141st Field Artillery Regiment

141st Field Artillery Regiment

Coat of arms
Active 1838 – present
Country  United States
Allegiance  United States
 Confederate States (1861-1865)
Branch Louisiana Army National Guard
Nickname Washington Artillery (special designation)[1]
Motto "TRY US!"
Mascot Tiger
Engagements Mexican-American War
US Civil War{CSA}
Spanish-American War
Mexican Expedition
World War II
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Commanders
Current
commander		 LTC Kenneth Baillie
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia

The 141st Field Artillery Regiment (Washington Artillery[1]) is a United States field artillery regiment.

History

The 141st Field Artillery is an historic American military unit that is currently part of the Louisiana Army National Guard[2] headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana.[3] It traces its lineage to a militia artillery battery back to 1838, and its heritage includes substantial combat service in several major wars. It earned the Presidential Unit Citation (US) for its service in World War II.

The Washington Artillery was founded on September 7, 1838, as the Washington Artillery Company.[4] It received its regimental flag in August 1846 after serving under Zachary Taylor in the Mexican–American War.

26 May 1861 the Unit was mustered into the American Civil War;[5] four companies served in the Army of Northern Virginia and a fifth was in the Army of Tennessee. Elements of the Washington Artillery participated in over sixty major actions. A few notable engagements include: Battle of Antietam, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of Shiloh, Battle of Chickamauga, Battle of Fredericksburg, First Battle of Manassas, and the Battle of Cold Harbor.

After the Civil War, it was reorganized as an independent unit called the “Louisiana Volunteer Field Artillery” where it served the United States in the occupation of Cuba. It later was called into service to protect the Mexican border in 1916. A year later it received the designation 141st Artillery. In early 1941, the 141st Field Artillery was mobilized for World War II where it earned the Presidential Unit Citation; a duplicate unit was formed, the 935th Field Artillery Battalion, with both serving in Europe and North Africa. The anti-tank batteries of the battalion were separated in mid-1941, and formed the 773rd Tank Destroyer Battalion.

Between 1959 and 1967, several sister units were combined to form the 141st Field Artillery Battalion. In 2004 through 2005 and again in 2010, the 141st FA as part of the 256th Infantry Brigade mobilized to Baghdad, Iraq, in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn.

On 29 August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the gulf coast of Louisiana and Mississippi[6] while most members of the Washington Artillery were still serving their final weeks of deployment in Iraq. Following the return of the Battalion to Louisiana, a detachment immediately mobilized to New Orleans to aid law enforcement with rescue efforts. With the help of the Louisiana State Police, those efforts transitioned into a support mission for the New Orleans Police Department. Joint Task Force Gator was created to help combat the rise of looting and other crimes resulting from the loss of law enforcement officers in the New Orleans area. After three-and-a-half years of assisting local police and patrolling the city, the task force was released from duty on 28 February 2009.[7]

Regimental colors and streamers

Regimental colors of the Washington Artillery


These are the Campaign streamers awarded to the Regiment:

Mexican–American War

American Civil War

World War I


World War II

  • Algeria-French Morocco
  • Anzio
  • Ardennes-Alsace
  • Central Europe 1945
  • Naples-Foggia
  • Normandy
  • North Apennines
  • Northern France 1944
  • Po Valley
  • Rhineland
  • Rome-Arno
  • Sicily
  • Southern France 1944
  • Tunisia

Operation Iraqi Freedom


LTC Brian P. Champagne unfurling the battalion colors, Baghdad, Iraq 2010
MAJ Steven M. Finney(left of center) accepts the battalion colors from the Louisiana Adjutant General, MG Bennett C. Landreneau (right of center) becoming the battalion commander in June 2011

Current

The Washington Artillery on the Parade Field at Jackson Barracks

The 141st Field Artillery currently consists of the 1st Battalion, 141st Field Artillery. It is assigned as the fires battalion for the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Louisiana Army National Guard headquartered in the famed Jackson Barracks.

Commanders[8]

  • CPT Elisha L. Tracy (Washington Artillery Company)[9]
  • CPT Henry Forno (1st Company Native American Artillery)
  • CPT Isaac F. Stocton (Company "A" Washington Infantry)
  • CPT Joseph E. Ealer (Washington Artillery Company)
  • CPT R.O. Smith
  • LT Rinaldo Banister, Sr.
  • CPT Augustus A. Soria
  • CPT H.I. Hunting
  • CPT James B. Walton (Washington Artillery BN – CSA)
  • COL Benjamin F. Eshleman[10]
  • COL John B. Walton (Post-Reconstruction)
  • COL William M. Owen
  • COL John B. Richardson
  • MAJ William D. Gardiner
  • COL Thomas McCabe-Hyman
  • MAJ Allison Owen
  • CPT Luther E. Hall (141 Field Artillery)
  • MAJ Guy Molony
  • MAJ Raymond H. Fleming (2nd BN Field Artillery)
  • LTC Henry Curtis (141 Sep BN Field Artillery – Motorized)
  • LTC Edward P. Benezech, Sr. (1st BN, 141 FA Regiment)
  • LTC Thurber G. Rickey (2nd BN, 141 FA Regiment)
  • LTC Bernard Rausch (141 FA – WWII)
  • LTC Duncan Gillis (141 FA – HQ and SVC Battery)
  • LTC Numa P. Avendano (935th and 2nd BN 141 FA)
  • LTC Ragnvald B. Rordam (141 Artillery BN)
  • LTC Louis O. D'Amico (935th and 2nd BN 141 FA)
  • LTC Armand J. Duplantier, Jr. (1st and 2nd BN 141 FA), descendant of Armand Duplantier (1753-1827), aide-de-camp to General Lafayette
  • LTC Pierre J. Bouis (1st and 3rd BN 141 FA)
  • LTC William B. Cox (4th BN 141 FA)
  • LTC Cecil A Haskins (4th BN 141 FA)
  • LTC Edward P. Benezech, Jr. (2nd BN 141 FA)
  • LTC Vincent Beninate (4th BN 141 FA)
  • LTC Douglas Ruello (2nd BN 141 FA)
  • LTC Thomas P. Breslin (1st BN 141 FA – 105mm Towed)
  • LTC Emile J. St. Pierre
  • LTC Charles A. Bourgeois, Jr.
  • LTC Richard J. Gregory
  • MAJ Silton J. Constance (155mm SP)
  • LTC Harry M Bonnet
  • LTC Russel A Mayeur, Sr.
  • LTC Urban B. Martinez, Jr.
  • LTC Rene' C. Jacques
  • LTC Urban B. Martinez, Jr.
  • LTC Ronald A. Waller
  • LTC Glenn M. Appe
  • LTC Ivan M. Jones, Jr.
  • LTC Thomas W. Acosta, Jr.
  • LTC John R. Hennigan, Jr.
  • MAJ Russell L. Hooper (155mm "Paladin")
  • LTC Jonathan T. Ball
  • LTC Jordan T. Jones
  • LTC Brian P. Champagne (105mmT Infantry UA)
  • LTC Steven M. Finney
  • LTC Kenneth Baillie (current commander)
MAJ Kenneth Baillie (left of center) accepts the battalion colors from the Louisiana Adjutant General, MG Glenn H. Curtis (right of center) becoming the battalion commander in January 2013

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Special Designation Listing". United States Army Center of Military History. 21 April 2010. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  2. ↑ "Organizations > Army National Guard". Louisiana National Guard. (la.ng.mil) State of Louisiana. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "Washington Artillery Arsenals – Home Sweet Home". washingtonartillery.com. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  4. ↑ Janice E. McKenney, ed. (2010) [1st. pub. 1985]. Field Artillery - Army Lineage Series. U.S. Army Center of Military History. pp. 1157–1163. OCLC 275151269.
  5. ↑ Bartlett, Napier (1874). A soldier's story of the war; including the marches and battles of the Washington artillery, and of other Louisiana troops. Cornell University Library (1 June 2009). pp. 12–16. ISBN 1-112-13323-2. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  6. ↑ Hurricane Katrina. Retrieved on 24 November 2011
  7. ↑ Guard wraps up Joint Task Force Gator. Retrieved on 24 November 2011
  8. ↑ "Washington Artillery Commanders". 5 December 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  9. ↑ "Washington Artillery Commanders". Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  10. ↑ "CIVIL WAR REFERENCE SITE Washington Artillery Commanders". 2 June 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2011.

External links