Part 7

But this wonderfully revealing poem goes hardly far enough to give full appreciation of the whole life of the colored stevedore in France. So often in addition to this “hardest work of the war,” was added treatment accorded no other soldier. While white American soldiers were permitted to go freely about the towns, the great mass of colored American soldiers saw them for the most part, as they marched in line to and from the docks. Passes for them were oftener than otherwise as hard to secure as American gold. Always they were aware of some case of cruel injustice for which there seemed absolutely no redress. We found in our camp a young college student, who, believing that war spelled opportunity, was among the first to enlist. His education placed him at once in the office of his company, and he went to France a sergeant. He did not find that war meant for him what he had dreamed it would, but he kept loyal; his work commanded respect, and, for a time, all went well. But a company commander came who resented the pride of the colored boy, and then began a series of humiliations that took away rank, sent him to the guard-house and dock. Retribution is rather swift at times, and so this officer’s downfall came soon. He never knew, however, that the fond mother back home was the only thing that stood between him and death. The young man has since told us how happy he was to return home with his honor maintained, rank restored. But in camp his face hurt us as often as we looked upon it, so full it was of the endurance of an outraged manhood.

Even a short outing might be robbed of its pleasure. For how well we remember a company that had been granted a week-end leave as a reward for exceptional work. They were going to a neighboring summer resort—a miniature Coney Island. It had been arranged for them to tent on the beach. Just like children, they made us listen to all their enthusiastic plans and dreams of this outing. They went, but came back dumb in the despair of outraged truth and justice. A runner had preceded them, and the French restaurants and places of amusement had been warned not to receive them, since they were but servants of the white soldiers. Later the French knew better, but at that time it required more time and spirit than this company had, to convince the French people of the injustice of it all.

Always there was the knowledge that for them, loyalty, devotion, and energy, led to no higher rank, no possibility of promotion. True, orders were often issued that for the moment, seemed to include the colored soldier in their opportunity for advancement, but just as soon as he attempted to make himself a part of these orders, some subterfuge would be used to deny him the privilege of the army of which he was a part. Well for the colored soldier in France, well for all, that he possessed the far-visioned faith and the endurance of his fathers!

Another misleading idea relative to the non-combatant organizations was to the effect that they were totally illiterate. While the percentage of illiteracy was high, on the other hand hundreds of men were of fair intelligence, while other hundreds had been given fine educational advantages. Not only could there be found large numbers of students and graduates of our colored schools, but there were many from the largest and best known universities and colleges of the United States. It was not unusual to have a man in fatigue uniform, as his working clothes were called, volunteer for some needed educational work, modestly announcing himself a graduate of Dartmouth, Iowa, Yale, or some other large university or college. Two of the best-trained physical directors of our race were discovered over there doing their “bit”—one as a stevedore on the dock, the other busily cutting wood with an isolated labor battalion. For every variety of profession or trade there was a representative. One had but to require the service of a stenographer, dentist, doctor, lawyer, electrician, plumber, draughtsman, pianist, illustrator, or what not, to find him at hand. Once in the palmy days of Camp One, St. Nazaire, an educational exhibit was held in the Y Hut and it was far more interesting, varied, and unique, than any one school could have possibly produced.

Labor battalions were to be found not only at the ports of France, but more than any other class of soldiers, they were spread over all France. Whether near the Belgian or Swiss border, or in “No Man’s Land,” one would be sure to find these indispensable troops. Oftener than otherwise these battalions would be split, and a company or two would be at Verdun or some other important center, while another company would be found in some woods cutting trees. The 608th Labor Battalion was the only organization regularly stationed at St. Nazaire, that had its own colored Sergeant-Major. So clean cut, intelligent and forceful was Sergeant Major Thomas, that he might have been a Major quite as well. His men were much like their leader, and we found it not only a pleasure but comfort to count them among “our boys.”

At Romagne we worked side by side with the 332nd and 349th Labor Battalions. There with the Pioneer Infantries, they were grimly fighting through to the end. To the Leave Area came these men of the labor units in large numbers, and we have many pictures of them and with them. We have, better still, recollections of their faces, earnest and often sad—their eyes aglow as they related the story of their adventure in France. Always they had suffered but always they knew

“That Freedom’s battle once begun Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son Though baffled oft—is ever won.”

Hundreds of men among these non-combatant troops were so thoroughly fine that to mention a few of them in a special way seems hardly worth while, except as they represent types. We think of Charles Wright from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who not only performed his office work with thoroughness, but who, through all the long months, first at St. Nazaire, and later at Camp Montoir, gave himself with deep earnestness as a volunteer teacher for his less fortunate mates. Many others gave help in much the same manner for the educational, religious, and athletic activities, or for library or canteen service. There were Charles Wilkinson of the Medical Corps, Sergeants Farrell, Dunn, Jones, Ward, Armstrong and Tapscott, Corporal Henry Smith, Electrician Powell, all so faithful as to seem a part of the regular staff of Y workers.

There was one special group within this group for whom we had great sympathy and deep respect. They were the regular army men, who had seen real fighting, who were still in their prime, and longing for the opportunity to go “over the top.” There were men who had seen service in Russia, the Philippines, Hawaii, heroes of the Spanish American War; men who had known the hideousness of Carrizal, all kept in the S. O. S. But they were soldiers and they knew how to hold their peace and obey. One had to but look at men like Sergeants Blue, Banks, Clark and Dogan, to know that even without the bars on shoulders, they were finer soldiers than many who wore them.

These non-combatant troops challenged the very best in those welfare workers who could appreciate the tremendous undercurrent of their lives and their rigid determination to be loyal to the country they served. Always during our days and nights with them, the urge and desire to serve was so keen as to make us forget the loss and strain of physical strength. Our greatest effort was centered in keeping constantly before them this truth so beautifully expressed by James Weldon Johnson:

That banner which is now the type Of victory on field and flood, Remember its first crimson stripe Was dyed by Attuck’s willing blood.

And never yet has come the cry,— When this fair flag had been assailed For men to do, for men to die, That we have faltered or have failed.

We’ve helped to bear it rent and torn, Through many a hot-breathed battle breeze; Held in our hands, it has been borne And planted far across the seas.

Then should we speak but servile words, Or shall we hang our heads in shame? Stand back of new-come foreign hordes, And fear our heritage to claim?

No! stand erect and without fear, And for our foes let this suffice, We’ve brought a rightful sonship here, And we have more than paid the price.

THE ENGINEERS

No group of men had a deeper baptism of pain and loneliness in France than the Corps of Engineers. Although classed as non-combatant troops, they might, in an emergency, as at Chateau Thierry, become combatant. There, in the crisis of a struggle, they dealt the German invaders the decisive blow that not only sent them reeling to defeat, but caused the world in general to attach a new importance and appreciation to the work of the engineer.

The colored engineers, however, although sometimes trained with arms in the United States were, for the most part, not permitted the use of them in France. A corporal of the 546th Engineers writes, “Although some of us worked quite close behind the lines, within range of shot and shell, we did not see arms except such as lay discarded about the woods and in the fields.”

There seems to have been little difference between the work done in France by the colored Engineers and Pioneer Infantries. Both were largely engaged in road building and general construction. However, the non-commissioned officers of the Pioneers were largely, if not entirely, colored and in many regiments, they retained their arms, while the engineers were rarely accorded rank beyond that of corporal and, as previously stated, rarely carried arms. But the colored engineers were a part of that far-visioned phalanx of dark-skinned men who went to France to fulfil a trust and who remained true to the end.

Their work, too, was lightened by their ability to sing in the midst of thunderous guns. Many of the war songs were made into parodies of the shovel which the engineer jokingly made his emblem. The following is a parody of the song, “Mother”:

=S= is for the soup they always give us =H= is for the ham we never get; =O= is for the onions in the gravy, =V= is for the victory we’ll see yet. =E= is for the end of our enlistment, =L= is for the land we love so dear,

Put them altogether, they spell SHOVEL The Emblem of the Engineer.

Wherever troops were fighting, the engineers could be found hard by and their faithful and efficient service won for them praise. For instance, the 37th who served as a part of a French Corps and afterwards with the First American Army Corps was cited for the high efficiency of its work.

The 546th spent many months in various parts of the forest of the Argonne and were also commended for their meritorious service; the same might be said of the 505th and many others.

But viewing their record as a whole we might sum it up in the following lines of Paul Laurence Dunbar:

Thou hast the right to noble pride Whose spotless robes were purified By blood’s severe baptism. Upon thy brow the cross was laid, And labor’s painful sweat beads made A consecrating chrism.

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HOMING BRAVES

There’s music in the measured tread Of those returning from the dead Like scattered flowers from a plain So lately crimson, with the slain.

No more the sound of shuffled feet Shall mark the poltroon on the street, Nor shifting, sodden, downcast eye, Reveal the man afraid to die.

They shall have paid full, utterly The price of peace across the sea, When, with uplifted glance they come To claim a kindly welcome home.

Nor shall the old-time dædal sting Of prejudice, their manhood wing, Nor heights, nor depths, nor living streams Stand in the pathway of their dreams!

GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON.

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Pioneer Infantries ————

Stevedores, engineers, and labor battalions had been rushed to France to blaze the trail for the American forces. Already the 15th New York, the 8th Illinois, 371st and 372nd Regiments had worked and fought their way to the thickest of the carnage. The 92nd Division was waiting for the final word that would carry them across. And yet the twelve million colored people of the United States had not fully answered the call. None, however, were more willing to serve the country in its hour of peril. Therefore there was a ready response, when late in May of 1918, President Wilson called for the organization of colored infantries.

The early history of these pioneer regiments was very similar. They were formed for the most part, out of provisional troops, a few men drawn from the regular army, and specialists from the various schools of Training Detachments. For instance, the 805th Pioneer Infantry Regiment was formed at Camp Funston, of provisional brigades; twenty-five men of the 25th Infantry, brought over from Hawaii; thirty-eight mechanics from Prairie View Normal School; twenty horseshoers and men skilled in the care of horses from Tuskegee Institute, and eight carpenters from Howard University. The best evidence of the high character of the service in France rendered by this regiment is the following:

HEADQUARTERS 805TH PIONEER INFANTRY

AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES FRANCE.

January 16, 1919.

_From:_ Commanding Officer, 805th Pioneer Infantry. _To:_ The Adjutant General, G. H. Q., A. E. F. _Subject:_ Commendation of Regiment.

1. I feel it a duty which I owe the officers and enlisted men of this regiment which the War Department has given me the honor of commanding, to place on record at General Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces, the enclosed papers commending their conscientious and intelligent work.

2. The first is a letter from the Chief Engineer, First Army, regarding the services rendered by the 805th Pioneer Infantry in the Argonne-Meuse Campaign, which began September 26, 1918, in which this organization participated from October 3rd to the conclusion of the Armistice. The second is a letter from the Chief Salvage Officer, First Army, stating that the regiment “by its intelligent co-operation and initiative” was of great assistance to him.

3. I claim no credit for myself, but only for the officers and men to whose energy, judgment, tact and force of the highest grade, must be attributed any success this regiment may have attained.

2 Encl. C. B. HUMPHREY, _Colonel Infantry, U. S. A., Commanding_.

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HEADQUARTERS, FIRST ARMY.

OFFICE OF CHIEF ENGINEER.

November 24, 1918.

_From:_ Chief Engineer, First Army. _To:_ The Commanding Officer, 805th Pioneer Infantry. _Subject:_ Services rendered during offensive.

1. The Chief Engineer desires to express his highest appreciation to you and to your regiment for the services rendered to the First Army in the Offensive between the Meuse and the Argonne, starting September 26th, and the continuation of that Offensive on November 1st and concluding with the Armistice of November 11th.

2. The success of the operations of the Army Engineer Troops toward constructing and maintaining supply lines, both roads and railway, of the Army, was in no small measure made possible by the excellent work performed by your troops.

3. It is desired that the terms of this letter be published to all the officers and enlisted men of your command at the earliest opportunity.

4. A copy of this letter has been sent to the Chief of Staff, First Army.

GEORGE R. SPALDING, _Col. Engrs., Chief Engineer, First Army, American E. F._

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AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES

HEADQUARTERS, FIRST ARMY, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SALVAGE OFFICER.

December 17, 1918.

_From:_ Chief Salvage Officer, First Army. _To:_ Colonel C. B. Humphrey, Commanding Officer, 805th Pioneer Infantry. _Subject:_ Commendation.

1. I wish to express my appreciation of the very excellent work done by you and your command, while I had charge of the Salvage Operations in the Battle Area, First Army.

2. Your regiment by its intelligent co-operation and initiative has been of the greatest assistance in carrying on operations, conducted under very trying conditions.

JEREMIAH BEALL, _Lieutenant Colonel, Ord. Dept., Chief Salvage Officer._

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HEADQUARTERS, 805TH PIONEER INFANTRY, AMERICAN E. F.

January 17, 1919.

1. It is with pleasure that I publish herewith true copies of the foregoing letters for the information of this command.

C. B. HUMPHREY, _Colonel Infantry, U. S. A., Commanding._

Official: PAUL S. BLISS, _Capt. Inf., U. S. A., Adjutant._

The 805th had three men at the University of London during the educational period, Sergeant Major Marriott, and Sergeants Walter Powers and Leonard Barnett. This was another testimony to the worth of its personnel.

The 806th formed at Camp Funston at about the same time as the 805th, and the 815th and 816th, formed there later, were made up in much the same way. Twelve hundred enlisted men of 158th Depot Brigade made the foundation of the 802nd Pioneer Infantry, formed at Camp Sherman, while other groups from the regular army were distributed through the regiment.

The outstanding characteristic of these regiments was their rapid mobilization and departure for France. Very brief, at best, was the training they received in the American camps. In some instances it was as highly intensive and thorough as time allowed. The great mass of these men had known absolutely nothing of military life six weeks, and, in some cases, three weeks, before taking transport for France. But they went as others had gone, resolute and firm in faith. As they sailed away, their folk knew that they had given the residue of their strong young manhood. The last hope of the colored Americans had been cheerfully placed upon the altar as their gift. It was their last grim insistence on the triumph of the Great Cause for which the race stood so desperately in need.

A wonderful sight were those convoys with their mighty hosts, as they plowed their way across those three thousand miles of periled ocean! More wonderful if we can really realize that for them death was ever near, hiding its piratical and cruel head beneath the waves. Relative to a voyage across at that time we quote from the history of one of the regiments the following:

“At least once daily, and often three times, the bugle sounded ‘Boat Call’ and thereupon everyone hurried to his assigned place. Fire drills often accompanied boat drills.

“Each vessel bore a heavy gun astern and howitzers forward for firing depth bombs. Details were told off to help serve the guns. During the last four days out officers were posted alternately with enlisted men on submarine lookout posts, so that there were five officers, and five enlisted men continually on this duty in addition to the regular guard.

“Portholes were closed at dusk throughout the entire voyage and no smoking outside was permitted after dark. Silence on deck after dark was also prescribed during the last four days. No bugle calls were permitted during foggy weather.

“Good ships had gone down in the same area and there were times when there was anxiety. Once a mine was sighted and passed at about sixty feet. The matter was flashed to the destroyers who went to the spot and dropped depth bombs. Two days out word was received that a submarine had been sighted by a destroyer dead ahead. At the same time the cruiser signalled and the whole convoy literally ‘went by the left flank.’ From that time on the course was changed every few minutes.”

So, not only that regiment but others crossed. And some others had far more exciting and hazardous times fighting those German sea monsters. On both sides of the Atlantic there was anxious waiting; and now and then it was useless waiting, for as these brave sons journeyed across, some found their graves in the deep gray fathomless deep. There white crosses and poppies may not be found, but resting in that mysterious sea world, new emblems of honor, beautiful and sparkling, will decorate them for all time.

We were with the soldiers in France, cut off almost entirely from the outer world. One morning the word was flashed through camp that a whole regiment of Pioneer Infantry had arrived. “What are Pioneer Infantries?” everyone asked. Many answers were volunteered but none very satisfactory. This ignorance was not altogether our own fault. We had heard no mention of pioneers in those first days of mobilization before we left the United States. Our “continental editions” of the New York _Herald_, London _Times_, and Chicago _Tribune_ were just about as meagre of information as they were of size. True, friends sent us magazines and papers, but in those days they rarely reached us. So we asked—“What are Pioneer Infantries?”

All were quickly at work preparing to receive the newcomers. An addition of three thousand men meant extra work. Reams of paper and thousands of envelopes had to be prepared for easy distribution, because writing material was the very first demand of the soldier landing on foreign soil. Above all other pressing needs was the need to write the folk back home that, “I got over all right.” Not only were letters hurried home, but the hands of the Y folk were quickly filled with messages to be cabled. Extra gallons of chocolate had to be made and canteen supplies enlarged; special “information bureaus” set up; money made ready for exchange and other details arranged for prompt service.

But as we worked we also wondered about these new soldiers. The word “pioneer” embodied a wealth of courage and daring, so that long before the 807th rushed our hut that September afternoon, we had woven about them all the wonderful dreams of their achievements at the front that it is possible for a woman’s fancy to fashion. And, although they never had all the chance we had dreamed for them, they did not fail us. Wherever an opportunity challenged them, they triumphantly answered it, as attested below:

HEADQUARTERS, 807TH PIONEER INFANTRY, M. T. C. RECEPTION PARK, 714, Bourg (Haute Marne), France. A. P. O. 714.

April 26, 1919.

General Orders No. 2.

1. The commanding officer takes pleasure in publishing to the command the following letters received from General Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces, relative to participations of the 807th Pioneer Infantry in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. It is desired that this order be published to all troops, and that proper recognition of the same be made on all records pertaining thereto. It is the intention of the Commanding Officer to present this ribbon when the regiment has again assembled. Service ribbons as prescribed, will be forwarded as soon as received.

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