103D Engineer Battalion History

103D Engineer Battalion History. Paratus. , The 103D Engineer Battalion was established 21 November 1747 from pre-existing units in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin. The following month, the unit was organized as the Train of Artillery, made up of units from both the Associators and pre-existing Shore Batteries. During the French and Indian War, the Train of Artillery served at Fort Pitts and Erie on the Colony's western frontier., In May of 1775, the Battalion expanded and reorganized, being designated the Philadelphia Artillery Battalion. One company became the 4th Continental Artillery Regiment, making the Battalion one of the few Active or National Guard units with Continental Army lineage. Both Margaret Corbin, the first woman to be wounded in action in the revolution, and Molly "Molly Pitcher" Hays, performed their acts of valor while serving the guns of this regiment., The unit continued in unbroken service, including service during the War of 18 12, until the outbreak of the Civil War. In April 1861, the Battalion reorganized in part as the 1st Regiment Infantry, and in part as the 1st Artillery Regiment. The unit also formed the core of several other infantry regiments, earning a total of 10 campaign streamers during the war., The 1st Regiment Infantry was activated in 1916 for service on the Mexican border during the Pancho Villa Expedition, and soon after consolidated with the 13th Infantry to form the 109th Infantry Regiment for service in World War I., The Battalion reorganized in 1921 as the 103D Engineer Regiment and again in 1941 as the 103D Engineer Battalion, serving in Europe during World War II, most notably at the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge., The unit was again ordered into Active Federal Service from 1950 to 1954 in support of the Korean War, and most recently from 2002 to 2003. Both companies and individual soldiers of the 103D have participated in the Global War on Terror over more than a decade of mobilizations., The Battalion colors carry 40 campaign streamers, the Luxembourg Croix De Guerre, and the Presidential Unit Citation. This is more than any other unit in Pennsylvania National Guard, and represents service in every major declared war in our Nation's past.