![]() ![]() Between 9 and 31 August, each company of the 21st arrived in Arizona and consolidated with the corresponding company of the 32d. The regiment was the first military unit to be transported by the newly completed First Transcontinental railroad. The 32d was based in the Arizona Territory and the 21st departed Richmond on 12 April. In 1869, the Army was reduced in size and the 32d Infantry Regiment consolidated with the 21st. As part of the Army expansion in 1866, the 2nd Battalion became the 21st Infantry Regiment on 7 December 1866. The 2nd Battalion was stationed at Camp Winthrop, near Richmond. The regiment was brought up to full strength at Fort Hamilton and moved back to Virginia for reconstruction duties by December 1865. It was withdrawn on 2 November and moved back to Fort Hamilton. By 20 September, the battalion was composed of just 48 men. The surviving men were assigned to the 12th Infantry Regiment's 1st Battalion. The battalion fought in the siege but was combat ineffective due to losses by July. By June, the Union Army was beginning the Siege of Petersburg. The battalion served at the Battle of the Wilderness, Battle of Spotsylvania Court House and the Battle of Cold Harbor. The battalion advanced southward against the retreating Confederate Army and fought in the Overland Campaign during May 1864. The battalion then fought in the Battle of Gettysburg and suffered heavy losses. It fought in the Battle of Chancellorsville and was part of the rearguard during the retreat across the Rappahannock. In March 1863, three companies of the battalion were disbanded due to a shortage of replacements. The battalion then became part of V Corps and fought in the Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Fredericksburg. The battalion also fought at the Second Battle of Manassas and formed the rearguard during the Union retreat at that battle. During the retreat, the 2nd Battalion's companies suffered heavy losses while covering the retreat. They helped to initially break through Confederate lines, but Confederate numerical superiority forced a Union withdraw. The companies were formed into a battalion with elements of the 8th Infantry Regiment and were the lead skirmishers of the II Corps' 2nd Division. ![]() The companies fought at the Battle of Cedar Mountain on 9 August. They were sent to Harpers Ferry and on 26 May fought in a skirmish with a Confederate States Army brigade. Companies A, B, E and G were activated at Fort Hamilton on. The 21st Infantry traces its history back to the 2nd Battalion of the 12th Infantry Regiment, formed on for the American Civil War. Task Force Smith, the first American unit to see action in the Korean War, was derived from the regiment's 1st Battalion. The regiment fought in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, as well as Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 1st Battalion currently exists as part of 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. The 21st Infantry Regiment ("Gimlet" ) Is a United States Army infantry regiment. ![]()
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