Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Existing companies of militia were formed as the 1st Regiment, Indiana Volunteers of the Indiana Brigade to answer the call to halt Mexican aggression along the border in 1846.
Serving under then- Brig. Gen. Zachary Taylor, the citizen soldiers from Indiana fought a desperate battle at Buena Vista. The Indiana Regiment found themselves in the farthest forward position of the American line as two Mexican divisions launched their assault. For almost an hour, the Hoosier soldiers held the line against repeated attacks by Santa Ana's soldiers. The outcome of the fierce battle was yet to be decided when, along with the 1st Mississippi Rifles, the Hoosiers counterattacked under the leadership of Col. Jefferson Davis.
The Mexican attack was halted and ended any further threat to the lower Rio Grande region. Fewer than 15 years later, Indiana's soldiers would fight not with, but against, both Mississippi and Davis.
In April 1861, Indiana again heard the call to arms as the nation faced a bloody civil war. Companies of militia from northern Indiana were brought together to serve as the 9th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Shiloh, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Franklin, Nashville and Atlanta are some of the battlefields where the courage and tenacity of the soldiers helped the Union restore the nation.
Northern Indiana soldiers continued to serve their nation and state. The unit served during World War I, but it was in 1945 that saw some of the fiercest fighting of the unit's history.
Now serving as the 3rd Battalion - 152nd Infantry, the regiment as part of Indiana's 38th Infantry Division would fight its way through New Guinea, Leyte and Luzon. It helped the division earn the nickname "The Avengers of Bataan" as the regiment fought across the base of the Bataan peninsula.
They cleared Route 7, a 14-day fight against fierce Japanese resistance, to take Zig Zag Pass and seize bloody Woodpecker Ridge. Once again, the courage of Indiana's soldiers would help the nation win a desperate struggle.
In 1947 the unit's name was changed again, as it became the 1st Battalion - 293rd Infantry. Though serving under new colors, the courage and dedication to serving the community, state and nation has remained the same. In peace or war, the Night Fighter battalion stands ready to serve as the vanguard of the new 76th Infantry Brigade.
On the Net: www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/1-293in.htm
