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Special Report
The Harlem Hellfighters
Setting the stage for Armistice Day — which became Veterans Day.
The 15th Infantry, New York Army National Guard, with antecedents going back to the Civil War, was organized in 1913 and based at an Armory on Fifth Avenue just east of Lenox Avenue in Harlem. J. J. Pershing, known as “Black Jack” from his campaigns leading “Buffalo Soldiers” cavalry in Puerto Rico and the Philippines and Mexico, was quick to see the value of the 15th in the winter-spring of 1918.
Field Marshal Erich Ludendorff, supreme German commander and by then virtual military dictator of the Reich, was preparing an ultimate offensive on the Western front involving a massive deception on the Marne and a breakthrough in Flanders against the exhausted British. With war and revolution in the east and the disintegrating Ottoman empire exposing Germany’s southern flanks, Ludendorff knew as well as his British and French counterparts that, this time, it was the final offensive in the war to end wars.
General Henri Gouraud, at the head of the French Fourth Army entrenched on the right bank of the Marne river — scarcely an hour from Paris in armored vehicles — asked Pershing for reinforcements. Pershing said the only troops ready for action were the Buffalo Soldiers and the 15th New York, already reorganized with other colored elements into the 369th Infantry. The core of the AEF’s First Army, the Rainbow Division, was not ready and Pershing was fighting a staff battle at Allied HQ in Chaumont to maintain the integrity of American forces, under American command, rather than let our men be dispersed among French and British armies as they arrived.
Pershing made an exception because under Army policies, governed as they were by the same attitudes that had produced Plessy v. Ferguson just a few years before and to which he owed his nickname — attitudes that had the full support of the C-in-C, the champion of making the world safe for democracy — colored troops (as they were called) were relegated to labor and support battalions. Pershing, who had started out in life as a teacher in Negro schools on the frontier before seizing an opportunity to attend West Point, had no racist bones in his body, but he was a hard and realistic man and he had a war to fight.
The Harlem regiment had left their army base in Spartanburg, S.C. in a hurry, as vicious feelings on the part of other enlistees and the surrounding communities had very nearly led to race riots. Moreover, as a support battalion they had proven themselves a smashing success: their regimental band, led by the legendary James Reese Europe and including the famous Noble Sissle, was touring France with a repertory of popular favorites and patriotic medleys and, especially, a new music that was having a wild success and that would be America’s signature cultural contribution to the world in the years after the war.
Pershing was badmouthed as a martinet and a desk general; the reality of course is that he had been a fighting officer in Puerto Rico and the Philippines and Mexico, where he had put an end to Pancho Villa’s mischief, and he understood better than some others the requirements of staff organization in conditions of total, industrialized war. Teddy Roosevelt had not erred in promoting him from captain to general ten years before (the president cannot interfere with the regulations governing normal promotion through the ranks, but he can appoint general officers). How did Pershing reply to Gouraud’s request? Surely not with an apology, but possibly he hesitated just for a moment, concerned as he was to keep all doughboys under his command. On the other hand, he knew these doughboys wanted a chance to prove themselves.
Gouraud, for his part, was delighted. A little younger than Pershing (both men were in their late 50s), he had spent most of his career in Africa and liked his colonial troops as well as Pershing liked his colored cavalry. He had lost his right arm at Gallipoli and regained control of the Fourth Army after some insistence. He was a fighting general. He told the 369th to keep their uniforms and their rifles but trade their pancake helmets for the characteristic ones of the French army so there would be no mistakes. He won their hearts immediately. Europe and Sissle led the band in a spirited Marseillaise and the men cried “Vive Gouraud!” as they headed to the Marne.
Twenty-six years later, at a jagged rock in Normandy called Pointe du Hoc, a group of Rangers began an ascent, with ropes, under enemy fire. Their objective was a battery that overlooked the Omaha and Utah landing beaches. Commemorating the occasion forty years later, Ronald Reagan said:
The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers at the edge of the cliffs, shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting, only ninety could still bear arms.
Assigned to the 161st Division of the Fourth Army, the 369th distinguished itself during what became known as the Second Battle of the Marne. The Allies turned the German diversion into a decisive turning point, setting up the great counter-offensive in the Meuse-Argonne in September. Here again, the 369th, which had been on the line longer than any other American unit of any size, distinguished itself, capturing the important objective of Sechault in Champagne. They did not lose an inch of ground and had no men taken prisoner except two who were immediately retrieved. The hardened German troops gave them a name they proudly accepted: the Harlem Hellfighters.
During Second Marne, two privates on guard duty, Henry Lincoln Johnson and Needham Roberts, fought off a platoon-sized German attack (24 men), using their rifles and bayonets when they ran out of ammunition and sustaining severe wounds. Pvt. Johnson was awarded the French army’s Croix de Guerre (star and Gold Palm), the first doughboy so honored.
These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. [Reagan was addressing veterans who had made the journey to Normandy.] These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.
[And, as President Reagan said, there were others.] There was the impossible valor of the Poles who threw themselves between the enemy and the rest of Europe as the invasion took hold, and the unsurpassed courage of the Canadians who had already seen the horrors of war on this coast. They knew what awaited them here, but they would not be deterred. And once they hit Juno Beach, they never looked back.
All of these men were part of a rollcall of honor with names that spoke of a pride as bright as the colors they bore: the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Poland’s 24th Lancers, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, the Screaming Eagles, the Yeoman of England’s armored divisions, the forces of Free France, the Coast Guard’s “Matchbox Fleet” and you, the American Rangers.
General Gouraud credited the 369th with being one of the key factors in breaking Luddendorf’s final offensive and making possible the September counter-attack that ended the war. What General Pershing thought in his heart of hearts has not been recorded, but he had no objections when Gouraud sent the 369th across the Rhine, the first Allied troops to invade German soil. The armistice went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the fourth year of the Great War. Armistice Day became Veterans Day, the day when we remember and honor those of whom Reagan spoke, using the words of Stephen Spender, those, whose “lives fought for life… and left the vivid air signed with your honor.”
(The author thanks Richard Richardson for his research on Gen. Pershing.)
About the Author
Roger Kaplan, a Washington-based writer, covers the Middle East and Africa (and tennis) for The American Spectator.
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Clinton| 11.11.11 @ 6:33AM
Excellent read that is an indictment of the Ivy League NJ based Wilson administration's virulent racism.
Alan Brooks| 11.11.11 @ 2:34PM
Rightist rags such as AS have done a U-turn; now they want to suck up to blacks every single chance they get, including Armistice Day...
plus Halloween, Valentine's Day, Arbor Day...
Stan| 11.12.11 @ 12:54PM
The village idiot Brooks with his ususal reasoned comment.
Alan Brooks| 11.12.11 @ 1:44PM
And you glorify 'Defense' (Offense).
Stan:
"Hail Satan!"
sinanju| 11.14.11 @ 1:22PM
Brooks
That was just plain sick.
Quartermaster| 11.14.11 @ 7:31PM
Village idiots, like dogs and kids, do gross things. They don't know any better.
wodiej| 11.11.11 @ 7:06AM
God bless all of our troops, past and present. They fight and sometimes die to preserve our freedoms, many of whom take it for granted.
Alan Brooks| 11.11.11 @ 2:36PM
and God Bless the Holy Hand Grenade
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.11.11 @ 7:57AM
God bless each of you guys. Thank you for your service. Jesus loves you and forgives you.
Alan Brooks| 11.11.11 @ 2:38PM
God BLESS the Holy Hand Grenade.
Andrew B| 11.11.11 @ 8:15AM
Hard to believe that almost all of the WW1 vets are gone. My great-uncle was a doughboy in France and my neighbor growing up flew Sopwith Camels in 1918. I miss them and their quiet dignity.
Alan Brooks| 11.11.11 @ 2:39PM
THey are in Heqaven, eating K-rations.
Alan Brooks| 11.11.11 @ 2:39PM
Deceased vets are in Heaven, eating hardtack.
RichTex| 11.11.11 @ 11:24AM
Let me add a little more about Lt. Europe. Born in 1881 and moving to New York in 1904, he was the most prominent black musician there in the first decade of the 20th Century. Denied membership in the musician’s union because of his race, he formed the Clef Club as the black equivalent, with it also functioning as a booking agent for its members in addition to having its own orchestra. By 1912, Europe had his own orchestra which accompanied Vernon & Irene Castle, who established ballroom dancing in the United States. Together, the three of them developed several dances including the fox trot, so the next time you watch “Dancing with the Stars”, remember James Reese Europe.
Having served in the New York National Guard prior to the entry of the U.S. into World War I, Europe was commissioned into what became the 369th Infantry Regiment. Not only was he made the regimental band leader, he also served in combat as a machine gun platoon leader. The band became immensely popular in France during the war, and Europe managed to keep it together following demobilization to perform and record in the U.S. Unfortunately, Europe got into an argument with one of the band members at the beginning of a national tour in 1919. A fight ensued, and Europe received a mortal knife wound. Noble Sissle, his drum major, went on to have an outstanding career as a musician during the big band era, although not particularly well remembered today.
A number of the recordings made by the post-war civilian band have been preserved and have been re-released. Listening to them, it is clear that the band was not yet a jazz band, although also clearly jazz and ragtime influenced. It is a bit of a stretch to call Europe the WWI equivalent of Glenn Miller and his Army Air Force Orchestra in WWII, since Miller had much more official support than Europe ever did. However, Europe’s band was closer to that than any other. We can only speculate how Europe might have influenced the American jazz music scene had he lived, but certainly that influence would have been great.
Alan Brooks| 11.11.11 @ 3:18PM
'Defense' is actually offense.
jocon307 | 11.13.11 @ 3:55AM
Thanks for adding those fascinating details, and thanks to Mr. Kaplan for this informative piece.
I can't believe I grew up in NYC and yet never heard of the Harlem Hellfighters. They are certainly overlooked by history. But, maybe that's NY, things move on, history is really not our thing.
I'll keep these folks in mind, they need to be remembered.
Alan Brooks| 11.11.11 @ 3:17PM
'Defense' isn't a right, either- it's a privilege.
Skippy| 11.11.11 @ 4:13PM
Brooks; blow me. Now.
God bless America and her warriors.
Row on row...
Alan Brooks| 11.11.11 @ 5:10PM
I'm not a naif, or a simpleton- however what you write is not Christian.
Only based on a revisionist take on Jesus-- which isn't Jesus. Paul, perhaps; Constantine for sure.
But not Jesus.
Only a simpleton would reject what your sort says; yet only a fool would take it at face value.
And if you want me to blow you it's gonna cost you.
Mike Hawk| 11.12.11 @ 12:57PM
As a veteran and from a family of and decendant of veterans I have one comment for AB, "Kiss my ass."
Alan Brooks| 11.12.11 @ 1:46PM
I curse your warmongering family and may they all burn in Hell Forevermore.
Quoth the Raven:
"Evermore!"
Moe Blotz| 11.13.11 @ 9:47AM
Mr. Hawk's family answered their country's call to defend her, all the way back to 1776. If that "warmongering" family and others like them had not served, you would not be enjoying the freedom of posting your insults online. As far as burning in hell, those noble Hawk ancestors already spent time in hell wherever they fought. Is anything in your life worth dying for?
Richard Baker| 11.11.11 @ 9:22PM
Guys, there's always someone who has to pee in the punchbowl and Brooks (or whoever he is) is it. That the Hellfighters, the Men of Bronze, the 54th Massachusetts, and the Buffalo Soldiers fought their hearts out for their country despite their atrocious treatment has ALWAYS amazed me. I suggest one and all read "Strength for the Fight" by Bernard Nalty about black troops throughout our history. They believed in the country and duty while not getting respect from their countrymen, including TR and Wilson. May these heroes Rest in Peace with the thanks from their posterity which is ALL Americans on this Veterans Day.
Richard Baker
ex-SSG USA
Infantry
Richard Baker| 11.11.11 @ 9:24PM
By the way, Black Jack was the sanitized nickname for Pershing. He was actually called Nigger Jack.
Moe Blotz| 11.13.11 @ 9:38AM
Did you put that one in here for anyone from Reo Linda? Most of us who read the article figured that one out and posting the despicable "N" word was unnecessary.
jocon307 | 11.13.11 @ 3:34PM
Now that is just silly. I never knew that Black Jack Pershing was called that because of his leadership of Black soliders, not until I read this article. (I figured he had a really dark complexion, or something.)
After reading this I looked him up on Wiki and learned the original nickname.
So, I think that is informative and people in general need to stop taking to the fainting couches when they hear offensive words.
If I were to have an attitude like that I'd never get up.
POST American| 11.11.11 @ 9:59PM
----Great piece.
NOW, how about a first piece
on those missing 55oo U.S.
MIAs in Korea --on this,
the 'mysteriously overlooked'
60th Anniversary of the awesomely
relevant, RED China Halocaust
and EUGENICS ----'unfriendly'
--------------------KOREAN WAR-----------------------
Tiddly| 11.11.11 @ 10:24PM
Pershing was a hypocrite, threatening capital punishment to any American troops who harassed French women while he (age 57) installed Micheline Resco (a 23-year-old Rumanian artist) in a Paris apartment and spent his nights with her, while his men suffered in the trenches. (She later followed him to America and married him on his deathbed in 1946).
sinanju| 11.14.11 @ 1:38PM
Tiddly, you're deliberately oversimplifying things to score a cheap point. Pershing was a grieving widower at the time. His wife and three daughters had died of smoke inhalation from a fire at his family quarters in the Presidio, S.F. in 1915 while he was chasing Pancho Villa in Mexico (Villa's raid on Columbus, N.M. was among the dumbest things any Mexican did in the 20th century--cementing forever in the American popular consciousness the image of the lawless, sadistic Mexican bandido--he didn't capture much in the raid and the nearby U.S. garrison gunned down most of his men.) All biographies of Pershing emphasize how heartbroken he was and he never remarried until his secret marriage to Mlle. Resco. He felt it would be bad for his image and by today's standards we would consider that cowardly.
But it's hardly the same thing as you are implying. As paid trolls go, I'll assume you are an "oppo researcher", i.e. a professional political dirt-digger in your day job.
Richard Baker| 11.11.11 @ 10:38PM
Tiddly:
Pershing treated his black troops with respect unlike most of the people in the Army of his day. Do I disapprove of his running around? Yes, of course. However, I would recommend you read up on the terrible fire at the Presidio which consumed his family except his son, Warren. Did you mean that he should have lived a monastic life, then? Obviously, you know absolutely NOTHING about soldiers, do you? As a retort, how do you feel about Ted Kennedy's serial philandering in regards to his living wife and family? Do you have some problem with staying on message?
Tiddly| 11.12.11 @ 12:32AM
This writer paints Pershing as some kind of shining example of rectitude. He was, again, a hypocrite, threatening his men with capital punishment for consorting with the local women at the same time he was doing it himself---a 57 year old laying a 23 year old.
As for knowing something about soldiers, I was an Army officer during Vietnam, and my father was also a career Army officer---WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. I can assure you that neither one of us would have been running around with bimbos while our men were dying in the field. Where did YOU get all this expertise on soldiers and their behavior, goofball? What was your service?
And how does the earlier tragic loss of his family excuse Pershing's reprehensible behavior? Gave him full license to tomcat around, I guess? Oh, I get it, proper behavior toward women is "monastic."
And what does that slimebag Kennedy have to do with anything? Talk about staying on message.
Mike Hawk| 11.12.11 @ 12:55PM
You are full of crap. You are also a lying SoS.
Richard Baker| 11.11.11 @ 10:58PM
By the way, Black Jack is buried on a small hilltop at Arlington next to his grandson, Richard, who was KIA in Vietnam. RIP to both Pershings.
Tiddly| 11.12.11 @ 1:22AM
Ted Kennedy got an Arlington gravesite too. Maybe on his own little hilltop.
Richard Baker| 11.12.11 @ 12:08AM
My mistake. I forgot that the Men of Bronze WERE the 369th Infantry.
POST American| 11.12.11 @ 1:53AM
ON this Veteran's Day---
REMEMBERING the 55,000 US military
who died, the 5000 plus who remain
missing, the tens of thousands of other
allies----to say nothing of the probably
TENS of MILLIONS of Koreans and
Chinese who died in the, AGAIN, 'mysteriously
overlooked' 60th Anniversary of the
cosmically relevant, Globalist RED China
Halocaust and EUGENICS 'unfriendly'
--------------------KOREAN WAR----------------------
--AMEN--
Mike Hawk| 11.12.11 @ 9:41AM
As a veteran and from a family and decendant of veterans I have one comment for AB, "Kiss my ass."
Arizona Bob| 11.13.11 @ 3:57PM
Thanks for a fine piece on a historical chapter that deserves to be better known. Although one is led to ask -- What should be better known? And why? Let's be serious: history is written in a selective manner. If the legend is better than the fact, print the legend -- didn't John Ford say that, in one of his great Westerns? Black troops in U.S. wars have been, until recently, invisible men. But then who hasn't? Who remembers the men who fought and fell at Gettysburg (0n both sides)? We must keep in mind that our freedom and our future rests on the willingness of men like the 54th Mass., the 369th, the Irish Brigade, all the others, all the others who gave the last full measure for this country and our freedom and never asked for anything in return except to be treated with ordinary decency.
Richard Baker| 11.14.11 @ 8:07AM
Tiddly:
If you were an officer then God help us. Hit Tudo Street or Olongapo City when you were in Southeast Asia? You seem to want to condemn Pershing because he had, as the old expression went, lady friends. I guess losing his family in the tragic fire at the Presidio save his son, Warren, means that he couldn't be human in his grief and loneliness. Remember also, that he was originally called Nigger Jack because his treatment of black troops was unusual for his time and was cleaned up to Black Jack. I'd rather have a Pershing with flaws then 100 of your type.