86th Field Artillery Regiment

History

Lineage

• 1st Battery, Vermont Light Artillery, organized 16 January 1862 at Montpelier and mustered into Federal service 18 February 1862 at Brattleboro; mustered out of Federal service 10 August 1864 at Brattleboro.
• 2d Battery, Vermont Light Artillery, organized 13 December 1861 at Montpelier and mustered into Federal service 16–24 December 1861 at Brandon; mustered out of Federal service 31 July 1865 at Burlington.
• 3d Battery, Vermont Light Artillery, organized 23 November 1863 at Burlington and mustered into Federal service 1 January 1864 at Burlington; mustered out of Federal service 13–15 June 1865 at Burlington.
• 1st, 2d, and 3d Batteries, Vermont Light Artillery, reorganized 22 November 1867 in the Vermont Volunteer Militia as a battery of light artillery to consist of three sections with Headquarters at Springfield.
• Reorganized 27 November 1872 as a section of light artillery at Northfield.
• Reorganized 11 April 1877 at Brattleboro as the Vermont Light Battery with a section at Northfield.
• Vermont Light Battery disbanded 10 August 1899 at Brattleboro; section at Northfield continued as a battery of field artillery.
• Norwich Cadets expanded, reorganized, and redesignated 19 November 1907 as Battery A, Light Artillery, and Company A, Signal Corps.
• Battery A, Light Artillery, and Company A, Signal Corps, consolidated, converted, and redesignated 1 January 1911 as the 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry.
• 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry, mustered into Federal service 24 June 1916 at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont.
• Disbanded 19 July 1916 at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont.
• Vermont Light Battery reconstituted 3 July 1946 in the Vermont National Guard as the 206th Field Artillery Battalion and assigned to the 43d Infantry Division.
• Organized and Federally recognized 3 April 1947 with Headquarters at Burlington.
• Ordered into active Federal service 5 September 1950 at home stations.
• Released 15 June 1954 from active Federal service and reverted to state control with Headquarters at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont; Federal recognition concurrently withdrawn from the 206th Field Artillery Battalion.
• Reorganized and redesignated 1 March 1959 as the 124th Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System, to consist of the 1st Howitzer Battalion, an element of the 43d Infantry Division.
• Redesignated 1 February 1964 as the 86th Artillery and reorganized to consist of the 1st Battalion, an element of the 86th Armored Brigade.
• Reorganized 1 February 1968 to consist of the 1st Battalion, an element of the 50th Armored Division.
• Reorganized 1 June 1975 to consist of the 1st Battalion.
• Reorganized 1 May 1980 to consist of the 1st Battalion, an element of the 50th Armored Division.
• Reorganized 1 June 1988 to consist of the 1st Battalion, an element of the 26th Infantry Division.
• Withdrawn 1 May 1989 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System.
• Reorganized 1 September 1993 to consist of the 1st Battalion.

  Heraldry

Distinctive unit insignia

• Description

• Symbolism

• Background

Coat of arms

• Blazon
• * Shield: Gules on a pile Or, between two lions rampant respecting each other of the last a shellburst Proper.
• * Crest: That for the regiments and separate battalions of the Vermont Army National Guard: On a wreath of the colors Or and Gules a buck’s head erased within a garland of pine all Proper.
• * Motto: HIC MURUS AHENEUS.
• Symbolism
• * Shield: The scarlet is for the Artillery. The gold pile is representative of the entering wedge driven into enemy territory by the fire of the organization, which is illustrated by the shellburst. The motto: “Hic Murus Aheneus”, alludes to the “brazen wall formed by artillery barrage,”.
• * Crest: The crest is that of the Vermont Army National Guard.
• Background: The coat of arms was originally approved for the 251st Field Artillery Battalion on 24 February 1943. It was redesignated for the 206th Field Artillery Battalion with the addition of the Vermont Army National Guard crest on 17 March 1947. It was redesignated for the 124th Artillery Regiment on 18 July 1961. The insignia was redesignated for the 86th Artillery Regiment and amended to revise the symbolism on 2 October 1970. It was redesignated for the 86th Field Artillery Regiment on 11 July 1972