hour was that which engaged the troops of the 28th, 92d, 81st, and 7th Divisions of the Second American Army. It was no mild thing, that last flare of the battle, and the order to cease firing did not reach the men in the front line until the last moment, when the runners sped with it from foxhole to foxhole."

The gratifying thing is that there should be recorded in the official organ of the American Expeditionary Forces a reference to the fact that colored troops were nearest the Rhine of all American troops, as, indeed, they were later the first of all Allied troops to reach the Rhine, and that the 92d Division-their Division was engaged "in the hardest fighting of the last hour of the war."

The Brooklyn Standard Union epitomizes in an editorial expression the general opinion which obtains as to the fighting quality of the colored American troops sent overseas to fight "for democracy" during the world war:

"Of the American Negro soldiers it has been frequently said since we have been fighting in France, that they are decidedly the most cheerful troops who have spilt blood in this war, and as highly courageous as any who have shouldered guns. This is not an exaggerated tribute, for the testimony of the Allies, and, of course of General Pershing and other white officers bears out this estimate, while the War Department at Washington has abundant proof, in the way of records, showing the bravery of these boys.

"Some of those who recognized the extremely sociable and good natured qualities of the Negro questioned his ability as a fighter. They feared he would not stand up well in a bayonet charge, or in an advance upon singing machine guns, or where shells from the big cannon were bursting and rocking the earth. But that was a superficial view. Under his smile and ready laugh or grin the colored man has the qualities of a fighter-coolness, patience, steadfastness, optimism, pluck and, of course, courage. All these have been brought out in recent months, and honors have fallen upon him in France in a manner that is cause for national pride.

"In every department of the army, from wireless telegraphy to the sanitary squad, the Negro has played his part and played it conscientiously, and it is gratifying to know that this city has contributed a very large number of Negro fighters to the nation's

army, for the percentage of volunteers here has been high. Easy to mold to the requirements of discipline, happy under any and all circumstances, he is an exemplary soldier. On the charge he sees red, as the fighter should, and in rest billets or even in the trench he seldom loses his cheerful outlook upon life."

French Wanted Colored Troops

Assigned to the French High Commission in the city of Washington during the war were two distinguished Frenchmen, Colonel Edouard Requin and Major L. P. DeMontal. These gentlemen often called at the office of the author to make inquiry as to when additional combat troops were to be sent to France. They spoke in terms of gratitude of the services of the S. O. S. men but their eagerness always manifested was that the War Department should decide to send over increasingly large numbers of colored combat troops, for, as they both stated, every report that reached them from France spoke of the wonderful courage and coolness of the colored American troops, who made a wonderful impression upon the French population both civil and military and as will have been noted from the praise and commendation of high French officers, they won the respect of those military representatives of the French army. The courage of these colored American troops was always in evidence; their cool headedness and bravery under fire as well as their desire to engage in the aforesaid engagements went to demonstrate that the colored soldiers were unsurpassed as fighters. The Germans had little or no respect for the fighting ability of these soldiers until they encountered them in several hand-to-hand combats.

The Bulletin of the Armies issued by the French government after the completion of every drive in which the allied armies participated, gives some of the most amazing records of heroism in the history of wars. The Algerian and Senegalese soldiers gained favor continuously as fighters of the first rank. The records of these soldiers were heralded on the European continent as incomparable achievements of bravery, and upon every occasion when they paraded the streets preparatory to leaving for the first line trenches, storms of applause greeted them from every roadside and tavern, and upon one occasion when these black troops returned

to the city of Paris, after having been engaged in a vigorous drive against the Germans at Verdun, every soldier was bedecked with a shower of flowers tendered him by French women, who wept bitterly as they viewed the wounded Negroes limp through the Paris thoroughfares.

One of the most remarkable feats recorded in the Bulletin was the work performed by a corporal of a French infantry regiment, Louis Hermitte, a Senegalese. After a German attack in December, 1917, he went out of the trench and drove back the enemy by hurling hand grenades. He dug himself into a little corner quite close to the German line and stayed there for several days. He received a military medal.

Heroism of French Negroes

The black troops of France won many honors and proved themselves unafraid of suffering. One page in the Bulletin was devoted to the mention of five cases of Algerian and Senegalese soldiers, men born in a hot climate and quite unused to frost and snow, who remained at their posts under fire and fought bravely, though all of them were terribly frostbitten-so badly in two cases that both legs had to be amputated. In two other cases the men lost a leg each. One of these men endured the agony of frostbite and of terrific German attacks for nineteen consecutive days and finally fell when his ammunition gave out. Still another, with hands and feet frozen, fought with such fury that he captured several machine guns and single handed brought back sixty German prisoners. These feats of heroism have crowned several of the men with the Croix de Guerre honors, but these honors are not received with a vainglorious boast on the part of the soldiers. It is one of the highest honors that a soldier can receive from the government.

Hard fighting in close quarters calls for a greater measure of athletic ability and superior physical strength and endurance. This the Senegalese seem to possess to a greater degree than any other allied body. In every single close battle with the German they proved themselves masters of the situation and slaughtered their opponents unmercifully. In one instance Corporal Hamilde Annonetti was badly gassed, but continued work until his lungs were overcrowded with the vapor. He was taken to the

relief station and begged to go back to the firing line to finish his attack. After being temporarily relieved he escaped from the hospital and dragged himself back two miles over the bullet riddled ground and renewed his attack, killing, it is claimed, five or more Germans who were manning a machine gun. He was picked up by the ambulance corps with both legs shot away.

The high state of discipline and the morale which existed in the 92d (colored) Division was the subject of a great deal of comment from all of the allied officers who had the opportunity to view the troops who composed this command, and is attested by the remarks of General Pershing relative to discipline and morale addressed to the 92d Division at Le Mans, France, just previous to their departure for the United States, when he said:

"The 92d Division has been, without a doubt, a great success, and I desire to commend both the officers and men for the high state of discipline and the excellent morale which has existed in this command during its entire stay in France."

Brig. Gen. W. H. Hay, of the 184th Brigade, 92d Division, said: "I have been with colored troops for 25 years, and I have never seen better soldiers than the drafted men who composed this division." Capt. Willis, of the 365th Infantry, said: "These men are the best disciplined and best saluting soldiers that I have ever seen." An officer en route between Camp Meade and Washington, D. C., on or about February 26, 1919, said, "You just have to give it to these colored troops; they have come back with the stuff; there has been absolutely no slump in their discipline and saluting, but I notice that the white troops have slumped considerably."

CHAPTER XX

WITH OUR SOLDIERS IN FRANCE

Official Reports of the Only Accredited Negro War Correspondent— Ralph W. Tyler, Representative with the A. E. F. of the U. S. Committee on Public Information-The Story of the Life and Fighting of American Negro Soldiers in France as Seen By This Trained Observer.

One of the most important results of the conference of Negro editors held in Washington in June, 1918, was the sending to France of a trained newspaper writer of the Negro race with instructions to report on the life and the activities of the Negro soldiers as he saw things, in order that the Negro press of America might be furnished with first-hand and accurate information for their readers of the precise conditions under which their people were working and fighting in France. The announcement of Mr. Tyler's appointment was made by the Committee on Public Information on September 16, 1918 when the following bulletin was issued to the press of the country:

"One of the direct requests of the Editors' Conference in June was that a reliable colored news-writer be sent to France to report the doings of the colored troops on the western front in France, for the information of the anxious millions of colored Americans in this country and to the end that the correct story of the valor and patriotic devotion of their brethren might be told fully and in a sympathetic vein by one of their own blood and kindred.

"In compliance with this request, the Committee on Public Information has designated Ralph W. Tyler, of Columbus, Ohio, former Auditor of the Navy Department at Washington, as a regularly-commissioned war correspondent, to specialize on the conditions surrounding the colored troops in France and to make daily reports of the activities and engagements in which the colored soldiers are prominent. He will be on the staff of General Pershing, commanderin-chief of the American Expeditionary Forces overseas. Every