Tag: US Engineer Battalion (Company A)

Wikipedia says: The 1st Engineer Battalion is a unit of the United States Army with a record of accomplishment in both peace and war; an organization that provides sustained engineer support across the full spectrum of military operations. The 1st Engineer Battalion is the oldest and most decorated engineer battalion in the US Army, tracing its lineage to the original Company of Sappers and Miners organized at West Point, New York in 1846.

The Battalion nickname is “Diehard”.

Origins and the Mexican–American War

The battalion’s history can be traced back to 15 May 1846 when a company of miners, sappers, and pontoniers was formed at West Point, New York. Alpha Company, 1st Engineer Battalion is that company’s direct descendant. The battalion has received 67 decorations and campaign streamers and eight foreign awards. Company A served during the Mexican–American War of 1846, participating in the Veracruz campaign and charging up the heights of Chapultepec in Mexico City.

During the war, three future Civil War generals, among them George McClellan and P.G.T. Beauregard served as lieutenants in Alpha Company, and the company worked closely with then-Captain Robert E. Lee, an engineer aide to General Winfield Scott.

The American Civil War

With initiation of hostilities, the Company was expanded into the “Battalion of Engineer Troops”. On 31 December 1861, the battalion was officially designated as “The United States Engineer Battalion“, and was assigned to the Engineer Brigade of the Union Army of the Potomac through the remainder of the war. The battalion earned ten campaign streamers. The battalion fought at Antietam, bridged the Rappahannock River six times at Fredericksburg, breached fortifications at Petersburg and was present at the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox. The first Company C was attritted during the Civil War. In 1865, Company E was redesignated Company C, replacing it.

Following the cessation of hostilities, on 1 July 1866, The United States Engineer Battalion was redesignated the “1st Battalion of Engineers”.

The battalion’s first Sergeant Major, Frederick W. Gerber, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his 25 years of service to the battalion, which included the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.