115th Infantry Regiment ( United States ) The 115th Infantry Regiment , Maryland Army National Guard was an infantry regiment of the United States Army . It traced its roots back to the American Revolutionary War , although its official U . S . Army lineage begins in 1881 . The units to which the 115th Regiment claims lineage served in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War , but the 115th itself was only credited with service in World War I , World War II , and the Global War on Terror . Prior to the reorganization into the 58th Brigade Combat Team , the 1 – 115th was part of the Third Brigade , 29th Infantry Division ( Light ) . In 2006 , the 115th was consolidated ( merged ) with the 175th Infantry Regiment . As a result of this consolidation , it no longer exists as a separate regiment . Missions . The 1 – 115th IN had two major missions : Organization . HHC . The Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 1 – 115 Infantry , was located in Silver Spring , Maryland . While the rifle companies made up the bulk of the personnel and combat power of the battalion , the headquarters company was made up of specialties that extend and expand the capabilities of the battalion . It leads , supports , sustains , and protects . Included in the headquarters company were : A Company . Alpha Company , 1 – 115 Infantry , located in Frederick , Maryland , was an Infantry Rifle Company . Included in the company were : B Company . Bravo Company , 1 – 115 Infantry , located in Olney , Maryland , was an Infantry Rifle Company . Included in the company were : C Company . Charlie Company , 1 – 115 Infantry , located in Greenbelt , Maryland , was an Infantry Rifle Company . Included in the company were : History . The 115th Infantry has long claimed lineage and honors that have not been recognized by the U . S . Army Center of Military history . The unit ' s official lineage and honors certificate only recognizes lineage extending back to 1881 , while the regiment has traditionally held that it was descended from Cresap ' s Rifles , a company of infantry raised in 1775 . The mismatch stems from a lineage system unique in the U . S . armed forces to the Army National Guard , which requires continuous militia presence in a particular community or , if a unit is moved , proof that the same members served in the unit at both locations . Because of a lack of support for militia units in the 1870s , many , including the First Maryland ( predecessor to the 115th ) ceased to exist as organized militia units . Army National Guard lineage rules state that any unit that becomes inactive has its lineage terminated , and that such lineage cannot be " resurrected , " even if a unit with identical designation is later established . Revolutionary War . The 115th Infantry claims lineage back to the earliest militia units formed to protect the frontier of western Maryland . The birthdate of the unit , 14 June 1775 , is also the birthdate of the United States Army . The first two companies to leave Maryland were assembled in Frederick in the summer of 1775 under the command of Captains Cresap and Price ; they were organized in response to the Continental Congress ' call to active duty . They left Frederick in August and marched in 21 days to report to General Washington in September to support Washington ' s efforts to drive the British out of Boston . These personnel later became part of the 1st Maryland Regiment , " Maryland 400 " or " Maryland Line , " who repeatedly charged a numerically superior British force during the Battle of Long Island , sustaining heavy casualties , but allowing General Washington to successfully evacuate the bulk of his troops to Manhattan . This action is commemorated in Maryland ' s nickname , the " Old Line State . " Civil War . During the Civil War , two First Maryland Infantry ( USA ) regimental infantry units were organized : The 1st Regiment Maryland Volunteer Infantry ( USA ) , commanded by Colonel John R . Kenly , and the 1st Maryland Infantry ( CSA ) , commanded by Colonel Bradley T . Johnson , constituted the major part of the forces engaged at the Battle of Front Royal on 23 May 1862 . During this battle , in which the Confederates were successful , Colonel Kenly gave utterance to the famous command , " Rally round the Flag , " which is to this day the motto of the 115th Regiment . This was the only time in United States military history that two regiments of the same numerical designation and from the same state engaged each other in battle . The 1st Maryland Infantry , CSA had originally been the Baltimore - based Fifth Regiment , but that unit was re - designated when it went south to join the Confederacy . 1880s to 1910s . A direct descendant of this regiment was organized 29 September 1881 as the First Battalion of Infantry , Maryland Army National Guard , from existing independent companies at Hagerstown and Frederick , Maryland . This is the date of organization officially recognized as the start of the regiment ' s lineage by the U . S . Army . It was expanded and redesignated First Regiment of Infantry on 7 May 1886 by the consolidation of the First Battalion of Infantry with several more independent companies of infantry throughout the state . The unit mustered into federal service 11 May 1898 as the First Maryland Infantry Regiment , U . S . Volunteers , and was assigned to the Second Army Corps during the Spanish - American War . The regiment was mustered out of Federal Service 15 March 1899 without serving outside the continental United States . On 28 June 1916 the regiment was again called into active service and saw duty at Eagle Pass , Texas during the Mexican Border Incident . Two of the battalion commanders who served during this period were Majors Milton A . Reckord ( future Adjutant General , State of Maryland ) and D . John Markey ( future regimental commander ) . The unit was mustered out of federal service on 4 November 1916 . First World War . During the First World War the First Maryland was consolidated with the Fourth and Fifth Maryland Infantry Regiments to form the 115th Infantry Regiment . The 115th became one of the four regiments brought together into the 29th Infantry Division , which was formed in July 1917 , at Sea Girt , New Jersey . The division wasn ' t even a year old when it received its baptism of fire in France . During the Meuse - Argonne offensive they would fight for 21 straight days , moving over , throwing back elements of six enemy divisions , and suffering a staggering 4 , 781 casualties in the process . After the Armistice was signed , the Twenty - Ninth Division was brought home in July 1919 and dissipated . The 1st Battalion , 115th Infantry , is authorized two campaign streamer s for its service in World War I : one for Alsace and one for Meuse - Argonne . The next time the division would be reformed was for the maneuvers in 1936 . Following the First World War , the regiments returned to state status and assumed their previous designations , First Maryland and Fifth Maryland ( the Fourth Regiment was not re - established after the war ) . Second World War . On 3 February 1941 , the First Maryland Infantry Regiment , Maryland Army National Guard , was inducted into federal service as the 115th Infantry Regiment at Frederick , Maryland as part of the second partial mobilization of the National Guard for World War II , and then moved to Fort George G . Meade on 18 February 1941 to join the 29th Infantry Division . The regiment completed in - processing , traded in its equipment for modern equipment , and started to repeat its division level training . It was then transferred to the A . P . Hill Military Reservation on 22 April 1942 to participate in maneuvers , and then moved to the Carolina Maneuvers to participate in large unit maneuvers on 8 July 1942 . It then moved on to Camp Blanding to fill its empty personnel slots on 19 August 1942 , and then staged at Camp Kilmer on 20 September 1942 , and shipped out from the New York Port of Embarkation on 5 October 1942 on the RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth . They arrived in England on 11 October 1942 , and then were attached to the 1st Infantry Division in preparation for the D - Day invasion . They moved with the 1st Infantry Division from 2 June 1944 , and remained with 1st Infantry Division until 7 June 1944 , when they returned to the 29th Infantry Division for further operations . Their participation in the Normandy Campaign continued until it was over on 24 July 1944 . They immediately moved into the Northern France Campaign on 25 July 1944 , which continued until it was over on 14 September 1944 . During this period the 115th Infantry Regiment was engaged in one of the war ' s forgotten chapters , " The Battle of Brest " . The Battle for Brest was one of the fiercest battles fought during Operation Cobra , the Allied breakout of Normandy which began on 27 July 1944 , during the Battle of Normandy during World War II . Part of the Allied plan for the invasion of mainland Europe called for the capture of port facilities , in order to ensure the timely delivery of the enormous amount of war material required to supply the invading Allied forces ( it was estimated that the 37 Allied divisions to be on the continent by September 1944 would need 26 , 000 tons of supplies each day ) . The main port the Allied forces hoped to seize and put into their service was Brest , in northwestern France . Brest also served as a major German U - Boat base from 18 June 1940 until its surrender to U . S forces during the Brittany Campaign . " Officers from the 115th Regimental Combat Team of the 29th Infantry Division ( Photo Taken September 1944 ) . From Left to Right ; Lt Col John P . Cooper ( 110th Field Artillery ) ; Capt William Bruning ; Lt Col Louis Smith ; Major Glover Johns ( VMI class of 1931 ) ; Major Anthony Miller , Jr . ; Major Harold Perkins ; Major Randolph Millholland ; Major William Bratton . " " Generalmajor Hans von der Mosel , Konteradmiral Otto Kähler and other German officers surrender at Brest . " The 115th Infantry then started participation in the Rhineland Campaign on 15 September 1944 , whereupon the 115th Infantry crossed from France to Belgium and Holland both on 27 September 1944 , and entered Germany on 30 September 1944 . This campaign continued unabated until 21 March 1945 , and the 115th Infantry did not take part in the Ardennes Campaign . With the end of the Rhineland Campaign , the 115th Infantry moved to the Central Europe Campaign on 22 March 1945 , which continued until the end of Hostilities , which took place on 8 May 1945 , but the campaign was not declared terminated until 11 May 1945 . The 115th Infantry was on occupation duty at Bremen , Germany on VE Day , and this continued through 1946 . The regiment returned to the New York Port of Embarkation on 16 January 1946 , and mustered out at Camp Kilmer the next day . The 115th Regiment sustained 5 , 948 casualties during the fighting in Europe . Campaign streamers for Normandy ( with arrowhead ) , North France , Rhineland , and Central Europe were added to the colors . Additional decorations included a distinguished unit streamer embroidered " St . Laurent - Sur - Mer , " a streamer in the colors of the French Croix du Guerre with palms embroidered " St . Laurent - Sur - Mer , " and , for the First Battalion , a streamer in the colors of the French Croix du Guerre with Silver Star embroidered " St . Lo . " Post - War to Present . After the war the 29th Infantry Division came home ; however , unlike the end of WWI , the division was retained as a National Guard division . In 1968 , due to changing requirements , the division ' s colors were retired and its elements broken up into separate brigades . The 115th became part of the 28th Division , the Keystone Division of Pennsylvania . Later the 1 – 115th and other Maryland units were organized into the 58th Infantry Brigade , whose units were located entirely in Maryland . In 1984 requirements changed again , prompting the reactivation of the 29th Infantry Division as a new , streamlined " Light " Infantry Division , ready to meet the demands of an ever - changing national defense , now and into the 21st century . The division was reactivated on 5 Oct 1985 , and included the 115th and other historic regiments from Maryland and Virginia . As part of this reactivation , the 58th Infantry Brigade became the 3rd Brigade , 29th Infantry Division . Elements of the brigade included the 1st and 2nd Battalions , 115th Infantry . In October 2001 , in the aftermath of terrorist attacks on the continental United States , the battalions of the 115th were called to active federal service as part of Operation Noble Eagle . The 115th carried out critical security duties , protecting US federal installations from threats to the national security . On 6 January 2005 , Company B , 1 – 115th Infantry , mobilized again for active duty as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom . They were assigned as part of the 48th Infantry Brigade ( Mechanized ) , based in Georgia , for this operation . They spent a year in Iraq . For the first 5 months they conducted operations in a small town called Saba Al boor north of Baghdad . For the remaining 7 months they performed convoy security operations out of the Marine base at Al Asad . In the beginning of 2006 , the elements of the 115th were reorganized , along with the rest of the 3rd Brigade , 29th Infantry Division , as part of the 58th Infantry Brigade Combat Team . In August 2006 the colors for the 115th Infantry Regiment were cased and its lineage consolidated ( merged ) with that of the 175th Infantry Regiment ( Fifth Maryland ) . Since 2003 the heritage of the regiment lives on along Route 15 through Maryland , where the Maryland Senate dedicated it as the 115th Infantry Regiment Memorial Highway .