17th Infantry Regiment (United States)

17th Infantry Regiment

17th Infantry Regiment coat of arms
Active 3 May 1861-
Country  United States
Branch Infantry Branch (United States)
Type Infantry
Motto Truth and Courage
Engagements American Civil War
Spanish-American War
World War II
Korean War
Vietnam War
Armed Forces Expeditions - Panama
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Operation Enduring Freedom
Commanders
Notable
commanders
William Weigel
Insignia
Distinctive Unit Insignia
U.S. Infantry Regiments
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16th Infantry Regiment 18th Infantry Regiment

The 17th Infantry Regiment is a United States Army infantry regiment. While the 17th Infantry Regiment was organized on January 11, 1812, it was consolidated with the 3rd Infantry due to extremely heavy losses at Frenchtown, and lost its identity two years later until May 3, 1861, when it was reorganized.

The 17th Infantry Regiment was in the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War in Sykes' Division of the 5th Army Corps, the badge of which was a white cross patee, which is embodied in the coat of arms and shown on the blue field above and to the left of the stone wall.

At Fredericksburg. the 17th suffered heavy losses in the assault on the famous stone wall, "For one entire day, (December 14) the men of the 17th lay flat on their faces eighty yards in front of the famous stone wall, behind which the enemy was posted in large numbers and any movement on their part was sure to draw the fire of rebel sharpshooters.

The five-bastioned fort, shown on the blue shield above and to the right of the stone wall, was the badge of the 5th Army Corps in Cuba in 1898.

The buffalo, shown on the blue shield bellow the stone wall represents the Regiments glorious history in the Korean war. The "Buffalo" nickname was adopted after one of the Regiment's Commanding Officers in the Korean war, Col. William W. "Buffalo Bill" Quinn.

The shield is blue, being the color representing the infantry.

The Crest is a sea lion taken from the Spanish Arms of Manila for the fighting around that city in 1899.

The two arrows represent the Indian campaigns in which the 17th Regiment participated.

Contents

Medal of Honor recipients

Spanish–American War
World War II
Korean War

Lineage

Campaign participation credit

Decorations

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army Center of Military History document "17th Infantry Lineage and Honors".

External links