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1st Battalion 15th Regiment

New York Guard

HISTORY: The 15th Regiment was activated in the New York National Guard in 1913, its armory being a storefront and a former dance hall above it, in Harlem.  A project of Governor Charles S. Whitman, the regiment had some problems securing Federal recognition, as it consisted mostly of black personnel.

Aside from some chaplains and two regular officers (Maj. Charles Young and 1^st Lt Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.) the 15th was the only unit in Army to have black officers, all in company grades, including James Europe, the famous orchestra leader, N.B. Marshall, the attorney, and Vertner Tandy, the architect.  Many of the white officers were from New York's upper crust, including veterans of the old 7th Regiment, such as William Hayward, the regimental commander, and Hamilton Fish, Jr., who commanded a company and was later a noted member of Congress.  The regimental recruiting surgeon was Dr. George Bolling Lee, a grandson of Robert E. Lee.  Among the enlisted men were James Europe, a notable orchestra leader, Noble Sissel, the famous musician, and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, who served as drum major in what was the largest and best band in the American Expeditionary Force.  Also in the ranks was Pvt. Henry Johnson, declared "one of the five bravest American soldiers in the war" by Theodore Roosevelt, who was awarded a Croix de Guerre by the French Army and after much effort has recently been nominated for the Medal of Honor.

The regiment was activated for federal service in World War I in 1917.  During the war the "15th Heavy Foot" acquired a number of unusual distinctions.  It went overseas still under its state designation, not being officially dubbed the "369th Infantry" until much later.  Moreover, the regiment served virtually its entire tour in France as part of the French Army, with mostly French equipment.  Throughout it's time overseas the regiment went into action carrying the New York State flag, thereby becoming the last American unit to formally carry its state colors into action.  And because when he had presented the state colors to the regiment the Governor had said something like "Never let it drag in the mud," the colors were always carried by a color guard.   The 369^th Infantry spent 191 days at the front, one of the longest tours of any American unit in the war, but during that entire time never lost a man captured by the enemy.  While the regiment was on active duty during World War I, its place in the State militia was taken by the 15th Battalion of the New York Guard.

After World War I the regiment returned to state control, merging with its New York Guard counterpart, and continued in the New York National Guard, residing in Harlem in a land mark armory.  For a time it was commanded by Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., who became the nation’s first black general in 1940.  Upon mobilization for World War II, the 369th Infantry was reorganized and redesignated as the 369th Coast Artillery Regiment, which later became the 369th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, which served in the Pacific, ending the war on Okinawa.  After the war the battalion returned to New York.  After several redesignations and reorganizations, and service in the  Gulf War, it became the present 369th Corps Support Battalion. 

When the 369th went on active duty during World War II, the present 15th Regiment, New York Guard, was raised to hold its place in state service.

Text by: MAJ Albert A. Nofi, PhD