Category: Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen, United States Army, Mexican-American War
Categories: United States Army, Mexican-American War
This category is managed by the Mexican American War Project in association with the Categorization Project. For assistance with this or related categories ask in G2G making sure to tag your question with both categorization and Mexican_Amercican_War.
Authorized on February 11, 1847, the Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen were originally comprised of forty-seven officers and 1,104 men with the ten companies being primarily recruited from six states—Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
As they were organized in the coming months, the Voltigeurs departed from American ports, some of which were New Orleans and Savannah, and sailed across the Gulf of Mexico to the port of Veracruz, which had surrendered to Major General Winfield Scott after a short siege in March 1847. After Scott left the Mexican coast and marched inland toward Mexico City, the first Voltiguers to see action—Company B—fought in an engagement at National Bridge, on June 11th and 12th of 1847.
After the companies were able to assemble in Puebla, where Scott halted for three months to bolster his strength, the complete regiment participated in the major battles that were fought around Mexico City in the next few months—Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec.
The regiment particularly distinguished itself by conducting two battalion-sized attacks during the bloody September 13th battle at Chapultepec Castle. The Army had no decorations to recognize battlefield heroism in 1847, but eight Voltiguer privates were awarded the Certificate of Merit—later recognized to be equivalent to the Distinguished Service Cross—for their services during the Battle of Chapultepec, while at least a dozen of their officers received brevet promotions, including many of the regiment's officers: Colonel Timothy P. Andrews, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph E. Johnston, Major George A. Caldwell, Major George H. Talcott, as well as five captains, and four lieutenants.
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