PIVITSHEIDE,
GERMANY Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
* French Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II, streamer embroidered
FRANCE France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
* French Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 with Silver Gilt Star, World War II, streamer embroidered STOUMONT AND HABIEMONT * Belgian Fourragere 1940 * Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in BELGIUM * Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the ARDENNES * Company C, 1st Battalion, also entitled to Meritorious Unit Commendation, streamer embroidered
UNITED KINGDOM The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...


Distinctive unit insignia

* Description A Silver color and metal enamel device 1 3/16 inches (3.02 cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Per fess Azure and Argent, upon a mound in base Vert a lion rampant passant counterchanged, eyed, langued and armed Gules. Attached below and to the sides of the shield is a Silver scroll turned Blue inscribed "UNDAUNTED" in Blue letters. * Symbolism The blue is the color of the Infantry. The functions of the organization are allegorically implied by the ferocious lion, heraldically being the lively image of a good soldier who must be valiant of courage, strong of body and a foe to fear. The motto alludes to the symbolism of the shield and is expressive of the characteristics of the personnel. * Background The distinctive unit insignia was approved on 4 February 1943. It was amended to change the description on 29 March 1953.


Coat of arms


Blazon

* Shield Per fess Azure and Argent, upon a mound in base Vert a lion rampant passant counterchanged, eyed, langued and armed Gules. * Crest That for the regiments and separate battalions of the North Carolina Army National Guard: On a wreath of the colors Argent and Azure, a hornet’s nest hanging from a bough beset with 13 hornets all Proper. Motto: UNDAUNTED.


Symbolism

* Shield The blue is the color of the Infantry. The functions of the organization are allegorically implied by the ferocious lion, heraldically being the lively image of a good soldier who must be valiant of courage, strong of body and a foe to fear. * Crest The crest is that of the North Carolina Army National Guard.


Background

The coat of arms was approved on 4 February 1943. It was amended to change the blazon on 29 March 1953.


References

{{reflist Bibliography *"The Army Lineage Book Volume II: Infantry" Department of the Army.


External links


docsouth.unc.edu
119 119 may refer to: * 119 (number), a natural number * 119 (emergency telephone number) * AD 119, a year in the 2nd century AD * 119 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 119 (album), 2012 * 119 (NCT song) *119 (Show Me the Money song) * 119 (film), a ...
Military units and formations disestablished in 2000 1917 establishments in the United States
119 119 may refer to: * 119 (number), a natural number * 119 (emergency telephone number) * AD 119, a year in the 2nd century AD * 119 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 119 (album), 2012 * 119 (NCT song) *119 (Show Me the Money song) * 119 (film), a ...
Military units and formations established in 1917