149th Infantry Regiment (United States)

149th Infantry Regiment
149th Infantry Regiment Coat of Arms
Active	May 22, 1846
Country	United States
Allegiance	United States(1846-present)  Confederate States (1861-1865)
Branch	United States Army
Type	National Guard Regiment
Garrison/HQ	Louisville, Kentucky (headquarters)
Motto(s)	"Never Defeated"
Colors	Red and Gold
Engagements	Mexican-American War -Battle of Monterrey American Civil War -Battle of Shiloh -First Battle of Murfreesboro -Battle of Chickamauga -Battle of Atlanta -Siege of Corinth -Battle of Franklin Spanish-American War -Puerto Rico Campaign World War I World War II -Battle of Leyte -Battle of Luzon US Afghanistan War

Mexican-American War
-Battle of Monterrey
American Civil War
-Battle of Shiloh
-First Battle of Murfreesboro
-Battle of Chickamauga
-Battle of Atlanta
-Siege of Corinth
-Battle of Franklin
Spanish-American War
-Puerto Rico Campaign
World War I
World War II
-Battle of Leyte
-Battle of Luzon

The 149th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, provided by the Kentucky Army National Guard. Established on May 22, 1846, the regiment was part of the 75th Infantry Brigade, 38th Division. is especially notable in military history in that it is one of the few military units to ever be split between two different countries for the duration of a war.

In 1861, after the outbreak of the American Civil War, the 149th Infantry Regiment (at the time part of the Kentucky State Militia), was split between the Union and the Confederacy by the Kentucky General Assembly. The reason for this was the Kentucky State Government had declared neutrality in the war. They were officially recognized as part of both countries, and, although Kentucky never officially seceded from the United States, many soldiers within the state militia held Confederate sympathies. This was made more complicated when President Abraham Lincoln began drafting soldiers to fight the Confederacy, as they needed military units to join. To prevent the collapse of the Kentucky State Militia, the General Assembly voted to split the entire militia in half. This included the 149th Infantry Regiment. Between April-June 1861, soldiers with Union sympathies in the 149th were reorganized as the 1st and 2nd Volunteer Kentucky Infantry regiments, while soldiers with Southern sympathies were reorganized into the 1st Kentucky Brigade (The Orphan Brigade).