5th Infantry Regiment ( United States ) The 5th Infantry Regiment ( nicknamed the ' " Bobcats " ' ) is the third - oldest infantry regiment of the United States Army , tracing its origins to 1808 . It has participated in most of the wars the United States has fought during its history . Origins — War of 1812 . Technically , the 5th Infantry Regiment was created by an Act of Congress of 3 March 1815 , which reduced the Regular Army from the 46 infantry and 4 rifle regiments it fielded in the War of 1812 to a peacetime establishment of 8 infantry regiments ( reduced to 7 in 1821 ) . The Army ' s current regimental numbering system dates from this act . Six of the old regiments ( 4th , 9th , 13th , 21st , 40th and 46th ) were consolidated into the new 5th Regiment , which was organized on 15 May 1815 under the command of Colonel James Miller . The current 5th Infantry traces its actual origins to the oldest of these regiments , the 4th , which was organized in May – June 1808 . After three years ' garrison duty in New England , the 4th assembled near Philadelphia in the spring of 1811 . From there it proceeded by way of the Ohio and Wabash rivers to Vincennes , Indiana Territory , reporting to the territorial governor , William Henry Harrison , who assembled a force of volunteers and militia around the 4th . They proceeded into north central Indiana to confront the forces of the Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa , the Prophet , who attacked on the morning of 7 November in the Battle of Tippecanoe , where they were soundly defeated by U . S . forces . ( Previously the old 4th US Infantry had served as the 4th Sub - Legion in Anthony Wayne ' s Legion of the United States which had fought at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 ) . In the spring of 1812 , the 4th , commanded by then - Lieutenant Colonel Miller , was ordered to report to Brigadier General Isaac Hull , commander of forces in the Northwest . They reached his headquarters at Detroit on 6 July , two days after being notified of the declaration of war . A week later , Hull ' s force crossed into Upper Canada , forming a base at Sandwich . On 9 August , marching south to rendezvous with a supply train from Ohio , the 4th charged and broke a British - Indian force at the Battle of Maguaga . A week after that , Hull surrendered Detroit and his entire command , including the 4th , to an inferior force of British , Canadians and Indians . The 4th marched into captivity at Quebec city where the troops spent a month aboard prison ships in the St . Lawrence River before being exchanged on 29 October . The 4th lost 30 more men during the month ' s voyage from Quebec to Boston . The 4th spent the years 1813 – 14 on the Lake Champlain front , participating in the battles of the Chateauguay ( 25 October 1813 ) and Lacolle Mills ( 30 March 1814 ) and the siege of Plattsburgh ( September 1814 ) . The new 5th Regiment ' s other ancestors also saw considerable action . On the Niagara Frontier , the old 9th Regiment served in Winfield Scott ' s brigade at the battles of Chippawa ( 5 July 1814 ) and Lundy ' s Lane ( 25 – 26 July 1814 ) . The 21st originally raised by Eleazar Wheelock Ripley was trained to both the US Manual of Arms as well as the British Light Infantry manual , Ripley felt that the 21st should be able to proficiently perform those skills which won the War of Independence , namely , hit and run and skirmish tactics , skills which was to serve the regiment well later in the war under a new commander ( Donald Graves , Dry books of tactics pp 58 , 59 ) . James Miller took over from Ripley in early 1814 after Ripley was promoted to Brigadier General and saw the 21st through its most rigorous tests in battle . The 21st fought at York ( 26 April – 2 May 1813 ) , Sackets Harbor ( 29 May 1813 ) , as part of Ripley ' s Brigade at Chippawa , Lundy ' s Lane and Fort Erie ( 14 August 1814 ) . At Lundy ' s Lane , Jacob Brown , the overall U . S . commander , asked Miller if he could take the British artillery on the high ground dominating the battlefield . Miller replied , " I ' ll try , sir . " . The 21st proceeded to break the British centre and take the guns with a volley and bayonet charge , holding them until the order to withdraw came from General Eleazar Ripley , Generals Brown and Scott having been incapacitated by wounds earlier in the battle . " I ' ll try , sir , " became the 5th Infantry ' s regimental motto . 1815 – 45 . The 5th Regiment established headquarters at Detroit in 1815 and began a 30 year period in which it operated in the Upper Midwest , mostly in an area between the current states of Michigan and Nebraska , building and garrisoning a number of posts , protecting the great wave of settlers from native resistance , and serving as a first line of defense in case of another war with Great Britain . Perhaps the 5th ' s most lasting accomplishment was the construction in 1820 – 24 of Fort St . Anthony , at the mouth of the Minnesota River . On completion , the Army renamed the post in honor of its commanding officer , Colonel Josiah Snelling . Fort Snelling became the seed pearl around which the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St . Paul grew . The only noteworthy engagement with Indians during this period was in the Black Hawk War of 1832 . Even here , the 5th saw limited action , engaging in combat only in the final act of the war , the Battle of Bad Axe on 1 – 2 August near the modern town of Victory , Wisconsin . Bad Axe was the last major fight between whites and Indians east of the Mississippi other than the Seminole resistance in Florida . Mexican - American War . On 1 March 1845 , three days before he left office , President John Tyler signed a bill establishing an offer by the United States to annex the Republic of Texas , which had broken away from Mexico in 1836 , and make it a state . This set off an immediate diplomatic crisis between the United States and Mexico over the southern boundary of Texas . Mexico claimed that the traditional southern boundary of Texas was the Nueces River ; the U . S . and Texas claimed it was the Rio Grande , further south . Incoming President James Knox Polk directed Brigadier General Zachary Taylor to form an " Army of Observation " at Corpus Christi , Texas , ostensibly to protect the disputed zone from Mexican invasion . Five companies of the 5th Infantry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James S . McIntosh reported to Taylor at Corpus Christi on 11 October 1845 , two days before Texas voters accepted the annexation offer . On 9 March 1846 , Taylor ' s army left Corpus Christi to march to the Rio Grande and assert U . S . sovereignty over the expanded area . They arrived on 28 March across the river from Matamoros and built a fortified camp , Fort Texas , on the site of the modern city of Brownsville , Texas . Taylor also established a supply base 27 miles east at Point Isabel , at the mouth of the river . The 5th marched with Taylor from Fort Texas to Point Isabel in late April to clear their supply route of Mexican troops . While they were fortifying that base , the Mexican Army of the North laid siege to Fort Texas , beginning a bombardment of the post on 3 May . Taylor ' s army marched back from Point Isabel and met the enemy on 8 May at Palo Alto , several miles east of the fort . In the resulting battle , the 5th Infantry broke a charge by Mexican lancers trying to break through to Taylor ' s supply train . Over night , the Mexicans withdrew to a better defensive position at Resaca de la Palma , which Taylor ' s army assaulted on the morning of the 9th . After stiff initial fighting , U . S . dragoons overran the Mexican artillery . The 5th and 8th Regiments then led a charge that broke the Mexican center and routed their army . Taylor ' s troops relieved Fort Texas , crossed the Rio Grande into undisputed Mexican territory and occupied Matamoros , where they spent most of the summer . In late August Taylor moved south toward Monterrey , arriving on 19 September 1846 . The 5th Infantry was assigned to the division of Brigadier General William J . Worth . The Battle of Monterrey began on 21 September . David Twiggs ' division assaulted the city , soon finding itself in house - to - house fighting , while Worth ' s division went around the city , cutting off its communications . On the 23rd , the 5th Infantry captured Fort Soldado , completing the isolation of the Mexican forces . Worth ' s division also fought its way into the city , contributing to the Mexicans ' decision to negotiate . They surrendered the city to Taylor in exchange for a two months ' truce . After Monterrey the 5th and the other regular regiments in Taylor ' s command were replaced by volunteers . They returned to Texas to join Major General Winfield Scott ' s expedition to Veracruz . The whole regiment was now together , though two companies were detached during the march to Mexico City and spent their time defending supply trains from guerilla attacks . Still in Worth ' s division , the 5th captured Perote on 22 April 1847 . Reaching the outskirts of Mexico City , the 5th was part of the flanking movement that led to the victory at Contreras on 19 August . The following day , they took the right flank in the assault on the bridgehead at Churubusco . The 5th provided storming parties for the assaults on the Molino del Rey on 8 September and Chapultepec Castle on the 13th ; the full regiment followed up in the latter seizure . Later on the 13th , the 5th joined in the seizure of the Garita San Cosme , one of the city gates of Mexico City itself . This led to the city ' s capitulation on the 14th . 1848 – 61 . In May 1848 , after the United States Senate ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , the 5th Infantry marched from Mexico City to Veracruz and returned to the United States . They spent 1849 – 50 in Arkansas and the neighboring Indian Territory , then replaced the 7th Infantry in Texas . In 1851 they were stationed mainly along the upper Brazos River ; by 1854 they had moved to Fort McIntosh outside the city of Laredo . In early 1857 the 5th moved to south Florida , where they spent several months skirmishing with Seminoles in the area around Fort Myers . The 5th left Florida in June for Fort Laramie in modern - day Wyoming , where they took part in the Buchanan administration ' s expedition against the Mormons . The regiment stayed at Camp Floyd ( later Fort Crittenden ) in the Great Salt Lake valley until the autumn of 1860 , when it moved to New Mexico for operations against the Navajos . Civil War . The 5th Infantry spent the Civil War in the territory of New Mexico . The regiment was ordered to concentrate at Albuquerque in the spring of 1861 for a move east , but the department commander persuaded Washington to leave the 5th on the frontier . In early 1862 a Confederate force from Texas invaded New Mexico . Four companies of the 5th formed the Union rear guard in the Confederate victory at Valverde on 21 February , after which the Confederates occupied Albuquerque and Santa Fe . Two other companies of the 5th captured a field piece at the Battle of Glorieta Pass on 28 March , the beginning of the end for the Confederate forces . The 5th also fought in the action at Peralta on 15 April where the enemy lost a large part of their supply train . The Confederates ultimately withdrew to San Antonio , and the 5th spent the rest of the war on frontier duty , watching for another Confederate incursion , which never came . On 1 June 1863 John F . Reynolds officially became colonel of the 5th ; however , he was on detached service as a Major General of Volunteers , commanding a corps of the Army of the Potomac . He was killed a month later on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg . His replacement as commander of the 5th was another volunteer general , Daniel Butterfield , the composer of the bugle call " Taps " . Butterfield , also wounded at Gettysburg , did not join the regiment during the war . 1865 – 98 . When the Civil War ended , the bulk of the Regular Army returned from war service in the east to frontier duty in the west . The 5th Infantry moved slightly in the other direction , transferring from New Mexico to Kansas . By October 1868 it was strung out across seven different posts in western Kansas , with headquarters at Fort Riley . Congress expanded the Army to 41 infantry regiments in July 1866 , then reduced it to 25 in March 1869 . The 5th absorbed half of the 37th Infantry , including its commander , Colonel and Brevet Major General Nelson A . Miles , who took command of the 5th . Under his command , the 5th , with some companies operating at times as mounted infantry , took part in many of the major Indian wars of the next twelve years . In the spring of 1870 , the 5th beat off Indian attacks on the Kansas Pacific Railroad . From July 1874 to February 1875 , Miles led a mixed force of the 5th Infantry and 6th Cavalry in campaigns against the Southern Cheyenne , Comanche and Kiowa Indians along the Red and Washita Rivers in Indian Territory and Texas . The 5th Infantry also played a major role in the Red River War . In the spring of 1876 the largest Indian confederation of the post - Civil War period formed in the northern plains , led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse of the Lakota Indians . The Army organized a three - pronged expedition to round up this force , but the Indians scored major victories against two of the three , stopping George Crook ' s southern pincer at the Battle of the Rosebud on 17 June and destroying half of the 7th Cavalry , vanguard of Alfred Terry ' s eastern column , at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on 25 – 26 June . Reinforcements were rushed in , including the 5th Infantry , which built Fort Keogh at the mouth of the Tongue River in Montana , and began operating from there . Miles and the 5th caught up to Sitting Bull at Cedar Creek in late October and , failing to negotiate his surrender , defeated his band in battle , forcing them to abandon most of their food and equipment . 2000 Lakota of this group surrendered on 27 October , although Sitting Bull himself escaped . 3 companies of the 5th pursued Sitting Bull along the Missouri River , capturing his camp and scattering his followers on 18 December . Miles returned to the Tongue River with a force from the 5th and 22nd Infantry to pursue Crazy Horse . They captured several important prisoners in the valley below the Wolf Mountains on 7 January 1877 , leading to a confrontation with the main body the following day . The 5th , attacking superior numbers in near - blizzard conditions , drove the Lakota and Cheyenne force off the high ground , forcing them to retreat . The 5th continued to pursue and round up bands from the broken confederacy into the summer of 1877 . In July 1877 the Nez Perce Indians under Chief Joseph began to march east from Idaho across Montana , pursued by Major General Oliver O . Howard ' s troops from the Department of the Columbia . Miles was in position to interdict this force , and moved toward them in mid - September with battalions of the 5th Infantry and 7th Cavalry . They attacked the Nez Perces in a valley of the Bear Paw Mountains on 30 September , capturing their horses and forcing their surrender on 4 October . The Bannock Indians tried to repeat the Nez Perces ' march a year later . A detachment of the 5th attacked their camp on Clark ' s Fork of the Yellowstone on 4 September 1878 and broke up their incursion . The 5th continued in active pursuit of independent Lakota bands until the surrender of Sitting Bull on 20 July 1881 . After several quiet years , the 5th Infantry was transferred to Texas in 1888 and later to points further east . By 1894 the regiment was dispersed from Texas to Kansas to Florida . With the closing of the frontier , its role had changed from Indian fighting to peacetime garrison duty . 45 members of the regiment received the Medal of Honor for service during this period : Spanish - American War , Philippine – American War . The 5th Infantry did not arrive in time to participate in the Spanish - American War though it performed occupation duties . It saw action in the Philippines during the war of 1900 . For service in Philippines , the 5th Infantry was presented one Battle Streamer without inscription . World War I . The 5th Infantry did not participate in combat operations in World War I , but did perform occupational duties . World War II . The 5th Infantry was posted at Camp Paraiso , Panama Canal Zone from 1939 – 1943 . It had previously been posted at Fort Williams , Maine , where it was nominally assigned to the inactive 9th Infantry Division . With the onset of World War II , the 5th Infantry was made a part of the 71st Infantry Division and participated in an experiment to develop a " light " infantry division , capable of operating in harsh terrain from the mountains to the desert . The light division was deemed unnecessary for World War II and the 71st Infantry Division was converted back to a regular infantry division . The 5th was sent to Europe in January 1945 with the rest of the division and was in the front lines a month later . Initially taking defensive positions , the 5th was soon on the offensive , driving into Germany . The regiment fought through southern Germany , capturing the cities of Fulda , Bayreuth and Nuremberg . The 5th Infantry was the first U . S . Army unit to cross the Danube River and the first to invade Austria . For its participation in the Second World War , the 5th was presented the following Battle Streamers : Rhineland , Central Europe , and American Theater . Korean War . The 5th Infantry performed occupation duty in Austria for a year after the war , and was deactivated in November 1946 . The regiment reactivated in South Korea on 1 January 1949 , with personnel and support units from the departing 7th Infantry Division . It constituted the core of the 5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team ( RCT ) with the mission to provide security while all U . S . troops were withdrawn from the country . The 5th RCT left Korea effective 31 June 1949 and was transferred to Schofield Barracks , Hawaii , where it was when the Korean War began . It deployed to Korea on 25 July 1950 to reinforce Eighth Army in the shrinking area of United Nations control known as the Pusan Perimeter . In July and August it reinforced the 25th Infantry Division , then the 1st Cavalry Division on the Naktong River line . In September the RCT was attached to the 24th Infantry Division , replacing the 34th Infantry Regiment . It remained with the 24th Infantry Division until January 1952 when it officially became a separate RCT again and was assigned to IX Corps . The 5th Regimental Combat Team consisted of : Fought in the Battle of Pusan Perimeter . Two 5th Infantry soldiers received the Medal of Honor for service in Korea : On 11 October 1953 , Company A , 1st Section , Machine Gun Platoon , Company D , and Forward Observer Team , 555th Field Artillery Battalion were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation , for actions in the vicinity of Songnae - dong , Korea on 12 June 1953 . On 18 November 2005 the award was amended to include the following units : Actor James Garner ( " The Rockford Files " ) served in the 5th RCT during the Korean War , when he was awarded two Purple Heart s . Vietnam War . In 1959 the 1st Battle Group , 5th Infantry was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley , Kansas . It was reassigned to the 25th Division on 1 February 1963 and reorganized and redesignated as the 1st Battalion , 5th Infantry on 12 August . It was sent to Vietnam in January 1966 and it was one of the few mechanized units to serve in that war . The 5th fought for five years in Vietnam , again establishing its reputation for tough fighting , perseverance in harsh conditions and excellence in the face of enemy opposition . For its participation in the Vietnam War The 5th Infantry was presented the following Battle Streamers : Counteroffensive , Counteroffensive Phase II , Counteroffensive Phase III , Tet Counteroffensive , Counteroffensive Phase IV , Counteroffensive Phase V , Counteroffensive Phase VI , Tet 69 / Counteroffensive , Summer – Fall 1969 , Winter – Spring 1970 , Sanctuary Counteroffensive , Counteroffensive Phase VII ; Presidential Unit Citation , Ben Cui ; Valorous Unit Award , Cu Chi . In 1975 the 5th Infantry was deployed to Ortoe Point , Guam . Their mission was to build the first tent city to help inprocess the refugees from Vietnam . They not only built the city , but they also did supplies , cooking , and setup the electricity to maintain the city . Their mission lasted 90 days as part of the 5th Support Group . Two 5th Infantry soldiers received the Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam : 1975 to present . After the Vietnam War the 1st Battalion , 5th Infantry returned to Hawaii where it served with the 25th Infantry Division until the late 1980s when it spent a brief period with the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea . In August 1995 the 1st Battalion , 5th Infantry Regiment was re - assigned to Fort Lewis , Washington as part of the 1st Brigade " Lancers , " 25th Infantry Division ( Light ) . In 1996 the 1st Battalion , 5th Infantry participated in the Advanced Warfighting Experiment , which culminated with a National Training Center rotation in March 1997 . The battalion received the Army Superior Unit Award for its outstanding contribution to the Advanced Warfighting Experiment . For its participation in the Advanced Warfighting Experiment the 1st Battalion , 5th Infantry was presented with the Army Superior Unit Award , 1996 – 1997 . The 2nd Battalion , 5th Infantry was reactivated on 16 August 1995 and assigned to the 3rd Brigade , 25th Infantry Division . The 2nd Battalion served a one - year tour of duty in Afghanistan from May 2004 to May 2005 as part of the 25th Division ' s Task Force Bronco . For its service in Afghanistan , the 2nd Battalion , 5th Infantry was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation . As part of the modular conversion of the 25th Infantry Division , the 2nd Battalion was inactivated on 16 November 2005 . In early 2002 the 1st Brigade " Lancers " began its conversion from a light infantry brigade to a Stryker brigade . It began a one - year tour of duty in Iraq in October 2004 . The brigade returned to Fort Lewis in September 2005 . The 1st Brigade was temporarily inactive from June – October 2006 . The 1st Battalion , 5th Infantry Regiment is now part of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team " Arctic Wolves , " 25th Infantry Division , Fort Wainwright , Alaska . In September 2011 3rd brigade 1st armored division went to Afghanistan in the Wardak Province until August 2012 . The 2nd Battalion 5th Infantry Unit was in Dash Towpe and the well known Chak Valley . Honors . Decorations . U . S . military decorations Foreign decorations