Company A served during the Mexican–American War of 1846, participating in the Veracruz campaign and charging up the heights of Chapultepec in Mexico City.

The battalion fought at Antietam, bridged the Rappahannock River six times at Fredericksburg, breached fortifications at Petersburg and was present at the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox.

With the American entry into World War I, the battalion was expanded on 15 May 1917 to become the 1st Engineer Regiment, composed of six companies, and assigned to the 1st Infantry Division.

Sergeant Wilbur E. Colyer of Company A received the Medal of Honor for advancing under fire and destroying a series of enemy machine gun positions near Verdun, France, in 1918.

[5] The regiment arrived at the port of New York 3 September 1919 on the USS Orizaba, and was transferred 4 October 1919 to Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky.

Company A (commanded by First Lieutenant Leslie R. Groves) was attached to the 29th Engineer Battalion (Topographic) 15 October 1929-25 July 1931 and conducted surveys in Nicaragua for possible canal routes across Central America.

In April 1933, the regiment assumed command and control of the Delaware Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) District.

In 1931 and 1933 the unit was responsible for floating six sets of officer quarters from Fort Mott in Pennsville, New Jersey, just across the Delaware River.

The regiment assisted in the summer training of Organized Reserve engineer units of the First, Second, and Third Corps Areas at Fort DuPont 1922-39.

The battalion fought as part of the 1st Infantry Division during the remainder of the war in the European Theater and after 10 years of occupation duty moved to Fort Riley, Kansas.

[4] On 2 May 1965 the battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Howard L. Sargent, Jr., deployed to South Vietnam as part of the 1st Infantry Division.

For five years the battalion cleared obstacles, built roads, airfields, basecamps and bridges in support of numerous combat operations including Junction City I and II and the Tet Offensive of 1968.

Equipped with M113 Armored Personnel Carriers, Mine Clearing Line Charges and M728 Combat Engineer Vehicles, the battalion breached and cleared lanes through Iraqi obstacle belts that allowed the passage of two divisions including the British "1st Armoured Division".

[8] Elements of the battalion destroyed 58 Iraqi tanks, 41 anti-aircraft artillery pieces, and other large quantities of ammunition and war material.

The battalion returned to Fort Riley in 1991, receiving the Valorous Unit Citation for actions in Southwest Asia.

The Battalion Operations Officer during ERI was then-Major Todd T. Semonite, later to achieve the rank of Lieutenant General, succeeding LTG Bostick as the Chief of Engineers.

To this end, the battalion conducted reconnaissance of over 1,230 kilometers of routes and 298 bridges; destroyed 116,000 anti-personnel land mines; constructed 30 kilometers of roads and 5 bridges; supervised Entity Armed Forces' clearance of more than 43,000 square miles (110,000 km2) of minefields; and distributed toys, clothing, and humanitarian aid to Bosnian children and homeless families.

On 8 September 2003, the 1st Engineer Battalion deployed to Iraq as part of the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In one year the battalion exploited over 370 enemy caches consisting of 28 tons of munitions and weapons, found and destroyed over 150 improvised devices, fortified 21 government buildings and coalition camps in the Al Anbar Province, cleared several hundred kilometers of roads, supported six battalions in the Ar Ramadi and Habbaniyah areas with combat engineer operations for six other camps in the Ar Ramadi area.

Working as Task Force Trailblazer, the battalion earned a third Valorous Unit Award for combat action.

Over the nine-month deployment, the battalion assumed responsibility for all engineer operations in RC-East; thus adding Kabul, Paktika, Paktiya, and Ghazni Provinces.

In October 2016, the battalion marked its first visit to the Korean Peninsula with a deployment to Camp Hovey, South Korea with the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.

The deployment was part of an HQDA initiated Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) rotation of forces to the Republic of Korea (ROK) in support of national level and theater specific requirements.

In January 2019, the battalion deployed with the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, to Europe in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve.