133rd Engineer Battalion
| 133rd Engineer Battalion | |
|---|---|
133rd Engineer Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia
|
|
| Active | 1803– Present |
| Country | United States of America |
| Branch | Maine Army National Guard |
| Type | Battalion |
| Role | Engineer Battalion |
| Nickname(s) | "Maine's Regiment" |
| Motto(s) | "To the Last Man" |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
LTC Joshua E. Doscinski |
| Notable commanders |
|
The 133rd Engineer Battalion is a component of the Maine Army National Guard and the United States Army. The organization is the oldest in the Maine Guard and is one of the largest organizations in the state. The battalion has responded to natural disasters at home as well as military actions overseas. The current battalion has the capacity to execute a variety of Army Engineer missions, from horizontal construction, vertical construction, combat engineer missions, and surveying. The battalion has two horizontal companies, one vertical company, one combat engineer company, a forward support company, a survey and design detachment, and a headquarters company.
The 133rd Engineer Battalion is the oldest unit in the Maine Army National Guard. Known as “Maine’s Regiment” the 133rd traces its beginnings back to the formation of the Portland Light Infantry in 1804. The Portland Light Infantry manned the defenses around Portland, such as Forts Preble and Scammell, to prevent British attack in 1814 during the War of 1812. Other militia units flooded Portland that year, responding to a British invasion from the north that had already seized Bangor and Castine. Veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, the British were tough and determined fighters. The British government had decided to take control of Maine and turn it into a colony called “New Ireland.” Several thousand British soldiers assembled in Castine with seven ships of the line, intent on taking Portland in 1814. However, militia units from all over Maine put up such a strong defense that after a few skirmishes on the outskirts of town, the British decided that an attack would be too costly and cancelled the invasion.
Maine men would be called on again in 1861 when war divided the nation into North and South. The Portland Light Infantry was designated A Company of the 1st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment and marched off to Virginia. The 1st Maine Volunteer Infantry reenlisted as the 10th Maine Infantry Regiment in 1862, fighting in the battles of 2nd Bull Run and Antietam that year. When their enlistments expired in 1863, the majority of the regiment reenlisted as the 29th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and was transferred to the southern theater, fighting in Louisiana in 1863 in the Red River Campaign, and then in Virginia in 1864.
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Wikipedia