Harlem Hellfighters

As one of the most celebrated African American units of all time, the 369th Infantry Regiment's heroic performance in battle during World War I posed a direct challenge to American Army officials’ claim that blacks were unfit for front-line duty. In the interwar period, celebrations of the unit's achievements helped energize the civil rights movement as it adopted a more militant tone. The regimental band led by Lt. James Reese Europe also gained fame in both the United States and France and has been credited with introducing jazz to the European continent. The regiment's drum major, Sgt. Noble Sissle, later gained fame on Broadway as a singer, conductor, and composer.

The “Harlem Hellfighters,” as the 369th Infantry Regiment came to be called, traces its roots to June 2, 1913, [Page 341]when the governor of New York, William Sulzer, signed into law a bill authorizing an all-black regiment for his state's National Guard, but several years passed before the unit was organized. On June 16, 1916, the unit was formally organized as the 15th New York Infantry Regiment and mobilized with other National Guard regiments along the Mexican border. A white officer, former Nebraska National Guardsman, and attorney Col. William Hayward played a key role in recruiting and organizing the regiment. Other officers were graduates of Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, and sons of elite New York families, such as Hamilton Fish, Jr., who was commissioned as captain by Hayward. The 200 African American residents of New York City who formed the nucleus of the regiment first met at a Harlem cigar store with a dance hall above it that the unit converted into a temporary armory.

When President Wilson declared war in April 1917, the 15th New York was recruited to war strength and sent to Camp Whitman in Poughkeepsie, New York, for training. It also guarded various points around New York City to protect against sabotage. Hayward attempted to have the regiment integrated into the 27th New York Division and the 42nd Rainbow Division, but was rejected by the divisional commanders who told him that black was not a color of the rainbow. In October 1917, the 15th was sent to Camp Wadsworth in Spartanburg, South Carolina, for formal training. Racial tensions in Spartanburg prevented these black soldiers from entering local stores or riding on the city's streetcar. Fearing that a riot would ensue, Hayward met with Sec. of War Newton Baker in Washington, D.C., and persuaded the War Department to remove the 15th from Wadsworth. On December 27, 1917, the regiment left Spartanburg and shortly thereafter embarked for overseas service in France.

In France the regiment was sent to a Service of Supply camp at St. Nazaire. Despite having trained for combat, the men were ordered to build storehouses and docks, and undertook stevedore work. Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force, had no immediate plans to send his African American units to serve at the front with the white regiments. Pressure from Hayward, as well as civic organizations in the United States and a desperate French Army in need of replacements, persuaded Pershing to allow the 15th New York and three other black regiments to serve with the French. These four regiments were formed into the 93rd Division and remained with the French Army for the remainder of the war. The 15th was federalized as the 369th United States Infantry Regiment in March 1918.

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