181st Infantry Regiment ( United States ) The 181st Infantry Regiment shares the distinction of being the oldest combat regiment in the United States Army . The regiment traces its history to 13 December 1636 , when it was one of four colonial regiments of foot of the British Crown in Massachusetts . It later served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution , with Union forces in the American Civil War , and as a federalized Massachusetts National Guard regiment with the U . S . Army during War with Spain , Mexican Border Campaign , World War I and World War II . Most recently the 1st Battalion , 181st Infantry has served in Iraq , in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina , and in Afghanistan . The only active element of the regiment is the 1st Battalion , 181st Infantry Regiment , which returned from a year of service in Afghanistan in July 2011 . History . Formation and colonial operations . The 181st Infantry Regiment was organized 13 December 1636 in the Massachusetts Militia from existing train bands as the North Regiment . Redesignated 7 September 1643 as the Middlesex Regiment . Expanded 13 October 1680 to form the 1st ( or Lower ) Middlesex Regiment and the 2nd ( or Upper ) Middlesex Regiment ( consisting of companies from Concord , Sudbury , Marlborough , Chelmsford , Billerica , Groton , Lancaster , and Dunstable ) ( 1st Middlesex Regiment – hereafter separate lineage ( see 182nd Infantry Regiment ( United States ) ) . Massachusetts Army and the American Revolution . The soldiers of the 2nd Middlesex Regiment fought at the Battle of Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775 . The regiment was reorganized and entered the Massachusetts Army as elements of Prescott ’ s Regiment , Thomas ' Regiment , Bridges ' Regiment , Nixon ' s Regiment and Johnathan Brewer ' s Regiment of the Massachusetts Line . The unit were redesignated on 1 January 1776 as the 6th Continental Regiment , the 13th Massachusetts Regiment , and the 23rd Continental Regiment of the Continental Line , Fought in the following campaigns : Battle of Lexington and Concord , Siege of Boston ( Bunker Hill ) , Battle of Long Island , Battle of Trenton , Battle of Princeton , Battle of Saratoga , Battle of Monmouth , and in New Jersey 1776 , New York 1776 , and Rhode Island 1778 . War of 1812 . The 181st Infantry is one of only nineteen Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812 . The Massachusetts militia was one of the largest , best equipped and best trained of any of the state militias , but support for the war in New England was lukewarm at best . As a consequence , no Massachusetts units were federalized until 1814 , although as state units they were active in guarding the state ' s coastline . Only after Great Britain burned Washington and generally increased its naval pressure on the East Coast did Massachusetts allow its militias to be mustered into federal service . Civil War . With the start of the Civil War the 6th Massachusetts ( Militia ) was ordered into active service for the defense of Washington in April 1861 . As it marched to the relief of the capitol , it was attacked by a pro - southern mob in Baltimore ( Pratt Street Riot ) . The regiment fought its way through , leaving four of its own dead on the streets of the city . On their arrival in Washington , they were greeted by President Lincoln , who shook Colonel Jones ' s hand and said , " Thank God , you have come . " They slept that night in the Capitol building . The 6th Massachusetts was the first armed and trained regiment to arrive in Washington . It was mustered into federal service on 22 April 1861 at Washington , D . C . , for three months service , and served in the defenses of Washington before being mustered out on 2 August 1861 at Boston . On 26 August 1861 , veterans of the 6th Mass . formed the 26th Mass . Infantry in Cambridge . This regiment served four years and was mustered out of service on 26 August 1865 in Savannah , GA . Fought in the following campaigns : Mississippi River Campaign , Battle of Petersburg , Shenandoah Valley Campaign . In 1862 , the 6th Mass . ( Militia ) recruited back up to strength and were again mustered into federal service between 31 August - 8 September 1862 . The regiment was stationed at Fort Monroe , Virginia and served at Deserted House , VA on 30 Jan . 1863 and the siege of Suffolk , VA in May 1863 . Private Joseph S . G . Sweatt of Company C was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Carsville , VA on 15 May 1863 . The citation reads : " When ordered to retreat this soldier turned and rushed back to the front , in the face of heavy fire of the enemy , in an endeavor to rescue his wounded comrades , remaining by them until overpowered and taken prisoner . " Mustered out on 3 June 1863 at Lowell . In July 1863 Company F was ordered to state service to suppress the Boston Draft Riots . Campaigns : Virginia 1862 , Virginia 1863 . The 6th Mass . ( Militia ) was again mustered into federal service , in July 1864 for 100 days service and did guard duty at Arlington Heights and at Fort Delaware before being mustered out on 27 October 1864 at Readville , Massachusetts and resumed state status . National Guard and overseas service . During the War with Spain , the unit mustered into federal service on 6 May 1896 at Framingham , Massachusetts . The 6th Massachusetts Regiment ( Spanish American War ) served with the Expeditionary Force in Puerto Rico . Mustered out on 21 January 1899 . ( The regiment additionally is entitled battle honors through the 104th Infantry ( 2nd Massachusetts ) for Santiago Campaign Battle of El Caney . ) The Land forces of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia were redesignated as the Massachusetts National Guard on 15 November 1907 . The 6th Mass . was mustered into federal service on 25 June 1916 at Framingham for Mexican Border Campaign and stationed at El Paso , TX , and mustered out between 10 – 15 November 1916 . World War I . The regiment was mustered again into federal service on 30 March 1917 for World War I . Soldiers from the 6th Massachusetts were transferred to form the regiments of the Yankee Division . The majority of the soldiers helped form the 104th Infantry Regiment . After the deployment of the Yankee Division the remaining soldiers of the 6th Mass . ( 15 officers and 279 enlisted men ) trained at Camp Wadsworth and formed the 4th Pioneer Infantry Regiment , commanded by Colonel Holton B . Perkins and filled to wartime strength with draftees . The pioneer regiments included such specialists as mechanics , carpenters , farriers and masons . They were supposed to work under the direction of the engineers to build roads , bridges , gun emplacements and camps " within the sound of the guns . " They received standard infantry training so that they could defend themselves , but there are very few documented instances of any pioneer troops unslinging their rifles . Once in France , the regiment was selected to be re - trained to form the 382nd Infantry Regiment . Before that transition could be executed the Fall Offensives of 1918 pushed the 4th Pioneer Infantry into service as engineer support and labor troops . The regiment was demobilized in February 1919 at Camp A . P . Hill , VA . Served in the following campaigns : Battle of Saint Mihiel , Meuse Argonne Offensive , and Battle of Lorraine 1918 . The regiment additionally is entitled battle honors through the 104th Infantry ( 2nd Massachusetts ) for Isle de France , Lorraine 1918 , and Champagne - Marne . The unit reorganized on 31 August 1921 as the 3rd Infantry Massachusetts National Guard . It was redesignated as the 181st Infantry and assigned to the 26th Division on 30 November 1921 with headquarters at Worcester , Massachusetts . World War II . The unit was inducted into federal service on 16 January 1941 . The 181st Infantry conducted training at Camp Edwards and took part in the Carolina Maneuvers from 28 September to 6 December 1941 . With the United States entry into World War II , the 181st was relieved from the 26th Division and assigned to the Eastern Coastal Defense Command . ( The 181st Infantry was replaced as part of the 26th Division by the 328th Infantry Regiment . The 181st Infantry was assigned to the Eastern Defense Command conducting coastal patrols from Higgins Beach , Maine to Watch Hill , RI to prevent the landing of German agents from U - Boats . The 181st Infantry was deactivated on 8 February 1944 and the soldiers were sent to Italy as infantry replacements in the 3rd , 34th and 36th Infantry Divisions ) . The 328th Infantry regiment fought across Europe with the 26th ( Yankee ) Infantry Division . Technical Sergeant Alfred L . Wilson was posthumously presented with the Medal of Honor for lifesaving care conducted under fire . The regiment is entitled battle honors through the 104th Infantry Regiment ( United States ) ( 2nd Massachusetts ) and the 328th Infantry Regiment for Northern France , Rhineland , Ardennes ( Battle of the Bulge ) , Central Europe and in the Army of Occupation in Austria . In 1947 the 181st Infantry was re - formed with headquarters at Worcester . ( The war record of the 328th Infantry was assigned to the 181st Infantry . ) Recent service and the Global War on Terror . In September 2003 the 1 - 181st Infantry Regiment deployed to Cuba in support of Joint Task Force Guantanamo . The unit was stationed at Camp America located on the United States Naval Station , Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . The battalion ' s mission was to conduct security and presence patrols in and around Camp Delta , the maximum security prison housing high value detainees from the Global War on Terror . September , 2005 , 1 - 181st Infantry mobilized as the lead element of Joint Task Force Yankee for rescue and security operations in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina . On 1 December 2005 , the 1st Battalion , 104th Infantry was deactivated and the remaining units were reconstituted and integrated into the 1st Battalion , 181st Infantry Regiment . In 2007 , elements of the 1 - 181 Infantry were mobilized for one year duty at the various locations in Iraq . Companies served as a rear area operations center , as well as providing security for facilities and personal protection for designated individuals . The 1 - 181st Infantry mobilized on 31 July 2010 for a year service at various sites throughout Afghanistan , providing security to Provincial Reconstruction Teams and bases throughout Kabul , in support of Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan . Campaign credit for Afghanistan Consolidation III ( 2010 – 11 ) and Transition I ( 2011 ) The 1st Battalion , 181st Infantry was awarded the Army Meritorious Unit Commendation for distinctly meritorious performance in counterinsurgency , support and combat operations in Afghanistan from October 2010 to July 2011 . Bibliography . Albertine , Connell . The Yankee Doughboy . Boston : Brandon , 1968 . Print . ( Retired general ’ s reminiscences of his experiences as a young officer with the 104th Infantry Regiment in France during WWI . ) American Battle Monuments Commission . 26th Division Summary of Operations in the World War . Washington D . C . : American Battle Monuments Commission , 1944 . Print . ( Pamphlet with large , fold - out , annotated maps that detail the combat operations of the YD in WWI . ) Benwell , Harry A . History of the Yankee Division . Boston : Cornhill , 1919 . Print . ( A comprehensive narrative history of the YD in WWI published immediately after the war . ) Brady , Edward . Georgie ! My Georgie ! : The First Greek - American to Win the Medal of Honor . Xlibris Books , 2005 . Print . ( A novelized form of the story of George Dilboy , Medal of Honor recipient from WWI . ) Cole , Hugh M . The Lorraine Campaign . Vol . The European Theater of Operations . Washington : Center of Military History , 1950 . Print . United States Army in World War II . ( one volume from the official U . S . Army History of WWII . Outlines the combat operations in the Lorraine in WWII . This was the initial sustained action by the YD in the war . ) Cole , Hugh M . The Ardennes : Battle of the Bulge . Vol . The European Theater of Operations . Washington : Center of Military History , 1965 . Print . United States Army in World War II . ( one volume from the official U . S . Army History of WWII . Outlines the combat operations in the Ardennes and the Battle of the Bulge in WWII . In this action the YD played a pivotal role in the defeat of the German offensive . ) Connole , Dennis A . The 26th Yankee Division on Coast Patrol Duty 1942 - 1943 . ( This book is a chronicle of the training and the stateside patrol duties of the YD prior to deployment to Europe from January 1941 to 1944 . It covers the story of the pre - Pearl Harbor training and maneuvers and it focuses on the 181st Infantry Regiment . ) Courtney Richard , Normandy to the Bulge : An American Infantry GI in Europe during World War II , Chicago : Southern Illinois Press , 2000 . ( A memoir which offers a view of the war in Europe from the point of view of a PFC . ) Egger , Bruce E . , and Lee M . Otts . G Company ' s War : Two Personal Accounts of the Campaigns in Europe , 1944 - 1945 . University of Alabama , 1998 . Print . ( Two soldiers give their personal accounts of service with the YD in WWII . These two were Mass . Guardsmen that were assigned to serve with the 328th Infantry . ) Fifield , James H . A History of the 104th U . S . Infantry AEF 1917 - 1919 . 1946 . Print . ( Springfield newspaper man wrote this comprehensive history of the 104th Infantry Regiment from the organization in Westfield from the existing Mass . National Guard , through WWI and re - deployment . ) George , Albert E . , and Edwin H . Cooper . Pictoral History of the Twenty - Sixth Division United States Army . Boston : Ball , 1920 . Print . ( A volume of Signal Corps photographs and a narrative history of the YD in WWI . Includes unit pictures down to the company level and a fold - out panoramic of the entire YD on review at Camp Devens in 1919 . ) Gissen , Max , ed . History of a Combat Regiment 1639 - 1945 . Salzburg , Austria , 1945 . Print . ( This is a theater - produced history of the 104th Infantry Regiment in WWII . It was created in Austria during occupation duty in 1945 and copies were distributed to all members of the regiment . ) Hardin , James N . New York to Oberplan . Nashville : McQuiddey Press , 1946 . Print . ( A staff officer ’ s view of WWII in Europe with the YD . ) Historical & Pictoral Review National Guard of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1939 . Baton Rouge : Army and Navy , 1939 . Print . ( This large yearbook , was a depression era project of the WPA . It includes a comprehensive historical sketch of the Mass . National Guard , and pictures and individual company histories for each unit . ) McKinney , Carolyn . The Gentle Giant of the 26th Division . Terra Alta , WV : Headline Books , 1994 . Print . ( the story of Technical Sergeant 5 Alfred Wilson , a Medal of Honor recipient from the 328th IN of the YD in WWII . It is written by Wilson ’ s niece , based on his letters from the war . ) Palladino , Ralph A . , ed . History of a Combat Regiment 1639 - 1945 . Baton Rouge : Army and Navy , 1960 . Print . ( This was a re - editing of the theater produced pamphlet of the same name . It was produced for distribution to 104th Infantry Veterans . It uses the same narrative and maps as the 1945 product , but augments them with collected personal photos and U . S . Signal Corps photos to create a yearbook - style history . ) Passega , General . Le Calvaire De Verdun . Paris : Charled Levauzelle , 1927 . Print . ( This book is a history of the battles around Verdun in WWI written by the French Corps Commander that commanded the YD during the early campaigns of WWI . It includes descriptions of the actions of the YD in the Toul Sector and the actions of the 104th Infantry at Apremont . ) Sibley , Frank P . With the Yankee Division in France . Norwood , MA : Little Brown and , 1919 . Print . ( A Boston newspaper man who served as an “ embedded reporter ” with the YD from the founding throughout WWI . ) Taylor , Emerson G . New England in France 1917 - 1919 . Boston : Houghton Mifflin , 1920 . Print . ( A narrative history and another of the trio of volumes on the YD in the war published by newspaper men immediately following the war . ) Westbrook , Stillman F . Those Eighteen Months . Hartford : Case Lockwood and Brainard , 1934 . Print . ( This is a personal printing of war letters by the commander of the 104th Machine Gun Company in WWI . )