Following is the citation awarded the 369th for its courage and valor in the great offensive in the Champagne, September and October, 1918, by the French Commanding General: CITATION FOR CROIX DE GUERRE AWARDED 369e RÉGIMENT d'INFANTERIE U. S. (FORMERLY 15th N. Y. INFANTRY) FOR ITS OPERATIONS AS A COMBAT UNIT OF A FRENCH DIVISION IN THE GREAT OFFENSIVE IN CHAMPAGNE, SEPT. AND OCT. 1918, BY THE FRENCH COMMANDING GENERAL Under command of Colonel HAYWARD, who, though injured, insisted on leading his regiment in the battle, of Lieutenant Colonel PICKERING, admirably cool and brave, of Major COBB, (killed), of Major SPENCER (grievously wounded), of Major LITTLE, a true leader of men; the 369th R. I. U. S. engaging in an offensive for the first time in the drive of September, 1918, stormed powerful enemy positions energetically defended, took, after heavy fighting, the town of, S--------, captured prisoners and brought back six cannons and a great number of machine guns. |
Excerpt:
Interest Grows in Music Pioneer James Europe, WWI Hero
By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service
The name "Lt. James Reese Europe" etched into a graying, weathered tombstone doesn't mean anything to most visitors to Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery. It's just an obscure name among thousands on grave markers throughout the huge military burial ground. Of Europe, the late ragtime and jazz composer and performer pianist Eubie Blake once said, "People don't realize yet today what we lost when we lost Jim Europe. He was the savior of Negro musicians in a class with Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King Jr."
The French government called him a battlefield hero. Before the war, however, he was a household name in New York's music world and on the dance scene nationwide. According to books about ragtime and early jazz, James Reese Europe was the most respected black bandleader of the "teens" when the United States entered World War I. Both his battlefield heroism and his music fell into obscurity after his untimely and tragic death at 39 on May 9, 1919.
The son of a former slave father and a "free" mother, Europe was born in Mobile, Ala., on Feb. 22, 1881. Europe's compositions and arrangements of familiar tunes were played with a jazz twist long before the "Jazz Age." His style was between the syncopated beat of ragtime and the syncopated improvisation of jazz. He became popular in France using that same style as leader of the 369th Infantry Regiment band during World War I. He enlisted as a private in the 15th Infantry, a black New York National Guard outfit, on Sept. 18, 1916. Europe accomplished something only a few African Americans did in those days: He attended officers training and was commissioned a lieutenant.
The 15th Infantry was later redesignated the 369th Infantry, which the French nicknamed "The Harlem Hellfighters" after the black soldiers showed their mettle in combat. Europe's regimental commander, Col. William Hayward, asked the new lieutenant to organize "the best damn brass band in the United States Army." With the promise of extra money to attract first-class musicians, Europe recruited musicians from Harlem and reportedly put together one of the finest military bands that ever existed. He even recruited woodwind players from Puerto Rico because there weren't enough in Harlem. Europe also recruited singers, comedians, dancers and others who could entertain troops. He recruited the best drum major he could find -- Harlem dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
When the 369th and its band arrived in France, they were assigned to the 16th "Le Gallais" Division of the Fourth French Army because white U.S. Army units refused to fight alongside them. Trained to command a machine gun company, Europe learned to fire French machine guns and became the first American officer and first African American to lead troops in battle during the war.
The Harlem Hellfighters would serve 191 days in combat, longer than any other U.S. unit, and reputedly never relinquished an inch of ground. The men earned 170 French Croix de Guerres for bravery. One of their commanding officers, Col. Benjamin O. Davis Sr., would become the Army's first black general in 1940.
Europe was gassed while leading a daring nighttime raid against the Germans. While recuperating in a French hospital, he penned the song "One Patrol in No Man's Land." Europe and his musicians were ordered to the rear in August 1918 to entertain thousands of soldiers in camps and hospitals. They also performed for high-ranking military and civilian officials and for French citizens in cities across France. After Germany surrendered, the Hellfighters Band became popular performing throughout Europe. When the regiment returned home in the spring of 1919, it paraded up New York's 5th Avenue to Harlem led by the band playing its raggedy tunes to the delight of more than a million spectators. Back in America, Europe found himself even more popular than before he went to war. He recorded "One Patrol in No Man's Land"; it became a nationwide hit.
Europe ironically survived being shot at and gassed in the trenches of France only to die on May 9, 1919, at the hands of one of his own men. A deranged drummer named Herbert Wright cut Europe's jugular vein with a penknife while the bandleader was preparing for a show at Mechanics Hall in Boston. Wright had been angry because he thought Europe favored his twin brother over him.
Do you know if the unit is still around in the N.Y. Guard?