For decades afterwards, people who were there would remember it as one of the most glorious moments in New York history, when everything seemed to be changing before their eyes. On that day, Feb. 17, 1919, the soldiers of the all-black 369^th National Guard Regiment, just back from frontline combat in France, found nearly a million New Yorkers of all colors crowded along Fifth Ave., cheering them as they marched home to Harlem. When they’d gone off to war, not fifteen months earlier, they were looked down on as a rag-tag outfit that no white unit would have anything to do with. They had not even been allowed to march alongside the celebrated, multiethnic “Rainbow” Division, since, as they were pointedly told, black was not one of its colors.

What particularly stuck in everybody’s minds about their march home was the music the 369^th’s  band played. They were considered the best military band in the Army, if not the world. They played a new kind of music, syncopated, but not ragtime. The band’s leader, Lt. James Reese Europe, had coined a name for it: Jazz.

But in France, to everybody’s surprise, they quickly distinguished themselves as tough, hard-fighting combat soldiers who suffered many casualties, but never gave up an inch of ground or had any of their ranks taken prisoner. Fighting as part of the French army, they also gained a memorable nickname: the Harlem Hellfighters. Now they’d come home as heroes.

What particularly stuck in everybody’s minds about their march home was the music the 369^th’s  band played. They were considered the best military band in the Army, if not the world. They played a new kind of music, syncopated, but not ragtime. The band’s leader, Lt. James Reese Europe, had coined a name for it: Jazz.

Jim Europe grew up in Washington, D.C. in the last years of the 19^th century, at a time when segregation had not yet become fully institutionalized. His family was of a black social class of strivers, not quite middle class, but working in that direction. He attended racially-mixed schools and studied violin, winning several city-wide competitions. But rather than attend university, he moved to New York to become a classical music composer.

But even so, despite high society’s growing acceptance of black music, black musicians were still treated like servants, poorly paid and usually finding themselves required to also serve food, clear dishes and clean up afterwards.

Once there, Europe quickly realized the market for black, classical violinists and composers was nearly nonexistent. On the other hand, the market for black musicians playing black music was red hot. Ragtime was the rage, so were black musicals and “coon” songs. Europe was soon collaborating in a number of musical productions, but also fielded an all-black string quartet that quickly found itself in demand, playing parties for America’s wealthiest families.  Soon he expanded it to a full orchestra. At first, they played classical, but quickly began working in black compositions. The response was positive. People at the top were willing to take black music and black composers seriously. In 1912, Europe and some others organized a landmark concert of African-American music at Carnegie Hall.

But even so, despite high society’s growing acceptance of black music, black musicians were still treated like servants, poorly paid and usually finding themselves required to also serve food, clear dishes and clean up afterwards. To change this, Europe and some others founded a proto-labor union called the “Clef Club,” which stipulated better wages and kept them from doubling as servants. Rather than lose the music they liked, the customers went along with their demands. By now, Europe was someone who mingled freely within high society. He had friends, he had influence, and he knew how to use it.

But then something wholly unexpected happened: war. Almost overnight, the continent of Europe went from being a dazzling, stylish place, to a bloody battleground where an entire generation was being senselessly annihilated. For three years, America managed to stay out of it, but eventually war fever reached the shores of the United States as well. In 1916, as America began gearing up to go to war, the governor of New York decided to let a black National Guard unit be founded in Harlem. Command of the 15^th  New York Army National Guard Regiment (Colored), as it was then called, was given to Col. William Hayward, a white political figure who was already well known in Harlem. As a onetime colonel in the Nebraska National Guard, he was a firm believer in its positive role in building civic pride, especially in communities like Harlem, where most men were newcomers and finding their place in society. Jim Europe was a personal friend, and Hayward convinced him to set an example by enlisting. Europe was not initially an easy sell, since the time he would spend in uniform was time not spent earning what was then a good living. But he believed that serving in the Guard was an important way for African American men to demonstrate their patriotism. He enlisted as a private in a machine gun company. Other Harlem men soon followed suit.

The weeks passed, but instead of a major offensive, there were continual artillery barrages followed by probing attacks by German raiding parties on isolated American outposts. But each time the Germans attacked, they were savagely driven back, sometimes by only one or two Americans. On one famous occasion, two black soldiers, Pvts. Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts, fought off twenty-four Germans using only rifle butts and a bolo knife. For this, both were awarded the Croix de Guerre.

Hayward had an idea for building up the 15^th’s visibility and esprit de corps. He wanted Europe to lead its band and make it the best in the Army. Europe, now a lieutenant, and the regiment’s only black officer, pointed out that a regulation Army band was only for twenty-four musicians, far too small for the kind of music they played. Besides, the army still hadn’t supplied them with any band instruments in the first place. Hayward sent Europe to Puerto Rico to recruit some reed players while he hit up their rich friends for money for instruments. In their endeavors, both were quite successful. Soon afterwards, the 15^th was sent off, first for basic training in upstate New York, then for combat training in Spartanburg, S.C.

Combat training didn’t last long for the 15^th, since, as it turned out, their mere presence nearly brought the white population of Spartanburg to insurrection. They were hastily put aboard a  steamship and sent to France. But once in France, instead of being sent to the front, the regiment was put to work as laborers. When Hayward objected and asked to be sent into combat, he was told that it was actually forbidden to put a black regiment into a white division. They would either be sent back home until a black division could be formed up or loaned to the French army, which had few scruples about letting non-white troops die in combat. Hayward immediately chose the latter and in early March, 1918, the 15^th New York Army National Guard Regiment found themselves renamed the 369^th Regiment and incorporated into the 16^th Division of the Fourth French Army.

After a month of training in French weapons and trench warfare tactics, the 369^th took over a 4 ½ kilometer sector of the French line between the Argonne and the River Aisne. With the recent halting of fighting on the Eastern Front following the Brest-Litovsk peace agreement, the French expected a new German offensive would begin against them shortly. Their own troops had already been bled white, but having the Americans there, fresh and eager to fight, helped bolster them. The weeks passed, but instead of a major offensive, there were continual artillery barrages followed by probing attacks by German raiding parties on isolated American outposts. But each time the Germans attacked, they were savagely driven back, sometimes by only one or two Americans. On one famous occasion, two black soldiers, Pvts. Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts, fought off twenty-four Germans using only rifle butts and a bolo knife. For this, both were awarded the Croix de Guerre.

Jazz fever was taking over the French, just as it would soon take over the rest of Europe. For a world that had already seen all order and convention ripped to pieces and replaced with the murderous absurdity that was World War I, Jazz seemed to make the most perfect sense.

By now the 369^th was becoming a famous fighting regiment. Lt. Jim Europe had also gained a fighting reputation for leading patrols and raids into no man’s land. Whenever they were taken off the line, he’d compose new tunes about front line combat and the band would give concerts in hospitals, rest camps and in villages. Jazz fever was taking over the French, just as it would soon take over the rest of Europe. For a world that had already seen all order and convention ripped to pieces and replaced with the murderous absurdity that was World War I, Jazz seemed to make the most perfect sense.

On June 6, 1918, the 369^th were moved to Chateau Thierry to support the French advance. As they approached the German lines, the enemy counterattacked. The French commander gave the order “Retire! Retire! (retreat!)” But the officers and men pretended not to understand the order. The fighting was bloody, but ultimately the Germans were driven back.

The much-awaited German offensive finally began in July over a fifty-mile front that stretched from Verdun to Rheims. Within two days, it had become clear that it had failed. The French counterattacked, and the 369^th played a key role in driving the Germans from their strongholds.

On September 25, the great Allied offensive began, designed to drive the Germans from the Meuse-Argonne area north of Verdun. It proved to be a costly battle for the Allies. Even though the Germans were seriously demoralized at this point, they still fought hard, inflicting more than 120,000 casualties on the American forces. For the 369^th, assigned to drive the Germans from an area known as the Sechault, the toll was particularly heavy. Within five days they went from twenty officers and seven hundred men to seven officers and just one hundred and fifty men. By this point, they had, by their own accounts, practically ceased to exist as a unit. Even so, they had to hold on the Sechault. Early in October, the Germans counterattacked, and for forty-eight hours the 369^th was forced to endure continuous machine gun fire. Somehow they managed to hold on until the Germans finally withdrew and the 369^th was relieved and sent to the rear.

Newspapers and magazines which up to then only wrote about blacks as good-natured simpletons, now spoke of them with pride and respect.

A month later, an armistice was declared and the war was over. But the French Army had one last assignment for the men from Harlem. As a sign of the high regard in which the French held them, the 369^th were the first to enter the Rhineland, to witness the German army’s withdrawal from the territories they’d taken from France during the Franco-Prussian War. A few days later, a company of black American doughboys stood on the western bank of the Rhine, the first Allied soldiers to do so.

With the fighting finally over, Lt. Jim Europe and the 369^th band went back to doing what they did best. They began a series of concerts all over France. A one-night gig in Paris ended up lasting two weeks. They even played at the palace of Versailles. It seemed everywhere they played, whether palaces, villages, army camps, or city squares, the French always went crazy. Their reputation back home had also grown. Newspapers and magazines which up to then only wrote about blacks as good-natured simpletons, now spoke of them with pride and respect.

As the men of the 369^th marched up Fifth Ave. and into Harlem, the faces of the cheering throngs changed from mostly white to black. But they knew they’d proven themselves as soldiers and men and American patriots, and because of this the world would never be the same again. It surely must have been on Jim Europe’s mind. He was the man of the hour. Jazz was the music everyone in America wanted to hear. He and his band had a lush recording contract with Pathe and a string of well-paying concert engagements which would stretch on for months to come. The Jazz Age had begun, and James Reese Europe was leading the charge.

But other than igniting it, James Reese Europe’s role in the Jazz Age turned out to be at best marginal. He’d survived a record 191 days in combat only to be stabbed to death by a crazed drummer three months after coming home. In the era’s wild frenzy, Europe was immediately forgotten by everyone except those who had played or fought alongside him.

The Jazz Age would continue through the 1920s until the great Stock Market Crash of 1929.  But other than igniting it, James Reese Europe’s role in the Jazz Age turned out to be at best marginal. He’d survived a record 191 days in combat only to be stabbed to death by a crazed drummer three months after coming home. In the era’s wild frenzy, Europe was immediately forgotten by everyone except those who had played or fought alongside him. The great advances in civil rights which the soldiers of the 369^th imagined were just around the corner, quickly vanished, without James Reese Europe to help lead them to it. Those would not come until the 1960s, by which time most were either dead or very old men.

This article originally appeared online on January 21, 2019