Part 6

“The hard and brilliant battles of Chavigny, Leury, and the Bois de Beaumont, having reduced the effectiveness of the Division, the American Government generously put your regiment at the disposition of the French High Command to re-enforce us. You arrived from the trenches of the Argonne.

“We at first in September, at Mareuil-sur-Ourq, admired your fine appearance under arms, the precision of your review, the suppleness of your evolutions that presented to the eye, the appearance of silk unrolling its wavy folds.

“We advanced to the line. Fate placed you on the banks of the Ailette, in front of the Bois de Mortier. October 12th you occupied the enemy trenches Acier and Brouze. On the 13th, we reached the railroad of Laon-La-Fere—the Forest of St. Gobain, principal center of resistance of the Hindenburg Line, was ours.

“November 5th, the Sierre was at last crossed, the pursuit became active. Prout’s Battalion distinguished itself at Sal St. Pierre, where it captured a German battery. Patton’s Battalion crossed, the first, the Hirson Railroad at the Heights of Aubenton, where the Germans tried to resist. Duncan’s Battalion took Lorgny, and carried away with their ardor, could not be stopped short of Gue d’Hossus, on November 11th, after the Armistice.

“We have hardly had time to appreciate you, and already you depart.

“As Lieutenant Colonel Duncan said, November 28th, in offering to me your regimental colors as proof of your love for France, as an expression of your loyalty to the 59th Division of our Army, you have given us your best, and you have given out of the fulness of your hearts.

“The blood of your comrades who fell on the soil of France mixed with the blood of our soldiers, renders indissoluble the bonds of affection that unite us. We have besides, the pride of having worked together at a magnificent task, the pride of bearing on our foreheads the ray of common grandeur.

“A last time—Au revoir.

“All of us of the 59th Division will always remember the time when the 370th R. I. U. S., under the orders of the distinguished Colonel Roberts, formed a part of our beautiful Division.”

GENERAL VINCENDON, _Commanding the 59th Division._

(Signed) VINCENDON.

THE 371ST AND 372ND REGIMENTS OF INFANTRY

The 371st and 372nd Regiments of Infantry were composed of drafted troops and National Guard Organizations. Those of the former came in a large measure from South Carolina, and were trained at Camp Jackson in that State; while the latter organization was composed of the first separate battalion of Washington, D. C., Company L, of the Massachusetts N. G., the first separate company of the Connecticut State Guard, the 9th separate battalion of Ohio, and other National Guard troops from Tennessee and Maryland.

The 371st had a full quota of white commissioned officers, and colored non-commissioned officers, while the 372nd had a mixture of white and colored commissioned officers, with colored non-commissioned officers. After some heroic service on the battlefields of France, the colored commissioned officers became victims of the efficiency board, and at one fell swoop, were nearly all removed.

These two regiments saw service together in France, and became noted for their indomitable courage, and splendid fighting record.

On April 6, 1918, the 371st Infantry left our ports, and by April 26 was in the training area at Rembercourt-aux-Port, as an independent unit of the 13th French Army Corps. Afterwards they became a supporting regiment to the 68th French Division, where they remained until July 22, 1918. Between this date and September 14, 1918, they occupied the Verrieres sub-sector. Here the regiment did exceptional work, their front extending over a distance of more than five kilometers, always holding their own ground and at one time half of the front of the 333rd French Infantry on the left.

On September 14 the regiment was withdrawn from this sector and taken to the area of Holitz-l’Eveque, Champagne, and were in reserve of the 9th Army Corps of the 4th French Army, at the beginning of the great Champagne Offensive. During this great offensive the regiment suffered tremendous losses under the blistering fire and onslaught of the enemy, always carrying the attack forward in advance of the adjacent troops. Their Division Commander in forwarding a recommendation for an army citation for the regiment, remarked that they marched forward under heavy artillery fire, without faltering, and without counting their dead. Following is text of citation:

157TH DIVISION INFANTRY. October 8th, 1918.

_From:_ Colonel Quillet, commanding the I. D. _To:_ Colonel of the 371st U. S.

The Colonel commanding the I. D. has proposed your regiment for a citation to the Army Corps with the following motive.

“Has shown during its first engagement the very best qualities of bravery and audacity, which are the characteristics of shock troops.

“Under the command of Colonel Miles, it launched itself with a superb spirit and admirable disregard of danger at the assault of a position stubbornly defended by the enemy. It took by terrific fighting under exceptionally violent machine-gun fire of the enemy artillery, and its cruel losses, numerous prisoners, and secured cannon, machine guns and important material.”

(Signed) T. C. QUILLET, _Commanding the I. D._

The losses of the regiment during its period of service were 8 officers killed and died of wounds, 42 wounded, and 1,055 enlisted men killed and wounded, with a total of 28 missing.

The 372nd Infantry, was organized at Camp Stuart, and landed at St. Nazaire, April 14, 1918. They spent five weeks in training at Conde-en-Barrois, Meuse, as part of the 13th French Army Corps; afterwards became attached to the 63rd French Division, the 35th French Division, and finally on July 2, 1918, became a part of the 157th French Division, to which the 371st Infantry also became attached.

For more than six months the regiment was on the front, taking part in the great Champagne Offensive, and in the battles which centered around Vanquois in the Argonne, and around Verdun, including Hill 304, and Dead Man’s Hill. They were in the Vosges Mountains, along with the 371st, training for the Metz Offensive when the Armistice was signed.

On October 8, 1918, this regiment also received a citation from Colonel Quillet. Following is its text:

157TH DIVISION INFANTRY

No. 5500. October 8, 1918.

_From:_ Colonel Quillet, commanding 157th I. D. _To:_ Colonel Tupes, commanding 372nd Infantry.

The Colonel commanding the I. D., has recommended your regiment for citation in the orders of the French Army, worded as follows:

“Gave proof, through the first engagement, of the finest qualities of bravery and daring which are the virtues of assaulting troops.”

“Under the orders of Colonel Tupes dashed with superb gallantry and admirable scorn of danger to the assault of a position continuously defended by the enemy, taking it by storm under an exceptionally violent machine-gun fire; continued the progression in spite of enemy artillery fire, and very severe losses. They made numerous prisoners, captured cannon, machine guns, and important war materials.”

(Signed) QUILLET.

Upon relinquishing his command of these two regiments after the signing of the Armistice, Colonel Quillet gave out the following words of farewell:

157TH DIVISION, STAFF OF THE INFANTRY.

December 15, 1918.

_Order of the Divisional Infantry_.

The 371st and 372nd Infantries are leaving France, after having carried on a hard campaign of six months with I. D., 157.

After having energetically held a series of difficult sectors, they took a glorious part in the great decisive battle which brought the final victory.

In sectors they have shown an endurance, a vigilance, a spirit of devotion and remarkable discipline.

In battle they have taken by storm, with a magnificent animation, very strong positions doggedly defended by the enemy.

In contemplating the departure of these two fine regiments which I commanded with pride, I desire to tell them all how much I think of them for the generous and precious concurrence which they brought to us at the decisive period of the war.

I shall keep them always in my soldier heart, their loyal memories, and particularly those of their distinguished commanders who have become my friends.

COLONEL QUILLET, _Commanding the I. D._, 157.

About the same time the above was issued, General Goybet, Commanding Officer of the 157th French Division, sent out the following General Orders:

GENERAL ORDERS

On the 12th of December, 1918, the 371st and 372nd R. I. U. S. have been placed at the disposal of the American High Command.

With a deep feeling of emotion, on behalf of the 157th Division, and in my own personal name, I come to bid farewell to our brave comrades.

For seven months we have lived brothers in arms, partaking in the same activities, sharing the same hardships and the same dangers. Side by side we took part in the great Champagne Offensive which was to be crowned by a tremendous victory.

Never will the 157th Division forget the indomitable dash, the heroical rush of the American regiments up the Observatory Ridge and into the Plain of Monthois. The most powerful defenses, the most strongly organized machine-gun nests, the heaviest artillery barrages—nothing could stop them. These crack regiments overcame every obstacle with a most complete contempt for danger; through their steady devotion the Red Hand Division, for nine whole days of severe struggle, was constantly leading the way of the advance of the Fourth Army.

Officers, non-commissioned officers and men, I respectfully salute our glorious comrades who have fallen, and I bow to your colors, side by side with the flag of the 333rd Regiment of Infantry that have shown us the way to victory.

Dear Friends from America, when you will be back again on the other side of the ocean, don’t forget the Red Hand Division; our brotherhood has been cemented in the blood of the brave, and such bonds will never be destroyed.

Remember your General, who is so glad of having commanded you, and be sure of his grateful affection to you forever.

GENERAL GOYBET, _Commanding the 157th Division_.

On January 24, 1919, for taking strategic town in Champagne Offensive the 372nd Infantry was cited with the Croix de Guerre and palm, the highest honor of the kind in the gift of the French Army. It was the first entire organization of the American Expeditionary Forces to be thus cited.[3] It was received at the hands of Vice-Admiral Moreau, French Commander of the Port of Brest, and the ceremony took place at Cours Dajot, overlooking the Port of Commerce of that city.

In a word of conclusion with regard to the entire record of the combatant troops, many of whom went overseas with hesitations and misgivings because of the great battle they had already been compelled to fight against the ill-will of their own countrymen, it seems that their wonderful achievements in the face of a propaganda that continued even across the seas, make them fully worthy of the beautiful tribute paid them in the following poem by Roscoe C. Jamison:*

These truly are the Brave, These men who cast aside Old memories, to walk the blood-stained pave Of sacrifice, joining the solemn tide That moves away, to suffer and to die For freedom,—when their own is yet denied! O Pride! O Prejudice! When they pass by, Hail them, the Brave, for you now crucified!

These truly are the Free, These souls that grandly rise Above base dreams of vengeance for their wrongs, Who march to war with visions in their eyes Of peace through Brotherhood, lifting glad songs Aforetime, while they front the firing line. Stand and behold! They take the field to-day, Shedding their blood like Him now held divine, That those who mock might find a better way!

—— * By permission of _The Crisis_.

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If the muse were mine to tempt it And my feeble voice were strong, If my tongue were trained to measure I would sing a stirring song. I would sing a song heroic Of those noble sons of Ham Of the gallant colored soldiers Who fought for Uncle Sam.

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR.

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Non-Combatant Troops ————

There was little difference in the spirit of those who went to France as welfare workers and those who went as soldiers. Both felt the urge of the hour—both desired to be stationed where they could give most—serve most. Hence it was not strange that we reached the Y headquarters in Paris hoping to be forwarded to some one of the fighting units, and that during the ten days of preparation for the camp, we were looking wishfully toward the front. Indeed, one of us had come from Illinois, and had already been adopted as the daughter of the 370th Regiment. The other had come from the Metropolis, and somehow felt the whole responsibility for the welfare of the “Fifteenth New York” and the “Buffaloes” resting upon her weak shoulders. It is easy then to imagine our disappointment when we were assigned to the S. O. S., or Service of Supplies Sector. It was just at this point we found it necessary as members of the American Expeditionary Forces to learn one of the most important lessons of the army—that of obedience.

But it was a most kind Providence that sent us away from the scenes of devastation and death for our first service, and placed us where we could come into a comprehensive knowledge and appreciation of our non-combatant forces. Seven months of continuous service and daily contact in the camp with these men warrant our writing with assurance certain definite impressions left upon our minds by them. We take it that the 20,000 soldiers whom we served, those visited at Brest and other S. O. S. points and those who rested with us in the Leave Area from Bordeaux, Marseilles, and other camps were typical of the one hundred thousand or so men who formed the non-combatant group.

These men were known chiefly as stevedores and labor battalions. Somehow a widely circulated report gained credence that they had been gathered indiscriminately, and had been landed on foreign soil, a mere group of servants for the white soldiers. We do not know who first sought to thus humiliate these soldiers by such unjust and undeserved rating. One might easily believe, of course, because of the constantly unfair attitude of some of their officers toward them, that there was some such assumption to that effect. But the world has learned now, that in spite of all handicaps, there could be found nowhere in the army stouter and braver hearts, or more loyal and self-sacrificing spirits. Subjected to a stern discipline; with discriminations, cruel in their intent and execution; long hours of toil; scant recognition for service or hope of promotion, they still kept their faith. Throughout the war they wrought as weavers who are given to see only the wrong side of the glorious pattern they are weaving. Indeed, through these men we came into an abiding belief that the colored man was in the war to justify his plea for democracy. The first day we entered that busy military port of St. Nazaire, we saw a colored lad standing under the ancient clock in the center of the square. He had M. P. (military police) on his arm band in large red letters, and in his hand a stick with which he quietly directed the tremendous traffic of that town. Auto-trucks, auto-cars of officers from the highest to the lowest rank, auto-busses for welfare workers, sidecars, bicycles, used so constantly by French women as well as men, and the typical French _voiture_ made a constant noisy stream. And this colored lad, who had come from a rural district of the far South, stood there calmly pointing his stick, now left, now right, or holding it up in demand for a pause. Surely he was there by Divine Thought.

The very first group of colored soldiers to leave for France in the autumn of 1917 were stevedores and labor battalions. Another group reached St. Nazaire, by way of Brest, Christmas eve of the same year. Time and time again in camp they told us the story of that first winter of hardship. Christmas day found them cold and cheerless, with hard tacks and beans for their rations. All that winter they worked, poorly equipped for their severe task. In the dark hours of the night and the morning, they plunged through the deep mud of the camp and city, without boots. On the dock they handled the cold steel and iron without gloves. But they _were soldiers_, and so they worked without complaint.

When the first American Forces reached the Continent, the French were calling loudly for help. All seemed chaos for a little, as thousands of troops began to reconstruct the ports of France. These quiet ports, many of them centuries gray, became centers of throbbing activity. Hundreds of warehouses, most modern in their construction, rose as if by magic. From the south where Marseilles looks out on the blue Mediterranean, to Brest at the entrance to the English Channel, our own stevedores, labor battalions and engineers, have rebuilt much of the water front of France, thus making a real epoch in the history of French navigation. During the last year of the war, these thousands of men were at work in the S. O. S., connecting it with the great battle front. System and efficiency, with the greatest possible haste, were required in speeding the supplies to combatant troops. All of this these soldiers comprehended and ever they responded with a decisive and soldier-like spirit. The incessant tramp of many feet through the city street, the constant rush and rumble of auto-trucks kept the camps of these ports closely linked with the docks.

All who were at work in France well remember that “Race to Berlin” contest, upon which the last great forward move of our troops so largely depended. The world looked out only toward Metz, where our great combat army was centering, but just as often, anxious eyes were upon the rear where our men were toiling like mad that peace should not be delayed through any failure of theirs. With feverish haste and anxiety they battled with great bulks of ammunition and supplies. For weeks at Marseilles, Bordeaux, St. Nazaire, Brest and other ports they worked with almost superhuman strength. Those serving these men during this contest labored with the same feverish spirit that possessed the men themselves. How they tried to cheer, encourage, and entertain our determined heroes as they contested for the honors! If by chance you see somewhere a soldier wearing the emblem of the S. O. S., with an arrow running through it and pointing skyward, you will know that he belongs to those service battalions at Brest who by their inexhaustible reserves of energy and endurance, won in the “Race to Berlin.”

Although these men were not called upon to face the shot and shell at the front, they paid their toll in death from accident, cold and exposure. No more at the rear than at the front did they pause to consider personal danger. They were truly heroes, carrying not bayonet and gun, but connecting the wonderful resources of their own country, three thousand miles away, with the greatest battlefields the world has ever known.

There went to rest in the land of light and peace a short time ago, one of the world’s poets whose divinest gift was her great human understanding and sympathy. Long and well did Ella Wheeler Wilcox write to lift the souls of men from the sordid things of earth to the purer realms of sympathetic knowledge and co-operation. She was given _entrée_ to the heart of the war, and saw the grim conflict in all its various settings. Riding along the coast one day, looking out upon the long lines of warehouses, hearing the hum of the thousands of men at work, she said: “I have gained with the years a growing appreciation and love for the colored people, and I have seen nothing in France finer than the work of the stevedores. I have written and dedicated a poem to them.” That afternoon, after she had spoken for a few minutes to the thousands of swarthy soldiers, assembled to pay her homage, her companion read the poem as follows:

We are the army stevedores, lusty and virile and strong. We are given the hardest work of the war and the hours are long. We handle the heavy boxes and shovel the dirty coal; While soldiers and sailors work in the light, we burrow below in the hole. But somebody has to do this work, or the soldiers could not fight And whatever work is given a man, is good if he does it right.

We are the army stevedores, and we are volunteers. We did not wait for the draft to come, to put aside our fears. We flung them away on the wings of fate, at the very first call of our land, And each of us offered a willing heart, and the strength of a brawny hand. We are the army stevedores and work as we must and may. The cross of honor will never be ours to proudly wear away.

But the men at the Front could not be there, And the battles could not be won If the stevedores stopped in their dull routine, And left their work undone. Somebody has to do this work, be glad that it isn’t you, We are the army stevedores—give us our due!