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LOT 1066
Historic Factory Engraved Savage
Deluxe Model 1899 Takedown Lever Action
Rifle Presentation Inscribed to Colonel William
Hayward World War I Commander of the Famed 369th
“Harlem Hellfighters” Infantry Regiment - Serial no. 154264, 303 cal.,
20 inch round bbl., blue finish, walnut stock. Manufactured in 1914, this exquisite factory engraved Savage Model 1899 lever action rifle is presentation inscribed to Colonel William Hayward (1877-1944), commander of the famed Harlem Hellfighters during World War I and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Colonel Hayward graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1894, enrolled in graduate coursework in Munich, Germany, in 1896-97 and began practicing law in Nebraska City, Nebraska, in 1897. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he served
as an officer with the Second Nebraska Volunteer Infantry and eventually was promoted to colonel of the regiment. He served two years as the county judge of Otoe County and turned down President William Howard Taft’s offer to appoint him assistant postmaster general because he wanted to continue practicing law. He settled in New York City after a failed bid as the Republican candidate for Nebraska’s 1st congressional district in the 1910 election. Prior to America’s entry into World War I, Hayward held several public service positions including assistant New York County District Attorney and counsel to a New York State legislature committee investigating the New York Public Service Commission. He resigned as public service commissioner for the first district when America entered World War I and was transferred into active duty as a colonel with a National Guard infantry regiment.
Governor Whitman appointed Hayward to organize, recruit, and train the 15th New York National Guard Regiment (later reorganized as the 369th Infantry Regiment), an all African-American unit later nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters with mostly white officers including their commander, Colonel Hayward. Hayward’s political connections were instrumental in gaining support for the regiment which endured significant racism from local communities and from their own military. Before arriving in France commander of the American Expeditionary Forces General
John Pershing issued a warning to the French military in the pamphlet “Secret Information Concerning the Black American Troops.” The pamphlet warned the French that working too closely with black American troops would trigger white American troops outrage and resentment directed against the French. The French, who were accustom to fighting along side colonists of other ethic groups on the battlefield ignored General Pershing’s warning. and happily accepted the American
black troops. Scholars have argued that
Pershing, who insisted upon American military
autonomy, was willing to loan the 369th to the French due
to white American troops rejecting the idea of fighting side by
side with black soldiers. The Harlem Hellfighters arrived in Europe in
the spring of 1917 and went into the trenches as part of the 16th French
Division in May 1918. The troops were issued French helmets, belts, pouches
and weapons. They wore their American uniforms but wore the French uniform when participating in a raid. They quickly established themselves as a fearsome fighting force. A captured German soldier called the men of the 369th “devils” and said, “They smile while they kill and they won’t be taken alive.” It is no wonder
the Germans referred to the 369th as “Hellfighters.” They spent 191 days at the
front, the longest of any other American regiment. They suffered 1,500 causalities, the highest of any U.S. regiment. They were deployed in the Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, and Meuse-Argonne campaigns. They never lost a foot of ground
to the enemy. They never had a man taken prisoner. Only once did they fail to
meet an objective, and this failure has largely been blamed on inadequate French artillery support. During heavy fighting in Belleau Wood, the troops came under a German counterattack, and the French general ordered a retreat. Colonel Hayward disregarded the order, purportedly telling the French general that his men do not retreat; “They move forward or they die.” Colonel Hayward led by example: “I’ve always told these boys I’d never send them anywhere I would not go myself, so I went first to the trenches, prowled around, saw it all and came back to the regiment to take in the battalion which was to go in first.”The 369th was among the most highly decorated American units.
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