During this week in class, we have been assigned different topics from WW1 to research and talk about what we learned from it. The topic I choose is 369th Infantry and they were known for being the first African American unit to serve in WW1. At first i thought it was ironic how i chose the topic of African American and the fact that i am one but just saying. I find this topic pretty interesting because i never knew it was an all black army who actually succeeded in the war and accomplish many goals. But i hope you enjoy the information that i present to you.
The 369th Infantry was organized June 29th in 1916 in New York. They were known as the "Harlem Hell Fighters," and once they started the service, they had to prepare themselves to arrive in Europe to battle in France. The unit had a hard time leaving the US and failed 3 times until they finally got it right. They sailed to France but on the way they had many problems dealing with the ship, the soldiers fixed the damages themselves and made it their roughly prepared to start their journey. The unit had to do labor service duties for a while until the commanders decided on what they wanted to do with the group. One month later General John J. Pershing loaned the unit to the 16th division of the French army and the action started.
The unit was in the trenches for 191 days and that's the longest front line service of any American Regiment. The unit was reassigned to General Lebouc's 161st division to participate in the allied counter attack. Their first attack was at Bois d' Hauza in April but they wasn't to successful and many soldiers were wounded leaving them with only 1,378 men.
The unit had to get back to war strength and quickly went into recruiting. William Hayward was excited about his recruiting job and he said, "Given the proper training, these men will be the equal of any soldiers in the world." I had a hard time finding out all there attacks because the unit had many attacks on different occasions because they was just doing what they were assigned. I found out that the Americans had disagreements with the French because their rifles they had and the soldiers took the Germans weapons after heavy fighting in Belleau Wood and decided that they were going to use them from now on.
The 369th Infantry was an successful goal because they received various awards for their achievements
and recognized for their bravery. I got this huge book from history class that Mrs. Lawson said would be a great source helped me a lot. The book explain what kind of awards the unit received and they were best known for no man of their unit was ever captured or the unit never retreated. The unit was cited eleven times for their bravery and every member of the unit received the French Croix de Guerre for gallary under fire. The 369th band celebrated with great music and had many recording sessions.
The 369th infantry army was not the only group and their was many other groups such as the 371st Infantry Regiment. There was a group called the 8th Illinois(371st Infantry), and the 372nd Infantry. All the groups were successful and was also cited for their bravery. William Hayward had so much confidence in these African Americans and led them to victories of battles and awards that were a life long memory!!!!!
and recognized for their bravery. I got this huge book from history class that Mrs. Lawson said would be a great source helped me a lot. The book explain what kind of awards the unit received and they were best known for no man of their unit was ever captured or the unit never retreated. The unit was cited eleven times for their bravery and every member of the unit received the French Croix de Guerre for gallary under fire. The 369th band celebrated with great music and had many recording sessions.
The 369th infantry army was not the only group and their was many other groups such as the 371st Infantry Regiment. There was a group called the 8th Illinois(371st Infantry), and the 372nd Infantry. All the groups were successful and was also cited for their bravery. William Hayward had so much confidence in these African Americans and led them to victories of battles and awards that were a life long memory!!!!!
