"At all times during the pursuit from the 6th of November to November 11th, 1918, he was present in person and was an example of bravery and endurance for his soldiers.

On the Soissons front the 370th Regiment met with the strongest resistance of the enemy. Companies F, G, H, I, and M distinguished themselves in the great drive. They took "Hill 304" from the Germans, and the Tenth French Army, with which this unit was fighting renamed it "370th Infantry U. S. Hill" in honor of this Negro regiment.

Death Valley was another exciting place for this unit, for they had advanced into the Hindenburg line and every inch of ground that was won had to be held with science and grit. The "8th Illinois Regiment" gave a splendid account of itself, and proved at the Oise-Aisne Canal to be among the world's greatest troops. Their position was near the center of the 59th Division, in the same spot where France had lost division after division.

Record of the 370th in France

Suffered 20 per cent casualties, lost ninety-five men and one officer killed outright.

Lost only one prisoner to the Germans in all the months they fought.

Captured many German cannon and German machine guns. Participated in the final drive against the Germans on the French sector, advancing in the final stages of the war as far as thirty-five kilometers in one day.

Were the first American troops to enter the French fortress of Laon when it was wrested from the Germans after four years of war.

Won twenty-one American Distinguished Service Crosses, sixty-eight French War Crosses, and one Distinguished Service Medal.

Fought the last battle of the war, capturing a German wagon train of fifty wagons and crews a half-hour after the Armistice went into effect.

Refused to fraternize with the Germans even after the Armistice was signed.

CHAPTER XVI

THE 371ST INFANTRY IN FRANCE

How This Colored Regiment of the "Red Hand" Division Helped to Win the War-Service in the Trenches Under General Goybet-In the Great Champagne Offensive-Fierce Fighting and Heavy Losses-The Regiment Decorated by the French-Individual Citations and Awards.

In addition to the 369th Infantry Regiment (old New York Fifteenth) and the 370th (old Eighth Illinois), the 371st and 372nd Regiments, also composed of colored troops, were brigaded with the French during their active service overseas. It had been first decided by the United States War Department that these four colored regiments should form the nucleus of the 93rd Division (Provisional), but it was finally decided not to organize the 93rd Division, but to brigade these four regiments with French troops.

The 371st Infantry was organized August 31, 1917, at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, in compliance with War Department General Order No. 109, of August 16, 1917, as the First Provisional Infantry Regiment (colored). Col. Perry L. Miles assumed command of the regiment September 1, 1917. All the officers of the 371st regiment were white. On September 5, 1917, fourteen colored men from Pensacola, Florida, were received as the first recruits for the regiment. The time of arrival of recruits for the regiment was delayed by the War Department for about a month, because of the shortage of labor in moving the 1917 cotton crop. It was not until early in October that the first considerable body of recruits was received. By November 20, 1917, however, 3,380 men had been received by the regiment. These men were not all received at once, but in varying sized draft increments at different times. Of this number, 1,680 men were transferred to labor organizations and 500 to a combat organization at Camp Upton.

Under a staff of French officer instructors and interpreters, the 371st Infantry was reorganized on the French plan, soon after its arrival in France (April 23, 1918), with 194 men to the company and three machine gun companies to the regiment instead of one as on the American plan. All the American equipment was turned in, and the men were given the French rifles, bayonets, helmets, packs, and other equipment of the French soldier. Only the American khaki uniform remained. After a few weeks' instruction in this new equipment and in French tactics, the regiment went into the trenches as part of the 157th French Division under General Goybet. It remained in line for over three months, holding first the Avocourt and later the Verrières subsectors (northwest of Verdun). The regiment, with its division, was then taken out of line and thrown into the great September offensive in the Champagne. It took Cote 188, Bussy Ferme, Ardeuil, Montfauxelles, and Trières Ferme near Monthois, and captured a number of prisoners, 47 machine guns, 8 trench engines, 3 field pieces (778), a munition depot, a number of railroad cars, and enormous quantities of lumber, hay, and other supplies. It shot down three German airplanes by rifle and machine-gun fire during the ad

vance.

During the fighting between September 28 and October 6, 1918, its losses-which were mostly in the first three days-were 1,065 out of 2,384 actually engaged. The regiment was the apex of the attacking salient in this great battle. The percentage of both dead and wounded among the officers was rather greater than among the enlisted men. Realizing their great responsibilities, the wounded officers continued to lead their men until they dropped from exhaustion and lack of blood. The men were devoted to their leaders and as a result stood up against a most gruelling fire, bringing the regiment its well deserved fame.

For its action in the Champagne, the 371st was very highly commended by the French high command and awarded the Army citation. Vice-Admiral Moreau on behalf of the French Government decorated the regimental colors on January 27, 1919, in Brest. In addition to this regimental citation, 146 individual citations were awarded members of the 371st regiment. These were divided as follows:

American Distinguished Service Cross: Officers, 10; enlisted men, 12.

French decorations: Legion of Honor: Officers, 1. Croix de Guerre, in various grades: Officers, 34; enlisted men, 89.

The 371st went into line for its initial experience in sector work at a time when a big German offensive was expected. From that time until shortly after the Armistice, the regiment remained continuously in line or was on the offensive. It was never in rest.

Returning homeward, the regiment sailed from Brest February 3, 1919, on the U. S. S. Leviathan and arrived at Hoboken, February 11, 1919. From there it went to Camp Upton, where it was broken up into detachments and sent to various camps for demobilization. The largest detachment, nearly 1,400 men with Regimental Headquarters, was sent to Camp Jackson, at Columbia, South Carolina. the place of the regiment's birth. Demobilization was completed and the regiment dissolved February 28, 1919.

Praise for the Regiment

Col. P. L. Miles, who commanded the 371st, speaks in warr and approving terms of the efficiency of his men. "I never heard of similar performance by any regiment of any nation," Col. Miles writes, commenting on the feat of shooting three Boche airplanes "on the wing." "Our division commander, who had over four years of war over here, said he had heard of a former case where one machine had been shot down in a similar manner."

Another officer of the 371st, Capt. J. Leo Collins of East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a member of the Allegheny County bar, who was commissioned an officer at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and assigned to duty at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, where the 371st was organized and trained, says: "The 371st was the first draft regiment to sail from this country, sailing in April, 1918, and the first draft outfit to take the trenches. In the engagements around Verdun the fighting qualities and courage of our boys won the admiration and most profuse praise of the French. Citations were showered upon the valorous boys for their unflinching conduct in the face of withering machine-gun fire, which they overcame and silenced at the point of the bayonet. We broke the Hindenburg line at Monthois, and so rapidly did our boys move that a halt was

called to enable the right and left flanks of our line to catch up. An excellent opportunity was furnished by comparisons as to just how good our colored soldiers were. At times we were brigaded with the French Moroccan and with English Canadian troops, with the Germans opposite, and it is quite safe to say that we certainly did not suffer by comparison."

Frank Washington's Story

A typical story of the courage and bravery of the men who composed the 371st Regiment is revealed in the record of Frank Washington of Edgefield, South Carolina. He proved his valor under conditions worthy of testing the bravery of the bravest. He was attached to Company B, and received an explosive bullet through the arm at Champagne. His story was as follows:

"It was all bad, but the worst came when the German airplanes flew low and sprayed the wounded with liquid fire. There is no way of putting out that liquid flame, and no one can help you, because the fire spreads so quickly. It is bad enough to be helpless out there, without water or friends, but to have a hellfiend fly over and just squirt torture at you-well, the Indians or the savages of Africa were not much worse. They were not so bad, in fact, for they were savages-while the Germans are supposed to be civilized.

"A Hun plane flew over when I was wounded, but believe me, when I saw that fire coming I sure did some lively hopping around. There wasn't going to be any broiled Washington if I could help it. But some of the mortally wounded were burned to death. Those Huns should be made to pay for that sort of thing. It ain't fighting; it's concentrated hell! But we had to attend to their wounded, and one of our officers saw that we did it.

"I went over the top in the fighting on September 29 and 30. We advanced after the usual barrage had been laid down for us. We went up to the Germans, and my platoon found itself under the fire of three machine guns. One of these guns was in front and running like a millrace. The other two kept a-piling into us from the flanks, and the losses were mounting. We got the front one. Its crew surrendered and we stopped. The other guns kept right on going, but we got them, too.