in spite of their wounded and in a few seconds our boys were at grips with the terrible foe in a desperate hand-to-hand encounter, in which the enemy outnumbered them ten to one.

"The boys inflicted great loss on the enemy, but Roberts was overpowered and about to be carried away when your husband, who had used up all of the cartridges in the magazine of his rifle, and had knocked one German down with the butt end of it, drew his bolo from his belt. A bolo is a short, heavy weapon carried by the American soldier, with the edge of a razor, the weight of a cleaver and the point of a butcher knife. He rushed to the rescue of his former comrade, and fighting desperately, opened with his bolo the head of the German who was throttling Roberts, and turned to the boche who had Roberts by the feet, plunging the bolo into the German's bowels. This one was the leader of the German party, and on receiving what must have been this mortal wound, exclaimed in American English, without a trace of accent, 'Oh, the son of a got me.'

"Henry laid about him right and left with his heavy knife, and Roberts, released from the grasp of the scoundrels, began again to throw hand grenades and exploded them in their midst, and the Germans, doubtless thinking it was a host instead of two brave Colored boys fighting like tigers at bay, picked up their dead and wounded and slunk away, leaving many weapons and part of their shot-riddled clothing, and leaving a trail of blood, which we followed at dawn near to their lines. We feel certain that one of the enemy was killed by rifle fire, two by your husband's bolo, one by grenades thrown by Private Roberts and several others grievously wounded." 5

"Scott, op. cit., pp. 257-8,

CHAPTER 29

SERVICE OF THE 370TH INFANTRY

Occupation of a St. Mihiel Sector June 21-Transference to Argonne Forest July 4-To the Soissons Sector in August-And to the Oise-Aisne Canal in September-Participation in the Allied Offensive of September and October Which Drove the Germans across the Belgian Border

HE 370th Infantry was another unit of colored troops which did not belong to the 92nd Division, but remained brigaded with French divisions throughout its stay in France. This unit was formerly the 8th Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, and while in France came to be called, by the Germans, "Black Devils," and by the French, "Partridges," because of their proud bearing.

This infantry regiment went into training at Camp Logan, Texas, in August, 1917. After arriving in France and undergoing six weeks' training under French instructors, the regiment was ready for action and on June 11, 1918, was ordered to Morvillars (Haut Rhin) where it was relieved of all of its American equipment and re-equipped with French arms, including rifles, pistols, helmets, machine guns, horses, wagons, and even French rations, which the colored soldiers regarded as scant compared to those to which they had been accustomed. Thence the regiment was distributed along the Meuse river at Nancois-le-Petit, Trouville, and Velaines. On June 21 the regiment was sent to HanBislee, a portion of the St. Mihiel sector. "This being the first time the regiment had occupied positions in the line, it was deemed advisable by the Division Commander to intermingle the 370th with French troops, in order that officers and men might observe and profit by close association with veteran French troops. Thus, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, commanded by Majors Rufus M. Stokes and Charles L. Hunt respectively, were intermingled with platoons and companies of French battalions. Except for occasional shelling and rifle and machine-gun fire of the enemy nothing of interest occurred while in this sector, and there were no casualties." 1

On July 4, the regiment was withdrawn from the St. Mihiel sector 1 Scott, The American Negro in the Great War, p. 217.

and sent to the Argonne Forest, where it occupied a sector which, except on one or two occasions, was exceptionally quiet. Here the regiment suffered its first casualty in the fall of a private, Robert E. Lee, member of a machine-gun company.

In the meantime the Germans were launching their last great drive, July 15, and were bending the Allied line back toward Paris.

On August 4 the 370th Infantry participated in its first offensive when a mortar platoon took part in a raid having for its object the filling in of the gaps in the French artillery barrage. For service in this raid Lieutenant Robert A. Ward and the other members of the platoon were highly commended by the French commander.

On August 16, the 370th was relieved of its position in the Argonne Forest and sent for rest behind the lines near Bar-le-Duc. After a rest of fifteen days the regiment was moved forward to positions in the Soissons sector. At this time the Allies had begun their counterattack, July 18, winning the Second Battle of the Marne and driving the Germans out of the Marne salient back to the Vesle. The tide of battle had turned, and thenceforward to November II the Germans were everywhere on the defensive and yielding ground.

On September 16, four companies of the 370th Infantry joined in the Allied advance which resulted in the capture of the enemy's strong positions in front of Mont-des-Singes. "One platoon of Company F under command of Sergeant Matthew Jenkins especially distinguished itself by capturing a large section of the enemy works, turning their own guns on them and holding the position for thirty-six hours without food or water, until assistance came and the position was strengthened. For this meritorious work in this engagement Sergeant Jenkins received both the American Distinguished Service Cross and the French Croix de Guerre." 2

On the Soissons front five companies of the 370th distinguished themselves by capturing from the Germans and holding Hill 304.

After a rest in several places of reserve, the 370th Infantry was assembled for the first time as a unit and took over on September 21 a full regimental sector on the Oise-Aisne Canal. A general attack along this front began on September 27, and the 370th took part in the various engagements which culminated on October 4 in driving the enemy across the canal.

On the first day of this battle, September 27, the 3rd Batallion of the 370th drove the Germans back to the Ailette Canal where they 'Scott, op. cit., p. 218.

made a stand. "The fighting here was fierce," says Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan, the colored commander of the battalion. "The Germans had placed barbed wire entanglements in the canal, but we avoided these with pontoon bridges and continued our drive. We reached what was known as Mont-des-Singes or 'Monkey Mountain' and the German line, near a narrow-gauge railroad. Here we encountered more concrete emplacements, dugouts, and barbed wire, and in getting to the Germans every man of us had to climb up on the railroad embankment, where we were fair marks for any kind of shell the Germans sent over. Naturally we lost many of our men." 3

On October 7, following an artillery bombardment, three raiding parties went out into the triangle formed by the Oise-Aisne Canal, a railroad and the Vauxaillon-Bois de Mortier highway. "The mission of one of these raiding parties," says Scott, "was to capture prisoners. One of these parties under command of 1st Lieutenant Elisha C. Lane entered the triangle, gained the trenches along the south bank of the canal and ejected the enemy after a hand-grenade fight, Lieutenant Lane and two enlisted men being wounded. This party was unable to hold this trench on account of its being exposed to enfilade fire from two directions. The other two patrols established themselves along the railroad and sent small patrols into the triangle, but were unable to establish themselves therein. No prisoners were captured." 4

During the night of October 7 and 8, Company F of the 2nd Battalion, which had been holding a line near La Folie l'Ecluse on the canal, was unable to hold out against the severe assaults of the enemy and Company C of the 1st Battalion was sent forward to relieve it. In spite of the efforts of Company C to hold a position in the triangle it was unable to do so for the same reason as Company F.5

In a new general offensive which was begun on October 12, with a view to hastening the retirement of the Germans along the western line of battle, the various units of the 370th Infantry alternately took an active part in the advance. The retreating enemy was fighting only a rearguard battle, but its machine-gun nests made the Allied advance full of difficulty and danger. The Negro troops in the various engagements from October 12 to November II generally attained their objectives, and shared fully in the Allied achievement of driving the Germans across the Belgian border.

Scott, op. cit., p. 229. 'Ibid., p. 220.

"Ibid., p. 221.

CHAPTER 30

SERVICE OF THE 371ST REGIMENT

Activities Near Verdun-In the Meuse-Argonne Drive-Spotlessness of Record

1

THE 371st Infantry was organized at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, August 31, 1917, and, as Colonel P. L. Miles, its commander, says: "was made up mostly of cotton-field Negroes of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee." It differed from the later colored regiments in having all white officers of the United States Army. At this time the training camp for colored officers at Fort Des Moines had not begun to issue commissions. The 371st Infantry was more continuously in battle than any other colored unit, experienced harder fighting and suffered severer losses. It arrived in France on April 23, 1918, and throughout its service overseas was brigaded with French divisions.

The regiment went into training at Rembercourt and vicinity, about thirty kilometers from the citadel of Verdun. Says Colonel Miles: "This was within hearing of the guns and close enough to the front to require darkened windows at night and rigid air-plane discipline. The village of Rembercourt was partially destroyed and the regiment therefore was in the atmosphere of the front from the first. While at the Rembercourt area, the regiment underwent a reorganization in order to fit it for incorporation in the French division. The American regiments had but one machine gun company each. . . .

"The regiment arrived in its training area on April 28th; had been reorganized, taking on French organization and French equipment, arms and rations and had progressed to such a degree in its training that on June 6, 1918, it began a march to the St. Mihiel sector to relieve the regiment of French troops then opposite the tip of the German salient. While the regimental commander, who had gone on ahead of the regiment, was making his reconnoissance preparatory to the relief, the orders were changed and the regiment was sent to the Hill 304 Sector, Just west of Dead Man's Hill in the Verdun area. This is when the 'Letter to the author, July 21, 1925.