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The Last of Nine New Infantry Regiments
The Nineteenth Infantry was organized in conformity with the President's proclamation of May 4, 1861, and the officers were assigned to the regiment in pursuance of General Order No. 33, A. G. O., dated June 18, 1861, and revised by G. O. No. 65 of the same series. One colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, three majors, sixteen captains, twenty-two first lieutenants and two second lieutenants, were named as the officers of the regiment. Seven of them were officers of the regular service, and were transferred to the Nineteenth with an advancement of one grade; ten were from the volunteers; twenty-six from civil life and two second lieutenants from the ranks of the regular service.
 Major (Brevet Lt.-Col.) Edward R. S. Canby, 10th Infantry, was appointed colonel, and the headquarters of the regiment was established at Indianapolis, Indiana, where Lieut.-Col. Edward A. King issued his first general order, dated July 10, 1861, assuming command of the regiment. First Lieutenant Egbert Phelps was designated as acting adjutant and First Lieutenant Edward Moale was appointed quartermaster. Colonel King also issued orders establishing recruiting rendezvous in eleven different cities in Indiana, and one in Cincinnati, Ohio, and an officer was designated to take charge of each. The senior major, Stephen D. Carpenter, reported for duty August 7, and was assigned to the command of the recruits.
Company A, 1st Battalion, was organized August 24, and at the end of August the regiment consisted of one organized company and 76 unassigned recruits. The first duty it was called upon to perform was on the 1st, when the Governor of Indiana called upon the commanding officer for assistance in preserving peace in the city of Indianapolis. The unassigned officers were ordered to report to Major Carpenter and he was ordered, with Company A and the unassigned recruits to the circle. Their presence seems to have been all that was required to preserve order. While they remained at Indianapolis the unassigned officers and recruits were often put on duty guarding prisoners and escorting them to different northern prisons.
 Companies A and B of the 1st Battalion being sent to Camp Nevin, Kentucky in October of 1861. There they joined the 15th and 16th U.S. as part of Major General Don Carlos Buell’s, Army of the Ohio. In February 1862, Companies C and D joined their sister companies near Munfordville, Kentucky. It was at this time that the 19th was designated a separate battalion under the command of Major Stephen D. Carpenter. Carpenter was a member of the West Point Class of 1840 and a veteran of the Seminole and Mexican Wars. In February the Army of the Ohio marched on Nashville, occupying it on March 2, 1862. Following this the army was ordered to join General U.S. Grant’s army at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River to assist in the drive on Corinth, Mississippi.
We Were Engaged Hotly By The Enemy
On April 6, 1862, Grant’s army was attacked at dawn by Albert S. Johnson’s Army of the Mississippi. The Battle of Shiloh began in earnest. In the ensuing day of confused and vicious fighting Grant’s army was nearly driven to the banks of the Tennessee River. Throughout the night units form Buell’s army were transported across the Tennessee River to reinforce Grant and launch a counterattack.
 On the morning on April 7, the Regulars moved out from Pittsburg Landing along the Corinth Road to fight their first major battle of the Civil War, The 19th, consisting of companies A, B, C, and D, and E were, per Major Carpenter’s report, “under fire from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.” During this long day of fighting the 19th took part in stopping a Confederate advance across the Review Field. As Major Carpenter noted, “we were engaged hotly by the enemy in front, and after hard fighting, in which our own and the enemy’s forces nearly came together, he finally gave way and fled.” The 19th also recaptured a 24 and a 12 pound howitzer that had been taken from the Union forces in the first day of the battle.
The 19th then took part on Henry Halleck’s turlte-like advance on Corinth, Mississippi throughout the month of May. During the months of June through August, following the capture of Corinth, the 19th was part of Buell’s abortive campaign to capture Chattanooga via an advance along the Memphis and Charlestown Railroad which ran through northern Mississippi and Alabama,
When Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee invaded Kentucky in the fall of 1862, Buell sent his army in pursuit. The Kentucky campaign’s high point came at the Battle of Perryville on October 8, 1862. While the 19th was not involved in the battle, it did take part in the pursuit of Bragg’s army out of Kentucky, seeing action at Dog Walk. The battalion then marched to Nashville arriving there on October 17,1862. It remained in the Nashville vicinity until, as part of the re-designated Army of the Cumberland, now under the command of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, it took part in the advance on Bragg’s army at Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The Regulars Were There
 When Rosecrans took command of the Army of the Cumberland he immediately decided on the creation of a Regular Brigade, and ordered that the four Regular regiments in the army be consolidated into one brigade. These regiments were the 1/15th, 1/16th, 1 and 2 /18th, and 1/19th. Battery H, 5th US.... Artillery was assigned as the brigade’s battery. Lt. Col. O.L. Sheperd, who most recently had commanded the 18th US. was placed in command of the brigade. The brigade became part of the 3rd Division commanded by Maj. Gen.Lovell H Rousseau in Maj. Gen. George Thomas’ Center Wing.
On December 26, Rosecrans advanced his army south from Nashville towards the town of Murfreesboro. It was here, just outside of town near Stones River on the morning of News Year Eve 1862 that Braxton Bragg’s army slammed into Rosecrans right flank at 7:00 a.m., on hour before Rosecrans was to unleash an identical assault on Bragg’s right flank. The Regulars were in reserve with the remainder of Rousseau’s division on the Nashville Turnpike - the army’s line of retreat, the division was ordered into a strand of cedar trees in support of the crumbling Union right. The 19th was posted on the left of a rough road that had been cut by Rosecrans Pioneer Brigade through the cedars. It was not long before Rousseau was forced to pull his division out of the woods. The Confederates were turning his right flank, and his left flank was hanging in the air with the departure of Sheridan’s division who, having expended their ammunition, was forced to retire. The Regulars fell back across a cotton field to a knoll situated near the turnpike where the divisional artillery, including Battery H was located. Artillery fire form these batteries broke up the oncoming Confederates, but Rosecrans needed time to establish a new line of battle along the turnpike, therefore he ordered the Regulars back into the cedars to buy him that time.
The 1.383 veterans moved into the woods, unsupported and well aware what was required of them. In the intervening thirty minutes of heavy fighting the Regulars stopped a Confederate force of 4,500 men, bloodied it badly, and caused the attackers to expend a great portion of their energy against the Regulars in those woods.
Reuben Jones, a private in the 19th US. wrote: “We laid down at orders and lay with our guns cocked and fingers on our triggers. But a minute more and the butternuts came 6 deep double quick on us, but ah! The Regulars were there. The Regulars were there, we poured such an unerring shower of bullets into their advancing columns, they returned fire ... We were only about 100 feet apart  and in the dark cedar woods, they couldn’t drive us, it was to much for flesh and blood. In quick succession we poured volley after volley into the wasps and if it was any satisfaction to our dying to see our enemy bite the dust they had it.”
As the Regular Brigade’s battle in the cedars turned from a delaying action into one of self-preservation it became evident to those in command that it must fall back or be overwhelmed. When the order came to fall back, the 19th did so emerging from the cedars and crossing a cotton field. Major Carpenter, not wanting to give the enemy easy targets yelled at his men, “Scatter and run boys!” Carpenter who was mounted and did not wish to outpace his men was shot off his horse and killed. Private Joseph Rollin Prentice, E/1/19, recovered Major Carpenter’s body and for his action he received the Medal of Honor (see box below). When the survivors reformed along the railroad tracks near the turnpike only 806 were present for duty. The Confederate assault, when it resumed, met a line of solid blue Union that easily repulsed it.
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 Joseph R. Prentice, born 6 December 1838, received the Medal Of Honor for action at Stones River, TN on 31 December, 1862.
He was issued his medal on 3 February, 1894. His citation reads as follows:
“Voluntarily rescued the body of his commanding officer, who had fallen mortally wounded. He brought off the field his mortally wounded leader under direct and constant rifle fire.”
Joseph Prentice’s Medal is on display in the museum located at Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro, TN.
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A Big Discussion with Guns
Following the Battle of Stones River the Regular Brigade remained in camp near Murfreesboro until June 24, 1863. During this period the 19th reorganized, with Captain August Plummer taking command of the battalion. It was during this time that the Army of the Cumberland also reorganized with the Center, Right, and Left wings of the army being renamed the 14th, 20th, and 21st corps respectively.
From June 24 through September 9, 1863 Rosecrans began his campaign to drive Bragg’s army out of middle Tennessee and capture Chattanooga. The Tullahoma campaign succeeded in levering Bragg out of his defensive positions and saw Rosecrans army occupy Chattanooga on September 9. During this champaign the 19th took part in the charge that cleared the hills beyond Hoover’s Gap of Confederate forces, and the march on Chattanooga. During this time, Captain Plummer was replaced by Major Samuel K. Dawson as commander of the battalion.
Bragg, his army now located at Lafayette Georgia and reinforced by elements of James Longstreet’s Coprs form the Army of Northern Virginia, was determined to defeat Rosecrans and recapture Chattanooga. On September 18 his army encountered Union cavalry and mounted infantry and skirmishing broke out.  Rosecrans realizing that Bragg was on the move ordered his army to consolidate at Chickamauga Creek, 12 miles south of Chattanooga. The 19th was preparing to go into camp on the afternoon of the 18th when, as Lt. Carpenter describes in a letter to home: “...orders came for us to supply ourselves with three days rations and get ready to march immediately. We started at dark towards Chattanooga. The rebels were going there too and we had to try and get there first. We marched all night tired and sleepy and suffering from the cold as the nights are very chilly. At daylight on the 19th we were made aware that we were likely to have a quarrel with the rebels as to who should pass first, in other words we knew was to be a “big discussion with guns.”
Around 9:0 a.m. on the 19th the Battle of Chickamauga began. The Regular Brigade, along with Scribner’s and Brannan’s forces advanced towards the Confederates. The 19th was posted on the left of the brigade line with Company G deployed as skirmishers. Lt. Ayres of the 19th stated in his report that “...we engaged the enemy and repulsed him, pursuing direct to the front some three-fourths of a mile and halted. Here the Ninth Texas (rebel) Regiment, passing along our front from left to right received our fire, which caused them to break and run, and many came into our lines as prisoners.” At 10:00 a.m. Brig. Gen. Baird ordered the brigade to change front and face south, in order to meet a Confederate Division that was believed to have crossed at Alexandria’s Bridge. Before the brigade could complete the change, and with only the 16th U.S. and Battery H in position it was attacked and as reported by Gen. Baird, “the enemy like a torrent, fell upon the Regular Brigade before it got into position, took its battery, and after a struggle in which whole battalions were wiped out of existence ...”
Battery H reformed 40 yards in the rear of the battery’s original location and after shifting position again, went into bivouac in line of battle for the rest of the day and into the night. The brigade then fell back around 2:00 a.m. and was placed on the left of the First Brigade of the First Division.
Dawn of September 20 found the Regulars anchoring the left of the Army of the Cumberland’s line of battle. The brigade formed into four lines and the battalions hastily breastworks of logs and rails.At about 7:00 a.m. Brig. Gen. Beatty’s brigade came up in support on the left of the Regulars but they, in turn, were hit by Confederate troops of Gen. Leonidias “Bishop” Polk’s wing as it attempted to flank the Union left.
The fighting Lt. Ayres stated: “... commenced on skirmish line about 7:00 a.m. Nineteenth Infantry, Capt. E.L. Smith commanding, formed second line, Lieutenants Curtis and Carpenter, with Company H as skirmishers one-quarter mile to the left. The action continued without slight pauses, until about noon, from which time until 5 p.m.  the attacks on the position occupied were almost continuous ... At no time during any attack was the battalion unengaged. The attacks in the afternoon coming from front, flank, and rear...” Author Carpenter remarked that “ ... we went into battle with 200 men and 14 officers. Sunday night found us with 45 men and 3 officers.”
During this fighting, Lt. James H. Gageby, company commander of A / 1 / 19th U.S., was wounded and taken prisoner. He had one failed escape attempt and would remain in Libby prison for the remainder of the war. (Gagby is pictured at the right as a sergeant.)
At around 5:00 p.m. the order was given to fall back. Gen. Baird commented that “As my men fell back the enemy pressed them ... They reached the woods west of the road in as good order as could be expected.” The survivors of the 19th, like most of the army, fell back in the direction of Rossville and ultimately to Chattanooga. While this retreat was taking place, Maj. Gen. George Thomas organized a defense on the hills near the Snodgrass farm. This defensive position repulsed repeated assaults, allowing the remainder of the Army of the Cumberland to make good its escape. Thomas then abandoned this position at nightfall and followed the rest of the army to Chattanooga.
Chattanooga and the Atlanta Champaign
From September 24 to November 24 the Army of the Cumberland entrenched in Chattanooga, was subjected to a relative state of siege by Bragg’s troops. During this time significant changes took place within the army and the brigade. Rosecrans was replaced by U.S. Grant, and the Regular Brigade having suffered tremendous casualties and finding it difficult to replace its losses was reorganized. The regular battalions along with the 18th Ohio, 69th Ohio, 19th Illinois, and 11th Michigan Volunteers became the Second Brigade, First Division, 14th Corps. The brigade was divided into demi-brigades, the Regulars forming one and the volunteers the other.
Lt Author Carpenter commented in a letter home on the hardships endured by the men: “Most of the men are short of clothing yet they complain not, as long as they have enough to cover their nakedness ... I issued all the clothing I could get off the Quartermaster to the two companies that I commanded, and had just two shirts to issue to 16 men ... We have been very short of provisions here, men boiling acorns adn parching corn. Yet they had rather suffer thus then leave Chattanooga and have to get it again at the price we paid at Chickamauga.”
On November 25, as part of Grant’s plan to defeat Bragg’s army, the Army of the Cumberland assaulted  Missionary Ridge. The 19th preceded by skirmishers advanced in line of battle and moved to the base of the ridge under artillery fire, the first line of rifle-pits were overrun and the assault continued until the army had taken the Confederate breastworks at the summit of the ridge in one of the most spectacular charges of the war. The brigade bivouacked on the ridge and continued the advance the next morning, at which time the 16th and 19th U.S. discovered, “three brass artillery pieces of Ferguson’s battery.” The Regulars brought in one gun, and the 11th Michigan recovered the remaining two guns
The 19th returned to camp in Chattanooga on September 29, 1863 and remained in camp until February 22, 1864, replacing its losses, rebuilding and performing the usual duties of a regiment in garrison. During this period of time the 19th was commanded by Captain James Mooney, Captain Lewis Wilson, and Captain Egbert Phelps and finally Captain Mooney.
The beginning of the year 1864 found the regiment without a single field officer for duty either in the field or at regimental headquarters, but on March 7th, Major Lugenbeel reported at Fort Wayne and assumed command of the regiment. The battalion was in camp near Chattanooga, under the command of a captain, where it remained until February 22d, when it started out with its brigade and division on a reconnoissance, supporting the cavalry, and marched towards Ringgold, Georgia. The marching was in presence of the enemy and skirmishing was kept up constantly. On the 28th, Lieutenant Robert Ayres, the battalion adjutant, while posting pickets at Taylor's Ridge, was captured by the enemy's cavalry. On March 13th the battalion was engaged, in the battle of Resaca, Georgia, and on the 28th in the battle of New Hope Church, near Dallas, Ga. The companies had now become so much reduced, that Captain Mooney, the battalion commander, organized the battalion into four companies, making A, B and E the first company; D, second company; C and F, third company; G and H, and A, 2d Battalion, fourth company. Previous to this consolidation in  the field Company D had been reorganized at regimental headquarters with 63 enlisted men, and Captain Lewis Wilson had been assigned to the command of it.
On May 3, 1864 the 19th marched from camp at Graysville, to Ringgold, Georgia and began its final champaign; Sherman’s march on Atlanta. From May 7 to May 13 the 19th took part in the advance on Tunnel Hill, Buzzard Roost, Rocky Face Ridge, and Sugar Valley. On May 14 is saw action in the opening phases of the Battle of Resaca. From may 18 through May 23 the 19th was posted as part of the guard for the divisional and corps train. Following this duty the battalion moved to Pumpkin Vine Creek and then to Big Shanty where it provided infantry support for artillery batteries from June 6 to 18. June 22 the 19th relieved part of Whitaker’s brigade in the trenches near Kennesaw Mountain. During this time four men were killed and three wounded. On July 2 the battalion took part in a series of marches in pursuit of the Confederates as they fell back towards Atlanta. On July 20 the 19th arrived at Peachtree Creek where it dug in. The siege of Atlanta had begun.
Doomed City
On July 22 the regulars marched within two miles of Atlanta and built works that they held until ordered to a position near Utoy Creek on August 4. The 19th stayed in this location until August 18 when it was withdrawn to assist Judson Kilpatrick’s Calvary in cutting the Montgomery Railroad. It wass during this time that Lt. Carpenter wrote home, “We have not taken the ‘doomed city’ yet. But are closing in a manner that is sure if slow”. August 29 found the Regulars wrecking a portion of the West Point Railroad by heating the  rails and bending them, and burning the ties. On September 1 the Confederate positions near Jonesboro were assaulted. The 19th was detailed as skirmishers. While screening the brigade front it, it advanced on the rebel works located on the crest on the hill. Alone, the brigade with Companies D,F,G,H, and A / 2 / 19, stormed this line with the 19th on the right of the advance. As the companies moved up the ridge Captain Mooney detached two companies to assault a series of rifle pits from which oblique fire was being sent down the brigade line. These companies handled this threat and returned with 12 prisoners. The brigade captured the forward line held by Brig. Gen. Daniel Govan’s Arkansas brigade but the main line still lay ahead. At this point a brigade from Gen. Baird’s division led by Baird himself conducted a successful follow-on assault as the Regulars aided the assault with rifle fire from the position they had just won. Baird’s assault succeeded not only in breaking Govan’s line but also in shattering the Orphan Brigade on Govan’s right. Following the assault Gen. Baird mad a simple, direct statement about the Regulars advance, “No troops ever fought better or more bravely.” The 19th marched to Jonesboro and remained there until September 4 when it moved to a camp near Atlanta.
The last two years of hard fighting and campaigning had turned the 19th and her sister regiments in hollow shells of themselves. The Regulars were finished as a fighting force, and on September 28, 1864 the remnants left Atlanta by train bound for Chattanooga. The brigade arrived there on September 30 and marched to the summit of Lookout Mountain.
List or Men Who Served in The 19th United States Infantry
Unpleasant Reconstruction Duty
In August, 1865, the battalion marched from Lookout Mountain to Chattanooga, and from that point was transferred by rail to Augusta, GA. During the month of October, Companies D and E, 2d Battalion were organized and sent from Fort Wayne to Augusta, and on the 11th of October the  headquarters of the regiment and Company A, 3d Battalion, were transferred from Fort Wayne to Newport Barracks, KY. In  November, Company F, 2d Battalion, was organized and shortly after was sent to Little Rock, Ark., to report to General Reynolds. Companies C and B were organized in December. In the early part of 1866 the 1st Battalion and part of the Second proceeded from Augusta, GA., to Little Rock, Ark. The smallpox broke out on the way and a great many of the men became frightened and deserted before reaching their destination. Upon arriving at Little Rock, two companies of the 2nd Battalion took station there and the remaining companies proceeded to Camden and the southern part of the state of Arkansas, and entered upon the unpleasant reconstruction duty. The headquarters and a part of the 1st Battalion remained at Little Rock, and the balance of it went to Fort Smith and the Indian Territory frontier.
In February, Company F, 2d Battalion, and Companies A, B, C and D, 3d Battalion, went from Newport to Little Rock, and the headquarters of the 1st Battalion from Little Rock to Fort Gibson, I. T. Majors Gilbert and Potter having reported at headquarters were assigned to the command of the 2d and 3d Battalions respectively. This was the first time since the organization of the regiment that more than one major had been on duty with it, yet with the exception of the colonel, all the field officers had changed since first assignment. In March, Colonel Floyd-Jones was ordered from Newport to Little Rock with regimental headquarters. The organization of the companies of the 2d and 3d Battalions was continued during the spring and summer of 1866, and before July 1st the regiment had its complement of three battalions with eight companies each, aggregating nearly two thousand men.
The three-battalion organization of the 19th was short lived, for the regiment had scarcely been  completed when the act of Congress approved July 28, 1866, did away with the battalion organization for infantry and made a regiment out of each battalion by simply adding a colonel, a lieutenant-colonel, and two companies to each battalion. Under the provisions of this law the 1st Battalion became the 19th Infantry, the 2d Battalion the 28th Infantry, and the 3d Battalion the 37th Infantry. Colonel Canby, who had never joined the regiment, was made a brigadier-general, and S. K. Dawson, formerly major of the 19th now became the colonel. Lieut.-Col. Floyd-Jones and Major Lugenbeel remained in the regiment in their respective grades. The band became one of the fifteen post bands authorized by law, and remained at Little Rock. The headquarters and Companies I and K moved to Fort Gibson, I. T., but in March, 1867, the headquarters moved to Fort Smith, and later in the year most of the companies of the regiment were assembled at Fort Smith and vicinity.
The regiment remained at Fort Smith during the year 1868, and until consolidation began in 1869. Section 2 of the appropriation bill of that year enacted "that there shall be no new commissions, no promotions, and no enlistments in any infantry regiment until the total number of infantry regiments is reduced to twenty-five," and the Secretary of War was directed to consolidate the infantry regiments. The 28th, which was formerly the 2d Battalion of the 19th, was consolidated with the 19th, and Colonel C. H. Smith, who was colonel of the 28th, became colonel of the 19th upon the consolidation. The separation of the two battalions had been more in name than in fact. Both regiments served in the sub-district of the Arkansas, commanded by Colonel Smith.
After consolidation the regiment was still kept on reconstruction duty in Arkansas and Louisiana, and companies and detachments were sent to the most remote districts for the purpose of assisting in reestablishing the civil government. The regiment had most trying duties to perform, and it was admitted that the work was exceptionally well done; and owing to the excellent judgment of the colonel commanding the regiment and sub-district, and his clear interpretation of what was the intention of Congress, the State of Arkansas was the first one readmitted under the reconstruction laws.
Early in the year 1870 the regiment was moved to Louisiana with headquarters at Jefferson Barracks, and from January to May  Colonel Smith was detached from his regiment and placed in command of the Department of Louisiana, according to his brevet rank of major-general. The Act of Congress approved July 15, 1870, caused many changes in the regiment, and Colonel Smith was a member of the Board of Officers convened under Section II of that Act. During the summer of this year the yellow fever broke out in New Orleans and the headquarters and the companies stationed in New Orleans moved to Ship Island, where they remained till November, when they were ordered to New Orleans to preserve the peace during the election. Colonel Smith returned from Washington in January, 1871, and while the regiment remained in Louisiana he had command of all the troops assembled in the vicinity of New Orleans. In January, 1872, all the companies of the regiment were again summoned to New Orleans and kept busy during the month preserving order and preventing mob violence.
Sent West For Indian Duty
In June, 1874, the regiment was transferred to the Department of the Missouri. The headquarters and two companies went to Fort Lyon, Colorado, and the other companies to the Indian Territory and Kansas.
In the spring of this year the Indians of the Indian Territory went on the war path. The regiment arrived in the Department too late to enter into the active campaign, but the companies of Camp Supply and Fort Dodge were kept on the road most of the time escorting supply trains to the troops in the  field under the command of General Miles. Companies A and K were engaged in guarding the railroad and in scouting in central Kansas, and in January, 1875, a detachment of Company K, while returning to Fort Wallace, Kansas, after a successful pursuit and capture of Indians, was caught in a blizzard and had great difficulty in reaching the post.
In the following April, Lieutenant Hewitt and a detachment of Company K were with Troop H, 6th Cavalry, when, in an engagement on Sappa Creek, Kansas, a whole band of Indians was exterminated.
In the fall of 1878, the Indians of Dull Knife's band broke away from the agency in the Indian Territory and attempted to make their way north to the Sioux and Cheyennes in Dakota. Lieut.-Col. Lewis, 19th Infantry,  who was then commanding Fort Dodge, Kansas, organized a force to intercept them. The Indians succeeded in crossing the Arkansas River west of Fort Dodge, and Colonel Lewis, with four troops of the 4th Cavalry, Company G, and detachments of Companies D and F, 19th infantry, with Captain Bradford and Lieutenant Gardener, went in pursuit. The Indians were overtaken after a two day march, and in an engagement which took place, Colonel Lewis received a wound which severed his femoral artery and from which he died the next day. In the death of Colonel Lewis the regiment met with an irreparable loss. He possessed in a remarkable degree the most valuable traits of a model soldier. He commanded with sternness, but was always just and was honored and respected by all the officers and men who knew him.
In October, 1879, Company G, mounted, was ordered to New Mexico to take the field against a hostile tribe of Indians, and participated in the campaigns under Colonel Hatch, 9th Cavalry, and Colonel Buell, 15th Infantry. Colonel Buell, in relieving this company from duty with his command, complimented Captain Bradford and Lieut. Gardener in orders. Companies A, C, D, E, F and I participated in the campaign on the Uncompagre in Colorado, under Colonel Mackenzie, 4th Cavalry, in 1879 and 1880.
In the fall of 1881 the regiment was transferred to the Department of Texas. The colonel; major, headquarters and Companies B, C, D, E, G and K, took station at Fort Brown, November 7th. The lieutenant-colonel and Companies H and I went to Fort Ringgold and Companies A and F to Fort McIntosh.
Yellow Fever
Early in the summer of 1882 rumors were afloat that yellow fever existed in the city of Matamoras, Mexico, which is on the Rio Grande, just opposite Fort Brown and Brownsville. The doctors of the two cities were divided  in their opinions. Some claimed from the first appearance of the disease that it was yellow fever, but the greater number claimed that it was not. Brownsville did not quarantine against Matamoras till August, and then the fever had already crossed the river and was in Texas. How to protect the troops now became a serious problem. It was at first proposed to move them up the river, but the State quarantine would not permit it. The saddest part to contemplate was that the women and children would have to share  the lot of the soldiers. The recollections of Shreveport and Memphis made stout hearts grow weak. No little anxiety and excitement existed in the command and just at this time the regimental commander received an order to go to Newport, Ky., on a court-martial. He was well aware of the imminent peril of his command and telegraphed the fact to the War Department, but was only relieved from the detail after making a second urgent request. The request was granted and it was a great relief to the garrison. Steps were immediately taken to get the command out of the post as there were several cases of fever in it. There was not tentage for the whole command, and Captain Witherell volunteered to remain in the post with his company (C). This company and troop I, 8th Cavalry,— Captain Hennisee's,—remained in the garrison. The headquarters, band, and five companies moved about fourteen miles down the river and went into camp, where they remained till fall, without a single case of fever. In the garrison every precaution was taken to keep the infected away from the non-infected. There were not many cases among the soldiers in barracks, the greater number occurring among the families and civil employés of the post. Captain  Witherell's family was the first one invaded. His son and only child died, also his servant. He and his wife both had the fever, but recovered. Captain Lyster's family all had it except Mrs. Lyster. W. C. Gorgas, the assistant to the post surgeon, had a severe case, but Lieutenant T. M. Wenie, 19th Infantry, was the only officer who fell a victim. The high water of the Rio Grande, overflowing its banks, made an island of the post. The post cemetery had to be reached by boat, and the water was so near the surface that the graves would fill while being dug, and it was necessary to put stones on the coffins to hold them down. The ground was so soft that often the neighboring coffins would roll in on the grave diggers. It was a long and weary summer to the garrison of Fort Brown, and the coming of flies, followed by frost, was heralded with delight.
In December the headquarters and all the companies, except G, of the Fort Brown garrison, moved to Fort Clark, Texas. In May, 1890, the regiment moved from Texas to the Division of the Atlantic, and took the stations on the Great Lakes.
In the summer of 1898, two battalions from the 19th US were sent to Puerto Rico as part of the War with Spain. This action was referred to as the “Moonlight Picnic”. They fought on the western side of the island in early August under General  Theodore Schwan.
Between 1899 and 1901, the 19th served in the Philippine Insurrection on the islands of Jolo, Cebu, Panay, and Bohol.
The 19th U.S. continued through WWII under the 24th Infantry Division in the Pacific Theater. They fought in the Central Pacific on New Guinea, Leyte, Luzon, and in the Southern Philippines.
In the Korean War the 19th U.S. again found action. Earning two Presidential Unit Citations, the 19th fought throughout the war.
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Stanley Adams, born 1922, received the Medal Of Honor for action near Sesim-ni, Korea on 04 February, 1951.
He was issued his medal on 02 August, 1951. His citation reads as follows:
“Master Sergeant Stanley T. Adams, Infantry, United States Army, a member of Company A, 19th Infantry Regiment, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy on 4 February 1951, near Sesim-ni, Korea. At approximately 0100 hours, Sergeant Adams' platoon, holding an outpost some 200 yards ahead of his company, came under a determined attack by an estimated 250 enemy troops. Intense small-arms, machinegun, and mortar fire from three sides pressed the platoon back against the main line of resistance. Observing approximately 150 hostile troops silhouetted against the skyline advancing against his platoon, Sergeant Adams leaped to his feet, urged his men to fix bayonets, and he, with 13 members of his platoon, charged this hostile force with indomitable courage. Within 50 yards of the enemy Sergeant Adams was knocked to the ground when pierced in the leg by an enemy bullet. He jumped to his feet and, ignoring his wound, continued on to close with the enemy when he was knocked down four times from the concussion of grenades which had bounced off his body. Shouting orders he charged the enemy positions and engaged them in hand-to-hand combat where man after man fell before his terrific onslaught with bayonet and rifle butt. After nearly an hour of vicious action Sergeant Adams and his comrades routed the fanatical foe, killing over 50 and forcing the remainder to withdraw. Upon receiving orders that his battalion was moving back he provided cover fire while his men withdrew. Sergeant Adams' superb leadership, incredible courage, and consummate devotion to duty so inspired his comrades that the enemy attack was completely thwarted, saving his battalion from possible disaster. His sustained personal bravery and indomitable fighting spirit against overwhelming odds reflect the utmost glory upon himself and uphold the finest traditions of the infantry and the military service.” |
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Mitchell Red Cloud Jr., born 1924, received the Medal Of Honor for action near Chonghyon, Korea on 05 November, 1950.
He was issued his medal on 25 April, 1951. His citation reads as follows:
“Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud Jr., Infantry, United States Army, a member of Company E, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy near Ch'onghyon, Korea on 5 November 1950. From his position on the point of a ridge immediately in front of the company command post he was the first to detect the approach of the Chinese communist forces and give the alarm as the enemy charged from a brush-covered area less than 100 feet from him. Springing up he delivered devastating pointblank automatic rifle fire into the advancing enemy. His accurate and intense fire checked this assault and gained time for the company to consolidate its defense. With utter fearlessness he maintained his firing position until severely wounded by enemy fire. Refusing assistance he pulled himself to his feet and wrapping his arm around a tree continued his deadly fire again, until he was fatally wounded. This heroic act stopped the enemy from overrunning his company's position and gained time for reorganization and evacuation of the wounded. Corporal Red Cloud's dauntless courage and gallant self-sacrifice reflect the highest credit upon himself and uphold the esteemed traditions of the U.S. Army.” |
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In 1970, the 19th was inactivated and assigned to the 25th Infantry Division until 1987 when they were moved to Ft. Benning, GA and assigned to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. The 19th U.S. still survives today in the form of two training battalions a the Army’s Infantry Training School at Ft. Benning, Georgia.
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