2nd Engineer Battalion ( United States ) The 2nd Engineer Battalion is an engineering battalion in the United States Army which can trace its lineage back to 1861 . Lineage . Organized 31 December 1861 in the Regular Army at Washington , D . C . , from new and existing companies of engineers as a provisional engineer battalion ( constituted 28 July 1866 as the Battalion of Engineers ) Expanded 14 March - 7 June 1901 to form the 1st and 2d Battalions of Engineers ( 1st Battalion of Engineers — hereafter separate lineage ) 2d Battalion of Engineers expanded , reorganized , and redesignated 1 July - 1 August 1916 as the 2d Regiment of Engineers 2d Regiment of Engineers expanded 21 May - 20 June 1917 to form the 2d , 4th , and 5th Regiments of Engineers ( 4th and 5th Regiments of Engineers — hereafter separate lineages ) 2d Regiment of Engineers redesignated 29 August 1917 as the 2d Engineers Assigned in September 1917 to the 2d Division ( later redesignated as the 2nd Infantry Division ( United States ) ) 1st Battalion , 2d Engineers , reorganized and redesignated 16 October 1939 as the 2d Engineer Battalion ( remainder of regiment disbanded ) Redesignated 1 August 1942 as the 2d Engineer Combat Battalion Redesignated 1 March 1954 as the 2d Engineer Battalion Inactivated 15 June 2005 in Korea Headquarters and Headquarters Company activated 16 October 2008 at White Sands Missile Range , New Mexico ( Support Company concurrently constituted and activated ) Korean War . In late fall of 1950 Chinese forces surprised and overrun U . S . and U . N . troops , including the U . S . Eighth Army and the 2nd Infantry Division . By the last week of November , U . S . and U . N . troops were forced to withdraw south . The 2nd Engineer Battalion was attached to the 2nd Infantry Division . The battalion was ordered to hold the town of Kunu - Ri protecting the rear and right flank of the Eighth Army as it retreated . Companies from the battalion were attached to two infantry regiments , the 9th and 38th , to fill gaps in the defending lines . The lines eventually gave way to brutal assaults by three Chinese divisions . By Nov . 26 , after three days of heavy fighting , the three enemy divisions had grown to five , with more on the way . On Nov . 29 , the battalion received orders to relocate south to Sunchon . But the Chinese had blocked the road , the only escape route south at a mountain pass . The 2nd Engineer Battalion moved forward to clear a path through the obstacle and open the road . Once the road was cleared , the battalion was told to hold the line with the 23rd Infantry Regiment and A Battery of the 503rd Field Artillery . Early on the Nov . 30 , the massive 2nd Infantry Division convoy began to slowly make its way across the mountain pass through a six - mile gauntlet of Chinese sniper and mortar fire . Within hours the situation turned from bad to worse as swarms of Chinese troops engulfed the retreating column . The 2nd Engineer Battalion was the only unit left to oppose the massive Chinese assault . The engineers successfully held off the enemy long enough for the remainder of the 2nd Infantry Division to evacuate through the pass . Unfortunately , by this time the engineers ’ window of opportunity to escape had closed . At 7 : 30 p . m . on Nov . 30 , Col . Alarich Zacherle , battalion commander , ordered all equipment destroyed . Magnesium grenades were dropped on heavy equipment tracks and engines . Tires were filled with gasoline , thrown inside vehicles and set ablaze . Zacherle then ordered the battalion colors , its custom - made box , and the 25 combat streamers that adorned it soaked in gasoline and set on fire . He wanted to prevent the Chinese from capturing it as a war trophy . About 30 minutes after Zacherle gave that order , the Chinese forces overran the engineers . Nerhling said that “ burning the colors and getting the hell out of there ” were the only two things on their minds , but very few escaped . When the battalion regrouped after the battle , just 266 of the original 977 Soldiers remained . One officer was present ; all others had been killed or captured . Every year since the mid - 1990s , the battalion has held a solemn nighttime ceremony where those actions are remembered and the unit ’ s colors burned . After Nerhling spoke , Command Sgt . Maj . Thomas Geddings , the battalion sergeant major , held the colors while Maj . Christian Thomas , the battalion executive officer , set them on fire . Then a partial roll was called , highlighting the immense casualties the battalion suffered . Campaign participation credit . Civil War : Peninsula ; Antietam ; Fredericksburg ; Chancellorsville ; Wilderness ; Spotsylvania ; Cold Harbor ; Petersburg ; Appomattox ; Virginia 1863 Philippine Insurrection : Streamer without inscription Mexican Expedition : Mexico 1916 – 1917 World War I : Aisne ; Aisne - Marne ; St . Mihiel ; Meuse - Argonne ; Lorraine 1918 ; Ile de France 1918 World War II : Normandy ; Northern France ; Rhineland ; Ardennes - Alsace ; Central Europe Korean War : 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