Or “Bloodthirsty Blackmen”As called by the Germans

BackgroundThe bravery of African-American soldiers during

World War I has been largely overlooked. The U.S. military didn't have much faith in the

combat abilities of black Americans during the conflict.

Two hundred thousand black men were stationed in France during the Great War but the majority of them were assigned to support roles like building bridges and driving supply vehicles.

BackgroundHarlem Hellfighters is the popular name for

the 369th Infantry Regiment, formerly the 15th New York National Guard Regiment.

The unit was also known as The Black Rattlers, in addition to several other nicknames.

The 369th Infantry Regiment was known for being the first African American Regiment during WWI.

BackgroundThe 369th Infantry Regiment was constituted

June 2, 1913 in the New York Army National Guard as the 15th New York Infantry Regiment.

It was organized on June 29, 1916 at New York City.

It was mustered into Federal service on July 25, 1917 at Camp Whitman, New York.

BackgroundIt was drafted into Federal service August 5,

1917. The regiment trained in the New York area,

performed guard duty at various locations in New York, and trained more intensely at Camp Wadsworth in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where they experienced significant racism from the local communities, and other units.

The 15th Infantry Regiment NYARNG was assigned on December 1, 1917 to the 185th Infantry Brigade.

BackgroundIt was commanded by

Col. William Hayward, a member of the Union League Club of New York, which sponsored the 369th in the tradition of the 20th U.S. Colored Infantry, which the club had also sponsored in the Civil War.

FranceThe 15th Infantry Regiment shipped out from

the New York Port of Embarkation on December 27, 1917, and joined its brigade upon arrival in France, but the unit was relegated to labor service duties instead of combat training.

On January 1, 1918 they landed on the French coast but they didn't see action right away, because nobody knew what to do with them.

FranceThey were the first African American combat

group to set foot on French soil, and their band immediately struck up the "Marseillaise" in a rhythmically spirited rendition that French soldiers initially failed to recognize as their own national anthem.

Orders came from General Pershing to proceed to a center where an engineering detachment was busy building facilities to support a multi-million-man force, and musical instruments were exchanged for pick and shovel.

FranceBadly in need of fresh troops after years of

brutal trench warfare, the French persuaded American General John J. Pershing to reassign the 369th and three other colored regiments to their Fourth Army.

The men of the 369th and their new commanders took to each other immediately.

FranceThousands of their own troops had either

been killed in combat or had deserted and since they already had experience fighting with personnel from Senegal and Morocco, they welcomed the arrival of the African-American unit.

FranceThe French officers held none of the

prejudices that African-Americans faced in the U.S. Army.

The men were issued French helmets and brown leather belts and pouches, although they continued to wear their U.S. uniforms.

FranceIn an environment free of bigotry, the

Americans quickly learned the use of French weaponry, French battle tactics and in many cases even the French language.

It didn’t take long for the regiment to start building a reputation for courage under fire.

FranceLater the 369th was reassigned to Gen.

Lebouc’s 161st Division in order to participate in the Allied counterattack.

On August 19, the regiment went off the line for rest and training of replacements.

On September 25, 1918 the French 4th Army went on the offensive in conjunction with the American drive in the Meuse-Argonne.

FranceFrom July 15-18, 1918 they fought the

Germans in Champagne and occupied the lines at Calvaire and Beausejour.

They proved themselves to be tough soldiers once again in the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

On September 29th, after two days of intense combat, they captured the town of Séchault.

They also took part in the battles at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood.

FranceThe 369th turned in a good account of itself in

heavy fighting, sustaining severe losses. They captured the important village of Séchault. At one point the 369th advanced faster than

French troops on their right and left flanks. There was danger of being cut off. By the time the regiment pulled back for

reorganization, it had advanced fourteen kilometers through severe German resistance.

FranceIn mid-October the regiment was moved to a

quiet sector in the Vosges Mountains. It was there on November 11, the day of the

Armistice. Six days later the 369th made its last

advance and on November 26, reached the banks of the Rhine River, the first Allied unit to get there.

HeroesOne Medal of Honor and many Distinguished

Service Crosses were awarded to members of the regiment.

The most celebrated man in the 369th was Pvt. Henry Lincoln Johnson, a former Albany, New York, rail station porter, who earned the nickname "Black Death" for his actions in combat in France.

HeroesWhile stationed at a listening post in the

Montplaisir sector of the Argonne forest, a raiding party attacked Johnson and his partner, Needham Roberts.

When he ran out of bullets, Johnson used the butt of his rifle and a smaller bolo knife to keep the Germans at bay.

He plunged his weapon into the skull of one man and in the stomach of the other when Roberts, who was seriously hurt, was being dragged away to the enemy lines.

HeroesThe Germans finally withdrew with at least

four dead and several others wounded. Roberts and Johnson were near death

themselves, but managed to survive until a relief party reached them.

They were the first Americans to earn the French Croix de Guerre during the war.

HeroesBoth men were promoted to sergeant, and

soon made headlines back in the U.S. Needham Roberts, who came from Trenton,

New Jersey, also received the War Cross from the French government.

HeroesAs the war entered its closing months, the

men of the 369th executed a string of daring battlefield exploits.

At the battle of Belleau Wood, Colonel Hayward shrugged off French soldiers advising him to retreat and led his troops through a German artillery barrage, declaring, “My men never retire. They go forward, or they die!”

HeroesCaptain Fillmore, the man who initially

sponsored the regiment in New York, received the Croix de Guerre for conspicuous bravery in an offensive against the German stronghold of Butte de Mesnil.

HeroesA sergeant named William Butler earned the

Distinguished Service Cross for attacking a German raiding party single-handed, freeing six fellow Americans who had been taken prisoner.

The Germans began referring to the men of the 369th as Blutlustige Schwartzmanner - “bloodthirsty black men.”

The French gave the regiment the nickname it would take into history - the Hellfighters.

HeroesBy the end of the war, 171 members of the 369th

were awarded the Legion of Honor.Photographs show that the 369th carried the

New York Regimental flag overseas, the ONLY unit to do so.

The French government awarded the regiment the Croix de Guerre with silver star for the taking of Séchault.

One of their commanding officers, Col. Benjamin O. Davis Sr., would become the Army's first black general in 1940.

HeroesThe 369th Infantry Regiment was the first

New York unit to return to the United States, and was the first unit to march up Fifth Avenue from the Washington Square Park Arch to their Armory in Harlem, and their unit was placed on the permanent list with other veteran units.

HeroesAmong the recruits was James Reese Europe, a

musician who had gained national fame through his collaboration with the popular dancers Vernon and Irene Castle.

Europe had staged the first performance by African-American musicians at Carnegie Hall, had been the first African-American bandleader to receive a major recording contract, and was president of New York’s first effective professional organization for African-American musicians, the Clef Club.

HeroesEurope passed the Lieutenant’s examination

and earned a commission. Lieutenant Europe was planned to leave the

regimental band in the hands of his bandmaster, Eugene Mikell, and his friend and collaborator, Noble Sissle.

He would be commanding a machine gun unit instead.

HeroesAs the 369th was fighting on the front lines,

the regimental band was making a name for itself as well.

Europe, the first African-American officer to lead troops into battle during the war, had been wounded during a poison gas attack in mid-June.

HeroesIn the hospital, Europe completed the chorus

of "On Patrol in No Man's Land," based on the bombardment the night before.

It was to become one of the band's most popular hits after the group's return to the United States.

HeroesHe recovered easily, even writing one of his

most popular songs while sitting in a field hospital bed, but history isn’t clear on the question of whether he ever returned to the battlefield.

By mid-August, though, he had returned to his role of leading the band.

Eugene Mikell and Noble Sissle had led the band successfully while Europe was at the front, but with Europe back in charge the band’s popularity took off.

HeroesThe band was sent to give a single concert in

Paris, but they were so well received that their assignment was extended by an additional two months.

They spent those months touring the camps and hospitals around the city and performing for Allied soldiers and French citizens alike.

HeroesTheir popularity stemmed not from what they

played, but rather from how they played. Their performances were infused with a style

that people were only just beginning to call Jazz.

HeroesThe Hellfighters Band had signed a contract

with the Pathé Record Company and was making plans for a tour across the United States.

Regiment and band alike were welcomed back to New York City with a grand parade viewed by almost one million people.

HeroesTwo weeks later, in Boston on the final leg of

the band’s first tour, James Reese Europe was killed.

His throat had been slashed by his drummer, Herbert Wright, following a professional reprimand.

Eugene Mikell tried to take his place as bandleader, but without Europe the public’s interest faded.

End of the WarWhen the war finally ended, the now-famous

and highly decorated 369th Hellfighters were given the honor of serving as the Allied Forces’ advance guard.

They were the first unit to march through the German lines and reach the Rhine River.

Back HomeThe regiment was relieved on December 12,

1918 from assignment to the French 161st Division, and returned to the New York Port of Embarkation.

It was demobilized on February 28, 1919 at Camp Upton at Yaphank, New York, and returned to the New York Army National Guard.

RecordsIn re-capping the story of the 369th Arthur

W. Little, who had been a battalion commander, wrote in the regimental history From Harlem to the Rhine that it was official that the outfit was 191 days under fire, never lost a foot of ground or had a man taken prisoner, though on two occasions men were captured but they were recovered.

RecordsOnly once did it fail to take its objective and

that was due largely to bungling by French artillery support.

RecordsOnly once did it fail to take its objective and

that was due largely to bungling by French artillery support.

Back HomeDuring its service the regiment suffered 1500

casualties and took part in the following campaigns: Champagne–Marne Meuse–Argonne Champagne 1918 Alsace 1918

Of the 200,000 African American soldiers in Europe, roughly 42,000 saw combat.

Back HomeThe surviving members of the

369th, Johnson and Roberts among them, were back in New York in early 1919.

170 individual members received medals while in Europe but they soon discovered their service in the war didn't mean much to the U.S. government, because they got no recognition whatsoever.

Back HomeBlack veterans were still on the receiving end

of extreme hatred from white citizens. Thousands of African-Americans had

migrated from southern states to northern areas including Chicago and Washington D.C. to look for better employment opportunities, and in doing so hoped they would be accepted as equals.

Back HomeColonel Hayward pulled every political string

he could to assure his men would be rewarded with a victory parade when they came home in February 1919.

Crowds thronged New York City's Fifth Avenue as the 369th marched to the music of their now- famous regimental jazz band leader, James Reese Europe.

After the parade, city officials honored the troops at a special dinner.

Back HomeBlack veterans were still on the receiving end

of extreme hatred from white citizens. Thousands of African-Americans had

migrated from southern states to northern areas including Chicago and Washington D.C. to look for better employment opportunities, and in doing so hoped they would be accepted as equals.

Back HomeTogether with previous African-American

regiments like the 54th Massachusetts volunteers of the Civil War and the “Buffalo Soldiers” of the American frontier, they stand as shining examples of Americans willing to risk their lives and perform great deeds of heroism, even when the country they served wasn’t willing to give them equal recognition in return.