1st Oregon Infantry Regiment

Following the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, most regular army troops were withdrawn from the Pacific Northwest for service in the war's eastern theatres. This left Oregon and the Washington and Idaho territories without sufficient troops to guard Native American reservations from trespassing miners, escort immigrant wagon trains, and protect settlers and traders from Native American raiders in eastern Oregon and southern Idaho. Oregon officials were also concerned about possible conflicts between pro-Union and pro-Confederate supporters. As a result, the commander of the United States Army's Department of the Pacific, Brigadier General George Wright asked Oregon Governor John Whiteaker to recruit an Oregon cavalry regiment. At the same time, Wright asked Henry M. McGill, Washington Territory's acting Governor, to raise an infantry regiment in Washington. Both recruiting efforts were successful. The Washington infantry regiment was formed on 18 October 1861, and the 1st Oregon Cavalry was activated a month later on 21 November. ==Formation==

The initial enlistment period for six of the seven Oregon cavalry companies and five of the ten Washington infantry companies expired in the fall of 1864. As a result, Brigadier General Benjamin Alvord, the Army's senior commander in Oregon, asked Oregon's new Governor Addison C. Gibbs to raise a new infantry regiment and recruit backfills for the expected cavalry vacancies. Gibbs agreed and formally asked Major General Irwin McDowell, who replaced Wright as commander of the Department of the Pacific, to request authority to recruit additional troops for military operations in Oregon. On 31 August 1864, Gibbs and McDowell sent a joint letter to the War Department in Washington, D.C., requesting permission to recruit a new infantry regiment and cavalry replacements. On 20 October 1864, the Governor received a positive reply from the War Department. The news arrived just one day before the end of Oregon's legislative session. Gibbs quickly asked the legislature to provide a $150 enlistment bounty, which the legislators enacted before going home. On May 23, 1865 the regiment received their regimental flag. ==Operations==

While some detachments of the 1st Oregon Volunteer Infantry Regiment occasionally skirmished with hostile Native American bands, the regiment's main duties were much more mundane. Most companies spent their time in garrison duty at small posts in eastern Oregon, southeast Washington, and southern Idaho. They protected immigrant trails and escorted wagon trains from Fort Boise to the Willamette Valley. Two companies escorted survey parties, and another constructed a road in southwestern Oregon. While scouting sixteen miles from Camp Wright on the Selvies River, near present-day Burns, Captain Loren L. Williams and a party of twenty Oregon infantrymen from Company H were ambushed by a band of hostile Native Americans. Williams and his troops fought a harrowing retreat back to Camp Wright, defending themselves for about fifteen hours before they reached safety. All along the way Native Americans fired from concealed positions. At one point, they even set a brush fire in the soldiers path to prevent them from escaping. Despite their continuous attacks, the Native Americans only wounded two soldiers. In his report, Williams stated that his long-range rifles killed fifteen Native Americans. He also stated that his superior weaponry was the only thing that prevented his party from being overrun. In the fall of 1865, Colonel Currey was planning a winter campaign against the Native Americans in eastern Oregon. To prepare, he sent detachments of the 1st Oregon Infantry along with Oregon cavalry units to Camp Alvord in the Alvord Valley; Camp Polk near present-day Sisters; Camp Currey near Silver Lake; Camp Logan and Camp Colfax along the Boise Road east of Canyon City; Camp Wallace; and Camp Lander near Fort Hall in the Idaho Territory. Detachment commanders were instructed to build winter quarters at their posts and prepare for a winter offensive. Winter provisions were to follow in supply wagons. However, the end of the Civil War in the east had freed up many regular officers for duty in the west, and as a result, Colonel Currey was released from duty in November 1865 along with the men from companies C, D, and E. Lieutenant Colonel Drake was released from service in December, so the planned winter campaign never got started. ==Disbanding==

The remaining companies spent a long winter in field encampments waiting for orders. In February 1866, Major General Frederick Steele arrived at Fort Vancouver to take command of the Military Department of the Columbia. As soon as the weather improved he ordered the dispersed infantry units, except Captain Sprague's Company I, to report to Fort Vancouver where the volunteers were mustered out of service. Several officers were reassigned to regular Army units arriving from the east, but few were retained more than a year. On 19 July 1867, Captain Sprague, First Lieutenant Harrison B. Oatman, and the men of Company I were the last members of the 1st Oregon Volunteer Infantry Regiment to be mustered out of the Army. ==Officers==

The following is a list of officers who served in the 1st Oregon Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The list was current as of 31 October 1865, the date the first members of the regiment were mustered out of service. • Colonel - George B. Currey (Commander) • Lieutenant Colonel - John M. Drake • Major - William V. Rinehart • Captains - Charles Lafollett (Commander, Company A); Ephraim Palmer (Commander, Company B); Clark P. Crandall (Commander, Company C); William S. Powell (Commander, Company D); Ferdinand O. McGown (Commander, Company E); Ebner W. Waters (Commander, Company F); Andrew J. Boland (Commander, Company G); Loren L. Williams (Commander, Company H); Franklin B. Sprague (Commander, Company I); and Alphonso B. Ingram (Commander, Company J) • First Lieutenants - William J. Shipley; Cyrus H. Walker; Thomas H. Reynolds; Samuel F. Kerns; Henry Catley (Quartermaster); John B. Dimick; Darius B. Randall; John L. Boone (Adjutant); William M. Rand; William Grant; Harrison B. Oatman; Byron Barlow • Second Lieutenants - William R. Dunbar; John W. Cullen; Charles B. Roland; Charles H. Hill; Joseph M. Gale; James A. Balch; Daniel W. Applegate; Peter P. Gates; Charles N. Chapman; and Albert Applegate • Surgeon - Horace Carpenter; Samuel Whitemore (Assistant Surgeon) ==See also==