370th Infantry Regiment (United States)

The 370th Infantry Regiment was the designation for one of the infantry regiments of the 93rd (Provisional) Infantry Division in World War I. Known as the "Black Devils", for their fierce fighting during the First World War and a segregated unit, it was the only United States Army combat unit with African-American officers. In World War II, a regiment known as the 370th Infantry Regiment was part of the segregated 92nd Infantry Division, but did not perpetuate the lineage of the 8th Illinois or World War I 370th, only sharing its numerical designation.

This article is about the Eighth Illinois unit that became known in World War I as the 370th. For the Civil War era, see 8th Illinois Infantry Regiment.

370th Infantry Regiment
Active1917–1919
CountryUSA
BranchUnited States Army National Guard
U.S. Infantry Regiments
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369th Infantry Regiment 371st Infantry Regiment
Colors of the 370th, with "(8th ILLS)" in banner fold

The regiment grew out of the 8th Infantry Regiment, Illinois National Guard (also known as the "Fighting 8th"[1]) which saw action in the Spanish American War, where it first made United States' history with its all-black officer corp. The World War I unit is memorialized by the Victory Monument in Bronzeville, Chicago.

8th Infantry Regiment, Illinois National Guard
L-R: Major J.R. White; Lieutenant Colonel Otis B. Duncan, highest ranking African American officer in combat for the United States Army; and Lieutenant W.J. Warfield (1919)

The 8th was an all-black militia regiment which was first founded in the 1870s.[2][3] The unit was reformed in 1898 by the Governor of Illinois for service in the Spanish American War where it first made history for its all-African-American command;[4] the Eighth Illinois was the only regiment in the nation to be commanded by African American officers.[5]

The Eighth Regiment Armory, located in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville District of Chicago, Illinois, built in 1914, was the first armory in the United States built for an African-American military regiment.

World War I
Soldiers of the 370th Infantry Regiment during WWI
Chicago homecoming of the 370th Regiment (Old 8th Illinois) passing in parade at 13th St. and Michigan Ave.

On 25 July 1917, the regiment was mustered into service for World War I. The Headquarters, Headquarters Company, Supply Company, Machine Gun Company, Medical Department Detachment, and Companies A through H came from Chicago, Company I came from Springfield, Company K from Peoria, Company L from Danville, and Company M from Metropolis, Illinois. When the unit was federalized for service during World War I, it was eventually enumerated as the 370th.[6] "In World War I the African American 8th Infantry...fought under the French. As in the late 19th century, it was still the only American unit entirely commanded by black officers."[7]

During World War I, as the 370th Infantry, it served with distinction with the French 34th, 36th, and 59th Infantry Divisions, earning streamers for the battles of Lorraine and Oise-Aisne. Sectors occupied and engagements participated in were Saint Mihiel with the French in 1918, Argonne Forest, St. Gobain Forest, Bosi de Mortier, Mont des Signes, Oise-Aisne Canal, Laon, Grandlup, Soissons, and Oise-Aisne and Lorraine offensives. One battalion of the Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Otis B. Duncan, was engaged in pursuit of the retreating enemy far in advance, when halted by the Armistice.[8]

For its actions during the war, the members of the 370th received 21 Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal and 68 Croix de Guerre. Notably Lt. Col. Otis B. Duncan was awarded a Croix de Guerre of the 370th and was additionally the highest-ranking African-American officer to serve in World War I combat. [4]

For its fierce fighting in the Argonne, the regiment was given the name "Black Devils" (German: Schwarze Teufel) by the Germans.[9] The Victory Monument, created by sculptor Leonard Crunelle, was built to honor the service of Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard during World War I. It is located in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville District in the Douglas community area of Chicago, Illinois.[10]

Interwar period

The 370th Infantry sailed home on the SS France and was demobilized at 11 March 1919 at Camp Grant, Illinois. It was reorganized as the 8th Infantry Regiment, Illinois National Guard, in 1919-1921, and the headquarters was federally recognized on 25 August 1921 at Springfield, Illinois. The regiment was assigned to the General Headquarters Reserve, and its designated mobilization training station was Fort Huachuca, Arizona. On 23 July 1929, the regiment was reassigned to the Second Army. On 1 October 1933, the headquarters was relocated to Chicago. The regiment conducted its summer training at Camp Grant, Illinois. On 6 October 1940, the regiment was converted and redesignated as the 184th Field Artillery Regiment.[11][12]

Reorganization of 8th Infantry Regiment, 1940
8th Infantry unit184th Field Artillery unit
HeadquartersHeadquarters
Headquarters CompanyHeadquarters Battery
Medical Department DetachmentMedical Department Detachment
BandBand
Headquarters, 1st BattalionHeadquarters, 1st Battalion
Headquarters Detachment, 1st BattalionHeadquarters Battery, 1st Battalion
Company ABattery A
Company BBattery B
Company CBattery C
Headquarters, 2nd BattalionHeadquarters, 2nd Battalion
Headquarters Detachment, 2nd BattalionHeadquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion
Company DBattery D
Company EBattery E
Company FBattery F
Company HService Battery, 2nd Battalion
Company GAntitank Battery, 2nd Battalion

World War II

184th Field Artillery Regiment

On 6 January 1941, the 184th Field Artillery Regiment was inducted into federal service at Chicago and moved to Fort Custer Training Center. On 16 January 1943, the regiment was broken up into the 930th and 931st Field Artillery Battalions, and the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery was disbanded. On 28 February 1944, the 930th Field Artillery Battalion was converted and redesignated as the 1699th Engineer Combat Battalion. It was inactivated on 19 June 1945 in Germany. On 20 March 1944, the 931st Field Artillery Battalion was converted and redesignated as the 1698th Engineer Combat Battalion. It was inactivated on 25 September 1945 in Germany.

370th Infantry (Army of the United States)

This second incarnation of the 370th Infantry does not have any lineal relation to the 8th Illinois, World War I 370th Infantry, or subsequent units, but only shares its number. It was activated in October 1942, along with the rest of the 92nd Infantry Division, ten months after the American entry into World War II. After nearly two years of training, it departed the United States in July 1944 and arrived on the Italian Front, landing at Naples on 1 August, attached to the Task Force 42 of the 1st Armored Division. The 370th entered combat on 24 August 1944 as part of the U.S. Fifth Army. It participated in the crossing of the Arno River, the occupation of Lucca and the penetration of the Gothic Line, in the pursuit of an enemy which was retreating from that area. It was later attached to the 92nd Division in Task Force 45, the Fifth Army unit responsible for the Ligurian coastal sector, the left flank of Allied troops in Italy. On 13 October, the remainder of the 92nd Division concentrated for patrol activities. Elements of the 92nd Division moved to the Serchio sector, 3 November, and advanced in the Serchio River Valley against light resistance, but the attempt to capture Castelnuovo did not succeed. Patrol activities continued until 26 December when the enemy attacked (Winter Line), forcing units of the 92nd Division to withdraw. The attack ended on 28 December. The attacking forces were mainly from the Alpine Division "Monte Rosa", a division of the Italian Fascist Army (4 battalions) with the support of 3 German battalions. Aside from patrols and reconnaissance, units of the 92nd attacked in the Serchio sector, 5–8 February 1945, against the Italian Bersaglieri Division "Italia", another unit of the army of the Italian Social Republic, but enemy counterattacks nullified division advances.[13]

On 1 April, the 370th RCT and the attached 442nd Infantry (Nisei) attacked in the Ligurian coastal sector and drove rapidly north against light opposition of German 148th Infantry Division supported by Italian coastal units. The 370th took over the Serchio sector and pursued a retreating enemy from 18 April until the collapse of enemy forces, 29 April 1945. Elements of the 92nd Division entered La Spezia and Genoa on 27 April and took over selected towns along the Ligurian coast until the enemy surrendered, 2 May 1945. Between August 1944 and May 1945 the 92nd Division suffered 3,200 casualties, factoring losses from units attached to the Division brings the totals up to 5,000 casualties.[14]

On the Italian Front, the Buffalo soldiers had an opportunity to make contact with men of many nationalities: beyond other segregated Americans like the Japanese descendants, they had contact with the also segregated troops of British and French colonial empires (Black Africans, Moroccans, Algerians, Indian and Nepali Gurkhas, and others) as well as with exiled Poles, Greeks and Czechs; anti-fascist Italians and the non-segregated troops of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force.[15]

Postwar to 1947

On 25 August 1945, the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 184th Field Artillery Regiment, was reconstituted in the Illinois National Guard. In 1947, elements of the former 184th Field Artillery were converted, reorganized, and redesignated as the 178th Infantry Regiment, with headquarters organized and federally recognized 31 March 1947 at Chicago.

Notable members
World War I
World War II

See also

References
  1. Cunnigham, Lucretia (4 February 2022). "The Fighting 8th, National Guard's first all-Black unit, seen as 'yardstick for achieving full equality'". Reserve & National Guard Magazine. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  2. "History of the 178th Infantry". 8th Infantry Illinois National Guard Association. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  3. Hill, Jim (17 May 2008). "The 370th Infantry – Chicago's 8th Illinois National Guard In WW1". Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  4. Braafladt, Kevin (28 January 2021). "The story of the only regiment commanded entirely by black officers during World War I". Military Times. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  5. Obejas, Achy. "100 YEARS AGO, ILLINOIS BLACK SOLDIERS WENT TO 'FIGHT' IN CUBA". Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  6. "Eighth Regiment Armory". City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division. 2003. Archived from the original on 15 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  7. Houk, Jesse (25 February 2013). "Illinois Guardsmen Understand Significance Of African-American History Month". Illinois National Guard Public Web Site. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  8. "1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  9. Holst, Erika (20 September 2018). "World War I hero, Otis B. Duncan". Springfield Times. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  10. "Victory Monument (Chicago)". City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division. 2003. Archived from the original on 10 April 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2007.
  11. Clay, Steven E. (2010). U.S. Army Order of Battle 1919-1941, Volume 1. The Arms: Major Commands and Infantry Organizations, 1919-41. Fort Leavenworth: Combat Studies Institute Press. p. 364.
  12. Clay, Steven E. (2010). U.S. Army Order of Battle 1919-1941, Volume 2. The Arms: Cavalry, Field Artillery, and Coast Artillery, 1919-41. Fort Leavenworth: Combat Studies Institute Press. p. 835.
  13. Motley, 1975. Chapter 5.
  14. Ibidem, Motley 1975.
  15. Motley, 1975. Pages 259–61, 274 and 288.
  16. Haywood, 2005.
  17. @kingbritt (11 November 2020). "The maestro Marshall Allen #Blacktronika @ucsdmusic" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

Bibliography
  • Braddan, William S. (1940). Under Three Banners: An Autobiography. National Baptist Pub.
  • Braddan, William S. (1994). Under Fire with 370th Infantry (8th I.N.G.), A.E.F. "Lest You Forget" Memoirs of the World War. W. S. Braddan.
  • Haywood, Harry. Africana: the encyclopedia of the African and African American experience. Volume 3 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 9780195170559
  • Hill, Jim (July 1970). "The 370th Infantry, Chicago's 8th Illinois National Guard in WWI". Camaraderie: The Journal of the United States Branch, Western Front Association. 6: 4–11.
  • Motley, Mary Penick. The Invisible Soldier: The Experience of the Black Soldier, World War II. Wayne State University Press, 1975 ISBN 0814319610

Further reading
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