12th Infantry Regiment
Modern Era, United States, Infantry
The 12th Infantry Regiment was constituted on 3 May 1861 as part of the wartime enlargement of the Regular Army. It fought in the Civil War and then continued on the long frontier service typical of Regular infantry units in the late nineteenth century. In the years that followed it also served in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine-American War, and the China Relief Expedition, building a record that stretched from the Shenandoah and the plains to the Pacific and East Asia.
The regiment's twentieth-century history is closely tied to the 8th Infantry Division. In World War I the 12th Infantry was assigned to the 8th Division in 1917, but like several late-forming American divisions it saw little or no major combat before the Armistice. The divisional connection became far more important in World War II, when the 12th fought in Europe as one of the 8th Infantry Division's regiments through France, the Hurtgen Forest, and into Germany.
After 1945 the regiment remained associated with the 8th Infantry Division through occupation duty and the early Cold War. During the Vietnam era, however, the regiment's main combat service came through the 4th Infantry Division. The 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry deployed to Vietnam in 1966 as part of the 4th Infantry Division and fought in the Central Highlands, making the regiment one of the many older lineages whose twentieth-century history crossed from one long-time parent division to another.
Later battalions of the regiment served in Germany and in the post-Cold War Army. The 2d Battalion also maintained the regiment's lineage in modern combined-arms formations. Across these changes, the 12th Infantry preserved a history that linked Civil War origins, frontier and imperial campaigning, the 8th Division in the world wars, and the 4th Infantry Division's combat in Vietnam.
Battalion Page
A dedicated battalion subpage now collects the regiment's known battalion icons and short sketches for the 1st, 2d, and 3d Battalions. Open the 12th Infantry Regiment Battalions page.