366th Infantry Regiment (United States)

Last updated

366th Infantry Regiment
ActiveNovember 1917–25 March 1919
10 February 194128 March 1945
CountryFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Branch United States Army
TypeInfantry
SizeRegiment
Garrison/HQ Fort Devens, Massachusetts
Motto(s)"Labor Conquers All Things."
Engagements World War I,
World War II
Battle honours Meuse-Argonne Offensive,
Rome-Arno Campaign

The 366th Infantry Regiment was an all Colored (segregated) unit of the United States Army that served in both World War I and World War II. In the latter war, the unit was exceptional for having all negro officers as well as troops. The U.S. military did not desegregate until after World War II. During the war, for most of the segregated units, all field grade (majors and above) and most of the company grade officers (second lieutenants, first lieutenants, and captains) were white.

Contents

World War I

Officers of the United States Army's segregated 366th Infantry Regiment on board the RMS Aquitania, en route home from World War I service. Left to right: Lieutenant Cleveland L. Abbott, Yankton, South Dakota; Captain Joseph L. Lowe, Pacific Grove, California; Lieutenant Aaron R. Fisher, Lyles, Indiana, recipient of Distinguished Service Cross; Captain E. White, Pine Bluff, Arkansas Four 366th Infantry officers.gif
Officers of the United States Army's segregated 366th Infantry Regiment on board the RMS Aquitania, en route home from World War I service. Left to right: Lieutenant Cleveland L. Abbott, Yankton, South Dakota; Captain Joseph L. Lowe, Pacific Grove, California; Lieutenant Aaron R. Fisher, Lyles, Indiana, recipient of Distinguished Service Cross; Captain E. White, Pine Bluff, Arkansas

The 366th Infantry was constituted 16 August 1917 in the National Army as the 366th Infantry, assigned to the 92nd Division, and organized at Camp Dodge, Iowa, in November 1917.

In World War I the regiment served overseas as a part of the 92nd Division, National Army and earned credit for battle participation as follows:

The 366th Infantry was demobilized 25 March 1919 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and reconstituted 16 December 1940 in the Regular Army.

World War II

It was activated 10 February 1941 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts and assigned to the Eastern Defense Command on 30 April 1942.

Combat chronicle

Colonel Howard Donovan Queen was the commanding officer (CO) at the time of embarkation in March 1944. Although the 366th Infantry had been at "combat readiness", after a prolonged period which was devoted only to guard duty, Queen felt that they needed at least three months for preparation to be "combat ready". Queen wrote a significant request for withdrawal from active command and included his guarded reservations in regard to his deeply held tenets. In spite of this upper officials decided in November 1944 to attach the 366th Infantry to the 92nd Division. [ citation needed ]

After continuing poor combat performance, including many instances of unauthorized withdrawals upon meeting the enemy, low morale, and malingering, the 92nd Infantry Division was believed by both German and American commands to be fit for only defensive roles. The division was completely withdrawn from the front in early 1945, with the infantry components of the division being reorganized from the ground up. Two of the 366th Infantry's three battalions were recommended "not be used again for offensive action unless urgent military necessity required it." The 92nd Division commanders proposed that the "366th be removed from the front lines and disposed of as higher headquarters might direct," which was accepted. The 366th Infantry Regiment was disbanded on 28 March 1945, with personnel transferred to the 224th and 226th Engineer General Service regiments.[ citation needed ]

Notable veterans

John R. Fox, Medal of Honor recipient JohnRFox.jpg
John R. Fox, Medal of Honor recipient

General

The 366th Infantry Regiment was awarded two campaign streamers for the Colors; the first for Meuse-Argonne Lorraine (September 1918 to November 1918), and the second for Rome-Arno (January 1944 to September 1944).

The Regimental Shield incorporated the Cross of Lorraine. The Regimental Motto was, "Labor Conquers All Things."

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Infantry Division (United States)</span> US Army combat formation

The 1st Infantry Division (1ID) is a combined arms division of the United States Army, and is the oldest continuously serving division in the Regular Army. It has seen continuous service since its organization in 1917 during World War I. It was officially nicknamed "The Big Red One" after its shoulder patch and is also nicknamed "The Fighting First." The division has also received troop monikers of "The Big Dead One" and "The Bloody First" as puns on the respective officially sanctioned nicknames. It is currently based at Fort Riley, Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Expeditionary Forces</span> Army-led formation of the U.S. Armed Forces on the Western Front of World War I

The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front during World War I, comprised mostly of units from the U.S. Army. The AEF was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of then-Major General John J. Pershing. It fought alongside French Army, British Army, Canadian Army, British Indian Army, New Zealand Army and Australian Army units against the Imperial German Army. A small number of AEF troops also fought alongside Italian Army units in 1918 against the Austro-Hungarian Army. The AEF helped the French Army on the Western Front during the Aisne Offensive in the summer of 1918, and fought its major actions in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in the latter part of 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">78th Infantry Division (United States)</span> Military unit

The 78th Training Division (Operations) ("Lightning") is a unit of the United States Army which served in World War I and World War II as the 78th Infantry Division, and currently trains and evaluates units of the United States Army Reserve for deployment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">79th Infantry Division (United States)</span> Military unit

The 79th Infantry Division was an infantry formation of the United States Army Reserve in World Wars I and II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">92nd Infantry Division (United States)</span> Military unit

The 92nd Infantry Division was an African American, later mixed, infantry division of the United States Army that served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. The military was racially segregated during the World Wars. The division was organized in October 1917, after the U.S. entry into World War I, at Camp Funston, Kansas, with African American soldiers from all states. In 1918, before leaving for France, the American buffalo was selected as the divisional insignia due to the "Buffalo Soldiers" nickname, given to African American cavalrymen in the 19th century. The divisional nickname, "Buffalo Soldiers Division", was inherited from the 366th Infantry, one of the first units organized in the division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Patch</span> United States Army general (1889–1945)

General Alexander McCarrell Patch was a senior United States Army officer who fought in both world wars, rising to rank of general. During World War II, he commanded U.S. Army and Marine Corps forces during the Guadalcanal Campaign in the Pacific, and the Seventh Army on the Western Front in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">371st Infantry Regiment (United States)</span> United States Army unit

The 371st Infantry Regiment was a segregated African American regiment, nominally a part of the 93rd Division, that served in World War I under French Army command, and also in World War II in the Italian Campaign as part of the 92nd Infantry Division (Colored).

The 47th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Army. Constituted in 1917 at Camp Syracuse, New York, the regiment fought in the Great War, and was later inactivated in 1921. Reactivated in 1940, the regiment fought during World War II in North Africa, Sicily, and Western Europe, then was inactivated in 1946. During the Cold War, the regiment saw multiple activations and inactivations, with service both in the Regular Army and the Army Reserve; it fought in Vietnam. Ultimately it was reactivated as a training regiment, and as of 1999, it has been assigned to Fort Moore and consists of two active battalions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">60th Infantry Regiment (United States)</span> Military unit

The U.S. 60th Infantry Regiment is a regimental unit in the United States Army. Its 2nd and 3rd Battalion conduct Basic Combat Training.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">28th Infantry Regiment (United States)</span> Military unit

Since the establishment of the United States Army in 1775, three regiments have held the designation 28th Infantry Regiment. The first was a provisional unit that was constituted on 29 January 1813 and served during The War of 1812. The second was a reorganization and redesignation of 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment on 1 October 1866 for the American Indian Wars. This incarnation of the 28th Infantry Regiment lasted until 15 March 1869, when it was consolidated back into the 19th Infantry Regiment. The third version of the 28th Infantry Regiment is the one that has the permanent designation and history, and is the one this article is about.

The 314th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the U.S. Army first organized in 1917.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Provincial Company of Artillery</span> Military unit

During the American Revolutionary War, the New York Provincial Company of Artillery was created by the New York Provincial Congress in 1776 to defend New York City from British attack.

The 34th Infantry Regiment is a Regular Army infantry regiment of the United States Army. It saw combat in World War I, in the Pacific Theater of Operations in World War II, and was the first full American regiment deployed in combat in the Korean War. The 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 34th are now basic training formations attached to the 165th Infantry Brigade at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">372nd Infantry Regiment (United States)</span> Military unit

The 372nd Infantry Regiment was a segregated African American regiment, nominally a part of the 93rd Division, that served in World War I under French Army command, and also in World War II. In World War II the regiment was not attached to a division, and served in the continental United States (CONUS) and Hawaii. In both wars the unit had primarily African American enlisted men and white officers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">111th Infantry Regiment (United States)</span> Military unit

The 111th Infantry Regiment, originally the Pennsylvania Militia or "Associators", were a Pennsylvania militia unit that fought in the American Revolution, composed of civilian males from the citizenry of Pennsylvania. It is one of several National Guard units with colonial roots and campaign credit for the War of 1812. The Pennsylvania Militia often fought in conjunction with General Washington and the Continental Army along the Delaware River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">370th Infantry Regiment (United States)</span> Military unit

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">324th Infantry Regiment (United States)</span> Military unit

The 324th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army first organized in August 1917 as part of the 81st Division, National Army. The 324th Infantry saw combat in the defense of the St. Die sector of Lorraine, and later took part in the closing stages of the Meuse-Argonne offensive of the First World War. The 324th Infantry was demobilized in June 1919, and subsequently reconstituted in the Organized Reserves in 1921, as part of the 81st Division. In 1942, the 324th Infantry was relieved from assignment to the 81st Division, allotted to the Army of the United States, and assigned to the 44th Infantry Division, a unit which fought as part of the 7th Army in France and Germany during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron R. Fisher</span> United States Army officer

Aaron Richard Fisher was an American soldier. He served more than thirty years in the U.S. Army (1911–1947) and was a recipient of several military awards, most notably the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart from the United States and the Croix de Guerre with gold star from the French government for actions in battle, while serving as a second lieutenant during World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederic E. Davison</span> United States Army general

Major General Frederic Ellis Davison was a United States Army officer and the first African American to reach the rank of major general and become a division commander. After serving in World War II, he served as commander of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade during the Vietnam War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">359th Infantry Regiment (United States)</span> Unit of the United States Army

The 359th Infantry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army. It was active in Europe as part of the 90th Infantry Division during World War I and World War II, and components of the regiment were later part of the United States Army Reserve.

References