369th Infantry Regiment

369th Infantry Regiment
369th Infantry Regiment distinctive unit insignia
Active	1913–1945
Country	USA
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Nickname	Harlem Hell Fighters
Engagements	World War I  • Champagne–Marne  • Meuse–Argonne World War II  • New Guinea  • Bismarck Archipelago

Harlem Hellfighters in action. Here, the men of the 369th are depicted wearing the American Brodie helmet; however, after being detached and seconded to the French, they wore the Adrian helmet, while retaining the rest of their American uniform.

Harlem 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.

History

The 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. It 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.

It 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.

The 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. The 185th Infantry Brigade was assigned on January 5, 1918 to the 93rd Division [Provisional].

The 15th Infantry Regiment, NYARNG was reorganized and redesignated March 1, 1918 as the 369th Infantry Regiment, but the unit continued labor service duties while it waited the decision as to what to do with the unit.

It was finally decided on April 8, 1918 to assign the unit to the French Army for duration of the United States participation in the war. The men were issued French helmets and brown leather belts and pouches, although they continued to wear their U.S. uniforms. The 369th Infantry Regiment was relieved May 8, 1918 from assignment to the 185th Infantry Brigade, and went into the trenches as part of the French 16th Division and served continuously to July 3. The regiment returned to combat in the Second Battle of the Marne. Later 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. The 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.

In 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.

The 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.

During its service the regiment suffered 1500 casualties and took part in the following campaigns:

Wartime poster of the 369th fighting German soldiers, with the figure of Abraham Lincoln above

1. Champagne–Marne
2. Meuse–Argonne
3. Champagne 1918
4. Alsace 1918

One 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. In May 1918 Johnson and Pvt. Needham Roberts fought off a 24-man German patrol, though both were severely wounded. After they expended their ammunition, Roberts used his rifle as a club and Johnson battled with a bolo knife. Johnson was the first American to receive the Croix de Guerre. By the end of the war, 171 members of the 369th were awarded the Legion of Honor.[1]

Photographs show that the 369th carried the New York Regimental flag overseas. The French government awarded the regiment the Croix de Guerre with silver star for the taking of Séchault. It was pinned to the colors by General Lebouc at a ceremony in Germany, December 13, 1918.

One of the first units in the United States armed forces to have Negro officers in addition to its all-black enlisted corps, the 369th compiled an astounding war record, earning several unit citations along with many individual decorations for valor from the French government.

The 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.

In 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. Only once did it fail to take its objective and that was due largely to bungling by French artillery support. There were 1500 casualties.

During the war the 369th's regimental band (under the direction of James Reese Europe) became famous throughout Europe, being the first to introduce the until-then unknown music called jazz to British, French and other audiences, and starting a worldwide demand for it.^[1]

The filker Michael Longcor is the composer and recorder of the song "The Ballad of Esau's Sons" (lyrics by poet Martha Keller), which describes the 369th's exploits during World War I without explicitly naming the unit.

World War II

Notable soldiers

• Sgt. Henry Johnson, winner of the Croix de Guerre
• Spotswood Poles, referred to as "the black Ty Cobb" for his prowess in the professional Negro baseball leagues in the early 1900s
• Colonel Hamilton Fish III, Regimental Commander of the 369th Regiment, New York Congressman, author, and Founder of the Order of Lafayette.
• Rafael Hernández Marín, considered to the greatest composer of Puerto Rican music.
• Lieutenant James Reese Europe, an early ragtime and jazz bandleader and composer, who served as regimental bandmaster.
• Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, tap dancer and actor

Insignia

Shoulder Sleeve Insignia

• Description:

1. A shield-shaped embroidered item, arched outwardly at top blazoned as follows: Per chevron Argent and Gules, between three palets counterchanged, two poplar trees Vert; all with a 1/8 inch (.32 cm) Blue border.
2. Overall dimensions are 2 7/16 inches (6.19 cm) in width and 3 inches (7.62 cm) in length.

• Symbolism:

1. The chevron, heraldic symbol for support, suggests the unit’s mission.
2. The palets/vertical bars signify military strength and allude to the three campaigns in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq.
3. The counterchanged colors of the palets/vertical bars signify the various transformations of the unit to become the 396th Sustainment Brigade.
4. The poplar tree, adapted from the 369th Infantry Battalion’s coat of arms, indicates the Brigade perpetuating the lineage of the Battalion.

• Background: The shoulder sleeve insignia was approved for the 369th Sustainment Brigade on 2008-02-07.

Distinctive Unit Insignia

• Description: A silver color metal and enamel device 1 1/4 inches (3.18 cm) in height overall consisting of a blue shield charged with a silver rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike.

• Symbolism:

1. The rattlesnake is a symbol used on some colonial flags and is associated with the thirteen original colonies.
2. The silver rattlesnake on the blue shield was the distinctive regimental insignia of the 369th Infantry Regiment, ancestor of the unit, and alludes to the service of the organization during World War I.

• Background:

1. The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 369th Infantry Regiment on 1923-04-17.
2. It was redesignated for the 369th Coast Artillery Regiment on 1940-12-03.
3. It was redesignated for the 369th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion on 1944-01-07.
4. It was redesignated for the 569th Field Artillery Battalion on 1956-08-14.
5. The insignia was redesignated for the 369th Artillery Regiment on 1962-04-04.
6. It was amended to correct the wording of the description on 1964-09-02.
7. It was redesignated for the 569th Transportation Battalion and amended to add a motto on 1969-03-13.
8. The insignia was redesignated for the 369th Transportation Battalion and amended to delete the motto on 1975-01-14.
9. It was redesignated for the 369th Support Battalion and amended to revise the description and symbolism on 1994-11-02.
10. The insignia was redesignated for the 369th Sustainment Brigade and amended to revise the description and symbolism on 2007-07-20.

Gallery

Private Henry Johnson, 369th Infantry Regiment, NYARNG, 1918, wearing his Croix de Guerre.

Left to right. Front row: Pvt. Ed Williams, Pvt. Herbert Taylor, Pvt. Leon Fraitor, Pvt. Ralph Hawkins. Back Row: Sgt. H. D. Prinas, Sgt. Dan Strorms, Pvt. Joe Williams, Pvt. Alfred Hanley, and Cpl. T. W. Taylor.

A wounded veteran of the 369th Infantry (Old 15th New York) watches the 1919 Victory Parade up Fifth Avenue, New York City, with his family, 1919

369th Armory

Notes

1. ^ Scott, Scott's Official History, ch. XXI: "Negro Music that Stirred France", pp. 300–314.

Further reading

• Barbeau, Arthur E., and Florette Henri. The Unknown Soldiers; Black American Troops in World War I. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1974. ISBN-10: 0877220638.
• Harris, Bill. The Hellfighters of Harlem: African-American Soldiers Who Fought for the Right to Fight for Their Country. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2002. ISBN-10: 0786710500, ISBN-10: 0786713070.
• Harris, Stephen L. Harlem's Hell Fighters: The African-American 369th Infantry in World War I. Washington, D.C.: Brassey's, Inc, 2003. ISBN-10: 1574883860, ISBN-10: 1574886355
• Little, Arthur W. From Harlem to the Rhine: The Story of New York's Colored Volunteers. New York: Covici, Friede, Publishers, 1936. (Reprinted: New York: Haskell House, 1974. ISBN-10: 0838320333.)
• Myers, Walter Dean, and Bill Miles. The Harlem Hellfighters: When Pride Met Courage. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2006. ISBN-10: 006001136X, ISBN-10: 0060011378.
• Nelson, Peter. A More Unbending Battle: The Harlem Hellfighters' Struggle for Freedom in WWI and Equality at Home. New York: Basic Civitas, 2009. ISBN-10: 0465003176.

African Americans in World War I

• Scott, Emmett Jay. Scott's Official History of the American Negro in the World War. A Complete and Authentic Narration, from Official Sources, of the Participation of American Soldiers of the Negro Race in the World War for Democracy ... a Full Account of the War Work Organizations of Colored Men and Women and Other Civilian Activities, Including the Red Cross, the Y.M.C.A., the Y.W.C.A. and the War Camp Community Service, with Official Summary of Treaty of Peace and League of Nations Covenant. Chicago: Homewood Press, 1919. OCLC 1192364. (Reprinted: New York, Arno Press, 1969. OCLC 6100.)
• Williams, Charles H. Sidelights on Negro Soldiers. Boston: B.J. Brimmer Co, 1923. OCLC 1405294 and 454411790. (Reprinted as: Negro Soldiers in World War I: The Human Side. New York: AMS Press, 1970. ISBN-10: 0404069762.)

External links

• 369th Regiment US Army color
• New York State Military Museum
• 719th Transportation Company, 369th Transportation Battalion in Iraq, 1990-91
• 369th Sustainment Brigade
• Headquarters, 369th Sustainment Brigade
• Early Element, 369th Sustainment Brigade
• 369th Signal Network Maintenance Company
• 145th Maintenance Company
• 133rd Quartermaster Company
• 719th Transportation Company
• 1569th Transportation Company
• 726th Military Police Detachment
• Arlington National Cemetery
• RedHotJazz.com article on the Hellfighter's Band
• The 369th - Harlem Hellfighters History
• The 371st Regiment Monument
• Journaux de Marche et des Opérations action reports of all WWI french units including 16th and 161th infantry divisions