370th Infantry Regiment (United States)

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 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.

The regiment initially 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 of 1898, 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.

  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.