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[Illustration: W. Allison Sweeney]

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO IN THE GREAT WORLD WAR

HIS SPLENDID RECORD IN THE BATTLE ZONES OF EUROPE

INCLUDING A RESUME OF HIS PAST SERVICES TO HIS COUNTRY IN THE WARS OF
THE REVOLUTION, OF 1812, THE WAR OF THE REBELLION, THE INDIAN WARS ON
THE FRONTIER, THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, AND THE LATE IMBROGLIO WITH
MEXICO.

BY

W. ALLISON SWEENEY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR OF THE CHICAGO DEFENDER.

PROFUSELY AND BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED



1919



THIS HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO IN THE GREAT WORLD WAR IS REINFORCED
BY THE OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT INCLUDING TRIBUTES FROM
FRENCH AND AMERICAN COMMANDERS

       *       *       *       *       *

SPOKEN AND WRITTEN WORDS BY

J. E. MORELAND INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY Y.M.C.A.

ROBERT SENGSTACKE ABBOTT EDITOR CHICAGO DEFENDER

RALPH TYLER EX-THIRD AUDITOR THE NAVY

JULIUS ROSENWALD PHILANTHROPIST

COLONEL CHARLES YOUNG UNITED STATES ARMY

WILLIS O. TYLER MEMBER LOS ANGELES BAR

CAPT. R.P. ROOTS VETERAN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

       *       *       *       *       *

WITH A COMPLETE SUMMARY OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE 370th "OLD EIGHTH" IN
THE WORLD WAR FROM THE COUNTRY'S CALL TO THE DAY OF ITS MUSTERING OUT

BY CAPT. JOHN H. PATTON, ADJUTANT





HISTORY

OF THE

AMERICAN NEGRO

IN THE

GREAT WORLD WAR

       *       *       *       *       *

CONTENTS

Chapter I. SPIRITUAL EMANCIPATION OF NATIONS.

THE MARCH OF CIVILIZATION--WORLD SHOCKS TO STIR THE WOULD HEART--FALSE
DOCTRINES OF THE HUN--THE IRON HAND CONCEALED--THE WORLD BEGINS TO
AWAKEN--GERMAN DESIGNS REVEALED--RUMBLINGS IN ADVANCE OF THE
STORM--TRAGEDY THAT HASTENED THE DAY--TOLSTOY'S PROPHECY--VINDICATION OF
NEGRO FAITH IN PROMISES OF THE LORD--DAWN OF FREEDOM FOR ALL RACES

Chapter II. HANDWRITING ON THE WALL.

LIKENED TO BELSHAZZER--THE KAISER'S FEASTS--IN HIS HEART BARBARIC PRIDE
OF THE POTENTATES OF OLD--GERMAN MADNESS FOR WAR--INSOLENT
DEMANDS--FORTY-EIGHT HOURS TO PREVENT A WORLD WAR--COMMENT OF STATESMEN
AND LEADERS--THE WAR STARTS--ITALY BREAKS HER ALLIANCE--GERMANIC POWERS
WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING--SPIRIT WINS OVER MATERIALISM--CIVILIZATION'S
LAMP DIMMED BUT NOT DARKENED

Chapter III. MILITARISM AND AUTOCRACY DOOMED.

GERMANY'S MACHINE--HER SCIENTIFIC ENDEAVOR TO MOLD SOLDIERS--INFLUENCE
ON THOUGHT AND LIVES OF THE PEOPLE--MILITARISM IN THE HOME--THE STATUS
OF WOMAN--FALSE THEORIES AND FALSE GODS--THE SYSTEM ORDAINED TO
PERISH--WAR'S SHOCKS--AMERICA INCLINES TO NEUTRALITY--GERMAN AND FRENCH
TREATMENT OF NEUTRALS CONTRASTED--EXPERIENCES OF AMERICANS ABROAD AND
ENROUTE HOME--STATUE OF LIBERTY TAKES ON NEW BEAUTY--BLOOD OF NEGRO AND
WHITE TO FLOW

Chapter IV. Awakening of America.

President Clings to Neutrality--Monroe Doctrine and Washington's
Warning--German Crimes and German Victories--Cardinal Mercier's
Letter--Military Operations--First Submarine Activities--The Lusitania
Outrage--Exchange of Notes--United States Aroused--Role of Passive
Onlooker Becomes Irksome--First Modification of Principles of Washington
and Monroe--Our Destiny Looms

Chapter V. Huns Sweeping Westward.

Toward Shores of Atlantic--Spread Ruin and Devastation--Capitals of
Civilization Alarmed--Activities of Spies--Apologies and Lies--German
Arms Winning--Gain Time to Forge New Weapons--Few Victories for
Allies--Roumania Crushed--Incident of U-53

Chapter VI. The Hour and The Man.

A Beacon Among the Years--Trying Period for President Wilson--Germany
Continues Dilatory Tactics--Peace Efforts Fail--All Honorable Means
Exhausted--Patience Ceases to be a Virtue--Enemy Abandons All
Subterfuges--Unrestricted Submarine Warfare--German Intrigues with
Mexico--The Zimmerman Note--America Seizes the Sword--War is
Declared--Pershing Goes Abroad--First Troops Sail--War Measures--War
Operations

Chapter VII. Negroes Respond to the Call.

Swift and Unhalting Array--Few Permitted to Volunteer--Only National
Guard Accepted--No New Units Formed--Selective Draft Their
Opportunity--Partial Division of Guardsmen--Complete Division of
Selectives--Many in Training--Enter Many Branches of Service--Negro
Nurses Authorized--Negro Y.M.C.A. Workers--Negro War
Correspondent--Negro Assistant to Secretary of War--Training Camp for
Negro Officers First Time in Artillery--Complete Racial Segregation

Chapter VIII. Recrudescence of South's Intolerance.

Confronted by Racial Prejudice--Splendid Attitude of Negro Shamed
It--Kept out of Navy--Only One Percent of Navy Personnel
Negroes--Modified Marines Contemplated--Few Have Petty Officers'
Grades--Separate Ships Proposed--Negro Efficiency in Navy--Material for
"Black Ships"--Navy Opens Door to Negro Mechanics

Chapter IX. Previous Wars in Which Negro Figured.

Shot Heard Around the World--Crispus Attucks--Slave Leads Sons of
Freedom--The Boston Massacre--Anniversary Kept for Years--William Nell,
Historian--3,000 Negroes in Washington's Forces--A Stirring
History--Negro Woman Soldier--Border Indian Wars--Negro Heroes

Chapter X. From Lexington to Carrizal.

Negro in War of 1812--Incident of the Chesapeake--Battle of Lake
Erie--Perry's Fighters 10 Percent Negroes--Incident of the "Governor
Tompkins"--Colonists Form Negro Regiments--Defenders of New
Orleans--Andrew Jackson's Tribute--Negroes in Mexican and Civil Wars--In
the Spanish-American War--Negroes in the Philippines--Heroes of
Carrizal--General Butler's Tribute to Negroes--Wendell Phillips on
Toussaint L'Ouverture

Chapter XI. Hour of His Nation's Peril.

Negro's Patriotic Attitude--Selective Draft in Effect--Features and
Results--Bold Reliance on Faith in People--No Color Line
Drawn--Distribution of Registrants by States--Negro and White
Registrations Compared--Negro Percentages Higher--Claimed Fewer
Exemptions--Inductions by States--Better Physically than Whites--Tables,
Facts and Figures

Chapter XII. Negro Slackers and Pacifists Unknown.

Such Words not in his Vocabulary--Desertions Explained--General Crowder
Exonerates Negro--No Willful Delinquency--Strenuous Efforts to Meet
Regulations--No "Conscientious Objectors"--No Draft Evaders or
Resisters--Negro's Devotion Sublime--Justifies His Freedom--Forgets His
Sorrows--Rises Above His Wrongs--Testimony of Local Boards--German
Propaganda Wasted--A New Americanism

Chapter XIII. Roster of Negro Officers.

Commissioned at Fort Des Moines--Only Exclusive Negro Training
Camp--Mostly from Civilian Life--Names, Rank and Residence

Chapter XIV. Across Dividing Seas.

Black Thousands Assemble--Soldiers of Liberty--Severing Home Ties--Man's
Work Must be Done--First Negroes in France--Meeting with French
Colonials--Early History of 15th New York--They Sail Away--Become French
Fighting Men--Hold 20 Percent of American Lines--Terror to Germans--Only
Barrier Between Boche and Paris--Imperishable Record of New
Yorkers--Turning Point of War

Chapter XV. Over There.

Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts--The Tiger's Cubs--Negro First to Get
Palm--Johnson's Graphic Story--Smashes the Germans--Irvin Cobb's
Tribute--Christian and Mohammedan Negroes Pals--Valor of 93rd
Division--Laughter in Face of Death--Negro and Poilu Happy
Together--Butte de Mesnil--Valiant and Humorous Elmer McCowin--Winning
War Crosses--Verdict of the French--The Negro's Faith

CHAPTER XVI. THROUGH HELL AND SUFFERING.

COLORED OFFICERS MAKE GOOD--WONDERFUL RECORD OF THE 8TH ILLINOIS--"BLACK
DEVILS" WIN DECORATIONS GALORE--TRIBUTE OF FRENCH COMMANDER--HIS
FAREWELL TO PRAIRIE FIGHTERS--THEY FOUGHT AFTER WAR WAS OVER--HARD TO
STOP THEM--INDIVIDUAL DEEDS OF HEROISM--THEIR DEAD, THEIR WOUNDED AND
SUFFERING--A POEM

CHAPTER XVII. NARRATIVE OF AN OFFICER.

SPECIAL ARTICLE BY CAPTAIN JOHN H. PATTON, ADJUTANT OF 8TH
ILLINOIS--SUMMARIZES OPERATIONS OF THE REGIMENT--FROM FIRST CALL TO
MUSTERING OUT--AN EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT--IN TRAINING CAMPS, AT SEA, IN
FRANCE--SERVICE IN ARGONNE FOREST--MANY OTHER ENGAGEMENTS--A THRILLING
RECORD--BATTALION OPERATIONS IN DETAIL--SPECIAL MENTION OF COMPANIES AND
INDIVIDUALS

CHAPTER XVIII. BLOOD OF BLACK AND WHITE IN ONE RIVULET.

LINCOLN'S PROPHETIC WORDS--NEGROES ALONGSIDE BEST SOLDIERS IN THE
WORLD--HOLD THEIR OWN--THE 372ND REGIMENT--BRIGADED WITH VETERANS OF THE
MARNE--FAMOUS "RED HAND" DIVISION--OCCUPY HILL 304 AT VERDUN--NINE DAYS
BATTLE IN "BLOODY ARGONNE"--ADMIRATION OF THE FRENCH--CONSPICUOUS
COMPONENTS OF 372ND--CHRONOLOGY OF SERVICE

CHAPTER XIX. COMRADES ON THE MARCH--BROTHERS IN THE SLEEP OF DEATH.

POLICY OF SUBSTITUTING WHITE OFFICERS--INJUSTICE TO CAPABLE
NEGROES--DISAPPOINTMENT BUT NO OPEN RESENTMENT--SHOWED THEMSELVES
SOLDIERS--INTENSER FIGHTING SPIRIT AROUSED--RACE FORGOTTEN IN PERILS OF
WAR--BOTH WHITES AND BLACKS GENEROUS--AFFECTION BETWEEN OFFICERS AND
MEN--NEGROES PREFERRED DEATH TO CAPTIVITY--OUTSTANDING HEROES OF 371ST
AND 372ND--WINNERS OF CROSSES

CHAPTER XX. MID SHOT AND SHELL.

IN TRENCH AND VALLEY--THE OPEN PLAIN--ON MOUNTAIN TOP--IN NO MAN'S
LAND--TWO CLASSES OF NEGRO SOLDIERS CONSIDERED--TRAINED GUARDSMEN AND
SELECTIVES--GALLANT 92ND DIVISION--RACE CAN BE PROUD OF IT--HAD SIX
HUNDRED NEGRO OFFICERS--SETS AT REST ALL DOUBTS--OPERATIONS OF THE
DIVISION--AT PONT A MOUSSON--GREAT BATTLE OF METZ--SOME
REFLECTIONS--CASUALTIES CONSIDERED

CHAPTER XXI. THE LONG, LONG TRAIL.

OPERATIONS OF 368TH INFANTRY--NEGROES FROM PENNSYLVANIA, MARYLAND AND
SOUTH--IN ARGONNE HELL--DEFEAT IRON CROSS VETERANS--VALIANT PERSONAL
EXPLOITS--LIEUTENANT ROBERT CAMPBELL--PRIVATE JOHN BAKER--OPERATIONS OF
367TH INFANTRY--"MOSS'S BUFFALOES"--365TH AND 366TH REGIMENTS--THE GREAT
DIVIDE--THEIR SOULS ARE MARCHING ON--PRAISED BY PERSHING--SOME CITATIONS

Chapter XXII. Glory That Wont Come Off.

167th First Negro Artillery Brigade--"Like Veterans" said
Pershing--First Artillery to be Motorized--Record by Dates--Selected
for Lorraine Campaign--Best Educated Negroes in American Forces--Always
Stood by Their Guns--Chaplain's Estimate--Left Splendid
Impression--Testimony of French Mayors--Christian Behavior--Soldierly
Qualities

Chapter XXIII. Nor Storied Urn, Nor Mounting Shaft.

Glory not all Spectacular--Brave Forces Behind the Lines--325th Field
Signal Battalion--Composed of Young Negroes--See Real Fighting--Suffer
Casualties--An Exciting Incident--Colored Signal Battalion a
Success--Ralph Tyler's Stories--Burial of Negro Soldier at Sea--More
Incidents of Negro Valor--A Word from Charles M. Schwab

Chapter XXIV. Those Who Never Will Return.

A Study of War--Its Compensations and Benefits--Its Ravages and
Debasements--Burdens Fall upon the Weak--Toll of Disease--Negroes
Singularly Healthy--Negroes Killed in Battle--Deaths from Wounds and
Other Causes--Remarkable Physical Stamina of Race--Housekeeping in
Khaki--Healthiest War in History--Increased Regard for Mothers--An Ideal
for Child Minds--Morale and Propaganda

Chapter XXV. Quiet Heroes of the Brawny Arm.

Negro Stevedore, Pioneer and Labor Units--Swung the Axe and Turned the
Wheel--They were Indispensable--Everywhere in France--Hewers of Wood,
Drawers of Water--Numbers and Designations of Units--Acquired Splendid
Reputation--Contests and Awards--Pride in their Service--Measured up to
Military Standards--Lester Waltons Appreciation--Ella Wheeler Wilcox's
Poetic Tribute

Chapter XXVI. Unselfish Workers in the Vineyard.

Mitigated the Horrors of War--At the Front, Behind the Lines, at
Home--Circle for Negro War Relief--Addressed and Praised by Roosevelt--A
Notable Gathering--Colored Y.M.C.A. Work--Unsullied Record of
Achievement--How the "Y" Conducted Business--Secretaries all
Specialists--Negro Women in "Y" Work--Valor of a Non-combatant

Chapter XXVII. Negro in Army Personnel.

His Mechanical Ability Required--Skilled at Special Trades--Victory
Depends upon Technical Workers--Vast Range of Occupation--Negro Makes
Good Showing--Percentages of White and Colored--Figures for General
Service

Chapter XXVIII. The Knockout Blow.

Woodrow Wilson, an Estimate--His Place in History--Last of Great
Trio--Washington, Lincoln, Wilson--Upholds Decency, Humanity,
Liberty--Recapitulation of Year 1918--Closing Incidents of War

Chapter XXIX. Homecoming Heroes. New York Greets Her Own--Ecstatic Day
for Old 15th--Whites and Blacks do Honors--A Monster Demonstration--Many
Dignitaries Review Troops--Parade of Martial Pomp--Cheers, Music,
Flowers and Feasting--"Hayward's Scrapping Babies"--Officers Share
Glory--Then Came Henry Johnson--Similar Scenes Elsewhere

Chapter XXX. Reconstruction and the Negro. By Julius Rosenwald,
President Sears, Roebuck & Co, and Trustee of Tuskegee Institute--A Plea
for Industrial Opportunity for the Negro--Tribute to Negro as Soldier
and Civilian--Duty of Whites Pointed Out--Business Leader and
Philanthropist Sounds Keynote

Chapter XXXI. The Other Fellow's Burden. An Emancipation Day Appeal for
Justice--By W. Allison Sweeney

Chapter XXXII. An Interpolation. Held--By Distinguished Thinkers and
Writers, That the Negro Soldier Should be Given a Chance for Promotion
as Well as a Chance to Die. Why--White Officers over Negro Soldiers?

Chapter XXXIII. The New Negro and the New America. The Old Order
Changeth, yielding place to new. Through the Arbitrament of war, behold
a new and better America! a new and girded negro! "The Watches of the
night have PASSED!" "The Watches Of the day BEGIN!"

FOREWORD

He was a red headed messenger boy and he handed me a letter in a NILE
GREEN ENVELOPE, and this is what I read:

Dear Mr. Sweeney:

When on the 25th of March the last instalment of the MSS of the "History
of the American Negro in the Great World War" was returned to us from
your hands, bearing the stamp of your approval as to its historic
accuracy; the wisdom and fairness of the reflections and recommendations
of the corps of compilers placed at your service, giving you full
authority to review the result of their labors, your obligation to the
publishers ceased.

The transaction between us, a purely business one, had in every
particular upon your part been complied with. From thenceforward, as far
as you were obligated to the publishers, this History; what it is; what
it stands for; how it will be rated by the reading masses--should be,
and concretely, by your own people you so worthily represent and are
today their most fearless and eloquent champion, is, as far as any
obligation you may have been under to us, not required of you to say.

Nevertheless, regardless of past business relations now at an end, have
you not an opinion directly of the finished work? A word to say; the
growth of which you have marked from its first instalment to its last?

-The Publishers-

       *       *       *       *       *

HAVE I--

A word to say? And of this fine book?

THE BEST HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO IN THE GREAT WORLD WAR, THAT AS
YET HAS BEEN WRITTEN OR WILL BE FOR YEARS TO COME?

       *       *       *       *       *

DOES--

The rose in bud respond to the wooing breath of the mornings of June?

IS--

The whistle of robin red breast clearer and more exultant, as its
watchful gaze, bearing in its inscrutable depths the mystery of all the
centuries; the Omniscience of DIVINITY, discovers a cherry tree bending
to--

"The green grass"

from the weight of its blood red fruit?

       *       *       *       *       *

DOES--

The nightingale respond to its mate; caroling its amatory challenge from
afar; across brake and dale and glen; beyond a

"Dim old forest" the earth bathed in the silver light of the harvest
moon!

       *       *       *       *       *

EVEN SO--

And for the same reason which the wisest of us cannot explain, that the
rose, the robin and nightingale respond to the lure that invites, the
zephyrs that caress, I find myself moved to say not only a word--a few,
but many, of praise and commendation of this book; the finished work, so
graciously and so quickly submitted for my inspection by the publishers.

THERE ARE--

Books and books; histories and histories, treatise after treatise;
covering every realm of speculative investigation; every field of fact
and fancy; of inspiration and deed, past and present, that in this 20th
century of haste and bustle, of miraculous mechanical equipment, are
born daily and die as quickly. But there are also books, that like some
men marked before their birth for a place amongst the "Seats of the
MIGHTY"; an association with the IMMORTALS, that

     "Were not born to die."

This book seems of that glorious company.

       *       *       *       *       *

IN THE--

Spiritualized humanity that broadened the vision and inspired the pens
of the devoted corps of writers, responding to my suggestions and
oversight in its preparation; the getting together of data and facts, is
reflected the incoming of a NEW AND BROADER CHARITY--a stranger in our
midst--of glimpse and measurement of the Negro. Beyond the written word
of the text, the reader is gripped with a certain FELT but unprinted
power of suggestion, a sense of the nation's crime against him; the
Negro, stretching back through the centuries; the shame and humiliation
that is at last overtaking it, that has not been born of the "Print
Shops" since the sainted LINCOLN went his way, leaving behind him a
trail of glory, shining like the sun; in the path of which, freed
through the mandate of his great soul, MARCHED FOUR MILLION NEGROES, now
swollen to twelve, their story, the saddest epic of the ages, of whom
and in behalf of whom their children; the generation now and those to
come, this History was collated and arranged. It is an EVANGEL
proclaiming to the world, their unsullied patriotism; their rapid fire
loyalty, that through all the years of the nation's life, has never
flickered--

     "Has burned and burned Forever the same",

from Lexington to the cactus groves of Mexico; in the slaughter hells of
Europe; over fields and upon spots where, in the centuries gone, the
legions of Caesar, of Hannibal and Attila, of Charlemagne and Napoleon
had fought and bled, and perished! Striding "Breast forward" beneath the
Stars and Stripes as this History crowds them on your gaze, through the
dust of empires and kingdoms that; before the CHRIST walked the earth;
before Christianity had its birth, wielded the sceptres of power when
civilization was young, but which are now but vanishing traditions.

You are thrilled! History nor story affords no picture more inspiring.

MAKING DUE ALLOWANCE--

For its nearness to the living and dead, whose heroic and transcendant
achievements on the battle spots of the great war secured for them a
distinction and fame that will endure until--

     "The records of valor decay",

it is a most notable publication, quite worthy to be draped in the robes
that distinguishes History from narrative; from "a tale that is told"; a
story for the entertainment of the moment.

AS INTERPOLATED--

By the writers of its text; read between the lines of their written
words; it is a History; not alone of the American Negro on the "tented
field"; the bloody trenches of France and Belgium, it is also a History
and an arraignment, a warning and a prophecy, looking backwards and
forward, the Negro being the objective focus, of many things.

IT PRESENTS--

For the readers retrospection, as vividly as painted on a canvas, a
phantasmagoric procession of past events, and of those to come in the
travail of the Negro; commencing with the sailing of the first "Slaver's
Ship" for the shores of the "New World", jammed fore and aft, from deck
to hold, with its cargo of human beings, to the conclusion of the great
war in which, individually and in units he wrote his name in
imperishable characters, and high on the scroll on which are inscribed
the story of those, who, in their lives wrought for RIGHT and, passing,
died for MEN! For a flag; beneath and within its folds his welcome has
been measured and parsimonious;--a country; the construing and
application of its laws and remedies as applied to him, has inflicted
intolerable INJUSTICE: Has persecuted more often than blessed. And so
and thus, its perusal finished, its pages closed and laid aside, you are
shaken and swayed in your feelings, even as a tree, bent and riven
before the march and sweep of a mighty hurricane.

       *       *       *       *       *

LOOKING BACKWARDS--

The spell of the book strong upon you, you see in your mind's eye,
thousands of plantations covering a fourth of a continent of a new and
virgin land. The toilers "Black Folk"; men, women and children--SLAVES!

       *       *       *       *       *

YOU HEAR--

The crack of the "driver's" lash; the sullen bay of pursuing hounds.

       *       *       *       *       *

JUST OVER YONDER--

Is the "Auction Block". You hear the moans and screams of mothers torn
from their offspring. You see them driven away, herded like cattle,
chained like convicts, sold to "master's" in the "low lands", to toil--

"Midst the cotton and the cane."


YOU LISTEN--

Sounding far off, faint at first, growing louder each second, you hear
the beat of drums; the bugle's blast, sounding to arms; You see great
armies, moving hitherward and thitherward. Over one flies the Stars and
Stripes, over the other the Stars and Bars; a nation in arms! Brother
against brother!

       *       *       *       *       *

YOU LOOK--

And lo, swinging past are many Black men; garbed in "Blue", keeping step
to the music of the Union. You see them fall and die, at Fort Pillow,
Fort Wagner, Petersburg, the Wilderness, Honey Hill--SLAUGHTERED! Above
the din; the boom of cannon, the rattle of small arms, the groans of the
wounded and dying, you hear the shout of one, as shattered and maimed he
is being borne from the field; "BOYS, THE OLD FLAG NEVER TOUCHED THE
GROUND!"

       *       *       *       *       *

THE SCENE SHIFTS--

Fifty years have passed. You hear the clamor, the murmur and shouts of
gathering mobs. You see Black men and women hanging by their necks to
lamp posts, from the limbs of trees; in lonely spots--DEAD! You see
smoke curling upwards from BURNING HOMES! There are piles of cinders
and--DEAD MENS BONES!

       *       *       *       *       *

NEARING ITS END--

The procession sweeps on. Staring you in the face; hailing from East,
West, North and South are banners; held aloft by unseen hands, bearing
on them--the quintessence of AMERICA'S INGRATITUDE,--these devices:

     "For American Negroes:
     JIM CROW steam and trolley cars;
     JIM CROW resident districts;
     JIM CROW amen corners;
     JIM CROW seats in theatres;
     JIM CROW corners in cemeteries."

YOU MUTTER--

"Are these indignities to CONTINUE? Is God DEAD?"

       *       *       *       *       *

COMES--

A voice. You listen!

     "WHEREFORE hear the word of the lord--
     "THE days of thy mourning shall be ended--
     "VIOLENCE shall no more be heard in the land--
     "NEITHER sorrow nor crying--
     "FOR the former things have passed away--
     "BEHOLD I make all things new--
     "ARISE, shine; for thy light has come.

       *       *       *       *       *

HEREIN--

Lies the strength and worth of this unusual book, well and deservingly
named: A History of the American Negro in the Great World War. Beyond
merely recounting that story; than which there has been nothing finer or
more inspiring since the long away centuries when the chivalry of the
Middle Ages, in nodding plume and lance in rest, battled for the Holy
Sepulchre, it brings to the Negro of America a message of cheer and
reassurance. A sign, couched in flaming characters for all men to see,
appealing to the spiritualized divination of the age, proclaiming that
God is NOT DEAD! That a NEW day is dawning; HAS dawned for the Negro in
America. A NEW liberty; broader and BETTER. A NEW Justice, unshaded by
the spectre of: "Previous condition!" That the unpaid toil of thirty
decades of African slavery in America is at last to be liquidated. That
the dead of our people, upon behalf of this land that it might have a
BIRTH, and having it might not PERISH FROM THE EARTH, did not die in
vain. That, in their passage from earth, heroes--MARTYRS--in a
superlative sense they were seen and marked of the Father; were accorded
a place of record in the pages of the great WHITE BOOK with golden
seals, in the up worlds; above the stars and beyond the flaming suns.

IT IS A HISTORY--

That will be read with instruction and benefit by thousands of whites,
but, and mark well this suggestion, it is one that should be OWNED AND
READ BY EVERY NEGRO IN THE LAND.

       *       *       *       *       *

TYPOGRAPHICALLY--

Mechanically; that is to say, in those features that reflect the
finished artistic achievement of the Print, Picture and Binding art; as
seen in the bold clear type of its text, its striking and beautiful
illustrations, its illuminating title heads of division and chapter;
indicating at a glance the information to follow; the whole appealing to
the aesthetic; the sticklers for the rare and beautiful; not overlooking
its superb binding, it is most pleasing to the sight, and worthy of the
title it bears.

[Illustration: signature]

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO IN THE GREAT WORLD WAR



CHAPTER I.

SPIRITUAL EMANCIPATION OF NATIONS.


THE MARCH OF CIVILIZATION--WORLD SHOCKS TO STIR THE WORLD HEART--FALSE
DOCTRINES OF THE HUN--THE IRON HAND CONCEALED--THE WOBLD BEGINS TO
AWAKEN--GERMAN DESIGNS REVEALED--RUMBLINGS IN ADVANCE OF THE
STORM--TRAGEDY THAT HASTENED THE DAY--TOLSTOY'S PROPHECY--VINDICATION OF
NEGRO FAITH IN PROMISES OF THE LORD--DAWN OF FREEDOM FOR ALL RACES.


The march of civilization is attended by strange influences. Providence
which directs the advancement of mankind, moves in such mysterious ways
that none can sense its design or reason out its import. Frequently the
forces of evil are turned to account in defeating their own objects.
Great tragedies, cruel wars, cataclysms of woe, have acted as
enlightening and refining agents. Out of the famines of the past came
experiences which inculcated the thrift and fore-handedness of today.

Out of man's sufferings have come knowledge and fortitude. Out of pain
and tribulation, the attribute of sympathy--the first spiritual
manifestation instrumental in elevating the human above the beast.
Things worth while are never obtained without payment of some kind.

Individual shocks stir the individual heart and conscience. Great world
shocks are necessary to stir the world conscience and heart; to start
those movements to right the wrongs in the world. So long as peace
reigned commerce was uninterrupted, and the acquisition of wealth was
not obstructed, men cared little for the intrigues and ambitions of
royalty. If they sensed them at all, they lulled themselves into a
feeling of security through the belief that progress had attained too
far, civilization had secured too strong a hold, and democracy was too
firmly rooted for any ordinary menace to be considered.

So insidious and far reaching had become the inculcation of false
philosophies summed up in the general term Kultur, that the subjects of
the autocratic-ridden empires believed they were being guided by benign
influences. Many enlightened men; at least it seems they must have been
enlightened, in Germany and Austria--men who possessed liberated
intellects and were not in the pay of the Kulturists--professed to
believe that despotism in the modern world could not be other than
benevolent.

The satanic hand was concealed in the soft glove; the cloven hoof
artistically fitted into the military boot; the tail carefully tucked
inside the uniform or dress suit; fiendish eyes were taught to smile and
gleam in sympathy and humor, or were masked behind the heavy lenses of
professorial dignity; the serpent's hiss was trained to song, or drowned
in crashing chords and given to the world as a sublime harmony.

Suddenly the world awoke! The wooing harmony had changed to a blast of
war; the conductor's baton had become a bayonet; the soft wind
instrument barked the rifle's tone; its notes were bullets that hissed
and screamed; tinkling cymbals sounded the wild blare of carnage, and
sweet-throated horns of silver and brass bellowed the cannon's deadly
roar.

Civilization was so shocked that for long the exact sequence of events
was not comprehended. It required time and reflection to clear away the
brain benumbing vapors of the dream; to reach a realization that liberty
actually was tottering on her throne. German propagandists had been so
well organized, and so effectively did they spread their poison;
especially in the western world that great men; national leaders were
deceived, while men in general were slow to get the true perspective;
much later than those at the seat of government.

A few far-seeing men had been alive to the German menace. Some English
statesmen felt it in a vague way, while in France where the experience
of 1870-71, had produced a wariness of all things German, a limited
number of men with penetrating, broadened vision, had beheld the fair
exterior of Kaiserism, even while they recognized in the background, the
slimy abode of the serpent. For years they had sounded the warning until
at last their feeble voices attracted attention.

France, with her traditions of Napoleon, Moreau, Ney, Berthier and
others, with rare skill set about the work of perfecting an army under
the tutelage and direction of Joffre and Foch. The defense maintained by
its army in the earlier part of the struggle provided the breathing
space required by the other allies. All through the struggle the staying
power of the French provided example and created the necessary morale
for the co-operating Allied forces, until our own gallant soldiers could
be mustered and sent abroad for the knockout blow.

As is usual where conspiracies to perform dark deeds are hatched a clew
or record is left behind. In spite of Germany's protestations of
innocence, her loud cries that the war was forced upon her, there is
ample evidence that for years she had been planning it; that she wanted
it and only awaited the opportune time to launch it. It was a gradual
unearthing and examination of this evidence that at length revealed to
the world the astounding plot.

It is not necessary to touch more than briefly the evidence of Germany's
designs, and the intrigues through which she sought world domination and
the throttling of human liberty. The facts are now too well established
to need further confirmation. The ruthless manner in which the Kaiser's
forces prosecuted the war, abandoning all pretense of civilization and
relapsing into the most utter barbarism, is enough to convince anyone of
her definite and well prepared program, which she was determined to
execute by every foul means under the sun.

She had skillfully been laying her lines and building her military
machine for more than forty years. As the time approached for the blow
she intended to strike, she found it difficult to conceal her purposes.
Noises from the armed camp--bayings of the dogs of war--occasionally
stirred the sleeping world; an awakening almost occurred over what is
known as the Morocco incident.

On account of the weakness of the Moroccan government, intervention by
foreign powers had been frequent. Because of the heavy investment of
French capital and because the prevailing anarchy in Morocco threatened
her interests in Algeria, France came to be regarded as having special
interests in Morocco. In 1904 she gained the assent of Britain and the
cooperation of Spain in her policy. Germany made no protest; in fact,
the German Chancellor, von Bulow, declared that Germany was not
specially concerned with Moroccan affairs. But in 1905 Germany demanded
a reconsideration of the entire question.

France was forced against the will of her minister of foreign affairs,
Delcasse, to attend a conference at Algeciras. That conference discussed
placing Morocco under international control, but because France was the
only power capable of dealing with the anarchy in the country, she was
left in charge, subject to certain Spanish rights, and allowed to
continue her work. The Germans again declared that they had no political
interests in Morocco.

In 1909, Germany openly recognized the political interests of France in
Morocco. In 1911 France was compelled by disorders in the country to
penetrate farther into the interior. Germany under the pretext that her
merchants were not getting fair treatment in Morocco, reopened the
entire question and sent her gunboat Panther, to Agadir on the west
coast of Africa, as if to establish a port there, although she had no
interests in that part of the country. France protested vigorously and
Britain supported her.

Matters came very close to war. But Germany was not yet ready to force
the issue. Her action had been simply a pretext to find out the extent
to which England and France were ready to make common cause. She
recalled her gunboat and as a concession to obtain peace, was permitted
to acquire some territory in the French Congo country. But German
newspapers and German political utterances showed much bitterness.
Growling and snarling grew apace in Germany, and to those who made a
close study of the situation it became evident that Germany sooner or
later intended to launch a war.

One of the characteristic German utterances of the time, came from
Albrect Wirth, a German political writer of standing, in close touch
with the thought and aims of his nation. The utterance about to be
quoted may, in the light of later events, appear indiscreet, as Germany
wished to avoid an appearance of responsibility for the world war; but
the minds of the German people had to be prepared and this could not be
accomplished without some of the writers and public men letting the cat
out of the bag. Wirth said:

"Morocco is easily worth a big war, or several. At best--and even
prudent Germany is getting to be convinced of this--war is only
postponed and not abandoned. Is such a postponement to our advantage?
They say we must wait for a better moment. Wait for the deepening of the
Kiel canal, for our navy laws to take full effect. It is not exactly
diplomatic to announce publicly to one's adversaries, 'To go to war now
does not tempt us, but three years hence we shall let loose a world
war'--No; if a war is really planned, not a word of it must be spoken;
one's designs must be enveloped in profound mystery; then brusquely, all
of a sudden, jump on the enemy like a robber in the darkness." The heavy
footed German had difficulty in moving with the stealth of a robber, but
the policy here recommended was followed.

In 1914, the three years indicated by Wirth had expired. There began to
occur dark comings and goings; mysterious meetings and conferences on
the continent of Europe. The German emperor, accompanied by the princes
and leaders of the German states, began to cruise the border and
northern seas of the Fatherland, where they would be safe from listening
ears, prying eyes, newspapers, telephones and telegraphs. It became
known that the Kaiser was cultivating the weak-minded Russian czar in
an attempt to win his country from its alliance with England and France.
There were no open rumblings of war, but the air was charged with
electricity like that preceeding a storm.

An unaccountable business depression affected pretty much the entire
world. Money, that most sensitive of all things, began to show
nervousness and a tendency to go into hiding. The bulk of the world was
still asleep to the real meaning of events, but it had begun to stir in
its dreams, as if some prescience, some premonition had begun to reach
it even in its slumbers.

Finally the first big event occurred--the tragedy that was not intended
to accomplish as much, but which hastened the dawn of the day in which
began the Spiritual Emancipation of the governments of earth. The
Archduke Francis Ferdinand, nephew of the emperor of Austria, heir to
the throne of Austria-Hungary and commander in chief of its army, and
his wife the duchess of Hohenburg, were assassinated June 28, 1914, by a
Serbian student, Gavrio Prinzip. The assassination occurred at Sarajevo
in Bosnia, a dependency, or rather, a Slavic state that had been seized
by Austria. It was the lightning flash that preceeded the thunder's
mighty crash.

Much has been written of the causes which led to the tragedy. Prinzip
may have been a fanatic, but he was undoubtedly aided in his act by a
number of others. The natural inference immediately formed was that the
murder was the outcome of years of ill feeling between Serbia and
Austria-Hungary, due to the belief of the people in the smaller state,
that their aspirations as a nation were hampered and blocked by the
German element in the Austrian empire. The countries had been on the
verge of war several years before over the seizure of Bosnia and
Herzegovina by Austria, and later over the disposition of Scutari and
certain Albanian territory conquered in the Balkan-Turkish struggle.

Events are coming to light which may place a new construction on the
causes leading to the assassination at Sarajevo. It was undoubtedly the
pretext sought by Germany for starting the great war. Whether it may not
have been carefully planned to serve that object and the Serbian
Prinzip, employed as a tool to bring it about, is not so certain.

Several years prior to the war, the celebrated Russian, Tolstoy, gave
utterance to a remarkable prophecy. Tolstoy was a mystic, and it was not
unusual for him to go into a semi-trance state in which he professed to
peer far into the future and obtain visions of things beyond the ken of
average men. The Russian czar was superstitious and it is said that the
German emperor had a strong leaning towards the mystic and psychic. In
fact, it has been stated that the Kaiser's claim to a partnership with
The Almighty was the result of delusions formed in his consultations
with mediums--the modern descendants of the soothsayers of olden times.

Tolstoy stated that both the Czar and the Kaiser desired to consult with
him and test his powers of divination. The three had a memorable
sitting. Some time afterwards the results were given to the world.
Tolstoy predicted the great war, and he stated his belief that the torch
which would start the conflagration would be lighted in the Balkans
about 1913.

Tolstoy was not a friend of either Russian or German autocracy, hence
his seance may have been but a clever ruse to discover what was in the
minds of the two rulers. Germany probably was not ready to start the war
in 1913, but there is abundant warrant for the belief that she was
trimming the torch at that time, and, who knows, the deluded Prinzip may
have been the torch.

The old dotard Francis Joseph who occupied the throne of
Austria-Hungary, was completely under the domination of the Germans. He
could be relied upon to further any designs which the Kaiser and the
German war lords might have.

The younger man, Francis Ferdinand, was not so easy to handle as his
aged uncle. Accounts agree that he was arrogant, ambitious and had a
will of his own. He was unpopular in his country and probably unpopular
with the Germans. Being of the disposition he was, it is very likely
that the Kaiser found it difficult to bend him completely to his will.
Being a stumbling block in the way of German aims, is it not reasonably
probable that Germany desired to get rid of him, thus leaving
Austria-Hungary completely in the power of its tool and puppet, Francis
Joseph, and in the event of his death, in the power of the young and
suppliant Karl; another instrument easily bent to the German will?

The wife of the archduke, assassinated with him, was a Bohemian, her
maiden name being Sophie Chotek. She was not of noble blood as Bohemia
had no nobles. They had been driven out of the country centuries before
and their titles and estates conferred on indigent Spanish and Austrian
adventurers. Not being of noble birth, she was but the morgantic wife of
the Austrian heir. Titles were afterwards conferred upon her. She was
made a countess and then a duchess. Some say she had been an actress;
not unlikely, for actresses possessed an especial appeal to Austrian
royalty. The cruel Hapsburgs rendered dull witted and inefficient by
generations of inbreeding, were fascinated by the bright and handsome
women of the stage. At any rate, Sophie Chotek belonged to that virile,
practical race Bohemians, (also called Czechs) that gave to the world
John Huss, who lighted the fires of religious and civil liberty in
Central Europe, giving advent later to the work of Martin Luther.

Bohemians had always been liberty-loving. They had been anxious for
three centuries to throw off the yoke of Austria. There is no record
that Sophie Chotek sympathized with the aims of her countrymen or that
she was not in complete accord with the views of her husband and the
political interests of the empire. But the experiences of the Germans
and Austrians had taught them that a Bohemian was likely to remain
always a Bohemian and that his freedom-loving people would not
countenance plans having in view the enslavement of other nations. The
Germans may have looked with suspicion upon the Bohemian wife of the
archduke and thought it advisable to remove her also.

Prinzip was thrown into prison and kept there until he died. No
statement he may have made ever had a chance to reach the world. No one
knows whether he was a German or a Serbian tool. He does not seem to
have been an anarchist; neither does he seem to have been of the type
that would commit such a crime voluntarily, knowing full well the
consequences. It is not hard to believe that he was under pay and
promised full protection.

Probably no Bohemian considers Sophie Chotek a martyr; indeed, the
evidence is strong that she was not. Her heart and soul probably were
with her royal spouse. But an interesting outcome is, that her
assassination, a contributing cause to the war, finally led to the
downfall of Germany, the wreck of Austria, the freedom of her native
country, and that Spiritual Emancipation of nations and races, then so
gloriously under way.

Also, to the thoughtful and philosophic observer of maturing symptoms
transpiring continuously in the affairs of mankind; the fate of those
nations of earth that in their strength and arrogance mock the Master,
furnish a striking corroborative vindication of the Negro's faith in the
promises of the Lord; the glory and power of His coming. From the date,
reckoning from moment and second, that Gavrio Prinzip done to death the
heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary and his duchess, there commenced
not alone a new day, a new hope and Emancipation of the whites of earth;
empire kingdom, principality and tribe, but of the blacks; the Negro as
well, so mysteriously; bewilderingly, moves God His wonders to perform.

It was that subliminated faith in the ubiquity and omniscience of God;
the unchangeableness of His word; than which the world has witnessed;
known nothing finer; the story of the concurrent causes that projected
the Negro into the World War, from whence he emerged covered with glory,
followed by the plaudits of mankind, that became the inspiration of this
work--his story of devotion, valor and patriotism; of unmurmuring
sacrifice; worthy the pens of the mighty, but which the historian, as
best he may will tell: "NOTHING extenuate, nor set down AUGHT in
malice."




CHAPTER II

HANDWRITING ON THE WALL


Likened to Belshazzar--The Kaiser's Feasts--In His Heart Barbaric Pride
of the Potentates of Old--German Madness for War--Insolent
Demands--Forty-eight Hours to Prevent a World War--Comment of Statesmen
and Leaders--The War Starts--Italy Breaks Her Alliance--Germanic Powers
Weighed and Found Wanting--Spirit Wins Over Materialism--Civilization's
Lamp Dimmed but not Darkened.


Belshazzar of Babylon sat at a feast. Very much after the fashion of
modern kings they were good at feasting in those olden days. The
farthest limits of the kingdom had been searched for every delight and
delicacy. Honeyed wines, flamingo's tongues, game from the hills, fruits
from vine and tree, spices from grove and forest, vegetables from field
and garden, fish from stream and sea; every resource of Mother Earth
that could contribute to appetite or sensual pleasure was brought to the
king's table. Singers, minstrels, dancers, magicians, entertainers of
every description were summoned to the palace that they might contribute
to the vanity of the monarch, and impress the onlooking nations about
him.

He desired to be known and feared as the greatest monarch on earth;
ruling as he did over the world's greatest city. His triumphs had been
many. He had come to believe that his power proceeded directly from the
god Bel, and that he was the chosen and anointed of that deity.

This was the period of his prime; of Babylon's greatest glory; his
kingdom seemed so firmly established he had no thought it could be
shaken. But misleading are the dreams of kings; his kingdom was suddenly
menaced from without, by Cyrus of Persia, another great monarch. There
were also dangers from within, but courtiers and flatterers kept this
knowledge from him. Priests of rival gods had set themselves up within
the empire; spies from without and conspirators within were secretly
undermining the power of the intrenched despot.

Such was Belshazzar in his pride; such his kingdom and empire. And, so
it was, this was to be an orgy that would set a record for all time to
come.

Artists and artisans of the highest skill had been summoned to the work
of beautifying the enormous palace; its gardens and grounds, innumerable
slaves furnishing the labor. The gold and silver of the nation was
gathered and beaten into ornaments and woven into beautiful designs to
grace the occasion. There was a profusion of the most gorgeous plumage
and richest fabrics, while over all were sprinkled in unheard of
prodigality, the rarest gems and jewels. It was indeed to be a fitting
celebration of the glory of Bel, and the power and magnificence of his
earthly representative; heathen opulence, heathen pride and sensuality
were to outdo themselves.

The revel started at a tremendous pace. No such wines and viands ever
before had been served. No such music ever had been heard and no such
dancers and entertainers ever before had appeared, but, fool that he
was, he had reckoned without his host; had made a covenant with Death
and Hell and had known it not, and the hour of atonement was upon him;
the handwriting on the wall of the true and outraged God, conveyed the
information; short and crisp, that he had been weighed; he and his
kingdom in the balance and found wanting; the hour--his hour, had
struck; the time of restitution and atonement long on the way, had come;
Babylon was to fall--FELL!--and for twenty-five centuries its glory and
its power has been a story that is told; its magnificence but heaps of
sand in the desert where night birds shriek and wild beasts find their
lair.

In the Kaiser's heart was the same barbaric pride, the same ambition,
the same worship of a false god and the same belief that he was the
especial agent of that deity.

His extravagances of vision and ambition were no less demoralizing to
humanity and civilization, than those that brought decay and ruin to the
potentates of old. He graced them with all the luxury and exuberance
that modern civilization, without arousing rebellious complaint among
his subjects, would permit. His gatherings appeared to be arranged for
the bringing together of the bright minds of the empire, that there
might be an exchange of thought and sentiment that would work to the
good of his country and the happiness of the world. Frequently
ministers, princes and statesmen from other countries were present, that
they might become acquainted with the German idea--its kultur--working
for the good of humanity.

Here was The Beast mentioned in Revelations, in a different guise;
wearing the face of benevolence and clothed in the raiment of Heaven.
There were feasts of which the German people knew nothing, and to which
foreign ambassadors were not invited. At these feasts the wines were
furnished by Belial. They were occasions for the glorification of the
German god of war; of greed and conquest; ambition and vanity; without
pity, sympathy or honor.

Ruthless, vain, arrogant minds met the same qualities in their leader.
Some knew and welcomed the fact that the devil was their guest of honor;
perhaps others did not know it. Deluded as they all were and blinded by
pride and self-seeking, the same handwriting that told Belshazzar of
disaster was on the wall, but they could not or would not see it. There
was no Daniel to interpret for them.

German madness for war asserted itself in the ultimatum sent by Austria
to Serbia after the assassination at Sarajevo. Sufficient time had
hardly elapsed for an investigation of the crime and the fixing of the
responsibility, before Austria made a most insolent demand upon Serbia.

The smaller nation avowed her innocence of any participation in the
murder; offered to make amends, and if it were discovered that the
conspiracy had been hatched on Serbian soil, to assist in bringing to
justice any confederates in the crime the assassin may have had.

[Illustration: NEGRO SOLDIERS ON THE RIFLE RANGE AT CAMP GRANT,
ILLINOIS. BEING TAUGHT MARKSMANSHIP. AN IDEAL LOCATION RESEMBLING BATTLE
AREAS IN FRANCE.]

[Illustration: MEDICAL DETACHMENT 365TH INFANTRY. A REPRESENTATIVE GROUP
OF MEDICAL OFFICERS AND THEIR FIELD ASSISTANTS. THIS BRANCH OF THE 92ND
DIVISION RENDERED MOST VALOROUS SERVICE.]

[Illustration: BAYONET EXERCISES IN THE TRAINING CAMP.]

[Illustration: SPORTS AND PHYSICAL EXERCISE IN THE TRAINING CAMP.]

[Illustration: NEGRO TROOPS DRILLING. SCENE AT CAMP MEADE, MD., WHERE A
PORTION OF THE 93RD DIVISION AND OTHER EFFICIENT UNITS WERE TRAINED.]

[Illustration: AN EQUINE BARBER SHOP NEAR THE CAMP. ONE OF THE DUTIES
INCIDENT TO THE TRAINING CAMP.]

[Illustration: TROOPERS OF 10TH CAVALRY GOING INTO MEXICO. THESE HEROIC
NEGRO SOLDIERS WERE AMBUSHED NEAR CARRIZAL AND SUFFERED A LOSS OF HALF
THEIR NUMBER IN ONE OF THE BRAVEST FIGHTS ON RECORD.]

[Illustration: TENTH CAVALRY SURVIVORS OF CARRIZAL. DESPOILED OF THEIR
UNIFORMS BY THE MEXICANS THEY ARRIVE AT EL PASO IN OVERALLS. LEM
SPILLSBURY, WHITE SCOUT IN CENTER. EACH SOLDIER HAS A BOUQUET OF
FLOWERS.]

[Illustration: AMERICA'S WAR TIME PRESIDENT. THIS PHOTOGRAPH OF WOODROW
WILSON WAS ESPECIALLY POSED DURING THE WAR. IN HIS STUDY AT THE WHITE
HOUSE.]

[Illustration: DR. J.E. MOORLAND, SENIOR SECRETARY OF COLORED MEN'S
DEPT., INTERNATIONAL Y.M.C.A. THE MAN LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR SUCCESS OF
HIS RACE IN "Y" WORK.]

[Illustration: A TYPICAL GROUP OF "Y" WORKERS, SECRETARY SNYDER AND
STAFF. Y.M.C.A. NO.7, CAMP GRANT, ILLINOIS.]

[Illustration: PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON (AT HEAD OF TABLE) AND HIS WAR
CABINET. LEFT--W.G. MCADOO SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY; THOMAS W. GREGORY,
ATTY. GENL.; JOSEPHUS DANIELS, SEC. OF NAVY; D.F. HOUSTON, SEC. OF
AGRICULTURE; WILLIAM B. WILSON, SEC. OF LABOR. RIGHT--ROBERT LANSING,
SEC. OF STATE; NEWTON D. BAKER, SEC. OF WAR; A.S. BURLESON,
POSTMASTER-GENERAL; FRANKLIN K. LANE, SEC. OF INTERIOR; WILLIAM C.
REDFIELD, SEC. OF COMMERCE.]

With a war likely to involve the greater part of Europe hanging on the
issue, it was a time for cool judgment, sober statesmanship and careful
action on all sides. Months should have been devoted to an
investigation.

But Germany and Austria did not want a sober investigation. They were
afraid that while it was proceeding the pretext for war might vanish. As
surmised above, they also may have feared that the responsibility for
the act would be placed in quarters that would be embarrassing to them.

On July 23, 1914, just twenty-five days after the murder, Austria
delivered her demands upon Serbia and placed a time limit of forty-eight
hours for their acceptance. With the fate of a nation and the probable
embroiling of all Europe hanging on the outcome, forty-eight hours was a
time too brief for proper consideration. Serbia could hardly summon her
statesmen in that time. Nevertheless the little country, realizing the
awful peril that impended, and that she alone would not be the sufferer,
bravely put aside all selfish considerations and practically all
considerations of national pride and honor.

The records show that every demand which Austria made on Serbia was
granted except one, which was only conditionally refused. Although this
demand involved the very sovereignty of Serbia--her existence as a
nation--the government offered to submit the matter to mediation or
arbitration. But Austria, cats-pawing for Germany, did not want her
demands accepted. The one clause was inserted purposely, because they
knew it could not be accepted. With Serbia meeting the situation
honestly and going over ninety percent of the way towards an amicable
adjustment, the diplomacy that could not obtain peace out of such a
situation, must have been imbecile or corrupt to the last degree.

An American historian discussing causes in the early stages of the war,
said:

     "The German Imperial Chancellor pays no high compliment to the
     intelligence of the American people when he asks them to believe
     that 'the war is a life-and-death struggle between Germany and the
     Muscovite races of Russia', and was due to the royal murders at
     Sarajevo.

     "To say that all Europe had to be plunged into the most
     devastating war of human history because an Austrian subject
     murdered the heir to the Austrian throne on Austrian soil in a
     conspiracy in which Serbians were implicated, is too absurd to be
     treated seriously. Great wars do not follow from such causes,
     although any pretext, however trivial, may be regarded as
     sufficient when war is deliberately sought.

     "Nor is the Imperial Chancellor's declaration that 'the war is a
     life-and-death struggle between Germany and the Muscovite races of
     Russia' convincing in the slightest degree. So far as the Russian
     menace to Germany is concerned, the Staats-Zeitung is much nearer
     the truth when its editor, Mr. Ridder, boasts that 'no Russian army
     ever waged a successful war against a first-class power.'

     "The life-and-death struggle between Germany and the Muscovite
     races of Russia is a diplomatic fiction invented after German
     Autocracy, taking advantage of the Serbian incident, set forth to
     destroy France. It was through no fear of Russia that Germany
     violated her solemn treaty obligations by invading the neutrality
     of Belgium and Luxemburg. It was through no fear of Russia that
     Germany had massed most of her army near the frontiers of France,
     leaving only six army corps to hold Russia in check. Germany's
     policy as it stands revealed by her military operations was to
     crush France and then make terms with Russia. The policy has failed
     because of the unexpected resistance of the Belgians and the
     refusal of Great Britain to buy peace at the expense of her honor."

A nearer and equally clear view is expressed for the French by M.
Clemenceau, who early in the war said:

     "For twenty-five years William II has made Europe live under the
     weight of a horrible nightmare. He has found sheer delight in
     keeping it in a state of perpetual anxiety over his boastful
     utterances of power and the sharpened sword.

     "Five threats of war have been launched against us since 1875. At
     the sixth he finds himself caught in the toils he had laid for us.
     He threatened the very springs of England's power, though she was
     more than pacific in her attitude toward him.

     "For many years, thanks to him, the Continent has had to join in a
     giddy race of armaments, drying up the sources of economic
     development and exposing our finances to a crisis which we shrank
     from discussing. We must have done with this crowned comedian,
     poet, musician, sailor, warrior, pastor; this commentator absorbed
     in reconciling Hammurabi with the Bible, giving his opinion on
     every problem of philosophy, speaking of everything, saying
     nothing." M. Clemenceau summed up the Kaiser as "another Nero; but
     Rome in flames is not sufficient for him--he demands the
     destruction of the universe."

The Socialist, Upton Sinclair, speaking at the time, blamed Russia as
well as Germany and Austria. He also inclined to the view that the
assassination at Sarajevo was instigated by Austria. He said:

     "I assert that never before in human history has there been a war
     with less pretense of justification. It is the supreme crime of the
     ages; a blow at the very throat of civilization. The three nations
     which began it, Austria, Russia and Germany, are governed, the
     first by a doddering imbecile, the second by a weak-minded
     melancholic, and the third by an epileptic degenerate, drunk upon
     the vision of himself as the war lord of Europe. Behind each of
     These men is a little clique of blood-thirsty aristocrats. They
     fall into a quarrel among themselves. The pretext is that Serbia
     instigated the murder of the heir apparent to the Austrian throne.
     There is good reason far believing that as a matter of fact this
     murder was instigated by the war party in Austria, because the heir
     apparent had democratic and anti-military tendencies. First they
     murder him and then they use his death as a pretext for plunging
     the whole of civilization into a murderous strife."

Herman Ridder, editor of the Staats-Zeitung of New York contributed a
German-American view. Mr. Ridder saw the handwriting on the wall and he
very soundly deprecated war and pictured its horrors. But he could not
forget that he was appealing to a large class that held the German
viewpoint. He therefore found it necessary to soften his phrase with
some hyphenated sophistry. He dared not say that Germany was the culprit
and would be the principal sufferer. His article was:

     "Sooner or later the nations engaged in war will find themselves
     spent and weary. There will be victory for some, defeat for others,
     and profit for none. There can hardly be any lasting laurels for
     any of the contending parties. To change the map of Europe is not
     worth the price of a single human life. Patriotism should never
     rise above humanity.

     "The history of war is merely a succession of blunders. Each treaty
     of peace sows the seed of future strife.

     "War offends our intelligence and outrages our sympathies. We can
     but stand aside and murmur 'The pity of it all. The pity of it
     all.'

     "War breeds socialism. At night the opposing hosts rest on their
     arms, searching the heavens for the riddle of life and death, and
     wondering what their tomorrow will bring forth. Around a thousand
     camp fires the steady conviction is being driven home that this
     sacrifice of life might all be avoided. It seems difficult to
     realize that millions of men, skilled by years of constant
     application, have left the factory, the mill, or the desk to waste
     not only their time but their very lives and possibly the lives of
     those dependent on them to wage war, brother against brother.

     "The more reasonable it appears that peace must quickly come, the
     more hopeless does it seem. I am convinced that an overwhelming
     majority of the populations of Germany, England and France are
     opposed to this war. The Governments of these states do not want
     war.

     "War deals in human life as recklessly as the gambler in money.

     "Imagine the point of view of a commanding general who is
     confronted with the task of taking a fortress; 'That position will
     cost me five thousand lives; it will be cheap at the price, for it
     must be taken.'

     "He discounts five thousand human lives as easily as the
     manufacturer marks off five thousand dollars for depreciation. And
     so five thousand homes are saddened that another flag may fly over
     a few feet of fortified masonry. What a grim joke for Europe to
     play upon humanity."

There were not wanting those to point out to Mr. Ridder that the
sacrifice of life could have been avoided had Germany and its tool
Austria, played fair with Serbia and the balance of Europe. Also, his
statement that the government of Germany did not want the war has been
successfully challenged from a hundred different sources.

H. G. Wells, the eminent English author, contributed a prophecy which
translated very plainly the handwriting on the wall. He said:

     "This war is not going to end in diplomacy; it is going to end
     diplomacy.

     "It is quite a different sort of war from any that have gone before.
     At the end there will be no conference of Europe on the old lines,
     but a conference of the world. It will make a peace that will put an
     end to Krupp, and the spirit of Krupp and Kruppism and the private
     armament firms behind Krupp for evermore."

Austria formally declared war against Serbia, July 28, 1914. During the
few days intervening between the dispatch of the ultimatum to Serbia and
the formal declaration of war, Serbia and Russia, seeing the inevitable,
had commenced to mobilize their armies. On the last day of July, Germany
as Austria's ally, issued an ultimatum with a twelve hour limit
demanding that Russia cease mobilization. They were fond of short term
ultimatums. They did not permit more than enough time for the dispatch
to be transmitted and received, much less considered, before the terms
of it had expired. Russia demanded assurances from Austria that war was
not forthcoming and it continued to mobilize. On August 1, Germany
declared war. France then began to mobilize.

Germany invaded the duchy of Luxemburg and demanded free passage for its
troops across Belgium to attack France at that country's most vulnerable
point. King Albert of Belgium refused his consent on the ground that the
neutrality of his country had been guaranteed by the powers of Europe,
including Germany itself, and appealed for diplomatic help from Great
Britain. That country, which had sought through its foreign secretary,
Sir Edward Grey, to preserve the peace of Europe, was now aroused.
August 4, it sent an ultimatum to Germany demanding that the neutrality
of Belgium be respected. As the demand was not complied with, Britain
formally declared war against Germany.

Italy at that time was joined with Germany and Austria in what was known
as the Triple Alliance. But Italy recognized the fact that the war was
one of aggression and held that it was not bound by its compact to
assist its allies. The sympathies of its people were with the French and
British. Afterwards Italy repudiated entirely its alliance and all
obligations to Germany and Austria and entered the war on the side of
the allies. Thus the country of Mazzini, of Garibaldi and Victor
Emmanuel, ranged itself on the side of emancipation and human rights.

The refusal of Italy to enter a war of conquest was the first event to
set the balance of the world seriously thinking of the meaning of the
war. If Italy refused to join its old allies, it meant that Italy was
too honorable to assist their purposes; Italy knew the character of its
associates. When it finally repudiated them altogether and joined the
war on the other side, it was a terrific indictment of the Germanic
powers, for Italy had much more to gain in a material way from its old
alliance. It simply showed the world that spirit was above materialism;
that emancipation was in the air and that the lamp of civilization might
be dimmed but could not be darkened by the forces of evil.




CHAPTER III.

MILITARISM AND AUTOCRACY DOOMED.


GERMANY'S MACHINE--HER SCIENTIFIC ENDEAVOR TO MOLD SOLDIERS--INFLUENCE
ON THOUGHT AND LIVES OF THE PEOPLE--MILITARISM IN THE HOME--THE STATUS
OF WOMAN--FALSE THEORIES AND FALSE GODS--THE SYSTEM ORDAINED TO
PERISH--WAR'S SHOCKS--AMERICA INCLINES TO NEUTRALITY--GERMAN AND FRENCH
TREATMENT OF NEUTRALS CONTRASTED--EXPERIENCES OF AMERICANS ABROAD AND
ENROUTE HOME--STATUE OF LIBERTY TAKES ON NEW BEAUTY--BLOOD OF NEGRO AND
WHITE TO FLOW.


Those who had followed the Kaiser's attitudes and their reflections
preceeding the war in the German military party, were struck by a
strange blending of martial glory and Christian compunction. No one
prays more loudly than the hypocrite and none so smug as the devil when
a saint he would be.

During long years the military machine had been under construction.
Human ingenuity had been reduced to a remarkable state of organization
and efficiency. One of the principal phases of Kultur was the
inauguration of a sort of scientific discipline which made the German
people not only soldiers in the field, but soldiers in the workshop, in
the laboratory and at the desk. The system extended to the schools and
universities and permeated the thought of the nation. It particularly
was reflected in the home; the domestic arrangements and customs of the
people. The German husband was the commander-in-chief of his household.
It was not that benevolent lordship which the man of the house assumes
toward his wife and family in other nations. The stern note of command
was always evident; that attitude of "attention!" "eyes front!" and
unquestioning obedience.

German women always were subordinate to their husbands and the male
members of their families. It was not because the man made the living
and supported the woman. Frequently the German woman contributed as much
towards the support of the family as the males; it was because the
German male by the system which had been inculcated into him, regarded
himself as a superior being and his women as inferiors, made for
drudgery, for child-bearing, and for contributors to his comforts and
pleasures. His attitude was pretty much like that of the American Indian
towards his squaw.

Germany was the only nation on earth pretending to civilization in which
women took the place of beasts of burden. They not only worked in the
fields, but frequently pulled the plow and other implements of
agriculture. It was not an uncommon sight in Germany to see a woman and
a large dog harnessed together drawing a milk cart. When it became
necessary to deliver the milk the woman slipped her part of the harness,
served the customer, resumed her harness and went on to the next stop.
In Belgium, in Holland and in France, women delivered the milk also, but
the cart always was drawn by one or two large dogs or other animals and
the woman was the driver. In Austria it was a strange sight to
foreigners, but occasioned no remark among the people, to see women
drawing carts and wagons in which were seated their lords and masters.
Not infrequently the boss wielded a whip.

The pride of the German nation was in its efficient workmen. Friends of
the country and its system have pointed to the fact of universal labor
as its great virtue; because to work is good. Really, they were
compelled to work. Long hours and the last degree of efficiency were
necessary in order to meet the requirements of life and the tremendous
burdens of taxation caused by the army, the navy, the fortifications and
the military machine in general; to say nothing of the expense of
maintaining the autocratic pomp of the Kaiser, his sons and satellites.
Every member of the German family had his or her task, even to the
little three-year-old toddler whose business it was to look after the
brooms, dust rags and other household utensils. There was nothing of
cheerfulness or even of the dignity of labor about this. It was hard,
unceasing, grinding toil which crushed the spirits of the people. It was
part of the system to cause them to welcome war as a diversion.

To the German mind everything had an aspect of seriousness. The people
took their pleasures seriously. On their holidays, mostly occasions on
which they celebrated an event in history or the birthday of a monarch
or military hero, or during the hours which they could devote to
relaxation, they gathered with serious, stolid faces in beer gardens. If
they danced it was mostly a cumbersome performance. Generally they
preferred to sit and blink behind great foaming tankards and listen to
intellectual music. No other nation had such music. It was so
intellectual in itself that it relieved the listeners of the necessity
of thinking. There was not much of melody in it; little of the dance
movement and very little of the lighter and gayer manifestations of
life. It has been described as a sort of harmonious discord, typifying
mysterious, tragic and awe-inspiring things. The people sat and ate
their heavy food and drank their beer, their ears engaged with the
strains of the orchestra, their eyes by the movements of the conductor,
while their tired brains rested and digestion proceeded.

To the average German family a picnic or a day's outing was a serious
affair. The labor of preparation was considerable and then they covered
as much of the distance as possible by walking in order to save carfare.
In the parade was the tired, careworn wife usually carrying one,
sometimes two infants in her arms. The other children lugged the lunch
baskets, hammocks, umbrellas and other paraphernalia. At the head of the
procession majestically marched the lord of the outfit, smoking his
cigar or pipe; a suggestion of the goose-step in his stride, carrying
nothing, except his dignity and military deportment. With this kind of
start the reader can imagine the good time they all had.

MILITARISM AND AUTOCRACY DOOMED Joy to the German mind in mass was an
unknown quantity. The literature on which they fed was heavier and more
somber than their music. When the average German tried to be gay and
playful he reminded one of an elephant trying to caper. Their humor in
the main, manifested itself in coarse and vulgar jests.

For athletics they had their turn vereins in which men went through
hard, laborious exercises which made them muscle-bound. Their favorite
sports were hunting and fencing--the desire to kill or wound. They rowed
some but they knew nothing of baseball, boxing, tennis, golf or the
usual sports so popular with young men in England, France and America.
Aside from fencing, they had not a sport calculated to produce agility
or nimbleness of foot and brain.

Their emotions expanded and their sentiments thrilled at the spectacle
of war. Uniforms, helmets and gold lace delighted their eyes. The
parade, the guard mount, the review were the finest things they knew. To
a people trained in such a school and purposely given great burdens that
they might attain fortitude, war was second nature. They welcomed it as
a sort of pastime.

In the system on which Kultur was based, it was necessary to strike
deeply the religious note; no difference if it was a false note. The
German ear was so accustomed to discord it could not recognize the true
from the false. The Kaiser was heralded to his people as a deeply
religious man. In his public utterances he never failed to call upon God
to grant him aid and bless his works.

One of the old traditions of the Fatherland was that the king, being
specially appointed by God, could do no wrong. To the thinking portion
of the nation this could have been nothing less than absurd fallacy, but
where the majority do not think; if a thing is asserted strongly and
often enough, they come to accept it. It becomes a belief. The people
had become so impressed with the devoutness of the Kaiser and his
assumption of Divine guidance, that the great majority of them believed
the kaiser was always right; that he could do no wrong. When the great
blow of war finally was struck the Kaiser asked his God to look down and
bless the sword that he had drawn; a prayer altogether consistent coming
from his lips, for the god he worshipped loved war, was a god of famine,
rapine and blood. From the moment of that appeal, military autocracy and
absolute monarchy were doomed. It took time, it took lives, it took more
treasure than a thousand men could count in a lifetime. But the assault
had been against civilization, on the very foundation of all that
humanity had gained through countless centuries. The forces of light
were too strong for it; would not permit it to triumph.

The President of the United States, from the bedside of his dying wife,
appealed to the nations for some means of reaching peace for Europe. The
last thoughts of his dying helpmate, were of the great responsibility
resting upon her husband incident to the awful crisis in the lives of
the nations of earth, that was becoming more pronounced with each second
of time.

The Pope was stricken to death by the great calamity to civilization. A
few minutes before the end came he said that the Almighty in His
infinite mercy was removing him from the world to spare him the anguish
of the awful war.

The first inclination of America was to be neutral. She was far removed
from the scenes of strife and knew little of the hidden springs and
causes of the war. Excepting in the case of a few of her public men; her
editors, professors and scholars, European politics were as a sealed
book. The president of the United States declared for neutrality; that
individual and nation should avoid the inflaming touch of the war
passion. We kept that attitude as long as was consistent with national
patience and the larger claims of HUMANITY and universal JUSTICE.

As an evidence of our lack of knowledge of the impending conflict, a
party of Christian men were on the sea with the humanitarian object in
view of attending a world's peace conference in Constance,
Germany--Germany of all places, then engaged in trying to burn up the
world. Arriving in Paris, the party received its first news that a great
European war was about to begin. Steamship offices were being stormed by
crowds of frantic American tourists. Martial law was declared. The
streets were alive with soldiers and weeping women. Shops were closed,
the clerks having been drafted into the army. The city hummed with
militarism.

Underneath the excitement was the stern, stoic attitude of the French in
preparing to meet their old enemy, combined with their calmness in
refraining from outbreaks against German residents of Paris. One of the
party alluding to the incongruous position in which the peace delegates
found themselves, said:

     "It might be interesting to observe the unique and almost humorous
     situation into which these peace delegates were thrown. Starting
     out a week before with the largest hope and most enthusiastic
     anticipation of effecting a closer tie between nations, and
     swinging the churches of Christendom into a clearer alignment
     against international martial attitudes, we were instantly
     'disarmed,' bound, and cast into chains of utter helplessness, not
     even feeling free to express the feeblest sentiment against the
     high rising tide of military activity. We were lost on a
     tempestuous sea; the dove of peace had been beaten, broken winged
     to shore, and the olive branch lost in its general fury."

Describing conditions in Paris on August 12, he says:

     "We are in a state of tense expectation, so acute that it dulls the
     senses; Paris is relapsing into the condition of an audience
     assisting at a thrilling drama with intolerably long entr'acts,
     during which it tries to think of its own personal affairs.

     "We know that pages of history are being rapidly engraved in steel,
     written in blood, illuminated in the margin with glory on a
     background of heroism and suffering, not more than a few score
     miles away.

     "The shrieking camelots (peddlers) gallop through the streets
     waving their news sheets, but it is almost always news of
     twenty-four hours ago. The iron hand of the censor reduces the
     press to a monotonous repetition of the same formula. Only
     headlines give scope for originality. Of local news there is none.
     There is nothing doing in Paris but steady preparation for meeting
     contingencies by organizing ambulances and relief for the poor."

From the thousands of tales brought back by American tourists caught in
Germany at the outbreak of the war, there is more than enough evidence
that they were not treated with that courtesy manifested towards them by
the French. They were arrested as spies, subjected to all sorts of
embarrassments and indignities; their persons searched, their baggage
and letters examined, and frequently were detained for long periods
without any explanation being offered. When finally taken to the
frontier, they were not merely put across--frequently they were in a
sense thrown across.

Nor were the subjects of other nations, particularly those with which
Germany was at war, treated with that fine restraint which characterized
the French. Here is an account by a traveller of the treatment of
Russian subjects:

     "We left Berlin on the day Germany declared war against Russia. Within
     seventy-five miles of the frontier, 1,000 Russians in the train by
     which they were travelling were turned out of the carriage and
     compelled to spend eighteen hours without food in an open field
     surrounded by soldiers with fixed bayonets.

     "Then they were placed in dirty cattle wagons, about sixty men, women
     and children to a wagon, and for twenty-eight hours were carried about
     Prussia without food, drink or privacy. In Stettin they were lodged in
     pig pens, and next morning were sent off by steamer to Rugen, whence
     they made their way to Denmark and Sweden without money or luggage.
     Sweden provided them with food and free passage to the Russian
     frontier. Five of our fellow-passengers went mad."

The steamship Philadelphia--note the name, signifying brotherly love, so
completely lost sight of in the conflict--was the first passenger liner
to reach America after the beginning of the European war. A more
remarkable crowd never arrived in New York City by steamship or train.
There were men of millions and persons of modest means who had slept
side by side on the journey over; voyagers with balances of tens of
thousands of dollars in banks and not a cent in their pocketbooks; men
able and eager to pay any price for the best accommodations to be had,
yet satisfied and happy sharing bunks in the steerage.

There were women who had lost all baggage and had come alone, their
friends and relatives being unable to get accommodations on the vessel.
There were children who had come on board with their mothers, with
neither money nor reservations, who were happy because they had received
the very best treatment from all the steamship's officers and crew and
because they had enjoyed the most comfortable quarters to be had,
surrendered by men who were content to sleep in most humble
surroundings, or, if necessary, as happened in a few cases, to sleep on
the decks when the weather permitted.

Wealthy, but without funds, many of the passengers gave jewelry to the
stewards and other employees of the steamship as the tips which they
assumed were expected even in times of stress. The crew took them
apologetically, some said they were content to take only the thanks of
the passengers. One woman of wealth and social position, without money,
and having lost her check book with her baggage, as had many others of
the passengers, gave a pair of valuable bracelets to her steward with
the request that he give them to his wife. She gave a hat--the only one
she managed to take with her on her flight from Switzerland--to her
stewardess.

The statue of Liberty never looked so beautiful to a party of Americans
before. The strains of the Star Spangled Banner, as they echoed over the
waters of the bay, were never sweeter nor more inspiring. As the
Philadelphia approached quarrantine, the notes of the American anthem
swelled until, as she slowed down to await the coming of the physicians
and customs officials, it rose to a great crescendo which fell upon the
ears of all within many hundred yards and brought an answering chorus
from the throngs who waited to extend their hands to relatives and
friends.

There was prophecy in the minds of men and women aboard that ship. Some
of them had been brought into actual contact with the war; others very
near it. In the minds of all was the vision that liberty, enlightenment
and all the fruits of progress were threatened; that if they were to be
saved, somehow, this land typified the spirit of succor; somehow the aid
was to proceed from here.

Liberty never had a more cherished meaning to men of this Republic. In
the minds of many the conviction had taken root, that if autocracy and
absolute monarchy were to be overthrown; that "government of the people,
by the people, for the people" should "not perish from the earth," it
would eventually require from America that supreme sacrifice in devotion
and blood that at periods in the growth and development of nations, is
their last resort against the menace of external attack, and, regardless
of the reflections of theorists and philosophers, the best and surest
guarantee of their longevity; that the principles upon which they were
builded were something more than mere words, hollow platitudes, meaning
nothing, worthy of nothing, inspiring nothing. It was the dawning of a
day; new and strange in its requirements of America whose isolation and
policy, as bequeathed by the fathers, had kept it aloof from the
bickerings and quarrels of the nations that composed the "Armed Camp" of
Europe, during which, as subsequent events proved, the blood of the
Caucasian and the Negro would upon many a hard fought pass; many a
smoking trench in the battle zone of Europe, run together in one rivulet
of departing life, for the guarantee of liberty throughout all the
earth, and the establishment of justice at its uttermost bounds and
ends.




CHAPTER IV

AWAKENING OF AMERICA


PRESIDENT CLINGS TO NEUTRALITY--MONROE DOCTRINE AND WASHINGTON'S
WARNING--GERMAN CRIMES AND GERMAN VICTORIES--CARDINAL MERCIER'S
LETTER--MILITARY OPERATIONS--FIRST SUBMARINE ACTIVITIES--THE LUSITANIA
OUTRAGE--EXCHANGE OF NOTES--UNITED STATES AROUSED--ROLE OF PASSIVE
ONLOOKER BECOMES IRKSOME--FIRST MODIFICATION OF PRINCIPLES OF WASHINGTON
AND MONROE--OUR DESTINY LOOMS.


August 4,1914, President Wilson proclaimed the neutrality of the United
States. A more consistent attempt to maintain that attitude was never
made by a nation. In an appeal addressed to the American people on
August 18th, the president implored the citizens to refrain from "taking
sides." Part of his utterance on that occasion was:

     "We must be impartial in thought as well as in action, must put a
     curb upon our sentiments as well as upon every transaction that
     might be construed as a preference of one party to the struggle
     before another.

     "My thought is of America. I am speaking, I feel sure, the earnest
     wish and purpose of every thoughtful American that this great
     country of ours, which is, of course, the first in our thoughts and
     in our hearts, should show herself in this time of peculiar trial a
     nation fit beyond others to exhibit the fine poise of undisturbed
     judgment, the dignity of self-control, the efficiency of
     dispassionate action; a nation that neither sits in judgment upon
     others, nor is disturbed in her own counsels, and which keeps
     herself fit and free to do what is honest and disinterested and
     truly serviceable for the peace of the world."

American poise had been somewhat disturbed over the treatment of
American tourists caught in Germany at the outbreak of the war. American
sentiment was openly agitated by the invasion of Belgium and the
insolent repudiation by Germany of her treaty obligations. The German
chancellor had referred to the treaty with Belgium as "a scrap of
paper." These things had created a suspicion in American minds, having
to do with what seemed Germany's real and ulterior object, but in the
main the people of this county accepted the president's appeal in the
spirit in which it was intended and tried to live up to it, which
attitude was kept to the very limit of human forbearance.

A few editors and public men, mostly opposed to the president
politically, thought we were carrying the principle of neutrality too
far; that the violation of Belgium was a crime against humanity in
general and that if we did not at least protest against it, we would be
guilty of national stultification if not downright cowardice. Against
this view was invoked the time-honored principles of the Monroe Doctrine
and its great corollary, Washington's advice against becoming entangled
in European affairs. Our first president, in his farewell address,
established a precept of national conduct that up to the time we were
drawn into the European war, had become almost a principle of religion
with us. He said:

     "Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to
     believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to
     constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign
     influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican
     government--Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have
     none or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in
     frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign
     to our concern. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to
     implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes
     of her politics or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her
     friendships or enmities."

The Monroe Doctrine was a statement of principles made by President
Monroe in his famous message of December 2, 1823. The occasion of the
utterance was the threat by the so-called Holy Alliance to interfere
forcibly in South America with a view to reseating Spain in control of
her former colonies there. President Monroe, pointing to the fact that
it was a principle of American policy not to intermeddle in European
affairs, gave warning that any attempt by the monarchies of Europe "to
extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere" would be
considered by the United States "as dangerous to our peace and safety."
This warning fell in line with British policy at the time and so proved
efficacious.

[Illustration: NEGRO SOLDIERS AND RED CROSS WORKERS IN FRONT OF CANTEEN,
HAMLET, N.C.]

[Illustration: COLORED RED CROSS WORKERS FROM THE CANTEEN AT ATLANTA,
GA., FEEDING SOLDIERS AT RAILWAY STATION.]

[Illustration: COLORED WOMEN IN HOSPITAL GARMENTS CLASS OF BRANCH NO. 6.
NEW ORLEANS CHAPTER, AMERICAN RED CROSS. LOUISE J. ROSS, DIRECTOR.]

[Illustration: RED CROSS WORKERS. PROMINENT COLORED WOMEN OF ATLANTA,
GA., WHO ORGANIZED CANTEEN FOR RELIEF OF NEGRO SOLDIERS GOING TO AND
RETURNING FROM WAR.]

[Illustration: THE GAME IS ON. A BASEBALL MATCH BETWEEN NEGRO AND WHITE
TROOPS IN ONE OF THE TRAINING AREAS IN FRANCE.]

[Illustration: COL. WILLIAM HAYWARD OF 369TH INFANTRY PLAYING BASEBALL
WITH HIS NEGRO SOLDIERS AT ST. NAZAIRE, FRANCE.]

[Illustration: JAZZ AND SOUTHERN MELODIES HASTEN CURE. NEGRO SAILOR
ENTERTAINING DISABLED NAVY MEN IN HOSPITAL FOR CONVALESCENTS.]

[Illustration: ENJOYING A BIT OF CAKE BAKED AT THE AMERICAN RED CROSS
CANTEEN AT IS-SUR-TILLE, FRANCE.]

[Illustration: CORPORAL FRED. McINTYRE OF 369TH INFANTRY, WITH PICTURE
OF THE KAISER WHICH HE CAPTURED FROM A GERMAN OFFICER.]

[Illustration: LIEUT. ROBERT L. CAMPBELL, NEGRO OFFICER OF THE 368TH
INFANTRY WHO WON FAME AND THE D.S.C. IN ARGONNE FOREST. HE DEVISED A
CLEVER PIECE OF STRATEGY AND DISPLAYED GREAT HEROISM IN THE EXECUTION OF
IT.]

[Illustration: EMMETT J. SCOTT, APPOINTED BY SECRETARY BAKER, AS SPECIAL
ASSISTANT DURING THE WORLD WAR. HE WAS FORMERLY CONFIDENTIAL SECRETARY
TO THE LATE BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.]

[Illustration: (TOP)--GENERAL DIAZ, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF ITALIAN ARMIES.
MARSHAL FOCH, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF ALLIED FORCES.

(CENTER)--GENERAL PERSHING, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AMERICAN ARMIES. ADMIRAL
SIMS, IN CHARGE OF AMERICAN NAVAL OPERATIONS OVERSEAS.

(BOTTOM)--KING ALBERT, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF BELGIAN ARMY. FIELD MARSHAL
HAIG, HEAD OF BRITISH ARMIES.]

In a later section of the same message the proposition was also advanced
that the American continent was no longer subject to colonization. This
clause of the doctrine was the work of Monroe's secretary of state, John
Quincy Adams, and its occasion was furnished by the fear that Russia was
planning to set up a colony at San Francisco, then the property of
Spain, whose natural heir on the North American continent, Adams held,
was the United States. It is this clause of the document that has
furnished much of the basis for its subsequent development.

In 1902 Germany united with Great Britain and Italy to collect by force
certain claims against Venezuela. President Roosevelt demanded and
finally, after threatening to dispatch Admiral Dewey to the scene of
action, obtained a statement that she would not permanently occupy
Venezuelan territory. Of this statement one of the most experienced and
trusted American editors, avowedly friendly to Germany, remarked at the
time, that while he believed "it was and will remain true for some time
to come, I cannot, in view of the spirit now evidently dominant in the
mind of the emperor and among many who stand near him, express any
belief that such assurances will remain trustworthy for any great length
of time after Germany shall have developed a fleet larger than that of
the United States." He accordingly cautioned the United States "to bear
in mind probabilities and possibilities as to the future conduct of
Germany, and therefore increase gradually our naval strength." Bismarck
pronounced the Monroe Doctrine "an international impertinence," and this
has been the German view all along.

Dr. Zorn, one of the most conservative of German authorities on
international affairs, concluded an article in Die Woche of September
13, 1913, with these words: "Considered in all its phases, the Monroe
Doctrine is in the end seen to be a question of might only and not of
right."

The German government's efforts to check American influence in the Latin
American states had of late years been frequent and direct. They
comprised the encouragement of German emigration to certain regions, the
sending of agents to maintain close contact, presentation of German
flags in behalf of the Kaiser, the placing of the German Evangelical
churches in certain South American countries under the Prussian State
Church, annual grants for educational purposes from the imperial
treasury at Berlin, and the like.

The "Lodge resolution," adopted by the senate in 1912, had in view the
activities of certain German corporations in Latin America, as well as
the episode that immediately occasioned it; nor can there be much doubt
that it was the secret interference by Germany at Copenhagen that
thwarted the sale of the Danish West Indies to the United States in
1903.

In view of a report that a Japanese corporation, closely connected with
the Japanese government, was negotiating with the Mexican government for
a territorial concession off Magdalena Bay, in lower California, the
senate in 1912 adopted the following resolution, which was offered by
Senator Lodge of Massachusetts:

     "That when any harbor or other place in the American continent is
     so situated that the occupation thereof for naval or military
     purposes might threaten the communications or the safety of the
     United States, the government of the United States could not see
     without grave concern, the possession of such harbor or other place
     by any corporation or association which has such a relation to
     another government, not American, as to give that government
     practical power of control for naval or military purposes."

All of the above documents, arguments and events were of the greatest
importance in connection with the great European struggle. America was
rapidly awakening, and the role of a passive onlooker became
increasingly irksome. It was pointed out that Washington's message said
we must not implicate ourselves in the "ordinary vicissitudes" of
European politics. This case rapidly was assuming something decidedly
beyond the "ordinary." As the carnage increased and outrages piled up,
the finest sensibilities of mankind were shocked and we began to ask
ourselves if we were not criminally negligent in our attitude; if it was
not our duty to put forth a staying hand and use the extreme weight of
our influence to stop the holocaust.

From August 4 to 26, Germany overran Belgium. Liege was occupied August
9; Brussels, August 20, and Namur, August 24. The stories of atrocities
committed on the civil population of that country have since been well
authenticated. At the time it was hard to believe them, so barbaric and
utterly wanton were they. Civilized people could not understand how a
nation which pretended to be not only civilized, but wished to impose
its culture on the remainder of the world, could be so ruthless to a
small adversary which had committed no crime and desired only to
preserve its nationality, integrity and treaty rights.

Germany did not occupy Antwerp until October 9, owing to the stiff
resistance of the Belgians and engagements with the French and British
elsewhere. But German arms were uniformly victorious. August 21-23
occurred the battle of Mons-Charleroi, a serious defeat for the French
and British, which resulted in a dogged retreat eventually to a line
along the Seine, Marne and Meuse rivers.

The destruction of Louvain occurred August 26, and was one of the events
which inflamed anti-German sentiment throughout the world. The beautiful
cathedral, the historic cloth market, the library and other
architectural monuments for which the city was famed, were put to the
torch. The Belgian priesthood was in woe over these and other
atrocities. Cardinal Mercier called upon the Christian world to note and
protest against these crimes. In his pastoral letter of Christmas, 1914,
he thus pictures Belgium's woe and her Christian fortitude:

     "And there where lives were not taken, and there where the stones
     of buildings were not thrown down, what anguish unrevealed!
     Families hitherto living at ease, now in bitter want; all commerce
     at an end, all careers ruined; industry at a standstill; thousands
     upon thousands of workingmen without employment; working women;
     shop girls, humble servant girls without the means of earning their
     bread, and poor souls forlorn on the bed of sickness and fever
     crying: 'O Lord, how long, how long?'--God will save Belgium, my
     brethren; you can not doubt it. Nay, rather, He is saving
     her--Which of us would have the heart to cancel this page of our
     national history? Which of us does not exult in the brightness of
     the glory of this shattered nation? When in her throes she brings
     forth heroes, our mother country gives her own energy to the blood
     of those sons of hers. Let us acknowledge that we needed a lesson
     in patriotism--For down within us all is something deeper than
     personal interests, than personal kinships, than party feeling, and
     this is the need and the will to devote ourselves to that most
     general interest which Rome termed the public thing, Res publica.
     And this profound will within us is patriotism."

Meanwhile there was a slight offset to the German successes. Russia had
overrun Galicia and the Allies had conquered the Germany colony of
Togoland in Africa. But on August 26 the Russians were severely defeated
in the battle of Tannenburg in East Prussia. This was offset by a
British naval victory in Helgoland Bight. (August 28.)

So great had become the pressure of the German armies that on September
3 the French government removed from Paris to Bordeaux. The seriousness
of the situation was made manifest when two days later Great Britain,
France and Russia signed a treaty not to make peace separately. Then it
became evident to the nations of the earth that the struggle was not
only to be a long one, but in all probability the most gigantic in
history.

The Germans reached the extreme point of their advance, culminating in
the Battle of the Marne, September 6-10. Here the generalship of Joffre
and the strategy of Foch overcame great odds. The Germans were driven
back from the Marne to the River Aisne. The battle line then remained
practically stationary for three years on a front of three hundred
miles.

The Russians under General Rennenkampf were driven from East Prussia
September 16. Three British armored cruisers were sunk by a submarine
September 22. By September 27 General Botha had gained some successes
for the Allies, and had under way an invasion of German Southwest
Africa. By October 13 Belgium was so completely occupied by the Germans
that the government withdrew entirely from the country and established
itself at Le Havre in France. By the end of the year had occurred the
Battle of Yser in Belgium (October 16-28); the first Battle of Ypres
(decisive day October 31), in which the British, French and Belgians
saved the French channel ports; De Wet's rebellion against the British
in South Africa (October 28); German naval victory in the Pacific off
the coast of Chile (November 1); fall of Tsingtau, German possession in
China, to the Japanese (November 7); Austrian invasion of Serbia
(Belgrade taken December 2, recaptured by the Serbians December 14);
German commerce raider Emden caught and destroyed at Cocos Island
(November 10); British naval victory off the Falkland Islands (December
8); South African rebellion collapsed (December 8); French government
returned to Paris (December 9); German warships bombarded West
Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitby on the coast of England (December
16). On December 24 the Germans showed their Christian spirit in an
inauguration of the birthday of Christ by the first air raid over
England. The latter part of the year 1914 saw no important action by the
United States excepting a proclamation by the president of the
neutrality of the Panama canal zone.

The events of 1915 and succeeding years became of great importance to
the United States and it is with a record of those having the greatest
bearing on our country that this account principally will deal.

On January 20 Secretary of State Bryan found it necessary to explain and
defend our policy of neutrality. January 28 the American merchantman
William P. Frye was sunk by the German cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich. On
February 10 the United States dispatched a note to the German government
holding it to a "strict accountability if any merchant vessel of the
United States is destroyed or any American citizens lose their lives."
Germany replied February 16 stating that her "war zone" act was an act
of self-defense against illegal methods employed by Great Britain in
preventing commerce between Germany and neutral countries. Two days
later the German official blockade of Great Britain commenced and the
German submarines began their campaign of piracy and pillage.

The United States on February 20 sent an identic note to Germany and
Great Britain suggesting an agreement between them respecting the
conduct of naval warfare. The British steamship Falaba was sunk by a
submarine March 28, with a loss of 111 lives, one of which was an
American. April 8 the steamer Harpalyce, in the service of the American
commission for the aid of Belgium, was torpedoed with a loss of 15
lives. On April 22 the German embassy in America sent out a warning
against embarkation on vessels belonging to Great Britain. The American
vessel Cushing was attacked by a German aeroplane April 28. On May 1 the
American steamship Gullflight was sunk by a German submarine and two
Americans were lost. That day the warning of the German embassy was
published in the daily papers. The Lusitania sailed at 12:20 noon.

Five days later occurred the crime which almost brought America into the
second year of the war. The Cunard line steamship Lusitania was sunk by
a German submarine with a loss of 1,154 lives, of which 114 were
Americans. After the policy of frightfulness put into effect by the
Germans in Belgium and other invaded territories, the massacres of
civilians, the violation of women and killing of children; burning,
looting and pillage; the destruction of whole towns, acts for which no
military necessity could be pleaded, civilization should have been
prepared for the Lusitania crime. But it seems it was not. The burst of
indignation throughout the United States was terrible. Here was where
the terms German and Hun became synonomous, having in mind the methods
and ravages of the barbaric scourge Attilla, king of the Huns, who in
the fifth century sacked a considerable portion of Europe and introduced
some refinements in cruelty which have never been excelled.

The Lusitania went down twenty-one minutes after the attack. The Berlin
government pleaded in extenuation of the sinking that the ship was
armed, and German agents in New York procured testimony which was
subsequently proven in court to have been perjured, to bolster up the
falsehood. In further justification, the German government adduced the
fact that the ship was carrying ammunition which it said was "destined
for the destruction of brave German soldiers." This contention our
government rightly brushed aside as irrelevant.

The essence of the case was stated by our government in its note of June
9 as follows:

     "Whatever be the other facts regarding the Lusitania, the principal
     fact is that a great steamer, primarily and chiefly a conveyance
     for passengers, and carrying more than a thousand souls who had no
     part or lot in the conduct of the war, was sunk without so much as
     a challenge or a warning, and that men, women and children were
     sent to their death in circumstances unparalleled in modern
     warfare."

Three notes were written to Germany regarding the Lusitania sinking. The
first dated May 13 advanced the idea that it was impossible to conduct
submarine warfare conformably with international law. In the second
dated June 9 occurs the statement that "the government of the United
States is contending for something much greater than mere rights of
property or privileges of commerce. It is contending for nothing less
high and sacred than the rights of humanity." In the third note dated
July 21, it is asserted that "the events of the past two months have
clearly indicated that it is possible and practicable to conduct
submarine operations within the so-called war zone in substantial accord
with the accepted practices of regulated warfare." The temper of the
American people and the president's notes had succeeded in securing a
modification of the submarine campaign.

It required cool statesmanship to prevent a rushing into war over the
Lusitania incident and events which had preceeded it. There was a well
developed movement in favor of it, but the people were not unanimous on
the point. It would have lacked that cooperation necessary for
effectiveness; besides our country was but poorly prepared for engaging
in hostilities. It was our state of unpreparedness continuing for a long
time afterwards, which contributed, no doubt, to German arrogance. They
thought we would not fight.

But the United States had become thoroughly awakened and the authorities
must have felt that if the conflict was to be unduly prolonged, we must
eventually be drawn into it. This is reflected in the modified
construction which the president and others began to place on the
Monroe Doctrine. The great underlying idea of the doctrine remained
vital, but in a message to congress delivered December 7, 1915, the
president said:

"In the day in whose light we now stand there is no claim of
guardianship, but a full and honorable association as of partners
between ourselves and our neighbors in the interests of America."
Speaking before the League to Enforce Peace at Washington, May 27, 1916,
he said: "What affects mankind is inevitably our affair, as well as the
affair of the nations of Europe and of Asia." In his address to the
senate of January 22, 1917, he said: "I am proposing, as it were, that
the nations should with one accord adopt the doctrine of President
Monroe as the doctrine of the world--that no nation should seek to
extend its policy over any other nation or people, but that every people
should be left free to determine its own policy, its own way of
development, unhindered, unthreatened, unafraid, the little along with
the great and powerful." This was a modifying and enlarging of the
doctrine, as well as a departure from Washington's warning against
becoming entangled with the affairs of Europe.




CHAPTER V

HUNS SWEEPING WESTWARD


TOWARD SHORES OF ATLANTIC--SPREAD RUIN AND DEVASTATION--CAPITALS OF
CIVILIZATION ALARMED--ACTIVITIES OF SPIES--APOLOGIES AND LIES--GERMAN
ARMS WINNING--GAIN TIME TO FORGE NEW WEAPONS--FEW VICTORIES FOR
ALLIES--ROUMANIA CRUSHED--INCIDENT OF U-53.


The powerful thrusts of the German armies toward the English channel and
the Atlantic ocean, the pitiless submarine policy, and the fact that
Germany and Austria had allied with them Bulgaria and Turkey, began to
spread alarm in the non-belligerent nations of the world.

That Germany was playing a Machiavellian policy against the United
States soon became evident. After each submarine outrage would come an
apology, frequently a promise of reparation and an agreement not to
repeat the offense, with no intention, however, of keeping faith in any
respect. As a mask for their duplicity, the Germans even sent a message
of sympathy for the loss of American lives through the sinking of the
Lusitania; which but intensified the state of mind in this country.

Less than three weeks after the Lusitania outrage the American steamship
Nebraskan was attacked (May 25) by a submarine. The American steamship
Leelanaw was sunk by submarines July 25. The White Star liner Arabic was
sunk by a submarine August 19; sixteen victims, two American.

Our government received August 24 a note from the German ambassador
regarding the sinking of the Arabic. It stated that the loss of American
lives was contrary to the intention of the German government and was
deeply regretted. On September 1 Ambassador von Bernstorff supplemented
the note with a letter to Secretary Lansing giving assurance that German
submarines would sink no more liners.

The Allan liner Hesperian was sunk September 4 by a German submarine; 26
lives lost, one American.

On October 5 the German government sent a communication regretting again
and disavowing the sinking of the Arabic, and stating its willingness to
pay indemnities.

Meanwhile depression existed among the Allies and alarm among nations
outside the war over the German conquest of Russian Poland. They
captured Lublin, July 31; Warsaw, August 4; Ivangorod, August 5; Kovno,
August 17; Novogeorgievsk, August 19; Brest-Litovsk, August 25, and
Vilna, September 18.

Activities of spies and plottings within the United States began to
divide attention with the war in Europe and the submarine situation. Dr.
Constantin Dumba, who was Austro-Hungarian ambassador to the United
States, in a letter to the Austrian minister of foreign affairs, dated
August 20, recommended "most warmly" to the favorable consideration of
the foreign office "proposals with respect to the preparation of
disturbances in the Bethlehem steel and munitions factory, as well as in
the middle west."

He felt that "we could, if not entirely prevent the production of war
material in Bethlehem and in the middle west, at any rate strongly
disorganize it and hold it up for months."

The letter was intrusted to an American newspaper correspondent named
Archibald, who was just setting out for Europe under the protection of
an American passport. Archibald's vessel was held up at Falmouth,
England, his papers seized and their contents cabled to the United
States. On September 8 Secretary Lansing instructed our ambassador at
Vienna to demand Dr. Dumba's recall and the demand was soon acceded to
by his government.

On December 4 Captain Karl Boy-Ed, naval attache of the German embassy
in Washington, was dismissed by our government for "improper activity in
naval affairs." At the same time Captain Franz von Papen, military
attache of the embassy, was dismissed for "improper activity in military
matters." In an intercepted letter to a friend in Germany he referred to
our people as "those idiotic Yankees."

As a fitting wind-up of the year and as showing what the German promise
to protect liners amounted to, the British passenger steamer Persia was
sunk in the Mediterranean by a submarine December 30, 1915.

The opening of 1916 found the president struggling with the grave
perplexities of the submarine problem, exchanging notes with the German
government, taking fresh hope after each disappointment and endeavoring
by every means to avert the impending strife and find a basis for the
preservation of an honorable peace.

It was now evident to most thinking people that the apparent concessions
of the Germans were granted merely to provide them time to complete a
larger program of submarine construction. This must have been evident to
the president; but he appears to have possessed an optimism that rose
above his convictions.

Our government, January 18, put forth a declaration of principles
regarding submarine attacks and inquired whether the governments of the
allies would subscribe to such an agreement. This was one of the
president's "forlorn hope" movements to try and bring about an agreement
among the belligerents which would bring the submarine campaign within
the restrictions of international law. Could such an agreement have been
effected, it would have been of vast relief to this country and might
have kept us out of the war. The Allies were willing to subscribe to any
reasonable agreement provided there was assurance that it would be
maintained. They pointed out, however, the futility of treating on the
basis of promises alone with a nation which not only had shown a
contempt for its ordinary promises, but had repudiated its sacred
obligations.

A ray of hope gleamed across our national horizon when Germany, on
February 16, sent a note acknowledging her liability in the Lusitania
affair. But the whole matter was soon complicated again by the "armed
ship" issue. Germany had sent a note to the neutral powers that an armed
merchant ship would be treated as a warship and would be sunk on sight.
Secretary Lansing made the statement for this government that by
international law commercial ships have a right to arm themselves for
self-defense. It was an additional emphasis on the position that the
submarine campaign as conducted by Germany was simply piracy and had no
standing in international law. President Wilson, in a letter to Senator
Stone February 24, said that American citizens had a right to travel on
armed merchant ships, and he refused to advise them against exercising
the right.

March 24 the French steamer Sussex, engaged in passenger traffic across
the English channel, was torpedoed and sunk without warning. About
eighty passengers, including American citizens, were killed or wounded.

Several notes passed between our government and Germany on the sinking
of the Sussex and other vessels. Our ambassador at Berlin was instructed
to take energetic action and to insist upon adequate attention to our
demands. April 18 our government delivered what was considered an
ultimatum to the effect that unless Germany abandoned her methods of
submarine warfare, the United States would sever diplomatic relations.
The president addressed congress on the matter the following day.

Germany had not yet completed her program of submarine building and
thought it wise to temporize with the American government for a while
longer. May 4 she replied to the ultimatum of April 18, acknowledged the
sinking of the Sussex and in the main acceded to all the demands of the
United States. There were certain phases which indicated that Germany
wished to use this country as a medium for securing certain agreements
from the Allies. The president accepted the German conditions generally,
but made it clear in his reply that the conditions could not depend upon
any negotiations between this country and other belligerents. The
intimation was plain enough that the United States would not be a
catspaw for German aims.

Up to this time in the year 1916 the advantage in arms had been greatly
on the side of Germany and her allies. In January the British had
evacuated the entire Gallipoli peninsula and the campaign in Turkey soon
came to grief. Cettinje, the capital of Montenegro, had also fallen to
the Teutonic allies, and that country practically was put out of the
war.

The British had made important gains in the German colonies in Africa
and had conquered most of the Kamerun section there. Between February
and July the Germans had been battling at the important French position
of Verdun, with great losses and small results. Practically all the
ground lost was slowly regained by the French in the autumn. The
Russians had entered Persia in February, and April 17 had captured the
important city of Trebizond in Armenia from the Turks. But on April 29
General Townshend surrendered his entire British force to the Turks at
Kut el Amara, after being besieged for 143 days and finally starved into
submission.

Throughout the balance of the year the advantage was greatly on the side
of the Germans, for the latter part of the year saw the beginning of the
crushing of Roumania, which had entered the war August 27 on the side of
the Allies. Bucharest, the capital, fell to the Germans December 6;
Dobrudja, January 2, and Focsani, January 8 of the ensuing year, 1917.
The crushing of Roumania was accomplished almost entirely by treachery.
The Germans knew the plans of all the principal fortifications; the
strength and plans of the Roumanian forces, and every detail calculated
to be of benefit. The country had been honeycombed with their spies
prior to and during the war, very much as Russia had been. It is quite
evident that men high in the councils of the Roumanian government and in
full possession of the military secrets of the country were simply
disguised German agents.

Between July and November had occurred the great battles of the Somme
during which the Allies had failed to break the German lines. The
Austrians in June had launched a great attack and made much progress
against the Italians in the Trentino. The principal offsets to the
German gains during the last seven months of the year 1916 were the
Russian offensive in Volhynia and Bukovina, and the counter drive of the
Italians against the Austrians. The Russians captured Czernovitz June
17, and by the end of the month had overrun the whole of Bukovina. The
Italians drove out the Austrians between August 6 and September 1,
winning August 9 the important city and fortress of Gorizia.

Submarine incidents important to this government were not lacking during
the latter half of the year. The German submarine U-53 suddenly appeared
October 8 in the harbor at Newport, R.I. The commander delivered
letters for the German ambassador and immediately put to sea to begin
ravages on British shipping off the Nantucket coast. Among the five or
six vessels sunk was the steamer Stephano, which carried American
passengers. The passengers and crews of all the vessels were picked up
by American destroyers and no lives were lost. The episode, which was an
eight-day wonder, and resulted in a temporary tie-up of shipping in
eastern ports, started numerous rumors and several legal questions, none
of which, however, turned out finally to have been of much importance,
as U-53 vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, and its visit was not
succeeded by any like craft. It is not improbable that the purpose of
the German government in sending the boat to our shores was to convey a
hint of what we might expect if we should become involved with Germany.
October 28 the British steamer Marina was torpedoed with a loss of six
American lives.

The straining of President Washington's advice and the Monroe Doctrine
were again evident throughout the year. President Wilson in an address
before the League to Enforce Peace, May 27, had said that the United
States was ready to join any practical league for preserving peace and
guaranteeing the political and territorial integrity of nations.
November 29 our government sent a protest to Germany against the
deportation of Belgians.

Almost immediately upon the invasion of Belgium the German authorities,
in pursuance of their system of terrorization, shipped to Germany
considerable groups of the population. On October 12,1915, a general
order was issued by the German military government in Belgium providing
that persons who should "refuse work suitable to their occupation and in
the execution of which the military administration is interested,"
should be subject to one year's imprisonment or to deportation to
Germany. Numerous sentences, both of men and women, were imposed under
that order.

The wholesale deportation of Belgian workmen to Germany, which began
October 3, 1916, proceeded on different grounds, for, having stripped
large sections of the country of machinery and raw materials, the
military authorities now came forward with the plea that it was
necessary to send the labor after it. The number of workmen deported is
variously estimated at between one and three hundred thousand.

"The rage, the terror, the despair" excited by this measure all over
Belgium, our minister, Brand Whitlock, reported, "were beyond anything
we had witnessed since the day the Germans poured into Brussels. I am
constantly in receipt of reports from all over Belgium that bear out the
stories of brutality and cruelty.

"In tearing away from nearly every humble home in the land a husband and
a father or a son and brother, the Germans have lighted a fire of hatred
that will never go out. It is one of those deeds that make one despair
of the future of the human race, a deed coldly planned, studiously
matured, and deliberately and systematically executed, a deed so cruel
that German soldiers are said to have wept in its execution, and so
monstrous that even German officers are now said to be ashamed." Poland
and the occupied parts of France experienced similar treatment.




CHAPTER VI

THE HOUR AND THE MAN


A BEACON AMONG THE YEARS--TRYING PERIOD FOR PRESIDENT WILSON--GERMANY
CONTINUES DILATORY TACTICS--PEACE EFFORTS FAIL--ALL HONORABLE MEANS
EXHAUSTED--PATIENCE CEASES TO BE A VIRTUE--ENEMY ABANDONS ALL
SUBTERFUGE--UNRESTRICTED SUBMARINE WARFARE--GERMAN INTRIGUES WITH
MEXICO--THE ZIMMERMANN NOTE--AMERICA SEIZES THE SWORD--WAR IS
DECLARED--PERSHING GOES ABROAD--FIRST TROOPS SAIL--WAR MEASURES--WAR
OPERATIONS


An enormous beacon light in history will attach to the year 1917. The
outstanding feature of course was the entry of the United States into
the great war--the deciding factor in the struggle. It marked the
departure of America from the traditional policy of political isolation
from Europe. History will record that it was not a voluntary, but a
forced, departure, due to the utter disregard by Germany of our rights
on the seas, at home and elsewhere.

The first thirty days of the year found the man at the head of our
government still hoping against hope, still struggling with all the odds
against him, still courageously engaged in efforts for peace. It was a
particularly trying time for President Wilson, as a large portion of his
own party and most of the nation was arrayed against him. The people in
general felt that the time for writing notes, for parleying had passed.

On December 12, 1916, Germany, in a formal note, had offered to enter
into peace negotiations, but did not specify any terms. The note
referred in boastful language to the victorious German armies. It was
rejected by the Allies as empty and insincere. The president on December
18, 1916, had addressed all the beligerents asking them to indicate
precisely the terms on which, they would make peace. Germany's reply to
this note was no more satisfactory than before. The Allies replied
demanding restorations, reparation and indemnities.

On the 22nd of January the president appeared before the senate in his
famous "peace without victory" address, in which he advocated a world
league for peace. His views were received sympathetically, though the
Allies pointed out that no peace based on the condition of things before
the war could be durable, and that as matters stood it would be a
virtual victory for Germany. It was the president's last effort to bring
peace to the world without resorting to armed force.

The most biased historian is bound to affirm that Woodrow Wilson
exhausted every effort not only to keep the United States honorably at
peace, but to bring about a pacific attitude and understanding among the
belligerents. When finally he saw that no argument save that of the
sword would avail, when finally the hour struck, he became the man of
the hour courageously and nobly.

After President Wilson's failure to bring about even a pacific attitude
among the warring nations, no peace appeal from any quarter calculated
to receive respectful attention was made, excepting that issued by Pope
Benedict August 15, four months after the United States had declared
war. The President summarized the Pope's proposals as follows:

     "His Holiness in substance proposes that we return to the status
     existing before the war, and that then there be a general
     condonation, disarmament, and a concert of nations based upon an
     acceptance of the principle of arbitration; that by a similar
     concert freedom of the seas be established; and that the
     territorial claims of France and Italy, the perplexing problems of
     the Balkan States and the restitution of Poland be left to such
     conciliatory adjustments as may be possible in the new temper of
     such a peace, due regard being paid to the aspirations of the
     peoples whose political fortunes and affiliations will be
     involved."

The president's reply to the Pope forcibly stated the aim of the United
States to free the world from the menace of Prussian militarism
controlled by an arrogant and faithless autocracy. Distinguishing
between the German rulers and the people, President Wilson asserted that
the United States would willingly negotiate with a government subject to
the popular will. The note disavowed any intention to dismember
countries or to impose unfair economic conditions. In part the
President's language was:

     "Responsible statesmen must now everywhere see, if they never saw
     before, that no peace can rest securely upon political or economic
     restrictions meant to benefit some nations and cripple or embarrass
     others, upon vindictive action of any sort, or any kind of revenge
     or deliberate injury. The American people have suffered intolerable
     wrongs at the hands of the Imperial German Government, but they
     desire no reprisal upon the German people, who have themselves
     suffered all things in this war, which they did not choose. They
     believe that peace should rest upon the rights of peoples, not the
     rights of governments--the rights of peoples great or small, weak
     or powerful--their equal right to freedom and security and self
     government and to a participation upon fair terms in the economic
     opportunities of the world, the German people, of course, included,
     if they will accept equality and not seek domination."

About five weeks prior to the Pope's proposition, the Germans had again
put forth a peace feeler. On July 19, the German reichstag adopted
resolutions in favor of peace on the basis of mutual understanding and
lasting reconciliation among the nations. The resolutions sounded well
but they were accompanied by expressions to the effect that Germany in
the war was the victim of aggression and that it approved the acts of
its government. They referred to the "men who are defending the
Fatherland," to the necessity of assuring the freedom of the seas, and
to the impossibility of conquering a united German nation. There was no
doubt in the mind of any neutral or any belligerent opposing Germany
that the German government was the real aggressor and that the freedom
of the seas had never been restricted except by Germany herself, hence
there was no tendency to accept this as a serious bid for peace. The
resolutions figured largely in German internal politics but were without
effect elsewhere.

Stockholm, Sweden was the scene of a number of peace conferences but as
they were engineered by socialists of an extreme type and others holding
views usually classed as anarchistic, no serious attention was paid to
them. The "pacifists" in the Allied and neutral countries were more or
less active, but received little encouragement. Their arguments did not
appeal to patriotism.

Going back to the beginning of the year, within a week after the
President's "peace without victory" speech before the senate, Germany
replied to it by announcing that beginning February 1, it would begin
unrestricted submarine warfare in certain extensive zones around the
British Isles, France and Italy. It would, however, out of the kindness
of its heart, permit the United States to use a narrow track across the
sea with a landing at Falmouth, one ship a week, provided the American
ships were painted red and white and carried various kinds of
distinguishing marks.

This of course was a direct repudiation by Germany of all the promises
she had made to the United States. The President saw the sword being
forced into his hands but he was not yet ready to seize it with all his
might. He preferred first to exhaust the expediency of an armed
neutrality. On February 3, he went before a joint session of the house
and senate and announced that Ambassador von Bernstorff had been given
his passports and all diplomatic relations with the Teuton empire
severed. On February 12, an attempt at negotiation came through the
Swiss minister who had been placed in charge of German diplomatic
interests in this country. The President promptly and emphatically
replied that no negotiations could be even considered until the
submarine order had been withdrawn.

On February 26, the lower house of congress voted formal permission for
the arming of American merchant ships as a protection against submarine
attacks, and appropriated one hundred million dollars for the arming and
insuring of the ships. A similar measure in the senate was defeated by
Senator Robert M. LaFollette of Wisconsin, acting under a loose rule of
the senate which permitted filibustering and unlimited debate. The
session of congress expired March 4, and the President immediately
called an extra session of the senate which amended its rules so that
the measure was passed.

Senator LaFollette's opposition to the war and some of his public
utterances outside the senate led to a demand for his expulsion from
that body. A committee of investigation was appointed which proceeded
perfunctorilly for about a year. The senator was never expelled but any
influence he may have had and any power to hamper the activities of the
government, were effectually killed for the duration of the war. The
suppression of the senator did not proceed so much from congress or the
White House, as from the press of the country. Without regard to views
or party, the newspapers of the nation voluntarily and patriotically
entered what has been termed a "conspiracy of silence" regarding the
activities of the Wisconsin senator. By refusing to print his name or
give him any sort of publicity he was effectively sidetracked and in a
short time the majority of the people of the country forgot his
existence. It was a striking demonstration that propaganda depends for
its effectiveness upon publicity, and has given rise to an order of
thought which contends that the newspapers should censor their own
columns and suppress movements that are detrimental or of evil tendency,
by ignoring them. Opposed to this is the view that the more publicity a
movement gets, and the fuller and franker the discussion it evokes, the
more quickly will its merits or demerits become apparent.

If any evidence was lacking of German duplicity, violation of promises
and general double-dealing, it came to light in the famous document
known as the "Zimmermann Note" which came into the hands of the American
state department and was revealed February 28. It was a confidential
communication from Dr. Alfred Zimmermann, German Foreign Minister,
addressed to the German Minister in Mexico and proposed an alliance of
Germany, Mexico and Japan against the United States. Its text follows:

     "On the 1st of February we intend to begin submarine warfare
     unrestricted. In spite of this it is our intention to endeavor to
     keep neutral the United States of America. If this attempt is not
     successful, we propose an alliance on the following basis with
     Mexico: That we shall make war together and together make peace. We
     shall give general financial support, and it is understood that
     Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas and
     Arizona. The details are left to you for settlement. You are
     instructed to inform the president of Mexico of the above in the
     greatest confidence as soon as it is certain there will be an
     outbreak of war with the United States, and suggest that the
     president of Mexico on his own initiative, should communicate with
     Japan suggesting adherence at once to this plan; at the same time
     offer to mediate between Germany and Japan. Please call to the
     attention of the President of Mexico that the employment of
     ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel England to make
     peace in a few months."

The American steamers City of Memphis, Vigilancia and Illinois had been
sunk and fifteen lives lost in pursuance of the German submarine policy
to torpedo without warning and without any regard to the safety of crews
or passengers, all ships found within the barred zones. The President
could no longer postpone drawing the sword. Being convinced that the
inevitable hour had struck, he proved himself the man of the hour and
acted with energy. A special session of congress was called for April 2.
The day is bound to stand out in history for in the afternoon the
President delivered his famous message asking that war be declared
against Germany. He said that armed neutrality had been found wanting
and in the end would only draw the country into war without its having
the status of a belligerent. One of the striking paragraphs of the
message follows:

     "With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of
     the step I am taking, and of the grave responsibility which it
     involves, but in unhesitating obedience to what I deem my
     constitutional duty, I advise that the congress declare the recent
     course of the imperial German government to be in fact nothing less
     than war against the government and people of the United States;
     that it formally accept the status of belligerent which has thus
     been thrust upon it and that it take immediate steps not only to
     put the country in a more thorough state of defence, but also to
     exert all its power and employ all its resources to bring the
     government of the German empire to terms and end the war."

Congress voted a declaration of war April 6. Only six senators out of a
total of 96, and fifty representatives out of a total of 435, voted
against it. Congress also, at the request of the President, voted for
the creation of a national army and the raising to war strength of the
National Guard, the Marine corps and the Navy. Laws were passed dealing
with espionage, trading with the enemy and the unlawful manufacture and
use of explosives. Provision was made for the insurance of soldiers and
sailors, for priority of shipments, for the seizure and use of enemy
ships in American harbors, for conserving and controlling the food and
fuel supply of the country, for stimulating agriculture, for enlarging
the aviation branch of the service, for extending credit to foreign
governments, for issuing bonds and for providing additional revenues by
increasing old and creating new taxes.

The extra session of congress lasted a few days over six months. In that
time it passed all the above measures and others of less importance. It
authorized the expenditure of over nineteen billions of dollars
($19,321,225,208). Including the amount appropriated at the second
session of the preceeding congress, the amount reached the unheard of
total of over twenty-one billions of dollars ($21,390,730,940).

German intrigues and German ruthlessness created an additional stench in
the nostrils of civilization when on September 8, the United States made
public the celebrated "Spurlos Versenkt" telegram which had come into
its possession. It is a German phrase meaning "sunk without leaving a
trace" and was contained in a telegram from Luxburg, the German minister
at Buenos Aires. The telegram (of May 19, 1917) advised that Argentine
steamers "be spared if possible or else sunk without a trace being
left." The advice was repeated July 9. The Swedish minister at Buenos
Aires sent these messages in code as though they were his own private
dispatches.

On August 26, the British Admiralty had communicated to the
International Conference of Merchant Seaman, a statement of the facts in
twelve cases of sinkings during the previous seven months in which it
was shown how "spurlos versenkt" was applied. It was shown that in these
cases the submarine commanders had deliberately opened fire on the crews
of the vessels after they had taken to their small boats or had
attempted to dispose of them in some other way.

Within six weeks after the declaration of war our government was
preparing to send troops to France. An expeditionary force comprising
about one division of Regulars was announced May 14. General Pershing
who was to command arrived in England June 8, and in France June 13. The
first body of our troops reached France June 27 and the second a little
later. The safe passage of these troops was remarkable, as their
departure had been made known to Germany through her spies, and
submarines laid in wait for the transports. The vigilance of our
convoying agencies continued throughout the war and was one of the high
spots of excellence reached in our part of the struggle. Of a total of
over 2,000,000 soldiers transported to France and many thousands
returned on account of sickness and furloughs, only 661 were lost as a
direct result of German submarine operations.

On December 7, the United States declared war against Austria-Hungary.
This was largely on the insistence of Italy and was valuable and
gratifying to that ally.

President Wilson on December 26, issued a proclamation taking over the
railroads of the country, W.G. McAdoo was appointed director general.
The proclamation went into effect two days later and the entire rail
transportation system, for the first time in the history of the nation,
passed under the control and management of the government.

Excepting the revolution in Russia which led to the abdication of Czar
Nicholas II (March 11-15) and so disorganized the country that it never
figured effectively in the war afterwards, the year was one of distinct
advantage to the Allies.

Kut el Amara was retaken by the British February 24. Bagdad fell to the
same forces March 11. From March 17th to 19th the Germans retired to the
"Hindenburg Line" evacuating a strip of territory in France 100 miles
long and averaging 13 miles in width, from Arras to Soissons. Between
April 9 and May 14, the British had important successes in the Battle of
Arras, capturing Vimy Ridge April 9. Between April 16 and May 6 the
French made gains in the Battle of the Aisne, between Soissons and
Reims. Between May 15 and September 15 occurred an Italian offensive in
which General Cadorna inflicted severe defeats on the Austrians on the
Carso and Bainsizza plateaus.

The British blew up Messines Ridge, south of Ypres, June 7 and captured
7,500 German prisoners. June 12 King Constantine of Greece was forced to
abdicate and on June 29, Greece entered the war on the side of the
Allies. A mutiny in the German fleet at Wilhelmshaven and Kiel occurred
July 30 and a second mutiny September 2.

August 20-24 the French recaptured high ground at Verdun, lost in 1916.
October 23-26 a French drive north of the Aisne won important positions
including Malmaison fort. The Germans retreated from the Chemin de
Dames, north of the Aisne, November 2. Between November 22 and December
13 occurred the Battle of Cambrai in which the British employed "tanks"
to break down the wire entanglements instead of the usual artillery
preparations. Bourlon Wood dominating Cambrai was taken November 26. A
surprise counterattack by the Germans December 2, compelled the British
to give up one-fourth of the ground gained. Jerusalem was captured by
the British December 9.

The British national labor conference on December 29, approved a
continuation of the war for aims similar to those defined by President
Wilson.

Aside from the collapse of Russia, culminating in an armistice between
Germany and the Bolsheviki government of Russia at Brest-Litovsk,
December 15, the most important Teutonic success was in the big
German-Austrian counterdrive in Italy, October 24 to December 1. The
Italians suffered a loss of territory gained during the summer and their
line was shifted to the Piave river, Asiago plateau and Brenta river.

Brazil declared war on Germany October 26.




CHAPTER VII.

NEGROES RESPOND TO THE CALL.


SWIFT AND UNHALTING ARRAY--FEW PERMITTED TO VOLUNTEER--ONLY NATIONAL
GUARD ACCEPTED--NO NEW UNITS FORMED--SELECTIVE DRAFT THEIR
OPPORTUNITY--PARTIAL DIVISION OF GUARDSMEN--COMPLETE DIVISION OF
SELECTIVES--MANY IN TRAINING--ENTER MANY BRANCHES OF SERVICE--NEGRO
NURSES AUTHORIZED--NEGRO Y.M.C.A. WORKERS--NEGRO WAR
CORRESPONDENT--NEGRO ASSISTANT TO SECRETARY OF WAR--TRAINING CAMP FOR
NEGRO OFFICERS--FIRST TIME IN ARTILLERY--COMPLETE RACIAL SEGREGATION.


When the call to war was sounded by President Wilson, no response was
more swift and unhalting than that of the Negro in America. Before our
country was embroiled the black men of Africa had already contributed
their share in pushing back the Hun. When civilization was tottering and
all but overthrown, France and England were glad to avail themselves of
the aid of their Senegalese, Algerian, Soudanese and other troops from
the tribes of Africa. The story of their valor is written on the
battlefields of France in imperishable glory.

Considering the splendid service of the--in many cases--half wild blacks
from the region of the equator, it seems strange that our government did
not hasten sooner and without demur to enlist the loyal Blacks of this
country with their glowing record in former wars, their unquestioned
mental attainments, their industry, stamina and self reliance. Yet at
the beginning of America's participation in the war, it was plain that
the old feeling of intolerance; the disposition to treat the Negro
unfairly, was yet abroad in the land.

He was willing; anxious to volunteer and offered himself in large
numbers at every recruiting station, without avail. True, he was
accepted in numerous instances, but the condition precedent, that of
filling up and rounding out the few Negro Regular and National Guard
organizations below war strength, was chafing and humiliating. Had the
response to the call for volunteers been as ardent among all classes of
our people; especially the foreign born, as it was from the American
Negro, it is fair to say that the selective draft would not necessarily
have been so extensive.

It was not until the selective draft was authorized and the organization
of the National Army began, that the Negro was given his full
opportunity. His willingness and eagerness to serve were again
demonstrated. Some figures dealing with the matter, taken from the
official report of the Provost Marshall General (General E.H. Crowder)
will be cited later on.

Of the four colored regiments in the Regular Army, the 24th infantry had
been on the Mexican border since 1916; the 25th infantry in Hawaii all
the years of the war; the Ninth cavalry in the Philippines since 1916,
and the 10th cavalry had been doing patrol and garrison duty on the
Mexican border and elsewhere in the west since early in 1917. These four
regiments were all sterling organizations dating their foundation back
to the days immediately following the Civil war. Their record was and is
an enviable one. It is no reflection on them that they were not chosen
for overseas duty. The country needed a dependable force on the Mexican
border, in Hawaii, the Philippines, and in different garrisons at home.

A number of good white Regular Army regiments were kept on this side for
the same reasons; not however, overlooking or minimizing the fact not to
the honor of the nation in its final resolve, that there has always been
fostered a spirit in the counsels and orders of the Department of War,
as in all the other great government departments, to restrain rather
than to encourage the patriotic and civic zeal of their faithful and
qualified Negro aids and servants. That is to say, to draw before them
a certain imaginary line; beyond and over which the personal ambitions
of members of the race; smarting for honorable renown and promotion;
predicated on service and achievement, they were not permitted to go. A
virtual "Dead Line"; its parent and wet nurse being that strange thing
known as American Prejudice, unknown of anywhere else on earth, which
was at once a crime against its marked and selected victims, and a
burden of shame which still clings to it; upon the otherwise great
nation, that it has condoned and still remains silent in its presence.

Negro National Guard organizations had grown since the Spanish-American
war, but they still were far from being numerous in 1917. The ones
accepted by the war department were the Eighth Illinois Infantry, a
regiment manned and officered entirely by Negroes, the 15th New York
Infantry all Negroes with five Negro officers, all the senior officers
being white; the Ninth Ohio, a battalion manned and officered by
Negroes; the 1st Separate Battalion of the District of Columbia, an
infantry organization manned and officered by Negroes; and Negro
companies from the states of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and
Tennessee. Massachusetts also had a company known as the 101st
Headquarters company and Military Police. The Eighth Illinois became the
370th Infantry in the United States army; the 15th New York became the
369th Infantry; the Ninth Ohio battalion and the companies from
Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and Tennessee, as well as the
District of Columbia battalion, were all consolidated into the 372nd
Infantry.

When the above organizations had been recruited up to war strength there
were between 12,000 and 14,000 colored men representing the National
Guard of the country. With a population of 12,000,000 Negroes to draw
from; the majority of those suitable for military service anxious to
enlist, it readily can be seen what a force could have been added to
this branch of the service had there been any encouragement of it. There
was not lacking a great number of the race, many of them college
graduates, competent to act as officers of National Guard units. Many of
those commissioned during the Spanish-American war had the experience
and age to fit them for senior regimental commands. The 8th Illinois was
commanded by Colonel Franklin A. Denison, a prominent colored attorney
of Chicago and a seasoned military man. He was the only colored man of
the rank of Colonel who was permitted to go to France in the combatant
or any other branch of the service. After a brief period in the earlier
campaigns he was invalided home very much against his will.

The 15th New York was commanded by Colonel William Hayward, a white man.
He was devoted to his black soldiers and they were very fond of him.
Officers immediately subordinate to him were white men. The District of
Columbia battalion might have retained its colored commander, Major
James E. Walker, as he was a fine soldierly figure and possessed of the
requisite ability, but he was removed by death while his unit was still
training near Washington. Some of the Negro officers of National Guard
organizations retained their commands, but the majority were superseded
or transferred before sailing or soon after arrival in France.

The 369th, the 370th and the 372nd infantry regiments in the United
States army, mentioned as having been formed from the colored National
Guard units, became a part of the 93rd division. Another regiment, the
371st, formed from the draft forces was also part of the same division.
This division was brigaded with the French from the start and saw
service through the war alongside the French poilus with whom they
became great friends. There grew up a spirit of which, side by side,
they faced and smashed the savage Hun, never wavered or changed. Besides
the soldiers from Illinois, New York, Ohio, District of Columbia,
Connecticut, Maryland and Tennessee, there were Negro contingents from
Mississippi and South Carolina in the 93rd division. One of the
regiments of this division, the 369th (15th New York) was of the first
of the American forces to reach France, following mutual admiration
between these two widely different representatives of the human family,
that during the period in the expeditionary force of Regulars which
reached France June 13, 1917; being among the first 100,000 that went
abroad. However, the 93rd division, exclusively Negro, had not been
fully formed then and the regiment did not see much real fighting until
the spring and summer of 1918.

[Illustration: NEGRO NURSES CARRYING BANNER OF FAMOUS NEGRO REGIMENT.
MARCHING DOWN FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. IN GREAT PARADE WHICH OPENED RED
CROSS DRIVE.]

The 92nd division was another exclusively Negro division. There were
many more Negro troops in training in France and large numbers at
training camps in this country, but the 92nd and 93rd, being the earlier
formed and trained divisions, saw practically all the fighting. Units
belonging to one or both divisions fought with special distinction in
the Forest of Argonne, near Chateau Thierry, Belleau Wood, St. Mihiel
district, Champagne sector, at Metz and in the Vosges mountains.

In the 92nd division was the 325th Field Signal battalion, the only
Negro signal unit in the American army. The division also contained the
349th, 350th and 351st Artillery regiments, each containing a machine
gun battalion; the 317th Trench Mortar battery; the balance being made
up of Negro engineers, hospital units, etc., and the 365th, 366th, 367th
and 368th Infantry regiments.

Enlisted, drafted and assigned to active service, upwards of 400,000
Negroes participated in the war. The number serving abroad amounted to
about 200,000. They were inducted into the cavalry, infantry, field and
coast artillery, radio (wireless telegraphy, etc.), medical corps,
ambulance and hospital corps, sanitary and ammunition trains, stevedore
regiments, labor battalions, depot brigades and engineers. They also
served as regimental clerks, surveyors and draftsmen.

Sixty served as chaplains and over 350 as Y.M.C.A. secretaries, there
being a special and highly efficient Negro branch of the Y.M.C.A.
Numerous others were attached to the War Camp Community Service in
cities adjacent to the army camps.

Negro nurses were authorized by the war department for service in base
hospitals at six army camps--Funston, Sherman, Grant, Dix, Taylor and
Dodge. Race women also served as canteen workers in France and in charge
of hostess houses in this country.

One Negro, Ralph W. Tyler, served as an accredited war correspondent,
attached to the staff of General Pershing, Dr. R.R. Moton, who
succeeded the late Booker T. Washington as head of the Tuskegee
Institute, was sent on a special mission to France by President Wilson
and Secretary Baker.

A race woman, Mrs. Alice Dunbar Nelson of Wilmington, Delaware, was
named as a field worker to mobilize the Negro women of the country for
war work. Her activities were conducted in connection with the Women's
Committee of the Council of National Defense.

The most conspicuous honor paid to a Negro by the administration and the
war department, was in the appointment, October 1, 1917, of Emmett J.
Scott as special assistant to the Secretary of War. This was done that
the administration might not be accused of failing to grant full
protection to the Negroes, and that a thorough examination might be made
into all matters affecting their relation to the war and its many
agencies.

Having been for 18 years confidential secretary to Booker T. Washington,
and being at the time of his appointment secretary of the Tuskegee
Normal and Industrial Institute for Negroes, Mr. Scott was peculiarly
fitted to render necessary advice to the war department with respect to
the Negroes of the various states, to look after all matters affecting
the interests of Negro selectives and enlisted men, and to inquire into
the treatment accorded them by the various officials connected with the
war department. In the position occupied by him, he was thus enabled to
obtain a proper perspective both of the attitude of selective service
officials to the Negro, and of the Negro to the war, especially to the
draft. In a memorandum on the subject addressed to the Provost Marshall
General, December 12, 1918, he wrote:

"The attitude of the Negro was one of complete acceptance of the draft,
in fact of an eagerness to accept its terms. There was a deep
resentment in many quarters that he was not permitted to volunteer, as
white men by the thousands were permitted to do in connection with
National Guard units and other branches of military service which were
closed to colored men. One of the brightest chapters in the whole
history of the war is the Negro's eager acceptance of the draft and his
splendid willingness to fight. His only resentment was due to the
limited extent to which he was allowed to join and participate in
combatant or 'fighting' units. The number of colored draftees accepted
for military duty, and the comparatively small number of them claiming
exemptions, as compared with the total number of white and colored men
called and drafted, presents an interesting study and reflects much
credit upon this racial group."

Over 1,200 Negro officers, many of them college graduates, were
commissioned during the war. The only training camp exclusively for
Negro officers was at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. This camp ran from June 15,
1917, to October 15, 1917. A total of 638 officers was graduated and
commissioned from the camp. Negro Regulars and Negro National Army men
who had passed the tests for admission to officers training camps were
sent mainly to the training schools for machine gun officers at Camp
Hancock, Augusta, Georgia; the infantry officers training school at Camp
Pike, Little Rock, Arkansas, and the artillery officers training school
at Camp Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky. They were trained along with the
white officers. The graduates from these camps along with a few National
Guardsmen who had taken the officers' examinations, and others trained
in France, made up the balance of the 1,200 commissioned.

In connection with the artillery training an interesting fact developed.
It had been charged that Negroes could not develop into artilleryman. A
strong prejudice against inducting them into that branch of the service
had always existed in the army. It was especially affirmed that the
Negro did not possess the mathematical ability necessary to qualify as
an expert artillery officer. Nevertheless, out of a number of Negro
aspirants, very small in comparison with the white men in training for
officers' commissions at the camp, five of the Negroes stood alongside
their white brothers at the head of the class. The remainder were
sprinkled down the line about in the same proportion and occupying the
same relative positions as the whites. The prejudice against the Negro
as an artilleryman was further and effectually dispelled in the record
made by the 349th, 350th and 351st artillery regiments and their machine
gun battalions in the 92nd division.

With the exception of the training camp for officers at Des Moines,
Iowa, no important attempt was made to establish separate Negro training
camps. In the draft quotas from each state were whites and blacks and
all with few exceptions, were sent to the most convenient camp.
Arrangements existed, however, at the different camps for the separate
housing and training of the Negro troops. This was in line with the
military policy of the Government, as well as in deference to the
judgment of both white and black officers. It undoubtedly was necessary
to separate the two races. Furthermore, as the military policy called
for regiments, battalions and, divisions made up entirely of Negroes, it
was proper to commence the organization at the training camps. Companies
formed in this manner thus became homogeneous, accustomed to one another
individually and to their officers.

The situation was different from the Spanish-American war, where Negro
units, at least in one case, served in white regiments. Racial strife
and rivalry were eliminated. The only rivalry that existed was the
good-natured and healthy one of emulation between members of the same
race. On the field of battle there was rivalry and emulation between the
whites and blacks, but it was the rivalry of organizations and not of
races. The whole was tempered by that splendid admiration and
fellow-feeling which comes to men of all races when engaged as partners
in danger or near death; in the defense and promotion of a great cause;
the eternal verities of Justice and Humanity.




CHAPTER VIII

RECRUDESCENCE OF SOUTH'S INTOLERANCE


CONFRONTED BY RACIAL PEEJUDICE--- SPLENDID ATTITUDE OF NEGRO SHAMED
IT--KEPT OUT OF NAVY--ONLY ONE PER CENT OF NAVY PERSONNEL
NEGROES--MODIFIED MARINES CONTEMPLATED--FEW HAVE PETTY OFFICERS'
GRADES--SEPARATE SHIPS PROPOSED--NEGRO EFFICIENCY IN NAVY--MATERIAL FOR
"BLACK SHIPS"--NAVY OPENS DOOR TO NEGRO MECHANICS.


Old feelings of race prejudice and intolerance, appearing mainly in the
South, confronted the Negro at the beginning of the war. The splendid
attitude of the Negro shamed and overcame this feeling in other sections
of the country, and was beginning to have its effect even in the South.
It is true that men of the race were not accepted for voluntary
enlistment in numbers of consequence in any section, but had the
voluntary system continued in vogue, the willingness and desire of the
race to serve, coupled with the very necessities of the case, would have
altered the condition.

No new Negro volunteer units were authorized, but the demand for men
would soon have made it imperative. It would have been combatted by a
certain element in the South, but the friends of the few volunteer units
which did exist in that section were firm in their championship and were
winning adherents to their view that the number should be increased. The
selective draft with its firm dictum that all men within certain ages
should be called and the fit ones chosen, put an end to all contention.
The act was not passed without bitter opposition which developed in its
greatest intensity among the Southern senators and representatives;
feelings that were inspired entirely by opposition to the Negro.

It would have been a bad thing for the country and would have prolonged
the war, and possibly might have lost it, if the selective draft had
been delayed. But it would have been interesting to see how far the
country, especially the South, would have progressed in the matter of
raising a volunteer army without accepting Negroes. Undoubtedly they
soon would have been glad to recruit them, even in the South.

Unfortunately for the Negro, the draft was not able to prevent their
being kept out of the Navy. It is a very desirable branch of the service
vitiated and clouded, however, with many disgusting and aristocratic
traditions. When the Navy was young and the service more arduous; when
its vessels were merely armed merchantmen, many of them simply tubs and
death traps and not the floating castles of today, the services of
Negroes were not disdained; but times and national ideals had changed,
and, the shame of it, not to the credit of a Commonwealth, for whose
birth a Negro had shed the first blood, and a Washington had faced the
rigors of a Valley Forge, a Lincoln the bullet of an assassin.

The annual report of the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, rendered to
the Secretary of the Navy and covering the fiscal year ending June 30,
1918, showed that in the United States Navy, the United States Naval
Reserve Force and the National Naval Volunteers, there was a total of
435,398 men. Of that great number only 5,328 were Negroes, a trifle over
one percent. Between June and November 1918, the Navy was recruited to a
total force somewhat in excess of 500,000 men. Carrying out the same
percentage, it is apparent that the aggregate number of Negroes serving,
in the Navy at the close of the war, could not have been much in excess
of 6,000.

Some extra enlistments of Negroes were contemplated, as the Navy had in
process of establishment just prior to the armistice, a new service for
Negro recruits. It was to be somewhat similar to the Pioneer units of
the army, partaking in some degree of the character of Marines, just as
the Pioneers partake of the character of infantry, but in general
respects resembling more the engineer and stevedore units. About 600 men
had been selected for this service when the project was abandoned on
account of the ending of the war.

With the exception of a very limited number who have been permitted to
attain the rank of petty officer, Negroes in the Navy were confined to
menial occupations. They were attached to the firing forces as coal
passers, while others served as cooks assistants, mess attendants and in
similar duties. Quite a number were full rated cooks. A few were water
tenders, electricians and gunners' mates, each of which occupations
entitled them to the aforesaid rank of petty officer. Among the petty
officers some had by sheer merit attained the rank of chief petty
officer, which is about equal to the rank of sergeant in the army.

The idea of separate ships for the Negro might to some degree ameliorate
the sting incident to race prohibition in that arm of government
service. The query is advanced that if we can have black colonels,
majors, captains and lieutenants in the army, why cannot we have black
commanders, lieutenants, ensigns and such in the Navy?

Negroes have often and in divers ways displayed their intelligence and
efficiency in the Navy. Take, for instance, the case of John Jordan, a
Negro of Virginia, who was chief gunner's mate on Admiral Dewey's
flagship the "Olympia" during the Spanish-American war, and was the man
who fired the first shot at the enemy at Manila Bay. A Negro chief
electrician, Salisbury Brooks, was the originator of inventions which
were adopted without reservation by the Navy designers and changed the
construction of modern battle ships.

One of the principal instructors on the U.S.S. Essex, the government
training ship at Norfolk, is Matthew Anderson, a Negro. He has trained
thousands of men, many of them now officers, in the art and duties of
seamanship. Scores of Negroes; men of the type of these in the Navy,
would furnish the nucleus for officers and crews of separate Negro
ships.

In a recent issue of "Our Navy" a magazine devoted entirely to naval
affairs, especially as regards the enlisted man, a writer reflects the
opinion of these men in the following article:

     "Whether you like the black man or not, whether you believe in a
     square deal for him or not, you can't point an accusing finger at
     his patriotism, his Americanism or his fighting ability. It is fair
     to neither the white man nor the black man to have the black man
     compete with the white man in the Navy. True, we have black petty
     officers here and there in the Navy, and in some cases black chief
     petty officers. It stands to reason that they must have been mighty
     good men to advance. They surely must know their business--every
     inch of it--to advance to these ratings. Yet they are not wanted in
     these ratings because they involve the black man having charge of
     white men under him. Outside of the messman branch you will find
     comparatively few Negroes in the Navy today.

     "There should be 'black ships' assigned to be manned by American
     Negroes. These are days of democracy, equality and freedom,"
     continues the writer. "If a man is good enough to go over the top
     and die for these principles, he is good enough to promote in the
     Navy. Why not try it? Put the black men on their own ships. Promote
     them, rate them, just the same as the white man. But above all keep
     them on their own ships. It is fair to them and fair to the white
     men. The Brazilian and Argentine navies have 'black ships.'"

Recruiting officers of the Navy have recently opened the doors to
discharged Negro soldiers, and some civilians. If physically fit they
are permitted to enlist as machinists and electricians. The Navy has
opened a school for machinists at Charleston, S.C., and a school for
electricians at Hampton Roads, Va.

Men for the machinists' school are enlisted as firemen 3rd class. While
in training they are paid $30 a month. They also receive their clothing
allotment, their food, dry comfortable quarters in which to live, and
all text books and practical working tools. In return for this chance to
become proficient in a very necessary trade, all that is required of
those enlisting is a knowledge of common fractions, ambition to learn
the trade, energy and a strict attention to the instruction given them.

Subjects taught in the course are arithmetic, note book sketching,
practical engineering, theoretical engineering, clipping and filing,
drilling, pipe fitting, repair work, rebabbiting, brazing, tin smithing,
lathes, shapers, milling machines and grinders. It will be seen that
they get a vast amount of mechanical knowledge and practically two
trades, machinists and engineering.

In the electrical school the course is equally thorough. The men get a
high grade of instruction, regardless of cost of material and tools. The
best text books that can be had are available for their use.

This liberality in order to get machinists and electricians in the Navy,
argues that some change of attitude towards the Negro is contemplated.

It may evolve into the establishment of "black ships." The Negro sailor
has been pleading for years that his color has been a bar to him. With a
ship of his own, would come his chance. He would strive; do all within
his power to make it a success and would succeed.




CHAPTER IX.

PREVIOUS WARS IN WHICH THE NEGRO FIGURED.


SHOT HEARD AROUND THE WORLD--CRISPUS ATTTUCKS--SLAVE LEADS SONS OF
FREEDOM--THE BOSTON MASSACRE--ANNIVERSARY KEPT FOR YEARS--WILLIAM NELL,
HISTORIAN--3,000 NEGROES IN WASHINGTON'S FORCES--A STIRRING
HISTORY--NEGRO WOMAN SOLDIER--BORDER INDIAN WARS--NEGRO HEROES


Our American school histories teach us that the "shot which was heard
around the world",--the opening gun of the Revolutionary war, was fired
at Lexington in 1775. The phrase embodies a precious sentiment; time has
molded many leaders, the inspiration for almost a century and a half of
the patriotic youth of our land. This is as it should be. All honor and
all praise to the deathless heroes of that time and occasion.

But why has not history been more just; at least, more explicit? Why not
say that the shot which started the Revolution--that first great
movement for human liberty and the emancipation of nations--was fired
five years earlier; was fired not by, but at, a Negro, Crispus Attucks?
The leader of the citizens in that event of March 5, 1770, known as the
Boston Massacre, he was the first man upon whom the British soldiers
fired and the first to fall; the pioneer martyr for American
independence.

It is perhaps fitting; a manifestation of the inscrutable ways of
Providence, that the first life given in behalf of a nation about to
throw off a yoke of bondage, was that of a representative of a race;
despised, oppressed and enslaved.

Botta the historian, in speaking of the scenes of the 5th of March says:

     "The people were greatly exasperated. The multitude ran towards
     King street, crying, 'Let us drive out these ribalds; they have no
     business here.' The rioters rushed furiously towards the Custom
     House; they approached the sentinel, crying 'Kill him, kill him!'
     They assaulted him with snowballs, pieces of ice, and whatever they
     could lay their hands upon.

     "The guard were then called, and in marching to the Custom House,
     they encountered a band of the populace, led by a mulatto named
     Attucks, who brandished their clubs and pelted them with snowballs.
     The maledictions, the imprecations, the execrations of the
     multitude, were horrible. In the midst of a torrent of invective
     from every quarter, the military were challenged to fire. The
     populace advanced to the points of their bayonets.

     "The soldiers appeared like statues; the cries, the howlings, the
     menaces, the violent din of bells still sounding the alarm,
     increased the confusion and the horrors of these moments; at length
     the mulatto Attucks and twelve of his companions, pressing forward,
     environed the soldiers and striking their muskets with their clubs,
     cried to the multitude: 'Be not afraid, they dare not fire; why do
     you hesitate, why do you not kill them, why not crush them at
     once?'

     "The mulatto lifted his arms against Captain Preston, and having
     turned one of the muskets, he seized the bayonet with his left
     hand, as if he intended to execute his threat At this moment,
     confused cries were heard: 'The wretches dare not fire!' Firing
     succeeds. Attucks is slain. Other discharges follow. Three were
     killed, five severely wounded and several others slightly."

Attucks was killed by Montgomery, one of Captain Preston's soldiers. He
had been foremost in resisting and was first slain. As proof of a front
engagement, he received two balls, one in each breast. The white men
killed with Attucks were Samuel Maverick, Samuel Gray and Jonas
Caldwell.

John Adams, afterwards President of the United States, was counsel for
the soldiers in the investigation which followed. He admitted that
Attucks appeared to have been the hero of the occasion and the leader of
the people. Attucks and Caldwell, not being residents of Boston, were
buried from Faneuil Hall, the cradle of liberty. The citizens generally
participated in the solemnities.

If the outrages against the American colonists had not been so flagrant,
and so well imbedded as indisputable records of our history; if the
action of the military authorities had not been so arbitrary, the
uprising of Attucks and his followers might be looked upon as a common,
reprehensible riot and the participants as a band of misguided
incendiaries. Subsequent reverence for the occasion, disproves any such
view. Judge Dawes, a prominent jurist of the time, as well as a
brilliant exponent of the people, alluding in 1775 to the event, said:

     "The provocation of that night must be numbered among the
     master-springs which gave the first motion to a vast machinery--a
     noble and comprehensive system of national independence."

Ramsey's History of the American Revolution, says:

     "The anniversary of the 5th of March was observed with great
     solemnity; eloquent orators were successively employed to preserve
     the remembrance of it fresh in the mind. On these occasions the
     blessings of liberty, the horrors of slavery, and the danger of a
     standing army, were presented to the public view. These annual
     orations administered fuel to the fire of liberty and kept it
     burning with an irresistible flame."

The 5th of March continued to be celebrated for the above reasons until
the anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence was
substituted in its place; and its orators were expected to honor the
feelings and principles of the former as having given birth to the
latter. On the 5th of March 1776, Washington repaired to the
intrenchments. "Remember" said he, "It is the 5th of March, and avenge
the death of your brethren."

In the introduction to a book entitled "The Colored Patriots of the
American Revolution" by William C. Nell, a Negro historian, Harriet
Beecher Stowe said in 1855:

     "The colored race have been generally considered by their enemies,
     and sometimes even by their friends, as deficient in energy and
     courage. Their virtues have been supposed to be principally
     negative ones." Speaking of the incidents in Mr. Nell's collection
     she says: "They will redeem the character of the race from this
     misconception and show how much injustice there may often be in a
     generally accepted idea". Continuing, she says:

     "In considering the services of the colored patriots of the
     Revolution, we are to reflect upon them as far more magnanimous,
     because rendered to a nation which did not acknowledge them as
     citizens and equals, and in whose interests and prosperity they had
     less at stake. It was not for their own land they fought, not even
     for a land which had adopted them, but for a land which had
     enslaved them, and whose laws, even in freedom, oftener oppressed
     than protected. Bravery, under such circumstances, has a peculiar
     beauty and merit.

     "And their white brothers--may remember that generosity,
     disinterested courage and bravery, are of no particular race and
     complexion, and that the image of the Heavenly Father may be
     reflected alike by all. Each record of worth in this oppressed and
     despised people should be pondered, for it is by many such that the
     cruel and unjust public sentiment, which has so long proscribed
     them, may be reversed, and full opportunities given them to take
     rank among the nations of the earth."

Estimates from competent sources state that not less than 3,000 Negro
soldiers did service in the American army during the Revolution. Rhode
Island first made her slaves free men and then called on them to fight.
A black regiment was raised there, of which Colonel Christopher Green
was made commander. Connecticut furnished a black battalion under
command of Colonel David Humphrey.

Prior to the Revolution, two Virginia Negroes, Israel Titus and Samuel
Jenkins, had fought under Braddock and Washington in the French and
Indian war.

It has been said that one of the men killed when Major Pitcairn
commanding the British advance on Concord and Lexington, April 19, 1775,
ordered his troops to fire on the Americans, was a Negro bearing arms.
Peter Salem a Negro did service during the Revolution, and is said to
have killed this same Major Pitcairn, at the battle of Bunker Hill. In
some old engravings of the battle, Salem is pictured as occupying a
prominent position. These pictures were carried on some of the currency
of the Monumental bank of Charlestown, Massachusetts and the Freeman's
bank of Boston. Other black men fought at Bunker Hill, of whom we have
the names of Salem Poor, Titus Coburn, Alexander Ames, Barzillai Lew and
Gato Howe. After the war these men were pensioned.

Prince, a Negro soldier, was Colonel Barton's chief assistant in
capturing the British officer, Major General Prescott at Newport, R.I.
Primus Babcock received an honorable discharge from the army signed by
General Washington. Lambo Latham and Jordan Freeman fell with Ledyard at
the storming of Fort Griswold. Freeman is said to have killed Major
Montgomery, a British officer who was leading an attack on Americans in
a previous fight. History does not record whether or not this was the
same or a related Montgomery to the one who killed Crispus Attucks at
Boston.

Hamet, one of General Washington's Negroes, was drawing a pension as a
revolutionary soldier as late as 1839, Oliver Cromwell served six years
and nine months in Col. Israel Shreve's regiment of New Jersey troops
under Washington's immediate command. Charles Bowles became an American
soldier at the age of sixteen years and served to the end of the
Revolution. Seymour Burr and Jeremy Jonah were Negro soldiers in a
Connecticut regiment.

A Negro whose name is not known obtained the countersign by which Mad
Anthony Wayne was enabled to take Stony Point, and guided and helped him
to do so.

Jack Grove was a Negro steward on board an American vessel which the
British captured. He figured out that the vessel could be retaken if
sufficient courage were shown. He insisted and at length prevailed upon
his captain to make the attempt, which was successful.

There was in Massachusetts during those Revolutionary days one company
of Negro men bearing a special designation, "The Bucks." It was a
notable body of men. At the close of the war its fame and services were
recognized by John Hancock presenting to it a beautiful banner.

The European struggle recently ended furnished a remarkable example of
female heroism and devotion to country in the case of the Russian woman
who enlisted as a common soldier in the army of the Czar, served with
distinction and finally organized an effective unit of female soldiers
known as the "Battalion of Death." More resourceful and no less
remarkable and heroic, is the case of Deborah Gannet, a Negro woman
soldier of the Revolution, which may be summed up in the following
resolution passed by the General Court of Massachusetts during the
session of 1791:--

     "XXIII--Whereas, it appears to this court that the said Deborah
     Gannett enlisted, under the name of Robert Shurtliff, in Capt
     Webb's company, in the Fourth Massachusetts regiment, on May 20,
     1782, and did actually perform the duties of a soldier, in the late
     army of the United States to the 23rd day of October, 1783, for
     which she has received no compensation; and, whereas, it further
     appears that the said Deborah exhibited an extraordinary instance
     of female heroism by discharging the duties of a faithful, gallant
     soldier, and at the same time preserving the virtue and chastity of
     her sex unsuspected and unblemished, and was discharged from the
     service with a fair and honorable character, therefore,

     "Resolved, that the Treasurer of this Commonwealth be, and he
     hereby is, directed to issue his note to the said Deborah for the
     sum of thirty-four pounds, bearing interest from October 23, 1783."

There is not lacking evidence that Negroes distinguished themselves in
the struggles of the pioneer settlers against the Indians. This was
particularly true of the early history of Kentucky. The following
incidents are recorded in Thompson's "Young People's History of
Kentucky:"

     "Ben Stockton was a slave in the family of Major George Stockton of
     Fleming county. He was a regular Negro, and though a slave, was
     devoted to his master. He hated an Indian and loved to moralize
     over a dead one; getting into a towering rage and swearing
     magnificently when a horse was stolen; handled his rifle well,
     though somewhat foppishly, and hopped, danced and showed his teeth
     when a prospect offered to chase 'the yaller varmints'. His master
     had confidence in his resolution and prudence, while he was a great
     favorite with all the hunters, and added much to their fun on dull
     expeditions. On one occasion, when a party of white men in pursuit
     of Indians who had stolen their horses called at Stockton's station
     for reinforcements, Ben, among others, volunteered. They overtook
     the savages at Kirk's Springs in Lewis county, and dismounted to
     fight; but as they advanced, they could see only eight or ten, who
     disappeared over the mountain. Pressing on, they discovered on
     descending the mountain such indications as convinced them that the
     few they had seen were but decoys to lead them into an ambuscade at
     the base, and a retreat was ordered. Ben was told of it by a man
     near him; but he was so intent on getting a shot that he did not
     hear, and the order was repeated in a louder tone, whereupon he
     turned upon his monitor a reproving look, grimaced and gesticulated
     ludicrously, and motioned to the man to be silent. He then set off
     rapidly down the mountain. His white comrade, unwilling to leave
     him, ran after him, and reached his side just as he leveled his gun
     at a big Indian standing tiptoe on a log and peering into the thick
     woods. At the crack of Ben's rifle the savage bounded into the air
     and fell. The others set up a fierce yell, and, as the fearless
     Negro said, 'skipped from tree to tree like grasshoppers.' He
     bawled out: 'Take dat to 'member Ben--de black white man!' and the
     two beat a hasty retreat.

     "In the family of Capt. James Estill, who established a station
     about fifteen miles south of Boonesborough, was a Negro slave,
     Monk, who was intelligent, bold as a lion, and as faithful to his
     pioneer friends as though he were a free white settler defending
     his own rights. About daylight, March 20, 1782, when all the men of
     the fort except four were absent on an Indian trail, a body of the
     savages came upon Miss Jennie Glass, who was outside, but near the
     station, milking--Monk being with her. They killed and scalped Miss
     Glass and captured Monk. When questioned as to the force inside the
     walls, the shrewd and self-possessed Negro represented it as much
     greater than it was and told of preparations for defense. The
     Indians were deceived, and after killing the cattle, they
     retreated across the river. When the battle of Little Mountain
     opened two days later, Monk, who was still a prisoner with the
     Indians cried out: 'Don't give way, Mas' Jim! There's only about
     twenty-five redskins and you can whip 'em!' This was valuable and
     encouraging information to the whites. When the Indians began to
     advance on Lieutenant Miller, when he was sent to prevent a flank
     movement and guard the horse-holders, Monk called also to him to
     hold his ground and the white men would win. Instead of being
     instantly killed as was to be apprehended, even though the savages
     might not understand his English, he made his escape before the
     fight closed and got back to his friends. On their return to the
     station, twenty-five miles, without sufficient horses for the
     wounded, he carried on his back, most of the way, James Berry,
     whose thigh was broken. He had learned to make gunpowder, and
     obtaining saltpetre from Peyton's Cave, in Madison county, he
     frequently furnished this indispensable article to Estill's Station
     and Boonesborough. He has been described as being five feet five
     inches high and weighing two hundred pounds. He was a respected
     member of the Baptist church, when whites and blacks worshipped
     together. He was held in high esteem by the settlers and his young
     master, Wallace Estill, gave him his freedom and clothed and fed
     him as long as he lived thereafter--till about 1835.

     "A year or two after the close of the Revolutionary war, a Mr.
     Woods was living near Crab Orchard, Kentucky, with his wife, one
     daughter (said to be ten years old), and a lame Negro man. Early
     one morning, her husband being away, Mrs. Woods when a short
     distance from the house, discovered seven or eight Indians in
     ambush. She ran back into the house, so closely pursued that before
     she could fasten the door one of the savages forced his way in. The
     Negro instantly seized him. In the scuffle the Indian threw him,
     falling on top. The Negro held him in a strong grasp and called to
     the girl to take an axe which was in the room and kill him. This
     she did by two well-aimed blows; and the Negro then asked Mrs.
     Woods to let in another that he with the axe might dispatch him as
     he came and so, one by one, kill them all. By this time, however,
     some men from the station nearby, having discovered that the house
     was attacked, had come up and opened fire on the savages, by which
     one was killed and the others put to flight."




CHAPTER X.

FROM LEXINGTON TO CARRIZAL.


NEGRO IN WAR OF 1812--INCIDENT OF THE CHESAPEAKE--BATTLE OF LAKE
ERIE--PERRY'S FIGHTERS 10 PERCENT NEGROES--INCIDENT OF THE "GOVERNOR
TOMPKINS"--COLONISTS FORM NEGRO REGIMENTS--DEFENSE OF NEW
ORLEANS--ANDREW JACKSON'S TRIBUTE--NEGROES IN MEXICAN AND CIVIL WARS--IN
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR--NEGROES IN THE PHILIPPINES--HEROES OF
CARRIZAL--GENERAL BUTLER'S TRIBUTE TO NEGROES--WENDELL PHILLIPS ON
TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE.


Prior to the actual war of 1812 and one of the most conspicuous causes
leading to it, was the attack on the Chesapeake, an American war vessel.
Here the Negro in the Navy figured in a most remarkable degree. The
vessel was hailed, fired upon and forced to strike her colors by the
British. She was boarded, searched and four persons taken from the crew
charged with desertion from the English navy. Three of these were
Negroes and one white. The charge against the Negroes could not have
been very strong, for they were dismissed, while the white man was
hanged.

The naval history of our second war with Great Britain is replete with
incidents concerning the participation of the Negro. Mackenzie's history
of the life of Commodore Perry states that at the famed battle of Lake
Erie, fully ten percent of the American crews were blacks. Perry spoke
highly of their bravery and good conduct. He said they seemed to be
absolutely insensible to danger. His fighters were a motley collection
of blacks, soldiers and boys. Nearly all had been afflicted with
sickness. Mackenzie says that when the defeated British commander was
brought aboard the "Niagara" and beheld the sickly and parti-colored
beings around him, an expression of chagrin escaped him at having been
conquered by such men.

The following extract is from a letter written by Commodore Nathaniel
Shaler of the armed schooner "Governor Tompkins", dated January 1, 1813.
Speaking of a fight with a British frigate, he said:

     "The name of one of my poor fellows who was killed ought to be
     registered in the book of fame and remembered with reverence as
     long as bravery is considered a virtue. He was a black man by the
     name of John Johnson. A twenty-four-pound shot struck him in the
     hip and tore away all the lower part of his body. In this state the
     poor brave fellow lay on the deck and several times exclaimed to
     his shipmates: 'Fire away, boys; don't haul the colors down.'
     Another black man by the name of John Davis was struck in much the
     same way. He fell near me and several times requested to be thrown
     overboard, saying he was only in the way of the others. When
     America has such tars, she has little to fear from the tyrants of
     the ocean."

With the history fresh in mind of the successful Negro insurrection in
St. Domingo, bringing out so conspicuous a military and administrative
genius as Toussaint L'Ouverture, it is not surprising that the services
of Negroes as soldiers were not only welcomed, but solicited by various
states during the War of 1812. Excepting the battle of New Orleans,
almost all the martial glory of the struggle was on the water. New York,
however, passed a special act of the legislature and organized two
regiments of Negro troops, while there was heavy recruiting in other
states.

When in 1814 New Orleans was in danger, the free colored people of
Louisiana were called into the field with the whites. General Andrew
Jackson's commendatory address read to his colored troops December 18,
1814, is one of the highest compliments ever paid by a commander to his
troops. He said:

     "Soldiers!--when, on the banks of the Mobile, I called you to take
     up arms, inviting you to partake of the perils and glory of your
     white fellow-citizens, I expected much from you; for I was not
     ignorant that you possessed qualities most formidable to an
     invading enemy. I knew with what fortitude you could endure hunger
     and thirst, and all the fatigues of a campaign. I knew well how you
     loved your native country, and that you, as well as ourselves had
     to defend what man holds most dear--his parents, wife, children and
     property. You have done more than I expected. In addition to the
     previous qualities I before knew you to possess, I found among you
     a noble enthusiasm, which leads to the performance of great things.

     "Soldiers! The President of the United States shall hear how
     praiseworthy was your conduct in the hour of danger, and the
     representatives of the American people will give you the praise
     your exploits entitle you to. Your General anticipates them in
     applauding your noble ardor."

Many incidents are on record of the gallantry of Negro soldiers and
servants also serving as soldiers, in the war with Mexico. Colonel Clay,
a son of Henry Clay, was accompanied into the thick of the battle of
Buena Vista, by his Negro servant. He remained by his side in the fatal
charge and saw Clay stricken from his horse. Although surrounded by the
murderous Mexicans he succeeded in carrying the mangled body of his
master from the field.

It has been stated and the evidence seems strong, that a Negro saved the
life of General Zachary Taylor at the battle of Monterey. The story is
that a Mexican was aiming a deadly blow at the General, when the Negro
sprang between them, slew the Mexican and received a deep wound from a
lance. The Negro was a slave at the time, but was afterwards emancipated
by President Taylor.

Upwards of 200,000 colored soldiers were regularly enlisted in the
Federal army and navy during the Civil war. President Lincoln
commissioned eight Negro surgeons for field and hospital duty. Losses
sustained by the Negro troops amounting to upwards of 37,000 men, are
shown to have been as heavy in proportion to the numbers engaged, as
those of the white forces.

The record of the Negro troops in the Civil war is one of uniform
excellence. Numerous official documents attest this fact, aside from the
spoken and written commendations of many high officers. Their bravery
was everywhere recognized; many distinguished themselves and several
attained to the rank of regularly commissioned officers. Conspicuous in
Negro annals of that time is the case of Charles E. Nash, afterwards a
member of congress. He received a primary education in the schools of
New Orleans, but had educated himself largely by his own efforts. In
1863 he enlisted in the 83rd regiment, United States Chasseurs d'Afrique
and became acting sergeant-major of that command. At the storming of
Fort Blakely he lost a leg and was honorably discharged.

Another, William Hannibal Thomas, afterwards became prominent as an
author, teacher, lawyer and legislator. His best known book was
entitled, "The American Negro: What he was, what he is, and what he may
become." He served as a soldier during the Civil War and lost an arm in
the service.

The exploit of Robert Smalls was so brilliant that no amount of
unfairness or prejudice has been able to shadow it. It is well known to
all students of the War of the Rebellion and is recorded in the
imperishable pages of history.

Smalls was born a slave at Beaufort, South Carolina, but managed to
secure some education. Having led a sea-faring life to some extent, the
early part of the war found him employed as pilot of the Rebel transport
Planter. He was thoroughly familiar with the harbors and inlets of the
South Atlantic coast. On May 31, 1862, the Planter was in Charleston
harbor. All the white officers and crew went ashore, leaving on board a
colored crew of eight men in charge of Smalls. He summoned aboard his
wife and three children and at 2 o'clock in the morning steamed out of
the harbor, passed the Confederate forts by giving the proper signals,
and when fairly out of reach, ran up the Stars and Stripes and headed a
course for the Union fleet, into whose hands he soon surrendered the
ship. He was appointed a pilot in the United States navy and served as
such on the monitor Keokuk in the attack on Fort Sumter; was promoted to
captain for gallant and meritorious conduct, December 1, 1863, and
placed in command of the Planter, a position which he held until the
vessel was taken out of commission in 1866. He was a member of the South
Carolina Constitutional Convention, 1868; elected same year to the
legislature, to the state senate 1870 and 1872, and was a member of the
Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses.

Among the most inspiring pages of Civil War history written by the
Negro, were the campaigns of Port Hudson, Louisiana; Fort Wagner, South
Carolina and Fort Pillow, Kentucky. Negro troops participated in the
siege of the former place by the Federal forces under General Banks,
which began in May 1863, and ended in the surrender of the fort July 8,
1863. Fort Wagner was one of the defenses of Charleston. It was reduced
by General Gilmore, September 6,1863 and Negro troops contributed in a
glorious and heroic manner to the result. Fort Pillow had been taken by
the Federals and was garrisoned by a Negro regiment and a detachment of
cavalry. It was recaptured April 12, 1864 by the Confederates under
General Forrest. Practically the entire garrison was massacred, an act
that will stain forever the name of Forrest, and the cause for which he
struggled.

By the close of the Civil war, the value and fitness of the Negro as a
soldier had been so completely demonstrated that the government decided
to enlarge the Regular army and form fifty percent of the increase from
colored men. In 1866 eight new infantry regiments were authorized of
which four were to be Negroes and four new cavalry regiments of which
two were to be Negroes. The Negro infantry regiments were numbered the
38th 39th, 40th and 41st. The cavalry regiments were known as the 9th
and 10th.

In 1869 there was a general reduction in the infantry forces of the
Regular army and the 38th and 41st were consolidated into one regiment
numbered the 24th and the 39th and 40th into one regiment numbered the
25th. The strength and numerical titles of the cavalry were not changed.
For over forty years the colored American was represented in our Regular
Army by those four regiments. They have borne more than their
proportionate share of hard service, including many Indian campaigns.
The men have conducted themselves so worthily as to call forth the best
praise of the highest military authorities. General Miles and General
Merritt, actively identified with the Indian wars, were unstinting in
their commendation of the valor and skill of Negro fighters.

Between 1869 and 1889, three colored men were regularly graduated and
commissioned from the United States military academy at West Point and
served in the Regular Army as officers. They were John H. Alexander,
Charles Young and H.O. Flipper. The latter was dismissed. All served in
the cavalry. Alexander died shortly before the Spanish-American war and
up to the time of his demise, enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his
associates, white and black. Young became major in the volunteer service
during the Spanish-American war and was placed in command of the Ninth
Battalion of Ohio volunteers. After the Spanish-American war he returned
to the Regular Army with a reduced rank, but ultimately became a Major
in that service. Upon America's entry into the European war he was
elevated to the rank of Colonel.

At the breaking out of the Spanish-American war in 1898, Negro military
organizations existed principally in the Regular Army. These were soon
filled to their maximum strength and the desire of Negroes north and
south to enlist, seemed likely to meet with disappointment. Congress, to
meet the insistence of colored men for service, authorized the raising
of ten Negro volunteer regiments of "immunes"--men who had lived in
sections where the yellow fever and other malignant or malarial
visitations had occurred, and who had suffered from them or shown
evidences that they in all probability would be immune from the
diseases. The plan to place white men in all commands above the grade of
second lieutenant, prevented Negroes from enlisting as they otherwise
would have done. Four immune regiments were organized--the 7th, 8th, 9th
and 10th.

Several of the states appreciating the value of the Negro as a soldier
and in response to his intense desire to enlist, placed volunteer Negro
organizations at the disposal of the government. There were the Third
Alabama and Sixth Virginia Infantry; Eighth Illinois Infantry; Companies
A and B Indiana Infantry; Thirty-third Kansas Infantry, and a battalion
of the Ninth Ohio Infantry. The Eighth Illinois was officered by colored
men throughout. J.R. Marshall its first colonel commanded the regiment
during the Spanish-American war and did garrison duty in Santiago
province for some time after the war; being for a while military
governor of San Luis.

Gov. Russell of North Carolina, called out a Negro regiment, the Third
Infantry, officered by colored men throughout. Colonel Charles Young
commanding. It was not mustered into the service.

Company L. Sixth Massachusetts Infantry, was a Negro company serving in
a white regiment. John L. Waller, deceased, a Negro formerly United
States Consul to Madagascar, was a captain in the Kansas regiment.

About one hundred Negro second-lieutenants were commissioned in the
volunteer force during the Spanish-American war. There was a Negro
paymaster, Major John R. Lynch of Mississippi, and two Negro chaplains,
the Rev. C.T. Walker of Georgia and the Rev. Richard Carroll of South
Carolina.

Owing to the briefness of the campaign in Cuba, most of the service of
Negro troops devolved upon the Regulars who were fit and ready. But all
troops were at mobilization or training bases and willing and anxious to
serve. No pages in the history of this country are more replete with the
record of good fighting, military efficiency and soldierly conduct, than
those recording the story of Negro troops in Cuba. Colonel Roosevelt
said that the conduct of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry reflected honor
upon the whole American people, especially on their own race. He could
hardly say otherwise in view of the splendid support given by those two
regiments that--such is, and will continue to be the verdict of history,
saved him and his "Rough Riders" from annihilation at San Juan Hill.

Cuba, in her struggles for freedom, had among her own people two
splendid Negro leaders, Antonio and Jose Maceo.

Following the Cuban campaign, Negro troops saw distinguished service in
the Philippine Islands uprisings. They have from time to time since
garrisoned and preserved order in those possessions. A very limited
number of Negro officers have been attached to their racial contingents
in the Philippines, and there will be found but a few of competent
military authority in this country, who will deny that educated,
intelligent and qualified Negroes, are fitted for positions of
leadership and command.

The Negro of this country is primarily and essentially concerned with
the destiny and problems of his race. His work encouraged as it must be,
by the laws and spirit of the age, will determine his future and mark
the commencement of the elimination of the shameful prejudice against
him in the land, for which, from Lexington to the bloody trenches of
France, he has given of his blood to preserve.

Before leaving the subject of the Negro in previous wars, it is highly
fitting to review the heroic incident of June 21, 1916, at Carrizal,
Mexico. Here is a tale of daring that to duplicate, would tax the
imagination of war fiction writers, and among incidents of fact will
range along with the Texans' defense of the Alamo, where men fought and
perished against great odds.

The occasion was the celebrated expedition conducted by General J.J.
Pershing into Mexico in pursuit of the bandit leader Villa. A picked
detachment consisting of portions of Troops C and K of the colored Tenth
Cavalry, was dispatched from Pershing's main force towards the town of
Villa Ahumada. The force was commanded by Captain Charles T. Boyd of
Troop C and Captain Lewis Morey of Troop K. Lieutenant Adair was second
in command in Troop C to Captain Boyd. Including officers and civilian
scouts, the force numbered about 80 men.

Early on the morning of June 21, the detachment wishing to pass through
the garrisoned town of Carrizal, sought the permission of the Mexican
commander. Amidst a show of force, the officers were invited into the
town by the commander, ostensibly for a parley. Fearing a trap they
refused the invitation and invited the Mexicans to a parley outside the
town. The Mexican commander came out with his entire force and began to
dispose them in positions which were very threatening to the Americans.
Captain Boyd informed the Mexican that his orders were to proceed
eastward to Ahumada and protested against the menacing position of the
Mexican forces. The Mexican replied that his orders were to prevent the
Americans from proceeding in any direction excepting northward, the
direction from which they had just come.

Captain Boyd refused to retreat, but ordered his men not to fire until
they were attacked. The Mexican commander retired to the flank and
almost immediately opened with machine gun fire from a concealed trench.
This was quickly followed by rifle fire from the remainder of the force.
The Mexicans outnumbered the troopers nearly two to one and their most
effective force was intrenched. The Americans were on a flat plain,
unprotected by anything larger than bunches of cactus or sage brush.
They dismounted, laid flat on the ground and responded to the attack as
best they could. The horses were mostly stampeded by the early firing.

The spray of lead from the machine gun had become so galling that
Captain Boyd decided to charge the position. Not a man wavered in the
charge. They took the gun, the Captain falling dead across the barrel of
it just as the last Mexican was killed or put to flight. Lieutenant
Adair was also killed. The Mexicans returned in force and recaptured the
position.

Captain Morey had been concerned in warding off a flank attack. His men
fought no less bravely than the others. They finally were driven to seek
refuge in an adobe house, that is; all who were able to reach it. Here
they kept the Mexicans at bay for hours firing through windows and holes
in the walls. Captain Morey seriously wounded, with a few of his
survivors, finally escaped from the house and hid for nearly two days in
a hole. The soldiers refused to leave their officer. When they finally
were able to leave their place of concealment, the several that were
left assisted their Captain on the road towards the main force. Arriving
at a point where reinforcements could be summoned, the Captain wrote a
report to his commander and sent his men to headquarters with it. They
arrived in record time and a party was sent out, reaching the wounded
officer in time to save his life.

About half of the American force was wiped out and most of the others
were taken prisoners. They inflicted a much heavier loss on the
Mexicans. Among the killed was the Mexican commander who had ordered the
treacherous attack.

It may be that "someone had blundered." This was not the concern of the
black troopers; in the face of odds they fought by the cactus and lay
dead under the Mexican stars.

In closing this outline of the Negro's participation in former wars, it
is highly appropriate to quote the tributes of two eminent men. One,
General Benjamin F. Butler, a conspicuous military leader on the Union
side in the Civil War, and Wendell Phillips, considered by many the
greatest orator America ever produced, and who devoted his life to the
abolition movement looking to the freedom of the slave in the United
States. Said General Butler on the occasion of the debate in the
National House of Representatives on the Civil Rights bill; ten years
after the bloody battle of New Market Heights; speaking to the bill, and
referring to the gallantry of the black soldiers on that field of
strife:

     "It became my painful duty to follow in the track of that charging
     column, and there, in a space not wider than the clerk's desk and
     three hundred yards long, lay the dead bodies of 543 of my colored
     comrades, fallen in defense of their country, who had offered their
     lives to uphold its flag and its honor, as a willing sacrifice; and
     as I rode along among them, guiding my horse this way and that way,
     lest he should profane with his hoofs what seemed to me the sacred
     dead, and as I looked on their bronzed faces upturned in the
     shining sun, as if in mute appeal against the wrongs of the country
     whose flag had only been to them a flag of stripes, on which no
     star of glory had ever shone for them--feeling I had wronged them
     in the past and believing what was the future of my country to
     them--among my dead comrades there I swore to myself a solemn oath,
     'May my right hand forget its cunning and my tongue cleave to the
     roof of my mouth, if I ever fail to defend the rights of those men
     who have given their blood for me and my country this day, and for
     their race forever,' and, God helping me, I will keep that oath."

Mr. Phillips in his great oration on Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Black of
St. Domingo; statesman, warrior and LIBEEATOR,--delivered in New York
City, March 11, 1863, said among other things, a constellation of
linguistic brilliants not surpassed since the impassioned appeals of
Cicero swept the Roman Senate to its feet, or Demosthenes fired his
listeners with the flame of his matchless eloquence;

     "You remember that Macaulay says, comparing Cromwell with Napoleon,
     that Cromwell showed the greater military genius, if we consider
     that he never saw an army till he was forty; while Napoleon was
     educated from a boy in the best military schools in Europe.
     Cromwell manufactured his own army; Napoleon at the age of
     twenty-seven was placed at the head of the best troops Europe ever
     saw. They were both successful; but, says Macaulay, with such
     disadvantages, the Englishman showed the greater genius. Whether
     you allow the inference or not, you will at least grant that it is
     a fair mode of measurement.

     "Apply it to Toussaint. Cromwell never saw an army until he was
     forty; this man never saw a soldier till he was fifty. Cromwell
     manufactured his own army--out of what? Englishmen--the best blood
     in Europe. Out of the middle class of Englishmen, the best blood of
     the island. And with it he conquered what? Englishmen--their
     equals. This man manufactured his army out of what? Out of what you
     call the despicable race of Negroes, debased, demoralized by two
     hundred years of slavery, 100,000 of them imported into the island
     within four years, unable to speak a dialect intelligible even to
     each other. Yet out of this mixed, and, as you say, despicable
     mass, he forged a thunderbolt, and hurled it at what? At the
     proudest blood in Europe, the Spaniard, and sent him home
     conquered; at the most warlike blood in Europe, the French, and put
     them under his feet; at the pluckiest blood in Europe, the English,
     and they skulked home to Jamaica."


The world is acquainted with the treacherous infamy inspired by the
great Napoleon, that inveigled the Black Chieftain and liberator of his
people on shipboard, the voyage to France, and his subsequent
death--STARVED!--in the dungeon of the prison castle of St. Joux.

Whittier, the poet evangelist, whose inspired verse contributed much to
the crystallization of the sentiment and spirit that finally doomed
African slavery in America, thus referred to the heartless tragedy and
the splendid Black who was its victim:

     "Sleep calmy in thy dungeon-tomb,
       Beneath Besancon's alien sky,
     Dark Haytien!--for the time shall come,
       Yea, even now is nigh--
     When, everywhere, thy name shall be
     Redeemed from color's infamy;
     And men shall learn to speak of thee,
     As one of earth's great spirits, born
     In servitude, and nursed in scorn,
     Casting aside the weary weight
     And fetters of its low estate,
     In that strong majesty of soul,
       Which knows no color, tongue or clime,
     Which still hath spurned the base control
       Of tyrants through all time!"




CHAPTER XI.

HOUR OF HIS NATION'S PERIL.


NEGRO'S PARTRIOTIC ATTITUDE--SELECTIVE DRAFT IN EFFECT--FEATURES AND
RESULTS--BOLD RELIANCE ON FAITH IN A PEOPLE--NO COLOR LINE
DRAWN--DISTRIBUTION OF REGISTRANTS BY STATES--NEGRO AND WHITE
REGISTRATIONS COMPARED--NEGRO PERCENTAGES HIGHER--CLAIMED FEWER
EXEMPTIONS--INDUCTIONS BY STATES--BETTER PHYSICALLY THAN WHITES--TABLES,
FACTS AND FIGURES.


As stated in a previous chapter, the Negro's real opportunity to show
his patriotic attitude did not come until the passage of the compulsory
service law; selective draft, was the name attached to it later and by
which it was generally known.

On May 18, 1917, the day the law was enacted by congress, no advocate of
preparedness could with confidence have forecasted the success of it.
There were many who feared the total failure of it. The history of the
United States disclosed a popular adherence to the principle of
voluntary enlistment, if not a repudiation of the principle of selection
or compulsory military service.

It was to be expected that many people would look upon the law as highly
experimental; as an act that, if it did not produce grave disorders in
the country, would fall short of the results for which it was intended.
It was fortunate for the country at this time, that the military
establishment possessed in the person of General Crowder, one who had
made a special study of selective drafts and other forms of compulsory
service, not alone in this country, but throughout the nations of the
world and back to the beginning of recorded history. He had become as
familiar with all phases of it as though it had been a personal hobby
and lifetime pursuit.

The law was extremely plain and permitted of no guessing or legal
quibbling over its terms. It boldly recited the military obligations of
citizenship. It vested the president with the most complete power of
prescribing regulations calculated to strike a balance between the
industrial, agricultural and economic needs of the nation on the one
hand and the military need on the other.

Within 18 days between May 18, when the law was approved, and June 5,
the day the president had fixed as registration day, a great,
administrative machine was built. Practically the entire male
citizenship of the United States within the age limits fixed by law,
twenty-one to thirty years inclusive, presented itself at the 4,000
enrollment booths with a registered result of nearly 10,000,000 names.
The project had been so systematized that within 48 hours almost
complete registration returns had been assembled by telegraph in
Washington.

The order in which the ten-million registrants were to be called was
accomplished on July 20 by a great central lottery in Washington.

The boards proceeded promptly to call, to examine physically and to
consider claims for exemption of over one and one half million men, a
sufficient number to fill the first national quota of 687,000. Thus in
less than three and one-half months the nation had accepted and
vigorously executed a compulsory service law.

On June 5, 1918, 753,834 men were added to the rolls. On August 24,
1918, that number was increased by 159,161; finally on September 12,
1918, under the provision of the act of August 31, 1918, 13,228,762 were
added to the lists of those available for military service, which,
including interim and other accessions, amounted to a grand total of
24,234,021 enrolled and subject to the terms of the Selective Service
law. This tremendous exhibition of man power struck terror to the heart
of the Hun and hastened him to, if possible, deliver a telling blow
against the Allies before the wonderful strength and resources of the
American nation could be brought to bear against him.

Commenting on the facility with which the selective draft was put into
effect, the report of the Provost Marshall General stated in part:

     "The expedition and smoothness with which the law was executed
     emphasized the remarkable flexibility, adaptability and efficiency
     of our system of government and the devotion of our people. Here
     was a gigantic project in which success was staked not on reliance
     in the efficiency of a man, or an hierarchy of men, or, primarily,
     on a system. Here was a bold reliance on faith in a people. Most
     exacting duties were laid with perfect confidence on the officials
     of every locality in the nation, from the governors of states to
     the registrars of elections, and upon private citizens of every
     condition, from men foremost in the industrial and political life
     of the nation to those who had never before been called upon to
     participate in the functions of government. By all administrative
     tokens, the accomplishment of their task was magic."

No distinction regarding color or race was made in the selective draft
law, except so far as non-citizen Indians were exempt from the draft.
But the organization of the army placed Negro soldiers in separate
units; and the several calls for mobilization, were, therefore, affected
by this circumstance, in that no calls could be issued for Negro
registrants until the organizations were ready for them. Figures of
total registration given previously in this chapter include interim
accessions and some that automatically went on the rolls after September
12, 1918. Inasmuch as the tables prepared by the Provost Marshall
General's department deal only with those placed on the rolls on regular
registration days and do not include the accessions mentioned,
comparisons which follow will be based on those tables. They show the
total registration as 23,779,997, of which 21,489,470 were white and
2,290,527 were black. Following is a table showing the distribution of
colored and white registrants by states:

                                   Colored
                     Total         registrants
                     Colored       June 5, 1917  Colored      Total
                     and white     Colored       registrants  colored
                     registrants.  to Sept 11,   Sept 12,     registrants.
                                   1918.         1918.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States        23,779,097    1,078,331     1,212,196    2,290,527
                     =====================================================
Alabama                 444,692       81,963        81,410      163,373
Arizona                  93,078          295           680          975
Arkansas                365,754       51,176        53,659      104,835
California              787,676        3,308         6,404        9,712
Colorado                215,178        1,103         1,867        2,970
Connecticut             373,676        3,524         4,659        8,183
Delaware                 55,215        3,798         4,448        8,246
District of Columbia     89,808       11,045        15,433       26,478
Florida                 208,931       39,013        43,019       82,032
Georgia                 549,020      112,593       108,183      220,781
Idaho                   103,740          254           255          509
Illinois              1,571,717       21,816        35,597       57,413
Indiana                 639,431       11,289        16,549       27,838
Iowa                    523,957        2,959         3,022        5,981
Kansas                  381,315        5,575         7,448       13,023
Kentucky                486,599       25,850        30,182       56,032
Louisiana          .    391,654       76,223        82,256      158,479
Maine                   159,350          163           179          342
Maryland                313,255       26,435        32,736       59,171
Massachusetts           884,030        6,044         8,056       14,100
Michigan                871,410        6,979         8,950       15,929
Minnesota               540,003        1,541         1,809        3,350
Mississippi             344,506       81,548        91,534      173,082
Missouri                764,428       22,796        31,524       54,320
Montana                 196,999          320           494          814
Nebraska                286,147        1,614         2,417        4,031
Nevada                   29,465           69           112          172
New Hampshire            95,035           77            98          175
New Jersey              761,238       14,056        19,340       33,396
New Mexico               80,158          235           350          595
New York              2,503,290       25,974        35,299       61,273
North Carolina          480,901       73,357        69,168      142,525
North Dakota            159,391           65           165          230
Ohio                  1,387,830       28,831        35,156       63,987
Oklahoma                423,864       14,305        23,253       37,563
Oregon                  176,010          144           534          678
Pennsylvania          2,067,023       39,363        51,111       90,474
Rhode Island            134,232        1,573         1,913        3,486
South Carolina          307,229       74,265        74,912      149,177
South Dakota            142,783          144           171          315
Tennessee               474,253       43,735        51,059       94,794
Texas                   989,571       83,671        82,775      166,446
Utah                    100,038          169           392          561
Vermont                  71,464           63            89          152
Virginia                464,903       64,358        75,816      140,174
Washington              319,337          373         1,353        1,726
West Virginia           324,975       13,292        14,652       27,944
Wisconsin               584,639          718         1,117        1,835
Wyoming                  58,700          280           570          850


                                     White
                                     registrants   White       Total
                       Percent of    June 5, 1917  registrants white         Percent
                       total         to Sept 11    Sept 12,    registrants.  of total
                       registrants.  1918.         1918.                     registrants.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States          9.83          9,562,515     11,926,955  21,480,470    90.37
                      ===================================================================
Alabama               36.74            124,247        157,072     281,319    63.26
Arizona                1.05             39,884         52,219      92,103    98.95
Arkansas              28.66            117,111        143,808     260,919    71.34
California             1.23            312,994        464,970     777,964    98.77
Colorado               1.38             90,453        121,755     212,208    98.62
Connecticut        .   2.19            171,296        194,197     365,493    97.81
Delaware              14.93             20,761         26,208      46,969    85.07
District of Columbia  29.45             25,625         37,795      63,420    70.56
Florida               39.26             55,572         71,327     126,899    60.74
Georgia               40.22            147,604        180,635     328,239    59.78
Idaho                  0.49             45,224         58,007     103,231    99.51
Illinois               3.65            685,254        829,050   1,514,304    96.35
Indiana                4.35            272,442        339,151     611,593    95.65
Iowa                   1.14            237,744        280,232     517,976    98.86
Kansas                 3.41            161,691        206,602     368,293    96.59
Kentucky              11.52            190,060        240,507     430,567    88.43
Louisiana             40.46            103,718        129,467     233,185    59.54
Maine                  0.22             67,941         91,067     159,008    99.73
Maryland              18.89            110,066        144,018     254,084    81.11
Massachusetts          1.60            391,654        478,276     869,930    93.40
Michigan               1.83            404,040        451,441     855,481    98.17
Minnesota              0.62            247,750        288,903     538,653    99.38
Mississippi           50.24             75,977         95,447     171,424    49.76
Missouri               7.11            372,106        398,002     710,108    92.89
Montana                0.41             96,753        101,432     198,185    99.59
Nebraska               1.42            130,493        151,623     282,116    98.58
Nevada                 0.58             12,581         16,712      29,293    99.42
New Hampshire          0.18             41,617         53,243      94,860    99.82
New Jersey             4.39             18,615        409,225     727,840    95.61
New Mexico             0.74             36,776         42,787      79,563    99.26
New York               2.44          1,092,061      1,349,956   2,442,617    97.56
North Carolina        29.63            155,102        183,274     338,376    70.37
North Dakota           0.15             72,837         85,324     159,161    98.85
Ohio                   4.61            588,170        735,673   1,323,843    95.39
Oklahoma               8.86            173,851        212,450     386,301    91.15
Oregon                 0.38             69,376        105,956     175,332    99.62
Pennsylvania           4.38            353,106      1,113,443   1,976,549    95.62
Rhode Island           2.59             57,433         73,313     130,746    12
South Carolina        48.56             70,395         87,657     158,052    51.44
South Dakota           0.23             64,896         77,572     142,468    99.77
Tennessee             19.99            169,674        209,785     379,459    80.01
Texas                 16.82            376,385        446,740     823,125    83.18
Utah                   0.56             45,930         53,547      99,477    99.44
Vermont                0.21             30,819         40,493      71,312    99.79
Virginia              30.15            141,714        183,015     324,727    69.85
Washington             0.54            123,752        193,859     317,611    99.46
West Virginia          8.60            128,852        168,179     297,031    91.40
Wisconsin              0.31            265,501        317,303     582,804    99.69
Wyoming                1.45             24,612         33,238      57,850    98.56

Results of the classification of December 15, 1917 to September 11,
1918, in respect to colored and white registrants are shown in the
following table:

Colored and white classification compared.    Number.     Percent       Percent
                                                          of total         of
                                                          classified.   classified.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total colored and white registered:
  June 5, 1917, to Sept. 11, 1918            10,640,846   100.00         -----
    Total colored registered                  1,078,331    10.13        100.00
      Class I                                   556,917    -----         51.65
      Deferred classes                          521,414    -----         -----
    Total white registered                    9,562,515    89.87        100.00
      Class I                                 3,110,659    -----         32.53
      Deferred classes                        6,451,856    -----         -----
Percentage accepted for service on calls before Dec. 15, 1917 (report for 1917).
                                  Colored         -----    -----         36.23
                                  White           -----    -----         24.75

It will be seen that a much higher percentage of Negroes were accepted
for service than of white men. It is true that enlistments which were
permitted white men but denied Negroes, depleted the whites eligible to
Class I to some extent. Probably there were more Negro delinquents in
proportion to their numbers in the south than white delinquents. The
conditions under which they lived would account for that. Delinquents,
under the regulations, were placed in Class 1. Then there is the
undoubted fact that the Negro sought and was granted fewer exemptions on
the ground of dependency. Many Negroes in the south, where the rate of
pay was low, were put in Class I on the ground that their allotment and
allowances while in the army, would furnish an equivalent support to
their dependents. But whatever the reason, the great fact stands out
that a much greater percentage of colored were accepted for service than
white men. The following table gives the colored and white inductions by
states:

                     Total colored  Colored                     Colored   Per
                     and white      registrants,  Percentage    inducted  Percent of
                     registrants,   June 5,       of colored    June 5,   colored
                     June 5, 1917,  1917, to      and white     1917, to  registrants.
                     to Sept. 11,   Sept. 11,     registrants.  Nov. 11,
                     1918.          1918.                       1918.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States         10,640,846    1,078,331     10.13        367,710    34.10
                     ===================================================================
Alabama                  206,210       81,963     39.75         25,874    31.57
Arizona                   40,179          295       .73             77    26.10
Arkansas                 168,287       51,176     30.4l         17,544    34.28
California               316,302        3,308      1.05            919    27.78
Colorado                  91,556        1,103      1.20            317    28.74
Connecticut              174,820        3,524      2.02            941    26.70
Delaware                  24,559        3,798     15.46          1,365    35.93
District of Columbia      36,670       11,045     30.12          4,000    36.22
Florida                   94,585       39,013     41.25         12,904    33.08
Georgia                  260,197      112,593     43.27         34,303    30.47
Idaho                     45,478          254       .56             95    37.40
Illinois                 707,070       21,816      3.09          8,754    40.13
Indiana                  283,731       11,289      3.98          4,579    40.56
Iowa                     240,703        2,959      1.23            929    31.40
Kansas                   167,266        5,575      3.33          2,127    38.15
Kentucky                 215,910       25,850     11.98         11,320    43.79
Louisiana                179,941       76,223     42.36         28,711    37.67
Maine                     68,104          163       .24             50    30.67
Maryland                 136,501       26,435     19.37          9,212    34.85
Massachusetts            397,698        6,044      1.52          1,200    19.85
Michigan                 411,019        6,979      1.70          2,395    34.32
Minnesota                249,291        1,541       .62            511    53.16
Mississippi              157,525       81,548     51.77         24,066    29.51
Missouri                 334,902       22,796      6.81          9,219    40.44
Montana                   97,073          320       .33            198    61.87
Nebraska                 132,107        1,614      1.22            642    39.78
Nevada                    12,640           59       .47             26    44.07
New Hampshire             41,694           77       .18             27    35.07
New Jersey               332,671       14,056      4.23          4,863    34.60
New Mexico                37,011          235       .63             51    21.70
New York               1,118,035       25,974      2.            6,193    23.84
North Carolina           228,459       73,357     32.11         20,082    27.38
North Dakota              72,902           65       .09             87    -----
Ohio                     617,001       28,831      4.67          7,861    27.27
Oklahoma                 188,156       14,305      7.60          5,694    39.80
Oregon                    69,520          144       .21             68    47.22
Pennsylvania             902,469       39,363      4.36         15,392    39.10
Rhode Island              59,006        1,573      2.67            291    18.50
South Carolina           144,660       74,265     51.34         25,798    34.74
South Dakota              65,040          144       .22             62    43.06
Tennessee                213,409       43,735     20.59         17,774    40.64
Texas                    460,056       83,671     18.19         31,506    37.65
Utah                      46,099          169       .37             77    45.56
Vermont                   30,882           63       .20             22    34.92
Virginia                 206,072       64,358     31.23         23,541    36.57
Washington               124,125          373       .30            173    46.38
West Virginia            142,144       13,292      9.35          5,492    41.32
Wisconsin                266,219          718       .27            224    31.20
Wyoming                   24,892          280      1.12             95    23.93
Alaska                                                               5
Hawaii
Porto Rico



                     White         Percent of    White
                     registrants,  colored       inductions,  Percent
                     June 5,       and           June 5,      of white
                     1917, to      white         1917, to     registrants.
                     Sept. 11,     registrants.  Nov. 11,
                     1918.                       1918.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States        9,562,515     89.87         2,299,157    24.04
                     =====================================================
Alabama                124,247     60.25            33,881    27.27
Arizona                 39,884     99.27             8,036    20.15
Arkansas               117,111     69.59            31,768    27.13
California             312,994     98.95            60,148    21.13
Colorado                90,453     98.80            22,487    24.86
Connecticut            171,296     97.98            31,598    18.45
Delaware                20,761     84.54             3,628    17.48
District of Columbia    25,625     69.88             5,631    21.97
Florida                 55,572     58.75            12,012    21.62
Georgia                147,604     56.73            32,538    32.04
Idaho                   45,224     99.44            12,471    27.58
Illinois               685,254     96.91            68,729    24.62
Indiana                272,442     96.02            65,170    23.92
Iowa                   237,744     98.77            65,935    27.73
Kansas                 161,691     96.67            39,778    21.60
Kentucky               190,060     88.02            47,010    24.60
Louisiana              103,718     57.64            27,494    26.51
Maine                   67,941     99.76            15,216    22.40
Maryland               110,066     80.63            24,655    22.40
Massachusetts          391,654     98.48            75,367    19.24
Michigan               404,040     98.30            94,085    23.29
Minnesota              247,750     99.38            73,169    29.53
Mississippi             75,977     48.23            19,296    25.40
Missouri               312,106     93.19            83,624    26.79
Montana                 96,753     99.67            27,142    28.O5
Nebraska               130,493     98.78            29,165    22.35
Nevada                  12,581     99.53             8,138    24.94
New Hampshire           41,617     99.82             8,377    20.13
New Jersey             318,615     95.77            66,527    20.88
New Mexico              36,776     99.37             8,811    23.96
New York             1,092,061     97.68           247,396    22.65
North Carolina         155,102     67.89            38,359    24.73
North Dakota            72,837     99.91            18,508    25.41
Ohio                   568,170     95.83           130,287    22.15
Oklahoma               173,851     92.40            59,247    34.08
Oregon                  69,376     99.79            16,090    23.19
Pennsylvania           863,106     95.64           185,819    21.53
Rhode Island            57,433     97.33            10,885    18.95
South Carolina          70,395     48.66            18,261    25.94
South Dakota            64,896     99.78            21,193    32.66
Tennessee              169,674     79.51            42,104    24.81
Texas                  376,385     81.81            85,889    22.82
Utah                    45,93O     99.63            10,711    23.32
Vermont                 30,819     99.80             6,607    21.44
Virginia               141,714     68.77            34,796    24.55
Washington             123,752     99.70            28,513    23.04
West Virginia          l28,852     90.65            39,863    30.94
Wisconsin              265,501     99.73            70,758    26.65
Wyoming                 24,612     98.88             7,828    31.81
Alaska                                               1,957
Hawaii                                               5,406
Porto Rico                                          15,734

Further light on the question of more Negroes in proportion to their
numbers being selected for service than white men, is found in a
comparison of the Negroes and whites rejected for physical reasons. The
following table gives the figures for the period between December 15,
1917 and September 11, 1918:

Colored and white physical rejections compared.  Number.   Percent of  Percent of
                                                           examined    partial
                                                                       disqualifications.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total, colored and white examined Dec. 15, 1917,
  to Sept. 11, 1918                              3,208,446  100.00      -----
    Group A                                      2,259,027   70.41      -----
    Disqualified partly or totally                 949,419   -----     100.00
      Group B                                       88,436    2.76       9.31
      Group C                                      339,377   10.58      35.75
      Group D                                      521,606   16.25      54.94
Total, colored examined                            458,838  100.00      -----
    Group A                                        342,277   74.60      -----
    Disqualified partly or totally                 116,561   -----     100.00
      Group B                                        9,605    2.09       8.24
      Group C                                       27,474    5.99      23.57
      Group D                                       79,482   17.32      68.19
Total white examined                             2,749,608  100.00      -----
    Group A                                      1,916,750   69.71      -----
    Disqualified partly or totally                 832,858   -----     100.00
      Group B                                       78,831    2.87       9.47
      Group C                                      311,903   11.34      37.45
      Group D                                      442,124   16.08      53.08

The percentage of Negroes unqualifiedly accepted for service, was 74.60%
of the number examined; the white men accepted numbered 69.71% of the
number examined. The Negroes it will be seen rated about 5% higher
physically than the whites. No better refutation could be desired of the
charge, having its inspiration in the vanquished, but unrepentant
defenders of Negro slavery, mourning about its dead carcass, that the
Negro is deteriorating physically, or that the so-called degenerative
influences of civilization affect him in greater degree than they do the
white man.




CHAPTER XII.

NEGRO SLACKERS AND PACIFISTS UNKNOWN


SUCH WORDS NOT IN HIS VOCABULARY--DESERTIONS EXPLAINED--GENERAL CROWDER
EXONERATES NEGRO--NO WILLFUL DELINQUENCY--STRENUOUS EFFORTS TO MEET
REGULATIONS--NO "CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS"--NO DRAFT EVADERS OR
RESISTERS--NEGRO'S DEVOTION SUBLIME--JUSTIFIES HIS FREEDOM--FORGETS HIS
SORROWS--RISES ABOVE HIS WRONGS--TESTIMONY OF LOCAL BOARDS--GERMAN
PROPAGANDA WASTED--A NEW AMERICANISM.


The only phase of the selective draft in which the Negro seemed to be
discredited in comparison with his white brother, was in the matter of
desertions. At first glance and without proper analysis, the record
appeared to be against the Negro. Upon detailed study, however, the case
takes on a different aspect. The records of the Provost Marshall General
show that out of 474,861 reported deserters, 369,030 were white
registrants, and 105,831 colored, the ratio of white reported deserters
to white registrants being 3.86, and the ratio of colored reported
deserters to colored registrants being 9.81. Everyone knows now that
many, yes, the bulk of the reported desertions among both whites and
blacks, were not desertions at all. Circumstances simply prevented the
men from keeping in touch with their local boards or from reporting when
called.

Desertions among white registrants might have shown a greater percentage
had they not availed themselves of the exemption feature of the law.
Negroes did not understand this clause in the act so well. Besides, as
previously stated, many Negroes were placed in Class 1, even where they
had dependants, because their rate of pay in the army would enable them
to contribute as much to the support of their dependants as would their
earnings outside of army service.

This was a policy with many draft boards, but it is not exactly clear
in view of the increased earning power of the Negroes through wartime
demands for their labor. Following are the complete figures on so-called
desertions, the variances in the several states being given:

                      Total
                      white
                      and colored
                      registrants,
                      June 5,
                      1917, to     Total         Reported     Percent of    Percent of
                      Sept. 11,    white         desertions,  total         white
                      1918.        registrants.  white.       registrants.  registrants.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States         10,640,846   9,562,515     380,030      3.47          3.86
========================================================================================
Alabama                  206,210     194,247       3,672      1.78          2.96
Arizona                   40,179      39,884       6,930     17.36         17.40
Arkansas                 168,287     117,111       2,476      1.47          2.11
California               316,302     313,994      15,323      4.84          4.90
Colorado                  91,556      90,463       4,910      5.38          5.43
Connecticut              174,820     171,296      12,416      7.10          7.25
Delaware                  24,559      20,761         686      2.79          3.30
District of Columbia      36,670      25,625         390      1.06          1.52
Florida                   94,585      55,572       1,823      1.93          3.28
Georgia                  260,197     147,001       4,499      1.73          3.05
Idaho                     45,478      45,224       2,242      4.93          4.96
Illinois                 707,070     685,254      21,673      3.07          3.16
Indiana                  283,731     272,442       5,252      1.85          1.93
Iowa                     240,703     237,744       5,283      2.19          2.21
Kansas                   167,266     161,691       3,172      1.90          1.96
Kentucky                 215,910     190,060       2,830      1.03          1.23
Louisiana                179,941     103,718       2,250      1.25          2.17
Maine                     68,104      67,941       2,553      3.74          3.76
Maryland                 136,501     110,066       3,831      2.81          3.48
Massachusetts            397,698     391,654      19,841      4.99          5.07
Michigan                 411,019     404,040      17,222      4.19          4.26
Minnesota                249,291     247,750      10,108      4.05          4.08
Mississippi              157,525      75,977       1,713      1.09          2.25
Missouri                 334,902     312,106      10,549      3.14          3.38
Montana                   97,073      96,753       7,835      8.13          8.16
Nebraska                 132,107     130,493       2,608      1.97          2.00
Nevada                    12,640      12,581       1,392      1.10         11.06
New Hampshire             41,694      41,617       1,428      3.42          3.43
New Jersey               332,671     318,815      15,114      4.54          4.74
New Mexico                37,011      36,776       3,217      8.69          8.75
New York               1,118,035   1,092,061      57,021      5.10          5.22
North Carolina           228,459     155,102       1,175      5.14           .76
North Dakota              72,902      72,837       2,520      3.46          3.46
Ohio                     617,001     588,170      22,846      3.70          3.88
Oklahoma                 188,156     173,851       5,860      3.11          3.37
Oregon                    69,520      69,376       2,023      2.91          2.92
Pennsylvania             902,469     863,106      31,739      3.52          3.68
Rhode Island              59,006      57,433       2,340      3.97          4.07
South Carolina           144,660      70,395       1,107       .77          1.57
South Dakota              65,040      64,896       1,243      1.91          1.92
Tennessee                213,409     169,674       4,389      2.05          2.58
Texas                    460,056     376,385      19,209      4.18          5.10
Utah                      46,099      45,930       1,735      3.76          3.78
Vermont                   30,882      30,819         690      2.23          2.71
Virginia                 206,072     141,714       3,090      1.50          2.18
Washington               124,125     123,752       7,261      5.85          5.87
West Virginia            142,144     128,852       4,803      3.38          3.73
Wisconsin                266,219     265,501       4,663      1.75          1.76
Wyoming                   24,892      24,612       1,734      6.96          7.05
Alaska                                               601
Hawaii                                               184
Porto Rico                                            15


                       Total         Reported     Percent       Percent
                       colored       desertions,  of total      of colored
                       registrants.  colored.     registrants.  registrants.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States          1,078,331     105,831       .99          9.81
============================================================================
Alabama                   81,963      10,835      5.25         13.22
Arizona                      295          64       .16         21.69
Arkansas                  51,176       4,770      2.83          9.32
California                 3,303         268       .08          8.10
Colorado                   1,103          91       .10          8.25
Connecticut                3,524         682       .39         19.35
Delaware                   3,798         303      1.23          7.98
District of Columbia      11,045         616      1.68          5.58
Florida                   39,013       8,319      8.71         21.32
Georgia                  112,593       8,969      3.45          7.97
Idaho                        254         108       .23         42.51
Illinois                  21,816       2,911       .41         13.34
Indiana                   11,289       1,199       .42         10.62
Iowa                       2,959         517       .21         17.47
Kansas                     5,575         255       .15          4.57
Kentucky                  25,850       1,524       .71          5.90
Louisiana                 76,223       5,962      3.31          7.82
Maine                        163          29       .04         17.79
Maryland                  26,435       2,410      1.77          9.12
Massachusetts              6,044         665      1.67         11.00
Michigan                   6,979       1,015       .25         14.54
Minnesota                  1,541         621       .25         40.30
Mississippi               81,548       8,112      5.15          9.95
Missouri                  22,796       1,791       .53          7.86
Montana                      320         114       .12         35.63
Nebraska                   1,614         229       .17         14.19
Nevada                        59           3       .02          6.08
New Hampshire                 77           3       .01          3.90
New Jersey                14,056       1,535       .46         10.92
New Mexico                   235          40       .11         17.02
New York                  25,974       4,062       .36         15.64
North Carolina            73,357       4,937      2.16          6.73
North Dakota                  65          19       .03         29.23
Ohio                      28,831       4,048       .66         14.04
Oklahoma                  14,305       1,223       .65          8.56
Oregon                       144          18       .03         12.59
Pennsylvania              39,363       6,599       .73         16.76
Rhode Island               1,573         251       .43         15.96
South Carolina            74,265       4,589      3.14          6.18
South Dakota                 144          27       .04         18.75
Tennessee                 43,735       3,573      1.67          8.17
Texas                     83,671       5,388      1.17          6.44
Utah                         169          11       .02          6.51
Vermont                       63           4       .01          6.35
Virginia                  64,358       4,935      2.39          7.67
Washington                   373          30       .02          8.04
West Virginia             13,292       2,013      1.41         15.14
Wisconsin                    718          73       .03         10.17
Wyoming                      280          63       .25         22.50

[Illustration: NEGRO TROOPS NEWLY ARRIVED IN FRANCE, LINED UP FOR
INSPECTION.]

[Illustration: NEGRO TROOPS ON A PRACTICE RUN NEAR THEIR CAMP IN
FRANCE.]

[Illustration: PRESENTATION OF BANNER TO NEGRO STEVEDORES FOR WINNING
FIRST WEEK'S "RACE TO BERLIN", MARSEILLES, FRANCE.]

[Illustration: NEGRO WINNERS IN STEVEDORE CONTEST BEING ENTERTAINED BY
134TH INFANTRY QUARTET AND BAND AT MARSEILLES, FRANCE.]

[Illustration: GOING TO FIGHT FOR UNCLE SAM. TYPICAL GROUP OF NEGRO
SELECTIVE SERVICE MEN LEAVING FOR THE TRAINING CAMP.]

[Illustration: NEGRO TROOPS ARRIVING IN FRANCE. A COMPARISON WITH THE
UPPER PICTURE SHOWS THE RAPID TRANSFORMATION FROM CIVILIANS TO FIGHTING
MEN.]

[Illustration: "MOSS'S BUFFALOES" (367TH INFANTRY), SERENADING FAMOUS
MILITARY CHIEFTAINS IN FRANCE. IN WINDOW AT LEFT STANDS GENERAL JOHN J.
PERSHING, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES; AT RIGHT
GENERAL GOURAUD, COMMANDER OF THE FOURTH FRENCH ARMY.]

[Illustration: HEROES OF THE BRAWNY ARM WHOSE SERVICE WAS NO LESS
EFFECTIVE THAN THAT OF THE COMBATANTS. A DETAIL OF NEGRO RAILWAY
BUILDERS ENGAGED ON THE LINE FROM BREST TO TOURS.]

[Illustration: NEGRO ENGINEERS BUILDING ROADS IN FRANCE. AN
INDISPENSABLE FEATURE OF THE SERVICE OF SUPPLY.]

[Illustration: NEGRO TROOPS IN FRANCE ENJOY AN OLD-FASHIONED MEAL.]

[Illustration: NEGRO MACHINE GUNNERS ON THE ROAD NEAR MAFFRECOURT,
FRANCE. PART OF 369TH INFANTRY.]

[Illustration: CAPTAIN HINTON AND OFFICERS OF 1ST BATTALION. 369TH NEGRO
INFANTRY ON ROAD NEAR MAFFRECOURT, FRANCE.]

[Illustration: AUTO HORN WARNS AMERICANS OF COMING GAS ATTACK. SOLDIERS
DON MASKS AND SOUND THE ALARM. INSERT, LEFT CORNER, MACHINE GUNNERS.]

No elaborate defense of the Negro will be attempted in the matter of
the desertion record. It is not necessary. The words of Provost Marshall
General Crowder, the man who knew all about the selective draft and who
engineered it through its wonderfully successful course, completely
absolved the Negro in this connection. The following quotation in
reference to the above figures is taken verbatim from the report of
General Crowder to the Secretary of War, dated December 20, 1918.

     "These figures of reported desertions, however, lose their
     significance when the facts behind them are studied. There is in
     the files of this office, a series of letters from governors and
     draft executives of southern states, called forth by inquiry for an
     explanation of the large percentage of Negroes among the reported
     deserters and delinquents. With striking unanimity the draft
     authorities replied that this was due to two causes; first,
     ignorance and illiteracy; especially in the rural regions, to which
     may be added a certain shiftlessness in ignoring civic obligations;
     and secondly, the tendency of the Negroes to shift from place to
     place. The natural inclination to roam from one employment to
     another has been accentuated by unusual demands for labor incident
     to the war, resulting in a considerable flow of colored men to the
     north and to various munition centers. This shifting reached its
     height in the summer of 1917, shortly after the first registration,
     and resulted in the failure of many men to keep in touch with their
     local boards, so that questionnaires and notices to report did not
     reach them.

     "With equal unanimity the draft executives report that the amount
     of willful delinquency or desertion has been almost nil. Several
     describe the strenuous efforts of the Negroes to comply with the
     regulations, when the requirements were explained to them, many
     registrants travelling long distances to report in person to the
     adjutant general of the state. 'The conviction resulting from these
     reports' says General Crowder, 'is that the colored men as a whole
     responded readily and gladly to their military obligations once
     their duties were understood."

So far as the records show, there were neither "slackers" nor
"pacifists" among the Negroes. Hon. Emmett J. Scott, Special Assistant
to the Secretary of War, said that the war department had heard of only
two colored "conscientious objectors". When those two were
cross-examined it was revealed that they had misinterpreted their
motives and that their objections proceeded from a source very remote
from their consciences.

Pacifists and conscientious objectors came principally from the class
who held religious scruples against war or the taking up of arms. The
law permitted these to enter a special so-called non-combatant
classification.

It is a well known fact that Negro religionists are members of the
church militant, so they could not be included in the self-declared
conscientious pacifistic sects.

Neither was the Negro represented in that class known as draft resisters
or draft evaders. A very good reason exists in the fact that opposition
to the draft came from a class which did not admit the Negro to
membership. Practically all draft resistance was traceable to the
activities of radicals, whose fantastic dreams enchanted and seduced the
ignorant and artless folk who came under their influence.

The resisters were all poor whites led by professional agitators.
Negroes had no such organizations nor leaders.

The part played by the Negro in the great world drama upon which the
curtain has fallen, was not approached in sublime devotion by that
displayed by any other class of America's heterogeneous mixture of tribe
and race, hailing from all the ends of the earth, that composes its
great and wonderful population. Blind in a sense; unreasoning as a child
in the sacredness and consecration of his fealty; clamoring with the
fervor of an ancient crusader; his eye on heaven, his steps turned
towards the Holy Sepulchre, for a chance to go; a time and place to die,
HIS was a distinct and marked patriotism; quite alone in "splendid
isolation" but shining like the sun; unstreaked with doubt; unmixed with
cavil or question, which, finally given reign on many a spot of strife
in "Sunny France"; the Stars and Stripes above him; a prayer in his
heart; a song upon his lips, spelt death, but death glorious; where he
fell--HOLY GROUND!

     "The fittest place where man can DIE Is where he dies for man!"

A product of slavery, ushered into a sphere of civil and political
activity, clouded and challenged by the sullen resentment of his former
masters; his soul still embittered by defeat; slowly working his way
through many hindrances toward the achievement of success that would
enable both him and the world to justify the new life of freedom that
had come to him; faced at every hand by the prejudice born of
tradition; enduring wrongs that "would stir a fever in the blood of
age"; still the slave to a large extent of superstition fed by
ignorance, is it to be wondered at that some doubt was felt and
expressed by the best friends of the Negro, when the call came for a
draft upon the man power of the nation; whether, in the face of the
great wrongs heaped upon him; the persecutions he had passed through and
was still enduring, he would be able to forgive and forget; could and
would so rise above his sorrows as to reach to the height and the full
duty of citizenship; would give to the Stars and Stripes the response
that was due? On the part of many leaders among the Negroes, there was
apprehension that the sense of fair play and fair dealing, which is so
essentially an American characteristic, when white men are involved,
would not be meted out to the members of their race.

How groundless such fears, may be seen from the statistical record of
the draft with relation to the Negro. His race furnished its quota
uncomplainingly and cheerfully. History, indeed, will be unable to
record the fullness and grandeur of his spirit in the war, for the
reason that opportunities, especially for enlistment, as heretofore
mentioned, were not opened to him to the same extent as to the whites.
But enough can be gathered from the records to show that he was filled
not only with patriotism, but of a brand, all things considered, than
which there was no other like it.

That the men of the Negro race were as ready to serve as the white is
amply proved by the reports of local boards. A Pennsylvania board,
remarking upon the eagerness of its Negro registrants to be inducted,
illustrated it by the action of one registrant, who, upon learning that
his employer had had him placed upon the Emergency Fleet list, quit his
job. Another registrant who was believed by the board to be above draft
age insisted that he was not, and in stating that he was not married,
explained that he "wanted only one war at a time."

The following descriptions from Oklahoma and Arkansas boards are
typical, the first serving to perpetuate one of the best epigrams of
the war:

     "We tried to treat the Negroes with exactly the same consideration
     shown the whites. We had the same speakers to address them. The
     Rotary Club presented them with small silk flags, as they did the
     whites. The band turned out to escort them to the train; and the
     Negroes went to camp with as cheerful a spirit as did the whites.
     One of them when asked if he were going to France, replied: 'No,
     sir; I'm not going "to France". I am going "through France".'"

     "In dealing with the Negroes," the Arkansas board report says, "the
     southern boards gained a richness of experience that is without
     parallel. No other class of citizens was more loyal to the
     government or more ready to answer the country's call. The only
     blot upon their military record was the great number of delinquents
     among the more ignorant; but in the majority of cases this was
     traced to an ignorance of the regulations, or to the withholding of
     mail by the landlord, often himself an aristocratic slacker, in
     order to retain the man's labor."

Many influences were brought to bear upon the Negro to cause him to
evade his duty to the government. Some effort in certain sections of the
country was made to induce them not to register. That the attempt to
spread German propaganda among them was a miserable failure may be seen
from the statement of the Chief of the Bureau of Investigation of the
Department of Justice, made to the United States Senate committee:

     "The Negroes didn't take to these stories, however, as they were
     too loyal. Money spent in the south for propaganda was thrown
     away."

Then too, these evil influences were more than offset by the various
publicity and "promotion of morale" measures carried on through the
office of the special assistant to the Secretary of War, the Hon. Emmet
J. Scott, and his assistants. Correspondence was kept up with
influential Negroes all over the country. Letters, circulars and news
items for the purpose of effecting and encouraging continued loyalty of
Negro citizens, were regularly issued to the various papers comprising
both the white and Negro press. A special committee of 100 colored
speakers was appointed to deliver public patriotic addresses all over
the country, under the auspices of the Committee on Public Information,
stating the war aims of the government and seeking to keep unbroken the
spirit of loyalty of Negro American citizens. A special conference of
Negro editors was summoned to Washington in June, 1918 by the same
committee in order to gather and disseminate the thought and public
opinion of the various leaders of the Negro race. Such was only a part
of the work of the department of the special assistant to the Secretary
of War in marshalling the man power of the nation.

[Illustration: NEGRO TROOPS OF U.S. ARMY RECEIVING HOLY BAPTISM WHILE
IN TRAINING FOR OVERSEAS DUTY AT NORCROSS RIFLE RANGE. CAMP CORDON, GA.]

It is only fair to quote the opinion and appreciation of this
representative of the Negro race of the selective service
administration, especially as it affected the Negro and in reference to
occasional complaints received. The extract is from a memorandum
addressed to the office of the Provost Marshal General on September 12,
1918 and is copied from the report of that official to the Secretary of
War:

     "Throughout my tenure here I have keenly appreciated the prompt and
     cordial cooperation of the Provost Marshall General's office with
     that particular section of the office of the Secretary of War
     especially referred to herein. The Provost Marshall General's
     office has carefully investigated and has furnished full and
     complete reports in each and every complaint or case referred to it
     for attention, involving discrimination, race prejudice, erroneous
     classification of draftees, etc., and has rectified these
     complaints whenever it was found upon investigation that there was
     just ground for same. Especially in the matter of applying and
     carrying out the selective service regulations, the Provost
     Marshall General's office has kept a watchful eye upon certain
     local exemption boards which seemed disinclined to treat the Negro
     draftees on the same basis as other Americans subject to the draft
     law. It is an actual fact that in a number of instances where
     flagrant violations have occurred in the application of the draft
     law, to Negro men in certain sections of the country, local
     exemption boards have been removed bodily and new boards have been
     appointed to supplant them. In several instances these new boards
     so appointed have been ordered by the Provost Marshall General to
     reclassify colored men who had been unlawfully conscripted into the
     army or who had been wrongfully classified; as a result of this
     action hundreds of colored men have had their complaints remedied
     and have been properly reclassified."

It is also valuable to note the opinion of this representative of his
race as to the results of the negroes' participation in the war:

     "In a word, I believe the Negro's participation in the war, his
     eagerness to serve, and his great courage and demonstrated valor
     across the seas, have given him a new idea of Americanism and
     likewise have given to the white people of our country a new idea
     of his citizenship, his real character and capabilities, and his
     100 per cent Americanism. Incidentally the Negro has been helped in
     many ways physically and mentally and has been made into an even
     more satisfactory asset to the nation."

Of the Negroes inducted into service, nearly all were assigned to some
department of the army or to special work in connection with the army.
Of the few who were permitted to enlist, a very small percentage was
permitted to enlist in the Navy. Of this small number only a few were
allowed the regular training and opportunities of combatants, to the
DISCREDIT of our nation, not as yet, grown to that moral vision and all
around greatness, NOT to be small.




CHAPTER XIII

ROSTER OF NEGRO OFFICERS.


COMMISSIONED AT FORT DES MOINES--ONLY EXCLUSIVE NEGRO TRAINING
CAMP--MOSTLY FROM CIVILIAN LIFE--NAMES, RANK AND RESIDENCE.


Fort Des Moines, Iowa, was the only training camp established in the
United States exclusively for Negro officers. A few were trained and
commissioned at Camps Hancock, Pike and Taylor, and a few received
commissions at officers' training camps in France, but the War
Department records do not specify which were white and which Negro. The
Fort Des Moines camp lasted from June until October 1917. Following is
the roster of Negro officers commissioned. With the exception of those
specified as from the United States Army or the National Guard, all came
from civilian life:

Cleve L. Abbott, first lieutenant, Watertown, S.D.
Joseph L. Abernethy, first lieutenant, Prairie View, Tex.
Ewart G. Abner, second lieutenant, Conroe, Tex.
Charles J. Adams, first lieutenant, Selma, Ala.
Aurelious P. Alberga, first lieutenant, San Francisco, Calif.
Ira L. Aldridge, second lieutenant, New York, N.Y.
Edward I. Alexander, first lieutenant, Jacksonville, Fla.
Fritz W. Alexander, second lieutenant, Donaldsville, Ga.
Lucien V. Alexis, first lieutenant, Cambridge, Mass.
John H. Allen, captain, U.S. Army.
Levi Alexander, Jr., first lieutenant, Ocala, Fla.
Clarence W. Allen, second lieutenant, Mobile, Ala.
Richard S. Allen, second lieutenant, Atlantic City, N.J.
James W. Alston, first lieutenant, Raleigh, N.C.
Benjamin E. Ammons, first lieutenant, Kansas City, Mo.
Leon M. Anderson, first lieutenant, Washing ton, D.C.
Levi Anderson, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Robert Anderson, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
David W. Anthony, Jr., first lieutenant, St. Louis, Mo.
James C. Arnold, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Russell C. Atkins, second lieutenant, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Henry O. Atwood, captain, Washington, D.C.
Charles H. Austin, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
George J. Austin, first lieutenant. New York, N.Y.
Herbert Avery, captain, U.S. Army.
Robert S. Bamfield, second lieutenant, Wilmington, N.C.
Julian C. Banks, second lieutenant, Kansas City, Mo.
Charles H. Barbour, captain, U.S. Army.
Walter B. Barnes, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
William I. Barnes, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Stephen B. Barrows, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Thomas J. Batey, first lieutenant, Oakland, Cal.
Wilfrid Bazil, second lieutenant, Brooklyn, N.Y.
James E. Beard, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Ether Beattie, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
William H. Benson, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Albert P. Bentley, first lieutenant, Memphis, Tenn.
Benjamin Bettis, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Harrison W. Black, first lieutenant, Lexington, Ky.
Charles J. Blackwood, first lieutenant, Trinidad, Colo.
William Blaney, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Isaiah S. Blocker, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
William D. Bly, first lieutenant, Leavenworth, Kans.
Henry H. Boger, second lieutenant, Aurora, Ill.
Elbert L. Booker, first lieutenant, Wymer, Wash.
Virgil M. Boutte, captain, Nashville, Tenn.
Jas. F. Booker, captain, U.S. Army.
William R. Bowie, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Clyde R. Brannon, first lieutenant, Fremont, Neb.
Lewis Broadus, captain, U.S. Army.
Deton J. Brooks, first lieutenant, Chicago, Ill.
William M. Brooks, second lieutenant, Des Moines, Ia.
Carter N. Brown, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Emmet Brown, first lieutenant, St. Louis, Mo.
George E. Brown, second lieutenant, New York City, N.Y.
Oscar C. Brown, first lieutenant, Edwards, Miss.
Rosen T. Brown, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Samuel C. Brown, second lieutenant, Delaware, Ohio.
William H. Brown, Jr., first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Arthur A. Browne, first lieutenant, Xenia, Ohio.
Howard R.M. Browne, first lieutenant, Kansas City, Kans.
Sylvanus Brown, first lieutenant, San Antonio, Tex.
Charles C. Bruen, first lieutenant, Mayslick, Ky.
William T. Burns, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
James A. Bryant, first lieutenant, Indianapolis, Ind.
William L. Bryson, captain, U.S. Army.
John E. Buford, second lieutenant, Langston, Okla.
Thomas J. Bullock, second lieutenant, New York City, N.Y.
John W. Bundrant, second lieutenant, Omaha, Neb.
John P. Burgess, first lieutenant, Mullens, S.C.
Dace H. Burns, first lieutenant, Chicago, Ill.
William H. Burrell, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
John M. Burrell, second lieutenant, East Orange, N.J.
Herman L. Butler, first lieutenant, U.S. Army,
Homer C. Butler, first lieutenant, New York, N.Y.
Felix Buggs, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Napoleon L. Byrd, first lieutenant, Madison, Wis.
John B. Cade, second lieutenant, Ellerton, Ga.
Walter W. Cagle, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Charles W. Caldwell, second lieutenant, Orangeburg, S.C.
Andrew B. Callahan, second lieutenant, Montgomery, Ala.
Alvin H. Cameron, first lieutenant, Nashville, Tenn.
Alonzo Campbell, captain, U.S. Army.
Lafayette Campbell, second lieutenant, Union, W. Va.
Robert L. Campbell, first lieutenant, Greensboro, N.C.
William B. Campbell, first lieutenant, Austin, Tex.
Guy W. Canady, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Lovelace B. Capehart, Jr., second lieutenant, Raleigh, N.C.
Adolphus F. Capps, second lieutenant, Philadelphia, Pa.
Curtis W. Carpenter, second lieutenant, Baltimore, Md.
Early Carson, captain, U.S. Army.
John O. Carter, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Wilson Cary, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Robert W. Cheers, second lieutenant, Baltimore, Md.
David K. Cherry, captain, Greensboro, N.C.
Frank R. Chisholm, first lieutenant, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Robert B. Chubb, captain, U.S. Army.
Ewell W. Clark, first lieutenant, Giddings, Tex.
Frank C. Clark, second lieutenant, National Guard, Washington, D.C.
William H. Clarke, first lieutenant, Birmingham, Ala.
William H. Clarke, first lieutenant, Helena, Ark.
Roscoe Clayton, captain, U.S. Army.
Lane G. Cleaves, second lieutenant, Memphis, Tenn.
Joshua W. Clifford, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Sprigg B. Coates, captain, U.S. Army.
Frank Coleman, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
William Collier, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
William N. Colson, second lieutenant, Cambridge, Mass.
Leonard O. Colston, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Jones A. Coltrane, first lieutenant, Spokane, Wash.
John Combs, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Barton W. Conrad, first lieutenant, Cambridge, Mass.
Lloyd F. Cook, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Charles C. Cooper, captain, National Guard, District of Columbia.
George P. Cooper, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Joseph H. Cooper, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Chesley E. Corbett, first lieutenant, Wewoka, Okla.
Harry W. Cox, first lieutenant, Sedalia, Mo.
James W. Cranson, captain, United States Army.
Horace R. Crawford, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Judge Cross, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Clarence B. Curley, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Merrill H. Curtis, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Edward L. Dabney, first lieutenant, Hampton, Va.
Joe Dabney, captain, U.S. Army.
Victor R. Daly, first lieutenant, Corona, Long Island, N.Y.
Eugene A. Dandridge, first lieutenant, National Guard, District of
  Columbia.
Eugene L.C. Davidson, first lieutenant, Cambridge, Mass.
Henry G. Davis, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Irby D. Davis, first lieutenant, Sumter, S.C.
William E. Davis, captain, Washington, D.C.
Charles C. Dawson, first lieutenant, Chicago, Ill.
William S. Dawson, first lieutenant, Chicago, Ill.
Aaron Day, Jr., captain, Prairie View, Tex.
Milton T. Dean, captain, U.S. Army.
Francis M. Dent, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Thomas M. Dent, Jr., first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
James B. Dickson, second lieutenant, Asheville, N.C.
Spahr H. Dickey, captain, San Francisco, Cal.
Elder W. Diggs, first lieutenant, Indianapolis, Ind.
William H. Dinkins, first lieutenant, Selma, Ala.
Beverly L. Dorsey, captain, U.S. Army.
Edward C. Dorsey, captain, U.S. Army.
Harris N. Dorsey, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Seaborn Douglas, second lieutenant, Hartford, Conn.
Vest Douglas, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Frank L. Drye, first lieutenant, Little Rock, Ark.
Edward Dugger, first lieutenant, Roxbury, Mass.
Jackson E. Dunn, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Benjamin F. Dunning, second lieutenant, Norfolk, Va.
Charles J. Echols, Jr., captain, U.S. Army.
Charles Ecton, captain, U.S. Army.
George E. Edwards, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Leonard Edwards, second lieutenant, Augusta, Ga.
James L. Elliott, second lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Charles J. Ellis, second lieutenant, Springfield, Ill.
Harry C. Ellis, first lieutenant, Patrick, Ia.
Roscoe Ellis, captain, U.S. Army.
Leslie H. Engram, second lieutenant, Montezuma, Ga.
Alexander E. Evans, first lieutenant, Columbia, S.C.
Will H. Evans, second lieutenant, Montgomery, Tex.
Norwood C. Fairfax, second lieutenant, Eagle Rock, Va.
John R. Fairley, first lieutenant, Kansas City, Mo.
Clifford L. Farrer, first lieutenant, El Paso, Tex.
Leonard J. Faulkner, first lieutenant, Columbus, O.
William H. Fearence, first lieutenant, Texarkana, Tex.
Charles H. Fearing, first lieutenant, St. Louis, Mo.
Robert W. Fearing, second lieutenant, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Alonzo G. Ferguson, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Gurnett E. Ferguson, captain, Dunbar, W. Va.
Thomas A. Firmes, captain, U.S. Army.
Dillard J. Firse, first lieutenant, Cleveland, O.
Octavius Fisher, first lieutenant, Detroit, Mich.
James E. Fladger, second lieutenant, Kansas City, Mo.
Benjamin F. Ford, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Edward W. Ford, second lieutenant, Philadelphia, Pa.
Frank L. Francis, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Henry O. Franklin, second lieutenant, San Francisco, Cal.
Ernest C. Frazier, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Arthur Freeman, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Sewell G. Freeman, second lieutenant, Aragon, Ga.
Edward S. Gaillard, first lieutenant, Indianapolis, Ind.
Tacitus E. Gaillard, second lieutenant, Kansas City, Mo.
James H.L. Gaines, second lieutenant, Little Rock, Ark.
Ellsworth Gamblee, first lieutenant, Cincinnati, O.
Lucian P. Garrett, second lieutenant, Louisville, Ky.
William L. Gee, first lieutenant, Gallipolis, Ohio.
Clayborne George, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Warmith T. Gibbs, second lieutenant, Cambridge, Mass.
Howard C. Gilbert, first lieutenant, Columbus, Ohio.
Walter A. Giles, first lieutenant, St. Louis, Mo.
Archie H. Gillespie, captain, U.S. Army
William Gillum, captain, U.S. Army.
Floyd Gilmer, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
William Glass, captain, U.S. Army.
Jesse J. Gleeden, second lieutenant, Little Rock, Ark.
Leroy H. Godman, captain, Columbus, Ohio.
Edward L. Goodlett, second lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Nathan O. Goodloe, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Frank M. Goodner, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Elijah H. Goodwin, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
James A. Gordon, first lieutenant, St. Joseph, Mo.
Herbert R. Gould, first lieutenant, Dedham, Mass.
James E. Gould, first lieutenant, Dedham, Mass.
Francis H. Gow, first lieutenant, Charleston, W. Va.
William T. Grady, second lieutenant, Dudley, N.C.
Jesse M.H. Graham, second lieutenant, Clarksville, Tenn.
William H. Graham, captain, U.S. Army.
Towson S. Grasty, first lieutenant, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Thornton H. Gray, first lieutenant, Fairmount Heights, Md.
Miles M. Green, captain, U.S. Army.
Thomas E. Green, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Walter Green, captain, U.S. Army.
Jesse J. Green, first lieutenant, Georgetown, Ky.
Thomas M. Gregory, first lieutenant, Newark, N.J.
Jefferson E. Grigsby, second lieutenant, Chapelle, S.C.,
Thomas Grundy, captain, U.S. Army.
William W. Green, captain, U.S. Army.
George B. Greenlee, first lieutenant, Marion, N.C.
Nello B. Greenlee, second lieutenant, New York, N.Y.
Herbert H. Guppy, second lieutenant, Boston, Mass.
George C. Hall, captain, U.S. Army.
Leonidas H. Hall, Jr., second lieutenant, Philadelphia, Pa.
George W. Hamilton, Jr., first lieutenant, Topeka, Kans.
Rodney D. Hardeway, second lieutenant, Houston, Tex.
Clarence W. Harding, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Clifton S. Hardy, second lieutenant, Champaign, Ill.
Clay Harper, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Ted O. Harper, second lieutenant, Columbus, Ohio.
Tillman H. Harpole, first lieutenant, Kansas City, Mo.
Bravid W. Harris, Jr., first lieutenant, Warrenton, N.C.
Edward H. Harris, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Eugene Harris, captain, U.S. Army.
William Harris, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Byrd McD. Hart, captain, U.S. Army.
Albert L. Hatchett, first lieutenant, San Antonio, Tex.
Lawrence Hawkins, second lieutenant, Bowie, Md.
Charles M. Hayes, second lieutenant, Hopkinsville, Ky.
Merriam C. Hayson, first lieutenant, Kenilworth, D.C.
Alonzo Heard, captain, U.S. Army.
Almando Henderson, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Douglas J. Henderson, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Robert M. Hendrick, first lieutenant, Tallahassee, Fla.
Thomas J. Henry, Jr., first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Vodrey Henry, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Jesse S. Heslip, first lieutenant, Toledo, Ohio.
Lee J. Hicks, captain, Ottawa, Kans.
Victor La Naire Hicks, second lieutenant, Columbia, Mo.
Arthur K. Hill, first lieutenant, Lawrence, Kans.
Daniel G. Hill, Jr., second lieutenant, Cantonsville, Md.
Walter Hill, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
William Hill, captain, U.S. Army.
Clarence O. Hilton, first lieutenant, Farmville, Va.
Lowell B. Hodges, first lieutenant, Houston, Tex.
Horatio B. Holder, first lieutenant, Cairo, Ga.
George A. Holland, captain, U.S. Army.
James G. Hollingsworth, captain, U.S. Army.
George C. Hollomand, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Wayne L. Hopkins, second lieutenant, Columbus, Ohio.
James L. Horace, second lieutenant, Little Rock, Ark.
Reuben Homer, captain, U.S. Army.
Charles S. Hough, second lieutenant, Jamestown, Ohio.
Charles H. Houston, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Henry C. Houston, captain, U.S. Army.
Cecil A. Howard, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Clarence K. Howard, second lieutenant, Montgomery, Ala.
Charles P. Howard, first lieutenant, Des Moines, Ia.
Arthur Hubbard, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Jerome L. Hubert, first lieutenant, Houston, Tex.
William H. Hubert, second lieutenant, Mayfield, Ga.
Jefferson E. Hudgins, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Samuel M. Huffman, first lieutenant, Columbus, Ohio.
Samuel A. Hull, first lieutenant, Jacksonville, Fla.
John R. Hunt, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Bush A. Hunter, second lieutenant, Lexington, Ky.
Benjamin H. Hunton, first lieutenant, Newport News, Va.
Frederick A. Hurt, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Walter L. Hutcherson, first lieutenant, Amherst, Va.
Samuel B. Hutchinson, Jr., second lieutenant, Boston, Mass.
James E. Ivey, second lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Beecher A. Jackson, first lieutenant, Texarkana, Tex.
George W. Jackson, first lieutenant, Ardmore, Mo.
Joseph T. Jackson, first lieutenant, Charleston, W. Va.
Landen Jackson, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Matthew Jackson, captain, U.S. Army.
Maxey A. Jackson, second lieutenant, Marian, Ky.
Joyce G. Jacobs, second lieutenant, Chicago, Ill.
Wesley H. Jamison, second lieutenant, Topeka, Kans.
Charles Jefferson, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Benjamin R. Johnson, first lieutenant, New York, N.Y.
Campbell C. Johnson, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Ernest C. Johnson, second lieutenant, Washington D.C.
Everett W. Johnson, first lieutenant, Philadelphia, Pa.
Hanson Johnson, captain, U.S. Army.
Hillery W. Johnson, second lieutenant, Philadelphia, Pa.
Joseph L. Johnson, second lieutenant, Philadelphia, Pa.
Merle O. Johnson, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Robert E. Johnson, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Thomas Johnson, captain, U.S. Army.
Virginius D. Johnson, first lieutenant, Richmond, Va.
William N. Johnson, second lieutenant, Omaha, Neb.
William T. Johnson, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Willie Johnson, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Charles A. Jones, second lieutenant, San Antonio, Tex.
Clifford W. Jones, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Dee Jones, captain, U.S. Army.
Edward D. Jones, second lieutenant, Hartford, Conn.
James W. Jones, captain, Washington, D.C.
James O. Jones, second lieutenant, Paulding, Ohio.
Paul W. Jones, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Percy L. Jones, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Vivian L. Jones, second lieutenant, Des Moines, Ia.
Warren F. Jones, captain, U.S. Army.
William Jones, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Charles G. Kelly, captain, Tuskegee, Ala.
Elliott H. Kelly, first lieutenant, Camden, S.C.
John B. Kemp, captain, U.S. Army.
John M. Kenney, captain, U.S. Army.
Will Kernts, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Otho E. Kerr, first lieutenant, Hampton, Va.
Orestus J. Kincaid, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Jesse L. Kimbrough, first lieutenant, Los Angeles, Cal.
Moses King, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Laurence E. Knight, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Edward C. Knox, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
John W. Knox, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Azzie B. Koger, first lieutenant, Reidsville, N.C.
Linwood G. Koger, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Charles E. Lane, Jr., first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
David A. Lane, Jr., first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Frank L. Lane, second lieutenant, Houston, Tex.
Benton R. Latimer, first lieutenant, Warrenton, Ga.
Ernest W. Latson, first lieutenant, Jacksonville, Fla.
Laige I. Lancaster, first lieutenant, Hampton, Va.
Oscar G. Lawless, first lieutenant, New Orleans, La.
Samuel Lawson, second lieutenant, Philadelphia, Pa.
Wilfred W. Lawson, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Geo. E. Lee, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
George W. Lee, second lieutenant, Memphis, Tenn.
Lawrence A. Lee, second lieutenant, Hampton, Va.
John E. Leonard, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Garrett M. Lewis, first lieutenant, San Antonio, Tex.
Henry O. Lewis, first lieutenant, Boston, Mass.
Everett B. Liggins, second lieutenant, Austin, Tex.
Victor C. Lightfoot, second lieutenant, South Pittsburg, Tenn.
John Q. Lindsey, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Redden L. Linton, second lieutenant, Boston, Ga.
Glenda W. Locust, second lieutenant, Sealy, Tenn.
Aldon L. Logan, first lieutenant, Lawrence, Kans.
James B. Lomack, first lieutenant, National Guard, Dist. of Columbia.
Howard H. Long, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Victor Long, first lieutenant, U. S, Army.
Lonnie W. Lott, second lieutenant, Austin, Tex.
Charles H. Love, second lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Edgar A. Love, first lieutenant, Baltimore, Md.
Frank W. Love, captain, U.S. Army.
George B. Love, first lieutenant, Greensboro, N.C.
John W. Love, first lieutenant, Baltimore, Md.
Joseph Lowe, captain, U.S. Army.
Walter Lowe, first lieutenant, St Louis, Mo.
Charles C. Luck, Jr., second lieutenant, San Marcus, Tex.
Walter Lyons, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Harry J. Mack, second lieutenant, Cheney, Pa.
Amos B. Madison, first lieutenant, Omaha, Neb.
Edgar F. Malone, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Edgar O. Malone, captain, U.S. Army.
Earl W. Mann, first lieutenant, Champaign, Ill.
Vance H. Marchbanks, captain, U.S. Army.
Leon F. Marsh, first lieutenant, Berkeley, Cal.
Alfred E. Marshall, second lieutenant, Greenwood, S.C.
Cyrus W. Marshall, second lieutenant, Baltimore, Md.
Cuby Martin, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Joseph H. Martin, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Eric P. Mason, first lieutenant, Giddings, Tex.
Denis McG. Matthews, first lieutenant, Los Angeles, Cal.
Joseph E. Matthews, second lieutenant, Cleburne, Tex.
Anderson N. May, captain, Atlanta, Ga.
Walter H. Mazyck, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Peter McCall, captain U.S. Army.
Milton A. McCrimmon, captain, U.S. Army.
Robert A. McEwen, second lieutenant, E. St. Louis, Ill.
Osceola E. McKaine, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
James E. McKey, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Carey McLane, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Archie McLee, first lieutenant, New York, N.Y.
Leonard W. McLeod, first lieutenant, Hampton, Va.
Albert McReynolds, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Marshall Meadows, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Louis R. Mehlinger, captain, Washington, D.C.
Louis R. Middleton, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Benjamin H. Mills, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Harry W. Mills, captain, U.S. Army.
Warren N. Mims, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
J. Wardlaw Mitchell, second lieutenant, Milledgeville, Ga.
Pinkney L. Mitchell, second lieutenant, Austin, Tex.
John H. Mitcherson, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Ralph E. Mizell, second lieutenant, Champaign, Ill.
Hubert M. Moman, second lieutenant, Tougaloo, Miss.
John M. Moore, first lieutenant, Meridian, Miss.
Loring B. Moore, second lieutenant, Brunswick, Ga.
Elias A. Morris, first lieutenant, Helena, Ark.
Thomas E. Morris, captain, U.S. Army.
James B. Morris, second lieutenant, Des Moines, Ia.
Cleveland Morrow, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Henry Morrow, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Abraham Morse, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Benjamin H. Mosby, first lieutenant, St. Louis, Mo.
Benedict Mosley, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Scott A. Moyer, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Albert C. Murdaugh, second lieutenant, Columbia, S.C.
Alonzo Myers, captain, Philadelphia, Pa.
Thomas J. Narcisse, second lieutenant, Jeanerette, La.
Earl H. Nash, second lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Homer G. Neely, first lieutenant, Palestine, Tex.
Gurney E. Nelson, second lieutenant, Greensboro, N.C.
William S. Nelson, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
William F. Nelson, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
James P. Nobles, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Grafton S. Norman, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Richard M. Norris, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Ambrose B. Nutt, second lieutenant, Cambridge, Mass.
Benjamin L. Ousley, second lieutenant, Tougaloo, Miss.
Charles W. Owens, captain, United States Army.
Charles G. Owlings, second lieutenant, Norfolk, Va.
William W. Oxley, first lieutenant, Cambridge, Mass.
Wilbur E. Pannell, second lieutenant, Staunton, Va.
Charles S. Parker, second lieutenant, Spokane, Wash.
Walter E. Parker, second lieutenant, Little Rock, Ark.
Clemmie C. Parks, first lieutenant, Ft. Scott, Kans.
Adam E. Patterson, captain, Chicago, Ill.
Humphrey C. Patton, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Clarence H. Payne, first lieutenant, Chicago, Ill.
William D. Peeks, captain, U.S. Army.
Robert R. Penn, first lieutenant, New York, N.Y.
Marion R. Perry, second lieutenant, Pine Bluff, Ark.
Hanson A. Person, second lieutenant, Wynne, Ark.
Harry B. Peters, second lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
James H. Peyton, second lieutenant, Montgomery, Ala.
Joseph Phillips, captain, Columbus, Ohio.
David A. Pierce, second lieutenant, Clarksville, Tenn.
Harrison J. Pinkett, first lieutenant, Omaha, Nebr.
James C. Pinkston, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Percival R. Piper, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Anderson F. Pitts, first lieutenant, Chicago, Ill.
Fisher Pride, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Herman W. Porter, second lieutenant, Cambridge, Mass.
James C. Powell, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Wade H. Powell, second lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
William J. Powell, first lieutenant, Chicago, Ill.
Gloucester A. Price, second lieutenant, Fort Meyer, Fla.
John F. Pritchard, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Henry H. Proctor, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
John H. Purnell, first lieutenant, Trappe, Md.
Howard D. Queen, captain, U.S. Army.
Richard R. Queen, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Harold L. Quivers, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Washington H. Racks, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
John E. Raiford, second lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Hazel L. Raine, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Fred D. Ramsey, first lieutenant, Wedgefleld, S.C.
James O. Redmon, second lieutenant, Newton, Iowa.
Charles G. Reed, first lieutenant, Charleston, S.C.
Rufus Reed, captain, U.S. Army.
Lightfoot H. Reese, second lieutenant, Newman, Ga.
William L. Reese, second lieutenant, Bennetsville, S.C.
Robert S. Reid, second lieutenant, Newman, Ga.
Samuel Reid, captain, U.S. Army.
Adolph Reyes, second lieutenant, Philadelphia, Pa.
Elijah Reynolds, captain, U.S. Army.
John F. Rice, first lieutenant, Chicago, Ill.
Douglas C. Richardson, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Harry D. Richardson, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Leonard. H. Richardson, first lieutenant, Oakland, Cal.
Maceo A. Richmond, second lieutenant, Des Moines, Ia.
Francis E. Rivers, first lieutenant, New Haven, Conn.
Marion C. Rhoten, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Charles E. Roberts, first lieutenant, Atlantic City, N.J.
Clyde Roberts, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Edward Robertson, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Charles W. Robinson, second lieutenant, Cleveland, Ohio.
George C. Robinson, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Peter L. Robinson, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
William W. Robinson, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Julian P. Rogers, first lieutenant, Montgomery, Ala.
John W. Rowe, first lieutenant, Danville, Ky.
Thomas Rucker, captain, U.S. Army.
Edward P. Rudd, first lieutenant, New York City.
Mallalieu W. Rush, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
John Russell, captain, U.S. Army.
Louis H. Russell, second lieutenant, New York, N.Y.
Earl Ryder, second lieutenant, Springfield, Ill.
Chester Sanders, captain, U.S. Army.
Joseph B. Sanders, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Walter R. Sanders, captain, U.S. Army.
Clifford A. Sandridge, captain, U.S. Army.
Lorin O. Sanford, captain, U.S. Army.
Elliott D. Saunders, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Walker L. Savoy, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Elmer P. Sawyer, second lieutenant, Providence, R.I.
George S. Schuyler, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
James E. Scott, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
James E. Scott, first lieutenant, Hampton, Va.
Joseph H. Scott, first lieutenant, Darlington, S.C.
Walter W. Scott, second lieutenant, Brooksville, Miss.
William F. Scott, captain, U.S. Army.
Fletcher Sewell, captain, U.S. Army.
Shermont R. Sewell, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Charles A. Shaw, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Warren B. Shelton, second lieutenant, Hot Springs, Ark.
Robert T. Shobe, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Hal Short, first lieutenant, Iowa City, Ia.
Harry W. Short, second lieutenant, Iowa City, Ia.
Ogbon N. Simmons, first lieutenant, Waldo, Fla.
Richard Simmons, captain, U.S. Army.
William E. Simmons, first lieutenant, Burlington, Vt.
Austin Simms, second lieutenant, Darien, Ga.
John H. Simms, Jr., first lieutenant, Jacksonville, Fla.

[Illustration: ARTILLERY AT WORK IN A FRENCH FOREST. THIS WAS A PHASE OF
OPERATION IN WHICH THE NEGRO UNITS OF THE 167TH BRIGADE DISTINGUISHED
THEMSELVES IN THE CLOSING DAYS OF THE WAR.]

[Illustration: SENTRY BOX OUTSIDE OF REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS WITH
WARNING HORN FOR GAS ATTACKS. CAMOUFLAGED GATE ON THE LEFT.]

[Illustration: ONE OF THE HUGE GUNS, 16-INCH CALIBER OF THE AMERICAN
RAILWAY ARTILLERY, WHICH DID SUCH FRIGHTFUL EXECUTION NEAR THE CLOSE OF
THE WAR. CAMOUFLAGED THROUGHOUT.]

[Illustration:  A RAILROAD IN FRANCE. THIS ONE WAS USED BY A PORTION OF
THE 93RD DIVISION IN THE CHAMPAGNE TO TRANSPORT TROOPS AND SUPPLIES TO
THE FRONT.]

[Illustration: PASSENGER CARS USED BY FAMOUS 93RD. NEGRO DIVISION IN
CHAMPAGNE, FRANCE.]

[Illustration:  SENDING MESSAGE BY CARRIER PIGEON. OFFICER AND SOLDIERS
OF 369TH INFANTRY OUTSIDE OF DUGOUT IN FRANCE.]

[Illustration: KITCHEN AND DINING QUARTERS AT THE FRONT. SOLDIERS BELONG
TO FAMOUS 93RD DIVISION AMERICAN NEGRO SOLDIERS BRIGADED WITH THE
FRENCH.]

[Illustration: INFANTRY AND GUNNERS AT CLOSE GRIPS. DRAWING REPRESENTS
A BRILLIANT COUNTER-ATTACK IN A SHELL-TORN WOOD IN FRANCE.]

[Illustration: A TYPICAL TRENCH SCENE. NEGROES OF THE 93RD DIVISION
SERVING WITH FRENCH IN THE CHAMPAGNE.]

[Illustration: SECRET ORGANIZATIONS PRESENT AT THE BREAKING OF THE
GROUND FOR McDONOUGH MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, W. 133RD STREET, NEW YORK. NAMED
IN HONOR OF MR. DAVID KEARNEY McDONOUGH, PIONEER NEGRO PHYSICIAN OF
THAT CITY. TO BE USED AS A BASE UNIT FOR COLORED SOLDIERS.]

[Illustration: LIEUT. JOHN APPLEBEE OF THE RED CROSS HOME SERVICE,
COMFORTING AND REASSURING SOLDIERS ANXIOUS ABOUT THE WELFARE OF THEIR
FAMILIES. CAMP NO. 43. GIEVRES. FRANCE.]

[Illustration: CROWN PRINCE AND KAISER BILL. TWO GERMAN DOGS AND THEIR
CAPTORS. THE SOLDIERS ARE PRIVATES ROBINSON CLEVE, 539TH ENGINEERS AND
DANIEL NELSON, 372ND INFANTRY.]

[Illustration: TYPES OF NEGRO ENGINEERS WHO WERE SUCH IMPORTANT FACTORS
IN OUR OVERSEAS FORCES.]

[Illustration: FOUR CAVERNS, STUDDED WITH IVORY, FURNISH HARMONY IN THE
TRAINING CAMP.]

Abraham L. Simpson, captain, Louisville, Ky.
Lawrence Simpson, first lieutenant, Chicago, Ill.
William R. Smalls, first lieutenant, Manassas, Va.
Daniel Smith, captain, U.S. Army.
Enos B. Smith, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Ernest Smith, second lieutenant, Philadelphia, Pa.
Fairel N. Smith, first lieutenant, Orangeburg, S.C.
Joseph W. Smith, second lieutenant, Concord, S.C.
Oscar H. Smith, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Pitman E. Smith, first lieutenant, Columbus, Ohio.
Russell Smith, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Walter H. Smith, first lieutenant, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Levi E. Southe, second lieutenant, Chicago, Ill.
Carlos Sowards, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Edward W. Spearman, captain, U.S. Army.
Walter R. St. Clair, second lieutenant, Philadelphia, Pa.
Lloyd A. Stafford, captain, U.S. Army.
Moody Staten, captain, U.S. Army.
Percy H. Steele, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Waddell C. Steele, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Grant Stewart, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Robert K. Stephens, captain, U.S. Army.
Leon Stewart, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Thomas R. Stewart, first lieutenant, Ft. Wayne, Ind.
William A. Stith, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
James M. Stockett, Jr., first lieutenant, Providence, R.I.
Wilbur F. Stonestreet, second lieutenant, Topeka, Kans.
Daniel T. Taylor, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Hannibal B. Taylor, second lieutenant, Guthrie, Okla.
Pearl E. Taylor, first lieutenant, St. Louis, Mo.
Benjamin F. Thomas, captain, U.S. Army.
Bob Thomas, captain, U.S. Army.
Vincent B. Thomas, second lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
Charles M. Thompson, first lieutenant, Columbia, S.C.
Joseph Thompson, captain, U.S. Army.
Pierce McN. Thompson, first lieutenant, Albany, Ga.
Richard C. Thompson, first lieutenant, Harrisburg, Pa.
Toliver T. Thompson, first lieutenant, Houston, Tex.
William H. Thompson, first lieutenant, Jacksonville, Fla.
William W. Thompson, captain, United States Army.
James W. Thornton, first lieutenant, West Raleigh, N.C.
Leslie J. Thurman, captain, U.S. Army.
Samuel J. Tipton, captain, U.S. Army.
Frederick H. Townsend, second lieutenant, Newport, R.I.
Anderson Trapp, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Charles A. Tribbett, first lieutenant, New Haven, Conn.
Joseph E. Trigg, captain, Syracuse, N.Y.
Archibald R. Tuck, second lieutenant, Oberlin, O.
Victor J. Tulane, first lieutenant, Montgomery, Ala.
William J. Turnbow, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Allen Turner, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Edward Turner, first lieutenant, Omaha, Nebr.
Samuel Turner, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Shadrach W. Upshaw, second lieutenant, Austin, Tex.
Ferdinand S. Upshur, second lieutenant, Philadelphia, Pa.
George L. Vaughn, first lieutenant, St. Louis, Mo.
Austin T. Walden, captain, Macon, Ga.
John P. Walker, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Lewis W. Wallace, captain, U.S. Army.
Thomas H. Walters, first lieutenant. New York, N.Y.
Robert L. Ward, first lieutenant, Detroit, Mich.
James H.N. Waring, Jr., first lieutenant, Washington, D, C.
Genoa S. Washington, captain, U.S. Army.
George G. Washington, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Bolivar E. Watkins, first lieutenant, St. Louis, Mo.
Alstyne M. Watson, second lieutenant, Tallapoosa, Ga.
Baxter W. Watson, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Louis L. Watson, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.
William H. Weare, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Walter T. Webb, first lieutenant, Baltimore, Md.
Carter W. Wesley, first lieutenant, Houston, Tex.
Harry Wheeler, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Chauncey D. White, first lieutenant, Mathews, Va.
Emmett White, captain, U.S. Army.
Journee W. White, second lieutenant, Los Angeles, Cal.
Lorenzo C. White, second lieutenant, Hampton, Va.
Johnson C. Whittaker, first lieutenant, Lawrence, Kans.
Horace G. Wilder, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Arthur R. Williams, second lieutenant, Edwards, Miss.
Everett B. Williams, first lieutenant, Syracuse, N.Y.
Gus Williams, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
James B. Williams, first lieutenant, Baltimore, Md.
John Williams, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Oscar H. Williams, second lieutenant, New York, N.Y.
Richard A. Williams, captain, Lawnside, N.J.
Robert G. Williams, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Seymour E. Williams, second lieutenant, Muskogee, Okla.
Major Williams, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Walter B. Williams, captain, U.S. Army.
William H. Williams, captain, U.S. Army.
Elmore S. Willie, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Harry E. Wilson, first lieutenant, Des Moines, Ia.
John E. Wilson, first lieutenant, Leavenworth, Kans.
William H. Wilson, second lieutenant, Greensboro, N.C.
Meredith B. Wily, first lieutenant, El Paso, Tex.
Christopher C. Wimbish, first lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Hugh H. Wimbish, second lieutenant, Atlanta, Ga.
Rolland T. Winstead, second lieutenant, Rocky Mount, N.C.
George W. Winston, captain, United States Army.
Ernest M. Wood, second lieutenant, Mebane, N.C.
Benjamin F. Wright, second lieutenant, New York, N.Y.
Elbert S. Wright, second lieutenant, Baldwin, Kans.
John Wynn, second lieutenant, U.S. Army.
Edward York, captain, United States Army.
Charles Young, first lieutenant, U.S. Army.
William A. Young, second lieutenant, Sumter, S.C.
Charles G. Young, first lieutenant, Washington, D.C.




CHAPTER XIV.

ACROSS DIVIDING SEAS.


BLACK THOUSANDS ASSEMBLE--SOLDIERS OF LIBERTY--SEVERING HOME TIES--MAN'S
WORK MUST BE DONE--FIRST NEGROES IN FRANCE--MEETING WITH FRENCH
COLONIALS--EARLY HISTORY OF 15TH NEW YORK--THEY SAIL AWAY--BECOME FRENCH
FIGHTING MEN--HOLD 20% OF AMERICAN LINES--TERROR TO GERMANS--ONLY
BARRIER BETWEEN BOCHE AND PARIS--IMPERISHABLE RECORD OF NEW
YORKERS--TURNING POINT OF WAR.


     "Doan you see the black clouds ris'n ober yondah Like as tho we's
     gwan ter hab a storm?

     No, you's mistaken, dem's "Loyal BLACK FOLKS Sailing off ter fight
     fer Uncle Sam."

From the plantations of the South, from the mines, the workshops and
factories; from the levees of the Mississippi, the cities, villages,
farms of the North, the East, the South, the West; from the store, the
counting house, the office and the institution of learning they
came--the black thousands to strike for their altars and their homes; to
fight for Uncle Sam. How splendid was the spectacle of their response!
"Their's not to ask the WHY; their's but to do and die."

Bearing the burden placed upon them by white men as they have for
centuries, nevertheless, in this supreme moment of their country's life;
"a day that shall live in story"; many of them did not know what it all
was about; where Germany was located, nor the significance attaching to
the word Hun. In a vague way they understood that across the sea an
armed and powerful nation was threatening the happiness of mankind; the
freedom of the world.

In the presence of this contemplated crime, they were wide-eyed,
open-souled, awake! Their sires had known bondage, and they, their
children, had felt and knew the effects of it. America which for
centuries had oppressed their forefathers had finally through the
arbitrament of war, freed them. White men and black men; in the dark
days of '61-'65, numbering many thousands, had lain down their lives to
save the Union, and in doing so had brought them freedom.

They had been told that America was threatened; that was enough. It was
to them a summons; sharp, quick, incisive to duty. It was, although one
hundred and forty years after, the voice of Washington at Valley Forge;
the call of Perry to their fathers, needing soldiers at the battle of
Lake Erie; of Jackson at New Orleans. It was to their listening ears the
echo of Bull Run, of Santiago, of Manila, and later of Carrizal; Uncle
Sam needed them! That was enough; what more was to be said?

Denied the opportunity to enlist, the Negro's patriotic, patient soul
asserted itself; if he must go as a drafted soldier, it would be in the
same fine spirit that would have inspired him as a loyal enlisted man.

Life, as to all men, was sweet to them. They had mothers, fathers,
sisters and brothers, wives and sweethearts; the ties of association; of
home, from all of which they would be separated and for all of which
they cherished that love, which alone of human fires: "Burns and burns,
forever the same, for nature feeds the pyre."

Above and over all these things, tending to augment the seriousness of
the sacrifice he was to be called upon to make, was the spirit, the
optimism, the joy of life that attends vigorous youth and young manhood.

Nature in all of its enticing charm and beauty, was smiling in the home
places these men were leaving; flowers bloomed; birds sang; insects
buzzed cheerily. There were green fields and babbling brooks; the
stately beauty of trees, and the delights of lake, river and vale. The
cities from which they came, were many of them, splendid monuments of
the work of man. The sun clothed in glory the days, moon and stars gave
a loveliness to the nights. Leaving these things to face suffering and
hardship; possible death in strange lands, caused many a pang; but a
man's work had to be done, and they were there to do it.

Well they knew there would be no chance in France to follow the wild bee
to its tree; to track the fox or hunt the 'possum or the coon. The hum
they would hear would be that of machine gun bullets; their sting, death
or serious wounding. For game they would hunt the Hun; would kill or be
by him killed.

There were busy times in thousands of homes when the young Negroes of
the land; from East, West, North and South went forth to war.

Bright faces hiding the pangs of parting; happy, singing lads left their
homes to enter a new life on earth or, the tragedy of it; also the
glory; a new life in the great Beyond; beyond the stars and flaming
suns. The training camp was their first destination and was to be their
home for months.

Correspondents in France wrote of Negro soldiers being among the first
expeditionary force to set foot upon the soil of the battle torn
Republic. This force arrived there in June, 1917, and was composed of
marines and infantry from the Regular army. Floyd Gibbons, the intrepid
representative of the Chicago Tribune, speaking of the first Negro
contingents in his remarkable book entitled, "And They Thought We
Wouldn't Fight", said:

     "There was to be seen on the streets of St. Nazaire that day some
     representative black Americans, who had also landed in that
     historical first contingent. There was a strange thing about these
     Negroes. It will be remembered that in the early stages of our
     participation in the war it had been found that there was hardly
     sufficient khaki cloth to provide uniforms for all of our soldiers.
     That had been the case with these American negro soldiers.

     "But somewhere down in Washington, somehow or other, someone
     resurrected an old, large heavy iron key and this, inserted into an
     ancient rusty lock, had opened some long forgotten door in one of
     the Government arsenals. There were revealed old dust-covered
     bundles wrapped up in newspapers, yellow with age, and when these
     wrappings of the past were removed, there were seen the uniforms of
     old Union blue that had been laid away back in '65--uniforms that
     had been worn by men who fought and bled and died to save the
     Union, and ultimately free those early 'Black Americans'.

     "And here on this foreign shore, on this day in June more than
     half a century later, the sons and grandsons of those same freed
     slaves wore those same uniforms of Union blue as they landed in
     France to fight for a newer freedom; freedom for the white man no
     less than themselves, throughout all the earth.

     "Some of these Negroes were stevedores from the lower Mississippi
     levees; who sang as they worked in their white army undershirts,
     across the chest of which were penciled in blue and red, strange
     mystic devices, religious phrases and other signs, calculated to
     contribute the charm of safety to the running of the submarine
     blockade.

     "Two of these American Negroes, walking up the main street of St.
     Nazaire, saw on the other side of the thoroughfare a brother of
     color wearing the lighter blue uniform of a French soldier. This
     French Negro was a colonial black from the north of Africa and of
     course had spoken nothing but French from the day he was born. One
     of the American Negroes crossed the street and accosted him.

     "'Looka here, boy', he inquired good-naturedly, 'what can you all
     tell me about this here wah?'

     "'Comment, monsieur?' responded the non-understanding French black,
     and followed the rejoinder with a torrent of excited French.

     "The American Negro's mouth fell open. For a minute he looked
     startled, and then he bulged one large round eye suspiciously at
     the French black while he inwardly debated on the possibility that
     he had become color-blind. Having reassured himself, however, that
     his vision was not at fault, he made a sudden decision and started
     on a new tack.

     "'Now, never mind that high-faluting language' he said, 'you all
     just tell me what you know about this here wah and quit you'
     putting on aihs.'

     "The puzzled French Negro could only reply with another explosion
     of French interrogations, coupled with vigorous gesticulations. The
     American Negro tried to talk at the same time and both of them
     endeavoring to make the other understand, increased the volumes of
     their tones until they were standing there waving their arms and
     shouting into one another's faces. The American gave it up.

     "'My Gawd', he said shaking his head as he recrossed the street and
     joined his comrades, 'this is sure some funny country. They got the
     ignorantest colored people here I ever saw.'"

It has been noted that the first Negro combatant regiment to reach
France was the celebrated National Guard organization known as the 15th
New York Infantry, rechristened the 369th when made a part of the 93rd
division of the United States army. This was such a well drilled and
equipped regiment that early in the war it was permitted to go across
with the first 100,000; all of which was due to the aggressiveness and
insistence of its white commander, Colonel William Hayward. He simply
gave the war department no rest, stating that he was willing his men
should unload ships, fell trees and build docks or cantonments so long
as they were permitted to sail.

The regiment had been organized by Colonel Hayward at the suggestion of
Governor Whitman of New York. It was to be patterned after the 8th
Illinois where colored men of means sufficient to support commissions,
were the officers. The regiment was started in June 1916 and by October
had 1,000 in the ranks. Colonel Hayward was the only white officer, the
Negro commission-holders at that time being Captain Marshall, Captain
Fillmore, Lieutenant Lacey, Lieutenant Reed and Lieutenant Europe. The
latter was attached to the Machine Gun section but became later the
famous musician of the outfit. He was the only Negro officer who
remained with the regiment throughout, the others being superseded or
transferred after several months service in France.

Early in 1917, the Federal government said it would recognize the
regiment if it could muster fifty-one officers. As recruiting had been
slow and a Negro regiment in New York was looked upon as an experiment,
Colonel Hayward was obliged to secure the needed officers from among his
friends in the 7th New York, the Motor Battery, Squadron A and other
organizations. By this time the enlisted strength had grown to 1,200. On
April 8, 1917, two days after the United States entered the war, the
regiment was inspected by Federal officers and a week later was
recognized as a regular unit of the Federal Guard.

But, as the Colonel expressed it, they were a "street urchin of a
regiment." They had no armory, no place to drill except in the open and
no place where more than a single company at a time could meet. In his
post-war observations, the Colonel has noted that when the regiment
returned to these shores and was feasted and entertained by the people
of New York in the 71st regiment armory, it was the first occasion on
which the old 15th was ever assembled under one roof.

After its Federal recognition the regiment was sent to the Peekskill
rifle range to learn to shoot, a valuable experience as developed later.
Many of the boys became expert marksmen, a skill that became of precious
value to them and their comrades.

In June, 1917, they went to a war strength of 2,000 men and 56
officers. One battalion did pioneer work at Camp Upton, another at Camp
Dix. A third guarded 600 miles of railroads in New York, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania. The Machine Gun company guarded 2,000 interned spies and
pro-German prisoners at Ellis Island. Colonel Hayward has pointed with
pride to the fact that in all their territory there was not a wreck, an
explosion, an escaped prisoner or any other trouble. Two battalions
later went to Spartanburg for training, but remained there only a couple
of weeks.

     "I wonder what got those colored boys to volunteer" someone asked
     their colonel as they were embarking for France. He replied: "I
     have often thought of that. With many the cause was sheer
     patriotism. Others said they had gone into the 15th for social
     reasons, to meet with their friends. One--this seemed to me a most
     pathetic touch--said: 'I j'ined up because when Colonel Hayward
     asked me it was the first time anyone had ever asked me to j'ine up
     with anything in my whole lifetime.'"

If any great amount of superstition had existed among the men or
officers of the New York regiment, they would have been greatly
depressed over the series of incidents that preceded their arrival in
France. In the first place they had been assigned to police and pioneer
duty at camps near New York, a duty which no fighting man relishes. They
embarked on the transport Pocahontas November 12, 1917. Two hundred
miles at sea a piston rod was bent and the vessel put back to port. They
got away again December 3, were out a day and had to return on account
of fire in the coal bunkers. A third attempt on December 12, in a
blizzard, was frustrated by a collision with a tanker in New York
harbor.

After this series of bad starts, anyone inclined to indulge in
forebodings would have predicted the certainty of their becoming prey
for the submarines on the way over. But the fourth attempt proved
successful and they landed in France on December 27, 1917. They had
hoped to celebrate Christmas day on French soil, but were forced by the
elements and the precautions of convoys and sailing master to observe
the anniversary on board the ship.

The Colonel undoubtedly thought that those first in France would be the
first to get a chance at the Boche, but the department took him at his
word, and for over two months his men were kept busy in the vicinity of
St. Nazaire, largely as laborers and builders. Early in 1918 they went
into training quarters near St. Nazaire. The 371st, another Negro
regiment, made up of draft selectives principally from South Carolina,
was later given quarters nearby.

The black soldiers of the 369th were brigaded as a part of the 16th
division of the 8th Corps of the 4th French Army. From St. Nazaire they
went to Givrey-En-Argonne, and there in three weeks the French turned
them into a regulation French regiment. They had Lebel rifles, French
packs and French gas masks. For 191 days they were in the trenches or on
the field of battle. In April, 1918, the regiment held 20 percent of all
the territory held by American troops, though it comprised less than one
percent of all the American soldiers in France.

Officers of the 369th reported for an entire year only six cases of
drunkenness, and twenty-four of serious disease. The regiment fought in
the Champagne, in the Vosges mountains, on the Aisne, at Main de
Massiges, Butte de Mesnil, Dormouse, Sechault, the Argonne, Ripont,
Kuppinase, Tourbe, and Bellevue Ridge. It was the first unit of any of
the Allied armies to reach the left bank of the Rhine following the
signing of the armistice, moving from Thann on November 17th and
reaching Blodesheim the next day.

Negro soldiers were a source of terror to the Germany throughout the
war, and objects of great curiosity to the German people afterwards.
Wherever they appeared in the area occupied by the Americans they
attracted great attention among the civilians. In Treves, Coblenz and
other places during the early days of the occupation, crowds assembled
whenever Negro soldiers stopped in the streets and it became necessary
for the military police to enforce the orders prohibiting gatherings in
the public thoroughfares.

Returning soldiers have told how they were followed in the German towns
by great troops of stolid, wide-eyed German children who could not seem
to decide in their minds just what sort of being these Negro fighters
were. The curiosity of the children no doubt was inspired by stories
told among their elders of the ferocity of these men.

The Associated Press has related a conversation with a discharged German
soldier in Rengsdorf, in which it is stated that the German army early
in the war offered a reward for the capture alive of each Negro. The
soldier said that throughout the war the Germans lived in great terror
of the Negroes, and it was to overcome this fear that rewards were
offered.

One evening on the front a scouting party composed of ten Germans
including the discharged soldier, encountered two French Negroes. In the
fight which followed two of the scouting party were killed. One of the
Negroes escaped the other being taken prisoner. During the fight two of
the Germans left their comrades and ran to the protection of their own
trenches, but these it was explained, were young soldiers and untrained.
The reward of 400 marks subsequently was divided among the remaining six
Germans for capturing the one French Negro.

The 93rd division, which was made up of the 369th, 370th, 371st and the
372nd regiments of infantry, was put into service green, so green they
did not know the use of rockets and thought a gas alarm and the tooting
of sirens meant that the Germans were coming in automobiles. The New
York regiment came largely from Brooklyn and the district around West
59th street in New York City, called San Juan Hill in reference to
certain notable achievements of Negro troops at a place of that name in
the Spanish-American war.

They learned the game of war rapidly. The testimony of their officers
was to the effect that it was not hard to send them into danger--the
hard part being to keep them from going into it of their own accord. It
was necessary to watch them like hawks to keep them from slipping off on
independent raiding parties.

The New York regiment had a band of 40 pieces, second to none in the
American army. It is stated that the officers and men in authority in
the French billeting places had difficulty in keeping the villagers from
following the band away when it played plantation airs and syncopations
as only Negroes can play them.

On April 12, 1918, the 369th took over a sector of 5-1/2 kilometers in
the Bois de Hauzy on the left of a fringe of the Argonne Forest. There
they stayed until July 1st. There was no violent fighting in the sector,
but many raids back and forth by the Negroes and the Germans, rifle
exchanges and occasionally some artillery action.

One important engagement occurred June 12th, which the soldiers called
the million dollar raid, because they thought the preparatory barrage of
the Germans must have cost all of that. The Germans came over, probably
believing they would find the Negro outfit scared stiff. But the Negro
lads let them have grenades, accurate rifle fire and a hail from some
concealed machine gun nests. Sergt. Bob Collins was later given the
Croix de Guerre for his disposition of the machine guns on that
occasion.

While holding the sector of Hauzy Wood, the 369th was the only barrier
between the German army and Paris. However, had there been an attempt to
break through, General Gouraud, the French army commander, would have
had strength enough there at once to stop it. About this time everyone
in the Allied armies knew that the supreme German effort was about to
come. It was felt as a surety that the brunt of the drive would fall
upon the 4th French Army, of which the 369th regiment and other portions
of the American 93rd Division were a part. This army was holding a line
50 kilometers long, stretching between Rheims and the Argonne Forest. It
was the intention of the Germans to capture Chalons and then proceed
down the Marne Valley to Paris. It was expected that the big German
drive would begin on July 4th, but as it turned out it did not begin
until the night of the 14th--the French national holiday.

On July 1st, the 369th had been moved from its sector further toward the
east where the center of the attack was expected. Upon the 14th of July
the French made a raid for the purpose of getting prisoners and
information. This had a tremendous effect upon the whole course of the
war, for through it General Gouraud's staff learned that at midnight the
Boche artillery preparation was to begin, and at 5:25 o'clock on the
morning of the 15th the Germans were coming over the top.

This phase of the operation is described by Col. Hayward as follows:

     "This is what Gen. Gouraud--Pa Gouraud we called him--did: He knew
     the Boche artillery would at the appointed hour start firing on our
     front lines, believing as was natural, that they would be strongly
     held. So he withdrew all his forces including the old 15th, to the
     intermediate positions, which were at a safe distance back of the
     front lines. Then, at the point where he expected would be the apex
     of the drive he sent out two patrols, totalling sixteen men.

     "These sixteen had certain camouflage to perform. They were to set
     going a certain type of French machine gun which would fire of its
     own accord for awhile after being started off. They were to run
     from one of these guns to the other and start them. Also the
     sixteen were to send up rockets, giving signals, which the Germans
     of course knew as well as we. Then again they were to place gas
     shells--with the gas flowing out of them--in all the dugouts of the
     first line. Meanwhile the French artillery had registered directly
     on our own front trenches, so that it could slaughter the Germans
     when they came across, believing those trenches to be occupied as
     usual.

     "Everything worked out as expected, and as luck had it, most of
     those gallant sixteen Frenchmen got back safely.

     "Five minutes before the Germans started their artillery
     preparation for the drive Gen. Gouraud started his cannon going and
     there was a slaughter in the German lines. Then when the German
     infantry crossed to our front line trenches (now entirely vacant)
     they were smashed up because the French guns were firing directly
     upon these positions, which they knew mathematically. And those of
     the Boche who went down in the dugouts for safety were killed by
     the gas which the Frenchmen had left there for them.

     "This battle--the supreme German drive--raged over eighty-five
     kilometers (51 miles). West of Rheims the enemy broke through the
     line, but they did not break through anywhere in Gen. Gouraud's
     sector. Stonewall Gouraud stopped them. The American units which
     took in the defense that was so successful were the 42nd Division,
     including the gallant 69th of New York, who were to the west of us,
     our own little regiment, and the American Railroad Artillery.

     "That was the turning point of the war, because soon thereafter
     began Marshal Foch's great counter thrust, in which the 1st and 2nd
     American Divisions participated so wonderfully about Belleau Wood,
     Chateau-Thierry and that district. Gouraud in my belief, turned the
     tide of the war, and I am proud that the New York City colored boys
     had a share of that vital fight.

     "Right here I may say that this orphan, urchin regiment of ours
     placed in the pathway of the Boche in the most significant battle
     the world has ever known, had only thirty-seven commissioned
     officers, and four of those wounded, had to be carried in
     stretchers to their positions in the trenches in order to direct
     the fighting."

Colonel Hayward was himself in the hospital with a broken leg.
Disregarding the orders of the surgeons he went to the front line on
crutches and personally directed his men in the fight. In all of his
written and quoted utterances since the war, he has refrained from
mentioning this fact, but it is embodied in the regimental records.

Shortly after the French national holiday, the 369th was sent about 15
kilometers west to a position in front of the Butte de Mesnil, a high
hill near Maison en Champagne, occupied by the Germans. Around that
district they held half a dozen sectors at different times with only one
week of rest until September 26th.

Artillery duels were constant. It is related that near the Butte de
Mesnil the regiment lost a man an hour and an officer a day from the
shell fire of the Boche. So accurate were the gunners handling the
German 77s that frequently a solitary soldier who exposed himself would
actually be "sniped" off by a cannoneer.

In the September fighting the 369th saw the toughest period of its
entire service. In company with a Moroccan Negro unit and others, the
regiment participated in the attack on the Butte de Mesnil. The New
Yorkers took the important town of Sechault and it was for that exploit
that their flag was decorated with the Croix de Guerre.

Throughout the western Argonne fighting and the various sectors of the
Champagne in which the 369th operated, especially during the months of
July, August and September, their service was typical of that of other
units of the 93rd Division. The going was tough for all of them and each
contributed everlasting fame to American arms and undying renown to the
Negro race.

Heroes of the Old 15th Infantry.

Officers and men of the 369th New York colored regiment awarded the
Croix de Guerre for gallantry in Action:

Sergt. A.A. Adams
Corp. John Allen
Lieut. R.R. DeArmond
Lieut. G.A. Arnston
Corp. Farrandus Baker
Sergt. E.W. Barrington
Sergt M.W. Barron
Sergt. William D. Bartow
Capt. Aaron T. Bates
Corp. Fletcher Battle
Corp. R. Bean
Corp. J.S. Beckton
Pvt. Myril Billings
Sergt. Ed. Bingham
Lieut. J.C. Bradner
Pvt. Arthur Brokaw
Pvt. H.D. Brown
Pvt. T.W. Brown
Lieut. Elmer C. Bucher
Pvt. Wm. H. Bunn
Sergt. Wm. Butler
Pvt. J.L. Bush
Sergt. Joseph Carmen
Corp. T. Catto
Corp. G.H. Chapman
Sergt. Major Benedict W. Cheesman
Capt. John H. Clarke, Jr.
Lieut. P.M. Clendenin
Capt. Frederick W. Cobb
Sergt. Robert Collins
Lieut. J.H. Connor
Sergt. Wm. H. Cox
Sergt C.D. Davis
Lieut. Charles Dean
Pvt. P. Demps
Wagoner Martin Dunbar
Corp. Elmer Earl
Pvt. Frank Ellis
Sergt. Sam Fannell
Capt. Robt. F. Ferguson, Jr.
Capt. Charles W. Fillmore
Capt. Edward J. Farrell
Capt. Hamilton Fish, Jr.
Capt Edwin R.D. Fox
Lieut. Conrad Fox
Sergt. Richard W. Fowler
Pvt. Roland Francis
Pvt. B. Freeman
Pvt. I. Freeman
Sergt Wm. A. Gains
Wagoner Richard O. Goins
Pvt. J.J. Gordon
Lieut. R.C. Grams
Pvt. Stillman Hanna
Pvt. Hugh Hamilton
Pvt. G.E. Hannibal
Pvt. Frank Harden
Pvt. Frank Hatchett
Corp. Ralph Hawkins
Colonel Wm. Hayward
Lieut. E.H. Holden
Sergt. Wm. H. Holliday
Corp. Earl Horton
Pvt. G. Howard
Lieut. Stephen H. Howey
Sergt. Major Clarence C. Hudson
Pvt. Ernest Hunter
Sergt. S. Jackson
Corp. Clarence Johnson
Sergt. D.F. Johnson
Pvt. Gilbert Johnson
Sergt. George Jones
Lieut. Gorman R. Jones
Sergt. James H. Jones
Pvt. Smithfield Jones
Pvt. J.C. Joynes
Lieut. W.H. Keenan
Lieut. Elwin C. King
Lieut. Harold M. Landon
Lieut. Nils H. Larsen
Major David A. L'Esperance
Lieut. W.F. Leland
Pvt. D.W. Lewis
Pvt. W.D. Link
Major Arthur W. Little
Lieut. Walter R. Lockhart
Sergt. B. Lucas
Pvt. Lester A. Marshall
Pvt. Lewis Martin
Sergt. A.J. McArthur
Capt. Seth B. MacClinton
Pvt. Elmer McGowan
Pvt. Herbert McGirt
Capt. Comerford McLoughlin
Pvt. L. McVea
Sergt. H. Matthews
Sergt. Jesse A. Miller
Sergt Wm. H. Miller
Sergt. E. Mitchell
Pvt. Herbert Mills
Corp. M. Molson
Lieut. E.D. Morey
Sergt. W. Morris
Sergt. G.A. Morton
Lieut. E.A. Nostrand
Sergt. Samuel Nowlin
Capt. John O. Outwater
Lieut. Hugh A. Page
Lieut. Oliver H. Parish
Sergt. C.L. Pawpaw
Pvt. Harvey Perry
Sergt. Clinton Peterson
Lieut. Col. W.A. Pickering
Lieut. Richardson Pratt
Sergt. John Pratt
Sergt. H.D. Primas
Pvt. Jeremiah Reed
Lieut. Durant Rice
Pvt. John Rice
Sergt. Samuel Richardson
Sergt Charles Risk
Pvt. F. Ritchie
Lieut. G.S. Robb
Corp. Fred Rogers
Pvt. Lionel Rogers
Pvt. George Rose
Lieut. R.M. Rowland
Sergt. Percy Russell
Sergt. L. Sanders
Pvt. William Sanford
Lieut. H.J. Argent
Pvt. Marshall Scott
Capt. Lewis E. Shaw
Capt. Samuel Shethar
Lieut. Hoyt Sherman
Major G. Franklin Shiels
Pvt. A. Simpson
Sergt. Bertrand U. Smith
Pvt. Daniel Smith
Sergt. Herman Smith
Corp. R.W. Smith
Major Lorillard Spencer
Sergt. J.T. Stevens
Corp. Dan Storms
Lieut. George F. Stowell
Corp. T.W. Taylor
Lieut. Frank B. Thompson
Sergt. Lloyd Thompson
Sergt. A.L. Tucker
Sergt. George Valaska
Lieut. D.H. Vaughan
Capt. Edward A. Walton
Capt Charles Warren
Sergt. Leon Washington
Pvt. Casper White
Capt. James D. White
Sergt. Jay White
Sergt. Jesse J. White
Sergt. C.E. Williams
Pvt. Robert Williams
Sergt. Reaves Willis
Pvt. H. Wiggington
Sergt. L. Wilson
Pvt. Tim Winston
Sergt. E. Woods
Pvt. George Wood
Lieut. A.D. Worsham
Sergt. E.C. Wright
Sergt. Henry Johnson
Pvt. Needham Roberts




CHAPTER XV.

OVER THERE.


HENRY JOHNSON AND NEEDHAM ROBERTS--THE TIGER'S CUBS--NEGRO FIRST TO GET
PALM--JOHNSON'S GRAPHIC STORY--SMASHES THE GERMANS--IRVIN COBB'S
TRIBUTE--CHRISTIAN AND MOHAMMEDAN NEGROES PALS--VALOR OF 93RD
DIVISION--LAUGHTER IN FACE OF DEATH--NEGRO AND POILU HAPPY
TOGETHER--BUTTE DE MESNIL--VALIANT AND HUMOROUS ELMER McCOWIN--WINNING
WAR CROSSES--VERDICT OF THE FRENCH--THE NEGRO'S FAITH.


A most conspicuous Negro hero of the war, and for that matter of any
race serving with the American army, was Sergeant Henry Johnson of
Albany, N.Y. His exploit was shared by a company mate, Needham Roberts.
For pure bull dog grit and tigerish fighting, the exploit has seldom, if
ever, been equalled in the annals of any war. It resulted in the War
Crosses for each with a special citation, and the whole French force in
that section of the Champagne lined up to see them get the decorations.
Across the red and green ribbon of Johnson's decoration was a golden
palm, signifying extraordinary valor. Johnson was the first private of
any race in the American army to get the palm with his Croix de Guerre.
Here is the story as told in Johnson's own words after his arrival back
in New York:

     "There isn't so much to tell", said Johnson with characteristic
     modesty. "There wasn't anything so fine about it. Just fought for
     my life. A rabbit would have done that.

     "Well, anyway, me and Needham Roberts were on patrol duty on May
     15. The corporal wanted to send out two new drafted men on the
     sentry post for the midnight-to-four job. I told him he was crazy
     to send untrained men out there and risk the rest of us. I said I'd
     tackle the job, though I needed sleep.

     "German snipers had been shooting our way that night and I told the
     corporal he wanted men on the job who knew their rifles. He said it
     was imagination, but anyway he took those green men off and left
     Needham and me on the posts. I went on at midnight. It was
     moonlight. Roberts was at the next post. At one o'clock a sniper
     took a crack at me from a bush fifty yards away. Pretty soon there
     was more firing and when Sergeant Roy Thompson came along I told
     him.

     "'What's the matter men' he asked, 'You scared?'

     "'No I ain't scared', I said, 'I came over here to do my bit and
     I'll do it. But I was jes' lettin' you know there's liable to be
     some tall scrappin' around this post tonight'. He laughed and went
     on, and I began to get ready. They'd a box of hand grenades there
     and I took them out of the box and laid them all in a row where
     they would be handy. There was about thirty grenades, I guess. I
     was goin' to bust that Dutch army in pieces if it bothered me.

     "Somewhere around two o'clock I heard the Germans cutting our wire
     out in front and I called to Roberts. When he came I told him to
     pass the word to the lieutenant. He had just started off when the
     snippin' and clippin' of the wires sounded near, so I let go with a
     hand grenade. There was a yell from a lot of surprised Dutchmen and
     then they started firing. I hollered to Needham to come back.

     "A German grenade got Needham in the arm and through the hip. He
     was too badly wounded to do any fighting, so I told him to lie in
     the trench and hand me up the grenades.

     "'Keep your nerve' I told him. 'All the Dutchmen in the woods are
     at us, but keep cool and we'll lick 'em.' Roberts crawled into the
     dugout. Some of the shots got me, one clipped my head, another my
     lip, another my hand, some in my side and one smashed my left foot
     so bad that I have a silver plate holding it up now.

     "The Germans came from all sides. Roberts kept handing me the
     grenades and I kept throwing them and the Dutchmen kept squealing,
     but jes' the same they kept comin' on. When the grenades were all
     gone I started in with my rifle. That was all right until I shoved
     in an American cartridge clip--it was a French gun--and it jammed.

     "There was nothing to do but use my rifle as a club and jump into
     them. I banged them on the dome and the side and everywhere I could
     land until the butt of my rifle busted. One of the Germans
     hollered, 'Rush him! Rush him!' I decided to do some rushing
     myself. I grabbed my French bolo knife and slashed in a million
     directions. Each slash meant something, believe me. I wasn't doing
     exercises, let me tell you.

     "I picked out an officer, a lieutenant I guess he was. I got him
     and I got some more of them. They knocked me around considerable
     and whanged me on the head, but I always managed to get back on my
     feet. There was one guy that bothered me. He climbed on my back and
     I had some job shaking him off and pitching him over my head. Then
     I stuck him in the ribs with the bolo. I stuck one guy in the
     stomach and he yelled in good New York talk: 'That black --------
     got me.'

     "I was still banging them when my crowd came up and saved me and
     beat the Germans off. That fight lasted about an hour. That's about
     all. There wasn't so much to it."

No, there was not much to it, excepting that next morning the Americans
found four German bodies with plentiful indications that at least
thirty-two others had been put on the casualty list and several of the
German dead probably had been dragged back by their comrades.
Thirty-eight bombs were found, besides rifles, bayonets and revolvers.

It was Irvin Cobb, the southern story writer, who first gave to the
world a brief account of the exploit of Johnson and Roberts in the
Saturday Evening Post during the summer of 1918. He commented as
follows:

     "If ever proof were needed, which it is not, that the color of a
     man's skin has nothing to do with the color of his soul, this twain
     then and there offered it in abundance."

Mr. Cobb in the same article paid many tributes to the men of the 369th
and 371st serving at that time in that sector. Among other things he
said:

     "They were soldiers who wore their uniforms with a smartened pride;
     who were jaunty and alert and prompt in their movements; and who
     expressed as some did vocally in my hearing, and all did by their
     attitude, a sincere heartfelt inclination to get a whack at the foe
     with the shortest possible delay."

Continuing, Mr. Cobb uttered a sentiment that is sure to awaken a glow
in the hearts of all sympathizers and friends of the Negro race. "I am
of the opinion personally," he said, "and I make the assertion with all
the better grace, I think, seeing that I am a Southerner with all the
Southerner's inherited and acquired prejudices touching on the race
question--that as a result of what our black soldiers are going to do in
this war, a word that has been uttered billions of times in our country,
sometimes in derision, sometimes in hate, sometimes in all
kindliness--but which I am sure never fell on black ears but it left
behind a sting for the heart--is going to have a new meaning for all of
us, South and North too, and that hereafter n-i-g-g-e-r will merely be
another way of spelling the word American."

Many a man in the four regiments comprising the 93rd division when he
heard about the exploit of May 15th, oiled his rifle, sharpened his
bayonet and whetted his trench knife, resolved to go Henry Johnson and
Needham Roberts one better if the opportunity came to him. It did come
to many of them in the days that followed and although none got a
chance to distinguish himself in equal degree with the redoubtable
Johnson, it was because the Boche had become too wary. They had
cultivated a healthy respect for the colored men and called them
"blutlustige schwartze manner," meaning "blood-thirsty black men."
Another nickname they had was "Hell Fighters."

When the 93rd division was brigaded with the French on the Aisne, at
least two of the component regiments were under a French general having
in his command several thousand Moroccan Negroes. He placed them on the
other side of the river fearing they would quarrel over religious
differences. However, it was impossible to keep them from fraternizing.
There were no religious disputes, nor is it of record that the Americans
attempted to convert the Mohammedans. But they did initiate their
turbaned comrades into the mysteries of a certain American game and it
is said that the disciples of Allah experienced considerable hard luck.

Most of the 93rd division was under fire from the early days of May,
1918, until the close of the war. The 369th, which left New York with 56
officers and 2,000 men, returned with only 20 officers and 1,200 men of
the original organization. A few had been transferred to casual
companies and other commands, but many will never come back; their
bodies being part of the soil of France--killed in action, died of
wounds or disease.

The tale of the 93rd is full of deeds of valor, laughter in the face of
death, of fearful carnage wrecked upon the foe, of childlike pride in
the homage their Allies paid them, and now and then an incident replete
with the bubbling Negro humor that is the same whether it finds its
outlet on the cotton-fields of Dixie or the battlefields of France.

Between the French and the colored troops the spirit was superb. The
French poilu had not been taught that the color of a man's skin made a
difference. He had no prejudices. How could he have, coming from a
nation whose motto is LIBERTY, FRATERNITY, EQUALITY? He formed his
judgment from bravery and Manhood and Honor. The Negro soldiers ate,
slept and drank with the poilus. They were happy together.

An incident of the valor of the 93rd division was in the fight at Butte
de Mesnil, as tough a spot as any in the line between the sea and
Switzerland. The ground had been fought over back and forth, neither
side holding it for long. The French said it was the burying place of
200,000 of their troops and Germans, and that it could not be held
permanently. The Negro boys tackled the job. In four days they had
advanced fourteen kilometers (8.4 miles) and they NEVER retreated.

The Negro troops to a great extent went into action with little
training, but they learned quickly in the hard school of experience.
They excelled in grenade throwing and machine gun work. Grenade throwing
is very ticklish business. Releasing the pin lights the fuse. Five
seconds after the fuse is lighted the grenade explodes. It must be timed
exactly. If thrown too quickly the enemy is liable to pick it up and
hurl it back in time to create the explosion in one's own lines. No one
cares to hold a grenade long after the fuse is lighted so the boys
sometimes threw them ahead of the signal.

"Shorty" Childress of B company, 371st Infantry, had been drilled with
dummy grenades. When given the real thing he released the pin and
immediately heard the fulminating fuse working its way down into the
charge. It was too much for his nerves. He threw the grenade as far as
he could send it. The lieutenant reprimanded him severely.

"What do you mean," he said, "by hurling that explosive ahead of the
proper time. Do you want the Boches to pick it up, fire it back here and
blow us all to smithereens?"

"Shorty" was properly abashed. He hung his head and responded:
"Lieutenant, I begs your pardon, I didn't mean to heave it so soon, but
I could actually feel that thing a swellin' in my hand."

But they soon acquired the idea, and after a short time very few of the
grenades reached the enemy either ahead of or behind time.

Here is the valiant and humorous story of Elmer McCowin, 669 Lenox
Avenue, New York City, a private in Company K, 369th infantry, and how
he won the Distinguished Service Cross. He said:

     "On September 26th, the captain asked me to carry dispatches. The
     Germans pumped machine gun bullets at me all the way, but I made
     the trip and got back safely. Then I was sent out again. As I
     started the captain hollered to bring him back a can of coffee. He
     was joking but I didn't know it.

     "Being a foot messenger I had some time ducking those German
     bullets. Those bullets seemed very sociable but I didn't care to
     meet up with any of them, so I kept on traveling on high gear. None
     touched my skin, though some skinned pretty close.

     "On the way back it seemed the whole war was turned on me. One
     bullet passed through my trousers and it made me hop, skip and
     jump. I saw a shell hole six feet deep. Take it from me I dented it
     another six feet when I plunged into it. In my fist I held the
     captain's can of coffee.

     "When I climbed out of the hole and started running again a bullet
     clipped a hole in the can and the coffee started to run out. But I
     turned around stopped a second, looked the Kaiser in the face and
     held up the can of coffee with my finger plugging up the hole to
     show the Germans they were fooled. Just then another bullet hit the
     can and another finger had to act as a stopper. I pulled out an old
     rabbit's foot that my girl had given me and rubbed it so hard the
     hair almost came off.

     "It must have been the good luck thing that saved my life because
     the bullets were picking at my clothes and so many hit the can that
     at the end all my fingers were in use to keep the coffee in. I
     jumped into shell holes and wriggled along the ground and got back
     safely. And what do you think? When I got back into our own
     trenches I stumbled and spilled the coffee."

Not only did Lieutenant George Miller, battalion adjutant, confirm the
story, but he added:

     "When that boy came back with the coffee his clothes were riddled
     with bullets. Yet half an hour later he went out into no man's land
     and brought back a number of wounded until he was badly gassed.
     Even then he refused to go to the rear and went out again for a
     wounded soldier. All this under fire. That's the reason he got the
     D.S.C."

Corporal Elmer Earl, also of Company K, living in Middletown, N.Y., won
the D.S.C. He explained:

     "We had taken a hill Sept. 26 in the Argonne. We came to the edge
     of a swamp when the enemy machine guns opened fire. It was so bad
     that of the 58 of us who went into a particular strip, only 8 came
     out without being killed or wounded. I made a number of trips out
     there and brought back about a dozen wounded men."

The proudest recollection which Negro officers and privates will carry
through life is that of the whole-hearted recognition given them in the
matter of decorations by the French army authorities. Four colored
regiments of the 93rd division attained the highest record in these
awards. These regiments being brigaded with the French, their conduct in
action was thus under their observation. Not only was each of these
regiments cited as a unit for the Croix de Guerre, but 365 individual
soldiers received the coveted decoration. A large number of
Distinguished Service Crosses were also distributed to the 93rd division
by General Pershing.

The verdict pronounced by critical French commanders may be considered
as an unquestionable confirmation that the Negro troops were under all
conditions brave fighters. This fact and the improved status of the
Negro as a result of it was pointed to by the New York Tribune, in a
leading editorial in its issue of February 14, 1919. It said:

     "The bas-relief of the Shaw Memorial became a living thing as the
     dusky heroes of the 15th cheered the Liberty statue and happily
     swarmed down the gangplank. Appropriately the arrival was on the
     birthday of the "revered Lincoln," and never was the young and
     martyred idealist of Massachusetts filled with greater pride than
     swelled in Colonel Hayward as he talked of his men the best
     regiment, he said, with pardonable emphasis, 'of all engaged in the
     great war.'

     "These were men of the Champagne and the Argonne whose step was
     always forward; who held a trench ninety days without relief, with
     every night a raid night; who won 171 medals for conspicuous
     bravery; who saw the war expire under their pressure in a
     discouraged German cannonade. First class fighting men! Hats off to
     them! The tribunal of grace does not regard skin color when
     assessing souls.

     "The boys cheered the Bartholdi statue. It makes some whites
     uncomfortable. It converts into strange reading glib eulogies of
     democratic principles.

     "A large faith possesses the Negro. He has such confidence in
     justice,--the flow--of which he believes will yet soften hard
     hearts. We have a wonderful example of a patience that defies
     discouragement; the "Souls of Black Folk"! When values are truly
     measured, some things will be different in this country."




CHAPTER XVI.

THROUGH HELL AND SUFFERING.


Negro Officers Make Good--Wonderful Record of the 8th Illinois--"Black
Devils" Win Decorations Galore--Tribute of French Commander--His
Farewell to Prairie Fighters--They Fought After War Was Over--Hard to
Stop Them--Individual Deeds of Heroism--Their Dead, Their Wounded and
Suffering--A Poem.


In the past when the subject of the Negro's fighting ability was under
discussion, there were always found those whose grudging assent to his
merits as a soldier was modified by the assertion that he had to be
properly commanded; in other words must have white officers. Never
having been given a conspicuous opportunity to demonstrate his capacity
for leadership in battle, until the formation of the 8th Illinois
infantry in the Spanish-American war, the Negro was forced to rest under
the imputation that as a follower he did fairly well, but as a leader he
was a failure.

Let anyone who still holds that view study the record of the 8th
Illinois, or the 370th, as it was rechristened when entering the service
of the general government in the recent war. Seventy-one War Crosses
with special citations for valor and merit, and twenty-one Distinguished
Service Crosses were awarded officers and men of the regiment. Many men
in the 370th were veterans of the Spanish-American war as well as the
campaign of 1916 on the Mexican border, which, while not an actual war,
was for some months a locality of service and hard service at that; the
regiment passing through it with great credit.

It was organized as a single battalion in 1891, increased to a regiment
and sent to Cuba in 1898, every officer and man in the regiment being a
Negro. Upon its return, over half of the city of Chicago turned out in
greeting. Until July 12th, 1918, the regiment had never had a white
officer. Then its Colonel, F.A. Denison, was relieved on account of
illness and a white officer in the person of Colonel Thomas A. Roberts
for the first time was placed in command. Shortly before the armistice
two other white officers were attached to the regiment, in the persons
of Major William H. Roberts, a brother of the colonel, and Captain John
F. Prout; Second Lieutenant M.F. Stapleton, white, also served as
adjutant of the First battalion.

The 370th received brief training at Camp Logan, Houston, Texas, and
landed in France April 22, 1918; going within a few weeks into actual
service. Like nearly all of the new regiments arriving at that time its
operations were confined mainly to trench warfare.

Trench warfare continued until July 6, when the men got their real
baptism of fire in a section of the Argonne and were in all the
important engagements of their portion of the Champagne and other
fronts, fighting almost continuously from the middle of July until the
close of the war, covering themselves with a distinction and glory, as
Knights in the warfare for Mankind, that will endure as long as the
story of valorous deeds are recorded.

Like the other regiments of the 93rd Division, the 370th was brigaded
with the French; first with the 73rd French Division and later under
direct command of General Vincendon of the 59th Division, a part of the
famous 10th French army under General Mangin. Shortly after the signing
of the armistice, the division commander sent the regiment the following
communication:

     Officers, non-commissioned officers and men:

     Your efforts have been rewarded. The armistice is signed. The
     troops of the Entente to whom the armies of the American Republic
     have nobly come to join themselves, have vanquished the most
     powerful instrument of conquest that a nation could forge--the
     haughty German Army acknowledges itself conquered. However hard our
     conditions are, the enemy government has accepted them all.

     The 370th R.I.U.S. has contributed largely to the success of the
     59th Division, and has taken in bitter strife both cannon and
     machine guns. Its units, fired by a noble ardor, got at times even
     beyond the objectives given them by the higher command; they have
     always wished to be in the front line, for the place of honor is
     the leading rank.

     They have shown in our advance that they are worthy of being there.

     VINCENDON.

"Black Devils" was the name the Prussian Guard who faced them gave to
the men of the 370th. Their French comrades called them "The
Partridges," probably on account of their cockiness in action (a cock
partridge is very game), and their smart, prideful appearance on parade.

A general outline of the service of the Illinois men after coming out of
the trenches, as well as an illustration of the affection and high
appreciation in which they were held by the French, is contained in the
following order issued by General Vincendon in December:

     Officers and soldiers of the 370th R.I.U.S.:

     You are leaving us. The impossibility at this time that the German
     Army can recover from its defeat, the necessity which is imposed on
     the people of the Entente of taking up again a normal life, leads
     the United States to diminish its effectiveness in France. You are
     chosen to be among the first to return to America. In the name of
     your comrades of the 59th Division I say to you, au revoir. In the
     name of France, I thank you.

     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. In order to reinforce us, you arrived
     from the trenches of the Argonne.

     We at first, at Mareuil Sur Ourcq, in September, admired your fine
     appearance under arms, the precision of your review and the
     suppleness of your evolutions that presented to the eye the
     appearance of silk unrolling in wavy folds. We advanced to the
     line. Fate placed you on the banks of the Ailette in front of the
     Bois Mortier. October 12 you occupied the enemy trenches at Acier
     and Brouze. On the 13th we reached the railroad of Laon le Fere;
     the forest of Saint Gobain, the principal center of resistance of
     the Hindenburg line was ours.

     November 5th the Serre was at last crossed and the pursuit became
     active. Major Prout's battalion distinguished Itself at the Val St.
     Pierre, where it captured a German battery. Major Patton's
     battalion was first to cross the Hirson railroad at the heights of
     Aubenton, where the Germans tried to resist. Duncan's battalion
     took Logny and, carried away by their ardor, could not be stopped
     short of Gue d' Hossus on November 11th, after the armistice. We
     have hardly time to appreciate you and already you depart.

     As Lieut. Colonel Duncan said November 28, in offering to me your
     regimental colors as proof of your love for France and as an
     expression of your loyalty to the 59th Division and our Army, you
     have given us of your best and you have given it out of the
     fullness 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, and the pride of bearing on
     our foreheads the ray of a common grandeur.

     VINCENDON.

[Illustration: This is a facsimile reproduction of the original, printed
hurriedly near the field of battle and also translated hurriedly without
eliminating errors. Corrected on page 155.]

To the 370th belongs the honor of the absolutely last engagement of the
war. An objective had been set for the regiment on the morning of
November 11th. General Vincendon heard of the hour at which hostilities
were to end and sent an order to the regiment to shorten its objective.
The order failed to arrive in time and ten minutes after the fighting
was over Lieut. Colonel Duncan led the third battalion over the German
line and captured a train of fifty wagons. General Vincendon said:

"Colonel Duncan is the hardest man to stop fighting I ever saw. He
doesn't know when to quit."

One of the most daring exploits by a member of the regiment was that
performed by Sergeant Matthew Jenkins, a Chicago boy and member of
Company F. On September 20, at Mont des Singes, he went ahead of his
comrades and captured from the Boche a fortified tunnel which by aid of
his platoon was held for thirty-six hours without food or ammunition,
making use of the enemy machine gun and munitions until relieved. This
gained for Sergeant Jenkins the Croix de Guerre with Palm and the
Distinguished Service Cross.

A deed of remarkable bravery accompanied by clever strategy was
performed by Captain Chester Sanders and twenty men mostly of Company F.
It won decorations for three and the unbounded admiration of the French.
Captain Sanders and his men offered themselves as sacrifices in an
effort to draw the fire of about a dozen German machine guns which had
been working havoc among the Americans and French. The Illinois men ran
into the middle of a road knowing they were under German observation.
Instantly the Germans, suspecting a raid on their lines, opened fire on
the underbrush by the roadside, figuring the Americans would take refuge
there. Instead they kept right in the center of the road and few were
wounded. The ruse had revealed the whereabouts of the German guns, and a
short time later they were wiped out by French artillery.

Another hero of Company F was Lieutenant Harvey J. Taylor, who found
himself in a nest of machine guns on July 16 in the western part of the
Argonne forest. He received wounds in both legs, a bullet through one
arm, a bullet in his side, had a front tooth knocked out by a bullet and
received a ruptured ear drum by another. After all this he was back in
the lines October 24th at Soissons. The Germans were making a counter
attack that day and when the battling colored men needed supplies,
Lieutenant Taylor, who was regimental signal officer, proceeded to get
the supplies to them, though he had to pass through a German barrage. He
was badly gassed. He received the Croix de Guerre with a special
citation.

Lieutenant Elmer D. Maxwell won his Cross in the Champagne, six miles
northwest of Laon. He led a platoon of men against a nest of machine
guns, taking four guns and eighteen prisoners, not to speak of leaving
behind a number of Germans who were not in a condition to be taken
prisoner.

Many of the officers of the regiment were wounded. The escape of many
from death, considering the continuous fighting and unusual perils
through which they passed, was miraculous. The only officer who made the
supreme sacrifice was Lieutenant George L. Giles of 3833 Calumet Avenue,
Chicago. He was the victim of a direct hit by a shell at Grandlut on
November 1 while he was heroically getting his men into shelter. Lieut.
Giles was very popular with the men and with his brother officers. He
was popular among the members of the race section in which he lived in
Chicago, and was regarded as a young man of great promise.

One of the engagements of the first battalion that received more than
honorable mention was on the morning of November 6th, when the battalion
crossed the Hindenburg line and after extremely hard fighting captured
on St. Pierre Mont, three 77 guns and two machine guns. Captain James H.
Smith of 3267 Vernon Avenue, Chicago, commanded the company, and
Lieutenant Samuel S. Gordon of 3842 Prairie Avenue, Chicago, the assault
forces making the capture. The battalion continued across the Serre
river and when the armistice was signed was at a small place in Belgium.

Several of the officers passed through practically all of the fighting
with hardly a scratch, only to be taken ill at the finish and invalided
home. These men would have been greatly disappointed had the war
continued after they were put out of action. Conspicuous among them was
Lieutenant Robert A. Ward of 3728 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago, of the
Trench Mortar platoon; Lieutenant Benjamin A. Browning of 4438 Prairie
Avenue, Chicago, and Lieutenant Joseph R. Wheeler, 3013 Prairie Avenue,
Chicago.

Major Rufus Stokes led the first battalion on the initial raid at
Vauquois. They fired 300 shells from six trench mortars and scored a
notable success. In that raid Private William Morris of Chicago, the
only man in the regiment who was captured by the Germans, was taken. He
was reported missing at the time, but weeks later his picture was found
among a group of prisoners portrayed in a German illustrated newspaper
found in a captured dugout.

Three men were killed and a large number of others had a miraculous
escape while entering Laon a few days prior to November 1st. A German
time mine exploded tearing up a section of railroad track, hurling the
heavy rails into the air, where they spun around or flew like so many
arrows.

First Lieutenant William J. Warfield, regimental supply officer, a
Chicago man, won the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary
heroism in action near Ferme de la Riviere, September 28th.

Sergeant Norman Henry of the Machine Gun company, whose home is in
Chicago, won the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism
in action near Ferme de la Riviere, September 30th.

Other members of the regiment upon whom the D.S.C. was conferred by
General Pershing were:

Captain William B. Crawford, home address, Denison, Texas; for
extraordinary heroism in action at Ferme de la Riviere, September 30th.

Sergeant Ralph Gibson, Company H, a Chicago man; for extraordinary
heroism at Beaume, November 8th.

Sergeant Charles T. Monroe, Headquarters Company; for extraordinary
heroism in action at Mont de Singes, September 24th. His home is at
Senrog, Va.

Sergeant Emmett Thompson, Company L, home in Quincy, Illinois; for
extraordinary heroism at Mont de Singes, September 20th.

Supply Sergeant Lester Fossie, Company M, home at Metropolis, Illinois;
for extraordinary heroism at Ferme de la Riviere, October 5th.

Private Tom Powell, deceased, Company H; for extraordinary heroism near
Beaume, November 8th.

Private Spirley Irby, Company H, home at Blackstone, Va.; for
extraordinary heroism in action at Beaume, November 8th.

Private Alfred Williamson, medical detachment, home at San Diego,
California; for extraordinary heroism in action near Beaume, November
8th.

Private William G. Hurdle, Machine Gun Company No. 3, home at Drivers,
Va.; for extraordinary heroism in action at Ferme la Folie, September
30th.

Private Harry Pearson, Machine Gun company No. 3, home at Portland,
Oregon; for extraordinary heroism in action near Ferme la Folie,
September 30th.

Private Alonzo Walton, Machine Gun Company No. 3, home at Normal,
Illinois; for extraordinary heroism in action at Rue Lamcher and Pont
D'Amy, November 7th and 9th.

Private Leroy Davis, Company L, home at Huntsville, Missouri; for
extraordinary heroism in action at Mont de Singes, September 18th.

[Illustration: NEGRO WARRIORS ADMINISTERING COLD STEEL. GERMANS UNABLE
TO STAND THE ATTACK. SURRENDERING. IN THE ARGONNE FOREST FRANCE.]

About fifty percent of the 370th met casualties of some sort during
their service in France. Like the New York regiment heretofore
mentioned, they were singularly free from disease. Only 65 men and one
officer were killed in action and about thirty died from wounds. The
total number wounded and missing was 483. Probably 1,000 men were gassed
and incapacitated at times, as the regiment had three replacements,
necessary to make up its losses. The regiment went to France with
approximately 2,500 men from Chicago and Illinois, and came back with
1,260. Of course, many of the wounded, sick and severely gassed were
invalided home or came back as parts of casual companies formed at
hospital bases. The replacement troops which went into the regiment were
mostly from the Southern states. A few of the colored officers assigned
to the regiment after its arrival in France, were men from the officers
training camps in this country and France.

The 370th boasted of the only race court martial in the army. There were
thirteen members, Lieutenant Colonel Duncan presiding. Captain Louis E.
Johnson was the judge advocate, and Lieutenant Washington was his
assistant. It is not of record that the findings of the court martial
were criticized. At least there was no scandal as there was concerning
court martial proceedings in other divisions of the army. The fact is
that there was very little occasion for court martialing among the men
of the 370th. The behavior of the men was uniformly good, as is attested
by the fact that every town mayor in France where the men passed through
or were billeted, complimented the officers on the splendid discipline
and good behavior shown.

Colonel Roberts, a veteran cavalryman, was very fond of his men. He has
repeatedly paid them the highest compliments, not only for their valor
and soldierly qualities, but for their quick intelligence, amenity to
discipline, and for the clean living which made them so remarkably free
from disease. He has stated that he would not know where to select a
better group of men for everything that goes to make up efficient,
dependable soldiers. Colonel Roberts received the Croix de Guerre, with
the following citation:

"A commander entirely devoted to duty, he succeeded by dint of working
day and night in holding with his regiment a difficult sector, though
the officers and men were without experience, under heavy shelling. He
personally took charge of a battalion on the front line on October 12
and led it to the objectives assigned by the crossing of the Ailette
canal."

American historians may not give the Negro fighters the place to which
their records entitle them; that remains to be seen. From the testimony
of French commanders, however, it is evident that the pages of French
history will not be printed unless they contain the valiant, patriotic,
heroic deeds of the Illinois and New York regiments with their comrades
of the 93rd and 92nd Divisions.

In the various sectors to which they were assigned, they were in
virtually every important fight. They met the flower of the Kaiser's
forces, held them and on more than one occasion made them retreat. The
Hun had misjudged them and it was fortunate that he had. They endured
their share of hardship, marching many weary miles, day after day,
without sufficient food. Nothing could affect their spirit and dash.
When the call came, they went over the top, that the world might be made
safe for democracy.

Among the officers and men of the 370th were represented about every
calling in which the Negro of this day engages. There were men of
professional pursuits; lawyers, doctors and teachers; students,
mechanics, business men, farmers and laborers. The poet of the regiment
was Lieutenant Blaine G. Alston. The following little poem, if properly
digested and understood, tells volumes within itself:

                "OVER THERE"

     Did you ever hear a bullet whiz,
       Or dodge a hand grenade?
     Have you watched long lines of trenches dug
       By doughboys with a spade?
     Have you seen the landscape lighted up
       At midnight by a shell?
     Have you seen a hillside blazing forth
       Like a furnace room in hell?

     Have you stayed all night in a ruined town
       With a rafter for a bed?
     With horses stamping underneath
       In the morning when they are fed?
     Have you heard the crump-crump whistle?
       Do you know the dud shell's grunt?
     Have you played rat in a dugout?--
       Then you have surely seen the front.

     --Lieut. Blaine G. Alston, 370th U.8. Troops.




CHAPTER XVII

NARRATIVE OF AN OFFICER


Special Article by Captain John H. Patton, Adjutant of 8th
Illinois--Summarizes Operations of the Regiment--From First Call to
Mustering Out--An Eye Witness Account--In Training Camps, at Sea, in
France--Service in Argonne Forest--Many Other Engagements--A Thrilling
Record--Battalion Operations in Detail--Special Mention of Companies and
Individuals.


Captain John H. Patton, regimental adjutant of the 370th, who commanded
the second battalion through most of its service, presents a summary of
the operations of the regiment from the first call to the mustering out.
Being in charge of the organization's records, his account is detailed,
authentic and highly valuable as supplementing the data of the previous
chapter; gleaned from departmental records and other sources. It carries
additional interest as being the testimony of an eye-witness, one who
participated in the stirring events in a marked and valorous degree. The
recital in Captain Patton's own words, the phrase of a highly trained
and efficient military man, follows:

Pursuant to the call of the President, under date of July 3, 1917, the
8th Illinois Infantry reported at the various rendezvous on July 25,
1917, as follows: At Chicago, Illinois regimental headquarters;
Headquarters company, Machine Gun company, Supply company, Detachment
Medical Department, and Companies A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H; at
Springfield, Illinois, Company I; at Peoria, Illinois, Company K; at
Danville, Illinois, Company L; at Metropolis, Illinois, Company M.

On the date the regiment responded to the call Colonel Franklin A.
Denison commanded the regiment, the other Field Officers being
Lieutenant Colonel James H. Johnson, Major Rufus M. Stokes, Major
Charles L. Hunt, Major Otis B. Duncan and Captain John H. Patton,
regimental adjutant.

The strength of the regiment a short time before responding to the call
was approximately one thousand officers and enlisted men, and orders
having been received to recruit to maximum strength, 3604 enlisted men,
an active recruiting campaign was begun. On July 25, 1917, the strength
was approximately 2,500. Soon afterwards orders were received that the
regiment would be organized according to Minimum Strength Tables of
Organization, which gave it an authorized strength of 2,138 enlisted
men. After reporting that the regiment already had several hundred men
in excess of that strength, authority was granted to retain the excess
men. From this time until demobilized at Camp Grant in March, 1919, the
regiment had from 600 to 1,300 men in excess of its authorized strength,
and upon arrival in France in April, 1918, the entire personnel
consisted of men who had voluntarily enlisted.

Intensive training was begun immediately after the regiment reported at
the various armories and the public streets in the vicinity were
utilized for this purpose until October 12, 1917, on which date the
various organizations entrained for Camp Logan, Houston, Texas, arriving
a few days later.

While stationed at Camp Logan, the regiment was engaged in intensive
training. Officers and enlisted men attended the various schools
established by the 33rd Division to which the regiment had been attached
and acquitted themselves with credit.

At the end of October, 1917, on the date of the closing of the Second
Liberty Loan Campaign, out of a total of 2,166 officers and enlisted men
belonging to the regiment at that time, 1,482 officers and men
subscribed $151,400.00.

While at Camp Logan, approximately 96 percent of the regiment took out
$10,000.00 War Risk Insurance per man.

On December 1, 1917, the official designation of the regiment was
changed from the 8th Illinois Infantry to the 370th Infantry.

On March 6, 1918, the regiment left Camp Logan enroute to Camp Stuart,
Newport News, Va., arriving on March 10, 1918, and immediately taking up
its interrupted intensive training.

While at Camp Stuart, Va., Lieutenant Colonel James H. Johnson was
discharged from the service, and Major Otis B. Duncan, who had commanded
the 3rd battalion, was promoted to the grade of lieutenant-colonel and
Captain Arthur Williams was promoted to the grade of major and placed in
command of the 3rd battalion.

On April 6, 1918, the regiment embarked on the S.S. President Grant en
route overseas. In attempting to get out to sea, the vessel ran aground
in Hampton Roads and three days later having been refloated, the journey
overseas was resumed. On account of this delay the journey was begun
without convoy, the warships assigned to this duty having departed as
scheduled on or about April 6, 1918. On April 20, 1918, the steamer was
met by a convoy of torpedo boats which accompanied us to Brest, France,
at which place the regiment arrived on April 22, 1918.

The following day, April 23, 1918, the regiment debarked and marched to
camp at Pontanezen Barracks, near Brest, and two days later entrained
for Grandvillers (Haut-Rhin), arriving on April 27, 1918, and taking
station.

The regiment, upon arrival at Grandvillers, was attached to the 73rd
Division, French Army, and orders were given for the reorganization and
equipping of the regiment to conform to that of a French regiment. All
American arms, ammunition and equipment were salvaged and French rifles,
machine guns, ammunition, wheel transportation, packs, helmets and other
necessary equipment furnished. Except for the uniform the regiment was
outfitted exactly as were the French regiments of that division. French
rations were issued with the exception of the wine component, for which
an extra allowance of sugar was substituted.

The Division sent officers to take charge of the instruction of the
regiment in every phase of the work to be later undertaken and another
period of intensive training was begun. Even French cooks were present
to instruct our cooks in the preparation and conservation of the French
rations.

After six weeks training at this place, the regiment entrained enroute
to the front, arrived at Ligny-en-Barrios (Meuse) on June 13, 1918, and
moved up toward the lines by easy stages.

On June 21, 1918, the regiment began occupying positions in the Saint
Mihiel Sector, completing the occupation on June 24, 1918. This being
the first time the regiment had been actually in the lines, the division
commander deemed it advisable to intermingle our troops with French
troops in order that officers and men might observe and profit by close
association with the veteran French troops. Thus the units of the 1st
and 2nd battalions, which had been assigned to the front lines were
intermingled with platoons and companies of the 325th regiment of
infantry.

Many valuable lessons were learned while in this sector, which was
exceptionally quiet at the time. Except for occasional shelling and some
scattered machine gun and rifle fire, nothing of interest occurred while
in the sector, and there were no casualties.

On the night of June 30-July 1, 1918, the regiment, having been relieved
in the sector, began withdrawing, and on July 3, 1918, the withdrawal
had been completed without any losses.

After resting a few days in the region of Lignieres (Meuse), the
regiment entrained en route to the Argonne Forest, arriving behind the
lines on July 6, 1918, the 1st Battalion, under command of Major Stokes,
moving up immediately into the reserve positions at Brabant (S.
Groupement Courcelles) and later into the front lines in the Center of
Resistance de la Foret, Sub-Sector Hermont.

The 2nd Battalion under command of Major Hunt took station at
Rarecourt, the latter moved up to Locheres (Plateau of Gorgia) at which
place the Major located his Commanding Post. From this position
companies of the 2nd Battalion were sent into the lines alternately, the
companies being relieved after a five days' tour of duty.

On July 12, 1918, Colonel Franklin A. Denison, who had commanded the
regiment up to this time and had become incapacitated through illness
contracted during the strenuous days incident to the preparation of the
regiment for service in the lines, was relieved from command on this
account and Colonel T.A. Roberts, cavalry, assumed command of the
regiment.

The 3rd battalion under command of Major Williams, was held in reserve
at Vraincourt, and only Company M of that battalion was sent into the
front lines. This company took up positions in the supporting point at
Buzemont on August 7, 1918, and remained until August 14, 1918.

On August 1, 1918, the Stokes Mortar platoon under command of Lieutenant
Robert A. Ward took position in the lines in the sub-sector Vaquois, and
on August 4, 1918, took an active part in a coup-de-main arranged by the
French. His mission, filling in the gaps in the French artillery
barrage, was so successfully accomplished that his entire platoon was
highly commended for their work by the commanding general of the
division.

Although patrols were operating between the lines nightly and the
positions occupied were under artillery, machine gun and rifle fire a
number of times, the only losses sustained during the six weeks in the
Argonne Forest were 1 killed, 1 captured and 4 wounded.

On the night of August 15-16, 1918, the regiment was relieved from its
positions in the Forest and marched to Rampont and entrained for
villages in the vicinity of Fains (Meuse) for a period of rest, arriving
on August 18, 1918.

Upon arrival at the new stations, instruction was begun again, more
attention being paid to open warfare than to work incident to trench
warfare. This training proved of great value to the officers and men in
the latter days of the war, when the regiment was actively engaged in
the pursuit of the enemy to the Belgian border.

On September 11, 1918, the regiment left its various stations and
proceeded by train to Betz, where it detrained and marched to stations
in villages in the vicinity of Mareuil-sur-Ourcq (Meuse).

On September 11, 1918, Majors Hunt and Williams having become
incapacitated through illness and injury, were relieved from command of
the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, respectively, and Lieutenant Colonel Otis B.
Duncan and Captain John H. Patton were assigned to the command of those
battalions.

The battles of Chavigny, Leury and the Bois de Beaumont having reduced
the effectives of the 59th French Division, the regiment was placed at
the disposition of the division and was assigned as one of the three
infantry regiments thereof. Upon joining this division the effective
strength of the regiment was approximately double that of either of the
two French regiments; and in future operations a large share of the work
of the division fell to our lot.

On September 15, 1918, the regiment received orders to move again toward
the front. From Mareuil-sur-Ourcq to the region of St. Bandry (Meuse) the
movement was made in motor trucks. On September 16, 1918, the journey
was resumed, the regiment proceeding by marching. Upon arrival at
Tartier, Companies F and G were sent to Monte Couve (Aisne) to join the
232nd Regiment of Infantry, and Companies I and L pushed forward to
Bagneux (Aisne) to join the 325th Regiment. The 1st battalion proceeded
the next day to the caves in the vicinity of Les Tueries, the 3rd
battalion moved up into the reserve in the region of Antioch Farm with
the remainder of the 2nd battalion.

As soon as Companies F, G, I and L had moved up and taken position in
the lines opposite Mont des Signes an attack was ordered. Attacks on the
enemy positions on the plateau of Mont des Signes were almost continuous
from the date of arrival of these companies until about September 21,
1918, when they were withdrawn and joined their battalions. These
companies acquitted themselves with credit. One platoon under command of
Sergeant Matthew Jenkins, Company F, took a large section of the enemy
works for which the sergeant was awarded both the French Croix de Guerre
and the American Distinguished Service Cross.

About the 22nd of September, the regiment for the first time took over a
full regimental sector, the Battalion Stokes relieving the Battalion
Garnier in the positions outlined by La Folie-l'Ecluse on the Canal
l'Oise-l'Aisne and the Farm Gulliminet, the Battalion Patton going into
the support positions at Mont des Tombes and the Battalion Duncan going
into reserve at Tincelle Farm. Colonel Roberts located his commanding
post at Antioch Farm. From the date of arrival in these positions until
the enemy began to retreat on October 12, 1918, the entire area occupied
by the regiment was almost constantly shelled, gas being used
frequently. The front lines were almost constantly under the fire of
enemy minnenwurfers and numerous machine guns located in the Bois de
Mortier, a very dense wood north of the canal.

On the night of September 26-27, 1918, the Battalion Patton was ordered
to relieve with like units one-half of each of the companies of the
Battalion Stokes in the front lines and soon after the relief was
completed an attack along the l'Oise-l'Aisne Canal was ordered. By the
extreme of effort the remainder of the Battalion Patton was brought up
and having completed the relief of the Battalion Stokes, the attack
began as ordered. The attack continued until October 4th, on which date
all objectives had been gained and the enemy pushed back across the
canal. On September 30th the Battalion Duncan was thrown into the fight
and two companies of the Battalion Patton withdrawn to the support. The
Battalion Duncan was ordered to make a frontal attack which necessitated
an advance across the open fields. This was successfully accomplished,
the battalion being subjected to intense artillery, machine gun and
rifle fire continuously. The Battalion Duncan, having gained its
objectives, the Farm de la Riviere and the railroad south of the canal,
held on tenaciously in spite of the intense fire of the enemy and held
the positions gained until the pursuit began on October 12, 1918, when
it passed into the reserve of the division.

During the occupancy of the sector, from September 22, 1918, to October
12, 1918, patrols from the three battalions were out night and day
between the lines making necessary reconnaissances. On October 4, 1918,
a volunteer patrol of twenty men under command of Captain Chester
Sanders in an effort to discover whether the enemy had abandoned the
woods, penetrated the Bois de Mortier to a point about 100 yards behind
the enemy positions and having been discovered were fired on from all
sides by numerous machine guns. The patrol returned to our lines intact.
For this exploit Captain Sanders was awarded the French Croix de Guerre
and the patrol received the commendation of the commanding general of
the division. On October 7, 1918, after 5 minutes violent bombardment by
our artillery, three raiding parties from Company F made a dash for the
triangle formed by the railroad, the L'Oise-l'Aisne canal and the
Vauxaillon road. One of these parties gained the enemy trenches along
the canal, ejecting the enemy after a hand grenade fight. All parties
returned to our lines intact though several were wounded. Lieutenant
William Warfield of the Battalion Duncan single-handed took an enemy
machine gun nest which had been harassing his company, and after
disposing of the enemy machine gunners returned to our lines with the
gun. Numerous other acts of gallantry were performed in this sector for
which officers and men received both French and American decorations.

At 9:20 a.m. on October 12, 1918, the alert was given for a general
advance by the entire division and the battalions assembled at the zones
of assembly previously designated. The Battalion Stokes was given the
mission of clearing the Bois de Mortier and the Battalion Patton was
placed at the disposition of Lieutenant Colonel Lugand of the 232nd
Infantry, and the 3rd battalion was placed in the divisional reserve.
At about 11:00 a.m. the pursuit began, the 1st battalion clearing the
Bois de Mortier and successfully reaching its first objective,
Penancourt, the same date, and continuing the pursuit the next day to a
point west of Molinchart.

The Battalion Patton, having been assigned as the support battalion of
the 232nd Regiment of Infantry, took up the pursuit via Anizy le
Chateau, Cessieres and the Bois de Oiry, bivouacing the night of October
13th in the vicinity of the Bois.

These battalions were commended by the commanding general. The Battalion
Stokes for its passage of the exceedingly strong position in the Bois de
Mortier and the 2nd for its well conducted march in pursuit via Anizy le
Chateau.

On account of the straightening out of the lines due to the retreat of
the enemy, the 59th Division was withdrawn on October 14th and sent back
for rest, the regiment being sent into the St. Gobain Forest and
vicinity for this purpose. Ten of the twelve days in this locality were
spent in hard work on the roads and the last two were given over to the
re-equipping of the regiment.

On October 22, 1918, Major Rufus M. Stokes was relieved from command of
the 1st battalion and assigned to duty as administrative officer of the
Regimental Combat and Supply Trains. Captain John T. Prout was assigned
to the command of the 1st battalion.

On October 27th, 1918, the regiment was again ordered into the lines and
at midnight on that date the 2nd battalion moved up into support
positions in the vicinity of Grandlup.

The 1st battalion on October 29, 1918, moved up into support positions
in the vicinity of the same village. During this time the 3rd battalion
was located at Manneaux Farm in reserve. The battalions remained in
various positions in the vicinity of Grandlup until November 5, 1918, on
which date the enemy again began to retreat, and while thus occupied
were subjected to severe shelling and those units occupying front line
positions to much machine gun and rifle fire; casualties were few
except in Company A stationed in the vicinity of Chantrud Farm, where an
enemy shell fell in the midst of the company at mess, killing
thirty-five men and wounding fifty, thus causing the company to be
withdrawn from the lines.

On the morning of November 5th, a general advance was ordered and the
enemy retreated before it. The retreat of the enemy was so rapid that
our troops did not catch up with them until about November 8th, on which
date a general attack by the division was ordered. The 2nd battalion on
the left of the division was given the task of clearing out the enemy
from positions along the Hirshon railroad and the Heights of Aubenton.
After an all day fight the battalion reached its objective about
nightfall. The French division on the left did not advance as
anticipated, owing to enemy resistance on their front, and the 2nd
battalion having advanced about two kilometers to the front suffered
severely on account of the exposed flank, three men being killed and two
officers and thirty-three enlisted men being wounded. On the morning of
the 9th the enemy again retreated and the 2nd battalion continued the
pursuit to Goncelin, resting there for the night and on the morning of
the both was ordered to cantonment at Pont d'Any, where it was located
at the taking effect of the armistice.

On November 6th the 1st battalion took up the pursuit in support of the
Battalion Michel of the 325th Regiment of Infantry, advancing via
Brazicourt and Rapeire to Hill 150 near St. Pierremont. Company C having
passed on into the front lines at the Brazicourt Farm, upon arrival near
St. Pierremont were ordered on the morning of November 6, 1918, to
attack and occupy St. Pierremont, cross the Serre River and take up a
position along the railroad track. The mission of the company was
successfully accomplished in spite of the strong resistance of the
enemy, St. Pierremont being occupied, the river crossed and three pieces
of enemy artillery as well as several machine guns taken. For this
operation Company C was cited and awarded the French Croix de Guerre
with a Palm, the highest French citation received in the regiment. The
battalion continued the pursuit until arrival at Mont Plaisir, when it
was ordered back to Fligny, where it was in cantonment at the taking
effect of the armistice.

The 3rd Battalion took up the pursuit on November 5th, resting in the
open fields the nights of the 5th and 6th. The battalion in moving up
advanced via Bosmont and Mont Plaisir and passed on into the front lines
at the Rue Larcher on November 7, 1918. In the afternoon of the 8th
orders were received to deliver a cover fire for French units which were
to make an attack on the village of Logny, which was strongly held by
the enemy. Company M, having been assigned for this work, moved out from
Hurtebise and advanced to a position where the cover fire could be
effectively delivered, and opened fire. About this time word was
received from the French commander that his troops could not advance on
account of the severe shell and machine gun fire, and Company M having
arrived at a position where it was safer to go ahead than to retreat,
attacked the town and drove the enemy therefrom. For this action
Lieutenant Osceola A. Browning, commanding Company M, and several others
received the French Croix de Guerre and Sergeant Lester Fossie both the
Croix de Guerre and the American Distinguished Service Cross. On
November 10, 1918, the advance and pursuit was continued. At Etignieres
the battalion was temporarily stopped by intense shell fire. On November
11, 1918, the pursuit was again taken up with Resinowez as the principal
objective. Later the objective was changed to Gue d'Hossus, Belgium,
which objective was reached a few minutes before the taking effect of
the armistice, an enemy combat train of about 50 vehicles being captured
about this time.

A few days after the armistice, the regiment began to move southward,
taking station in villages in the vicinity of Verneuil-sur-Serre.

[Illustration: SOME WAR CROSS WINNERS OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY).
FRONT ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: CAPT. G.M. ALLEN. LIEUT. O.A. BROWNING. CAPT.
D.J. WARNER. LIEUT. ROY B. TISDELL. STANDING LEFT TO RIGHT: LIEUT. ROBT.
P. HURD, LIEUT-COL. OTIS B DUNCAN. MAJOR J.R. WHITE. CAPT. W.B.
CRAWFORD, LIEUT. WM. WARFIELD. CAPT. MATTHEW JACKSON.]

On December 12, 1918, the regiment formally passed from the French
command and to Brest via Soissons and Le Mans, arriving at the latter
place on January 10, 1919.

On February 2, 1919, the regiment embarked on the S.S. La France IV, en
route to the U.S., arriving on February 9, 1919, and taking station at
Camp Upton, Long Island, N.Y.

On February 17, 1919, the regiment left Camp Upton for Camp Grant,
Illinois, via Chicago, where it was accorded a wonderful and
never-to-be-forgotten reception by the citizens of Chicago.

After arrival at Camp Grant, work incident to the demobilization of the
regiment was commenced. The majority of officers and enlisted men were
discharged from the service during the latter part of February, and
finally on March 12, 1919, orders were issued declaring that the
regiment had ceased to exist.

The health of the regiment while in the service was exceptional. The
Medical Detachment, under command of Major James R. White, worked
incessantly to protect the health of the command. Before departure for
France a number of cases of pneumonia of a very severe type developed,
but only two deaths resulted. The Medical Detachment was divided among
the various units, Captain Spencer C. Dickerson having charge of the
detachment attached to the 1st battalion, Lieutenant James F. Lawson
that of the 2nd battalion, and Lieutenant Claudius Ballard that of the
3rd battalion. The work of these detachments was at all times of a high
order of excellence, and during engagements both officers and men in
numerous instances went out into the open and rendered first aid to the
wounded after terrific fire. Each man wounded, however slightly, was
given an injection of anti-tetanic serum and as a result no cases of
tetanus were reported, nor were any cases of gas baccilus infection
reported. During the severe fighting around the Guilliminet and de la
Riviere Farms, more help was needed and Lieutenant Park Tancil, dental
surgeon, volunteered to take charge of one of the first aid stations
which was daily receiving showers of shells from the enemy batteries.
Lieutenant Claudius Ballard, though wounded during the fighting,
refused to be evacuated and continued his duties administering to the
wounded. Major James R. White made daily rounds of the first aid
stations in the lines, disregarding the intense fire of the enemy and
personally dressing numbers of wounded. For their heroic conduct in
administering to the wounded under fire, Major White and Lieutenants
Tancil and Ballard as well as several enlisted men of the Medical
Detachment, were awarded the French Croix de Guerre, and Private Alfred
Williamson of the detachment was awarded both the French Croix de Guerre
and the American Distinguished Service Cross.

       *       *       *       *       *

ROSTER OF OFFICERS OLD 8TH ILLINOIS (370th Infantry)

(All Negroes unless otherwise designated.)

Field and Staff--F.A. Denison, commanding until July 12, 1918, invalided
home; Col. T.A. Roberts (white), commanding after July 12, 1918; Major
James R. White, surgeon; Major W.H. Roberts (white), operation officer;
Capt. Charles W. Fillmore, personnel officer; Capt. John H. Patton,
commanding 2nd battalion; Capt. James E. Dunjil, assistant to adjutant;
1st Lieut. George Murphy, assistant to adjutant; 1st Lieut. Louis C.
Washington, administrative officer; 2nd Lieut. Noble Sissle, assistant
to administrative officer; 1st Lieut. Park Tancil, dentist; 1st Lieut.
John T. Clemons, chaplain.

First Battalion--Major Rufus M. Stokes, commanding; 2nd Lieut. M.F.
Stapleton (white), battalion adjutant; Capt. Spencer C. Dickerson,
medical officer; 1st Lieut. Harry W. Jones, battalion supply officer.

Company A--Capt. Stewart A. Betts, 1st Lieut. John L. McDonald, 1st
Lieut. Robert L. Chavis, 2nd. Lieut. Wycham Tyler, 2nd Lieut. Howard F.
Bell, 2nd Lieut. Willis Stearles.

Company B--Capt. Stuart Alexander, 1st Lieut. Robert P. Hurd, 1st Lieut.
Franklin McFarland, 1st Lieut. Samuel Ransom, 2nd Lieut. Fred K.
Johnson, 2nd Lieut. Samuel Block.

Company C--Capt. James H. Smith, 1st Lieut. Samuel S. Gordon, 1st Lieut.
Harry N. Shelton, 1st Lieut. Arthur Jones, 2nd Lieut. Elmer J. Myers,
2nd Lieut. Roy B. Tisdell.

Machine Gun Company--Captain Devere J. Warner, 1st Lieut. George C.
Lacey, 2nd Lieut. Thomas A. Painter, 2nd Lieut. Bernard McGwin, 2nd
Lieut. Homer C. Kelly, 2nd Lieut. Julian D. Rainey.

Second Battalion--Capt. John H. Patton, commanding; 1st Lieut. Samuel A.
McGowan, battalion adjutant; 1st Lieut. James F. Lawson, medical
officer; 1st Lieut. Rufus H. Bacote, medical officer; 1st Lieut. William
Nichols, battalion supply officer.

Company F--Capt. Rufus Reed, 1st Lieut. Carter W. Wesley, 2nd Lieut.
Edward Douglas, 2nd Lieut. Robert A.D. Birchett.

Company G--Capt. George M. Allen, 1st Lieut. Durand Harding, 1st Lieut.
Gerald C. Bunn, 1st Lieut. Harvey E. Johnson, 2nd Lieut. Clarence H.
Bouchane.

Company H--Capt. James C. Hall, 1st Lieut Harry L. Allen, 1st Lieut.
George L. Amos, 1st Lieut Binga Dismond, 2nd Lieut Lawrence Willette,
2nd Lieut. John A. Hall.

Machine Gun Company No. 2--Capt. Lilburn Jackson, 2nd Lieut. Frank T.
Logan, 2nd Lieut. Junius Walthall, 2nd Lieut. William A. Barnett.

Third Battalion--Lieut. Col. Otis B. Duncan, commanding; 2nd Lieut.
Stanley B. Norvell, battalion adjutant; 1st Lieut. Claudius Ballard,
medical officer; 1st Lieut. William J. Warfield, battalion supply
officer.

Company I--Capt Lorin O. Sanford, 1st Lieut. Howard R. Brown, 2nd Lieut.
D. Lincoln Reid, 2nd Lieut. Edmond G. White, 2nd Lieut. Oswald Des
Verney, 2nd Lieut. Harry J. Douglas.

Company L--Capt. William B. Crawford, 1st Lieut. Frank Robinson, provost
officer; 1st. Lieut Frank W. Bates, 2nd Lieut. James H. Peyton, 2nd
Lieut Luther J. Harris.

Company M--Capt. Edward W. Spearman, 1st Lieut Osceola A. Browning, 1st
Lieut. Jerome L. Hubert, 2nd Lieut. Lawson Price, 2nd Lieut. Irving T.
Howe, 2nd Lieut. Larkland F. Hewitt.

Machine Gun Company No. 3--Capt. Matthew Jackson, 1st Lieut. William
C.P. Phillips, 2nd Lieut. Charles C. Jackson, 2nd Lieut Clyde W.
Donaldson, 2nd Lieut George F. Proctor.

Special Units

Headquarters Company--Capt. Lewis E. Johnson, 1st Lieut Robert A.J.
Shaw, 1st Lieut. Benote H. Lee, 2nd Lieut Elias F.E. Williams, pioneer
officer; 2nd Lieut. Rufus B. Jackson, Stokes mortar; 2nd Lieut. Reginald
W. Harang, signal officer.

Supply Company--Capt. Lloyd G. Wheeler, 1st Lieut. Harry Wheeler, 1st
Lieut. James A. Riggs, 1st Lieut. Dan M. Moore, medical officer; 2nd
Lieut Augustus M. Fisher, veterinary surgeon.

Depot Company K--Capt Wm. H. Lewis, commanding; 2nd Lieut. Alvin M.
Jordan, adjutant; 1st Lieut. Norman Garrett, 1st Lieut. Napoleon B. Roe,
dentist; 1st Lieut. George W. Antoine, medical officer; 2nd Lieut Avon
H. Williams; 2nd Lieut. Edward L. Goodlett, 2nd Lieut Frank Corbin, 2nd
Lieut Frederick L. Slade, 2nd Lieut. Walter H. Aiken, 2nd Lieut. Rufus
A. Atkins, 2nd Lieut James T. Baker, 2nd Lieut. John S. Banks, 2nd
Lieut. Marcus A. Bernard, 2nd Lieut. Charles E. Bryant, 2nd Lieut Henry
H. Carr, 2nd Lieut. Horace E. Colley, 2nd Lieut. Ira R. Collins, 2nd
Lieut. Charles H. Conley, 2nd Lieut. Bernie B. Cowan, 2nd Lieut. Flenoid
Cunningham, 2nd Lieut. Frank P. Dawson, 2nd Lieut. Samuel A. Dillard,
2nd Lieut. John W. Harris.

ROLL OF HONOR

Heroes of Old 8th Illinois

Negro National Guardsmen known in France as the 370th Infantry, who were
decorated with the Croix de Guerre. The exploits of some of these men
and also of some of those in the appended list decorated with the
Distinguished Service Cross, are mentioned in the chapters devoted to
the regiment.

     Col. T.A. Roberts (white)
     Lieut. Col. Otis B. Duncan
     Major James R. White
     Capt. John H. Patton
     Capt. Chester Sanders
     Capt. John T. Prout
     Capt. Samuel R. Gwynne
     Capt. Devere J. Warner
     Capt. Wm. B. Crawford
     Capt. George M. Allen
     Capt. James C. Hall
     Capt. Stuart Alexander
     Capt. Mathew Jackson
     Capt. James H. Smith
     Lieut. Park Tancil
     Lieut. Osceola A. Browning
     Lieut. George C. Lacey
     Lieut. Frank Robinson
     Lieut. Claudius Ballard
     Lieut. Charles C. Jackson
     Lieut. William J. Warfield
     Lieut. Samuel S. Gordon
     Lieut. Robert P. Hurd
     Lieut. Henry N. Shelton
     Lieut. Henry P. Cheatham
     Lieut. Stanley B. Norvell
     Lieut. Roy B. Tisdell
     Lieut. Thomas A. Painter
     Lieut. Lawson Price
     Lieut. Lincoln D. Reid
     Lieut. Elmer J. Myers
     Sergt. Norman Henry
     Sergt. Clarence T. Gibson
     Sergt. Matthew Jenkins
     Sergt. Cecil Nelson
     Sergt. Howard Templeton
     Sergt. Chas. T. Monroe
     Sergt. Derry Brown
     Corp. James R. Brown
     Corp. Lewis Warner
     Corp. Joseph Henderson
     Corp. Maceo A. Tervalon
     Corp. William Stevenson
     Corp. Emil Laurent
     Corp. Charles T. Brock
     Pvt. Nathaniel C. White (deceased)
     Pvt. Robert Pride
     Pvt. George B. White
     Pvt. Howard Sheffield
     Pvt. Cornelius Robinson
     Pvt. Ulysses Sayles
     Pvt. William Cuff (deceased)
     Pvt. Hugh Givens
     Pvt. Arthur Johnson
     Pvt. Rufus Pitts
     Pvt. Olbert Dorsey
     Pvt. William Hurdle
     Pvt. Bee McKissic
     Pvt. Jonas Paxton
     Pvt. Harry Pearson
     Pvt. Paul Turlington
     Pvt. Reed J. Brown
     Pvt. Paul Johnson
     Pvt. Reedy Jones
     Pvt. Alonzo Keller
     Pvt. Leroy Lindsay
     Pvt. Lavern Massey
     Pvt. Josiah Nevees
     Pvt. Ira Taylor
     Pvt. Jesse Ferguson
     Pvt. William M. Robinson

Awarded Distinguished Service Crosses by General Pershing:

     Capt. William B. Crawford
     Lieut. William J. Warfield
     Sergt. Norman Henry
     Sergt. Ralph Gibson
     Sergt. Robert Barnes
     Sergt. Charles T. Monroe
     Sergt. Emmett Thompson
     Sergt. Lester Fossie
     Sergt. Matthew Jenkins
     Pvt. Tom Powell (deceased)
     Pvt. Andrew McCall
     Pvt. Wm. Cuff (deceased)
     Pvt. Spirley Irby
     Pvt. Alfred Williamson
     Pvt. William G. Hurdle
     Pvt. Harry Pearson
     Pvt. Alonzo Walton
     Pvt. Leroy Davis
     Pvt. James Fuquay
     Pvt. Nathaniel C. White (deceased)
     Pvt. Arthur Johnson




CHAPTER XVIII.

BLOOD OF THE BLACK AND WHITE IN ONE RIVULET OF DEPARTING LIFE


LINCOLN'S PROPHETIC WORDS--NEGROES ALONGSIDE BEST SOLDIERS IN THE
WORLD--HOLD THEIR OWN--THE 372ND REGIMENT--BRIGADED WITH VETERANS OF THE
MARNE--FAMOUS "RED HAND" DIVISION--OCCUPY HILL 304 AT VERDUN--NINE DAYS
BATTLE IN "BLOODY ARGONNE"--ADMIRATION OF THE FRENCH--CONSPICUOUS
COMPONENTS OF 372ND--CHRONOLOGY OF SERVICE.

     They will probably help in some trying time to keep the jewel of
     liberty in the family of freedom.--Abraham Lincoln.

Prophetic words uttered by the Great Emancipator concerning the Negroes
of America. The Negroes helped. They would have helped in much greater
measure had they been given the opportunity.

Fighting for the first time on the soil of the world's most famous
battleground--Europe--and for the first time brought into direct
comparison with the best soldiers of the world, they proved themselves
able to hold their own where tests of courage, endurance and
aggressiveness were most severe.

They fought valiantly in the vicinity of Chateau Thierry, on the Vesle,
on the Aillette, in the Argonne, and various other sectors; and in the
final drive at Metz. They vanquished the Germans who opposed them; the
heaviest fire of the enemy failing to stop their advance.

No part of the 93rd Division made a more gallant record than the 372nd
regiment. Throughout its service in France it was a part of the famous
French 157th Division known as the "Red Hand" division, under the
command of General Goybet. It was this division which first opposed the
Huns at the Marne in 1914. To brigade the Negro soldiers with such
famous veterans was a rare mark of distinction and placed the black men
on their mettle at all times.

The 372nd arrived in France on April 14 and went into training with the
French eleven days later. On May 29 the regiment took over a sector in
the Argonne and on June 20 was sent to the trenches just west of Verdun,
occupying the famous battle-swept Hill 304, and sections at Four de
Paris and Vauquois. On Hill 304 thousands of French and Germans had
fallen as the battle line swung back and forward. That this hill was
given to the Negroes to hold demonstrated that as soldiers they had
already won the confidence of the French.

The regiment's first engagement was in the Champagne sector with
Monthois as an objective. Here came the real test. The Negroes were
eager to get into the fight. They cheered and sang when the announcement
came that their opportunity had arrived--but the question was; back of
their enthusiasm had they the staying qualities drilled into European
troops through centuries of training in the science of warfare.

The answer was that some of the heaviest and most effective fighting of
the day was done by the Negro regiment. From June 6th to September 10th,
the 372nd was stationed in the bloody Argonne forest or in the vicinity
of Verdun. On the night of September 25th they were summoned to take
part in the Argonne offensive and were in that terrific drive, one of
the decisive engagements of the war, from September 28th to October 7th.

In the nine days' battle the Negroes not only proved their fighting
qualities in an ordeal such as men rarely have been called upon to face,
but these qualities in deadly striking power and stubborn resistance in
crises, stood out with such distinction that the coveted Croix de Guerre
was bestowed upon the regiment.

The casualty list of the 372nd in this and previous fighting carried 500
names of men killed, wounded and gassed. For their achievements they
were at once cited for bravery and efficiency in General Orders from the
corps commander transmitted through their French divisional chief. It
was dated October 8th and read as follows:

     In transmitting you with legitimate pride the thanks and
     congratulations of General Garnier Duplessis, allow me, my dear
     friends of all ranks, American and French, to address you from the
     bottom of the heart of a chief and soldier, the expression of
     gratitude for the glory you have lent to our good 157th Division.
     During these nine days of hard fighting you have progressed eight
     kilometers (4.8 miles) through powerfully organized defenses, taken
     600 prisoners, captured 15 heavy guns, 20 minenwerfers and nearly
     150 machine guns, secured an enormous amount of engineering
     material and important supplies of artillery ammunition, and
     brought down by your fire three enemy aeroplanes. The "Red Hand"
     sign of the division, has, thanks to you, become a bloody hand
     which took the Boche by the throat and made him cry for mercy. You
     have well avenged our glorious dead. GOYBET.

In a communication delivered to the colonel of the regiment on October
1st, General Goybet said:

     Your troops have been admirable in their attack. You must be proud
     of the courage of your officers and men, and I consider it an honor
     to have them under my command. The bravery and dash of your
     regiment won the admiration of the Moroccan Division, who are
     themselves versed in warfare. Thanks to you, during these hard
     days, the division was at all times in advance of all other
     divisions of the Army Corps. I am sending you all my thanks and beg
     you to transmit them to your subordinates. I call on your wounded.
     Their morale is higher than any praise.

The high honor of having its flag decorated with the Croix de Guerre was
bestowed upon the regiment in the city of Brest just a few days before
it embarked for the return to America. Vice Admiral Moreau, the French
commander of the port of Brest, officially represented his government
in, the ceremony. It was intended as France's appreciation of the
services of these Negro fighters.

The decoration took place at one of the most prominent points in the
city and was witnessed by thousands of French soldiers and civilians, as
well as by sailors and soldiers of several nations.

One of the conspicuous components of the 372nd was the battalion, formed
from what formerly was known as the 1st Separate Battalion of the
District of Columbia National Guard. This famous old Washington
organization has a long, proud history. Many of the members were
veterans of the Spanish-American war. At the close of the European war,
the organization numbered 480 men from the city of Washington, twenty of
whom had been decorated one or more times for individual bravery under
fire.

The battalion was first assembled at Potomac Park on the Speedway in
Washington, shortly after the declaration of war. The men spent almost
half a year at the camp, during which time they had the important
assignment of guarding railway and highway bridges and adjacent points
around the National Capitol. They also had the proud distinction of
guarding the secret archives and departments at Washington, a duty which
required unquestioned loyalty and for which the Negroes were well
selected.

It seemed at the time an inconspicuous bit of war time soldiering, and
they were long trying days to the men. But it was a service which
required intelligence and nerve, as the likelihood was great that the
enemy's agents in this country would strike in the vicinity of the seat
of government. That such responsible duty was delegated to the Negroes
was a high compliment from the military authorities. The manner in which
they discharged the duty is shown in the fact that no enemy depredations
of any consequence occurred in the vicinity of Washington.

After a period of training at Camp Stewart, Newport News, Va., the
battalion was sent to France. Its colored commander was dead. Other
colored officers were soon superseded, leaving the chaplain, Lieutenant
Arrington Helm, the only colored officer attached to the organization.

Arriving at St. Nazaire, France, April 14, 1918, the battalion was soon
sent to Conde en Barrois, where it underwent a period of intensive
training with special preparation for sector warfare. The instructors
were French. Lessons were hard and severe, but the instructors
afterwards had much cause for pride in their pupils.

From the training camp the battalion and regiment proceeded to the
Argonne front, at first settling in the vicinity of La Chalade. It was
there the soldiers received their first taste of warfare, and it was
there their first casualties occurred.

September 13th the outfit withdrew and retired to the rear for a special
training prior to participation in the general attack from Verdun to the
sea. On the morning of September 28th the District of Columbia battalion
was sent to the front to relieve a regiment of famous Moroccan shock
troops. It was at this time that the Champagne offensive took such a
decided turn and the Washington men from that time on were taking a most
active and important part in the general fighting. They distinguished
themselves at Ripont just north of St. Menehold. They suffered greatly
during their valiant support of an advanced position in that sector.
Despite its losses the battalion fought courageously ahead. Prior to
that it had occupied Hill 304 at Verdun. It had the distinction of being
the first American outfit to take over that sector. The battalion fought
doggedly and bravely at Ripont and succeeded in gaining much valuable
territory, as well as enemy machine guns and supplies and ninety Hun
prisoners.

Later the battalion held a front line position at Monthois, and it
finally formed a salient in the line of the 9th French Army Corps. It
was subjected to a long period of gruelling fire from the Boches' famous
Austrian 88s and machine guns, and an incessant barrage from German
weapons of high caliber.

The regiment moved south to the Vosges, where the battalion took up a
position in sub-sector B, in front of St. Marie Aux Mines, where it was
situated when word of the armistice came.

The record of the Negro warriors from the District of Columbia is very
succinctly contained in a diary kept by Chaplain Lieutenant Arrington
Helm. It relates the activities of the unit from the time they sailed
from Newport News, March 30, 1917, until the end of the war. It is also
a condensed account of the major operations of the 372nd regiment. The
diary follows:

March 30--Embarked from Newport News, Va., for overseas duty on the
U.S.S. Susquehanna.

April 17--Disembarked at St. Nazaire and marched to rest camp.

April 21--Left rest camp. Base section No. 1 and entrained for
Vaubecourt.

April 23--Arrived at Vaubecourt at 7 p.m. Left Vaubecourt at 8:30 p.m.
and hiked in a heavy rainstorm to Conde en Barrois.

April 25--Assigned to school under French officers.

May 26--Left Conde en Barrois at 8 a.m. in French motor trucks for Les
Senades.

May 29--Our regiment today took over the sector designated as Argonne
West.

May 31--In front line trenches.

June 20--Changed sectors, being assigned to the Vauquois sector, a
sub-sector of the Verdun front. The 157th Division is stationed in
reserve. The enemy is expected to attack.

July 13--Left for Hill 304 on the Verdun sector. Colonel Young has been
relieved from command and Colonel Herschell Tupes has assumed command.

July 25--Left Sivry la Perche to take over Hill 304. Arrived at Hill 304
at 9 p.m.

August 16--Heavily shelled by regiment of Austrians opposing us. Two
Americans and one Frenchman in the regiment killed.

August 20--Lieutenant James Sanford, Company A, captured by the Germans.

August 21--Fight by French and German planes over our lines. Very
exciting.

September 8--Left Hill 304. Relieved by 129th infantry of the 33rd
Division. Hiked in rain and mud for Brocourt.

September 14--Arrived at Juvigny at noon.

September 17--Left Juvigny for Brienne la Chateau at 8 p.m. Passed
through Brienne la Chateau and reached Vitray la Francois this
afternoon. The city is near the Marne.

September 18--Hiked to Jessecourt. All colored officers left the
regiment today.

September 28--Arrived at Hans. The regiment was in action in the
vicinity of Ripont. The third battalion took up a battle position near
Ripont.

September 29--The third battalion went over the top. The Germans are in
retreat. Our positions are being bombarded. The machine gun fire is
terrific and 88 millimeter shells are falling as thick and fast as
hailstones. We are unable to keep up with the enemy. This afternoon it
is raining. This makes it bad for the wounded of whom there are many.

September 30--The first battalion is now on our right and advancing fast
despite the rain and mud. The machine gun opposition is strenuous. Our
casualties are small. We have captured a large number of prisoners.

October 1--Our advance is meeting with increased opposition. The enemy
has fortified himself on a hill just ahead. The ground prevents active
support by the French artillery. Still we are giving the Germans no
rest. They are now retreating across the valley to one of their supply
bases. The enemy is burning his supplies. We have taken the village at
Ardeuil. Our losses have been heavy but the Germans have lost more in
killed, wounded and taken prisoner than have our forces. On our right
the first battalion has entered the village of Sechault, after some hard
fighting by Company A.

October 4--The Second battalion is going in this morning. We are resting
at Vieux three kilometers from Monthois, one of the enemy's railroad
centers and base hospitals. The enemy is destroying supplies and moving
wounded. We can see trains moving out of Monthois. Our artillery is
bombarding all roads and railroads in the vicinity. The enemy's fire is
intense. We expect a counterattack.

October 5--The enemy's artillery has opened up. We are on the alert.
They have attacked and a good stiff hand to hand combat ensued. The
Germans were driven back with heavy losses. We have taken many prisoners
from about twelve different German regiments. We continued our advance
and now are on the outskirts of Monthois.

October 6--The enemy is throwing a stiff barrage on the lines to our
left where the 333rd French Infantry is attacking. We can see the Huns
on the run. The liaison work of the 157th Division is wonderful; not the
slightest gap has been left open. Our patrols entered Monthois early
this morning and were driven out by machine gun fire, but returned with
a machine gun and its crew. We will be relieved by the 76th infantry
regiment at 8 p.m. We hiked over the ground we had fought so hard to
take to Minnecourt, where the regiment proceeded to reorganize.

October 12--Left Valmy today and continued to Vignemont.

October 13--Arrived at Vignemont. Hiked fifteen kilometers to St.
Leonard.

October 15--Left St. Leonard for Van de Laveline in the Vosges. We
arrived at Van de Laveline at 10:15 p.m. and took over a sector.

November 11--A patrol of Company A took several prisoners from a German
patrol. Received word of the signing of the armistice at 11 a.m. today.
Martial music was played. The colors of the regiment are displayed in
front of the post command.

It is related that the Washington fighters, as well as the other members
of the 372nd regiment, received the news of the armistice with more of
disappointment than joy, for they had made all preparations to advance
with the French through Lorraine.




CHAPTER XIX

COMRADES ON THE MARCH. BROTHERS IN THE SLEEP OF DEATH.


POLICY OF SUBSTITUTING WHITE OFFICERS---INJUSTICE TO CAPABLE
NEGROES--DISAPPOINTMENT BUT NO OPEN RESENTMENT--SHOWED THEMSELVES
SOLDIERS--INTENSER FIGHTING SPIRIT AROUSED--RACE FORGOTTEN IN PERILS OF
WAR--BOTH WHITES AND BLACKS GENEROUS--AFFECTION BETWEEN OFFICERS AND
MEN--NEGROES PREFERRED DEATH TO CAPTIVITY--OUTSTANDING HEROES OF 371ST AND
372ND--WINNERS OF CROSSES


Changing from Negro to white officers was in accordance with the
military policy of the American Government; the generic inspiration and
root being found in national prejudice, incident to the institution of
slavery and the spirit of racial caste and narrowness, that still
disgraces it. Doubt was pretended to be entertained of the ability of
the colored man to command, and although there were not lacking
champions for the policy of placing capable Negroes in command of Negro
units, the weight of opinion; superinduced and fostered by racial
prejudice, inclined to the opposite course.

In the light of the fine record made by such Negro officers as were
given responsible commands, let us hope for the future honor of the
nation; preening herself as being in the vanguard of the progressive
commonwealths of the age, that a policy so unjust, narrow and unworthy
will; as quickly as feasible be abandoned. In favor of Negro commanders
is the additional testimony of high French generals, who knew no color
distinction and could see no reason why a Negro should not command his
own race troops if he had intelligence, courage and military skill.
Indeed there are not wanting in the annals of French warfare brilliant
examples where men of African blood commanded not only mulattoes and
blacks, but heroic whites as well. It is not of record that those white
Frenchmen showed any reluctance to follow such leaders or viewed them
with less affection than they did their white officers.

One should not say that the Negro troops would have fought any better
under the men of their own race. They achieved all possible glory as it
was. They simply did their duty whether their officers were white or
black. But that they did not fight any the less valiantly or efficiently
under men of their own race is abundantly proven by the record of the
370th, or the 8th Illinois as the soldiers and their people still prefer
to call it; and other units which had Negroes in responsible positions.

That there was disappointment, chagrin and anger in the rank and file of
the Negro soldiers when their own officers were taken from them and
white men substituted was natural and quite to be expected.

However, there was little open murmuring. While the Negro regarded the
removal of the officers who had trained him and were, in a sense, his
comrades, unfair and uncalled for, his fighting spirit, seemed to burn
with an intenser heat; a determination to do his best to show and shame
the spirit that robbed him of his own race leaders, and at the same time
convince his white commanders of the stuff he was made of.

There was much disappointment in the ranks of the District of Columbia
battalion, when the place of its old leader was taken by Major Clark L.
Dickson, twenty-seven years of age, one of the youngest--if not the
youngest--of battalion commanders in the American army. But their
disappointment was soon allayed, for Major Dickson made an enviable
record. He received the Croix de Guerre with this citation:

     "Most efficient officer, valorous and intrepid, acting in dual
     capacity as regimental adjutant and operation officer. Displayed
     the utmost energy in issuing operation orders during the period
     between September 26th and October 6th, 1918, and especially
     distinguished himself in crossing a roadway under violent artillery
     fire to give assistance to a wounded brother officer. His clear
     view of the situation at all times and the accuracy with which he
     issued the necessary orders required of him, contributed largely to
     the success of the regiment."

Many of his men have stated that the citation only hinted at the real
accomplishments of Major Dickson.

In the rigors of war and the perils of battle, men serving side by side,
forget race. They simply realize that they are sharing hardships in
common; are beset by a common foe and are the subjects of common
dangers. Under such circumstances they become comrades. They learn to
admire each other and willingly give to each other a full measure of
praise and appreciation. The Negro soldiers generally, have expressed
unstintedly, approbation and praise of their white officers; and the
officers have been equally generous. Here is an appreciation by one of
the officers of the 372nd regiment, Lieutenant Jerome Meyer of
Washington, concerning the men of that organization:

     "Casualties were heavy because the colored lads fought to the last,
     cheerfully accepting death in preference to captivity. Their
     adeptness in mastering the throwing of hand grenades and in
     operating the machine guns quickly won them the esteem of the
     French. Remember, that the colored lads were quite new to warfare.
     But in the Champagne they fought with a persistence and courage
     that enabled them to hold permanently the ground they gained and
     won for many of them their decorations. Not a few of the prisoners
     taken by the regiment declared that the Germans were in positive
     fear of the Negroes, who, they complained, would never quit even
     under terrible fire."

One of the outstanding heroes of the 372nd regiment was Sergeant Ira
Payne, of 325 Fifteenth Street, Washington, D.C. He won the Croix de
Guerre and the Distinguished Service Cross, and according to his
comrades, "was not afraid of the devil himself." His story as related by
himself on his return home, follows:

     "During the fighting at Sechault the Germans were picking off the
     men of my platoon from behind a bush. They had several machine guns
     and kept up a deadly fire in spite of our rifle fire directed at
     the bush. We did our best to stop those machine guns, but the
     German aim became so accurate that they were picking off five of my
     men every minute. We couldn't stand for that.

     "Well, I decided that I would get that little machine gun nest
     myself, and I went after it. I left our company, detoured, and, by
     a piece of luck got behind the bush. I got my rifle into action and
     'knocked off' two of those German machine gunners. That ended it.
     The other Germans couldn't stand so much excitement. The Boches
     surrendered and I took them into our trenches as prisoners."

Not a long story for such an able and courageous exploit, yet it
contains the germ for an epic recital on bravery.

First Sergeant John A. Johnson a colored member of Company B, was
decorated with the Croix de Guerre with palm for exceptional bravery
during a charge over the top, and for capturing single-handed, two Hun
soldiers who later proved valuable as sources of information. Sergeant
Johnson's home was at 1117 New Jersey Avenue, Washington, D.C. He was
equally reticent about boasting of his deeds.

     "Near Sechault during the time the District men were making a big
     effort to capture the town," said Johnson, "I was put in the front
     lines not fifty feet away from the enemy. A greater part of the
     time I was exposed to machine gun fire. I suppose I got my medal
     because I stuck to my men in the trenches and going over the top.
     Quite a few of the boys were bumped off at that point."

Another hero was Benjamin Butler, a private. The citation with his Croix
de Guerre read: "For displaying gallantry and bravery and distinguishing
himself in carrying out orders during the attack on Sechault, September
29, 1918, under heavy bombardment and machine gun fire."

     "I did very little," Butler said. "During this fight with several
     others, I carried dispatches to the front line trenches from
     headquarters. They decorated me, I suppose, because I was the only
     one lucky enough to escape being knocked off."

Private Charles E. Cross of 1157 Twenty-first street, Washington, D.C.
was awarded the Croix de Guerre, his citation reading: "For his speed
and reliability in carrying orders to platoons in the first line under
the enemy's bombardment on September 29, 1918." In some cases he had to
creep across No Man's Land and a greater part of the time was directly
exposed to the enemy's fire.

Private William H. Braxton, a member of the machine gun company of the
regiment, whose residence was at 2106 Ward Place, Washington D.C.,
received the Croix de Guorre for "displaying zealous bravery."

     "An enemy party," reads his citation, "having filtered through his
     platoon and attacked same in the rear. Private Braxton displayed
     marked gallantry in opening fire on the enemy and killing one and
     wounding several others, finally dispersing the entire party."

     "The men who stuck by me when death stared them in their faces,"
     said Braxton, "deserve just as much credit as I do. I was only the
     temporary leader of the men."

Corporal Depew Pryor, of Detroit, Michigan, was awarded the Medal
Militaire, one of the most coveted honors within the gift of the French
army, as well as the American Distinguished Service Cross. Pryor saw
Germans capture a Frenchman. Grabbing an armful of grenades, he dashed
upon the Germans killing, wounding or routing a party of ten and
liberating the Frenchman.

Sergeant Bruce Meddows, 285 Erskine street, Detroit, Michigan, brought
home the Croix de Guerre with silver star, which he won for bringing
down an aeroplane with an automatic rifle.

To have forty-six horses which he drove in carting ammunition up to the
front lines, killed in five months was the experience of Arthur B.
Hayes, 174 Pacific Avenue, Detroit, Michigan. He returned home sick,
with practically no wounds after risking his life daily for months.

Sergeant George H. Jordan of Company L, whose home was in Boston, Mass.,
won the Croix de Guerre and palm for taking charge of an ammunition
train at Verdun, when the commanding officer had been killed by a shell.
He saved and brought through eight of the seventeen wagons.

Lieutenant James E. Sanford of Washington, D.C., one of the early Negro
officers of the 372nd, was captured in Avocourt Woods near Verdun,
August 19, 1918. He was endeavoring to gain a strategic position with his
men when he was met by an overpowering force concealed behind
camouflaged outposts, he was taken to Karlsruhe and transferred to three
other German prison camps, in all of which he suffered from bad and
insufficient food and the brutality of the German guards.

[Illustration: U.S. FLAG AND 369TH REGIMENT FLAG, DECORATED WITH CROIX
DE GUERRE AT UNGERSHEIM, ALSACE, FRANCE.]

[Illustration: THE 369TH INFANTRY IN REST BILLETS AT MAFFRECOURT,
FRANCE. HENRY JOHNSON. ONE OF FOREMOST HEROES OF THE WAR. WITH HIS
FAMOUS SMILE. IN RIGHT FOREGROUND.]

[Illustration: THE JOKE SEEMS TO BE ON THE LAD AT THE LEFT.]

[Illustration: A FEW OF THE MANY GUNS CAPTURED FROM THE GERMANS.]

[Illustration: AMERICANS IN PRISON CAMP. PRISONERS ARE AMUSED LISTENERS
WHILE JOVIAL NEGRO FIGHTER RELATES AN EPISODE OF WAR LIFE TO A GERMAN
OFFICER.]

[Illustration: ARTHUR JOHNSON, A DOUGHBOY OF THE 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH
INFANTRY), WINNER OF CROIX DE GUERRE AND THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE
CROSS.]

[Illustration: GAME PROBABLY IS STRIP POKER AS TWO MEN HAVE ALREADY
DISCARDED THEIR SHIRTS. ONE HAS A LARGE SAFETY PIN FOR INSTANT USE. BUT
THEN, NOTE THE HORSESHOE ON HIS SHOE.]

[Illustration: KITCHEN POLICE ON BOARD THE CELTIC. THERE IS ALWAYS SOME
DUTY FOR UNCLE SAM'S MEN ON LAND OR SEA.]

[Illustration: MINSTRELS ON BOARD THE "SAXONIA." TYPICAL GROUP ORGANIZED
ON THE TRANSPORTS TO ENTERTAIN WOUNDED BOYS RETURNING FROM FRANCE.]

[Illustration: MEN WHO HANDLED THE CANNONS. PART OF SQUADRON A, 351ST
FIELD ARTILLERY. ON TRANSPORT LOUISVILLE.]

[Illustration: LIEUT. MAXOM AND HIS BAND, WHO SAW DISTINGUISHED SERVICE
IN FRANCE.]

[Illustration: GROUP ON EDGE OF PIER WAITING TO ENTRAIN FOR
DEMOBILIZATION CAMP. PART OF THE 351ST ARTILLERY UNIT SPECIALLY
MENTIONED BY GENERAL PERSHING.]

[Illustration: SALVATION ARMY LASSIES HANDING OUT CHOCOLATE TO TWO
SOLDIERS OF 351ST ARTILLERY.]

[Illustration: HEROES OF 351ST ARTILLERY GREETING FRIENDS AFTER
DEBARKING FROM THE TRANSPORT LOUISVILLE.]

Major Johnson led his battalion of the 372nd in an attack in the
Champagne which resulted in the capture of a German trench, 100
prisoners, an ammunition dump, thirty machine guns and two howitzers. He
received the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor decoration from the
French, as well as the Distinguished Service Cross from General
Pershing.

Company B of the 372nd, took at Sechault in a raid, seventy-five
prisoners and four machine guns.

One of the distinguished units of the 372nd, was the old and famous
Company L of the Massachusetts National Guard. This unit was assembled
at Camp Devens and left soon after the declaration of war for the south.
It was stationed for a time at Newport News, and was then incorporated
with the 372nd, went to France with that organization and saw its share
of service throughout the campaign. Other distinguished units were the
well known Ninth Ohio Battalion National Guard, and National Guard
companies from Connecticut, Maryland and Tennessee.

Brigaded with the 372nd in the French "Red Hand" division, was another
Negro regiment, the 371st, made up principally of selectives from South
Carolina. It was commanded by Colonel P.L. Miles. Among the officers
were Major Thomas Moffatt and Captain William R. Richey from Charleston.

The regiment saw practically the same service as the 372nd under General
Goybet, was mentioned in divisional and special orders, was decorated by
Vice Admiral Moreau, Maritime Prefect of Brest, at the same time the
honor was conferred on the 372nd. The two regiments were together for
seven months. The men of the 371st especially distinguished themselves
at Crete des Observatories, Ardeuil and in the plains of Monthois.
Seventy-one individual members received the Croix de Guerre and some the
Distinguished Service Cross. Among the latter were the following:

Sergeant Lee R. McClelland, Medical Detachment, home address, Boston,
Mass., for extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 30,
1918.

Corporal Sandy E. Jones, Company C, home address Sumter, S.C.; for
extraordinary heroism in action in the Champagne, September 28 and 29,
1918.

Private Bruce Stoney, Medical Detachment, home address, Allendale, S.C.;
for extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 29, 1918.

Private Charlie Butler, Machine Gun Company, home address, McComb,
Miss.; for extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 29,
1918.

Private Willie Boston, Machine Gun Company, home address, Roopville,
Ga.; for extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 29,
1918.

Private Tillman Webster, Machine Gun Company, home address, Alexandria,
La.; for extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 29,
1918.

Private Ellison Moses, Company C, home address, Mayesville, S.C.; for
extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 30, 1918.

Private Hunius Diggs, Company G, home address, Lilesville, N.C.; for
extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 30, 1918.

The two regiments, besides the regimental Croix de Guerre, awarded for
gallantry in the Champagne, won individual decorations amounting in the
aggregate to 168 Croix de Guerre, 38 Distinguished Service Crosses, four
Medal Militaire and two crosses of the Legion of Honor.

An incident of the service of the 371st and particularly emphasizing the
honesty and faithfulness of the Negro Y.M.C.A. and the regiment's
medical detachment, was the case of Prof. H.O. Cook, a teacher in the
Lincoln High School at Kansas City, Mo. Professor Cook, a Y.M.C.A. man
attached to the sector which the 371st was holding during the great
offensive in September, went with the men to the front line trenches and
rendered valuable aid among the wounded until he was gassed. Owing to
the fact that there were no facilities at that particular time, for the
safe keeping of money and valuables, he carried on his person more than
150,000 francs (in normal times $30,000) which boys in the regiment had
given him to keep when they went over the top.

After being gassed he was walked over for an hour before being
discovered. The money was found and sent by Sergeant Major White also
colored, to general headquarters at Chaumont. When Prof. Cook was
discharged from the hospital and made inquiry about the money, it was
returned to him. Not a cent was missing. Colonel Miles recommended that
General Pershing award Prof. Cook a Distinguished Service Cross.

The men of the 93rd Division and other Negro divisions and organizations
will never forget their French comrades and friends. It was a lad of the
371st regiment who wrote the following to his mother. The censor allowed
the original to proceed but copied the extract as a document of human
interest; in that it was a boyish and unconscious arraignment of his own
country--for which he with many thousands of others, were risking their
lives.

      "Mammy,
     these French people don't bother with no color line business. They
     treat us so good that the only time I ever know I'm colored is when
     I look in the glass."

The 371st regiment had 123 men killed in action and about 600 wounded or
gassed. The casualties of the 372nd consisted of 91 killed in action and
between 600 and 700 wounded or gassed. Like the other Negro regiments of
the 93rd Division, there was comparatively little sickness among the
men, outside of that induced by hard service conditions.


HEROES OF THE 371ST AND 372ND.

The names listed below are cross and medal winners. The exploits of some
are told in detail in the chapters devoted to their regiments. There are
many known to have received decorations whose names are not yet on the
records.

     Cross of the Legion of Honor
     372ND REGIMENT.
     Major Johnson

     Medal Militaire
     372ND REGIMENT.
     Corp. Depew Pryor
     Corp. Clifton Morrison
     Pvt. Clarence Van Allen

     Distinguished Service Cross
     371ST REGIMENT.
     Sergt Lee R. McClelland
     Corp. Sandy E. Jones
     Pvt. Bruce Stoney
     Pvt. Charlie Butler
     Pvt. Willie Boston
     Pvt. Tillman Webster
     Pvt. Ellison Moses
     Pvt. Hunius Diggs

     372ND REGIMENT
     Major Johnson
     Sergt. Ira M. Payne
     Corp. Depew Pryor

     Croix de Guerre
     372ND REGIMENT.
     Col. Herschell Tupes
     Major Johnson
     Major Clark L. Dickson
     Lieut. Jerome Meyer
     Sergt. Major Samuel B. Webster
     Sergt. John A. Johnson
     Sergt. Ira M. Payne
     Sergt James A. Marshall
     Sergt. Norman Jones
     Pvt. Warwick Alexander
     Pvt. George H. Budd
     Pvt. Thomas A. Frederick
     Pvt. John S. Parks
     Pvt. Charles H. Murphy
     Pvt. William N. Mathew
     Pvt. Ernest Payne
     Sergt. Homer Crabtree
     Sergt. Norman Winsmore
     Sergt. William A. Carter
     Sergt. George H. Jordan
     Sergt. Bruce Meddows
     Sergt. Harry Gibson
     Corp. John R. White
     Corp. Benjamin Butler
     Corp. March Graham
     Pvt. Joseph McKamey
     Pvt. William Dickerson
     Pvt. William Johnson
     Pvt. Walter Dennis
     Pvt. Charles E. Cross
     Pvt. William H. Braxton
     Pvt. Nunley Matthews




CHAPTER XX

MID SHOT AND SHELL


IN TRENCH AND VALLEY--THE OPEN PLAIN--ON MOUNTAIN TOP--IN NO MAN'S
LAND--TWO CLASSES OF NEGRO SOLDIERS CONSIDERED--TRAINED GUARDSMEN AND
SELECTIVES--GALLANT 92ND DIVISION--RACE CAN BE PROUD OF IT--HAD SIX
HUNDRED NEGRO OFFICERS--SETS AT REST ALL DOUBTS--OPERATIONS OF THE
DIVISION--AT PONT A MOUSSON--GREAT BATTLE OF METZ--SOME
REFLECTIONS--CASUALTIES CONSIDERED


History, as made in France by the Negro soldier, falls naturally into
two divisions; that which was made by the bodies of troops which had an
organization prior to the war, and whether trained or not, could lay
claim to an understanding of the first principles of military science;
and that made by the raw selectives--the draft soldiers--to whom the art
of war was a closed book, something never considered as likely to affect
their scheme of life and never given more than a passing thought.

We have followed the first phase of it in the wonderful combat-records
of the colored National Guard, its volunteers and recruits. We have seen
them like a stone wall bearing the brunt of attack from the finest shock
troops of the Kaiser's Army. We have seen them undaunted by shot and
shell, advancing through the most terrific artillery fire up to that
time ever concentrated; rout those same troops, hold their ground and
even advance under the most powerful counter attack which the enemy
could deliver. We have followed them from trench to plain, to valley and
into the mountains and read the story of their battles under all those
varying conditions. We have pitied them in their trials, sympathized
with their wounded and ill, been saddened by their lists of dead and
finally have seen the survivors come home; have seen them cheered and
feted as no men of their race ever were cheered and feted before.

Much of the nation's pride in them was due to the fact that it knew them
as fighting men; at least as men who were organized for fighting
purposes before the war. When they marched away and sailed we had
confidence in them; were proud of their appearance, their spirit, their
willingness to serve. The country felt they would not fail to clothe
with luster their race and maintain the expectations of them. That they
fulfilled every expectation and more; had come back loaded with honors;
finer, manlier men than ever, increased the nation's pride in them.

Now we come to a contemplation of the other class; the men who knew
nothing of military life or military matters; who, most of them, wished
to serve but never dreamed of getting the opportunity. Many of them
employed in the cotton fields or residing in the remote corners of the
country, hardly knew there was a war in progress. Some of them realized
that events out of the ordinary were transpiring through the suddenly
increased demand for their labor and the higher wages offered them. But
that Uncle Sam would ever call them to serve in his army and even to go
far across seas to a shadowy--to them, far off land, among a strange
people; speaking a strange language, had never occurred to most of them
even in dreams.

Then all of a sudden came the draft summons. The call soon penetrated to
the farthest nooks of our great land; surprised, bewildered but happy,
the black legions began to form.

It already has been noted that with the exception of the 371st regiment,
which went to the 93rd Division, the selectives who saw service in the
fighting areas, were all in the 92nd Division. This was a complete
American division, brigaded with its own army, commanded through the
greater part of its service by Major General Ballou and towards the end
by Major General Martin.

While the 92nd Division as a whole, did not get into the heavy fighting
until the last two weeks of the war, individual units had a taste of it
earlier. Service which the division as a whole did see, was some of the
most severe of the war. The Negroes of the country may well be proud of
the organization, for its record was good all the way through and in the
heavy fighting was characterized by great gallantry and efficiency.

One of the outstanding features of the division was the fact that it had
about six hundred Negro commissioned officers. Its rank and file of
course, was composed exclusively of Negro soldiers. The fine record of
the division must forever set at rest any doubts concerning the ability
of Negro officers, and any questions about Negro soldiers following and
fighting under them. It was a splendid record all the way through, and
Negro officers rendered excellent service at all times and under the
most trying circumstances. Many of these officers, be it understood,
were entirely new to military life. Some had seen service in the
National Guard and some had come up from the ranks of the Regular Army,
but the majority of them were men taken from civilian life and trained
and graduated from the officer's training camps at Fort Des Moines, Camp
Taylor, Camp Hancock and Camp Pike. A few received commissions from the
officers' training schools in France.

The 92nd Division was composed of the 183rd Infantry Brigade, consisting
of the 365th and 366th Infantry Regiments and the 350th Machine Gun
Battalion; the 184th Infantry Brigade, composed of the 367th and 368th
Infantry Regiments and the 351st Machine Gun Battalion; the 167th
Artillery Brigade consisting of the 349th, 350th and 351st Artillery
Regiments; and the 349th Machine Gun Battalion, the 317th Trench Mortar
Battalion, the 317th Engineers' Regiment, the 317th Engineers' Train,
the 317th Ammunition Train, the 317th Supply Train, the 317th Train
Headquarters, the 92nd Military Police Company; and the Sanitary Train,
comprising the 365th, 366th 367th and 368th Field Hospital and Ambulance
Companies.

Briefly summarized, the operations of the 92nd Division may be stated
as follows: Arrived in France the summer of 1918. After the usual period
of intensive training in the back areas it was divided into several
groups for training alongside the French in front line trenches.

In August they took over a sector in the St. Die region near the
Lorraine border. September 2nd they repulsed an enemy raid at
LaFontenelle. On September 26th the division was a reserve of the First
Army Corps in the first phase of the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

On October 10th they moved to the Marbache sector in the vicinity of
Pont a Mousson. November 10th they advanced, reaching Bois Frehaut and
Bois Cheminot, capturing 710 prisoners. These positions were being
consolidated on November 11th when the armistice put an end to the
fighting. Of course there was fighting by some units of the division
from the time early in the summer when they went into the trenches.

When the Marbache sector was taken over by the 92nd Division, "No Man's
Land" was owned by the Germans and they were aggressively on the
offensive. They held Belie Farm, Bois de Tete D'Or, Bois Frehaut,
Voivrotte Farm, Voivrotte Woods, Bois Cheminot and Moulin Brook. Raids
and the aggressiveness of the patrols of the 92nd Division changed the
complexion of things speedily. They inflicted many casualties on the
Germans and took many prisoners.

Each of the places named above was raided by the doughty black men as
was also Epley, while their patrols penetrated north nearly to the east
and west line through Pagny. The Germans were driven north beyond
Frehaut and Voivrotte to Cheminot bridge. In their desperation they
tried to check the Americans by an attempt to destroy the bridge over
the Seille river. They succeeded in flooding a portion of the adjacent
country; these tactics demonstrating that they could not withstand the
Negro soldiers. West of the Seille river excellent results followed the
energetic offensive, the Germans losing heavily in killed, wounded and
prisoners. In nearly every instance the raids were conducted by Negro
line officers.

Up to this time the division as a whole, had never been in a major
battle. The only regiment in it that had seen a big engagement was the
368th infantry, which took part in the action in the Argonne Forest in
September.

The division's chance came in the great drive on Metz, just before the
end of the war. They were notified at 4 o'clock Sunday morning, November
10th. The motto "See it through" of the 367th infantry, known as the
"Buffaloes," echoed through the whole division.

They began their advance at 7 o'clock from Pont a Mousson. Before them
was a valley commanded by the heavy guns of Metz and by innumerable
nests of German machine guns. The Negroes seemed to realize that here
for the first time was the opportunity to show their mettle--that for
the first time they were going to battle as a division. A sense of race
pride seemed to stir and actuate every man. Here was a chance to show
what this great body, composed of cotton-field Negroes, of stevedores,
mechanics, general laborers, trades, professional men and those from all
walks of civilian life who but recently had taken up the profession of
arms, could do. An opportunity to enact a mighty role was upon them, and
they played it well.

Not only were the black infantry and machine gun units up at the front;
in the thickest of it, but the artillery--the 167th Brigade--was on the
line behaving like veterans. They laid down a barrage for the infantry
that was wonderfully effective. They established a reputation which has
been made by but few, among French, British or Americans, of laying down
a barrage that did not entrap; and fatally so, their own comrades.

It was a glorious day for the division. The casualty roll was heavy for
the sector was strongly fortified and the enemy made a most determined
resistance. Metz is considered by experts to be the strongest fortified
inland city in the world.

Indeed it is almost as strong, if not quite so, as Gibraltar or the
Dardanelles. But from the way the Americans hammered at it, military
authorities say that only the signing of the armistice prevented the
taking of it by assault. As it was, the close of fighting saw Negro
troops on German soil.

The fortitude and valor of the Negroes, especially in the action against
Metz, won them high praise from their commanding officers. Entire units
were decorated by the French with the Croix de Guerre. Fourteen Negro
officers and forty-three enlisted men were cited for bravery in action
and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by General Pershing. This is
a splendid showing considering that up to November 10th, 1918, the
greater portion of the division had to content itself with making daily
and nightly raids on the German front line trenches to harass the foe
and capture prisoners. This, however, required daring and courage and,
in some ways, was more trying and dangerous than being in a big
engagement. A total of 57 citations by the American military
authorities, besides honors bestowed by the French, is a splendid
showing for a division which won most of its honors during its first
great baptism of fire.

The casualties of the 92nd Division amounted to an aggregate of 1,511 of
all kinds. Six officers were killed in action and one died from wounds.
Among the non-commissioned officers and privates 103 were killed in
action, 50 died from wounds, 47 were missing in action and five were
taken prisoner. Forty enlisted men died from disease. Sixteen officers
and 543 enlisted men were wounded; thirty-nine officers and 661 enlisted
men were gassed. The number of gassed was unusually large, a reason
being, perhaps, that the men in the front line trenches were
exceptionally daring in making raids into the enemy's territory. One of
the main reliances of the Germans against these raids was poison gas, a
plentiful supply of which they kept on hand at all times, and which they
could utilize quickly and with great facility.

The small number in this division who were taken prisoner by the enemy
verifies the assertion made before that the Negro would sacrifice his
life or submit to deadly wounds rather than be captured. When only five
out of a total of about 30,000 fell into the Germans' hands alive, it
gives some idea of the desperate resistance they put up. Perhaps the
stories they had heard about the wanton slaughter of prisoners by the
Hun or the brutalities practiced on those who were permitted to live,
had something to do with the attitude of the Negroes against being
captured; but a more likely solution is that their very spirit to
advance and win and to accept death in preference to being conquered,
caused the small number in the prisoner list, and the large number in
the lists of other casualties.

Considering the desperate advance made by the 92nd Division from Pont a
Mousson the morning of November 10th, through a valley swept by the
tremendous guns of Metz and thousands of machine guns, the casualty list
really is slight.

Advancing over such dangerous ground to gain their objective, it appears
miraculous that the division was not wiped out, or at least did not
suffer more heavily than it did. An explanation of this seeming miracle
has been offered in the rapidity of the advance.

No two battles are ever fought alike. Offensives and defensives will be
planned along certain lines. Then will suddenly obtrude the element of
surprise or something that could not be foreseen or guarded against,
which will overturn the most carefully prepared plans.

No soldiers in the world were ever trained to a higher degree of
efficiency than the Germans. Mathematical precision ruled everywhere;
the ultimate detail had been considered; and all students of military
matters were forced to admit that they had reduced warfare seemingly, to
an exact science. But it was a mistake. The Germans were the victims of
surprise times innumerable. Some of the greatest events of the war,
notably the first defeat at the Marne in its strategic features, was a
complete surprise to them.

Everything about war, can, it seems, be reduced to a science except
strategy. Certain rules can be laid down governing strategy, but they do
not always work. Generally speaking, it is psychology; something which
exists in the other man's mind. To read the other man's mind or make a
good guess at it, defeats the most scientifically conceived strategy.
Napoleon outwitted the best military brains and was himself the greatest
strategist of his time, because he invariably departed from fixed
military customs and kept his opponent entirely at sea regarding what he
was doing or intended to do. Very seldom did he do the thing which his
enemy thought he would do; which seemed most likely and proper according
to military science. He thought and acted quickly in crises, relied
constantly on the element of surprise and invented new strategy on the
spur of the moment.

It was the big new strategy, the big new surprises, with which the
Germans found themselves unable to cope. The strategy of Foch which
developed in the offensive shortly after the battle of Chateau Thierry
in July and was well under way in the early part of August, was a
surprise to the Germans. Pershing surprised them in his St. Mihiel and
following operations, especially the battles of Argonne Forest, and had
a greater surprise in store for them in the Lorraine campaign had the
war continued.

Perhaps the Germans figured at Metz, that owing to the extreme
difficulty of the ground to be covered, their strong fortifications and
great gun power, any advance, especially of Negro troops, would be slow.
They accordingly timed their artillery action and their defensive
measures for a slow assault.

But they were surprised again. Officers could not hold back the Negro
fighters and German guns and soldiers could not stop them. They plunged
on to Preny and Pagny, and they rushed into the Bois Frehaut, and held
for thirty-six hours, this place from which picked Moroccan and
Senegalese troops were forced to retreat in ten minutes after they had
entered it. The Bois Frehaut was an inferno under the murderous fire of
the Germans. Holding it for thirty-six hours and remaining there until
hostilities ceased, it is surprising that the casualty list of the 92nd
Division did not amount to many times 1,511.

It is not intended to convey the impression that the Negroes were
entirely responsible for the victory before Metz. Many thousands of
white troops participated and fought just as valiantly. But this History
concerns itself with the operations of Negro soldiers and with bringing
out as many of the details of those operations as the records at this
time will supply.




CHAPTER XXI

THE LONG, LONG TRAIL


OPERATIONS OF 368TH INFANTRY--NEGROES FROM PENNSYLVANIA, MARYLAND AND
SOUTH--IN ARGONNE HELL--DEFEAT IRON CROSS VETERANS--VALIANT PERSONAL
EXPLOITS--LIEUTENANT ROBERT CAMPBELL--PRIVATE JOHN BAKER--OPERATIONS OF
367TH INFANTRY--"MOSS'S BUFFALOES"--365TH AND 366TH REGIMENTS--THE GREAT
DIVIDE--THEIR SOULS ARE MARCHING ON--PRAISED BY PERSHING--SOME CITATIONS


When the history of the 92nd Division is written in detail, much
prominence will necessarily be given to the operations of the 368th
Infantry. This unit was composed of Negroes mostly from Pennsylvania,
Maryland and the Southern states. They went abroad happy, light-hearted
boys to whom any enterprise outside of their regular routine was an
adventure. They received adventure a plenty; enough to last most of them
for their natural lives. They returned matured, grim-visaged men who had
formed a companionship and a comradeship with death. For months they
were accustomed to look daily down the long, long trail leading to the
Great Divide. They left behind many who traveled the trail and went over
the Divide. Peril was their constant attendant, danger so familiar that
they greeted it with a smile.

It has been noted that this unit of the division saw real service prior
to the campaign leading from Pont Mousson to Metz. Their first action
was in August in the Vosges sector. This was largely day and night
raiding from front line trenches. A month later they were in that bit of
hell known as the Argonne Forest, where on September 26th, they covered
themselves with glory.

They were excellent soldiers with a large number of Negro officers,
principally men who had been promoted from the ranks of non-commissioned
officers in the Regular Army.

Their commander during the last six weeks of the war, the time when they
saw most of their hard service, was Lieutenant Colonel T.A. Rothwell, a
Regular Army officer. He went abroad as commander of a machine gun
battalion in the 80th Division, later was transferred to the 367th
infantry and finally to the 368th. Many of the officers of the latter
organization had served under Colonel Rothwell as non-commissioned
officers of the Regular Army. He paid them a high tribute in stating
that they proved themselves excellent disciplinarians and leaders. He
was also very proud of the enlisted men of the regiment.

     "The Negroes proved themselves especially good soldiers during gas
     attacks," said Colonel Rothwell, "which were numerous and of a very
     treacherous nature. During the wet weather the gas would remain
     close to the ground and settle, where it was comparatively
     harmless, but with the breaking out of the sun it would rise in
     clouds suddenly and play havoc with the troops."

Green troops as they were, it is related that there was a little
confusion on the occasion of their first battle, when the regiment
encountered barbed wire entanglements for the first time at a place in
the woods where the Germans had brought their crack gunners to keep the
line. But there was no cowardice and the confusion soon subsided. They
quickly got used to the wire, cut their way through and cleaned out the
gunners in record time.

Every one of the enemy picked up in that section of the woods was
wearing an iron cross; the equivalent of the French Croix de Guerre or
the American Distinguished Service Cross. It showed that they belonged
to the flower of the Kaiser's forces. But they were no match for the
"Black Devils," a favorite name of the Germans for all Negro troops, and
applied by them with particular emphasis to these troops and others of
the 92nd Division.

On October 10th, the regiment went to Metz and took part in all the
operations leading up to that campaign and the close of the war. In the
Argonne, before Metz and elsewhere, they were subjected constantly to
gas warfare. They behaved remarkably well under those attacks.

Major Benjamin P. Morris, who commanded the Third Battalion, has stated
that in the drive which started September 26th, he lost nearly 25 per
cent of his men through wounding or gassing. The battalion won eight
Distinguished Service Crosses in that attack and the Major was
recommended for one of the coveted decorations.

The regiment lost forty-four men killed in action, thirteen died from
wounds and eight were missing in action. The list of wounded and gassed
ran over three hundred.

Individual exploits were quite numerous and were valiant in the extreme.
Here is an instance:

It became necessary to send a runner with a message to the left flank of
the American firing line. The way was across an open field offering no
covering or protection of any kind, and swept by heavy enemy machine gun
fire.

Volunteers were called for. A volunteer under such circumstances must be
absolutely fearless. The slightest streak of timidity or cowardice would
keep a man from offering his services. Private Edward Saunders of
Company I, responded for the duty. Before he had gone far a shell cut
him down. As he fell he cried to his comrades:

"Someone come and get this message. I am wounded."

Lieutenant Robert L. Campbell, a Negro officer of the same company
sprang to the rescue. He dashed across the shell-swept space, picked up
the wounded private, and, with the Germans fairly hailing bullets around
him, carried his man back to the lines. There was the case of an officer
who considered it more important to save the life of a heroic, valuable
soldier than to speed a message. Besides the wounded man could proceed
no farther and there were other ways of getting the message through and
it was sent.

[Illustration: WOUNDED NEGRO SOLDIERS CONVALESCING IN BASE HOSPITAL. IN
THE PICTURE ARE TWO COLORED WOMEN AMBULANCE DRIVERS.]

[Illustration: SAMPLE OF IDENTITY CARD CARRIED BY SOLDIERS OF THE
AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES. EACH IDENTIFICATION WAS PRINTED IN
ENGLISH AND FRENCH AND INCLUDED A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE OWNER. THE NUMBER ON
THE CARD CORRESPONDING WITH A METAL TAG ON THE MAN'S ARM.]

[Illustration: NEGRO OFFICERS OF 366TH INFANTRY WHO ACHIEVED
DISTINCTION IN FRANCE. LEFT TO RIGHT. LIEUT C.L. ABBOTT, CAPT. JOS. L.
LOWE, LIEUT. A.R. FISHER, CAPT. E. WHITE.]

[Illustration: DISTINGUISHED OFFICERS OF THE 6TH ILLINOIS (370TH
INFANTRY). FIRST ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT, CAPT. D.J. WARNER, A.H. JONES.
LIEUT. E.G. WHITE, LIEUT. J.D. RAINEY, LIEUT. BERNARD McGWIN. SECOND
ROW--LIEUT. LUTHER J. HARRIS, LIEUT. ALVIN M. JORDAN, LIEUT. E.L.
GOODLETT, LIEUT. J.T. BAKER. THIRD ROW, LIEUT. F.J. JOHNSON, LIEUT.
JEROME L. HUBERT.]

[Illustration: DISTINGUISHED OFFICERS OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY).
LEFT TO RIGHT, LIEUT. LAWSON PRICE, LIEUT. O.A. BROWNING, LIEUT. W.
STEARLES, CAPT. LEWIS E. JOHNSON, LIEUT. EDMOND G. WHITE, LIEUT. F.W.
BATES, LIEUT. E.F.E. WILLIAMS, LIEUT. BINGA DISMOND.]

 [Illustration: COLONEL CHARLES YOUNG, RANKING NEGRO OFFICER OF THE
REGULAR ARMY. ONE OF THREE WHO HAVE BEEN COMMISSIONED FROM THE UNITED
STATES MILITARY ACADEMY AT WEST POINT. A VETERAN OFFICER OF THE
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR AND WESTERN CAMPAIGNS. DETAILED TO ACTIVE SERVICE,
CAMP GRANT, ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS. DURING THE WORLD WAR.]

[Illustration: TWO NOTED PARTISANS OF THE ALLIES IN THE GREAT WORLD
WAR: MRS. J.H.H. SENGSTACKE, AND HER FAMOUS SON, ROBERT SENGSTACKE
ABBOTT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF THE CHICAGO DEFENDER. IT WAS MRS.
SENGSTACKE WHO, WHEN THE DEFENDER HAD REACHED THE ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND
MARK OF ITS CIRCULATION, STARTED THE PRESS THAT RAN OFF THE EDITION,
FLAMING WITH CHEER AN INSPIRATION FOR "OUR BOYS" IN THE TRENCHES "OVER
THERE."]

[Illustration: REUNITED AND HAPPY. LIEUT. COLONEL OTIS B. DUNCAN OF 8TH
ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY), WHO CAME OUT OF THE WAR THE RANKING NEGRO IN
THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES; HIS FATHER AND MOTHER.]

[Illustration: MISS VIVIAN HARSH, MEMBER CHICAGO CHAPTER OF CANTEEN
WORKERS, PASSING OUT SMOKES TO RETURNED SOLDIERS OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH
INFANTRY).]

[Illustration: OFFICERS OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY). DECORATED BY
FRENCH FOR GALLANTRY IN ACTION. LEFT TO RIGHT. LIEUT. THOMAS A. PAINTER,
CAPT. STEWART ALEXANDER, LIEUT. FRANK ROBINSON.]

For the valor shown both were cited for the Distinguished Service
Cross. Lieutenant Campbell's superiors also took the view that in that
particular instance the life of a brave soldier was of more importance
than the dispatch of a message, for as a result, he was recommended for
a captaincy.

Another single detail taken from the same Company I:

John Baker, having volunteered, was taking a message through heavy shell
fire to another part of the line. A shell struck his hand, tearing away
part of it, but the Negro unfalteringly went through with the message.

He was asked why he did not seek aid for his wounds before completing
the journey. His reply was:

     "I thought that the message might contain information that would
     save lives."

Has anything more heroic and unselfish than that ever been recorded?
Nature may have, in the opinions of some, been unkind to that man when
she gave him a dark skin, but he bore within it a soul, than which there
are none whiter; reflecting the spirit of his Creator, that should prove
a beacon light to all men on earth, and which will shine forever as a
"gem of purest ray serene" in the Unmeasurable and great Beyond.

Under the same Lieut. Robert Campbell, a few colored soldiers armed only
with their rifles, trench knives, and hand grenades, picked up from
shell holes along the way, were moving over a road in the Chateau
Thierry sector. Suddenly their course was crossed by the firing of a
German machine gun. They tried to locate it by the sound and direction
of the bullets, but could not. To their right a little ahead, lay a
space covered with thick underbrush; just back of it was an open field.
Lieutenant Campbell who knew by the direction of the bullets that his
party had not been seen by the Germans, ordered one of his men with a
rope which they happened to have, to crawl to the thick underbrush and
tie the rope to several stems of the brush; then to withdraw as fast as
possible and pull the rope making the brush shake as though men were
crawling through it. The purpose was to draw direct fire from the
machine gun, and by watching, locate its position.

The ruse worked. Lieutenant Campbell then ordered three of his men to
steal out and flank the machine gun on one side, while he and two others
moved up and flanked it on the other side.

The brush was shaken more violently by the concealed rope. The Germans,
their eyes focused on the brush, poured a hail of bullets into it.
Lieutenant Campbell gave the signal and the flanking party dashed up;
with their hand grenades they killed four of the Boches and captured the
remaining three--also the machine gun. There was an officer who could
think and plan in an emergency, and evolve strategy like a Napoleon.

First Lieutenant Edward Jones, of the Medical Corps of the regiment, was
cited for heroism at Binarville. On September 27th Lieutenant Jones went
into an open area subjected to direct machine gun fire to care for a
wounded soldier who was being carried by another officer. While dressing
the wounded man, a machine gun bullet passed between his arms and body
and a man was killed within a few yards of him.

In a General Order issued by the commander of the division, General
Martin, Second Lieutenant Nathan O. Goodloe, one of the Negro officers
of the regimental Machine Gun Company, was commended for excellent work
and meritorious conduct. During the operations in the Argonne forest,
Lieutenant Goodloe was attached to the Third Battalion. In the course of
action it became necessary to reorganize the battalion and withdraw part
of it to a secondary position. He carried out the movement under a
continual machine gun fire from the enemy. General Martin said:
"Lieutenant Goodloe's calm courage set an example that inspired
confidence in his men."

General Martin also cited for meritorious conduct near Vienne le
Chateau, Tom Brown, a wagoner, who as driver of an ammunition wagon,
displayed remarkable courage, coolness and devotion to duty under fire.
Brown's horses had been hurled into a ditch by shells and he was
injured. In spite of his painful wounds he worked until he had
extricated his horses from the ditch, refusing to quit until he had
completed the work even though covered with blood from his hurts.

Private Joseph James of the 368th, received the Distinguished Service
Cross for extraordinary heroism in action, September 27th, in the
Argonne forest.

A regiment of the 92nd Division which gained distinction, received its
share of decorations and was mentioned several times in General Orders
from the high officers, was the 367th Infantry, "Moss's Buffaloes." This
title was attached to them while they were undergoing training at
Yaphank, N.Y., under Colonel James A. Moss of the Regular Army. It stuck
to the outfit all through the war and became a proud title, a synonym of
courage and fighting strength.

The 367th went to France in June 1918 and spent two months training back
of the lines. It was sent to supporting trenches August 20th and finally
to the front line at St. Die, near Lorraine border. It remained there
until September 21st and was then transferred to the St. Mihiel salient
where Pershing delivered his famous blow, the one that is said to have
broken the German heart. It was at any rate, a blow that demonstrated
the effectiveness of the American fighting forces. In a few days the
overseas commander of the Yankee troops conquered a salient which the
enemy had held for three years and which was one of the most menacing
positions of the entire line.

On October 9th, the regiment was sent to the left bank of the Moselle,
where it remained until the signing of the armistice.

Colonel Moss was taken from combatant duty early in October to become an
instructor at the training school at Gondrecourt, the regiment passing
under the command of Colonel W.J. Doane.

Composed of selectives mostly from the state of New York, the regiment
was trained with a view to developing good assault and shock troops,
which they were.

Casualties of all descriptions in the 367th, amounted to about ten per
cent of the regimental strength. A number of decorations for personal
bravery were bestowed, and the regiment as a whole was cited and praised
by General Pershing in his review of the 92nd Division at Le Mans.

The entire First Battalion of the 367th, was cited for bravery and
awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French. The citation was made by the
French Commission because of the splendid service and bravery shown by
the regiment in the last engagement of the war, Sunday and Monday,
November 10th and 11th in the drive to Metz. The men went into action
through the bloody valley commanded by the heavy guns of Metz, and held
the Germans at bay until the 56th regiment could retreat, but not until
it had suffered a heavy loss. The First Battalion was commanded by Major
Charles L. Appleton of New York, with company commanders and
lieutenants, Negroes.

Another distinguished component of the 92nd Division was the 365th
Infantry made up of selectives principally from Chicago and other parts
of Illinois. This regiment saw about the same service as the 367th,
perhaps a little more severe, as the casualties were greater. In the
action at Bois Frehaut in the drive on Metz, the 365th lost forty-three
men killed in action and dead from wounds. In addition there were
thirty-two missing in action, most of whom were killed or succumbed to
wounds. About 200 were wounded or gassed.

In General Orders, issued by the commander of the division, a number of
Negro officers, non-commissioned officers and privates of the 365th were
commended for meritorious conduct in the actions of November 10th and
11th. Those named were; Captain John H. Allen, First Lieutenants Leon F.
Stewart, Frank L. Drye, Walter Lyons, David W. Harris, and Benjamin F.
Ford; Second Lieutenants George L. Games and Russell C. Atkins;
Sergeants Richard W. White John Simpson, Robert Townsend, Solomon D.
Colson, Ransom Elliott and Charles Jackson; Corporals Thomas B.
Coleman, Albert Taylor, Charles Reed and James Conley, and Privates Earl
Swanson, Jesse Cole, James Hill, Charles White and George Chaney.

Captain Allen of the Machine Gun Company of the 365th, died in France of
pneumonia. Only a short time before his death he had been awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross by General Pershing, for exceptional
gallantry before Metz.

Private Robert M. Breckenridge of Company B, 365th regiment, also gave
his life in France, but had received the Distinguished Service Cross for
extraordinary heroism in action at Ferme de Belwir, October 29th, 1918.

Corporal Russell Pollard of Company H received his Distinguished Service
Cross shortly before his return home. He was cited for extraordinary
heroism in action in the first days battle at Metz.

The remaining infantry regiment of the Division not heretofore specially
mentioned, was the 366th, a highly efficient organization of selectives
assembled from the mobilization and training camps of various sections
of the country. Like the other regiments of the division, the greater
number of these men were assembled in the autumn of 1917, trained
continuously in this country until the early part of the summer of 1918,
sent to France and given at least two months' intensive training there.
During the training periods their instructors were mostly officers from
the Regular Army or the military instruction schools of this country and
France. Some English officers also assisted in the training. That they
possessed the requisite intelligence for absorbing the instruction they
received is evidenced by the high type of soldier into which they
developed, their records in battle, and the unstinted praise which they
received from their superior officers, the French commanders and others
who witnessed or were familiar with their service.

The 366th went through the campaign in the Marbache sector and suffered
all its rigors and perils. In the final two days of fighting they were
right at the front and achieved distinction to the extent that in the
review at Le Mans they also were singled out by General Pershing for
special commendation. During the campaign the regiment had a loss of
forty-three men killed in action or died of wounds. Seven men were
missing in action. The wounded and gassed were upwards of 200.

In General Orders issued by the commander of the division, First
Lieutenant John Q. Lindsey was cited for bravery displayed at Lesseux;
Sergeant Isaac Hill for bravery displayed at Frapelle and Sergeant
Walter L. Gross for distinguished service near Hominville. These men
were all colored and all of the 366th regiment.

Wherever men were cited in General Orders or otherwise, it generally
followed that they received the Distinguished Service Cross or some
other coveted honor.




CHAPTER XXII

GLORY THAT WONT COME OFF


167TH FIRST NEGRO ARTILLERY BRIGADE--"LIKE VETERANS" SAID PERSHING--FIRST
ARTILLERY TO BE MOTORIZED--RECORD BY DATES--SELECTED FOR LORRAINE
CAMPAIGN--BEST EDUCATED NEGROES IN AMERICAN FORCES--ALWAYS STOOD BY THEIR
GUNS--CHAPLAIN'S ESTIMATE--LEFT SPLENDID IMPRESSION--TESTIMONY OF FRENCH
MAYORS--CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR--SOLDIERLY QUALITIES.


To the 92nd Division belonged the distinction of having the first
artillery brigade composed entirely of Negroes, with the exception of a
few commissioned officers, ever organized in this country. In fact, the
regiments composing the brigade, the 349th, the 350th and 351st were the
first complete artillery regiments of Negroes and the only important
Negro organizations in the artillery branch of the service, ever formed
in this country.

Their record was remarkable considering the brief time in which they had
to distinguish themselves, and had the war continued, they would surely
have gained added glory; General Pershing in the review at Le Mans
complimenting them particularly, stating that when the armistice came he
was planning important work for them. Following are the general's words
which brought much pride to the organization:

     "Permit me to extend to the officers and men of the 167th Field
     Artillery Brigade, especially the 351st regiment, my
     congratulations for the excellent manner in which they conducted
     themselves during the twelve days they were on the front. The work
     of the unit was so meritorious that after the accomplishments of
     the brigade were brought to my attention I was preparing to assign
     the unit to very important work in the second offensive. You men
     acted like veterans, never failing to reach your objective, once
     orders had been given you. I wish to thank you for your work."

The unit was organized largely from men of Western Pennsylvania, the
District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Camp Meade, near
Washington, D.C., was their principal training point from the fall of
1917 until June, 1918, when they went abroad.

To the brigade belongs the additional distinction of being the first in
the service to be motorized. Tractors hauled the big guns along the
front at a rate of twelve miles an hour, much better than could have
been done with horses or mules.

Brigadier General W.E. Cole commanded the unit until about the middle of
September, 1918, when he was elevated to a major generalship and the
command of the 167th passed to Brigadier General John H. Sherburne. In a
General Order issued by the latter shortly before he left the unit, he
said:

     "I will ever cherish the words of the Commander in Chief, the
     compliment he paid, in all sincerity to this brigade, when he
     watched it pass in review. I wish the brigade to understand that
     those words of appreciation were evoked only because each man had
     worked conscientiously and unflaggingly to make the organization a
     success. The men went into the line in a manner to win the praise
     of all."

The history of the brigade from the time it left Camp Meade until the
end of the war may be summarized as follows:

June 27--Disembarked from ship at Brest, France.

July 2--Started for the training area, reaching there July 4.

July 5--Began a period of six weeks training at Lathus in the
Montmorillion section.

August 20--Went to La Courtine and remained until September 16th,
practicing at target range. Its gun squads excelled in target work and
the brigade, especially the 351st regiment, won distinction there.

October 4--Finished training at La Courtine and moved into a sector
directly in front of Metz, where about three weeks were spent in
obtaining the tractors and motor vehicles necessary for a completely
motorized artillery outfit.

October 25--Preparing for action. The enemy had noted the great
movement of troops in the vicinity and German planes constantly hovered
over the unit dropping missiles of death upon it.

The brigade supported the infantry of the division in its attacks on
Eply, Cheminot, Bouxieres, Bois Frehaut, Bois La Cote, Champey,
Vandieres, Pagny and Moulin Farm. Attacks of more than mediocre
importance were: Pagny, November 4 and 5; Cheminot, November 6, Epley,
November 7; Bois Frehaut, November 10; Bois La Cote and Champey,
November 11.

In addition to those attacks certain machine gun nests of the enemy were
destroyed and strategic points were bombarded. During the entire advance
the batteries of the brigade were in front positions and very active.
The attack on Bois La Cote and Champey began at 4:30 in the morning and
ended just fifteen minutes before the beginning of the armistice. During
the engagement the batteries kept up such a constant fire that the guns
were almost white with heat.

Private Carl E. Southall of 2538 Elba street, Pittsburgh, Pa., claims to
have fired the brigade's last shot. He was a member of Battery D, 351st
regiment. When the watch showed the last minute of the war, he jumped
forward, got to the gun ahead of his comrades and fired.

Had the war continued the artillery brigade would have taken part in the
offensive which was to have begun after November 11 with twenty French
and six American divisions investing Metz and pushing east through
Lorraine.

The history of one regiment in the artillery outfit is practically the
same as another, with the exception that the 351st seems to have had the
most conspicuous service. This unit of the brigade was commanded by
Colonel Wade H. Carpenter, a West Pointer.

Owing to the technical requirements, a thorough knowledge of mathematics
especially being necessary before one can become a good non-commissioned
or commissioned officer of artillery, this branch of the service appeals
to men of schooling. It has been claimed that the 351st regiment
contained the best educated group of Negroes in the American forces;
most of them being college or high school men. They were praised highly
by their officers, especially by Colonel Carpenter:

     "When the regiment trained at Camp Meade," he said, "the men showed
     the best desire, to make good soldiers. In France they outdid their
     own expectations and shed glory for all.

     "We didn't get into action until October 28th, but after that we
     kept at the Germans until the last day.

     "The men of the 351st were so anxious to get into service that
     before they were ordered to the front they found it difficult to
     restrain their impatience at being held back. However, their long
     training in France did them a lot of good, the experience of being
     taught by veteran Americans and Frenchmen proving of great value
     when it came to actual battle.

     "They never flinched under fire, always stood by their guns and
     made the famous 155 millimeter French guns, with which we were
     equipped, fairly smoke.

     "I have been a regular army man for many years, and have always
     been in command of white troops. Let me say to you that never have
     I commanded a more capable, courageous and intelligent regiment
     than this. It would give me the greatest pleasure to continue my
     army career in command of this regiment of Negroes.

     "Not only was their morale splendid but they were especially ready
     to accept discipline. They idolized their officers and would have
     followed them through hell if necessary.

     "Fortunately, though many were wounded by shrapnel and a number
     made ill by gas fumes, we suffered no casualties in the slain
     column. About twenty-five died of sickness and accidents, but we
     lost none in action.

     "When the armistice came our hits were making such tremendous
     scores against the enemy that prisoners taken by the Americans
     declared the destruction wrought by the guns was terrific. On the
     last day and in the last hour of the war our guns fairly beat a
     rat-a-tat on the enemy positions. We let them have it while we
     could."

Lieutenant E.A. Wolfolk, of Washington, D.C., chaplain of the regiment,
said:

     "The morale and morals of the men were splendid. Disease of the
     serious type was unknown. The men were careful to keep within
     bounds. They gave their officers no trouble, and each man strove to
     keep up the high standard expected of him. From the time we reached
     France in June, 1918, until the time we quit that country we worked
     hard to maintain a clean record and we certainly succeeded."

At the Moselle river, Pont a Mousson and Madieres, the regiment first
saw action. The first and second battalions went into action immediately
in the vicinity of St. Genevieve and Alton. The third battalion crossed
the river and went into action in the vicinity of Pont a Mousson. That
was on October 31st. The balance of the regiment's service corresponds
to that of the brigade, already mentioned.

As already gleaned from the reports of generals, regimental officers and
the testimony of the chaplain of the 351st, the artillery boys created a
good impression and left behind them a clean record everywhere. It has
remained for the officers of the 349th regiment to preserve this in
additional documentary form in the shape of regimental orders and
letters from the mayors of French towns in which the regiment stopped or
was billeted. The following are some of the bulletins and letters:

                          Headquarters 349th Field
                          Artillery, American Expeditionary
                          Forces, France, A.P.O. 722,
                          September 6, 1918.
     The following letter having been received, is published
for the information of the regiment, and will be read at retreat
Saturday, September 7, 1918. By order of
                             COLONEL MOORE.
          JOSEPH H. McNALLY, Captain and Adjutant.
                      FRENCH REPUBLIC
                 Town Hall of Montmorillion
                         (Vienne)
                         Montmorillion, August 12, 1918.
Dear Colonel:
     At the occasion of your departure permit me to express
to you my regrets and those of the whole population.
     From the very day of its arrival your regiment, by its
behavior and its military appearance, it excited the
admiration of all of us.
     Of the sojourn of yourself and your colored soldiers
among us we will keep the best memory and remember your
regiment as a picked one.
     From the beginning a real brotherhood was established
between your soldiers and our people, who were glad to
welcome the gallant allies of France.
     Having learned to know them, the whole population
holds them in great esteem, and we all join in saying the
best of them.
     I hope that the white troops replacing your regiment
will give us equal satisfaction; but whatever their attitude
may be, they cannot surpass your 349th Field Artillery.
Please accept the assurance of my best and most
distinguished feelings.
                             G. DE FONT-REAULX,
                                    Assistant Mayor.
                            Headquarters 349th Field
                            Artillery, American Expeditionary
                            Forces, France, A.P.O. 766,
                            January 25, 1919.
     The following letter having been received is published
for the information of the regiment. By order of
                                   COLONEL O'NEIL.
GEORGE B. COMPTON, Captain and Adjutant.
                     MAIRIE DE DOMFRONT
                          (Orne)
                           Domfront, January 22, 1919.
     The mayor of the town of Domfront has the very great
pleasure to state and declare that the 349th regiment of
the 167th Field Artillery Brigade, has been billeted at
Domfront from the 28th of December, 1918, to the 22nd of
January, 1919, and that during this period the officers
as well as the men have won the esteem and sympathy of all
the population.
     The black officers as well as the white officers have
made here many friends, and go away leaving behind them the
best remembrances. As to the private soldiers, their behavior
during the whole time has been above all praise.
     It is the duty of the mayor of Domfront to bid the
general, officers and men a last farewell, and to express to
all his thanks and gratitude for their friendly intercourse
with the civilian population.
                                    F. BERLIN, Mayor.

After such testimony who can doubt the Christianlike behavior and
soldierly qualities of the black man? It has been noted that the
artillerymen were in education considerably above the average of the
Negro force abroad, but no severe criticism has been heard concerning
the conduct of any of the Negro troops in any part of France. The
attitude of the French people had much to do with this. The unfailing
courtesy and consideration with which they treated the Negroes awoke an
answering sentiment in the natures of the latter. To be treated as Men,
in the highest sense of the term, argued that they must return that
treatment, and it is not of record that they failed to give adequate
return. Indeed the record tends to show that they added a little for
good measure, although it is hard to outdo a Frenchman in courtesy and
the common amenities of life.

This showing of Negro conduct in France takes on increased merit when it
is considered that the bulk of their forces over there were selectives;
men of all kinds and conditions; many of them from an environment not
likely to breed gentleness, self restraint or any of the finer virtues.
But the leaders and the best element seem to have had no difficulty in
impressing upon the others that the occasion was a sort of a trial of
their race; that they were up for view and being scrutinized very
carefully. They made remarkably few false steps.




CHAPTER XXIII

NOR STORIED URN, NOR MOUNTING SHAFT


GLORY NOT ALL SPECTACULAR--BRAVE FORCES BEHIND THE LINES--325TH FIELD
SIGNAL BATTALION--COMPOSED OF YOUNG NEGROES--SEE REAL FIGHTING--SUFFER
CASUALTIES--AN EXCITING INCIDENT--COLORED SIGNAL BATTALION A
SUCCESS--RALPH TYLER'S STORIES--BURIAL OF NEGRO SOLDIER AT SEA--MORE
INCIDENTS OF NEGRO VALOR--A WORD FROM CHARLES M. SCHWAB.


Out of the glamor and spectacular settings of combat comes most of the
glory of war. The raids, the forays, the charges; the pitting of cold
steel against cold steel, the hand to hand encounters in trenches, the
steadfast manning of machine guns and field pieces against deadly
assault, these and kindred phases of battle are what find themselves
into print. Because they lend themselves so readily to the word painter
or to the artist's brush, these lurid features are played to the almost
complete exclusion of others, only slightly less important.

There are brave forces behind the lines, sometimes in front of the
lines, about which little is written or pictured. Of these the most
efficient and indispensable is the Signal Corps. While this branch of
the service was not obliged to occupy front line trenches; make raids
for prisoners, or march in battle formation into big engagements, it
must not be supposed that it did not have a very dangerous duty to
perform.

One of the colored units that made good most decisively was the 325th
Field Signal Battalion of the 92nd Division. The men of this battalion
had to string the wires for telegraphic and telephonic connections at
times when the enemy guns were trained upon them. Therefore, in many
respects, their duty took them into situations fully as dangerous as
those of the combatant units.

This battalion was composed entirely of young Negroes excepting the
Lieutenant Colonel, Major and two or three white line officers. With few
exceptions, they were all college or high school boys, quite a number of
them experts in radio or electric engineering. Those who were not
experts when the battalion was formed, became so through the training
which they received.

Major Spencer, who was responsible for the formation of the battalion,
the only Negro signal unit in the American Army, was firm in the belief
that Negroes could make good, and he remained with it long enough to see
his belief become a realization.

After arriving at Brest, June 19, 1918, the battalion proceeded to
Vitrey, and from that town began a four-day hike to Bourbonne les
Baines. From that point it proceeded after a few days to Visey, where
the boys got their first taste of what was to be, later, their daily
duties. Here the radio (wireless telegraphy) company received its quota
of the latest type of French instruments, a battery plant was
established and a full supply of wire and other equipment issued to
Companies B and C. Here, too, the Infantry Signal platoons of the
battalion joined the outfit and shared in the training.

A courage test and their first introduction into real fighting in
addition to stringing wires and sending and receiving radio messages,
came on the afternoon of September 27th. A party including the Colonel,
Lieutenant Herbert, the latter a Negro, and some French liaison
officers, advanced beyond the battalion post and soon found themselves
outside the lines and directly in front of a German machine gun nest.

The colonel divided his men into small groups and advanced on the
enemy's position. The sortie resulted in the Signal boys capturing eight
prisoners and two machine guns, but it cost the loss of Corporal Charles
E. Boykin, who did not return. Two days later during a general advance,
Sergeant Henry E. Moody was mortally wounded while at his post. Boykin
was killed outright, while Sergeant Moody died in the hospital, these
being the first two of the Signal Battalion to make the supreme
sacrifice.

On the 10th of October the 92nd Division, having taken over the Marbache
sector and relieved the 167th French Division, the 325th Field Signal
Battalion took over all existing lines of communication. In the days
following they installed new lines and made connections between the
various units of the division. This was no small duty, when it is
remembered that an army sector extends over a wide area of many square
miles, including in it from 50 to 100 cities and towns.

The Marbache sector was an active front and time and time again the boys
went ahead repairing lines and establishing new communications under
shell fire, with no heed to personal danger--inspired only by that ideal
of the Signal Corps man--get communication through at any cost, but get
it through.

On the morning of November 10th, when the Second Army launched its
attack on the famous Hindenburg line before Metz, the 92nd Division held
the line of Vandieres--St. Michel, Xon and Norry. The engagement lasted
for twenty-eight hours continuously, during which time the Signal Corps
functioned splendidly and as one man, keeping up communications,
installing new lines and repairing those shelled out.

One of the most exciting incidents was that participated in by the First
Platoon of the Signal Battalion on the first day of the Metz battle.
Shortly after the lighter artillery barrage was lifted, the big guns of
the enemy began shelling Pont a Mousson. The first shells hit on the
edge of the city and then they began peppering the Signal Battalion's
station.

Sergeant Rufus B. Atwood of the First Platoon was seated in the cellar
near the switchboard; Private Edgar White was operating the switchboard,
and Private Clark the buzzerphone. Several officers and men were
standing in the "dugout" cellar. Suddenly a shell struck the top, passed
through the ceiling and wall and exploded, making havoc of the cellar.

[Illustration: OFFICERS OF THE 15TH NEW YORK (369TH INFANTRY), MARCHING
IN PARADE PRIOR TO THE WAR. LEFT TO RIGHT--COL. WM. HAYWARD, BERT
WILLIAMS. FAMOUS COMEDIAN AND DR. G. McSWEENEY.]

[Illustration: AFTER THE WAR. ONE OF THE NUMBER OF AUTOMOBILES BEARING
WOUNDED OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS OF THE 15TH NEW YORK (369TH INFANTRY).
MAJOR DAVID L. 'ESPERANCE (WITH HELMET) AND MAJOR LORRILARD SPENCER.]

[Illustration: A REPRESENTATIVE GROUP OF NEGRO OFFICERS OF "MOSS'S
BUFFALOES" (167TH INFANTRY). THE LITTLE LADY WITH THE BOUQUET IS ONE OF
THEIR FRENCH ACQUAINTANCES.]

[Illustration: CAPTAIN JOHN H. PATTON, REGIMENTAL ADJUTANT, 8TH
ILLINOIS INFANTRY. FROM JUNE 26, 1916, TO SEPTEMBER 11, 1918. COMMANDING
2ND BATTALION, 370TH INFANTRY, FROM SEPTEMBER 11. 1918, TO DECEMBER 25.
1918. SAINT MIHIEL SECTOR FROM JUNE 21, 1918, TO JULY 3, 1918. ARGONNE
FOREST FROM JULY 6, 1916, TO AUGUST 15, 1918. BATTLES FOR MONT DES
SIGNES, FROM SEPTEMBER 16 TO 30, 1918. OISE-AllSNE OFFENSIVE, FROM
SEPTEMBER 717 1918. TO NOVEMBER 11, 1918. AWARDED THE FRENCH CROIX DE
GUERRE FOR MERITORIOUS SERVICE COVERING PERIOD FROM SEPTEMBER 11 TO
NOVEMBER II, 1918.]

[Illustration: EMIL LAURENT, NEGRO CORPORAL OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH
INFANTRY), A CROIX DE GUERRE WINNER, ENGAGED IN FIELD TELEPHONE SERVICE
IN A FRENCH WOOD.]

[Illustration: GROUP OF "HELL FIGHTERS" (369TH INFANTRY) WITH THEIR
JEWELRY (CROIX DE GUERRE). FRONT ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT, "EAGLE EYE" EDWARD
WILLIAMS, "LAMP LIGHT" HERB TAYLOR, LEON TRAINOR, "KID HAWK" RALPH
HAWKINS, BACK ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT, SERGT. M.D. PRIMUS, SERGT. DANIEL
STORMS, "KID WONEY" JOE WILLIAMS, "KID BUCK" ALFRED HANLY AND CORP. T.W.
TAYLOR.]

[Illustration: DR. JOSEPH H. WARD ON TRANSPORT FRANCE. THE ONLY NEGRO
ATTAINING THE RANK OF MAJOR IN THE MEDICAL CORPS OF THE AMERICAN
EXPEDITIONARY FORCES.]

[Illustration: CAPTAIN NAPOLEON B. MARSHALL, FAMOUS HARVARD ATHLETE, WHO
HELPED ORGANIZE 15TH NEW YORK AND WAS ONE OF ITS ORIGINAL NEGRO
OFFICERS. HE WAS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED AT METZ.]

[Illustration: BRAVE NEGROES HOMEWARD BOUND FROM WAR. FIRST CALL FOR
DINNER.]

[Illustration: "MOSS'S BUFFALOES" (367TH INFANTRY), REVIEWED BY
GOVERNOR WHITMAN AFTER FLAG PRESENTATION IN FRONT OF UNION LEAGUE CLUB,
NEW YORK.]


[Illustration: THE "BUFFALOES" (367TH INFANTRY), RETURNING TO NEW YORK
AFTER VALIANT SERVICE IN FRANCE. THEIR COLORS STILL FLYING.]

[Illustration: SOLDIERS WHO DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES AT THE FORTRESS OF
METZ. GROUP BELONGING TO 365TH INFANTRY ARRIVING AT CHICAGO STATION.]

[Illustration: HOMEWARD BOUND IN A PULLMAN CAR. NO "JIM CROWING THERE."
THE NEGRO BEARS ON HIS SHOULDER THE CITATION CORD AND EMBLEM DENOTING
VALOROUS SERVICE.]

Lieutenant Walker, who arrived just at this time, took hold of matters
with admirable coolness and presence of mind. Sergeant Atwood tried out
the switchboard and found all lines broken. He also found on trying it
the buzzerphone out. Lieutenant Walker gave orders to Private White to
stay on the switchboard and Corporal Adolphus Johnson to stay on the
buzzerphone. The twelve-cord monocord board was nailed up by White and
then began the connecting up of the lines from outside to the monocord
board. All this time the shelling by the Germans was fierce and deadly.
Shells struck all around the boys and one struck a nearby ammunition
dump, causing the explosion of thousands of rounds of ammunition, which
created a terrific shock and extinguished all the lights.

But still the men worked on and would not leave the dangerous post, a
veritable target for the enemy's big guns, until the lieutenant of the
Military Police arrived and ordered them out.

The 325th Field Signal Battalion was a great success. What the boys did
not learn about radio, telephonic and telegraphic work would be of
little advantage to anyone. It will be of great advantage to many of
them in the way of making a living in times of peace.

By the time the armistice stopped the fighting the different units of
the 92nd Division had taken many prisoners and gained many objectives.
They finally retired to the vicinity of Pont a Mousson, where time was
spent salvaging material and cleaning equipment, while the men, knowing
there was to be no more fighting, anxiously awaited the time until they
were ordered to an embarkation point and thence home.

The trip home in February, 1919, was about as perilous to some of them
as the war had been. It was a period of unusually rough weather. The
north Atlantic, never very smooth during the winter months, put on some
extra touches for the returning Negro soldiers. An experience common to
many on several different transports has been described by Mechanic
Charles E. Bryan of Battery B, 351st Artillery upon his return to his
home, 5658 Frankstown Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. Asked about his
impressions of the war, he said that which impressed him the most was
the storm at sea on the way home.

"That storm beat the war all hollow," he said. "Me and my buddies were
messing when the ship turned about eighteen somersaults, and we all
pitched on the floor, spilling soup and beans and things all over the
ship.

"The lights went out and somehow the automatic bell which means 'abandon
ship' was rung by accident. We didn't know it was an accident, and from
the way the ship pitched we thought she was on her way down to look up
one Mr. Davy Jones. So we made a break for the decks, and believe me,
some of those lads who had come through battles and all sorts of dangers
were about to take a dive over the side if our officers had not started
explaining in time."

Stories of varying degrees of interest, some thrilling, some humorous
and some pathetic to the last degree, have been brought back.

Ralph Tyler, the Negro newspaper man, who was sent to France as the
official representative of the Afro-American press by the Committee on
Public Information, has written many of the incidents, and told others
from the rostrum. He has told how the small insignificant, crowded
freight cars in which the soldiers traveled looked like Pullman parlor
coaches to the Negro soldiers.

     "To many of our people back in the 'States,'" wrote Mr. Tyler from
     France, "who saw our boys embark on fine American railroad coaches
     and Pullman sleepers to cover the first lap of their hoped-for
     pilgrimage to Berlin, the coaches they must ride in over here would
     arouse a mild protest. I stood at Vierzon, one of France's many
     quaint old towns recently, and saw a long train of freight cars
     roll in, en route to some point further distant. In these cars with
     but a limited number of boxes to sit upon, and just the floors to
     stand upon, were crowded some 1,000 of our own colored soldiers
     from the States. But a jollier crowd never rode through American
     cities in Pullman sleepers and diners than those 1,000 colored
     troopers. They accepted passage on these rude box freight cars
     cheerfully, for they knew they were now in war, and palace cars,
     downy coaches and the usual American railroad conveniences were
     neither available nor desirable.

     "The point I wish to convey to the people back home is that did
     they but know how cheerfully, even eagerly our boys over here
     accept war time conveniences, they would not worry quite so much
     about how the boys are faring. They are being wholesomely and
     plenteously fed; they are warmly clothed, they are cheerful and
     uncomplaining as they know this is war and for that reason know
     exactly what they must expect. To the soldier who must at times
     sleep with but the canopy of heaven as a covering, and the earth as
     a mattress, a box freight car that shields him from the rain and
     wind is a real luxury, and he accepts it as such.

     "There need not be any worry back home as to the maintenance of our
     colored soldiers over here. They receive the same substantial fare
     the white soldier receives, and the white soldier travels from
     point to point in the same box freight cars as afford means of
     passage for colored soldiers. In short, when it comes to
     maintenance and equipment, and consideration for the comfort of the
     American soldier, to use a trite saying, 'the folks are as good as
     the people.' There is absolutely no discrimination, and the
     cheerfulness of those 1,000 boys whose freight cars became, in
     imagination, Pullman palace cars, was the proof to me that the
     colored boys in the ranks are getting a fifty-fifty break."

     "Two more stories have come to me," continues Mr. Tyler, "to prove
     that our colored soldiers preserve and radiate their humor even
     where shells and shrapnel fly thickest. A colored soldier slightly
     wounded in the Argonne fighting--and let me assure you there was
     'some' fighting there--sat down beside the road to wait for a
     chance to ride to the field hospital. A comrade hastening forward
     to his place in the line, and anxious for the latest news of the
     progressing battle, asked the wounded brother if he had been in the
     fight; did he know all about it, and how were things going at the
     front. 'I sure does know all about it,' the wounded man replied.
     'Well, what's happened to them?' quickly asked the trooper on his
     way to the front. 'Well, it was this way,' replied the wounded one,
     'I was climbin' over some barbed wire tryin' to get to those d--n
     Boches, and they shot me; that's what I know about it.'

     "A company water cart was following the advancing troops when a
     German shell burst in the ditch almost beside the cart. The horse
     on the shell side was killed, and the driver was wounded in the
     head. While the blood from his wound ran freely down his face, the
     driver took one look at the wreckage, then started stumbling back
     along the road. A white lieutenant who had seen it all stopped the
     driver of the cart and said:

     "The dressing station is--"

     "Before he could finish his sentence, the wounded driver, with the
     blood flowing in rivulets down his face, said: 'Dressing station
     hell; I'm looking for another horse to hitch to that cart and take
     the place of the one the shell put out of commission.'

     "That was a bit of nerve, grim humor and evidence of fidelity to
     duty. A mere wound in the head could not stop that driver from
     keeping up with the troops with a needed supply of water."

Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones, who went to France under the auspices of the
Y.M.C.A., sent back the following account of the burial of a Negro
soldier at sea:

     "A colored soldier was buried at sea today. The flags on all the
     ships of the fleet have been at half-mast all day. It mattered not
     that the soldier came from a lowly cabin. It mattered not that his
     skin was black. He was a soldier in the army of the United States,
     and was on his way to fight for Democracy and Civilization.

     "The announcement of his death was signalled to every commander
     and every ship prepared to do honor to the colored soldier. As the
     sun was setting the guard of honor, including all the officers from
     commander down, came to attention. The body of the Negro trooper
     wrapped in the American flag, was tenderly carried to the stern of
     the ship. The chaplain read the solemn burial service. The engines
     of the fleet were checked. The troop ship was stopped for the only
     time in the long trip from America to Europe. The bugle sounded
     Taps and the body of the American soldier was committed to the
     great ocean and to God.

     "The comradeship of the solemn occasion was the comradeship of real
     Democracy. There was neither black nor white, North nor South, rich
     nor poor. All united in rendering honor to the Negro soldier who
     died in the service of humanity."

First Lieutenant George S. Robb of the 369th Infantry was cited for
"conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of
duty" in action with the enemy near Sechault, September 29 and 30, 1918.

While leading his platoon in the assault at Sechault, Lieutenant Robb
was severely wounded by machine gun fire, but rather than go to the rear
for proper treatment, he remained with his platoon until ordered to the
dressing station by his commanding officer. Returning within forty-five
minutes, he remained on duty throughout the entire night, inspecting his
lines and establishing outposts. Early the next morning he was again
wounded, once again displaying remarkable devotion to duty by remaining
in command of his platoon.

Later the same day a bursting shell added two more wounds, the same
shell killing the captain and two other officers of his company. He then
assumed command of the company and organized its position in the
trenches. Displaying wonderful courage and tenacity at the critical
times, he was the only officer of his battalion who advanced beyond the
town and, by clearing machine gun and sniping posts, contributed largely
to the aid of his battalion in holding its objective. His example of
bravery and fortitude and his eagerness to continue with his mission
despite the several wounds, set before the enlisted men of his command a
most wonderful standard of morale and self-sacrifice. Lieutenant Robb
lived at 308 S. 12th Street, Salina, Kansas.

Second Lieutenant Harry C. Sessions, Company I, 372nd Infantry, was
cited for extraordinary heroism in action near Bussy Farm, September 29,
1918.

Although he was on duty in the rear, Lieutenant Sessions joined his
battalion and was directed by his battalion commander to locate openings
through the enemy's wire and attack positions. He hastened to the front
and cut a large opening through the wire in the face of terrific machine
gun fire. Just as his task was completed, he was so severely wounded
that he had to be carried from the field. His gallant act cleared the
way for the rush that captured enemy positions.

In August, 1918, back in the Champagne, a German raiding party captured
a lieutenant and four privates belonging to the 369th Infantry, and was
carrying them off when a lone Negro, Sergeant William Butler, a former
elevator operator, made his presence known from a shell hole. He
communicated with the lieutenant without the knowledge of the Germans
and motioned to him to flee. The Lieutenant signalled to the four
privates to make a run from the Germans. As they started Butler yelled,
"Look out, you Bush Germans! Here we come," and he let go with his
pistol. He killed one Boche officer and four privates, and his own men
made good their escape. Later the German officer who had been in charge
of this raiding party was captured and his written report was obtained.
In it he said that he had been obliged to let his prisoners go because
he was attacked by an "overwhelming number of "blutlustige
schwartzemaenner." The overwhelming number consisted of Elevator
Operator Bill Butler alone.

September 30th the 3rd Battalion, of the 370th Infantry, composed of
down-state Illinois boys from Springfield, Peoria, Danville and
Metropolis, achieved a notable victory at Ferme de la Riviere. This
battalion, under the brilliant leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Otis B.
Duncan, made an advance of one kilometer against enemy machine gun nests
and succeeded in silencing them, thereby allowing the line to advance.
This battalion of the Illinois down-state boys succeeded in doing what,
after three similar attempts by their French comrades in arms, had
proven futile. During this engagement many were killed and wounded and
many officers and men were cited and given decorations.

Company C, of the 370th, under the command of Captain James H. Smith, a
Chicago letter-carrier, signally distinguished itself by storming and
taking the town of Baume and capturing three pieces of field artillery.
For this the whole company was cited and the captain was decorated with
the Croix de Guerre and Palm.

Lieutenant Colonel Duncan, who has been attached to the office of State
Superintendent of Public Instruction of Illinois for over twenty years,
is one of the greatest heroes the Negroes of America have produced. He
returned as the ranking colored officer in the American Expeditionary
Forces. Instead of being merely an assistant Colonel, he was actively in
command of one of the hardest fighting battalions in the regiment. He
has been pronounced a man of native ability, an able tactician and of
natural military genius.

Sergt. Norman Henry, 5127 Dearborn St., Chicago, attached to the 3d
Machine Gun Company, 370th Infantry, won the Croix de Guerre and
Distinguished Service Cross. It was in the Soissons sector September 30
in the first rush on the Hindenburg line.

All of the officers and men fell under a heavy machine gun barrage
except two squads of which Sergeant Henry was left in command. They took
two German dugouts and were cut off from their own line without food.
They held the Germans off with one machine gun for three days. Often the
gun became jammed, but they would take it apart and fix it before the
enemy could get to them.

Lieut. Samuel S. Gordon, 3934 Indiana Avenue, Chicago, of the 370th
Infantry, exposed himself to open machine gun fire for six hours and
effected the rescue of two platoons which had been cut off by the
barrage.

Company H had been badly cut up in a sudden burst of machine gun fire.
Lieutenant Gordon with some men were rushed up to relieve what was left
of the company, and while reconnoitering were cut off by the same fire.
A stream of water four feet deep lay between them and their trenches. By
standing in the stream, Lieutenant Gordon let the men crawl to the edge
of the bank, where he lifted them across without their having to stand
up and become targets.

Corporal Emile Laurent, 5302 So. Dearborn Street, Chicago, a member of
the 370th Infantry, had a busy time dodging machine gun bullets one
night near Soissons. Volunteering as a wire cutter, he crawled out with
his lieutenant's automatic in one hand and the wire clippers in the
other. Half a dozen machine guns were opened upon him as he sneaked
along the terrain. "Never touched me," he would yell every time a chunk
of steel parted his hair. He was out for three hours and cut a broad
line through the charged wire. Then he crawled back without a mark on
him.

Private Leroy Davis of the same regiment, won a decoration at the
Aillette Canal for bringing a comrade back under machine gun fire. When
he got back to his own lines he would not trust him with the ambulance
outfit, but carried him three miles to the emergency dressing station
and then he ran back to the canal to get even. This little stunt saved
his comrade's life.

Praise for the American soldier comes from Charles M. Schwab, the
eminent steel manufacturer, who was chosen by President Wilson to head
the Emergency Fleet Cororation, and rendered such conspicuous service in
that position. Returning in February, 1919, from a trip to Europe, Mr.
Schwab said in an interview:

     "I have come back with ten times the good opinion I had of our
     soldiers for the work they did. Everywhere I went I found that the
     American soldiers had left a good impression behind and there was
     nothing but the greatest praise for them.

     "During the present voyage I have been among the colored troops on
     board and talked with them and learned what American soldiering has
     done for them. They are better men than they were when they went
     away."



CHAPTER XXIV

THOSE WHO NEVER WILL RETURN


A STUDY OF WAR--ITS COMPENSATIONS AND BENEFITS--ITS RAVAGES AND
DEBASEMENTS--BURDENS FALL UPON THE WEAK--TOLL OF DISEASE--NEGROES
SINGULARLY HEALTHY--NEGROES KILLED IN BATTLE--DEATHS FROM WOUNDS AND OTHER
CAUSES--REMARKABLE PHYSICAL STAMINA OF RACE--HOUSEKEEPING IN
KHAKI--HEALTHIEST WAR IN HISTORY--INCREASED REGARD FOR MOTHERS--AN IDEAL
FOR CHILD MINDS--MORALE AND PROPAGANDA.


It has been said that war has its compensations no less than peace. This
saying must have had reference largely to the material benefits accruing
to the victors--the wealth gained from sacked cities, the territorial
acquisitions and the increased prestige and prosperity of the winners.
There is also an indirect compensation which can hardly be measured, but
which is known to exist, in the increased courage inculcated, the
banishment of fear, the strengthened sense of devotion, heroism and
self-sacrifice, and all those principles of manliness and unselfishness
which are inspired through war and react so beneficially on the morals
of a race. There are some, however, who contend that these compensations
do not overbalance the pain, the heart-rending, the horrors, brutalities
and debasements which come from war. Viewed in the most favorable light,
with all its glories, benefits and compensations, war is still far
removed from an agreeable enterprise.

Like so many of the other material compensations of life, its benefits
accrue to the strong while its burdens fall upon the weak. A
contemplation of the maimed, the crippled and those stricken with
disease, fails to engender anything but somber reflections.

Owing to the advancement of science, the triumph of knowledge over
darkness, the late war through the unusual attention given to the
physical fitness of the soldiers, probably conferred a boon in sending
back a greater percentage of men physically improved than the toll of
destroyed or deteriorated would show. Yet with all the improvement in
medical and sanitary science, the fact remains that disease claimed more
lives than bullets, bayonets, shrapnel or gas.

Negro soldiers in the war were singularly free from disease. Deaths from
this cause were surprisingly few, the mortality being much lower than it
would have been among the same men had there been no war. This was due
to the general good behavior of the troops as testified to by so many
commanding officers and others. The men observed discipline, kept within
bounds and listened to the advice of those competent to give it.

Out of a total of between 40,000 and 45,000 Negro soldiers who went into
battle or were exposed to the enemy's attack at some time, about 500
were killed in action. Between 150 and 200 died of wounds. Deaths from
disease did not exceed 200 and from accident not over fifty. Those who
were wounded and gassed amounted to about 4,000.

It speaks very highly for the medical and sanitary science of the army
as well as for the physical stamina of a race, when less than 200 died
out of a total of 4,000 wounded and gassed. The bulk of the battle
casualties were in the 93rd Division.

The figures as given do not seem very large, yet it is a fact that the
battle casualties of the American Negro forces engaged in the late war
were not very far short of the entire battle casualties of the
Spanish-American war. In that conflict the United States lost less than
1,000 men in battle.

While battle havoc and ravages from disease were terrible enough, and
brought sadness to many firesides, and while thousands of survivors are
doomed to go through life maimed, suffering or weakened, there is a
brighter side to the picture. Evidences are plentiful that "housekeeping
in khaki" was not unsuccessful.

According to a statement issued by the War Department early in 1919, the
entire overseas army was coming back 18,000 tons heavier and huskier
than when it went abroad. Many of the returning soldiers found that they
literally burst through the clothing which they had left at home.
Compared with the records taken at time of enlistment or induction into
the draft forces, it is shown that the average increase in weight was
twelve pounds to a man.

Improvement of course was due to the healthful physical development
aided by the seemingly ceaseless flow of wholesome food directed into
the training camps and to France. Secretary Baker was very proud of the
result and stated that the late war had been the healthiest in history.
The test he applied was in the number of deaths from disease. The best
previous record, 25 per 1,000 per year was attained by the Germans in
the Franco-Prussian war. Our record in the late war was only eight per
1,000 per year. The Medical Corps did heroic service in keeping germs
away, but cooks, clothing designers and other agencies contributed
largely in the making of bodies too healthy to permit germ lodgments.

The hell of war brought countless soldiers to the realization that no
matter how much they believed they had loved their mothers, they had
never fully appreciated how much she meant to them.

     "I know, mother," cried one youth broken on the field, whose mother
     found him in a hospital, "that I began to see over there how
     thoughtless, indeed, almost brutal, I had always been. Somehow, in
     spite of my loving you, I just couldn't talk to you. Why, when I
     think how I used to close up like a clam every time you asked me
     anything about myself----" He broke off and with fervent humility
     kissed the hand in his own. "Please forget it all, mother," he
     whispered. "It's never going to be that way again. I found out over
     there--I knew what it was not to have anyone to tell things to--and
     now, why you've got to listen to me all the rest of your life,
     mother."

Angelo Patri, the new York schoolmaster who has been so successful in
instilling ideals into the child mind has addressed himself to the
children of today, they who will be the parents of tomorrow. His words
are:

     "Man has labored through the ages that you might be born free. Man
     has fought that you might live in peace. He has studied that you
     might have learning. He has left you the heritage of the ages that
     you might carry on.

     "Ahead are the children of the next generation. It's on, on, you
     must be going. You, too, are torch-bearers of liberty. You, too,
     must take your place in the search for freedom, the quest for the
     Holy Grail. 'Twas for this you, the children of America were born,
     were educated. Fulfill your destiny."

Morale and propaganda received more attention in the late war than they
ever did in any previous conflict. Before the end of the struggle the
subject of morale was taken up and set apart as one of the highly
specialized branches of the service. The specialists were designated as
morale officers. They had many problems to meet and much smoothing over
to do. In the army, an Americanism very soon attached to them and they
became known as "fixers."

With respect to the Negro, the section of the War Department presided
over by Emmett J. Scott was organized and conducted largely for purposes
of morale and propaganda. Much of the work was connected with good
American propaganda to counteract dangerous German propaganda.

It is now a known fact that the foe tried to lure the Negro from his
allegiance by lies and false promises even after he had gone into the
trenches. This has been attested to publicly by Dr. Robert R. Moton, the
head of Tuskegee Institute, who went abroad at the invitation of
President Wilson and Secretary Baker to ascertain the spirit of the
Negro soldiers there.

Dr. Moton was told of the German propaganda and the brazen attempts made
on members of the 92nd Division near Metz. He gave the following as a
sample:

     "To the colored soldiers of the United States Army.

     "Hello, boys, what are you doing over there? Fighting the Germans?
     Why? Have they ever done you any harm?

     "Do you enjoy the same rights as the white people do in America,
     the land of freedom and democracy, or are you not rather treated
     over there as second class citizens? And how about the law? Are
     lynchings and the most horrible crimes connected therewith a
     lawful proceeding in a democratic country?

     "Now, all this is entirely different in Germany, where they do like
     colored people; where they treat them as gentlemen and not as
     second class citizens. They enjoy exactly the same privileges as
     white men, and quite a number of colored people have fine positions
     in business in Berlin and other German cities.

     "Why then fight the Germans? Only for the benefit of the Wall
     street robbers and to protect the millions they have loaned the
     English, French and Italians?

     "You have never seen Germany, so you are fools if you allow
     yourselves to hate us. Come over and see for yourselves. To carry a
     gun in this service is not an honor but a shame. Throw it away and
     come over to the German lines. You will find friends who will help
     you along."

Negro officers of the division told Dr. Moton this propaganda had no
effect. He said the Negroes, especially those from the South, were
anxious to return home, most of them imbued with the ambition to become
useful, law-abiding citizens. Some, however, were apprehensive that they
might not be received in a spirit of co-operation and racial good will.
This anxiety arose mainly from accounts of increased lynchings and
persistent rumors that the Ku Klux Clan was being revived in order, so
the rumor ran, "to keep the Negro soldier in his place."

After voicing his disbelief in these rumors, Dr. Moton said:

     "The result of this working together in these war activities
     brought the whites and Negroes into a more helpful relationship. It
     is the earnest desire of all Negroes that these helpful cooperating
     relationships shall continue."

In conversation with a morale officer the writer was told that the
principal problem with the Negroes, especially after the selective
draft, was in classifying them fairly and properly. Some were in every
way healthy but unfit for soldiers. Others were of splendid intelligence
and manifestly it was unjust to condemn them to the ranks when so many
had excellent qualities for non-commissioned and commissioned grades.
The Service of Supply solved the problem so far as the ignorant were
concerned; all could serve in that branch.

The officer stated that the trouble with the War Department and with
too many other people, is the tendency to treat Negroes as a homogeneous
whole, which cannot be done. Some are densely ignorant and some are
highly intelligent and well educated. In this officer's opinion, there
is as much difference between different types of Negroes as there is
between the educated white people and the uneducated mountaineers and
poor whites of the South; or between the best whites of this and other
countries and the totally ignorant peasants from the most oppressed
nations of Europe.

In the early stages of the war, there was a great scarcity of
non-commissioned officers--sergeants and corporals, those generals in
embryo, upon whom so much depends in waging successful war. It was a
great mistake in the opinion of this informant, and he stated that the
view was shared by many other officers, to take men from white units to
act as non-commissioned officers in Negro regiments, when there were
available so many intelligent, capable Negroes serving in the ranks, who
understood their people and would have delighted in filling the
non-commissioned grades. He also thought the same criticism applied to
selections for commissioned grades.

It is agreeable to note that such views rapidly gained ground. The
excellent service of the old 8th Illinois demonstrated that colored
officers are capable and trustworthy. An action and expression that will
go far in furthering the view is that of Colonel William Hayward of the
old 15th New York, who resigned command of the regiment which he
organized and led to victory, soon after his return from the war. Like
the great magnanimous, fair-minded man which he is and which helped to
make him such a successful officer, he said that he could not remain at
the head of the organization when there were so many capable Negroes who
could and were entitled to fill its personnel of officers from colonel
down. Colonel Hayward has been laboring to have the organization made a
permanent one composed entirely of men of the Negro race. A portion of
his expression on the subject follows:

     "I earnestly hope that the state and city will not allow this
     splendid organization to pass entirely out of existence, but will
     rebuild around the nucleus of these men and their flags from which
     hang the Croix de Guerre, a 15th New York to which their children
     and grandchildren will belong; an organization with a home of its
     own in a big, modern armory. This should be a social center for the
     colored citizens of New York, and the regiment should be an
     inspiration to them. It should be officered throughout by colored
     men, though I and every other white officer who fought with the old
     15th will be glad and proud to act in an honorary or advisory
     capacity. Let the old 15th 'carry on' as our British comrades
     phrase it."

It is to be hoped that we never have another war. Nevertheless these
Negro military organizations should be kept up for their effect upon the
spirit of the race. If they are ever needed again, let us hope that by
that time, the confidence of the military authorities in Negro ability,
will have so gained that they will coincide with Colonel Hayward's view
regarding Negro officers for Negro units.




CHAPTER XXV.

QUIET HEROES OF THE BRAWNY ARM


NEGRO STEVEDORE, PIONEER AND LABOR UNITS--SWUNG THE AXE AND TURNED THE
WHEEL--THEY WERE INDISPENSABLE--EVERYWHERE IN FRANCE--HEWERS OF WOOD,
DRAWERS OF WATER--NUMBERS AND DESIGNATIONS OF UNITS--ACQUIRED SPLENDID
REPUTATION--CONTESTS AND AWARDS--PRIDE IN THEIR SERVICE--MEASURED UP TO
MILITARY STANDARDS--LESTER WALTONS APPRECIATION--ELLA WHEELER WILCOX'S
POETIC TRIBUTE.


Some went forth to fight, to win deathless fame or the heroes' crown of
death in battle. There were some who remained to be hewers of wood and
drawers of water. Which performed the greater service?

For the direct uplift and advancement of his race; for the improved
standing gained for it in the eyes of other races, the heroism, and
steadfastness and the splendid soldierly qualities exhibited by the
Negro fighting man, were of immeasurable benefit. Those were the things
which the world heard about, the exemplifications of the great modern
forces and factors of publicity and advertising. In the doing of their
"bit" so faithfully and capably, the Negro combatant forces won just
title to all the praise and renown which they have received. Their
contribution to the cause of liberty and democracy, cannot be
discounted; will shine through the ages, and through the ages grow
brighter.

But their contribution as fighting men to the cause of Justice and
Humanity was no greater, in a sense than that of their brethren:
"Unwept, unhonored and unsung," who toiled back of the lines that those
at the front might have subsistence and the sinews of conflict.

The most indispensable cog in the great machine which existed behind
the lines, was the stevedore regiments, the butcher companies, the
engineer, labor and Pioneer battalions, nearly all incorporated in that
department of the army technically designated as the S.O.S. (Service of
Supply). In the main these were blacks. Every Negro who served in the
combatant forces could have been dispensed with. They would have been
missed, truly; but there were enough white men to take their places if
necessary. But how seriously handicapped would the Expeditionary forces
have been without the great army of Negroes, numbering over 100,000 in
France, with thousands more in this country designed for the same
service; who unloaded the ships, felled the trees, built the railroad
grades and laid the tracks; erected the warehouses, fed the fires which
turned the wheels; cared for the horses and mules and did the million
and one things, which Negro brawn and Negro willingness does so
acceptably.

Theirs not to seek "the bubble reputation at the cannon's mouth," that
great composed, uncomplaining body of men; content simply to wear the
uniform and to know that their toil was contributing to a result just as
important as the work of anyone in the army. Did they wish to fight?
They did; just as ardently as any man who carried a rifle, served a
machine gun or a field piece. But some must cut wood and eat of humble
bread, and there came in those great qualities of patience and
resignation which makes of the Negro so dependable an asset in all such
emergencies.

How shall we describe their chronology or write their log? They were
everywhere in France where they were needed. As one officer expressed
it, at one time it looked as though they would chop down all the trees
in that country. Their units and designations were changed. They were
shifted from place to place so often and given such a variety of duties
it would take a most active historian to follow them. In the maze of
data in the War Department at Washington, it would take months to
separate and give an adequate account of their operations.

[Illustration: BACK WITH THE HEROIC 15TH (369TH INFANTRY). LIEUT. JAMES
REESE EUROPE'S FAMOUS BAND PARADING UP LENOX AVENUE, HARLEM, NEW YORK
CITY. LIEUT. EUROPE SPECIALLY ENLARGED IN LEFT FOREGROUND.]

[Illustration: SERGEANT HENRY JOHNSON (STANDING WITH FLOWERS), NEGRO
HERO OF 369TH INFANTRY. IN NEW YORK PARADE. HE WAS THE FIRST SOLDIER OF
ANY RACE IN THE AMERICAN ARMY TO RECEIVE THE CROIX DE GUERRE WITH PALM.
NEEDHAM ROBERTS, HIS FIGHTING COMPANION, IN INSET.]

[Illustration: RETURNING FROM THE WAR. MUSICIANS OF 365TH INFANTRY
LEADING PARADE OF THE REGIMENT IN MICHIGAN BOULEVARD. CHICAGO.]

[Illustration: SOLDIERS OF 365TH INFANTRY MARCHING DOWN MICHIGAN
BOULEVARD. CHICAGO. THIS REGIMENT WAS PART OF THE CELEBRATED 92ND
DIVISION OF SELECTIVE DRAFT MEN.]

[Illustration: THE SEVEN AGES OF MEN. CURBSTONE GROUPS IN NEW YORK
LINED UP TO GIVE THE HEROES WELCOME. THE SCENES WERE TYPICAL OF MANY IN
CITIES AND TOWNS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.]

[Illustration: COLONEL FRANKLIN A. DENISON, FORMER COMMANDER OF 8TH
ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY), INVALIDED HOME FROM FRANCE JULY 12, 1918.]

[Illustration: FIRST COMMANDER OF THE 8TH ILLINOIS INFANTRY, COLONEL
JOHN R. MARSHALL, WHO INCREASED THE ORGANIZATION FROM A BATTALION TO A
REGIMENT, EVERY OFFICER AND MAN A NEGRO. UNDER COL. MARSHALL THE
REGIMENT SAW DISTINGUISHED SERVICE IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.]

[Illustration: FORMER OFFICERS OF 370TH INFANTRY (OLD 8TH). LEFT,
COLONEL FRANKLIN A. DENISON, COMMANDER UNTIL JULY, 1918; CENTER, COLONEL
T.A. ROBERTS (WHITE). SUCCEEDING COMMANDER; RIGHT, LIEUT. COLONEL OTIS
B. DUNCAN. APPOINTED COLONEL TO SUCCEED COLONEL T.A. ROBERTS.]

[Illustration: CROWD ON THE LAKE FRONT IN CHICAGO ALMOST SMOTHERS
RETURNING SOLDIERS OF "FIGHTING 8TH" (370TH INFANTRY).]

It is known that a contingent of them accompanied the very first forces
that went abroad from this country. In fact, it may be said, that the
feet of American Negroes were among the first in our forces to touch the
soil of France. It is known that they numbered at least 136 different
companies, battalions and regiments in France. If there were more, the
records at Washington had not sufficiently catalogued them up to the
early part of 1919 to say who they were.

In the desire to get soldiers abroad in 1918, the policy of the
administration and the Department seems to have been to make details and
bookkeeping a secondary consideration. The names of all, their
organizations and officers were faithfully kept, but distinctions
between whites and blacks were very obscure. Until the complete
historical records of the Government are compiled, it will be impossible
to separate them with accuracy.

Negro non-combatant forces in France at the end of the war included the
301st, 302nd and 303rd Stevedore Regiments and the 701st and 702nd
Stevedor Battalions; the 322nd and 363rd Butchery Companies; Engineer
Service battalions numbered from 505 to 550, inclusive; Labor battalions
numbered from 304 to 348, inclusive, also Labor battalion 357; Labor
companies numbered from 301 to 324, inclusive; Pioneer Infantry
regiments numbered 801, 809, 811, 813, 815 and 816, inclusive. These
organizations known as Pioneers, had some of the functions of infantry,
some of those of engineers and some of those of labor units. They were
prepared to exercise all three, but in France they were called upon to
act principally as modified engineering and labor outfits. They also
furnished replacement troops for some of the combatant units.

Service was of the dull routine void of the spectacular, and has never
been sufficiently appreciated. In our enthusiasm over their fighting
brothers we should not overlook nor underestimate these. There were many
thousands of white engineers and Service of Supply men in general, but
their operations were mostly removed from the base ports.

Necessity for the work was imperative. Owing to the requirements of the
British army, the Americans could not use the English Channel ports.
They were obliged to land on the west and south coasts of France, where
dock facilities were pitifully inadequate. Railway facilities from the
ports to the interior were also inadequate. The American Expeditionary
Forces not only enlarged every dock and increased the facilities of
every harbor, but they built railways and equipped them with American
locomotives and cars and manned them with American crews.

Great warehouses were built as well as barracks, cantonments and
hospitals. Without these facilities the army would have been utterly
useless. Negroes did the bulk of the work. They were an indispensable
wheel in the machinery, without which all would have been chaos or
inaction.

Headquarters of the Service of Supply was at Tours. It was the great
assembling and distributing point. At that point and at the base ports
of Brest, Bordeaux, St. Nazaire and La Pallice most of the Negro Service
of Supply organizations were located. The French railroads and the
specially constructed American lines ran from the base ports and
centered at Tours.

This great industrial army was under strict military regulations. Every
man was a soldier, wore the uniform and was under commissioned and
non-commissioned officers the same as any combatant branch of the
service.

The Negro Service of Supply men acquired a great reputation in the
various activities to which they were assigned, especially for
efficiency and celerity in unloading ships and handling the vast cargoes
of materials and supplies of every sort at the base ports. They were a
marvel to the French and astonished not a few of the officers of our own
army. They sang and joked at their work. The military authorities had
bands to entertain them and stimulate them to greater efforts when some
particularly urgent task was to be done. Contests and friendly rivalries
were also introduced to speed up the work.

The contests were grouped under the general heading of "A Race to
Berlin" and were conducted principally among the stevedores. Prizes,
decorations and banners were offered as an incentive to effort in the
contests. The name, however, was more productive of results than
anything else. The men felt that it really was a race to Berlin and that
they were the runners up of the boys at the front.

Ceremonies accompanying the awards were quite elaborate and impressive.
The victors were feasted and serenaded. Many a stevedore is wearing a
medal won in one of these conquests of which he is as proud, and justly
so, as though it were a Croix de Guerre or a Distinguished Service
Cross. Many a unit is as proud of its banner as though it were won in
battle.

Thousands of Service of Supply men remained with the American Army of
Occupation after the war; that is, they occupied the same relative
position as during hostilities--behind the lines. The Army of Occupation
required food and supplies, and the duty of getting them into Germany
devolved largely upon the American Negro.

Large numbers of them were stationed at Toul, Verdun, Epernay, St.
Mihiel, Fismes and the Argonne, where millions of dollars worth of
stores of all kinds were salvaged and guarded by them. So many were left
behind and so important was their work, that the Negro Y.M.C.A. sent
fifteen additional canteen workers to France weeks after the signing of
the armistice, as the stay of the Service of Supply men was to be
indefinitely prolonged.

The Rev. D.L. Ferguson, of Louisville, Ky., who for more than a year was
stationed at St. Nazaire as a Y.M.C.A. worker, and became a great
favorite with the men, says that during the war they took great pride in
their companies, their camps, and all that belonged to the army; that
because their work was always emphasized by the officers as being
essential to the boys in the trenches, the term "stevedore" became one
of dignity as representing part of a great American Army.

How splendidly the stevedores and others measured up to military
standards and the great affection with which their officers regarded
them, Rev. Dr. Ferguson makes apparent by quoting Colonel C.E. Goodwin,
who for over a year was in charge of the largest camp of Negro Service
of Supply men in France. In a letter to Rev. Dr. Ferguson he said:

     "It is with many keen thrusts of sorrow that I am obliged to leave
     this camp and the men who have made up this organization. The men
     for whose uplift you are working have not only gained, but have
     truly earned a large place in my heart, and I will always cherish a
     loving memory of the men of this wonderful organization which I
     have had the honor and privilege to command."

Lester A. Walton, who went abroad as a correspondent for the New York
Age, thus commented on the stevedores and others of the same service:

     "I had the pleasure and honor to shake hands with hundreds of
     colored stevedores and engineers while in France. The majority were
     from the South, where there is a friendly, warm sun many months of
     the year. When I talked with them no sun of any kind had greeted
     them for weeks. It was the rainy season when a clear sky is a
     rarity and a downpour of rain is a daily occurrence. Yet, there was
     not one word of complaint heard, for they were 'doing their bit' as
     expected of real soldiers. Naturally they expressed a desire to get
     home soon, but this was a wish I often heard made by a doughboy.

     "Members of the 'S.O.S.' will not came back to America wearing the
     Distinguished Service Cross or the Croix de Guerre for exceptional
     gallantry under fire, but the history of the great world war would
     be incomplete and lacking in authenticity if writers failed to tell
     of the bloodless deeds of heroism performed by non-combatant
     members of the American Expeditionary Forces."

During the summer of 1918, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, the poetess, went to
France to write and also to help entertain the soldiers with talks and
recitations. While at one of the large camps in Southern France, the
important work of the colored stevedore came to her notice and she was
moved to write a poem which follows:

                             THE STEVEDORES

     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 like a mole.
     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, and put aside our fears.
     We flung them away to the winds 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 we must and may,
     The cross of honor will never be ours to proudly wear and sway.
     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.




CHAPTER XXVI.

UNSELFISH WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD


MITIGATED THE HORRORS OF WAR--AT THE FRONT, BEHIND THE LINES, AT
HOME--CIRCLE FOR NEGRO WAR RELIEF--ADDRESSED AND PRAISED BY ROOSEVELT--A
NOTABLE GATHERING--COLORED Y.M.C.A. WORK--UNSULLIED RECORD OF
ACHIEVEMENT--HOW THE "Y" CONDUCTED BUSINESS--SECRETARIES ALL
SPECIALISTS--NEGRO WOMEN IN "Y" WORK--VALOR OF A NON-COMBATANT.


Negroes in America are justly proud of their contributions to war relief
agencies and to the financial and moral side of the war. The millions of
dollars worth of Liberty Bonds and War Savings stamps which they
purchased were not only a great aid to the government in prosecuting the
war, but have been of distinct benefit to the race in the establishing
of savings funds among many who never were thrifty before. Thousands
have been started on the road to prosperity by the business ideas
inculcated in that manner. Their donations to the Red Cross, the
Y.M.C.A. and kindred groups were exceptionally generous.

An organization which did an immense amount of good and which was
conducted almost entirely by Negro patriots, although they had a number
of white people as officers and advisers, was the "Circle for Negro War
Relief," which had its headquarters in New York City.

At a great meeting at Carnegie Hall, November 2, 1918, the Circle was
addressed by the late Theodore Roosevelt. On the platform also as
speakers were Emmett J. Scott, Irvin Cobb, Marcel Knecht, French High
Commissioner to the United States; Dr. George E. Haynes, Director of
Negro Economics, Department of Labor; Mrs. Adah B. Thorns,
Superintendent of Nurses at Lincoln hospital, and Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois,
who presided.

Mr. Roosevelt reminded his hearers that when he divided the Nobel Peace
Prize money among the war charities he had awarded to the Circle for
Negro War Relief a sum equal to those assigned to the Y.M.C.A., the
Knights of Columbus, and like organizations.

     "I wish to congratulate you," Mr. Roosevelt said, "upon the dignity
     and self-restraint with which the Circle has stated its case in its
     circulars. It is put better than I could express it when your
     officers say: 'They, (the Negroes) like the boys at the front and
     in the camps to know that there is a distinctly colored
     organization working for them. They also like the people at home to
     know that such an organization, although started and maintained
     with a friendly cooperation from white friends, is intended to
     prove to the world that colored people themselves can manage war
     relief in an efficient, honest and dignified way, and so bring
     honor to their race.

     "The greatest work the colored man can do to help his race upward,"
     continued Mr. Roosevelt, "is through his or her own person to show
     the true dignity of service. I see in the list of your
     vice-presidents and also of your directors the name of Colonel
     Charles Young, and that reminds me that if I had been permitted to
     raise a brigade of troops and go to the other side, I should have
     raised for that brigade two colored regiments, one of which would
     have had all colored officers. And the colonel of that regiment was
     to have been Colonel Charles Young.

     "One of the officers of the other regiment was to have been 'Ham'
     Fish. He is now an officer of the 15th, the regiment of Negroes
     which Mr. Cobb so justly has praised, and when 'Ham' Fish was
     offered a chance for promotion with a transfer to another command,
     I am glad to say he declined with thanks, remarking that he
     'guessed he's stay with the sunburned Yankees.'"

A guest of honor at the meeting was Needham Roberts, who won his Croix
de Guerre in conjunction with Henry Johnson. The cheering of the
audience stopped proceedings for a long time when Mr. Roosevelt arrived
and shook hands with Roberts.

     "Many nice things were said at the meeting," commented the New York
     Age, "but the nicest of all was the statement that after the war
     the Negro over here will get more than a sip from the cup of
     democracy."

One of the splendid activities of the Circle was in the providing of an
emergency relief fund for men who were discharged or sent back, as in
the case of Needham Roberts, on account of sickness or injuries. Many a
soldier who was destitute on account of his back pay having been held up
was temporarily relieved, provided with work or sent to his home through
the agency of the Circle.

While the war was in progress the Circle attended to a variety of legal
questions for the soldiers, distributed literature, candy and smokes to
the men going to the war and those at the front; visited and ministered
to those in hospitals, looked after their correspondence and did the
myriad helpful things which other agencies were doing for white
soldiers, including relief in the way of garments, food, medicine and
money for the families and dependents of soldiers.

The organization had over three score units in different parts of the
country. They engaged in the same activities which white women were
following in aid to their race. Here is a sample clipped from one of the
bulletins of the Circle:

     "On the semi-tropical island of St. Helena, S.C., the native
     islanders have, in times past, been content to busy themselves in
     their beautiful cotton fields or in their own little
     palmetto-shaded houses, but the war has brought to them as to the
     rest of the world broader vision, and now, despite their very
     limited resources, 71 of them have formed Unit No. 29 of the
     Circle. They not only do war work, but they give whatever service
     is needed in the community. The members knit for the soldiers and
     write letters to St. Helena boys for their relatives. During the
     influenza epidemic the unit formed itself into a health committee
     in cooperation with the Red Cross and did most effective work in
     preventing the spread of the disease."

Similar and enlarged activities were characteristic of the units all
over the nation. They made manifest to the world the Negro's generosity
and his willingness in so far as lies in his power, to bear his part of
the burden of helping his own race.

After the war the units of the Circle did not grow weary. Their
inspiration to concentrate was for the relief of physical suffering and
need; to assist existing organizations in all sorts of welfare work. As
they had helped soldiers and soldiers' families, they proposed to extend
a helping hand to working girls, children, invalids and all Negroes
deserving aid.

To the lasting glory of the race and the efficient self-sacrificing
spirit of the men engaged, was the wonderful work of the Negro Young
Men's Christian Association among the soldiers of this country and
overseas. Some day a book will be written dealing adequately with this
phase of war activity.

The best writers of the race will find in it a theme well worthy of
their finest talents. The subject can be touched upon only briefly here.

To the untiring efforts and great ability of Dr. J.E. Moorland, senior
secretary of the Negro Men's Department of the International Committee,
with his corps of capable assistants at Washington, belongs the great
credit of having organized and directed the work throughout the war.

Not a serious complaint has come from any quarter about the work of the
Y.M.C.A. workers; not a penny of money was wrongfully diverted and
literally not a thing has occurred to mar the record of the
organization. Nothing but praise has come to it for the noble spirit of
duty, good will and aid which at all times characterized its operations.
The workers sacrificed their pursuits and pleasures, their personal
affairs and frequently their remuneration; times innumerable they risked
their lives to minister to the comfort and well being of the soldiers.
Some deeds of heroism stand forth that rank along with those of the
combatants.

The splendid record achieved is all the more remarkable and gratifying
when the extensive and varied personnel of the service is taken into
consideration. No less than fifty-five Y.M.C.A. centers were conducted
in cantonments in America, presided over by 300 Negro secretaries.
Fourteen additional secretaries served with Student Army Training Corps
units in our colleges. Sixty secretaries served overseas, making a grand
total of 374 Y.M.C.A. secretaries doing war work.

Excellent buildings were erected in the cantonments here and the camps
overseas, which served as centers for uplifting influences, meeting the
deepest needs of the soldier's life. In the battle zones were the
temporary huts where the workers resided, placed as near the front lines
as the military authorities could permit. Many times the workers went
into the most advanced trenches with the soldiers, serving them tobacco,
coffee, chocolate, etc., and doing their utmost to keep up spirits and
fighting morale. Much of the uniform good discipline and behavior
attributed to the Negro troops undoubtedly was due to the beneficial
influence of the "Y" men and women.

As an example of the way the work was conducted it is well to describe a
staff organization in one of the buildings.

It was composed of a building secretary, who was the executive; a
religious work secretary, who had charge of the religious activities,
including personal work among the soldiers, Bible class and religious
meetings; an educational secretary, who promoted lectures, educational
classes and used whatever means he had at hand to encourage intellectual
development, and a physical secretary, who had charge of athletics and
various activities for the physical welfare of the soldiers. He worked
in closest relationship with the military officers and often was made
responsible for all the sports and physical activities of the camp. Then
there was a social secretary, who promoted all the social diversions,
including entertainments, stunts and motion pictures, and a business
secretary, who looked after the sales of stamps, post cards and such
supplies as were handled, and who was made responsible for the proper
accounting of finances.

The secretaries were either specialists in their lines or were trained
until they became such. Some idea of their tasks and problems, and of
the tact and ability they had to use in meeting them, may be gained by a
contemplation of the classes with which they had to deal. The selective
draft assembled the most remarkable army the world has ever seen. Men of
all grades from the most illiterate to the highly trained university
graduate messed together and drilled side by side daily. There were men
who had grown up under the best of influences and others whose
environment had been 370TH or vicious, all thrown together in a common
cause, wearing the same uniform and obeying the same orders.

The social diversions brought out some splendid talent. A great feature
was the singing. It was essential that the secretary should be a leader
in this and possessed of a good voice. These were not difficult to find,
as the race is naturally musical and most of them sing well. Noted
singers were sent to sing for the boys, but it is said that frequently
the plan of the entertainment was reversed, as they requested the
privilege of listening to the boys sing.

A wonderful work was done by "Y" secretaries among the illiterates. Its
fruits are already apparent and will continue to multiply. They found
men who hardly knew their right hand from their left. Others who could
not write their names are said to have wept with joy when taught to
master the simple accomplishment. Many a poor illiterate was given the
rudiments of an education and started on the way to higher attainments.

Headquarters of the overseas work was at Paris, France, and was in
charge of E.C. Carter, formerly Senior Student secretary in America, and
when war was declared, held the position of National Secretary of India.
Much of the credit for the splendid performance of the "Y" workers
abroad belonged to him and to his able aid, Dr. John Hope, president of
Morehouse college, Atlanta, Ga. The latter went over in August, 1918, as
a special overseer of the Negro Y.M.C.A.

Three distinguished Negro women were sent over as "Y" hostesses, with a
secretarial rating, during the war. Their work was so successful that
twenty additional women to serve in the same capacities were sent over
after the close of hostilities. They were to serve as hostesses, social
secretaries and general welfare workers among the thousands of Negro
soldiers who had been retained there with the Army of Occupation and the
Service of Supply.

The first Negro woman to go abroad in the Y.M.C.A. service was Mrs.
Helen Curtis of 208 134th Street, New York, in May, 1918. For a number
of years she had been a member of the committee of management of the
Colored Women's Branch of the Y.M.C.A., and had assisted at the Camp
Upton hostess house. Her late husband, James L. Curtis, was minister
resident and consul general for the United States to Liberia. Mrs.
Curtis lived in Monrovia, Liberia, until her husband's death there. She
had also lived in France, where she studied domestic art for two years.
Being a fluent speaker of the French language, her appointment was
highly appropriate.

So successful was the appointment of Mrs. Curtis that another Negro
secretary in the person of Mrs. Addie Hunton of 575 Greene Avenue,
Brooklyn, N.Y., followed the next month. Her husband was for many years
senior secretary of the International Committee of the Y.M.C.A. Negro
Men's Department, and her own work had always been with the
organization.

A short time later Miss Catherine Johnson of Greenville, Ohio, followed
in the wake of Mrs. Curtis and Mrs. Hunton. She is a sister of Dr.
Johnson of Columbus, Ohio, appointed early in 1919 minister to Liberia.

No less successful at home than abroad was the work of the Y.M.C.A.
among the Negroes in cantonments and training camps. It is known that
the services rendered by the Association to the officers' training camp
at Fort Des Moines had much to do with making that institution such a
remarkable success. From that time on comment was frequent that the best
work being done by the Association in many of the camps was done by
Negro secretaries.

The heroic exploit of Professor Cook, the "Y" secretary, which secured
him a recommendation for the Distinguished Service Cross, is mentioned
elsewhere. It was only equalled by the valiant performance of A.T.
Banks of Dayton, Ohio, a Negro "Y" secretary who went over the top with
the 368th Infantry. Secretary Banks, during the action, tarried to give
aid to a wounded soldier. The two were forced to remain all night in a
shell hole. During the hours before darkness and early the following
morning they were targets for a German sniper. The secretary succeeded
in getting the wounded man back to the lines, where he then proceeded to
organize a party to go after the sniper. They not only silenced him, but
rendered him unfit for any further action on earth. Mr. Banks returned
to America with the sniper's rifle as a souvenir. His work was
additionally courageous when it is considered that he was a
non-combatant and not supposed to engage in hostilities. Had he been
taken by the Germans he would not have been accorded the treatment of a
prisoner of war, but undoubtedly would have been put to death.

Were the records sufficiently complete at the present time to divulge
them, scores of examples of valorous conduct on the part of the "Y"
workers, Red Cross and other non-combatants who ministered to Negro
soldiers could be recounted. The work of all was of a noble character.
It was accompanied by a heroic spirit and in many cases by great
personal bravery and sacrifice.




CHAPTER XXVII.

NEGRO IN ARMY PERSONNEL


HIS MECHANICAL ABILITY REQUIRED--SKILLED AT SPECIAL TRADES--VICTORY
DEPENDS UPON TECHNICAL WORKERS--VAST RANGE OF OCCUPATIONS--NEGRO MAKES
GOOD SHOWING--PERCENTAGES OF WHITE AND BLACK--FIGURES FOR GENERAL
SERVICE.


In 1917 and 1918 our cause demanded speed. Every day that could be saved
from the period of training meant a day gained in putting troops at the
front.

Half of the men in the Army must be skilled at special trades in order
to perform their military duties. To form the units quickly and at the
same time supply them with the technical ability required, the Army had
to avail itself of the trade knowledge and experience which the recruit
brought with him from civil life. To discover this talent and assign it
to those organizations where it was needed was the task of the Army
Personnel organization.

The army could hardly have turned the tide of victory if it had been
forced to train from the beginning any large proportion of the technical
workers it needed. Every combat division required 64 mechanical
draughtsmen, 63 electricians, 142 linemen, 10 cable splicers, 156 radio
operators, 29 switchboard operators, 167 telegraphers, 360 telephone
repairmen, 52 leather and canvas workers, 78 surveyors, 40 transitmen,
62 topographers, 132 auto mechanics, 128 machinists, 167 utility
mechanics, 67 blacksmiths, 151 carpenters, 691 chauffeurs (auto and
truck), 128 tractor operators and 122 truckmasters.

Besides these specialists each division required among its enlisted men
those familiar with 68 other trades. Among the latter were dock
builders, structural steel workers, bricklayers, teamsters, hostlers,
wagoners, axemen, cooks, bakers, musicians, saddlers, crane operators,
welders, rigging and cordage workers, stevedores and longshoremen. Add
to these the specialists required in the technical units of engineers,
ordnance, air service, signal corps, tanks, motor corps and all the
services of supply, and the impossibility of increasing an army of
190,000 in March 1917, to an army of 3,665,000 in November, 1918,
becomes apparent unless every skilled man was used where skill was
demanded.

To furnish tables showing the number of Negroes which the selective
draft produced for the various occupations mentioned was at the
compilement of this work not practicable. In many cases the figures for
white and black had not been separated. The Army Personnel organization
did not get into the full swing of its work until well along in 1918.

A good general idea of the percentages of white and black can be gained
from the late drafts of that year. Figures for white drafts were not
available with the exception of that of September 3rd. But a very fair
comparison may be made from the following table showing some occupations
to which both whites and blacks were called. Take any of the three
general service drafts made upon Negro selectives and it makes a
splendid showing alongside the whites. Out of 100,000 men used as a
basis for computation, it shows that among the Negro selectives an
average of slightly over 25 percent were available for technical
requirements, compared with slightly over 36 percent among the whites.
It reveals a high number of mechanics and craftsmen among a race which
in the minds of many has been regarded as made up almost entirely of
unskilled laborers:

Supply per 100,000 in late Negro drafts for general service, compared
with supply of white men in same occupations for the September 3rd
draft:

                                             Misc. Figures Sept. 3

                                     Sept. 1    Sept 25  Upon        Draft
Occupation--                         Draft      Draft    59,826 Men  White

Mechanical engineer                      7         30        8           25
Blacksmith                             393         334     331          733
Dock builder                           ...         ...      15          ...
Carpenter                              862         571     670        2,157
Stockkeeper                            161         176     140          562
Structural steel worker                463         326     351          334
Chauffeur                            3,561       4,003   3,300        7,191
Chauffeur, heavy truck               1,304       1,356     987        2,061
Bricklayer                             189          99     132          223
Hostler                              3,351       1,433   2,062        3,559
Teamster or wagoner                  8,678      12,660   9,534       13,691
Transit and levelman                   ...           4       2           47
Axeman logger                        1,192       1,759   1,423        1,827
Clerical worker                        603         395     324        4,159
Baker and cook                       4,129       3,157   2,974        1,077
Musician                               105          17     115          160
Alto horn                               56          47      38           46
Baritone                                21          21      15           16
Bass horn                               35          21      18           16
Clarinet                                21          64      25           66
Cornet                                  98          56      67          132
Flute                                   21         ...       5           29
Saxaphone                                7          13      10           23
Trap drum                              217         197     100           46
Trombone                                42          69      40           67
Bugler                                  14          13      12           24
Saddler                                ...          26       3           12
Crane operator, hoistman                21          39      42           44
Crane operator, pile driver            ...          13      12            7
Crane operator, shovel                 ...          13       5           30
Oxy-acetylene welder                   ...          21       8           44
Rigger and cordage worker               49          77      57           40
Stevedore, cargo handler               161          34      68           10
Longshoreman                           652         664     651           15
                                      ----        ----      ----        ----
                                    26,413      27,708  23,544        38,473

     Figures are for general service drafts and do not include the
     enlarged list of occupations for which both whites and Negroes were
     selected.

[Illustration: FIVE SEA TUGS PUSHING TRANSPORT "FRANCE" INTO DOCK. SHIP
LADEN WITH MEMBERS OF NEW YORK'S "FIGHTING 15TH" (369TH INFANTRY) AND
CHICAGO'S "FIGHTING 8TH" (370TH INFANTRY) NEGRO HEROES FROM BATTLEFIELDS
OF EUROPE.]




CHAPTER XXVIII

THE KNOCKOUT BLOW


WOODROW WILSON, AN ESTIMATE--HIS PLACE IN HISTORY--LAST OF GREAT
TRIO--WASHINGTON, LINCOLN, WILSON--UPHOLDS DECENCY, HUMANITY,
LIBERTY--RECAPITULATION OF YEAR 1918--CLOSING INCIDENTS OF WAR.


When sufficient years have elapsed for the forming of a correct
perspective, when the dissolving elements of time have swept away
misunderstandings and the influences engendered by party belief and
politically former opinions, Woodrow Wilson is destined to occupy a
place in the Temple of Fame that all Americans may well be proud of. Let
us analyze this and let us be fair about it, whatever may be our beliefs
or affiliations.

Washington gave us our freedom as a nation and started the first great
wave of democracy. Probably, had some of us lived in Washington's time,
we would have been opposed to him politically. Today he is our national
hero and is reverenced by all free people of the earth, even by the
nation which he defeated at arms. Lincoln preserved and cemented, albeit
he was compelled to do it in blood, the democracy which Washington
founded. He did infinitely more; he struck the shackles from four
million human beings and gave the Negro of America his first opportunity
to take a legitimate place in the world. Lincoln's service in abolishing
slavery was not alone to the Negro. He elevated the souls of all men,
for he ended the most degrading institution that Satan ever
devised--more degrading to the master who followed it, than to the poor
subject he practiced it upon. Unitedly, we revere Lincoln, yet there
were those who were opposed to him and in every way hampered and sneered
at his sublime consecration to the service of his country. It takes time
to obtain the proper estimate of men.

Enough light has already been cast on President Wilson and his life
work to indicate his character and what the finished portrait of him
will be.

We see him at the beginning of the European conflict, before any of us
could separate the tangled threads of rumor, of propaganda, of
misrepresentation, to determine what it was all about; before even he
could comprehend it, a solitary and monitory figure, calling upon us to
be neutral, to form no hasty judgments. We see him later in the role of
peacemaker, upholding the principles of decency and honor. Eventually as
the record of atrocities and crimes against innocents enlarges, we see
him pleading with the guilty to return to the instincts of humanity.
Finally as the ultimate aim of the Hun is revealed as an assault upon
the freedom of the world; after the most painstaking and patient efforts
to avoid conflict, during which he was subjected to humiliation and
insult, we see him grasp the sword, calling a united nation to arms in
clarion tones, like some Crusader of old; his shibboleth: DECENCY,
HUMANITY, LIBERTY.

What followed? His action swept autocracy from its last great stronghold
and made permanent the work which Washington began and upon which
Lincoln builded so nobly. This of Woodrow Wilson; an estimate--there can
be no other thought, that will endure throughout history.

In the earlier chapters are sketched the main events of the great war up
to the end of the year 1917, when the history of the Negro in the
conflict became the theme. It remains to give an outline review of
battles and happenings from the beginning of 1917 until the end of
hostilities; culminating in the most remarkable armistice on record; a
complete capitulation of the Teutonic forces and their allies, and a
complete surrender by them of all implements and agencies for waging
war. The terms of the armistice, drastic in the extreme, were largely
the work of Marshal Ferdinand Foch, commander-in-chief of the Allied
armies.

Early in 1918 it became evident that England, France and Italy were
rapidly approaching the limit of their man power. It became necessary
for America to hasten to the rescue.

Training of men and officers in the various cantonments of America was
intensified and as rapidly as they could be brought into condition they
were shipped to France. The troop movement was a wonderful one and
before the final closing of hostilities in November there were more than
2,000,000 American troops in Europe. The navy was largely augmented,
especially in the matter of destroyers, submarine chasers and lighter
craft.

Our troops saw little actual warfare during the first three months of
the year. Americans took over a comparatively quiet sector of the French
front near Toul, January 21. Engagements of slight importance took place
on January 30 and February 4, the latter on a Lorraine sector which
Americans were holding. On March 1, they repulsed a heavy German raid in
the Toul sector, killing many. On March 6, the Americans were holding an
eight mile front alone.

On March 21 the great German offensive between the Oise and the Scarpe,
a distance of fifty miles, began. General Haig's British forces were
driven back about twenty miles. The French also lost much ground
including a number of important towns. The Germans drove towards Amiens
in an effort to separate the British and French armies. They had some
successes in Flanders and on the French front, but were finally stopped.
Their greatest advance measured thirty-five miles and resulted in the
retaking of most of the territory lost in the Hindenburg retreat of the
previous year. The Allies lost heavily in killed, wounded and prisoners,
but the Germans being the aggressors, lost more.

While the great battle was at its height, March 28, the Allies reached
an agreement to place all their forces from the Arctic Ocean to the
Mediterranean, under one supreme command, the man chosen for the
position being General Foch of the French. On March 29, General
Pershing placed all the American forces at the disposal of General Foch.

The Germans began a new offensive against the British front April 8 and
won a number of victories in the La Basse canal region and elsewhere.
The battle of Seicheprey, April 20, was the Americans' first serious
engagement with the Germans. The Germans captured the place but the
Americans by a counter attack recovered it.

Another great offensive was started by the Germans, May 27, resulting in
the taking of the Chemin des Dames from the French and crossing the
river Aisne. On the following day they crossed the Vesle river at
Fismes. Here the Americans won their first notable victory by capturing
the village of Cantigny and taking 200 prisoners. They held this
position against many subsequent counter-attacks. By the 31st the
Germans had reached Chateau Thierry and other points on the Marne, where
they were halted by the French. They made a few gains during the first
days of June. On June 6, American marines made a gallant attack, gaining
two miles on a front two and one-half miles long near Veuilly la
Poterie. On the following day they assisted the French in important
victories. In the second battle northwest of Chateau Thierry, the
Americans advanced nearly two and one-half miles on a six mile front,
taking 300 prisoners. It was in these engagements that the Americans
established themselves as fighters equal to any.

On June 9, the Germans began their fourth offensive, attacking between
Montdidier and the river Oise. They advanced about four miles, taking
several villages. In the operations of the following day which gained
them several villages, they claimed to have captured 8,000 French. This
day the American marines took the greater portion of Belleau wood and
completed the capture of it June 11. The French at the same time
defeated the Germans between Robescourt and St. Maur. There were other
battles on the 12th and 13th, but on the 14th it became evident that the
German offensive was a costly failure.

The fighting from this time until the end of June was of a less serious
nature, although the Americans in the Belleau and Vaux regions gave the
Germans no rest, attacking them continually and taking prisoners. The
Americans at this time were also engaged in an offensive in Italy. July
2, President Wilson announced there were 1,019,115 American soldiers in
France.

The Fourth of July was celebrated in England, France and Italy as well
as in the United States. On that day Americans assisted the Australians
in taking the town of Hamel and many prisoners. On the 8th and 9th the
French advanced in the region of Longpont and northwest of Compiegne. On
the 12th they took Castel and other strong points near the west bank of
the Avre river. July 14, the French national holiday was observed in
America, and by the American soldiers in France.

The fifth and last phase of the great offensive which the Germans had
started in March, began July 15, in an attack from Chateau Thierry to
Massignes, along a sixty-five mile front and crossing the Marne at
several places. At Chateau Thierry the Americans put up a strong
resistance but the enemy by persistent efforts finally succeeded in
getting a footing on the south bank. The battle continued east and west
of Rheims with the Allies holding strongly and the Germans meeting heavy
losses.

While the Germans were trying to force their way regardless of cost, in
the direction of Chalons and Epernay, General Foch was preparing a
surprise in the Villers-Cotterets forest on the German right flank. In
the large force collected for the surprise were some of the best French
regiments together with the famed Foreign Legion, the Moroccan regiment
and other crack troops including Americans. On the morning of July 18, a
heavy blow was launched at the Germans all along the line from Chateau
Thierry on the Marne to the Aisne northwest of Soissons.

The foe was taken completely by surprise and town after town fell with
very little resistance. Later the resistance stiffened but the Allies
continued to advance. Cavalrymen assisted the infantry and tanks in
large numbers, helped to clean out the machine gun nests. The Americans
who fought side by side with the French won the unbounded admiration of
their comrades. Thousands of prisoners were taken with large numbers of
heavy cannon, great quantities of ammunition and thousands of machine
guns. By the 20th Soissons was threatened. The Germans finding
themselves caught in a dangerous salient and attacked fiercely on both
flanks, retreated hurriedly to the north bank of the Marne and still
farther.

Meanwhile things were going badly for the Austrians. After its retreat
in 1917 to the line of the Piave river, the Italian army had been
reorganized and strengthened under General Diaz, who had succeeded
General Cadorna in command. French and British regiments had been sent
to assist in holding the line, and later some American forces.

The Austrians began an offensive June 15 along a 100-mile front,
crossing the Piave in several places. For three days they made violent
attacks on the Montello plateau, and along the Piave from St. Andrea to
San Dona and at Capo Sile, twenty miles from Venice. Then the Italians,
British, French and Americans counter-attacked and within three days had
turned the great Austrian offensive into a rout, killing thousands,
taking thousands of prisoners, and capturing an immense amount of war
material including the Austrian's heavy caliber guns. The whole Austrian
scheme to advance into the fertile Italian plains where they hoped to
find food for their hungry soldiers, failed completely. It was
practically the end of Austria and the beginning of the end for Germany.
Bulgaria gave up September 26, due to heavy operations by the French,
Italians and Serbians during July, August and September, in Albania,
Macedonia and along the Vardar river to the boundaries of Bulgaria. They
signed an armistice September 29 and the king of Bulgaria abdicated
October 3. Turkey being in a hopeless position through the surrender of
Bulgaria, and the success of the British forces under General Allenby,
kept up a feeble resistance until the end of October when she too
surrendered. The collapse of Austria-Hungary followed closely on that of
Turkey. They kept up a show of resistance and suffered a number of
disastrous defeats until the end of October when they raised the white
flag. An armistice was signed by the Austrian representatives and
General Diaz for the Italians, November 3.

On the anniversary of Britain's entry into the war, August 4, Field
Marshall Haig, commander-in-chief of the British forces issued a special
order of the day, the opening paragraph of which was:

     "The conclusion of the fourth year of the war marks the passing of
     the period of crisis. We can now with added confidence, look
     forward to the future."

On August 4, General Pershing reported:

     "The full fruits of victory in the counter offensive begun so
     gloriously by Franco-American troops on July 18, were reaped today,
     when the enemy who met his second great defeat on the Marne, was
     driven in confusion beyond the line of the Vesle. The enemy, in
     spite of suffering the severest losses, has proved incapable of
     stemming the onslaught of our troops, fighting for liberty side by
     side with French, British and Italian veterans. In the course of
     the operations, 8,400 prisoners and 133 guns have been captured by
     our men alone. Our troops have taken Fismes by assault and hold the
     south bank of the Vesle in this section."

On August 8, the British and French launched an offensive in Picardy,
pressed forward about seven miles on a front of 20 miles, astride the
river Somme and captured several towns and 10,000 prisoners. It was in
this engagement that the hard fighting at Chipilly Ridge occurred, in
which the Americans so ably assisted, notably former National Guardsmen
from Chicago and vicinity. Montdidier was taken by the French August 10.
The British also continued to advance and by the 11th the Allies had
captured 36,000 prisoners and more than 500 guns. A French attack August
19-20 on the Oise-Aisne front, netted 8,000 prisoners and liberated many
towns. On the 21st Lassigny was taken by the French. This was the
cornerstone of the German position south of the Avre river. On August 29
the Americans won the important battle of Guvigny. By September 2 the
Germans were retreating on a front of 130 miles, from Ypres south to
Noyon. By the 9th the Germans had been driven back to the original
Hindenburg line, where their resistance began to strengthen.

On September 12 the American army, led by General Pershing, won a great
battle in the attack on and wiping out of the famous St. Mihiel salient.
This victory forced the enemy back upon the Wotan-Hindenburg line, with
the French paralleling him from Verdun to the Moselle. Pershing's forces
continued fighting steadily, wearing out the Germans by steady pressure.
On September 26 the Americans began another offensive along a front of
20 miles from the Meuse river westward through the Argonne forest. This
developed into one of the bloodiest battles of the war for the
Americans. On September 29 American and British troops smashed through
the Hindenburg line at its strongest point between Cambrai and St.
Quentin. British troops entered the suburbs of Cambrai and outflanked
St. Quentin. Twenty-two thousand prisoners and more than 300 guns were
captured. Meanwhile the Belgians tore a great hole in the German line,
ten miles from the North sea, running from Dixmude southward.

On October 3 the French launched three drives, one north of St. Quentin,
another north of Rheims, and a third to the east in Champagne. All were
successful, resulting in the freeing of much territory and the capture
of many prisoners. On October 4 the Americans resumed the attack west of
the Meuse. In the face of heavy artillery and machine gun fire, troops
from Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia,
forced the Germans back to the so-called Kriemhilde line. In the
Champagne, American and French troops were moving successfully. On the
6th the Americans captured St. Etienne; on the 9th they reached the
southern outskirts of Xivry and entered Chaune wood. On the same day the
armies of Field Marshall Haig made a clean break through the Hindenburg
system on the west. Through a twenty-mile gap, they advanced from nine
to twelve miles, penetrating almost to the Le Selle and Sambre rivers.

On October 12 the British General Rawlinson, with whom an American
division had been operating, sent a telegram of congratulation to the
commander of the division, which comprised troops from Tennessee, in
which he highly praised the gallantry of all the American troops. French
troops on October 13 captured the fortress of La Fere, the strongest
point on the south end of the old Hindenburg line. They also entered
Laon and occupied the forest of St. Gobain. On October 15 the Americans
took and passed St. Juvin after desperate fighting. On October 16 they
occupied the town of Grandpre, a place of great strategic importance,
being the junction of railways feeding a large part of the German
armies. The Germans now began a retreat on an enormous scale in Belgium.
So fast did they move that the British, French and Belgians could not
keep in touch with them. The North sea ports of Belgium were speedily
evacuated. Northwest of Grandpre the Americans captured Talma farm
October 23, after a stiff machine gun resistance. Victories continued to
be announced from day to day from all portions of the front.

On November 1 the Americans participated in a heavy battle, taking
Champaigneulle and Landres et St. George, which enabled them to threaten
the enemy's most important line of communication. On November 4 the
Americans reached Stenay and on the 6th they crossed the Meuse. By the
7th they had entered Sedan, the place made famous by the downfall of
Napoleon III in the war of 1870. On other parts of the American front
the enemy retreated so fast that the infantry had to resort to motor
cars to keep in touch with him. It was the same on other fronts. The
Germans put up a resistance at the strong fortress of Metz, which the
Americans were attacking November 10 and 11.

Armistice negotiations had been started as early as October, 5, and were
concluded November 11th. This date saw the complete collapse of the
German military machine and will be one of the most momentous days in
history, as it marked the passing of an old order and the inauguration
of a new era for the world. In the armistice terms every point which the
Americans and Allies stipulated was agreed to by the Germans. The last
shot in the war is thus described in an Associated Press dispatch of
November 11:

     "Thousands of American heavy guns fired the parting shot to the
     Germans at exactly 11 o'clock this morning. The line reached by the
     American forces was staked out this afternoon. The Germans hurled a
     few shells into Verdun just before 11 o'clock.

     "On the entire American front from the Moselle to the region of
     Sedan, there was artillery activity in the morning, all the
     batteries preparing for the final salvos.

     "At many batteries the artillerists joined hands, forming a long
     line as the lanyard of the final shot. There were a few seconds of
     silence as the shells shot through the heavy mist. Then the gunners
     cheered. American flags were raised by the soldiers over their
     dugouts and guns and at the various headquarters. Soon afterward
     the boys were preparing for luncheon. All were hungry as they had
     breakfasted early in anticipation of what they considered the
     greatest day in American history."

The celebration, which occurred November 11, upon announcement of the
news, has never been equalled in America. It spontaneously became a
holiday and business suspended voluntarily. Self-restraint was thrown to
the winds for nearly twenty-four hours in every city, town and hamlet in
the country. There was more enthusiasm, noise and processions than ever
marked any occasion in this country and probably eclipsed anything in
the history of the world.

[Illustration: RETURN OF THE 15TH NEW YORK, 369TH INFANTRY. SHOWN
SWINGING UP LENOX AVENUE. NEW YORK CITY WHERE THEY RECEIVED A ROYAL
WELCOME.]




CHAPTER XXIX.

HOMECOMING HEROES


NEW YORK GREETS HER OWN--ECSTATIC DAY FOR OLD 15TH--WHITES AND BLACKS DO
HONORS--A MONSTER DEMONSTRATION--MANY DIGNITARIES REVIEW TROOPS--PARADE OF
MARTIAL POMP--CHEERS, MUSIC, FLOWERS AND FEASTING--"HAYWARD'S SCRAPPING
BABIES"--OFFICERS SHARE GLORY--THEN CAME HENRY JOHNSON--SIMILAR SCENES
ELSEWHERE.


No band of heroes returning from war ever were accorded such a welcome
as that tendered to the homecoming 369th by the residents of New York,
Manhattan Island and vicinity, irrespective of race. Being one of the
picturesque incidents of the war, the like of which probably will not be
repeated for many generations, if ever, it well deserves commemoration
within the pages of this book.

Inasmuch as no more graphic, detailed and colorful account of the day's
doings has been printed anywhere, we cannot do better than quote in its
entirety the story which appeared in the great newspaper, The World of
New York, on February 18, 1919. The parade and reception, during which
the Negro troops practically owned the city, occurred the preceeding
day. The World account follows:

     "The town that's always ready to take off its hat and give a whoop
     for a man who's done something--'no matter who or what he was
     before,' as the old Tommy Atkins song has it--turned itself loose
     yesterday in welcoming home a regiment of its own fighting sons
     that not only did something, but did a whole lot in winning
     democracy's war.

     "In official records, and in the histories that youngsters will
     study in generations to come, this regiment will probably always be
     known as the 369th Infantry, U.S.A.

     "But in the hearts of a quarter million or more who lined the
     streets yesterday to greet it, it was no such thing. It was the old
     15th New York. And so it will be in this city's memory, archives
     and in the folk lore of the descendants of the men who made up its
     straight, smartly stepping ranks.

     "New York is not race-proud nor race-prejudiced. That this 369th
     Regiment, with the exception of its eighty-nine white officers, was
     composed entirely of Negroes, made no difference in the shouts and
     flagwaving and handshakes that were bestowed upon it. New York gave
     its Old 15th the fullest welcome of its heart.

     "Through scores of thousands of cheering white citizens, and then
     through a greater multitude of its own color, the regiment, the
     first actual fighting unit to parade as a unit here, marched in
     midday up Fifth Avenue and through Harlem, there to be almost
     assailed by the colored folks left behind when it went away to
     glory.

     "Later it was feasted and entertained, and this time very nearly
     smothered with hugs and kisses by kin and friends, at the 71st
     Regiment Armory. Still later, perfectly behaved and perfectly
     ecstatic over its reception, the regiment returned to Camp Upton to
     await its mustering out.

     "You knew these dark lads a year and a half ago, maybe, as persons
     to be slipped a dime as a tip and scarcely glanced it. They were
     your elevator boys, your waiters, the Pullman porters who made up
     your berths (though of course you'd never dare to slip a Pullman
     porter a dime). But, if you were like many a prosperous white
     citizen yesterday you were mighty proud to grasp Jim or Henry or
     Sam by the hand and then boast among your friends that you
     possessed his acquaintance.

     "When a regiment has the medal honors of France upon its flags and
     it has put the fear of God into Germany time after time, and its
     members wear two gold stripes, signifying a year's fighting
     service, on one arm, and other stripes, signifying wounds, on the
     other, it's a whole lot different outfit from what it was when it
     went away. And that's the old 15th N.Y. And the men are
     different--and that's Jim and Henry and Sam.

     "Col. William Hayward, the distinguished white lawyer and one time
     Public Service Commissioner, who is proud to head these fighters,
     was watching them line up for their departure shortly after 6
     o'clock last evening, when someone asked him what he thought of the
     day.

     "'It has been wonderful!' he said, and he gazed with unconcealed
     tenderness at his men. 'It's been far beyond my expectations. But
     these boys deserve it. There's only one thing missing. I wish some
     of Gen. Gouraud's French boys, whom we fought beside, could be here
     to see it.'

     "The Colonel slapped his hand affectionately upon the shoulder of
     his dark-skinned orderly.

     "'How about that, Hamilton, old boy?' he inquired.

     "'That's right, Colonel, sir; Gen. Gonraud's boys sure would have
     enjoyed this day!' the orderly responded as he looked proudly at
     the Colonel.

     "There's that sort of paternal feeling of the white officers toward
     their men, and that filial devotion of the men to their officers,
     such as exists in the French Army.

     "Much as the white population of the town demonstrated their
     welcome to the Regiment, it was, after all, those of their own
     color to whom the occasion belonged. And they did themselves proud
     In making it an occasion to recall for years in Harlem, San Juan
     Hill and Brooklyn, where most of the fighters were recruited.

     "At the official reviewing stand at 60th street, the kinsfolk and
     admirers of the regimental lads began to arrive as beforehandedly
     as 9 o'clock. They had tickets, and their seats were reserved for
     them. The official committee had seen to that--and nine-tenths of
     the yellow wooden benches were properly held for those good
     Americans of New York whom birth by chance had made dark-skinned
     instead of fair. BUT this was their Day of Days, and they had
     determined (using their own accentuation) to BE there and to be
     there EARLY.

     "The first-comers plodded across 59th Street from the San Juan Hill
     district, and it was fine to see them. There seemed to be a little
     military swank even to the youngsters, as platoons of them stepped
     along with faces that had been scrubbed until they shone. Had a
     woman a bit of fur, she wore it. Had a man a top hat--origin or
     vintage-date immaterial--he displayed that. All heads were up,
     high; eyes alight. Beaming smiles everywhere. No not quite
     everywhere. Occasionally there was to be seen on a left sleeve a
     black band with a gold star, which told the world that one of the
     Old 15th would never see the region west of Columbus Circle,
     because he had closed his eyes in France. And the faces of the
     wearers of these were unlaughing, but they held themselves just as
     proudly as the rest.

     "Few of the welcomers went flagless. No matter whether a man or
     woman wore a jewel or a pair of patent leather boots as a sign of
     "class," or tramped afoot to the stand or arrived in a limousine,
     nearly every dark hand held the nation's emblem.

     "Nearly every one wore white badges bearing the letters: "Welcome,
     Fighting 15th," or had pennants upon which stood out the regimental
     insignia--a coiled rattlesnake of white on a black field.

     "Those colored folk who could afford it journeyed to the stand in
     closed automobiles. Gorgeously gowned women alighted with great
     dignity beneath the admiring gaze of their humbler brethren. Taxies
     brought up those whose fortunes, perhaps, were not of such
     amplitude. Hansoms and hacks conveyed still others, and one party
     came in a plumber's wagon, its women members all bundled up in
     shawls and blankets against the cold, but grinning delightedly as
     the whole stand applauded.

     "Children by the thousands lined the east side of the avenue--Boy
     Scouts and uniformed kids and little girls with their school books
     under their arms, and they sang to the great delight of the crowd.

     "Just why it was that when Governor Smith and former Governor
     Whitman and Acting Mayor Moran and the other reviewers appeared
     behind a cavalcade of mounted policemen, the youngsters struck up
     that army classic, "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," no
     one could tell, but it gave the reviewers and the crowd a laugh.

     "With the state and city officials were the members of the Board of
     Aldermen, the Board of Estimate, Major Gen. Thomas J. Barry, Vice
     Admiral Albert Gleaves, Secretary of State, Francis Hugo; Rodman
     Wannamaker and--in a green hat and big fur coat--William Randolph
     Hearst. Secretary Baker of the War Department was unable to attend,
     but he did the next best thing and sent his colored assistant,
     Emmett J. Scott.

     "The reviewers arrived at 11:30 and had a good long wait, for at
     that time the paraders had not yet left 23rd Street. But what with
     the singing, and the general atmosphere of joyousness about the
     stand, there was enough to occupy everyone's time.

     "There was one feature which took the eye pleasingly--the number
     of babies which proud mothers held aloft, fat pickaninnies, mostly
     in white, and surrounded by adoring relatives. These were to see
     (and be seen by) their daddies for the first time. Laughingly, the
     other day, Col. Bill Hayward spoke of 'our boys' posthumous
     children,' and said he thought there were quite a few of them.

     "'Some of our boys had to go away pretty quickly,' he reminisced.
     'Some of them were only married about twenty minutes or so.'

     "'O Colonel!' said the modest Major Little on that occasion.

     "'Well, maybe it was a trifle longer than twenty minutes,' admitted
     Bill. But anyhow, there was the regiment's posthumous children in
     the stand.

     "It was 11:26 when the old 15th stepped away from 23rd Street and
     Fifth Avenue. They looked the part of the fighting men they were.
     At an exact angle over their right shoulders were their
     long-bayonetted rifles. Around their waists were belts of
     cartridges. On their heads were their 'tin hats,' the steel helmets
     that saved many a life, as was attested by the dents and scars in
     some of them. Their eyes were straight forward and their chins,
     held high naturally, seemed higher than ever because of the leather
     straps that circled them. The fighters wore spiral puttees and
     their heavy hobbed hiking shoes, which caused a metallic clash as
     they scraped over the asphalt.

     "At the head of the line rode four platoons of mounted police,
     twelve abreast, and then, afoot and alone, Col. Hayward, who
     organized the 15th, drilled them when they had nothing but
     broomsticks to drill with, fathered them and loved them, and turned
     them into the fightingest military organization any man's army
     could want.

     "The French called them 'Hell Fighters.' The Germans after a few
     mix-ups named them 'Blutlustige Schwartzmanner' (blood-thirsty black
     men.) But Col. Bill, when he speaks of them uses the words 'those
     scrapping babies of mine,' and they like that best of all.
     Incidentally (when out of his hearing) they refer tenderly to him
     as 'Old Bill, that fightin' white man.' So it's fifty-fifty.

     "The Colonel had broken a leg in the war, so there were those who
     looked for him to limp as he strode out to face the hedge of
     spectators that must have numbered a quarter of a million. But nary
     a limp. With his full six feet drawn up erectly and his strong face
     smiling under his tin hat, he looked every bit the fighting man as
     he marched up the centre of the avenue, hailed every few feet by
     enthusiasts who knew him socially or in the law courts or in the
     business of the Public Service Commission.

     "'Didn't your leg hurt you, Bill?' his friends asked him later.

     "'Sure it hurt me; he said, 'but I wasn't going to peg along on the
     proudest day of my life!' Which this day was.

     "Behind the Colonel marched his staff, Lieut. Col. W.A. Pickering,
     Capt. Adjutant Robert Ferguson, Major E.A. Whittemore, Regimental
     Sergt. Majors C.A. Connick and B.W. Cheeseman, Regimental Sergts.
     L.S. Payne, H.W. Dickerson and W.W. Chisum, and Sergts. R.C. Craig,
     D.E. Norman and Kenneth Bellups.

     "The Police Band was at the front of the line of march, but it was
     a more famous band that provided the music to which the Black
     Buddies stepped northward and under the Arch of Victory--the
     wonderful jazz organization of Lieut. Jimmie Europe, the one
     colored commissioned officer of the regiment. But it wasn't jazz
     that started them off. It was the historic Marche du Regiment de
     Sambre et Meuse, which has been France's most popular parade piece
     since Napoleon's day. As rendered now it had all the crash of bugle
     fanfares which is its dominant feature, but an additional
     undercurrent of saxaphones and basses that put a new and more
     peppery tang into it.

     "One hundred strong, and the proudest band of blowers and pounders
     that ever reeled off marching melody--Lieut. Jimmie's boys lived
     fully up to their reputation. Their music was as sparkling as the
     sun that tempered the chill day.

     "Four of their drums were instruments which they had captured from
     the enemy in Alsace, and ma-an, what a beating was imposed upon
     those sheepskins! 'I'd very much admire to have them bush Germans
     a-watchin' me today!' said the drummer before the march started.
     The Old 15th doesn't say 'Boche' when it refers to the foe it beat.
     'Bush' is the word it uses, and it throws in 'German' for good
     measure.

     "Twenty abreast the heroes marched through a din that never ceased.
     They were as soldierly a lot as this town, now used to soldierly
     outfits, has ever seen. They had that peculiar sort of half
     careless, yet wholly perfect, step that the French display. Their
     lines were straight, their rifles at an even angle, and they moved
     along with the jaunty ease and lack of stiffness which comes only
     to men who have hiked far and frequently.

     "The colored folks on the official stand cut loose with a wild,
     swelling shriek of joy as the Police Band fell out at 60th Street
     and remained there to play the lads along when necessary and
     when--now entirely itself--the khaki-clad regiment filling the
     street from curb to curb, stepped by.

     "Colonel Hayward, with his hand at salute, turned and smiled
     happily as he saw his best friend, former Governor Whitman,
     standing with his other good friend, Governor Al Smith, with their
     silk tiles raised high over their heads. It was the Governor's
     first review in New York and the first time he and Mr. Whitman had
     got together since Inauguration Day. They were of different
     parties, but they were united in greeting Colonel Bill and his
     Babies.

     "From the stand, from the Knickerbocker Club across the street,
     from the nearby residences and from the curbing sounded shouts of
     individual greetings for the commander and his staff. But these
     were quickly drowned as a roar went up for Lieutenant Europe's
     band, with its commander at the head--not swinging a baton like a
     common ordinary drum-major, but walking along with the uniform and
     side-arms of an officer.

     "'The Salute to the 85th,' which they learned from their comrade
     regiment of the French Army of General Gouraud, was what they were
     playing, a stirring thing full of bugle calls and drum rolls, which
     Europe says is the best march he ever heard.

     "So swiftly did the platoons sweep by that it took a quick eye to
     recognize a brother or a son or a lover or a husband; but the eyes
     in the stand were quick, and there were shouts of 'Oh, Bill!' 'Hey,
     boy, here's your mammy!' 'Oliver, look at your baby!' (It wasn't
     learned whether this referred to a feminine person or one of those
     posthumous children Colonel Hayward spoke about.) 'Hallelujah, Sam!
     There you are, back home again!'

     "Half way down the ranks of the 2,992 paraders appeared the
     colors, and all hats came off with double reverence, for the Stars
     and Stripes and the blue regimental standard that two husky ebony
     lads held proudly aloft had been carried from here to France, from
     France to Germany and back again, and each bore the bronze token
     with its green and red ribbon that is called the Croix de Guerre.
     Keen eyes could see these little medals swinging from the silk of
     the flags, high toward the top of the poles.

     "At the end of the lines which filled the avenue came a single
     automobile, first, with a round-faced smiling white officer sitting
     in it and gazing happily from side to side. This was Major
     Lorillard Spencer, who was so badly wounded that he came back in
     advance of the outfit some weeks ago. There was a special racket of
     cheers for him, and then another for Major David L. 'Esperance,
     also wounded and riding.

     "Then a far different figure, but one of the most famous of the
     whole war. Henry Johnson! That Henry, once a mild-mannered
     chauffeur, who to protect his comrade, Needham Roberts, waded into
     a whole patrol of 'bush Germans' with a lot of hand grenades, his
     rifle and his trusty 'steel' in the shape of a bolo knife, and
     waded into them so energetically that when the casualties were
     counted there were four dead foemen in front of him, thirty-four
     others done up so badly they couldn't even crawl away, and heaven
     knows how many more had been put to flight.

     "And now Henry, in commemoration of this exploit, was riding alone
     in an open machine. In his left hand he held his tin hat. In his
     right he held high over his head a bunch of red and white lilies
     which some admirer had pressed upon him. And from side to side
     Henry--about as black as any man in the outfit if not a trifle
     blacker--bowed from the waist down with all the grace of a French
     dancing master. Yes, he bowed, and he grinned from ear to ear and
     he waved his lilies, and he didn't overlook a bet in the way of
     taking (and liking) all the tributes that were offered to him.

     "A fleet of motor ambulances, back of Henry, carried the wounded
     men who were unable to walk, nearly 200 of them. But though they
     couldn't walk, they could laugh and wave and shout thanks for the
     cheers, all of which they did.

     "Almost before the happy colored folk could realize at the official
     stand that here were their lads back home again, the last of the
     parade rolled along and it was over. With that formation and the
     step that was inspired by Lieutenant Europe's band--and by the
     Police Band which stood at 60th Street and kept playing after the
     music of the other died away--it required only seventeen minutes
     for the regiment to pass.

     "From this point north the welcome heightened in intensity. Along
     the park wall the colored people were banked deeply, everyone
     giving them the first ranks nearest the curb. Wives, sweethearts
     and mothers began to dash into the ranks and press flowers upon
     their men and march alongside with them, arm-in-arm. But this
     couldn't be, and Colonel Hayward had to stop the procession for a
     time and order the police to put the relatives back on the
     sidewalks. But that couldn't stop their noise.

     "The residents of the avenue paid fine tribute to the dusky
     marchers. It seemed inspiring, at 65th Street, to see Mrs. Vincent
     Astor standing in a window of her home, a great flag about her
     shoulders and a smaller one in her left hand, waving salutes. And
     Henry Frick, at an open window of his home at 73d Street, waving a
     flag and cheering at the top of his voice.

     "At the corner of 86th street was a wounded colored soldier
     wearing the Croix de Guerre and the Victoria Cross as well. Colonel
     Hayward pressed to his side with a hearty handshake, exclaiming:
     'Why, I thought you were dead!' It was one of his boys long ago
     invalided home.

     "No, sir, Colonel, not me. I ain't dead by a long ways yet,
     Colonel, sir,' said the lad.

     "'How's it going, Colonel?' asked a spectator.

     "'Fine,' said the Commander. 'All I'm worrying about is whether my
     boys are keeping step.' He needn't have worried.

     "The real height of the enthusiasm was reached when, after passing
     through 110th street and northward along Lenox Avenue, the heroes
     arrived in the real Black Belt of Harlem. This was the Home, Sweet
     Home for hundreds of them, the neighborhood they'd been born in and
     had grown up in, and from 129th Street north the windows and roofs
     and fireescapes of the five and six story apartment houses were
     filled to overflowing with their nearest and dearest.

     "The noise drowned the melody of Lieut. Europe's band. Flowers fell
     in showers from above. Men, women and children from the sidewalks
     overran the police and threw their arms about the paraders. There
     was a swirling maelstrom of dark humanity in the avenue. In the
     midst of all the racket there could be caught the personal
     salutations: 'Oh, honey!' 'Oh, Jim!' 'Oh, you Charlie!' 'There's my
     boy!' 'There's daddie!' 'How soon you coming home, son?' It took
     all the ability of scores of reserve policemen between 129th Street
     and 135th Street, where the uptown reviewing stand was, to pry
     those colored enthusiasts away from their soldiermen.

     "There was one particular cry which was taken up for blocks along
     this district: 'O-oh, you wick-ed Hen-nery Johnson! You wick-ed
     ma-an!' and Henry the Boche Killer still bowed and grinned more
     widely than ever, if possible.

     "'Looks like a funeral, Henry, them lilies!' called one admirer.

     "'Funeral for them bush Germans, boy! Sure a funeral for them
     bushes.' shouted Henry.

     "The official reviewing party, after the parade had passed 60th
     street, had hurried uptown, and so had the Police Band, and so
     there were some doings as the old 15th breezed past 135th Street.
     But no one up there cared for Governors or ex-Governors or
     dignitaries. Every eye was on the Black Buddies and every throat
     was opened wide for them.

     "At 145th Street the halt was called. Again there was a tremendous
     rush of men and women with outstretched arms; the military
     discipline had to prevail, and the soldiers were not allowed to
     break ranks, nor were the civilians (save the quickest of them)
     able to give the hugs and kisses they were overflowing with.

     "As rapidly as possible the fighters were sent down into the subway
     station and loaded aboard trains which took them down to the 71st
     Regiment Armory at 34th Street and Fourth Avenue. Here the
     galleries were filled with as many dusky citizens as could find
     places (maybe 2,500 or 3,000) and so great was the crowd in the
     neighborhood that the police had to block off 34th Street almost to
     Fifth Avenue on the west and Third on the east.

     "As each company came up from the subway the friends and relatives
     were allowed to go through the lines, and, while the boys stood
     still in ranks, but at ease, their kinsfolk were allowed to take
     them in their arms and tell them really and truly, in close-up
     fashion, what they thought about having them back.

     "When the entire regiment was in the Armory, the civilians in the
     gallery broke all bounds. They weren't going to stay up there while
     their heroes were down below on the drill-floor! Not they! They
     swarmed past the police and depot battalion and so jammed the floor
     that it was impossible for the tired Black Buddy even to sit down.
     Most of the boys had to take their chicken dinner--served by
     colored girls, and the chow, incidentally, from
     Delmonico's--standing up with arms about them and kisses
     punctuating assaults upon the plates.

     "'Some chow, hey Buddy?' would be heard.

     "'Pretty bon.' You'd get the answer. 'I'd like to have beaucoup
     more of this chicken.' There was noticeable a sprinkling of French
     words in the conversation of the Old 15th, and, indeed, some of
     them spoke it fluently.

     "'Sam told me,' one girl was heard to say, 'that he killed nineteen
     of them Germans all his own self, but nobody saw him and so he
     didn't get that Cross doo Gare.'"

Mustering out commenced at Camp Upton the following day. Thus ended the
service of the 369th. Their deeds are emblazoned on the roll of honor.
Sons and grandsons of slaves, welcomed by the plaudits of the second
largest city in the world. What a record of progress in a trifle over
half a century of freedom. What an augury of promise for the future of
the colored race, and what an augury for the world freedom which they
helped to create, and, overshadowing all else, WHAT an object lesson it
should be to our country at large: east, west, north, south, that, "One
touch of nature makes 'all men' kin." That in her opinion and treatment
of her faithful, loyal black citizens; niggardly, parsimonious, grudging
and half-heartedly, how shameful she has been, how great has been her
sin; forgetting; or uncaring, even as Pharoh of old, that: "God
omnipotent liveth," and that "He is a JUST and a vengeful God!"

New York's welcome to her returning Negro boys was fairly typical of
similar scenes all over the country. Chicago gave a tremendous ovation
to the heroes of the old 8th Infantry. In Washington, Cleveland, and
many other cities were great parades and receptions when theirs came
home. In hundreds of smaller towns and hamlets the demonstrations were
repeated in miniature.




CHAPTER XXX.

RECONSTRUCTION AND THE NEGRO


BY JULIUS ROSENWALD, PRESIDENT SEARS, ROEBUCK & CO, AND TRUSTEE OF
TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE--A PLEA FOR INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR THE
NEGRO--TRIBUTE TO NEGRO AS SOLDIER AND CIVILIAN--DUTY OF WHITES POINTED
OUT--BUSINESS LEADER AND PHILANTHROPIST SOUNDS KEYNOTE.


Although American sacrifices in the European War have been great, we
find compensation for them in many directions. Not the least of these is
the vastly increased number of opportunities the reconstruction period
will offer to many of our citizens.

Today the United States is the leading nation of the world in virtually
every line of activity. We have been thrust into a new world leadership
by the war. It behooves us to make the most of our new opportunities. To
equip ourselves creditably we must utilize the best there is in the
manhood and womanhood of our nation, drawing upon the intellect and
ability of every person who has either to give.

Approximately ten percent of our present population is colored. Every
man, woman and child of this ten percent should be given the opportunity
to utilize whatever ability he has in the struggle for the maintenance
of world leadership which we now face. Just insofar as we refuse to give
this part of our population an opportunity to lend its strength to
helping us set a pace for the rest of the world, as best it can, so do
we weaken the total strength of our nation. In other words, we can
either give our colored population the right and the opportunity to do
the best work of which it is capable and increase our efficiency, or we
can deny them their rights and opportunities, as we have done in many
instances, and decrease our efficiency proportionately.

Of course, the question naturally arises as to how efficient the
colored man and the colored woman are when given the opportunity to
demonstrate their ability. No better answer can be found than that given
by the splendid work of the majority of our colored people during the
war. On the firing line, in the camps behind the line, and in civil life
our colored population has done well indeed. Four hundred thousand
Negroes offered their lives for their country. Many more made noble
sacrifices in civilian life.

It was my privilege not only to observe the work done in civil life by
colored persons in this country during the war, but to visit colored
troops in France during hostilities.

There is no question that the Negro has given a splendid account of
himself both as an exceptionally fearless fighting man and as a member
of non-combatant troops. I made diligent effort to ascertain the manner
in which the Negro troops conducted themselves behind the lines. It is
much easier for a man to become lax in his conduct there than in actual
fighting. Without exception every officer I questioned stated he could
not ask for more obedient, willing, harder working or more patriotic
troops than the Negro regiments had proven themselves to be. Every
account I have read regarding the engagement of colored men in fighting
units and every case in which I had the opportunity to inquire
personally regarding the bravery of colored troops has led me to believe
our colored men were as good soldiers as could be found in either our
own army or the armies of our allies, regardless of color.

One needs only to scan the records of the War Department and the
official reports of General Pershing to find positive proof of the
valor, endurance and patriotism of the colored troops who battled for
liberty and democracy for all the world. The entire nation notes with
pride the splendid service of the 365th to the 372nd Infantry units,
inclusive. When historians tell the story of the sanguinary conflicts at
Chateau Thierry, in the Forest of Argonne, in the Champagne sector,
Belleau Wood and at Metz, the record will give reason to believe that
the victories achieved on those memorable fields might have shown a
different result had it not been for the remarkable staying and
fighting abilities of the colored troops. French, English and American
commanding officers unite in singing the praises of these gallant
warriors and agree that in the entire Allied Army no element contributed
more signally than did they to the final downfall of the German Military
Machine in proportion to their numbers.

Not only did the combatant units of the colored troops win laurels
across the sea, but the 301st Stevedore Regiment was cited for
exceptionally efficient work, having broken all records by unloading and
coaling the giant steamer "Leviathan" in fifty-six hours, competing
successfully with the best stevedore detachments on the western front of
France. Everywhere, behind the lines as well as when facing shot, shell
and gas, the colored soldiers have given a most creditable account of
themselves and are entitled to the product of their patriotism and
loyalty.

Those who remained at home during the war realize fully that the
patriotic service rendered by colored persons in civil life, both in
doing war work and in the purchase of Liberty Bonds and War Savings
Stamps is to be commended.

Surely after the many demonstrations of patriotism both on the
battlefield and at home the white people of this country will be willing
to accord the colored people a square deal by at least giving them a
fair opportunity to earn a livelihood in accordance with their ability.

We have been asking the impossible of the colored man and the colored
woman. We have demanded that they be honest, self-respecting citizens,
and at the same time we have forced them into surroundings which almost
make this result impossible. In many places they are deprived of a fair
opportunity to obtain education or amusement in a decent environment.
Only the most menial positions are offered them. An educated girl
particularly has practically no opportunity to earn a livelihood in the
manner for which her education fits her.

We whites of America must begin to realize that Booker T. Washington
was right when he said it was impossible to hold a man in the gutter
without staying there with him, because "if you get up, he will get up."
We do not want to remain in the gutter. We, therefore, must help the
Negro to rise.

If we are to obtain the best results from colored labor, unions should
admit it to their membership. It is not the universal practice to admit
colored persons to unions. The result, of course, is that even if a
colored man has the opportunity to learn a trade, knowing he will not be
permitted to enjoy the benefits of a union, he does not have the highest
incentive for learning it. The north is especially neglectful in not
providing openings for the colored men in trades. In the south it is not
unusual to see a colored brick-mason working alongside a white
brick-mason. But in the north the best a colored man can hope for on a
building job now is a position as a hod-carrier or mortar-mixer.

When the alien arrives in this country, he is given opportunity for
virtually every kind of employment. But the colored man who is born in
the United States, and, therefore, should share in its opportunities,
is not given as fair a chance as the alien worker.

Naturally, we cannot hope that these conditions will be remedied in a
day or a month nor can the colored man expect that the millennium will
come to him through the action of white people alone. He can improve his
chances of securing greater rights and opportunities in the United
States, if he will make the most of the limited opportunities now
afforded him. He who does the best he can with the tools he has at hand
is bound in time to demand by his good work better tools for the
performance of more important and profitable duties. The conviction is
general that "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful
also in much."

The late Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, who was a good friend of the black
man as well as the white, struck the right note in his introduction to
the biography of Booker T. Washington when he said:

     "If there is any lesson more essential than any other for this
     country to learn, it is the lesson that the enjoyment of rights
     should be made conditional upon the performance of duty."

There exist certain rights which every colored man and woman may enjoy
regardless of laws and prejudice. For instance, nothing can prevent a
colored person from practicing industry, honesty, saving and decency, if
he or she desires to practice them.

The helpfulness of the colored race to the Government need not be
confined to fighting in the army nor to service in the manifold domestic
callings. It is the duty of the colored citizens, as it is their right,
to have a part in the substantial development of the nation and to
assist in financing its operations for war or peace. The colored people,
as a rule, are industrious and thrifty and have come to appreciate their
importance as a factor in the economic and financial world, as indicated
by their prosperous business enterprises, their large holdings in real
estate, their management of banks, and their scrupulous handling of the
millions of deposits entrusted to their care. This capital, saved
through sacrifice, has been placed in a most generous manner at the
disposal of the Government throughout its period of need, and the list
of corporations, fraternities and individuals who have aided in bringing
success to American arms by the purchase of Liberty Bonds and War
Savings Stamps and by contributions to other war relief agencies, is
indeed a long one.

Opportunities of the colored people to make safe investment of their
savings never were so great as they are today. The financial program the
Government has entered upon and is continuing to carry out to meet the
expense of the war gives a chance to save in sums as small as
twenty-five cents and makes an investment upon which return of both
principal and interest is absolutely guaranteed. Too often colored
people have entrusted their savings to wholly irresponsible persons,
lost them through the dishonesty of these persons, and in
discouragement abandoned all attempts at saving. Today, however, there
is no excuse for any man not saving a certain amount of his earnings no
matter how small it may be. It is a poor person, indeed, who cannot
invest twenty-five cents at stated intervals in a Thrift Stamp. Many are
able also to buy small Liberty Bonds. It is a duty and a privilege for
colored persons to help the Government finance the war, which was for
both whites and blacks.

It is the particular duty of white persons, in cooperation with the most
influential members of their own race, to explain these Government
financial plans to the colored men and women that they may make safe
investments, acquire a competence, and thus become better citizens.

It is my belief that the Negro soldier returning from France will be a
better citizen than when he left. He will be benefited mentally and
physically by his military training and experience. He will have a
broader vision. He will appreciate American citizenship. He will know, I
believe, that freedom, for which he risked his life and all, is not
license. He will find his brothers at home who did not go overseas
better for their war sacrifices. Both the soldier and the civilian have
proved their devoted loyalty. Justice demands that they now be rewarded
with an equal chance with the white man to climb as high in the
industrial and professional world as their individual capacity warrants.

[Illustration: HOMECOMING HEROES OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY).
FAMOUS NEGRO FIGHTERS MARCHING IN MICHIGAN BOULEVARD. CHICAGO]




CHAPTER XXXI.

THE OTHER FELLOW'S BURDEN.

An Emancipation Day Appeal for Justice.

By W. Allison Sweeney.


     Publisher's Note: At our request, Mr. Sweeney consented to the
     reproduction of this poem, which with the accompanying letter from
     the late Dr. Booker T. Washington, and the comment by the Chicago
     Daily News, appeared in that newspaper just prior to New Years Day,
     1914. We regard it as a powerful argument, affecting the Negro's
     past condition and his interests.


"President Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation Sept. 22, 1862.
It went into effect at the beginning of January, 1863. New Year's day
has thus become 'Emancipation day' to the colored people of the United
States and to all members of the white race who realize the great
significance of Lincoln's act of striking off the shackles of an
enslaved race. Services on that day combine honor to Lincoln with
appeals to the people of Lincoln's nation to grant justice to the Negro.
A remarkable appeal of this sort is embodied in the poem here presented.

"W. Allison Sweeney, author of "The Other Fellow's Burden" is well known
among his people as writer, editor and lecturer. His poem, which
sketches with powerful strokes the lamentable history of the colored
race in America and tells of their worthy achievements in the face of
discouragements, deserves a thoughtful reading by all persons. Of this
poem and its author Dr. Booker T. Washington writes as follows:

"TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE, ALA., Dec. 24, 1913.--To the Editor of the Chicago
Daily News: I have read with sincere interest and appreciation W.
Allison Sweeney's poem, 'The Other Fellow's Burden.' All through Mr.
Sweeney's poem there is an invitation put in rather a delicate and
persuasive way, but nevertheless it is there, for the white man to put
himself in the negro's place and then to lay his hand upon his heart and
ask how he would like for the other fellow to treat him. If every man
who reads this poem will try sincerely to answer this question I believe
that Mr. Sweeney's poem will go a long way toward bringing about better
and more helpful conditions.

"Mr. Sweeney is, of course, a member of the Negro race and writes from
what might be called the inside. He knows of Negro aspirations, of Negro
strivings and of Negro accomplishments. He has had an experience of many
years as writer and lecturer for and to Negroes and he knows probably as
well as anyone wherein the Negro feels that 'the shoe is made to pinch.'
The poem, it seems to me, possesses intrinsic merit and I feel quite
sure that Mr. Sweeney's appeal to the great American people, for fair
play will not fall upon deaf ears. Booker T. Washington."

     The "white man's burden" has been
       told the world,
     But what of the other fellow's--
     The "lion's whelp"?

     Lest you forget,
     May he not lisp his?
     Not in arrogance,
     Not in resentment,
     But that truth
     May stand foursquare?

     This then,
     Is the Other Fellow's Burden.

       *       *       *       *       *

     Brought into existence
     Through the enforced connivance
     Of a helpless motherhood
     Misused through generations--
     America's darkest sin!--
     There courses through his veins
     In calm insistence--incriminating irony
     Of the secrecy of blighting lust!
     The best and the vilest blood
     Of the South's variegated strain;
     Her statesmen and her loafers,
     Her chivalry and her ruffians.

     Thus bred,
     His impulses twisted
     At the starting point
     By brutality and sensuous savagery,
     Should he be crucified?
     Is it a cause for wonder
     If beneath his skin of many hues--
     Black, brown, yellow, white--
     Flows the sullen flood
     Of resentment for prenatal wrong
     And forced humility?

     Should it be a wonder
     That the muddy life current
     Eddying through his arteries,
     Crossed with the good and the bad,
     Poisoned with conflicting emotions,
     Proclaims at times,
     Through no fault of his,
     That for a surety the sins of fathers
     Become the heritage of sons
     Even to the fourth generation?
     Or that murdered chastity,
     That ravished motherhood--
     So pitiful, so helpless,
     Before the white hot,
     Lust-fever of the "master"--
     Has borne its sure fruit?

     You mutter, "There should be no wonder."
     Well, somehow, Sir Caucasian,
     Perhaps southern gentleman,
     I, marked a "whelp," am moved
     To prize that muttered admission.

       *       *       *       *       *

     But listen, please:
     The wonder is--the greater one--
     That from Lexington to San Juan hill
     Disloyalty never smirched
     His garments, nor civic wrangle
     Nor revolutionary ebullition
     Marked him its follower.

     A "striker"? Yes!
     But he struck the insurgent
     And raised the flag.

     An ingrate?
     Treacherous?
     A violator?
     When--oh, spectacle that moved the world!
     For five bloody years
     Of fratricidal strife--
     Red days when brothers warred--
     He fed the babe,
     Shielded the mother.
     Guarded the doorsill
     Of a million southern homes?

     Penniless when freedom came? Most true;
     But his accumulations of fifty years
     Could finance a group of principalities.

     Homeless? Yes; but the cabin and the hut
     Of Lincoln's day--uncover at that name!--
     Are memories; the mansion of today,
     Dowered with culture and refinement,
     Sweetened by clean lives,
     Is a fact.

     Unlettered? Yes;
     But the alumni of his schools,
     Triumphant over the handicap
     Of "previous condition,"
     Are to be found the world over
     In every assemblage inspired
     By the democracy of letters.

     In the casting up what appears?
     The progeny of lust and helplessness,
     He inherited a mottled soul--
     "Damned spots" that biased the looker on.

     Clothed a freeman,
     Turned loose in the land
     Creditless, without experience,
     He often stumbled, the way being strange,
     Sometimes fell.

     Mocked, sneered at from every angle,
     spurned, hindered in every section,
     North, south, east, west,
     Refused the most primitive rights,
     His slightest mistakes
     Made mountains of,
     Hunted, burned, hanged,
     The death rattle in his throat
     Drowned by shouts and laughter
     And--think of it!--
     The glee of little children.
     Still he pressed on, wrought,
     Sowed, reaped, builded.

     His smile ever ready,
     His perplexed soul lighted
     With the radiance
     Of an unquenchable optimism,
     God's presence visualized,
     He has risen, step by step.
     To the majesty of the home builder,
     Useful citizen,
     Student, teacher,
     Unwavering patriot.

     This of the Other Fellow.
     What of you, his judges and his patrons?

     If it has been your wont
     In your treatment of him
     Not to reflect,
     Or to stand by in idle unconcern
     While, panting on his belly,
     Ambushed by booted ruffianism,
     He lapped in sublime resignation
     The bitter waters
     Of unreasoning intolerance,
     Has not the hour of his deliverance,
     Of your escape from your "other selves"
     Struck?

     If you have erred,
     Will you refuse to know it?

     Has not the time arrived
     To discriminate between
     Those who lower
     Those who raise him?

     You are shamed by your abortions,
     Your moral half growths
     Who flee God's eye
     And stain his green earth,
     But you are not judged by yours;
     Should he be judged by his?

     In his special case--if so, why?
     Is manhood a myth,
     Womanhood a toy,
     Integrity unbelievable,
     Honor a chimera?

     Should not his boys and girls,
     Mastering the curriculum of the schools,
     Pricked on to attainment by the lure
     Of honorable achievement,
     Be given bread and not a stone
     When seeking employment
     In the labor mart,
     At the factory gate
     Or the office door?

     Broadened by the spirit of the golden rule,
     Will you not grant these children of Hagar
     An even break?

     Is the day not here, O judges,
     When the Other Fellow
     May be measured in fairness,
     Just fairness?

       *       *       *       *       *

     It is written men may rise
     "On their dead selves to higher things;"
     But can it be that this clear note of cheer
     To sodden men and smitten races
     Was meant for all save him?

     Chants an immortal:
     "He prayeth best who loveth best
     All things both great and small;
     For the dear God who loveth us,
     He made and loveth all."




CHAPTER XXXII.

AN INTERPOLATION.

HELD BY DISTINGUISHED THINKERS AND WRITERS, THAT THE NEGRO SOLDIER
SHOULD BE GIVEN A CHANCE FOR PROMOTION AS WELL AS A CHANCE TO DIE--WHY
WHITE OFFICERS OVER NEGRO SOLDIERS?


Ever since the conclusion of the conflict of '61-'65, in which Negro
troops numbered by thousands, took an active part upon behalf of the
Union, there has been a growing and insistent wonder in the minds of
many, why, given a chance to die in the military service of the nation,
they should not also at the same time be given a chance for promotion.

Subsequent affairs engaged in by the government requiring the
intervention of its military arm, the Spanish-American war, the
Philippines investiture incident thereto, the Mexican disagreement, the
whole crowned by the stupendous World War; its frightful devastation and
din yet fresh to our sight, still filling our ears, as it will for
years; in all of which they have contributed their share of loyalty and
blood--of LIVES!--have but added to, strengthened the wonder mentioned.

Up to the beginning of the European muddle it was discussed if at all,
not so much as a condition demanding uncensored condemnation, as one to
continue to be patient with, trusting to time and an awakened sense of
fair play upon the part of the nation at large to note the custom
complained of, and banish the irritation by abolishing the cause.

However, there has not been lacking those who have spoken out, who have
raised their voices in protest against what they deemed an injustice to
the loyal "fighting men" of their race, and so feeling, have not
hesitated to make their plea to those above empowered to listen,
regardless of the mood in which they did so.

As long ago as the summer of 1915, or to be exact, August 26th of that
year, Capt. R.P. Roots of Seattle, Washington, addressed a letter to
the Hon. Lindley M. Garrison at Washington, at the time Secretary of
War, directing his attention to the discrepancy of assignment complained
of, accompanied with certain suggestions; having to do with a condition
that the government must eventually face; that will not down, and must
sooner or later be abrogated. Captain Roots' communication to the
Secretary of War, also one addressed to the Hon. Joseph Tumulty, private
secretary to President Wilson, follows:

                                     "Seattle, Wash., August 26, 1915.
     "Hon. Lindley M. Garrison, Secretary of War,
     Dear Sir: As an ex-officer of the Spanish-American war, having served as
     Captain of Company "E" of the Eighth Illinois Volunteers, I am taking
     the liberty to ask that, if you should recommend any increase in the
     Army you give the Negro a chance in the manner, and for reasons I shall
     further explain.
          You will notice by my service with the 8th Illinois that I am a
     colored man, and as such am offering these suggestions, which, in the
     main, are just.
          If the increase is sufficient, we should have:
          TWO COAST ARTILLERY COMPANIES.
          ONE REGIMENT OF FIELD ARTILLERY (In these branches we are not
     represented at all).
          ONE REGIMENT OF CAVALRY.
          The above to be embodied in the Regular Army and to be officered as
     you think fit.
          But my main object is: Three Regiments of Infantry officered from
     COLONEL DOWN WITH COLORED MEN. I should not have these Infantry
     Regiments of the regular service for the reason that to appoint officers
     to the rank of Colonel, Majors, etc., would not be fair to the regular
     service officers, and would interfere with the promotion of the same,
     but I would have them rank as volunteers. Give them the name of
     "IMMUNES," "FOREIGN SERVICE REGIMENTS," or any other name that you
     choose.
          My further reasons are as to officering these regiments, that there
     would be many misfits in such organizations and I would leave it so that
     you or the President could remove them without prejudice from the
     service, but to fill by OTHER COLORED MEN the vacancies that might
     occur. I should officer these regiments with Spanish War veterans,
     non-commissioned officers of the retired and regulars, but should
     appoint all 2d Lieutenants from the schools of the country giving
     military training.
          The 2d Lieutenants upon passing the regular army examination could be
     placed in the eligible list of the regular army, but NOT until at least
     two years' service with these regiments. You could set a time limit on
     these regiments if you so desire, say ten or twelve years duration;
     either mustered out or in the regular service.
          "Now Mr. Secretary, I have striven to meet any objections which might be
     made by the Army on account of social prejudice, etc. With this thought
     I should send these regiments to some foreign post to serve where there
     are dark races; to the Philippines, Mexico, or Haiti. The object lesson
     would be marked politically, both at home and abroad.
          "The 48th and 49th Regiments organized in 1899 and sent to Philippines
     were unsatisfactory because of there being three social lines of
     separation in those organizations--THE FIELD AND STAFF of these
     regiments WERE WHITE, and the LINE OFFICERS WERE COLORED. In a social
     way the line officers WERE ENTIRELY IGNORED, and even officially were
     treated very little better than enlisted men or with no more courtesy,
     to such an extent as to cause comment by both soldiers and natives.
          "Now as to the colored citizen of this country coming to its defense
     there is no question, as he has always done so But, to use a late
     phrase, he is beginning to want HIS "PLACE IN THE SUN"--he wants a
     chance to rise on his merits AND TO KNOW WHEN HE SHOULDERS A GUN, THAT
     IF HE IS DESERVING OF IT, HE WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO RISE. He can fight
     and will, but will fight better with an incentive than without one. He
     is a, citizen regardless of all laws to the contrary; also he is the NEW
     Negro, and NOT of the "Uncle Tom" class, the passing of whom so many
     white citizens regret.
          "He reads your literature, attends your theaters, goes to your schools,
     observes you in his capacity as a waiter or porter, and is absorbing the
     best you have in the ways of civilization, and in fact, in every walk of
     life, he is a factor; and when he is asked to defend his country should
     he not be given THE SAME CHANCE AS THE WHITE MAN?
          "You will say that he should go to West Point. Well and good; but who is
     to send him? Next, who will defend him while there against the
     "Unwritten Law" of the white students not to allow him to matriculate?
          "The first officers of such regiments could be easily picked, made from
     Spanish War veterans and non-commissioned officers of the regular army,
     and second lieutenants from graduates from colleges giving military
     training. Such an organization officered in this manner would be ideal,
     speaking from my experience as a veteran of the Spanish War.
          "One thing you may have overlooked: We are twelve million in this
     country, WITH AN ESTIMATE OF A MILLION MEN FIT FOR SERVICE.
          "Suppose at such a crisis as is now transpiring in Europe, this country,
     with its millions of foreign citizens, should suddenly find itself face
     to face with a revolution. The presence and loyalty of these MILLION
     NEGROES might mean much for the stability of this government.
          "I have spoken plainly because I am a citizen; this is my country. I was
     born here, and shall at all times be found with the flag; hence I ask,
     that in your recommendations, looking to the betterment and enlargement
     of the army, you give THE BLACK PATRIOT such consideration, as I cannot
     but feel is due him, the thousands of young colored men who have passed
     through colleges and schools in an effort to prepare themselves for
     filling a place in the world.
          "I am opposed to segregation, but as it seems, under the present
     conditions of the races socially to be the ONLY way to a square deal, I
     accept it. There are Irish regiments, German regiments, etc., let us
     then have Negro regiments. The coming generations will look after the
     rest. I am, very respectfully,
                                               R.P. ROOTS
     400 26th Ave., North, Late Capt. 8th Ill. Vol. Infantry."


                                             "Seattle, Wash., Nov. 9, 1915.
     "Hon Joseph Tumulty, Secretary to the President, Washington, D.C.
     Dear Sir:--I am enclosing a copy of a letter sent to the Secretary of
     War, which I would be very much pleased to have you call the President's
     attention to, and ask if he can approve of it.
          "I was not fully informed as to the President's policy in regard to
     Haiti at the time of writing, and am not now, except through such
     information as received by the daily press. Taking that, in the main as
     authentic, I wish to add that I think a Brigade of Colored Troops, such
     as recommended in my letter to the Secretary for foreign service, would
     be the proper thing for Haiti.
          "It being a Negro Republic, the racial feeling as to the Negro's
     treatment in this country, which I need not mention, has been enlarged
     upon and not understood by the Negroes of other parts of the world, so
     that as it seems to me, to organize a constabulary officered by white
     Americans, would be inviting murder; for agitators from other
     governments, if they so desired, would soon cause a rebellion, and then
     you would have it all to do over again.
          "Colored troops from this country, I mean officers as well, would tend
     to cause a good feeling among the natives, not at first but later on as
     each became used to the other. THE WHITE MAN THINKS HE IS SUPERIOR TO
     ANY NEGRO, AND WOULD SHOW IT EVEN THOUGH HE TRIED NOT TO, and the
     Haitian would be going around with a chip on his shoulder looking for
     someone to knock it off.
          "You have three men in the regular army who could supervise the
     organization of these troops, and one who is already a Colonel of the
     Eighth Illinois National Guard, also several others if you wished to
     consider them.
          "Hoping that you will see the advisability of such an organization for
     diplomatic reasons and for JUSTICE TO THE AMERICAN NEGRO--who has been
     loyal--and served from Bunker Hill until now, I am,
                                    Very respectfully,
                                    R.P. ROOTS,
     400 26th St. N. Seattle, Wash., Late Capt. Eighth Illinois Volunteer
          Infantry during Spanish War."

As touching upon the above, Editor E.S. Abbott of THE CHICAGO DEFENDER,
made the following comment:

     "There may be reasons deemed good and sufficient upon the part of
     President Wilson and Secretary Garrison for not having replied to
     the very courteous and finely conceived letters of appeal and
     suggestion, having to do with a new deal--with justice and fair
     play in the future towards the Negro soldiery of our country,
     written them some weeks ago by CAPT. R.P. ROOTS of Seattle.

     "It is not always meet, especially in times like these, of war and
     stress, of worries and apprehension, reaching across the world, for
     our rulers and servants facing great responsibilities and
     perplexing situations, to respond to every query and satisfy all
     curiosities. Much reticence must be permitted them. Much accepted,
     as a matter of course, without pursuing curiosity to the limit.

     "There may be ideas conveyed by Captain Roots to the president,
     through his communications to Secretaries Garrison and Tumulty that
     some people may not agree with, but there can be no disagreement
     over the proposition that the lot of colored soldiers in the armies
     of the United States--in the past, and at the present, is much
     different than that accorded to white soldiers; very little to
     really be proud of; very, very much to be ashamed of--much that is
     humiliating and depressing.

     "Because the present administration may be powerless in the matter,
     afraid to touch it, fearing a live wire or something of that kind,
     should OUR duty in the premises, TOWARD OUR OWN, be influenced
     thereby?

     "I wonder--is the time not NOW--right now, to commence an attack
     upon this intrenched scandal--this dirty, HUMILIATING AMERICANISM?

     "No other nation on earth, Christian or pagan, treats its
     defenders, its soldiery, so meanly, so shabbily, as does this, her
     black defenders; but whether the nation is more to blame, than we,
     who so long have submitted without a murmur, is a question. 'The
     trouble' shouted Cassius to Brutus, 'is not in our stars, that we
     are Underlings, BUT IN OURSELVES.'

     "Shall we, responding to the initiative furnished by CAPTAIN ROOTS,
     commence an organized assault upon this national vice against the
     soldiers of our race? Is this the time, readers of The Defender? Is
     this the time, brothers and editors of the contemporary press?

                                            R.S. ABBOTT."

Following in the footsteps of Captain Roots; apparently obsessed by the
same vision and spirit, Mr. Willis O. Tyler, eminent Los Angeles race
representative, attorney and Harvard graduate, also makes a plea for
justice for Negro troops in the regular army, also for Negro officers,
and proposes reforms and legislation for utilizing the present force of
Negro officers, and creating enlarged opportunities for others. Says
Mr. Tyler:

     "Officers in the regular army for the most part, are graduates of
     West Point. They are commissioned second lieutenants at graduation.
     No Negro has graduated from West Point in the past twenty-nine
     years, and none has entered there in 32 years. Col. Charles Young
     graduated in 1889, twenty-nine years ago,--he entered in 1884.
     Henry W. Holloway entered in 1886, but attended only that year. In
     all, only twelve Negroes have ever attended West Point and only
     three have graduated. Of the three graduates, the first, Henry O.
     Flipper (1877) was afterwards discharged.

     "The second, John H. Alexander (1887) died in 1894. The third and
     last graduate, Charles Young (1889) has but recently been returned
     to active duty. We understand he has attained the rank of Colonel.
     The Negroes of the United States, to the number of twelve millions,
     have only one West Point graduate in the regular army. There are
     however four regiments of Colored troops, two of infantry, and two
     of cavalry, and these have been maintained for 52 years, (since
     1866), and more than two hundred officers find places in the four
     Colored regiments. These two hundred officers, with about three
     exceptions are white officers. In all, only twelve Negroes have
     held commissions in the regular army. Of this number seven were
     Chaplains and two were paymasters.

     "In 1917 there were two first lieutenants; and (then) Major Charles
     Young in the regular army. Hence only two officers of the line and
     only one of the staff (other than Chaplains), out of more than two
     hundred who found places with the four colored regiments.

     "We need not stop for the reasons why Negroes have not been
     attending West Point, nor even admitted there for the past 32
     years. Certain it is they have not been attending the nation's
     great military school, and certain it is that in law, good
     conscience and right, one cadet at West Point in every twelve
     should be a Negro.

     "The future lies before us. The four regiments of Colored Troops
     have vindicated their right to be maintained as such by having made
     for the army some of its finest traditions. Why not have the four
     colored regiments officered by colored men from the Colonel down to
     the second lieutenants?

     "The United States is just making an end to a glorious
     participation in the great world's war. In this war the Negro
     soldiers played well their part. They laughed in the face of death
     on the firing line; they have been awarded the 'Ribbon' and the
     Croix de Guerre--with palms. Who were their officers?

     "From the officers training camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, 639
     colored men were commissioned. Since then 267 more have been
     commissioned, not counting those in Medical Reserve Corps, nor the
     41 Chaplains. Colored Captains and Lieutenants led colored soldiers
     "Over the Top" and commanded them on march and in trench. Many
     officers were given but three months in the officer's Training
     camp; many of them had served as non-commissioned officers in one
     of the four colored regiments. But not one word of criticism or
     complaint of them has reached us. Their adaptability to their new
     duties is beyond cavil. Their efficiency, bravery--leadership, are
     all unquestioned and permanently established.

     "The future lies before us. What will our country do? Surely it
     will not retire all of these fine young colored officers, who
     responded so nobly to the call of their country, to private life
     and continue the discrimination which in the past deprived them of
     admission to West Point and of commissions in the regular army. I
     do not believe it. I believe that the sense of justice and fair
     play is deeply rooted in the American people. I believe that our
     four colored regiments in the regular army will in the future be
     officered by colored men. That the doors of West Point will be
     opened in accordance with justice and fair play to a proper number
     and proportion of colored Cadets. But this is not all nor is it
     enough.

     "We believe that at present the nation owes the Colored people
     certain legislation and that the nation being solvent and loud in
     its protestations of kindness toward the Colored people for their
     loyal and patriotic participation in the war both at home and on
     the battlefield, should now pay its debt toward the colored people
     and reward them to the extent that the best of the nearly one
     thousand officers now serving in the National Army be transferred
     to the Regular army, and assigned to duty in the four Colored
     regiments, and that these be from colonel down to second
     lieutenants. We also believe that in the future West Point and
     Annapolis should 'lend a little colour' to their graduation
     exercises in the presence of Colored graduates.

     "No doubt legislation will be needed to this end. At present
     commissions are granted first to the graduates of West Point, and
     even a fair and more liberal policy in this regard in the future
     will not meet present needs. What is needed now is legislation
     providing for the transfer (or at least the opportunity to enter)
     into the regular army of a sufficient number of our Colored
     Officers now with commissions to officer in toto the four Colored
     regiments we now have.

     "Commissions are also granted at present to a limited number of
     enlisted men who are recommended for these examinations, and who
     succeed in passing. The candidates must be under 27 years of age
     and unmarried. They must have had a certain amount of secondary
     school, or college education which few privates or non com's
     (colored) have had. This is the case because few young Colored men
     with the necessary growth 'single blessedness,' and college
     training, feel, or have heretofore felt that the door of 'equal
     opportunity' announced by Mr. Roosevelt stands open to them in the
     regular army. To trust the officering of four Colored Regiments to
     this second mode of selecting and commissioning officers, would
     prove fatal to our hopes and fail of accomplishment.

     "The third method of selecting officers at present is by
     examinations of civilians, certain college presidents and other
     civilians being permitted to recommend certain civilians, (students
     and others) for examination for second lieutenants.

     "In this regard Negroes have met the same difficulties that they
     have encountered in the past 32 years in their efforts to gain
     admission to West Point. At best only a small percent of each
     year's graduating class from West Point can get commissions in this
     manner. Those selected have been white men, what we are after now
     is a present day, practical way of utilizing the best material we
     now have, holding commissions and making secure the opportunity for
     other Colored men to enter the army as second lieutenants and by
     dint of industry, close application, obedience, brains and time
     gain their promotion step by step, just as white men have been
     doing and can do now. This is the American--democratic, fair play,
     reward and justice we seek for the twelve million Negro citizens of
     our great republic. Congress could if it would, provide for the
     present by an appropriate measure giving the right and opportunity
     to our returning officers to stand examination for commissions in
     the Regular army; Military experience and knowledge, and general
     and special educational qualifications to determine the rank or
     grade received.

     "In this way our four colored regiments could be officered by
     colored men. Otherwise, the fine talents and desire for service to
     the country held by the one thousand intelligent and courageous
     young Negroes who are officers, will be lost and rejected by the
     country, and the 12 million Negroes in the United States will
     continue, notwithstanding their patriotism and devotion, to be
     denied of their just representation in commissions in the regular
     army.

     "We believe that once this is done the sense of fairness and
     justice that, after all is said and done is so firmly imbedded in
     the American people, will see to it that our proper and
     proportionate number of young Colored men are admitted to West
     Point and Annapolis annually and that the other avenues for gaining
     admission in the army and navy will not be blocked, closed and
     denied Negroes by the unreasonable race prejudice which has
     heretofore done so.

     "Our country is either a country of 'equal opportunity' or it is
     not. It is either a democracy or it is not.

     "Certainly the Negroes have failed to realize this 'equal
     opportunity' in the matter of training at West Point and Annapolis,
     and is gaining commissions in the Regular army.

     "The great war in Europe is closed or soon will be. We have again
     shown our country that 'our hearts are on the right side.' What
     will our country do for us? We ask only that the door of 'equal
     opportunity' be unbarred--that we may enter."

Said Colonel Charles Young, U.S.A., touching upon the same subject:


     I affirm that any system of schools saying to students of any race,
     "Thus far shalt thou go and no farther," is flinging a lie in the
     face of God.

       *       *       *       *       *

The ability and willingness of the government and its people to fit the
Negro into the body politic with all the rights, privileges, and
immunities of a full fledged American will be the test before the world
which knows and sees the relations and acts of the individuals and
states of the United States.

Human equity and a respect for law and truth must be sacred with us; the
spirit of America is the square deal and fair play.

       *       *       *       *       *

This granted as an American principle, the Negro people of the United
States demand to know whether the sweeping generalization of lack of
leadership and the capacity of the Negro officer was derived by a
consultation of the War Department, the press, both white and Negro and
the reports of IMPARTIAL officers.

The black officer feels that there was a prejudgment against him at the
outset and that nearly every move that has been made was for the purpose
of bolstering up this prejudgment and discrediting him in the eyes of
the world and the men whom he was to lead and will lead in the future.

       *       *       *       *       *

Remembering the multitude of the Croix de Guerre and citations on the
breasts of the returning Negro officers and the Distinguished Service
Crosses to boot, the Negro officer is smiling, not discouraged with
himself and is still carrying on for the flag, the country where he was
born and where the bones of his fathers are buried, and for the uplift
and leadership of his people for a more glorious Americanism.

History tells us that on the continent of America that Toussaint
L'Ouverture, who with a leadership that no man ever surpassed and who
routed the best troops of Napoleon Bonaparte, was a pure Negro and a
slave until after fifty years old.

Major Martin R. Delaney was a pure Negro, and many others that can be
mentioned were pure Negroes.

Ex-parte judgments will not go in the future history, for the black man
will not only act his history but he will write it, and be it said that
he knows history methods, and that with him they are not those which
come from the heat of prejudice and a direct and concerted attempt to
discredit any group of American people.

Unpatriotic and unwarranted statements do no good and lull the country
to sleep, and throw it off its guard while the effects of these
statements are causing just rankling in the breasts of the Negro people
who have had a New Vision.

The Negro officers know the psychology of their own race and also of the
white race; but it is to be feared the latter will never know the mind
and motive forces of the Negro, if he imagines that his group has not
had a new birth in America, whose language it speaks, whose thought it
thinks for its own betterment, and whose ideals, both social, political,
and economic it emulates.




CHAPTER XXXIII.

           THE NEW NEGRO AND THE NEW AMERICA

     "THE OLD ORDER
        Changeth, yielding place to new."
     THROUGH THE
        Arbitrament of war, behold a new and better America!
        a new and girded Negro!
     "The watches
        Of the night have PASSED!
     "The watches
        Of the day BEGIN!"


Out of war's crucible new nations emerge. New ideas seize mankind and if
the conflict has been a just one, waged for exalted ideals and
imperishable principles and not alone for mere national security and
integrity, a new character, a broader national vision is formed.

Such was the result of the early wars for democracy. The seeds of
universal freedom once sown, finally ripened not alone to the
unshackling of a race, but to the fecundity and birth of a spirit that
moved all nations and peoples to seek an enlarged liberty. The finger of
disintegration and change is never still; is always on the move; always
the old order is passing; always the new, although unseen of man, is
coming on. And so it is, that nations are still in the throes of
reconstruction after the great war. That it was the greatest and most
terrible of all wars, increases the difficulties incident to the
establishment of the new order, precedent to a restoration of tranquil
conditions.

So radical were some of the results of the conflict, such as the
overthrow of despotism in Russia, and a swinging completely to the other
extreme of the pendulum; similar happenings in Germany and Austria
transpiring, that subject peoples in general, finding themselves in
possession of a liberty which they did not expect and were not prepared
for, are in a sense bewildered; put to it, as to just what steps to
take; the wisest course to pursue.

At home we have a nearer view and can begin to see emerging a new
America. The men who fought abroad will be the dominant factor in
national affairs for many years. These men have returned, and will
return with a broadened vision and with new and enlarged ideas regarding
themselves and, quite to be expected, of progress and human rights.

With the leaven of thought which has been working at home, added to the
new and illuminating; more liberal viewpoint regarding the Negro
attained by the American whites who served with him in France, will
come; is already born, a new national judgment and charity of opinion
and treatment, that will not abate; will grow and flourish through the
coming years, a belated sense of justice and restitution due the Negro;
a most wholesome sign of shame and repentance upon the part of the
nation. The old order based on slavery and environment; the handicap of
"previous condition" has passed. Will never return! THAT, or the
"Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man" is, and always was, an
iridescent dream; a barren ideality!

The new America owes much of its life to the Negro; guaranteed through
centuries of a devotion, than which, there has been nothing like it; you
seek in vain for a counterpart; a patriotism and suffering and shed
blood; the splendor and unselfishness of which will germinate and flower
through the ages; as long as history shall be read; to the last moment
of recorded time.

In days to come, now on the way, men will say, one to another: "How
could it have been that those faithful Blacks; those loyal citizens;
whose toil enriched; whose blood guaranteed the perpetuity of our
institutions; were discriminated against--WRONGED?"

In a country based and governed on the principle that all men are free
and equal, discrimination or special privilege will eat at the heart of
national life. Capital must not have special advantages over labor;
neither labor over capital. Jew and Gentile, protestant and catholic,
Negro and White men, must be equal; not alone in the spirit of the law
but in the application of it. Not alone in the spirit of industrialism,
commerce and ordinary affairs of life, but in their interpretation and
application as well.

Social discriminations and distinctions may prevail with no great danger
to the body politic, so long as people do not take them too
seriously--do not mistake the shadow for the substance, and regard them
the paramount things of life.

Obviously the Negro no less than the Caucasian, has a right, and no
government may challenge it, to say who his associates shall be, who he
shall invite into his house, but such rights are misconstrued and
exceeded when carried to the point of proscribing, oppressing or
hampering the development of other men, regardless of the nationality of
their competitors.

The logical growth of achievement for the Negro is first within the
lines of his own race, but, all things being equal; genius being the
handmaiden of no particular race or clime, he is not to be hindered by
the law of the land, the prejudice of sections or individuals, from
seeking to climb to any height.

The bugbear and slander, raised and kept alive by that section of the
land south of the imaginary line, to wit: that the Negro was ambitious
for "racial equality," only is entitled to reference in these pages for
the purpose of according it the contempt due it. That the whites of the
country have not a complete monopoly of those unpleasing creatures known
as "tuft hunters" and "social climbers," is no doubt true, but that the
Negro, as represented by intelligence and race pride, ever worries over
it; cares a rap for it, is not true.

Humanity's great benefit coming from the war, which cannot be changed or
abridged, will consist of a newer, broader sense of manhood; a demand
for the inherent opportunities and rights belonging to it; for all men
of all colors, of all climes; and beyond that; of more significance; as
marking the dawn indeed of a NEW AND BETTER DAY, will be a larger,
juster sense; springing up in the nation's heart; watered by her tears,
of repentance of past wrongs inflicted on the Negro. The Negro will
become the architect of his own growth and development. The South will
not be permitted; through the force of national opinion, to continue to
oppress him.

The talk of the revival of KuKlux societies to intimidate the Negro; "to
keep him in his place," is the graveyard yawp of a dying monster. Are
the thousands of Negroes who faced bullets in the most disastrous war of
history, and several hundred thousand more who were ready and willing to
undergo the same perils, likely to be frightened by such a threat, such
an antiquated, silly, short-sighted piece of injustice and terrorism?

Men's necessities force a resort to common sense. Racial prejudice and
ignorant, contemptible intolerance, must disappear under, and before the
presence of the renewal of business activity in the South, and the
necessity for Negro labor. Each soldier returning from Europe is a more
enlightened man than when he went away. He has had the broadening effect
of travel, the chance to mingle with other races and acquire the views
born of a greater degree of equality and more generous treatment.

These men desire to remain in their southern homes. Climatically they
are suited and the country offers them employment to which they are
accustomed; but more than all, it is home, and they are bound to it by
ties of association and affection.

With a mutual desire of whites and blacks to achieve an end, common
sense will find a basis of agreement. The Negro will get better pay and
better treatment. His status accordingly will be improved. His employer
will get better service, he also will be broadened and improved by a new
spirit of tolerance and charity.

Cooperation among the white and black races received a decided impetus
during the war. A movement so strongly started is sure to gather force
until it attains the objects more desirious of accomplishment. Some of
these objects undoubtedly are far in the distance, but will be achieved
in time. When they are, the Negro will be far advanced on the road of
racial development. The day has dawned and the start has been made.
Before the noontime, America will be prouder of her Negro citizens and
will be a happier, a more inspired and inspiring nation; a better home
for all her people.

One of the results of the war will be an improvement in the government
and condition of Negroes in Africa. Exploitation of the race for
European aggrandisement is sure to be lessened. No such misgoverned
colonies as those of Germany will be tolerated under the new rule and
the new spirit actuating the victorious Allies. Evils in other sections
of that continent will disappear or receive positive amelioration.

The most hopeful sign in America is the tendency in some sections where
trouble has been prevalent in the past, to meet and discuss grievances.
In some sections of the South, men of prominence are exhibiting a
willingness to meet and talk over matters with representatives of the
race. Such a spirit of tolerance will grow and eventually lead to a
better understanding; perhaps a general reconciling of differences.

Many concessions will be required before complete justice prevails and
the Negro comes into his own; before the soil can be prepared for the
complete flowering of his spirit.

Primarily, before attaining to the full growth and usefulness of the
citizen under the rights guaranteed to him by the Constitution, the
Negro, especially in the South, will require better educational
facilities. If he is to become a better citizen, he must have the
education and training necessary to know the full duties of citizenship.
He pays his share of the school taxes and it is manifestly unjust to
deny him the accruing benefits.

He is ambitious too, and should be encouraged to own land, and to that
end should have the assistance without prejudice or discrimination, of
national and state farm loan bureaus.

Unjust suffrage restrictions must and shall be removed, giving to the
Negro the full rights of other citizens in this respect. With better
educational facilities and the ownership of real estate, he will vote
more intelligently, and there will be no danger that his vote will be
against the interests of the country at large or the section in which he
resides.

The withering taint of "Jim Crow"-ism, must be obliterated; wiped
out--will be. Railroads will be compelled to extend the same
accommodations to white and colored passengers. The traveller; whatever
his color, who pays the price for a ticket, must and shall in this land
of Equality and Justice, be accorded the same accommodations.

Peonage, so-called, will end. It cannot endure under an awakened,
enlightened public opinion. Negroes, all other things equal, will be
admitted to labor unions, or labor unions will lose the potentiality and
force they should wield in labor and industrial affairs.

The Negro's contribution to the recent war and to previous conflicts,
has earned him beyond question or challenge, a right to just
consideration in the military and naval establishment of the nation.
America, grudging as she has been in the past to enlarge his rights, or
even to guarantee those which she has granted, has grown too great
indeed. Her discipline has been too real to deny him this fair
consideration. There will be more Negro units in the Regular Army and
National Guard organizations; untrammelled facilities for training, in
government, state and college institutions.

Selective draft figures having revealed the Negro as a better; if not
the best, physical risk, will make it easier for him to secure life
insurance, which; after all is a plain business proposition. Insurance
companies are after business and are not concerned with racial
distinctions where the risk is good. The draft has furnished figures
regarding the Negro's health and longevity which hitherto were not
available to insurance actuaries. Now that they have them, no reason
exists for denying insurance facilities to the race.

With a growing, every minute, of a better understanding between the
races; with the Negro learning thrift through Liberty Bonds, Savings
Stamps and the lessons of the war; with an encouragement to own
property and take out insurance; being vastly enlightened through his
military service, and with improved industrial conditions about to
appear, he is started on a better road, to end only when he shall have
reached the full attainment belonging to the majesty of AMERICAN
CITIZENSHIP.

With this start, lynchings, the law's delays, the denial of full
educational advantages; segregation, insanitary conditions, unjust
treatment in reform and penal institutions, will vanish from before him;
will be conditions that were, but are no more.

There is a predominance of Anglo-Saxon heritage in the white blood of
America. The Anglo-Saxon was the first to establish fair play and make
it his shibboleth. Should he deny it to the Negro; his proudest and most
vaunted principle would prove to be a doddering lie; a shimmering
evanescence.

HE WILL NOT DENY IT!

       *       *       *       *       *

NOTE--UP TO THIS POINT THE TEXT FACES ONLY HAVE BEEN NUMBERED. THE 64
FULL PAGES OF HALF-TONE PHOTOGRAPHS (OVER 100 SEPARATE PICTURES) AND THE
PLATES, TINTED IN MANY COLORS (NOT PRINTED ON BACK) BRING THE TOTAL
NUMBER OF PAGES TO OVER FOUR HUNDRED.


THE PEACE TREATY

The treaty of peace was drawn by the allied and associated powers at
Versailles, and was there delivered to the German Government's
delegation on May 5, 1919--the fourth anniversary of the Lusitania
sinking.

It stipulates in the preamble that war will have ceased when all powers
have signed and the treaty shall have come into force by ratification of
the signatures.

It names as party of the one part the United States, The British Empire,
France, Italy, Japan, described as the five allied and associated
powers, and Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Equador, Greece,
Guatemala, Haiti, the Hedjaz, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama,
Peru, Portugal, Roumania, Serbia, Siam, Czecho-Slovakia and Uruguay; and
on the other side Germany.

The treaty contains agreements in substance as follows:

Section 1. The League of Nations--The league of nations may question
Germany at any time for a violation of the neutralized zone east of the
Rhine as a threat against the world's peace. It will work out the
mandatory system to be applied to the former German colonies and act as
a final court in the Belgian-German frontier and in disputes as to the
Kiel canal, and decide certain economic and financial problems.

Membership--The members of the league will be the signatories of the
covenant, and other states invited to accede. A state may withdraw upon
giving two years' notice, if it has fulfilled all its international
obligations.

Section 2. A permanent secretariat will be established at Geneva. The
league will meet at stated intervals. Each state will have one vote and
not more than three representatives.

The council will consist of representatives of the five great allied
powers, with representatives of four members selected by the assembly
from time to time. It will meet at least once a year. Voting will be by
states. Each state will have one vote and not more than one
representative.

The council will formulate plans for a reduction of armaments for
consideration and adoption. These plans will be revised every ten years.

Preventing War--Upon any war, or threat of war, the council will meet
to consider what common action shall be taken. Members are pledged to
submit matters of dispute to arbitration or inquiry and not to resort to
war until three months after the award. If a member fails to carry out
the award, the council will propose the necessary measures. The council
will establish a permanent court of international justice to determine
international disputes or to give advisory opinions. If agreement cannot
be secured, the members reserve the right to take such action as may be
necessary for the maintenance of right and justice. Members resorting to
war in disregard of the covenant will immediately be debarred from all
intercourse with other members. The council will in such cases consider
what military or naval action can be taken by the league collectively.

The covenant abrogates all obligations between members inconsistent with
its terms, but nothing in it shall affect the validity of international
engagements such as treaties of arbitration or regional understandings
like the Monroe doctrine, for securing the maintenance of peace.

The Mandatory System--Nations not yet able to stand by themselves will
be intrusted to advanced nations who are best fitted to guide them. In
every case the mandatory will render an annual report, and the degree of
its authority will be defined.

International Provisions--The members of the league will in general,
through the international organization established by the labor
convention to secure and maintain fair conditions of labor for men,
women and children in their own countries, and undertake to secure just
treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under their control;
they will intrust the league with general supervision over the execution
of agreements for the suppression of traffic in women and children,
etc.; and the control of the trade in arms and ammunition with countries
in which control is necessary; they will make provision for freedom of
communications and transit and equitable treatment for commerce of all
members of the league, with special reference to the necessities of
regions devastated during the war; and they will endeavor to take steps
for international prevention and control of disease.

Boundaries of Germany--Germany cedes to France Alsace-Lorraine 5,600
square miles to the southwest, and to Belgium two small districts
between Luxemburg and Holland, totaling 989 square miles. She also cedes
to Poland the southeastern tip of Silesia, beyond and including Oppeln,
most of Posen and West Prussia, 27,686 square miles, East Prussia being
isolated from the main body by a part of Poland. She loses sovereignty
over the northeastern tip of East Prussia, forty square miles north of
the Eiver Memel, and the internationalized areas about Danzig, 729
square miles, and the basin of the Saar, 738 square miles, between the
western border of the Rhenish Palatinate of Bavaria and the southeast
corner of Luxemburg; and Schleswig, 2,767 square miles.

Section 3. Belgium--Germany consents to the abrogation of the treaties
of 1839 by which Belgium was established as a neutral state, and agrees
to any convention with which the allied and associated powers may
determine to replace them.

Luxemburg--Germany renounces her various treaties and conventions with
the grand duchy of Luxemburg, and recognizes that it ceased to be a part
of the German zolverein from January 1,1919, and renounces all right of
exploitation of the railroads.

Left Bank of the Rhine--Germany will not maintain any fortifications
or armed forces less than fifty kilometers to the east of the Rhine,
hold any maneuvers, nor within that limit maintain any works to
facilitate mobilization. In case of violation she shall be regarded as
committing a hostile act against the powers who sign the present treaty
and as intending to disturb the peace of the world.

Alsace and Lorraine--The territories ceded to Germany by the treaty of
Frankfort are restored to France with their frontiers as before 1871, to
date from the signing of the armistice, and to be free of all public
debts.

All public property and private property of German ex-sovereigns passes
to France without payment or credit. France is substituted for Germany
as regards ownership of the railroads and rights over concessions of
tramways. The Rhine bridges pass to France, with the obligation for the
upkeep.

Political condemnations during the war are null and void and the
obligation to repay war fines is established as in other parts of allied
territory.

The Saar--In compensation for the destruction of coal mines in
northern France and as payment on account of reparation, Germany cedes
to France full ownership of the coal mines of the Saar basin with the
subsidiaries, accessories and facilities.

After fifteen years a plebiscite will be held by communes to ascertain
the desires of the population as to continuance of the existing regime
under the league of nations, union with France or union with Germany.
The right to vote will belong to all inhabitants of over 20 years
resident therein at the time of the signature.

Section 4. German Austria--Germany recognizes the total independence
of German Austria in the boundaries traced.

Germany recognizes the entire independence of the Czecho-Slovak state.
The five allied and associated powers will draw up regulations assuring
East Prussia full and equitable access to and use of the Vistula.

Danzig--Danzig and the district immediately about it is to be
constituted into the free city of Danzig under the guaranty of the
league of nations.

Denmark--The frontier between Germany and Denmark will be fixed by
the self-determination of the population.

The fortifications, military establishments and harbors of the islands
of Helgoland and Dune are to be destroyed under the supervision of the
allies by German labor and at Germany's expense. They may not be
reconstructed, nor any similar fortifications built in the future.

Russia--Germany agrees to respect as permanent and inalienable the
independence of all territories which were part of the former Russian
empire, to accept abrogation of the Brest-Litovsk and other treaties
entered into with the Maximalist government of Russia, to recognize the
full force of all treaties entered into by the allied and associated
powers with states which were a part of the former Russian empire, and
to recognize the frontiers as determined therein. The allied and
associated powers formally reserve the right of Russia to obtain
restitution and reparation of the principles of the present treaty.


SECTION 5. German Rights Outside of Europe--Outside Europe, Germany
renounces all rights, title and privileges as to her own or her allied
territories, to all the allied and associated powers.

German Colonies--Germany renounces in favor of the allied and
associated powers her overseas possessions with all rights and titles
therein. All movable and immovable property belonging to the German
empire or to any German state shall pass to the government exercising
authority therein. Germany undertakes to pay reparation for damage
suffered by French nationals in the Kameruns or its frontier zone
through the acts of German civil and military authorities and of
individual Germans from January 1, 1900, to August 1, 1914.

China--Germany renounces in favor of China all privileges and
indemnities resulting from the Boxer protocol of 1901, and all
buildings, wharves, barracks, forts, munitions or warships, wireless
plants, and other property (except diplomatic) in the German concessions
of Tientsin and Hankow and in other Chinese territory except Kiaochow,
and agrees to return to China at her own expense all the astronomical
instruments seized in 1901. Germany accepts the abrogation of the
concessions of Hankow and Tientsin, China agreeing to open them to
international use.

Siam--Germany recognizes that all agreements between herself and Siam,
including the right of extra territory, ceased July 22, 1917. All German
public property except consular and diplomatic premises passes, without
compensation, to Siam.

Liberia--Germany renounces all rights under the international
arrangements of 1911 and 1912 regarding Liberia.

Morocco--Germany renounces all her rights, titles and privileges
under the act of Algeciras and the Franco-German agreements of 1909 and
1911 and under all treaties and arrangements with the sheriffian empire.
All movable and immovable German property may be sold at public auction,
the proceeds to be paid to the sheriffian government and deducted from
the reparation account.

Egypt--Germany recognizes the British protectorate over Egypt declared
on December 19, 1914, and transfers to Great Britain the powers given to
the late sultan of Turkey for securing the free navigation of the Suez
canal.

Turkey and Bulgaria--Germany accepts all arrangements which the allied
and associated powers make with Turkey and Bulgaria with reference to
any right, privileges or interests claimed in those countries by Germany
or her nationals and not dealt with elsewhere.

Shantung--Germany cedes to Japan all rights, titles and privileges
acquired by her treaty with China of March 6, 1897, and other
agreements, as to Shantung. All German state property in Kiaochow is
acquired by Japan free of all charges.


SECTION 6. The demobilization of the German army must take place within
two months. Its strength may not exceed 100,000, including 4,000
officers, with not over seven divisions of infantry, also three of
cavalry, and to be devoted exclusively to maintenance of internal order
and control of frontiers. The German general staff is abolished. The
army administrative service, consisting of civilian personnel, not
included in the number of effectives, is reduced to one-tenth the total
in the 1913 budget. Employes of the German states, such as customs
officers, first guards and coast guards, may not exceed the number in
1913. Gendarmes and local police may be increased only in accordance
with the growth of population. None of these may be assembled for
military training.

Armaments--All establishments for the manufacturing, preparation or
storage of arms and munitions of war, must be closed, and their
personnel dismissed. The manufacture or importation of poisonous gases
is forbidden as well as the importation of arms, munitions and war
material.

Conscription--Conscription is abolished in Germany. The personnel
must be maintained by voluntary enlistment for terms of twelve
consecutive years, the number of discharges before the expiration of
that term not in any year to exceed 5 per cent of the total effectives.
Officers remaining in the service must agree to serve to the age of 45
years and newly appointed officers must agree to serve actively for
twenty-five years.

No military schools except those absolutely indispensable for the units
allowed shall exist in Germany. All measures of mobilization are
forbidden.

All fortified and field works within fifty kilometers (thirty miles)
east of the Rhine will be dismantled. The construction of any new
fortifications there is forbidden.

Control--Interallied commissions of control will see to the
execution of the provisions, for which a time limit is set, the maximum
named being three months. Germany must give them complete facilities,
and pay for the labor and material necessary in demolition, destruction
or surrender of war equipment.

Naval--The German navy must be demobilized within a period of two
months. All German vessels of war in foreign ports, and the German high
sea fleet interned at Scapa Flow will be surrendered, the final
disposition of these ships to be decided upon by the allied and
associated powers. Germany must surrender forty-five modern destroyers,
fifty modern torpedo boats, and all submarines, with their salvage
vessels; all war vessels under construction, including submarines, must
be broken up.

Germany is required to sweep up the mines in the North sea and the
Baltic. German fortifications in the Baltic must be demolished.

During a period of three months after the peace, German high power
wireless stations at Nauen, Hanover and Berlin, will not be permitted to
send any messages except for commercial purposes.

Air--The armed forces of Germany must not include any military or
naval air forces except one hundred unarmed seaplanes. No aviation
grounds or dirigible sheds are to be allowed within 150 kilometers of
the Rhine or the eastern or southern frontiers. The manufacture of
aircraft and parts of aircraft is forbidden. All military and
aeronautical material must be surrendered.

The repatriation of German prisoners and interned civilians is to be
carried out without delay and at Germany's expense.

Both parties will respect and maintain the graves of soldiers and
sailors buried on their territories.

Responsibility and Reparation--The allied and associated powers will
publicly arraign William II of Hohenzollern, formerly German emperor,
before a special tribunal composed of one judge from each of the five
great powers, with full right of defense.

Persons accused of having committed acts in violation of the laws and
customs of war are to be tried and punished by military tribunals under
military law.

SECTION 7. Reparation--Germany accepts responsibility for all loss and
damages to which civilians of the allies have been subjected by the war,
and agrees to compensate them. Germany binds herself to repay all sums
borrowed by Belgium from the Allies. Germany irrevocably recognizes the
authority of a reparation commission named by the Allies to enforce and
supervise these payments. She further agrees to restore to the Allies
cash and certain articles which can be identified. As an immediate step
toward restoration, Germany shall pay within two years $5,000,000,000 in
either gold, goods, ships or other specific forms of payment.

The measures which the allied and associated powers shall have the right
to take, in case of voluntary default by Germany, and which Germany
agrees not to regard as acts of war, may include economic and financial
prohibitions and reprisals and in general such other measures as the
respective governments may determine to be necessary in the
circumstances.

The commission may require Germany to give from time to time, by way of
guaranty, issues of bonds or other obligations to cover such claims as
are not otherwise satisfied.

The German government recognizes the right of the Allies to the
replacement, ton for ton and class for class, of all merchant ships and
fishing boats lost or damaged owing to the war, and agrees to cede to
the Allies all German merchant ships of sixteen hundred tons gross and
upward.

The German government further agrees to build merchant ships for the
account of the Allies to the amount of not exceeding 200,000 tons' gross
annually during the next five years.

SECTION 8. Devastated Areas--Germany undertakes to devote her
economic resources directly to the physical restoration of the invaded
areas.

Coal--Germany is to deliver annually for ten years to France coal
equivalent to the difference between annual pre-war output of Nord and
Pas de Calais mines and annual production during above ten year period.
Germany further gives options over ten years for delivery of 7,000,000
tons coal per year to France, in addition to the above, of 8,000,000
tons to Belgium, and of an amount rising from 4,500,000 tons in 1919 to
1920 to 8,500,000 tons in 1923 to 1924 to Italy, at prices to be fixed
as prescribed. Coke may be taken in place of coal in ratio of three tons
to four.

Dyestuffs and Drugs--Germany accords option to the commission on
dyestuffs and chemical drugs, including quinine, up to 50 per cent of
total stock to Germany at the time the treaty comes into force, and
similar option during each six months to end of 1924 up to 25 per cent
of previous six months' output.

Cables--Germany renounces all title to specific cables, value of such
as were privately owned being credited to her against reparation
indebtedness.

Restitution--As reparation for the destruction of the library of
Louvain, Germany is to hand over manuscripts, early printed books,
prints, etc., to the equivalent of those destroyed, and all works of art
taken from Belgium and France.

SECTION 9. Finances--Germany is required to pay the total cost of the
armies of occupation from the date of the armistice as long as they are
maintained in German territory.

Germany is to deliver all sums deposited in Germany by Turkey and
Austria-Hungary in connection with the financial support extended by her
to them during the war and to transfer to the Allies all claims against
Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey in connection with agreements made
during the war.

Germany guarantees to repay to Brazil the fund arising from the sale of
Sao Paulo coffee which she refused to allow Brazil to withdraw from
Germany.

Contracts--Pre-war contracts between allied and associated nations,
excepting the United States, Japan and Brazil, and German nationals, are
canceled except for debts for accounts already performed.

Opium--The contracting powers agree, whether or not they have signed
and ratified the opium convention of January 23, 1912, or signed the
special protocol opened at The Hague in accordance with resolutions
adopted by the third opium conference in 1914, to bring the said
convention into force by enacting within twelve months of the time of
peace the necessary legislation.

Missions--The allied and associated powers agree that the properties
of religious missions in territories belonging or ceded to them shall
continue in their work under the control of the powers, Germany
renouncing all claims in their behalf.

SECTION 11. Air Navigation--Aircraft of the allied and associated
powers shall have full liberty of passage and landing over and in German
territory; equal treatment with German planes as to use of German
airdromes, and with most favored nation planes as to internal commercial
traffic in Germany.

SECTION 13.--Freedom of Transit--Germany must grant freedom of transit
through her territories by rail or water to persons, goods, ships,
carriages and mail from or to any of the allied or associated powers,
without customs or transit duties, undue delays, restrictions and
discriminations based on nationality, means of transport or place of
entry or departure. Goods in transit shall be assured all possible speed
of journey, especially perishable goods.

(The remainder of Section 12 concerns the use of European waterways and
railroads.)

SECTION 13. International Labor Organizations--Members of the league
of nations agree to establish a permanent organization to promote
international adjustment of labor conditions, to consist of an annual
international labor conference and an international labor office.

The former is composed of four representatives of each state, two from
the government and one each from the employers and the employed; each of
them may vote individually. It will be a deliberative legislative body,
its measures taking the form of draft conventions or recommendations for
legislation, which if passed by two-thirds vote must be submitted to the
lawmaking authority in every state participating. Each government may
either enact the terms into law; approve the principles, but modify them
to local needs; leave the actual legislation in case of a federal state
to local legislatures; or reject the convention altogether without
further obligation.

The international labor office is established at the seat of the league
of nations as part of its organization. It is to collect and distribute
information on labor through the world and prepare agents for the
conference. It will publish a periodical in French and English and
possibly other languages. Each state agrees to make to it, for
presentation to the conference, an annual report of measures taken to
execute accepted conventions. The governing body is its executive. It
consists of twenty-four members, twelve representing the government, six
the employers and six the employes, to serve for three years.

On complaint that any government has failed to carry out a convention to
which it is a party the governing body may make inquiries directly to
that government and in case the reply is unsatisfactory may publish the
complaint with comment. A complaint by one government against another
may be referred by the governing body to a commission of inquiry
nominated by the secretary-general of the league. If the commission
report fails to bring satisfactory action, the matter may be taken to a
permanent court of international justice for final decision. The chief
reliance for securing enforcement of the law will be publicity with a
possibility of economic action in the background.

The first meeting of the conference will take place in October, 1919, at
Washington, to discuss the eight-hour day or forty-eight hour week;
prevention of unemployment; extension and application of the
international conventions adopted at Bern in 1906 prohibiting night work
for women and the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches;
and employment of women and children at night or in unhealthful work, of
women before and after childbirth, including maternity benefit, and of
children as regards minimum age.

Nine principles of labor conditions are recognized on the ground that
the well-being, physical and moral, of the industrial wage earners is of
supreme international importance. With exceptions necessitated by
differences of climate, habits and economic developments, they include:
The guiding principle that labor should not be regarded merely as a
commodity or article of commerce; right of association of employers and
employes is granted; and a wage adequate to maintain a reasonable
standard of life; the eight-hour day or forty-eight hour week; a weekly
rest of at least twenty-four hours, which should include Sunday wherever
practicable; abolition of child labor and assurance of the continuation
of the education and proper physical development of children; equal pay
for equal work as between men and women; equitable treatment of all
workers lawfully resident therein, including foreigners, and a system of
inspection in which women shall take part.

SECTION 14. Guaranties--As a guaranty for the execution of the treaty,
German territory west of the Rhine, together with bridgeheads, will be
occupied by allied and associated troops for fifteen years. If before
the expiration of the fifteen years Germany complies with all the treaty
undertakings, the occupying forces will be withdrawn.

Eastern Europe--All German troops at present in territories to the
east of the new frontier shall return as soon as the allied and
associated governments deem wise.

SECTION 15. Germany agrees to recognize the full validity of the
treaties of peace and additional conventions to be concluded by the
allied and associated powers with the powers allied with Germany; to
agree to the decisions to be taken as to the territories of
Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, and to recognize the new states in
the frontiers to be fixed for them.

Germany agrees not to put forward any pecuniary claim against any allied
or associated power signing the present treaty, based on events previous
to the coming into force of the treaty.

Germany accepts all decrees as to German ships and goods made by any
allied or associated prize court. The Allies reserve the right to
examine all decisions of German prize courts.

The treaty is to become effective in all respects for each power on the
date of deposition of its ratification.