25th Infantry Regiment (United States)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=25th Infantry Regiment


caption=
country=USA
allegiance=Federal
type=Regiment
branch=Infantry
dates=June 27, 1812 - March 3, 1815
1861 - July 28, 1866
November 1, 1869 - February 3, 1946
specialization=
command_structure=
size=
current_commander=
garrison=
ceremonial_chief=
nickname=
motto=
colors=
march=
mascot=
battles=War of 1812
American Civil War
Indian Wars
World War I
World War II
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_label=
identification_symbol_2=
identification_symbol_2_label=US Regiments
previous=24th Infantry Regiment
next=26th Infantry Regiment

History

The first unit to carry this designation was formed June 27, 1812 and disbanded March 3, 1815. The unit participated in the War of 1812 at Chrystler's Fields, Upper Canada, November 11, 1813; Chippewa Falls, U. C., July 5, 1814, and Niagara Falls (Lundy's Lane) U. C., July 25,1814.

The second 25th Infantry was organized in 1861 as the 2nd Battalion of the 16th Infantry, one of nine new "three-battalion" regiments of regulars, each battalion containing eight companies of infantry, in contrast to the original ten regular regiments of infantry, which were organized on the traditional ten-company line.

Following the Civil War, the Army was reorganized by Congress on July 28, 1866, and the 16th was divided into three regiments, each battalion receiving two additional companies and being organized along traditional lines. The 1st Battalion retained the designation of the 16th Infantry, while the 2nd Battalion became the 25th Infantry and the 3rd Battalion the 34th Infantry. The 25th Infantry was consolidated into the 18th Infantry on March 3, 1869, when a reduction of the Army from 45 to 25 regiments resulted in the 25th's designation being that of one of two Negro regiments.

The 25th Regiment of Infantry (Colored) (one of the Buffalo Soldier regiments) was organized on 1 November 1869 from the consolidation of the 39th and 40th Infantry Regiments. All the enlisted soldiers were black, either veterans of the U.S. Colored Troops or freed slaves.

In World War II the 25th Infantry Regiment (Colored) was an organic component of the 93rd Infantry Division (Colored) and served in the Pacific Theater of Operations. The Regiment departed San Francisco on January 24 1944 and arrived on Guadalcanal in echelons between February 7 and March 5 1944. From there the regiment was transferred to Bougainville and attached to the Americal Division to take part in offensive operations against Japanese forces on that island in April and May of the same year. From May 26 to June 21 the regiment was stationed on the Green Islands where it received further training and was employed for the construction of defensive fortifications and installations. From November 10 1944 to March 30 1945 the 25th Infantry Regiment was involved in defensive actions around Finschafen New Guinea. The regiment's final transfer during World War II was to Morotai Island where it arrived by April 12 1945 where it once again participated in offensive operations until the end of the war. For World War II the 25th Infantry Regiment (Colored) received Campaign Credit for the Northern Solomons, Bismarck Archipelago and New Guinea. The Regiment was inactivated at Camp Stoneman California on February 3 1946.

Campaigns

*1st Formation:
**War of 1812
*2nd Formation:
**American Civil War (as 2nd Battalion 16th Infantry)
**Indian Wars 1866-69 (as 25th Infantry)
*3rd Formation:
**Indian Wars 1869-1890
**Spanish American War
**World War II

References

* World War II Order of Battle, Shelby S. Stanton, Galahad Books - New York, 1991, ISBN 0-88365-775-9
* Buffalo Soldier Regiment: History of the Twenty-fifth United States Infantry By John H. Nankivell, ISBN 10: 0803283792

External links

* [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/R&H/R&H-25IN.htm U.S. Army regimental history for the 25th]