| Franklin Guards | |
|---|---|
| Active |
|
| Country | United States |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch | Florida Army National Guard |
| Type | Infantry and Engineer |
| Size | Company |
| Garrison/HQ | Apalachicola, Florida |
| Nickname(s) | "Franklin Guards" |
| Engagements | Seminole Wars Murfreesborough Vicksburg Chickamauga Chattanooga Atlanta Franklin Nashville World War I World War II Gulf War |
The Franklin Guards was a unit of the Florida Army National Guard, stationed in Apalachicola. The company was founded in 1836 by Captain Abraham K. Allison as the Franklin Volunteers and fought in the Second Seminole War under General Richard K. Call's battalion of volunteers.[1] The Territorial Legislature incorporated the company as the "Apalachicola Guards" on March 14, 1843.[2] This act formalized their relationship with the territorial governor and afforded them territory-funded arms and equipment. During the American Civil War, the Apalachicola Guards mustered into service as Company B, 1st Florida on April 5, 1861. After the war, the company reorganized as Franklin Guards, under the command of Captain Robert Knickmeyer and Lieutenant William Orman. The Guards served as an infantry unit for most of their existence, including in the Civil War and World War I. The Guards had reorganized into an engineer company after World War I and deployed as such to the Pacific Theatre with the 31st Infantry Division in World War II. After the end of World War II, the company became an artillery and then infantry company of the 124th Infantry. It served with that unit until 1963, when it became part of the 261st Engineer Battalion as an armored engineer company. In 1968 it was reorganized into two platoons of Company C of the 3rd Battalion, 124th Infantry, and two years later became Detachment 1 of the company. After transferring to Company A in 1998, it consolidated with the company in 2007 to become Troop C, 1st Squadron, 153rd Cavalry.