the Harlem Hell Fighters World War
I the 369th Infantry Regiment was
constituted on June 2nd 1913 in the New
York Army National Guard as the 15th New
York Infantry Regiment and would become
known as the first African-American
regiment to serve with the American
expeditionary forces during World War I
the Regiment of African-Americans and
African Puerto Ricans was organized on
June 29th 1916 at New York City and
called called into Federal service in
1917 soon they would prepare for
overseas service in Europe and by
December they had arrived in France a
white Officer Colonel William Hayward
who was one of the original organizers
of the
369th would continue to lead them in
France he respected his troops and
dedicated himself to their
well-being on March 1st 1918 the 15th
Infantry Regiment the New York Army
National Guard was redesign ated as the
369th Infantry Regiment numbers higher
than 200 were usually for troops who had
been drafted but as they had volunteered
this was an insult while they awaited a
decision as to whether they would get to
see combat Duty they continued Labor
Service duties the regiment was finally
given the opportunity to fight on the
front lines by General John J persing in
April
1918 they were assigned to the French
army because of racial segregation in
the US Army and discrimination regarding
white soldiers performing combat Duty
with black soldiers unlike the United
States the French did not racially
segregate black troops or have such
concerns they also welcomed any allied
help they could get as they became short
on
troops the American weapons and
equipment of the 369th were also
exchanged for French equivalents such as
the berier rifle and the Adrian helmet
under the French army the Harlem Hell
Fighters would soon enter the trenches
in a combative
May 1918 would see a famous event in the
history of the Harlem Hell Fighters as
private Henry Johnson and private NM
Roberts sat in a hole in the ground in
the dark on guard Duty listening for the
enemy a sniper fired at Johnson and then
later he heard wire cutters clipping
through the barbed wire defenses a
German Patrol of around 24 men started
attacking Roberts and Johnson were both
injured outnumbered they lobbed grenades
and fired their rifles at the enemy
Johnson's French rifle jammed from the
wrong ammunition so he resorted to using
it as a club on a German soldier who was
trying to take Roberts as a prisoner
Johnson battled on with his last resort
a bolo knife used against a German
trying to kill him eventually the
Germans retreated when Johnson's
reinforcements were approaching Reports
say Johnson killed four German soldiers
and wounded several others before
passing out from 21 wounds these actions
became famous in the press and Johnson
and Roberts received France's highest
award for bravery the
quadr on September 26 1918 the Harlem
Hell Fighters saw combat during the Muse
Aron offensive they captured a town held
by Germans on the first day with heavy
fighting reducing 700 men to
150 on September 30th they captured a
key railroad Junction which cost the
regiment further casualties that night
they were then relieved by the French
from the front lines in October as the
German Army was on the retreat the
Harlem Hell Fighters and the French army
pushed forward they became the first
Allied unit to reach the Ry River on
November 17th
1918 overall the 369th spent 191 days in
combat longer than any other American
unit in the war never lost a foot of
ground and never took a man prisoner the
nickname of Hell Fighters was given to
them by the Germans because of this fact
200,000 African-American soldiers would
serve overseas with Mo suffering
backbreaking labor and non-combative
roles while combat troops were around
42,000 the actions of the 369th regiment
in the first world war would change the
American public opinion on
African-American soldiers and pave the
way for future black
soldiers this video was made possible by
American High School an online accred
credited school for grades 6 through 12
American High School is an excellent
alternative to the traditional high
school if you want to homeschool or
study online they have a lesson on the
Harlem Hell Fighters which helped us
research this episode click the link in
the description below to learn more
about the famed regimen of World War
I