Act in Relation to the Organization of a Colored Regiment in the City of New York

Impact

Despite the law’s provision that the African American regiment be created within three months, the adjutant general and other state authorities took no action. There were conflicting loyalties among those political appointees who owed allegiance to Tammany Hall and those who supported Governor Sulzer. Tammany Hall was the name given to the political organization that dominated the Democratic Party in New York State and New York City during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Originally it had dominated Irish American politics but in the late nineteenth century encompassed the larger immigrant community. In the early twentieth century, it worked to divert African Americans from their traditional support of the Republican Party. Tammany maintained its control through a system of patronage appointments, illegal payments and kickbacks, and generally corrupt political practice. Sulzer had received political support from Tammany Hall for a large part of his career, but when he became governor, he refused to follow Tammany instructions for political appointments. In October 1913, Tammany Hall politicians whom Sulzer had opposed started impeachment proceedings, alleging he had misappropriated campaign funds; he was forced out of office in 1913. Lieutenant Governor Martin H. Glynn, who supported the Tammany Hall political machine, then became governor. Glynn had no interest in pursuing the formation of an African American regiment and took no action despite inquiries from the black community.

The New York Times reported on May 11, 1914, that “C. Franklin Carr of New York, a candidate for Colonel of the negro regiment” had written a letter to the state’s adjutant general on May 1 expressing the provisional regiment’s impatience with the delay in mustering the unit into the New York National Guard. The letter continued to state that if an interpretation of the authorization law meant that the regiment would need to have white officers, the regiment would be willing to accept that condition. On May 9, an assistant to the adjutant general replied that since “not a sufficient number of officers succeeded in passing the prescribed examination to officer one company, the organization of the colored regiment has been temporarily postponed.” The Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York covering the year 1914 states that fifty-seven candidates for commissions were tested: “The result was so disappointing as to make it obviously improper to expend public funds any further in the attempt to comply with the act.” The same report mentions that the state had thirteen regiments, four more than the War Department required—with the implication that forming a new regiment would drain scarce funds from the rest of the state’s National Guard. The adjutant general, in sum, was not favorably disposed toward the creation of a new black regiment; no further action was taken for almost two more years.

When Charles Whitman defeated Glynn in New York’s 1914 gubernatorial election, the U.S. government was cautiously watching events in Europe. The previous August, Germany had declared war on Russia and France, followed by Great Britain’s declaration of war on Germany. In Mexico, the revolutionary Pancho Villa was waging war for control of the Mexican government. Villa saw the U.S. government’s transition of support from him to his opponent, Venustiano Carranza, as a betrayal and a personal affront. Consequently, in March 1916, Villa crossed the border into New Mexico and killed seventeen citizens in the town of Columbus. In April, the War Department mobilized the National Guard in response to Villa’s attack, and almost all of the New York National Guard entered federal service. When the New York National Guard was mobilized, it fielded an entire division.

On June 16, 1916, Governor Whitman appointed William Hayward as colonel in the New York National Guard with orders to start organizing and recruiting for the new African American unit, named the Fifteenth Infantry Regiment. Many wondered why Hayward was selected to command the Fifteenth rather than Charles Fillmore, who was the acting colonel of the provisional regiment; it is probable that Hayward’s appointment was a political reward from Whitman, as was the appointment of Lorillard Spencer as the adjutant of the regiment. Both Hayward and Spencer were close to the governor and had previously been provided with political appointments. Spencer held the rank of captain in the New York National Guard Coast Artillery Corp but was promoted to major when he became Whitman’s military secretary. Conveniently, Hayward, who had been public service commissioner, still held the rank of colonel in the Nebraska National Guard, albeit on the excess inactive list; it was thus a simple administrative act to have him transferred to the New York National Guard’s excess inactive list and then detailed to active service.

In the first weeks of their efforts, Colonel Hayward and his adjutant, Major Spencer, ran into great difficulties finding recruits in New York’s African American community. Although they were pleased to finally have the regiment, they were especially concerned that it might have only white officers. Hayward advertised that the color line would not be drawn in the Fifteenth Infantry and that colored men who qualified would be commissioned as officers. He opened the doors to the Fifteenth Infantry Regiment’s first recruiting office on June 27, 1916. A few prospective recruits came by, and several were enlisted that night. Later in the week the New York Age, a popular African American weekly newspaper in New York City, printed two related articles on its front page: one about the heroic actions of the all-black Tenth Cavalry Regiment in Mexico and the other on the recruiting efforts for New York’s Fifteenth Infantry. Those two articles brought hundreds of recruits into the regiment; by the middle of July, the first battalion had been filled.

While the regiment continued to attract a number of highly qualified African Americans, there were not enough to fill the large number of officer positions, and Hayward was indeed forced to bring in a number of white officers. Hamilton Fish III, a New York assemblyman and well-connected socialite, was appointed a captain, as was Arthur Little, a well-known insurance broker. Most of the enlisted personnel came from Harlem, the Bronx, and Brooklyn; Hayward recruited and formed one battalion in each of the three locations. For the most part, the men he recruited were ordinary laborers, such as porters, doormen, and the like. Needham Roberts, a former bellhop, had tried to enlist in the navy but had been turned down. Henry Johnson had been a railroad porter in Albany, New York, but went to New York City to enlist. Horace Pippin had been a metalworker, a molder in a brake-shoe foundry. He had shown some artistic talent as a child, and his war diary is illustrated with his drawings. In the 1930s Pippin gained fame as one the leading American “naive” artists of the century.

Another enlistee was James Reese Europe, who joined New York’s Fifteenth on September 18, 1916, and recruited his friend and colleague Noble Sissle to join ten days later. Europe was a famous bandleader whose music was well known across the country. He joined the regiment to be a soldier, not a musician, but when Hayward was having problems recruiting, he turned to Europe to form a band that would bring in men to join the regiment. Europe scoured New York for skilled musicians; when he exhausted the supply, he went to Chicago to recruit Frank DeBroit, a famous black cornet player. Because there was a shortage of clarinet and saxophone players at the time, Europe persuaded Hayward to fund a trip to Puerto Rico. Europe returned with a group of eighteen highly skilled musicians he had somehow persuaded to enlist and go to New York.

The Fifteenth New York was mobilized into federal service on July 25, 1917. On August 5, along with all the other units of the National Guard of the United States, the Fifteenth New York entered the U.S. Army. After two months of guard duty in the New York area, the regiment was sent to Camp Wadsworth in Spartanburg, South Carolina, for additional training. Race relations at Camp Wadsworth were extremely tense, and there were a number of violent incidents. The commander of Camp Wadsworth, Brigadier General Charles Phillips, believed the situation to be so critical that he arranged a private meeting between Colonel Hayward and Secretary of War Newton Baker on October 22, just seven days after the regiment had arrived there. Two days later, the regiment left Spartanburg by train for New York to await transportation by ship to France in November. After a number of mishaps, including a return to New York for engine repair, the regiment landed in Brest, France, on December 27, 1917.

Rather than being sent into combat training as they had expected, the regiment was unceremoniously boarded onto freight cars and sent to Saint-Nazaire to be a labor and construction unit. While the rest of the regiment was building railroads and unloading cargo, the regimental band directed by Europe was sent on a tour across France. A visiting American theatrical producer, Winthrop Ames, and the Broadway actor E. H. Sothern had been touring France to find entertainment for American troops when they heard Europe’s band. In their opinion, it was the best band they had ever heard. It may have been their recommendation that led the army to order the band to play at a rest and recuperation area at Aix-les-Bains, a resort area near the French Alps. On February 12, 1918, the band boarded a train and played their way across the southeastern quarter of France; everywhere the train stopped, the band played. The French had never heard a jazz band before and embraced the music with great enthusiasm.

General John J. Pershing, the commanding general of the American Expeditionary Force, was then being pressured by the French and British commanders to assign American forces to fill in losses in both armies. Pershing adamantly refused, insisting that Americans command Americans. When Germany launched its spring offensive in March 1918, Pershing made an exception to his policy and agreed to loan three regular U.S. Army divisions and two National Guard regiments to back up the French and British forces. The German offensive stalled, and the American units were never assigned—except for the Fifteenth New York, which was given to the French Fourth Army; Pershing had no confidence in the combat skills of African Americans but had found a way to satisfy French requests for American units and get rid of what he saw as a problem. Under French leadership, Pershing’s African American “problem” became one of the most decorated American regiments in the war.

When the regiment reported for duty with the French Army, it learned it had been designated as the “369th Infantry Regiment.” Because the regiment was to be part of the French Army, it had to exchange American equipment for French-issued items. They were given the distinctive helmet worn by the French soldiers, with a crest that ran from front to back, as well as French leather belts and strappings to hold their ammunition, gas masks, and grenade bags. They were armed with the same rifles as were the other French troops deployed in the same sector. After three weeks’ training with French infantry weapons and tactics, the regiment was assigned to a 2.8-mile sector of frontline trenches. The 369th Infantry Regiment’s first combat experience occurred late on April 14 when the regiment came under a German artillery attack. The shelling lasted only a short time, and there were no casualties. The 369th commanded the frontline trenches from April 29 until July 4, when it was relieved and sent to the second-line trenches.

In mid-July, the last phase of the German spring offensive began in the Champagne-Ardenne, as the Germans attempted to widen their front on the Marne River. After helping stop the German attack, the French attached the 369th to the 161st Division, which had been pushed back from its frontline trenches by the German attack. The 369th counterattacked on July 18 and recaptured the frontline trenches. Portions of the regiment were then parceled out to support other French units from July 21 through August 19. Once the sector was quiet and the regiment was reunited, it resumed training. The regiment was permanently reassigned to the 161st Division on September 9, prior to the French Fourth Army’s Meuse-Argonne offensive, started on September 26. That day the 369th, assigned to support the French attack, discovered a gap in the front lines and advanced to capture the town of Ripont. The following day they advanced about three-quarters of a mile. While the rest of the 161st was being delayed by German resistance, the regiment captured Séchault and advanced three-quarters of a mile further. After the heavy fighting abated and the front was consolidated, the 161st Division, including the 369th, was relieved and returned to a rehabilitation area around October 8. On October 14 the regiment, as part of the 161st, began occupation of the Thur sector, northeast of Belfort. Because of their remarkable record in combat, the men of the 369th were accorded the honor of being the first American troops to cross the Rhine into Germany.

Despite the regiment’s accomplishments, once the 369th was reassigned from the French Army back to the U.S. Army, it once again faced racial prejudices. The U.S. Army refused to allow the Harlem Hell Fighters to march in the Paris victory parade and quickly shipped them back to New York. Yet Colonel Hayward promised his men a victory parade of their own and, using his many political connections, arranged a remarkable event. On February 17, 1919, the Harlem Hell Fighters, led by Europe and the regimental band, marched down Fifth Avenue from the victory arch being built at 24th and Broadway to Harlem.

In a larger sense, the full impact of the 369th Harlem Hell Fighters and other black regiments’ service in World War I was not realized until President Harry S. Truman integrated the U.S. military forces in 1948. Starting with the Korean War, as African Americans began to be accepted into the military on an equal basis with whites and other races, a renewed consciousness emerged of a uniquely black military heritage of service. That heritage, service despite racial prejudice and inequality, is a heritage of honor, courage, and sacrifice that continues to inspire African American youth.