138th Infantry Regiment (United States)


The 138th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Army and the Missouri National Guard headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Of the original regiment, only the 1st Battalion remains an active National Guard unit. As of 2018, the 1st Battalion, 138th Infantry Regiment is a light infantry battalion currently assigned to the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

History

The 138th Infantry Regiment traces its lineage from the St. Louis Greys, a volunteer militia company organized in 1832 and the first militia regiment of Missouri. The company's first combat action was during the Mexican War while serving with the St. Louis Legion, a battalion-sized element composed of independent St. Louis-area companies. The unit mustered into federal service on 18 May 1846 along with the Native American Rangers, Boone Guards, Montgomery Guards, Missouri Fusiliers and Riflemen, Morgan Riflemen, and the Texas Free Corps. By 1853 the Greys expanded to five companies to form the 1st Battalion, 1st Missouri Regiment but underwent a series of reductions until 1857 when all but one company of Greys remained.
During the Missouri-Kansas border crises in 1860, the First Missouri Infantry Regiment, patrolled the border to prevent Free-Stater settlers from entering the state, an action called the Southwest Expedition.

Civil War

Many of the Greys ignored President Lincoln's issued proclamation for the states to call up their militia and provide troops to the Federal Government to suppress the Rebellion after the bombardment of Fort Sumter and mustered into service at the call of Governor Jackson outside of St. Louis at Camp Jackson, where St. Louis University now sets. Accused of plotting to capture the St. Louis Arsenal as part of the Camp Jackson Affair, now the location of the Budweiser Brewery, the 1st Missouri Volunteer Militia, with its two companies of St. Louis Greys, were captured by Union troops and marched to the arsenal. Upon being paroled, the Greys and the remainder of the old First Missouri broke their parole and were reformed into the Missouri State Guard. They then went to Memphis, Tennessee and created a Confederate regiment known as the 1st Missouri Infantry Regiment, 1st Missouri Brigade, otherwise known as the “Camp Jackson Boys” and was commanded by Col. John S. Bowen. With casualties came amalgamation, and after fighting in the Shiloh, Mississippi River, Vicksburg, Atlanta, Nashville, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama campaigns, the 1st Missouri surrendered at Fort Blakely, Alabama on 9 April 1865. The 1st Missouri Infantry Regiment marched on foot more than 4,000 miles and traveled more than 1,500 miles by railroad and streamboat during their 40 month journey across seven states on both sides of the Mississippi. It was also a part of the best drilled and finest combat unit of the Confederate States Army and one of the most elite units in the entire Civil War, the 1st Missouri Brigade "the South's Finest".
Below is a quote from the company commander of Company "D": St. Louis Greys that served during the Civil War regarding the First Missouri Infantry:




After the Civil War, the Greys reformed and by 1873 joined other uniformed companies to create the 1st Regiment of Organized Missouri Militia. In 1898 nearly every member of the First Regiment, Missouri National Guard, as it was known at that time, volunteered to fight in the war with Spain under the name of the First Regiment of Infantry, Missouri Volunteers. They mustered into service at Jefferson Barracks and mobilized to Chickamauga Park, Georgia on 21 May 1898 but were never sent to Cuba or Puerto Rico due to lack of funding from the state.
The Militia Act of 1903 required the National Guard of Missouri to conform to federal regulations and with the initiation of the National Defense Act of 1916, the First Missouri took an oath to the President of the United States as well as to the Governor of Missouri. After taking part in the Punitive Expedition in 1916 with service in Loredo, Texas, the 1st Missouri returned home. However, it was a short stay. Ordered to Camp Doniphan, now part of Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, the regiment began training for the Great War. On 1 October 1917, the First and Fifth Regiments, both from St. Louis, were consolidated into the 138th Infantry Regiment, 69th Brigade, 35th Infantry Division.

World War I

During World War I, the 138th Infantry Regiment first took over operations in the Vosges Mountains in southern France and drew first blood for the 35th Infantry Division during a trench raid at Hilsenfirst. The regiment later took part in the Battle of St. Mihiel. In the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne, the regiment led the division on the first day of the attack on 26 September 1918. During this engagement, Private Nels Wald and Captain Alexander Skinker earned the Medal of Honor. Fighting through fog, enfilade fire from their left flank, and under constant artillery barrages, the regiment toiled through an exposed sector, German machine gun nests, and sniper fire to complete its objective on Vauquois Hill. The regiment fought alongside Colonel George S. Patton's tank brigade to capture the villages of Cheppy and Exermont. After the Meuse-Argonne, the 138th assumed occupation duty south of Verdun.
After the war's end, the regiment returned to its home station in St. Louis. On 8 July 1922 the U.S. Army approved the 138th's Regimental Coat of Arms along with the regimental colors. The coat of arms is an infantry blue shield with an equestrian statue in profile of King Louis IX of France, the namesake of the City of St. Louis. The actual statue sets in front of the St. Louis Art Museum in Forrest Park. The regiment's motto, "St. Louis’ Own" alludes to the historical home of the regiment and serves as a recognition if its history – nearly all the original members of the regiment were St. Louisans as were its Medal of Honor recipients. The regiment's official designation as the "First Missouri" also stands as testament to its former name – Missouri's first, and now only, infantry regiment.

World War II

During World War II, the 138th Infantry served under the 7th Infantry Division, participating in campaigns in the Aleutian Islands. After 1945 the regiment returned once again to St. Louis but by 1963 only the 1st Battalion remained in service. 1 May 1974 was the first day that an infantry unit could not call St. Louis and the State of Missouri home, as it had for 142 years. On that day, the lineage and honors of the regiment passed to the 1138th Engineer Battalion and was held by units in St. Louis, including Company B, 1st Battalion, 138th Infantry Regiment, until reclaimed by the entire battalion in 2014 when the U.S. Army and National Guard Bureau recognized the 138th once again in the U.S. Army Regimental System.

Global War on Terrorism

The reactivation of 1st Battalion, 138th Infantry Regiment began on 1 September 2010, with early implementation of the modified table of organization and equipment occurring on 1 September 2009. The 1-138th Infantry is the first infantry unit allocated to the Missouri National Guard since the casing of the 138th regimental colors in 1974. The 1-138th Infantry began building, forming, and equipping actions on 1 September 2008 with Federal Recognition granted in January 2012. In a Ceremony on 17 June 2015 at Ft. Chaffee, Arkansas, the Soldiers of the 1-138th Infantry witnessed the uncasing of its regimental colors since their last casing over 30 years earlier – a poetic gesture, as the regiment's forbearers fought valiantly as brother's in arm with Arkansas over 150 years before.
First Missouri citizen soldiers deployed to conduct State Emergency Duty during the winter storms of 2010 and most recently, to protect persons, property, and civil liberties in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014.
The battalion deployed to CAS Qatar in 2017 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to provide force protection of U.S. military assets and was there during the turbulent beginning of the GCC-Qatar Crisis. Bravo Company was tasked with security operations and Quick Reaction Force responsibility’s outside of CAS at various outposts in the region.

Notable Members of the Regiment

Organized in 1832 in the Missouri Militia at St. Louis as the St. Louis Greys
Organized 26 July 1852 in the Missouri Militia at St. Louis as the National Guards
Organized 7 November 1877 in the Missouri National Guard at St. Louis as the 1st Regiment of Police Reserves
Constituted 14 December 1942 in the Army of the United States as the 880th Airborne Engineer Battalion, Aviation

Description

A Gold color metal and enamel device 1 3/32 inches in height consisting of a shield blazoned: Azure, the equestrian statue in profile of Louis IX of France Or,.

Symbolism

The shield is blue for Infantry. The statue of Louis IX alludes to the home area of the organization.

Background

The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 138th Infantry Regiment on 24 May 1926. It was redesignated for the 1138th Engineer Battalion on 3 May 1989.

Coat of arms

Blazon

The coat of arms was originally approved for the 138th Infantry Regiment on 8 July 1922. It was amended to correct the blazon on 11 October 1923. It was redesignated for 1138th Engineer Battalion on 3 May 1989.

Campaign Streamers

Mexican War
Civil War
World War I
World War II
War on Terrorism