Harlem Hellfighters Séchault vintage-style poster

Harlem Hellfighters Séchault by S.C. James. Months earlier, the 369th had been “loaned” to the French Fourth Army and folded into the 161st Division. In the offensive’s first three days, the 161st pushed north through the Champagne countryside against stiff German resistance.

On the morning of September 29, 1918, the 369th was ordered to take Séchault. They jumped off at about 2:45 PM from the high ground south of the village.

What made the attack remarkable — and brutal — was that they went in without artillery support. To reach Séchault, they had to cross open ground, a plain swept by German machine-gun fire and pounded by Austrian 88mm guns. Casualties were severe. But they kept moving, fought through the streets, and took the town by late afternoon.

The offensive as a whole cost the 369th roughly a third of its strength. They were pulled out of the line in early October, having fought their last major action of the war. The Séchault assault is what the unit citation specifically commemorates — it was for that fight, on that afternoon, that the French Army pinned the Croix de Guerre with Silver Star to the regimental colors on December 13, 1918, at a ceremony in occupied Germany.