EMORY UNIVERSITY
iiiiDiniiiiniwiiiiHiiiiii
A PICTORIAL HISTORY
if
The Negro in the
Great World War
1917-1918
Published by the TOUISSANT PICTORIAL CO., Inc.
451 LENOX AVENUE, NEW YORK
sgriummn
mi i 03a
w Advaan a.
5,JOA «»K
6161 iqljiAdog
_5d kN'
t??a
0 i i d
ichduke Francis Ferdi¬
nand was murdered at
Sarajevo June 28, 1914.
This act was the occasion,
but not the cause of
the Great World War.
The murder of Ferdinand
aroused Austria-Hungary to such an ex¬
tent that she declared war on Serbia July
28, 1914. Russia came to the aid of
Serbia by a general mobilization July 31,
1914, and Germany joined Austria-
Hungary and declared war on Russia
August 1, 1914, and invaded Luxemburg
On August 2, 1914, Germany issued an
ultimatum to Belgium demanding a free
passage of her troops across Belgium
soil into France, which demand was re¬
fused; whereupon Germany declared war
on France August 3, 1914.
M. Rene Viviani, supported by General
Messing, civilian War Minister of France,
are authority for the statement that
"France gave up her valuable iron works
at Briey to avoid starting the war—say¬
ing according to a telegram appearing in
the New York Tribune, that the mere
wandering of one of our patrols across
the frontier at night would have given
her (Germany) the excuse she sought.
In order to avoid falling into a trap I pro¬
posed a wholesale withdrawal ten kilo¬
meters behind the frontier. At that time
the intervention of England on our side
was anything but certain, and the neutral¬
ity of Italy which was bound in a defen¬
sive alliance with Austria and Germany,
depended upon who was the aggressor.
A few hours after our troops withdrew
England assured us she would help us as
^INTRODUCTIONS
Austria and Germany were the aggres¬
sors. Italy undertook to remain neutral
and ten months later became our faithful
allv."
President Wilson on August 4, 1914,
proclaimed the neutrality of the United
States, and commencing on the same day,
August 4 to August 26, 1914, Belgium
and Stati
Great Britain demanded that Ger¬
many should respect Belgium's neutrality,
and the same being refused, war was de¬
clared by Great Britain on Germany
August 4. 1914.
was over-run by Germany; Liege was oc¬
cupied August 9; Brussels, August 20;
Namur, August 24, 1914.
Later Developments have shown that
the plans had been previously arranged,
and that Germany had been planning to
overwhelm France and dominate the world
for fifty years; that England was to be
conquered also, and that America was to
be made to pay the war debt which would
be incurred.
Fate Decreed Otherwise, however—
the scales are turned—Germany lost; and
instead of making America pay the great
war debt of $130,000,000,000, Germany,
herself, is now being assessed a large
amount of the war debt of the allied na¬
tions.
The United States Declared War
on Germany April 6, 1917. A long series
of atrocities led up to this action. The
Lusitania, a Cunard Line steamship, was
sunk by a German submarine May 7,
1915. There were 1,154 lives lost includ¬
ing 114 Americans. This event aroused
the people of the United States against
Germany, and more so when they learned
that medals of the sinking ship had been
previously prepared in Germany before
the occurrence, showing that it was done
by pre-meditation though attempted to be
excused by the German authorities.
Later, several British passenger boats
were sunk with Americans on board, and
Germany announced unrestricted sub¬
marine warfare. In reply to this the
United States, March 12, 1917, proclaimed
that all American merchantmen would
thereafter be protected with an armed
guard while sailing through the war zone.
GENERAL PERSHING AND
STAFF arc sent to France to organize a
base for American troops and prepare to
receive the American forces which landed
later—amounting in round numbers to
about 1,900,000 men.
The Negro Soldiers were among the
first to embark; and it has been stated that
General Pershing expressed a desire to
have the Negro soldiers sent over among
the first, as he had full knowledge of
their splendid ability as soldiers from his
previous contact with them in Mexico.
The Valor of ti-ie Negro Soldiers
will be shown in the following pages.
They did their duty more than well as is
testified to by those who saw them. They
helped save the world for democracy and
incidentally saved America from the Ger¬
man yoke as it was evidently written in
the German plan to either overrun Amer¬
ica after she was through with France and
England or exact from her a vast indem¬
nity. The army of the United States pre¬
vented both the throttling of democracy in
Europe and the fixing of the German
yoke on America—and the brave Negro
troopers got to Europe none too soon to
help in preventing this great calamity.
'"j|OW is the opportune time
to compile the facts relat¬
ing to the achievements
and heroism of the Negro
in the great World War
which is now coming to
to a close under the Ar¬
mistice promulgated in Congress by Presi¬
dent Wilson November u, 1918. Every
American home, and especially every
Negro American home, should have and
keep in its confines a record of the great
achievements of the Negro in this war.
The older people should know of them and
the young people should be taught them.
They should grow up with these examples
of bravery and patriotism engraven on
their very souls. The Negro did his part
in the Revolution; in the War of 1812; in
the Civil War: in the war with Spain, and
at Carrizal, Mexico. The first man to fall
in the Revolution was a colored man,
Crispus Attucks; the first to fall in the
Civil War was a member of one of the
Northern regiments passing through Bal¬
timore en route to the front; the first to
fall in the war with Spain was Elijah
Tunnell, who was killed at Cardenas Har¬
bor in Cuba, and the first to fall in the be¬
ginning of America's conflict with Ger¬
many was a colored man on one of the
cattle ships that was torpedoed. The first
to receive the French Gold Palm and the
Croix de Guerre was a colored man, the
first U. S. troops to reach the Rhine, and
the first troops to march through the Tri¬
umphal Arch of the returning troops was
the New York Gallant 15th Regiment.
Through neglect and lack of foresight
the race has lost a vast amount of most
valuable historical information that might
have been garnered from the events of
America's wars of the past. This mistake
should not and must not be made again.
We are putting out this publication that
perpetuity may be given to the deeds of
braver}' and heroism of the Negro in this
war, and that the same may always have
a green spot in memory's storehouse, and
serve to inspire and guide the race for the
future: and win and keep for it the high
meed of esteem from the world which it
so richly deserves.
We are making no attempt herein to
deal with dry army details and columns
of figures: we are speaking through news¬
paper correspondents and private soldiers
who were in the thick of the fight and of¬
ficers who were in command. Read what
they went through as they tell you the
story themselves; read it now as it comes
while fresh from their minds. The re¬
cital will stir the soul of a stone man.
Also, see the pictures of daring
and accomplishments herein, almost true
to life! Read the comments of those
who looked on: read what the Af¬
ricans did: see how Ethiopia is stretch¬
ing forth her hand unto God through
democracy! See the pictures of those
back home doing their duty while
the boys were dying at the front! See
what commendation they received from
France; see how the whole 15th N. Y.
Regiment won the Croix de Guerre (cited
seven times) ! Then take a moment's me¬
ditation from the heat of enthusiasm you
find yourself in, and congratulate your¬
self on being a Negro, and a member of
a race that has done so well in the Great¬
est Test of Arms the World Has Ever
See.w All future history will recite the
great events of this the greatest war the
world has yet seen, and it is our effort to
help preserve for the future the great part
the Negro played in this struggle.
It was a great thing for the world that
the forces of democracy triumphed over
the minions of autocracy—the divine
right of kings has been dealt some more
deadly blows, and the Negro Race has
hit some of them hard. The race has
been given a chance to show how it can
fight and it has shown this fact to the
whole world in no uncertain way. It may
have been a great thing for the world to
have such a war, and a still greater thing
| for the Neg~o to have been in it.
The thanks of the publishers are due
to the many newspapers and corre>pond-
ents who printed and wrote so many arti¬
cles bearing on the valiant conduct of the
Negro soldiers and workers in the Great
World War. The enterprise of these
writers and publishers has been remark¬
able, and but for their help such a pub¬
lication as this could not have been made;
and the Negro race might not have been
able to possess for the present and future
this great compendium of race loyalty,
patriotism and valor; and in placing the
many articles and newspaper clippings
herein we have taken pains to give due
credit to the writer or paper from which
they came.
Well might the poet exclaim:
Lord, these are Thine; of whom n<> man
can say:
'They falter in the Nation's hour of
need."
Whose noble hearts are just a> true today
As when for Freedom, this Land first did
bleed.
Who have prevailed in spite of endless
wrongs;
Who bear the chastening r»wl with hopeful
songs,
Who've taught the world sincerity di¬
vine—
| Yea, Lord, these lowly, dusky folks are
Thine.
—Andrea Rasdfkeriefo.
THE CALL
By George Wills Parkej?
Across the world like a sigh of winds awakened, none knows
how, or why, or whence, comes a new call. Perchance, it birthed in
the thunders that have shaken earth; perchance, it is the echo of
the mighty blasts for freedom that have startled sleeping souls;
perchance, it is one of those mystic reactions which God and Nature
bring forth from the aludels of time. But it is a call that shall be
sounded a thousand times, in a thousand different ways and places,
and by a thousand different voices. It is a call that shall become
the web and woof of story and song, of verse and prose, of essay
and history. It is the call to the black races to claim the glorious
heritage of pride, and intellect, and spirit, which the past has held
for them.
Long have these black folk dreamed that some uncharted path
of earth might open to them and that they might find their way
without the bruising of feet and the torturing of soul. Hate and
alien tradition placed upon their brow the curse of Cain, upon their
minds the chains of ignorance, and upon their shoulders the burdens
of the world. But never star was lost that it did not rise afar. Time
left a fragment of a dream in their aching hearts, and love a shred
of passion in their blood. They were bereft of visions, but amidst
their eternal wonderings crept glimpses of forgotten glories and
unheralded flashes from the flambeaux that black races carried when
the world was young.
The white man's history is an unvintageable sea and his teaching
a slumberous anodyne. But truth has tugged at the bruised and broken
chords and fact is growing where expectation never breathed. The
tide of time has turned for us and faith is blotting out the dark.
Let us heed the call. No race ever rose to power that did not
love itself; no race can ever love itself that has no pride.
When Africa Awakes
George Wells Parker.
When Africa awakes! and from
The crushing centuries of crushing wrong,
Base defilement, lust and thong,
Lift up her voice and cries aloud
Her right to rule herself! Methinks the crowd
Of gold-greedy men will laugh and say:
"Not now, thou backward race! This is our day!
Yours yet to bow and meekly pay
The price of weakness."
But Africa will ponder well these words.
Her sons shall seek the shadows of the hills
And vow, as they recount the rosary of ills,
That their fair land of summer sun and mien
Must not forever be the Midas dream
Of self-made masters, who even loathe to give
The one, last human right, to live.
Africa bides her time! But from the ocean strand,
O'er jungle, mountain, vale and mead,
That sweet word. "Unity" will speed
On wings of winds, and woo her fretful folk
Into one dream! one voice! one heart! one hope!
And yet again she'll claim her sacred right
To rule herself, apart from alien might:
But if, once more, the pale-faced men shall say:
"Not yet. thou backward race! Still thine to pay!"
I quake to think how swarthy arms shall hurl
Thundering terrors at a gasping world!
When Africa awakes!
We Who Are Dark
By Clara Burrill Bruce
We who are dark
Pressed on by hearts
And know the lash
On vengeance bent—
On bodies worn,
We've won your praise
Insensate made
That side by side
Through years of wrong;
With those who taught
That feel no more
Us all our woes
The scourge, the whip—
We bravely march
We who are dark
Nor backward glance.
And know the hurt
Not hesitant,
Of pitiless scorn
Nor slow, but with
On souls that live
Quickening tread
And feel the dart
Old wrongs, old sores
And thrust of wrong;
Forgotten lie;
The greedy glance
Brothers-in-arms,
Of sinful lust—
As we march forth
We who are dark
To Victory,
And know the urge
Bearing aloft
Of blinding rage
To foreign lands
And fury red,
A freedom sweet
That eats and burns:
That's not our own.
The ache of hands
—The Crisis.
The Band of Gideon
By Joseph S. Cotter,
A seething world is gone stark mad;
And is drunk with the blood,
Gorged with the flesh,
Blinded with the ashes
Of her millions of dead.
From out it all and over all
There stands, years old and fully grown,
A monster in the guise of man.
And war itself is merciful
When measured by his deeds.
Beneath the Crescent
Lie a people maimed;
Their only sin—
That they worship God.
On Russia's steppes
Is a race in tears;
Their one offense—
That they would be themselves.
On Flanders plains
Is a nation raped;
A bleeding gift
Of "Kultur's" conquering creed.
And in every land
Are black folk scourged:
Their only crime—
That they dare be men.
—The Crisis.
w
HON. NEWTON D. BAKER,
Secretary of War.
Upon the shoulders of the Secretary of War was placed the great burden
of collecting, organizing and equipping the fighting hosts of American
soldiers that were used in the Great War now coming to a close, and in
which these soldiers, both white and black, have come out so triumphantly.
It has been no small task and it was a ''rush order." so to speak, but the
order has been carried out successfully and the United States Armv raised
and equipped in a surprisingly short time, has done its work so well that it
stands out today as the wonder and admiration of the world. Truly, a
paraphrase from the great Caesar is not amiss in saying of them—"They
went, they saw, thev conquered."
Mr. Baker conducted his department without that tinge of race prejudice
which taints the record of so many United States public officials.
Among the first acts of his in taking up the task of raising an army
was the appointment of a colored man, in the person of Mr. Eminett J. Scott,
to look after the interests and welfare of the colored soldiers. Mr. Scott
was nut at the head of a special department where the complaints of colored
draftees and soldiers might be adjusted, thus portraying Secretary Baker's
interest in the welfare of the Negro race, and which evidently he was seek¬
ing to protect.
HON. JOSEPHUS DANIELS.
Secretary of the Navy.
Under Secretary Daniel's leadership, the United States Navy m the
Great European War has been the chief arm on which the nation has leaned
for safe transportation of the "two million soldiers and workers that the
United States sent to Europe to assist in winning the war. There has been
a very little loss of life and but few mishaps in this enormous task of con¬
voying the transports to Europe; and in this the Navy Department has
achieved most wonderful success. It has had no pitched battles, hut the
convoy service has been rendered with precision and skill, reflecting the
highest credit and praise upon this department.
Mr. Daniels came to the Navy Department with little experience along
that special line, but he has applied himself with energy and foresight to
the task of learning his duties and worked most assiduously for the im¬
provement and discipline of this great and important branch of the govern¬
ment service. He is now proposing to add more strength and efficiency to
the Navy in an ambitious line of new proposals for new types of battleship*,
to the end that the United States Navy may rank second to none of Uie
navies of the world.
GENERAL FOCH.
GENERAL FOCH TELLS HOW TO WIN IN WARFARE.
(From an article by him in the "London Field," in June, 1918.)
"Modern war, to arrive at its end—to impose its will on the enemy—
recognizes only one means, the destruction of the enemy's organized forces.
War undertakes and prepares this destruction by the battle, which brings
about the overthrow of the adversary, disorganizes his command, destroys
his discipline and liasons, and nullifies his units so far as their fighting power
is concerned. From this it is an obvious corollary that the offensive, whether
started at the beginning of the action or whether it follows the defensive,
can alone give results, and in consequence must always be adopted, at least
at the finish. Every defensive battle, therefore, must be terminated by an
offensive action, a victorious counter-attack, or it will lead to no result.
Theoretically, the cpnduct of battle is then the carrying through of the
decisive attack to success; theoretically also, to be stronger at a given point
and at a given moment, all one's forces should be applied simultaneously on
that point, and that in an unexpected manner. When we pass to practice,
we see we must take other things into account; the idea of protection re¬
appears and imposes sacrifices, absorbs forces.
"To fix the direction of the attack, to guard against the plans of the
enemy, to prevent him from carrying out the same manoeuvre, we must
undertake, carry on, and sustain numerous combats, each with a determined
aim. But since there remains no doubt that the decisive attack is the very key¬
stone of the battle, all the other actions which make up the battle must only
be envisaged, considered, organized, provided with forces, in the measure in
which they prepare, facilitate, and guarantee the development of the decisive-
attack, characterized by its mass, its surprise, and its speed, and for which,
in consequence, it is essential to reserve the maximum force possible of
troops of manoeuvre. In the manoeuvre battle the reserve (that is to say,
the prepared bludgeon), is organized, kept back, carefullv instructed to
execute the single act of the battle from which results are expected, the
decisive attack; the reserve is husbanded with the most parsimony, so that
the bludgeon may be strong enough, the blow as violent as possible. Let
loose at the finish, without any lurking idea of saving them, with a well-
thought-out plan for winning the battle at a point chosen and determined.
GEORGES CLEMENCEAU,
The "Tiger," Premier of France, who lead the French successfully
through the Great World War to victory; and who is extremely proud of
his Senegalese black troops who saved Paris.
LLOYD GEORGE.
The "Little Welsh," Premier of England. He not only organized all
England, but gave the black Colonials a chance to jij ' U1 J
for valor and daring alongside of England's best.
t enviable record
'
EMMETT J. SCOTT,
Assistant to Secretary of War Baker.
That the Hon. Newton D. Baker had a broad and comprehensive vision
of the task before him when he became Secretary of War is shown by his
speedy selection of a colored man as assistant in his department. Mr.
Emmett J. Scott, "former secretary to the late and lamented Booker T.
Washington, was chosen to fill this place, and has rendered valuable service
both to his chief and country in helping to iron out the many knotty problems
that have necessarily', arisen. Mr. Scott's appointment records the first
of its kind in the history of the country, and bespeaks for the race a fuller
recognition for the future. Twelve million in population with a draftee
enrollment of around 900,000, it was certainly the proper thing to givt
some official recognition in so important an hour of the Nation's peril to the
people who were to furnish so many of the valiant fighters and workers in
America's huge task of helping save the world for democracy.
Mr. Scott by his general acquaintance with the leading colored people
of the country, and his experience in organization work, has been able to
put his ability to most useful account, and has fulfilled the duties assigned
to him faithfully.
COLONEL FRANKLIN A. DENISON,
Ranking colored officer, commanding the 370th Infantry in France, for¬
merly the Eighth Illinois, has the distinction of being colonel of the only
Negro regiments officered entirely by soldiers of that race. The Eighth
Illinois was organized in 1890 and took part in Cuba during the war with
Spain. Some of its members saw service in the Philippines and in Mexico,
and by its achievements on the battlefields of France has been called by
the Germans the "American Black Devil Dogs."
COLONEL CHARLES YOUNG.
Graduate of West Point, did valiant service in Liberia, and though
denied a commission in Europe on ground of ill health, did effective service
in preparing officers in the training camps.
Founder of the Old 15th. Served with the 8th Illinois in Spanish-Ameri¬
can War. Left New York with Old 15th, later transferred while in France
to the 8th Illinois. Returned and is now mentioned as Colonel of the New 15th In¬
fantry, N. Y. N. G.
CAPTAIN NAPOLEON B. MARSHALL,
W. E. B. DuBOISE.
Editor and author, who went to France as a newspaper correspondent
and did effective work in organizing the "Darker Races" for a hearing at the
peace conference.
MAJOR ROBT. K. MOLTEN,
President of Tuskcgee Institute.
Who went 10 France on an advisory mission to ihe colored soldier- He
made numerous addresses encouraging them to do their duty by their countrj an
themselves.
HERE are something like
twelve million Negroes
inhabiting these United
States: roughly speaking,
one in every ten of us
Americans is black. A
statement of the large
number of Negroes in the
country is usually a prelude to the con¬
sideration of the black man as a "prob¬
lem." It is here suggested that in time
of war the question had perhaps better
be how much is he a national asset?
Before the outbreak of the war the Ne¬
gro had for some years been represented
in the Regular Army by the 9th and 10th
Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry.
These regiments saw service in the Philip¬
pines, in Hawaii and in the far West,
where the the Indians called them "Buffalo
soldiers"—a name assumed with pride by
the 367th or "Buffalo" Regiment, particu¬
larly at the ambuscade of Carrizal, they
demonstrated their value, and the services
rendered by black troops in Cuba, notably
at San Juan Hill, are still vivid in the pub¬
lic mind. Negroes here and there com¬
plain that the courage of their troops
there was never sufficiently recognized by
the nation, but most white people could
assure them that theirs was the best-re¬
membered military exploit of that Cuban
campaign; not the less well-remembered,
of course, because it afforded an oppor¬
tunity for a good-natured jibe at the popu¬
lar Rough Riders.
There were colored officers, too, before
the war. One negro, Charles Young, a
graduate of West Point, who organized
the Liberian Constabulary in the Repub¬
lic of Liberia as the representative of the
American Government, and performed a
similar work in the Republic of Haiti,
rose to the rank of colonel. The race had
one major, Benjamin O. Davis, of the 9th
Cavalry: several captains and a great
many non-commissioned officers. With
the coming into being of the National
THE NEGRO AND THE WAR
Bv Harrison Rhodes
Army, the number of colored soldiers has
greatly increased. In filling the first draft
quota of 687,000 men. the number of col¬
ored men called for entrainment was 94,-
483, almost fourteen per cent. And on
June 1 st the available figures were that an
additional 62,213 had already been called
since the first draft, making a total of
156,696.
About 1,000 Negro officers have been
commissioned in the National Army as
captains, first and second lieutenants, with
approximately 250 colored medical officers
in the Medical and Dental Reserve Corps.
The 92nd Division and the 93rd Division
(Provisional), the first comprising about
30,000 Negro soldiers and the latter so
far about half that number, made up of
National Guard Units, have been or¬
ganized, and are commanded by Major-
General C. C. Ballou and Brigadier-Gen¬
eral Roy C. Hoffman, respectively. These
divisions will embrace, when fully consti¬
tuted, practically all branches of military
service, including Infantry, Engineer and
Artillery (Field and Coast) Regiments,
Signal Corps (radio or wireless telegraph¬
ers, etc.), Hospital and Ambulance Corps.
Medical Corps, Aviation Corps (Ground
Division), Service Battalions, with men
technically trained in all branches of sci¬
entific work.
The training of colored officers, after
being considerably hesitated over and de¬
bated was undertaken last year at Fort
Des Moines, Iowa—the Negro Platts-
burg. The training camp was quickly
filled up for the four months' course and
about 750 commissioned officers were
turned out. a large part of them already
college graduates. A colored man from
Tuskegee, Emmett J. Scott, is Special As¬
sistant to the Secretary of War, and
George M. Haynes from Fisk University
occupies a similar position in the Depart¬
ment of Labor. Mr. George Creel's bu¬
reau thinks it important to send out speak¬
ers to the colored population. So that one
may say that in many if not in most ways
the administration, which might colorablv
be accused of being Southern in compo¬
sition and tone, has gone a very long way
towards recognizing and utilizing the col¬
ored citizen-soldier and civilian. One
black man in a remote Florida cabin
wrote, in some trust and simplicity, a let¬
ter to the President of the United States
about the drafting of his son, and re¬
ceived promptly a reply from the Presi¬
dent's secretary himself, a message of ex¬
planation and encouragement to a fellow
American citizen which will be treasured
many years in the pine woods.
Records of Black Bravery
There were pleasantly picturesque
black notes in the war scene at the very
beginning. At the declaration of war, it
was colored troops who were set as guards
around the White House. Some Negroes
cynically observe that when one of their
officers died, a colored Major, he was not
offered a military funeral. But. such a
disturbing note did not for most Negroes
appreciably diminish the compliment to
the one part of the American population
in which, it was jocosely said, there
couldn't possibly be any Germans. There
is a rumor, which though it cannot be
authenticated, will not down, that General
Pershing, when he went to France, abso¬
lutely insisted that he should take Negro
troops with him. And almost at the out¬
set of America's fighting on the western
front there came home the stirring
tale of two black heroes, Needham
Roberts and Henry Johnson who though
wounded by enemy grenades, one on the
elbow, forearm and left leg, the other on
the right hip and left leg, beat off a raid¬
ing party of twenty-five Germans, killing
or wounding five of them. It was a good
light, with grenades, rifles and at last a
bolo knife. These were cited to receive
that wonderful Croix de Guerre of our
sister Republic, and it would not perhaps
be possible to better the simple descrip¬
tion of them in the final phrase of the
French text of citation—"good and brave
soldiers."
The news was received at home with
delight by the Negroes, and for the most
part with simple ungrudging and unsur¬
prised admiration by the white press. In¬
deed on the whole it may be said that
whatever may be thought of the colored
man in times of peace, we confidently ex¬
pect him to be brave in war.
Negri
History—Pul
Porters
There is indeed a long tradition of
black bravery, from the day when a Negro
Crispus Attucks, was the first man to be
killed in the Revolutionary War, down.
There are famous names in the roll, fa¬
mous that is to Negroes, possibly to them
only. Students of America might profit¬
ably read this chapter of the nation's his¬
tory, possibly, shall we say in the Pull¬
man Porter's Review, an admirable publi¬
cation which probably few people who
travel on sleeping cars know. There are.
it appears. 1083 stars in the Pullman Com¬
pany's service flag: 1083 blacks who hi¬
therto were only modestly ambitious to
keep the world well brushed and are now
risking their lives to keep it safe for a bet¬
ter future. There has perhaps been in the
past something faintly comic in George
the porter: now he givefe you a deepened
sense of the solidarity of America, and a
renewed conviction that this war is essen¬
tially every American's war.
Colonel Moss
Even before the news began to come
from France, experts of lighting thought
well of the colored soldier. Colonel Moss,
a Louisianian who is in command of the
367th (Buffalo) regiment, has been con¬
siderably quoted. At the outbreak of the
war he asked for colored troops and he
believes they make good soldiers. But he
is scrupulously temperate on the subject
and says that it is unwise to talk too much
about anyone, black or white, being "able
to lick his weight in wildcats." But his
imperturbability is not perfect for he per¬
mits himself to say, with an ill-hidden light
of enthusiasm in his eyes that "they are
the only soldiers that will go into a fight
singing." He corrects this betrayal of en¬
thusiasm by an extremely shrewd obser¬
vation concerning our attitude towards the
race. The Negro, he says, gets too much
credit when he does a good thing—but he
gets also too much blame when does a
bad thing. Colonel Roosevelt, speaking
to the Buffalo soldiers at Camp Upton,
made his own pleasantly turned comment
on this tendency when he assured the boys
that General Bell was there to see that
they got what they ought to have when
they behaved themselves and also to sec
that they got what they ought to have
when they didn't behave themselves. And
the boys roared with delighted laughing
appreciation of his humor.
Negro Humor
.Humor is perhaps not commonly enough
considered in appraising the mental equip¬
ment of a good soldier. A young lieu¬
tenant of the Buffaloes, a Des Moines
graduate, puts stress 011 this point. A
soldier who can laugh and sing like the
Negro cannot, he points out, be unhappy
long nor troubled by premonitions of
evil. Not to "care which way the river
runs" is in this case a virtue. It does
away with complaining and the colored
soldier in the camps sums things up with
a cheerful philosophy when he says "it's
a great life if you don't weaken." It
would be pleasant to linger on this topic
with an anecdote or two. The two colored
soldiers who in the early days were whit¬
tling our dummy rifles from pine boards
for drill purposes expressed no impatience
with the war department's delays, they
to learn that at the beginning at least it
was not always made easy for the black
man to be a patriot and a soldier.
Anyone who was i n the South dur¬
ing April and May, 1918 knows how
immediately after the declaration of war
a wave of hysterical apprehension ran
ovfcr the land. It was suddenly declared
that the German propaganda had been
long and successfully at work among the
colored population. There were wild ru¬
mors of secret drilling and hidden stores
Right.
'dyetl, Heller
only remarked as they plied their jack-
knives that they were glad they were not
in the artillery! A race naturally inclined
to contentment.
Sr.*
Bec.) :
the Negro at
;g of tpie War
Let us delay what reports there are
from the trenches of actual battle per¬
formance and consider something of the
situation of the Negro at the beginning
of the war. It is rarely plain sailing for
that race and so it need surprise no one
of guns. One lurid unauthenticated tale
verified a burial suddenly stopped by the
authorities because of the suspicious heavi¬
ness of the coffin, which, being opened,
disclosed no stiff black corpse but
cartridges and rifles! In some districts
there is no doubt that parts of the white
population genuinely believed that the su¬
preme horror of the South, the bloody
black uprising was at hand. In such mo¬
ments actual facts count for very little,
and there is always the danger that wild
talk and armed vigilance committees will
bring about the very dangers they seek to
avoid. It^ is a considerable evidence of
the South s real deep-lying conviction of
the Negro's loyalty that there was as lit¬
tle trouble as there was. In many parts
the responsible leading Negroes of the
community held public meeting* and -lid
all they could not only to rouse the patri¬
otism of their own race but to increase
the confidence of the white-.. Gradually,
by June or July, the fear died down. Most
Negroes will tell you, however, that ihe
danger was more from the whites than
from the blacks. In any case it was a fe¬
verish frightening time, and it is just pos¬
sible that the aftermath of that early sus¬
picion has been the unhappy increase of
lynching in the country during the past
year, a phenomenon which has certainly
not made the path of patriotism any easier
for the race of its victims.
The question of course may still be
asked—was there German propaganda?
And it may be deliberately said in reply
that there undoubtedly was. It is ex¬
tremely difficult to bring forward definite
detailed proof. The subject brings into
evidence the age-old tendency <>f th> W
gro to keep certain things from the whites,
even from those with whom he is on
friendly and confidential terms. This
habit is violently denounced by many
whites, especially in the South, but it may
at least be said that caution and secretive-
ness arc a legacy from slavery days, the
persistence of which it is not difficult to
understand. But there is no question but
that odd travelers in the backwoods
dropped hints at dusk into black ears that
the Negro had no flag, and told of some
mysterious black republic which the Kaiser
at Berlin would like to see in existence.
Some facts concerning the treatment of
natives in the German colonies in Africa
might easily have disposed of the whole
matter, but there was no American propa¬
ganda at work.
Stevedore Regiment. "The Advance Guards of Democracy'
German Propaganda and the Negro
It is almost certain that Berlin, with its
almost unfailing misreading' of conditions
in English-speaking' countries had counted
on the "black terror." A well-known
woman in New York, whose two-starred
service flag floats over the most magnifi¬
cent part of Fifth Avenue, states cate¬
gorically that an evening some years be¬
fore the war, on the deck of a yacht at
Kiel when she was talking with the
Kaiser he turned to her with a certain air
almost of gay mischievousness and said:
"I expect in many ways I know as much
about America, Mrs. , as you do. In
Negroes have that the process of emanci¬
pation is only half completed. Berlin
could foresee that even after the war had
begun Negroes could scarcely help saying
that a nation warring to make the world
safe for democracy ought to make itself
democratic at home. And it may have
known from spies that before America's
difficult for the black man to cherish ran¬
cor. He blushes a bit, he talks, but he
really does not like to hate his neighbor.
One of the most eloquent of Negro ora¬
tors claimed lately for his people, in a
noble passage, that the race is almost the
only one which has learned the lesson of
not bearing malice. Indeed if it were not
telling him that the colored drafted men
are going to get special positions assigned
to them.
"Yes, you'll be right forward in the
first trenches. And when there is an at¬
tack to be made the white men are going
to put the colored men all in front of
them."
"Is they?" the black boy replied, grin¬
ning. "Well, that's all right; that's one
time the white folks ain't going to be run¬
ning over the colored folks!"
Funny, certainly, but if you think it
over, deeply pathetic.
some ways I expect 1 know more. I know
things that may happen which you Ameri¬
cans never suspect."
She protested deprecatingly and the
night and the Imperial mood being pro¬
pitious to confidence, he continued.
"You don't know, of course, that if
America were at war—with me, for ex¬
ample. all the Negroes would rise and join
the enemy."
The Germans knew of the days of sla¬
very, they knew too of the feeling most
entrance into the war many Negroes of
the upper and more thinking classes took
the presidential proclamation of neutrality
literally and tried to obey it, keeping
themselves to a certain extent aloof from
the Great War in feeling. To that de¬
gree they were pro-German.
The Negro Not Malicious
But the Kaiser and Berlin knew very
little of Negro psychology. They did not
know that temperamentally it is extremelv
so how, after slavery had disappeared,
could the two races so soon have settled
down into what was after all a pretty fair
friendly relation? The carefully built-up
structure of Negro disaffection indeed
crumbles like a house of cards if you touch
it. And the Negro's attitude to the Ger¬
man propaganda can perhaps be disposed
of in a story which Negro audiences greet
with uproarious amusement and patriotic
delight. The Hun propagandist is repre¬
sented as buttonholing a black bov and
The Negro Rose to the Occasion*
When the war came at last the Negro
race rose to the occasion with really touch¬
ing simplicity. No observer could fail to
see that the Negroes thrilled deeply to the
thought that the American flag was their
flag and that it was not only their duty,
but their privilege to defend it. What¬
ever we may feel them, the colored peo¬
ple feel themselves not African but Amer¬
ican. Have they not indeed drunk of our
wells and eaten of our bread for three
centuries? The German propagandists
told them the flag was not theirs. But it
is the only flag they have ever had, and
under it, in spite of adverse conditions,
they have attained to a degree of civiliza¬
tion and prosperity and happiness which
their fellows have reached under no other.
We must remember too that American
citizenship, of which some of its white
possessors think lightly enough, is for the
Negro still a great almost romantic privi¬
lege, and that all his hopes for the future
are summed up in complete attainment of
thinks that the whole business of a soldier
is to kill Germans, a necessity that some
whites lost sight of in war talk. One
black soldier told an officer whom he didn't
recognize as his general, "No, boss, I ain't
exactly thinking about laying down my
life for my country. I'se thinking about
how them Germans is going to lay down
their lives." Nearly every black soldier
has cheerfully promised someone at home
to bring back the Kaiser's head on a plat¬
ter. The black imagination jumps all the
stages from the registration table to the
front line of trenches.
it and full enjoyment of all rights and ad¬
vantages. The race is emotional and the
days are propitious for an emotional pa¬
triotism.
It is too a simple race, still, as far as
the vast majority is concerned, unedu¬
cated. There is something very engaging
in the direct and definite way the Negroes
view war, something also very manly and
helpful. In these days of bothersome in¬
tellectual sophistications it is encouraging
to find one class in the communitv which
"Well." said one lad as soon as he had
signed his name, "when you want me to
fight?"
"Ever seen military service?" asked a
colored member of an exemption board.
"No?" "Well, you're going to!"
The colored people believe in the colored
troops. They truly believe that when
enough Negroes are in the fighting line
the war will be over. It may be untutored
and naive, but it is such beliefs that win
wars, such passionate faith behind the
lads in khaki that drives them forward
irresistibly. Its very simplicity saves it
from being braggadocio and makes it in¬
stead a home fire burning as all such fires
should.—The Metropolitan.
Since August 21, the colored divisions
of troops, both the 92nd and 93rd, have
pushed forward 12.000 yards on the
enemy's line. One division of colored
troops advanced 600 yards without a
single loss. When they began their
attack on the towns of Sandemont
and Recourt, they ran the Huns from
town of Bertincourt, but the town was
soon taken by the Negro troops, who cap- ,
tured 800 Hun prisoners.
From the Reserve Officers Training
Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. 639 col¬
ored men were commissioned. Since then
160 others have been commissioned from
various camps and recently there have
been added 107 officers from Camp Pike
and 33 from Camp Taylor. This makes
a total of 939 officers from the training
schools beside those in the Medical Re¬
serve Corps. Colored men are now be-
their trenches and captured both towns
and several villages on the other side
of Recourt. It was then that a com¬
mand was given them to halt or re¬
tire to receive rations and rest, but not a
man obeyed the command until they had
driven the enemy out of sight. Monday,
August 26, both colored divisions almost
annihilated four fresh divisions of Ger¬
man reserve troops who had been sent into
the enemy's line to drive back those
"Black Americans" in their attack 011 the
ing received in the Veterinary Corps.
There are 41 colored chaplains.
A Negro expert currency examiner,
Mrs. Anna R. Grant did the work "f three
persons for more than a week in the cur¬
rency rush. Of her has been said: "She
is to all in the bureau, regardless of race,
an example of rare efficiency and fine
spirit." Mrs. Grant's husband is in
France.
HE Regiment began to
form about June i, 1916,
under Colonel William
Hayward, with Armory
headquarters at 131st
Street and 7th Avenue,
New York City.
Our first encampment was at Peekskill,
New York, August 15. 1916.
We stayed at Peekskill three weeks, dur¬
ing which time the regiment was reviewed
and their soldierly bearing, approved of
by Governor Whitman, who was then Gov¬
ernor of the State of New York.
We came back to New York City and
drilled hard every night, taking into our
inidst many new recruits. We continued
this procedure until the Regiment en
trained for Camp Whitman, New York.
After two weeks of extreme hard train¬
ing, Federal Government Army official-*
came to review our activities, and approv¬
ing the same, we were then drafted into
the Federal Army. After another week
of hard training, we entrained for guard
duty throughout the State.
The First Battalion with headquarters
in Albany.
The Second Battalion with headquarters
at Camp Upton.
The Third Battalion with headquarters
at Camp Dix, New Jersey.
After six weeks of guard duty detail,
the Second and Third Battalions entrained
for Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina,
which is about four miles out from Spar¬
tanburg, South Carolina, while the First
Battalion remained at Albany, New York.
Our purpose for going to Camp Wads-
worth, was to stay there for three months
and complete our training for overseas,
but owing to racial difficulties arising, our
stay at Camp Wadsworth was just twelve
days, notwithstanding the fact that the
order was that we were to stay for three
months. After twelve days at Camp
Wadsworth, we entrained for Camp Mills.
Long Island, to finish our period of throe
TheUps AndDownsof the Victorious
Fifteenth Infantry
By Sergeant H. M.
s, of Co. C, 369th, Old j 5th.
months, necessary to complete our oversea
training. However, certain news reach¬
ing Camp Mills from Spartanburg, cre¬
ated a spirit of antagonism among the
Southern portion of the Rainbow Division
stationed at Camp Mills, and our recep¬
tion at Camp Mills was antagonistic from
the start. In as much as the Southern
soldiers then stationed at Camp Mills saw
were amply prepared to meet them; so
during the first 24 hours, numerous fights
and altercations took place between the
members ol the 15th Infantry and the Ala¬
bama and Georgia soldiers, with the Old
15th winning out completely. The authori¬
ties then thought it best to separate the
Northern soldiers from the Southerners,
and after two davs and a half, the mov-
fit to place signs upon the Company's
streets, namely, "this side for colored,"
"this side for white," and as it was an un¬
usual thing to occur in our State, we
thought it our duty to tear down the signs,
which we did. The white soldiers then
circulated the report, that they were go¬
ing to run us out of Camp, for which we
rained for the follow¬
er, and Thi
II, of Such a Slalcmei,
ing 15th were er
ing stations.
First Battalion at the Armory at 94th
Street and Park Avenue, N. Y.
Second Battalion at Van Cortland Park,
New York.
Third Battalion at 166th Street and
Franklin Avenue.
At these stations the entire regiment
received their overseas equipment, during
which time there were many banquets
tendered to the Third Battalion by New
York leading white citizens. After which
the Third Battalion assembled at Camp
Merritt, New Jersey, finding the same ob¬
noxious signs and paraded through the
Camp with them. This action on the part
of the regiment must have thrown the
fear of God in the heart of the Southern
white soldiers, and there was no open war¬
fare. Nevertheless, we traveled over the
entire Camp as we pleased but since such
signs had been put up we decided that we
were going to keep the Georgia and Ala¬
bama white soldiers off our side of the
streets and when any of the boys were met
in the street, naturally they would be
treated a little rough, from which of
course our officers allowed a guarded
force to hold the entire regiment in guard
until we sailed for France; now, had it
not been for the honor, respect and high
esteem held by every member towards our
leader, Colonel Hayward, no doubt the
boys would have set up a No-Man's Land
right there in Camp Merritt, as Camp
Merritt was an oversea station, and as
there was no other Camp from which the
regiment could make ready to go, then it
was decided that the best thing now for
the Infantry was to get over where real
fighting was going on, so on November
12, 1917, we embarked, setting sail for
France. After two days out on the sea
it was claimed that there were some time
bombs found in the coal bunkers, and also
spies on board, consequently our ship re¬
turned to our moorings at Hoboken. On
December 3, 1917. we set sail again for
France, and after three days out on sea.
the piston rods of the engine in our ship
broke and we returned again to Hoboken.
embarking lor the third time December
12. Outside of the Bay our ship met with
a collision that night. In the first instance
it seemed to be extremely serious, but after
close investigation it was decided to con¬
tinue the journey which we did, landing at
Brest, France, on December 27, 1917.
After debarking, we were then packed
into third class French passenger coaches
better known in America as "cattle cars"
with the atmospheric conditions register¬
ing 30 degrees below zero. We traveled
all night reaching St. Lozere about 3.30
next day and then marched to our bar¬
racks at Camp 1. Notwithstanding the
fact of very low temperature and the freez¬
ing of our water in our canteens, and also
our precious "Corn Willie," we disem¬
barked, unloaded our pack and were called
out for drill which lasted for one hour.
This was done in order to keep the men
from freezing; we were then marched to
the parade ground and given hot coffee,
and in the midst of it all, a more jolly, hap¬
pier lot of true American citizens were
never witnessed, and joy over the hot cof¬
fee was not confined until the most hated
man in camp (the bugler) called us to the
parade grounds again, after which quar¬
ters were located for our regiment and we
went into our barracks dead tired for
sleep, and every member'of the regiment
would have been perfectly satisfied to
chloroform every bugler in camp, for we
felt as though we would like to sleep for
one whole week.
The next morning the spirit of every
man was lifted and exalted when the
Colonel addressed the regiment and
brought to our minds that we were in
France, and recognized as a part of Amer¬
ica's Army of Democracy, that it was ours
to do or die, and after his speech the regi¬
ment settled down to serious work, prepar¬
ing to take our place in the first line
trenches.
Our first duty in France was to assist
in the construction of warehouses, rail¬
roads or whatever came to hand ; the work
was enjoyed bv every member of the regi¬
ment for a while, but the fighting spirit
still remained which later created discon¬
tentment, and after many complaints it
was decided to send the regiment to the
first line trenches, and when this news was
broken by our Colonel, the entire regiment
put up a shout which doubtless should
have been heard in Paris.
The achievements of the regiment from
that day was as follows:
The regiment was armed and equipped
as a part of the French Infantry.
Joining the 16th French Division about
April 1st, and continuing until the sign-
of venereal affections and drunkenness
than in any other regiment in the A. E. F.
Out of 5,000 men passing through this
regiment there were only 24 venereal af¬
fections and 6 cases of drunkenness in one
year.
Up to May, 1918, our regiment held a
margin of over 22 per cent of all grounds
then held by the American Army, these ac¬
complishments when one realizes that the
regiment was numerically less than 1 per
cent of the A. E. F. Army. Our regiment
was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the
of the Old 151I1 Inft
ing of the Armistice, as part of the Armee
Francaises and used throughout the war
as shock troops.
Our regiment as a matter of fact had
less training up to this time than any other
regiment in action, our training was three
weeks at Camp Whitman, twelve days at
Camp Wadsworth, and four weeks with
the French Army before taking over our
portion of the front line trenches at Ar-
gonne Forest at Nain-de-Massiges in the
Champagne sector, our regiment held the
record for having the lowest percentage
<f Their Cha,
French Military authorities for operation
in the offences of September and October,
1918. There have been over 145 citations
to individual officers and enlisted men for
legion-de-honneur, or Croix-de-Guerres
for extreme gallantry in action. It is com¬
mon talk among the officers and men of
our regiment that the 15th Infantry were
in action more than any other American
regiment, (191 days) and upon the day of
the signing of the Armistice, the 15th In¬
fantry was the first of any of the Allied
soldiers to reach the Rhine.
Combats in which regiment suffered
losses:
1. Nain-de-Massiges, Argonne Forest,
The Aisne, The Tourbe, Butte De Nesnil,
Ripont, Maison En Champagne, The Dor-
mois Kupponase, Fontaine Belie, ue Ridge,
Sechnault, Vosges Fountains.
2. Captured a great number of prison¬
ers, cannon and machine guns and pene¬
trated fourteen kilometres (9 miles 1 into
powerful enemy positions, stubbornly de¬
fended.
3. Never lost a prisoner, a trench or re¬
treated a foot of ground while in this
campaign.
Society and the Negro
How precious the Negro is when society
wants to use him!
How invaluable is his service when the
cotton is waiting in the fields to be picked,
rolled into bales and transported to the
world's markets! How indispensable i- his
loyalty when the army is recruited !'<>r the
great war to make "the world safe for de¬
mocracy!" How welcome are hi- dollars
when a $5,000,000,000 Liberty Loan is
floated by the Government!
Does anybody think of denying the
black man the opportunity to do the work
that nobody else will do? Has anybody
urged that the black man be exempted
from military service? Has any black
man laid down his $50 in a Liberty L..an
booth and been refused a bond? Just to
suggest such possiblities is to reveal their
inherent absurdity. In these and countless
other directions, the Negro is usable, as a
shovel is usable to dig a ditch or a truck
to carry a burden: and society pays tribute
to his worth.
But what happens when the Negro asks
for reciprocity in this matter of service-
seeks as a return for duties done the free
exercise of privileges conferred ?
.(Continued on page 711
France, Nov. 9, 1918.
AVE- felt so upset from the
"floo" haven't tried to
write you or anyone else
anything like a coherent
account of the big bat¬
tle in the Champagne
starting September 26. I note in letter
just received you guess us to be with
the Yanks over Metz way. Now that
we are clear out and in another part
of France I can, I believe, without
violating censorship, tell you where we
were. We attacked in the assault
wave of Generald Gouraud's splendid
Fourth Armee, in which we served con¬
tinuously from March 12 to recently. We
had, concededly, the worst Boche strong¬
hold from Switzerland to the sea, a few
kilometers west of Argonne Forest, and
attacked from practically our own sector,
the one we last held, which was sure a
terror.
Our French division was composed of
two white French regiments (both splen¬
did units, and my regiment for the infan¬
try, with the Frepch artillery and
engineers. The division came out of the
sector, all but two battalions, to be tuned
up for the attack several days before the
party started. I was glad, because we
needed the time and also because it gave
us a chance to see the wonderful prepara¬
tions. the assemblage of shock units of
infantry (we were in fast company), of
artillery, pontoon trains, aviators, ambu¬
lances, etc.
All Prepared at Night
Ammunition trains and supplies poured
in for days, or rather nights, because it
was all done under cover of darkness and
Col. Hayward Describes the Fighting
of His Regiment
In letter to friends he describes how the fan,
Charged in the Terrific Battle
then everything was hidden by day in
groves, ravines and villages. It was a
wonderful thing to watch going on. It
went well and apparently with secrecy un¬
til the last day or two, when it got so big
it just naturally overflowed into the open
spaces and all effort at concealment ap¬
peared to me to have been abandoned.
All this time we were well within range
of the Boche artillery, but oddly enough
they let us alone. I did not see or hear
half a dozen German shells in as many
days, that is on our back areas or roads.
This was in marked contrast to their great
attack in July, when for days General
Gouraud pounded them hard with his big
guns. They must have known, too, for
their planes were over us all the time.
Why, one day a Boche plane came over,
pounced down out of a cloud, set fire to
our observation balloon, shot and killed
with machine gun the poor observer who
leaped from the flaming balloon and was
peacefully descending in his parachute.
This Boche scoundrel then came still lower
and darted over our headquarters so low
that some of the men threw stones up at
him, having no time to run and get rifles
which were a few rods away.
Attacked With Full Equipment
We attacked in the assault equipment,
blanket roll, with emergency rations, choc¬
olates, sardines, hard bread, etc., carried
in musette bags (like school book satchels)
slung over the shoulder. The main burden
the men had to carry was ammunition,
cartridges, grenades, wire cutters and, of
course, the omnipresent gas mask and two
canteens of water.
Well, the fateful day drew near, and we
finally moved up into position at night and
stowed the men away in dugouts, tunnels,
boyaux and trenches. Still very little Boche
shelling, though our roads were congested
with big guns, wagons, motor trucks and
every conceivable form of walking or roll¬
ing transportation.
The hours we waited were interminable,
or seemed so. The artillery preparation of
the French wing was to be for 6 hours
25 minutes, starting at 11 P. M., the as¬
sault to follow at 5.25 A. M. The French
General told me we had the greatest coh-
centration of artillery behind our division
ever assembled in one spot in the world's
history, and when I heard it I believed
him. At any rate I know there were lit¬
erally hundreds of cannons provided for
our divisional artillery for the occasion,
mobile guns such as we call field or horse
artillery.
You could not have put them in a single
line, hub to hub, behind us. They were
divided between the three regiments and
fheoreticasllv each third was under com¬
mand of the infantry colonel after the
jump off. Then in addition there was the
heavy stuff of the army corps and armee,
and back of all the monster American rail¬
road artillery with their snouts up in the
tree tops, the ones that throw over boxcars
and cook stoves at Fritzey.
Counted the Crawling Minutes
So we waited and counted the minutes
which crawled by, made our prayers, nib¬
bled chocolate, looked at a certain photo¬
graph, yawned, stretched and tried to ap¬
pear cheerful and absolutely normal and
unconcerned.
There was the usual sector harassment
fire by both artilleries, only a few of our
old and long stabilized batteries, how¬
ever, firing. The great mass which had
crawled in night after night remained
mute until the hour. There seemed to
a few minutes before 11, and just a few
come a lull even in this desultory fire for
seconds, ten or fifteen maybe, before 11,
one big baby away up westward toward
Rheims spoke, then another and another
and she rolled down our way.
Suddenly a 75, which seemed to be at
my elbow, spit out the nasty sharp clack
they have. We all jumped a little, and
then the world lit up like the Great White
Way, and all the tall buildings in existence
began falling on tin roofs. Nature
blushed at her poor efforts at earthquake
and the party was on.
I do not think it was the unbelievable
volume of roaring sound the guns made
themselves: nor yet the more remote but
terrible crashing of our shells as they
burst on the German lines which made the
most impression on me, but the noise they
made going over our heads, tens of thou¬
sands of the noisy birds, big and little,
every one delivering himself of a hun¬
dred "whews" and "shishes" as he was on
his way. They seemed not more than two
feet above us. I wanted to stick my cane
up and touch them. One could actually
feel them in one's hair. The breeze was
from the north when it started, but they
made the wind turn round and blow the
other way. It was a solid, ten million dol¬
lar roof of whistling hardware, and not
one too many for the chore.
After an hour or so, we (those of us
who could get into a deep sap where the
crashing roar was somewhat muffled)
went to sleep. I have learned men can
and will sleep anywhere.
Assault Lasted Twelve Days
At 5.25 the assault was launched, an
assault that kept on assaulting so far as
our division was concerned, for twelve
days, in which we crossed rivers, captured
towns, cut and climbed through acres and
acres of barbed wire entanglements,
stormed slopes and bluffs and ridges and
hills for fourteen kilometers, all the way
facing stubborn and terribly effective ar¬
tillery and machine gun fire of the Boche.
How long was Dante in hell ? We were
in twelve days.
I saw so much, endured so much, wor¬
ried so much I can't remember half of it.
Some days and every night it rained. We
slept in holes, like foxes, when we slept,
or in captured Boche dugouts. It was
cold, oh, so cold at night, we wished a
shell would come along and end it, and
then if the sun came out and thawed us
out we were afraid it would. When we
crossed the Dormois River, where it
widened into a swamp, the Boche was
shelling industriously and it looked like a
hail storm on the surface of the water. I
saw shells break from percussion when
they hit the water the same as if they had
hit the hard ground. Much of the time
we had to lean over and shout into each
other's ears to be heard, then again it
would die away apparently.
There were many grewsome sights con¬
tinually before us. I noticed that our
men and the French when killed generally
cuddled up in a heap. The Boche, how¬
ever, was all sprawled out. Maybe be¬
cause we were always attacking and most
of the time crouched down. Both our
dead and their's looked like stuffed figures
of wax works, except those mutilated by
shells. We crossed a small cemetery, used
until a few weeks before the attack by the
civilian communitv. Our artillerv and
their's had pounded this spot until the
graves were literally blown out of the
ground. The dead soldiers, just killed,
were by no means the most revolting
sights at this terrible spot.
But what's the use? After four days
and nights we gained our second set of
objectives and surmounted a great ridge
which looked down its far slope on to the
most wonderful valley and plain dotted
with towns, lakes, chateaux and .farms
This panorama spread out before us for
miles and the sun was as bright as any
June day.
Here we saw what I'm sure no men had
seen before. We saw four divisions
(twelve regiments) attacking abreast with
as perfect liaison between each other as
squads could have. They covered a front
of about four miles. My regiment was
the center of our division, which was the
right center of the four divisions we could
actually see. Our guns were close behind
us and the German artillery behind their
infantry. And what a duel they had—
the way artillery generally fight duels-
firing on each other's infantry instead of
on one another.
This made a double belt of flam*. n .U.
tossed up men, earth and debris along our .
whole front. I shall never, never forget it,
if I forget all else in life. The sky was
full of aero duels, battles between great
escadrilles of planes and anti-aircraft liar-
rages from ground batteries. I saw fifty-
seven French planes in one fleet They
looked' for all the world like a great llock
of wild geese on the Missouri, flying V-
shape, point in front. At that, it looked
like the Boche planes could come over at
will and by shooting off firework* in the
air succeed in jalonning our lines for their
artillery to get the range on our men.
We were almost constantly in an atmo¬
sphere of gas, wearing gas masks, but for¬
tunately it was arsene and phosgene, not
the deadlier mustard or yperite. which !at
ter we had but one/ I think. I have not
gotten over the stuff yet and guess I never
will. It took most of the .lining out <>1 my
nostrils, throat, lungs and all mucus
membranes. We cried like onion peelers
and sneezed like the worst hay fever vic¬
tims in the world and all had whooping
cough.
At the end of our twelve days we came
out with our division, what was left of us,
which included twenty officers, ft wasn't
a bit of fun any of the time, and those
guys who are chafing in the rear or in the
United States just thirsting for pore at" I
glory may have my place next time.
"Jim"
Europe's
Famous
15th
Infantry
Band
of
100
Skilled
Musicians
Leads
the first
New
York
Veterans
"
... - —" of America's participation in the Great World War. the
World Famed 15th Infantry Band. They not only kept the morale of the American Expeditionary Forces 100 per cent,
— under the masterly leadership of its Conductor, "Jim" Europe, proved themselves to be so
They played at all the Hospitals and Rest Camps
escorting them to the Front Lines i
Heads of the Allied Forces. And a
© Intcmntlonnl Kllm Service
ie war more than "Jim" Europe's
entertaining all of the Crowned
fighting regiment and to Lieutenant 'Jim'Europe and his wonderful Band."—N Y. Age.
Col. •■Bill-
Hay ward's
' 'Hell Fighters
Passing
Under the
New Victory
Arch
New York City
February 17,
1919
the
Victorious
15th Infantry.
ANY thousands o f sol¬
diers have returned from
France, but the first regi¬
ment to have an official
parade and to receive an
outpouring of welcome
from the public is a col¬
ored regiment, the famous Fifteenth of
New York.
Not only was a colored regiment, the
Fifteenth, the first to receive the sort of
welcome that New York alone can give,
but also the first to pass under the magnifi¬
cent Victory Arch which is being built at
Madison Square.
The welcome which New York gave
the Fifteenth is proof certain of the regi¬
ment's popularity and fame. There was
no other attraction to draw out the thou¬
sands of people who crowded the line of
march; and the fact that they stood and
waited in the bleak air was in itself a
great testimony to the regard in which
New York holds its "Hell Fighters."
And the boys deserved every bit of the
outburst of enthusiasm which greeted
them. Their heroic exploits have been
made common history by the New York
newspapers. It was known that the col¬
ors of the regiment bore the Croix de
Guerre and that 171 of the men had won
this French decoration. But aside from
their deeds of heroism, the very appear¬
ance of these black soldiers was sufficient
to make New York's heart swell with
pride. This city has seen many regiments
of soldiers march up Fifth Avenue, but
all that have been seen heretofore were
green soldiers, soldiers who showed con¬
sciousness of an effort to keep step and
look brave. The Fifteenth furnished the
first sight that New York has had of sea¬
soned soldiers in marching order. There
was no militia smartness about their ap¬
pearance: their "tin hats" were battered
and rusty, and the shiny newness was
worn off their bayonets, but they were
men who had gone through the terrible
hell of war and came back. There
is a line somewhere in the Bible which
says that the last shall be first. This
prophecy has come true so many times and
in so many ways for us as a race that we
Here is a regiment of black men, who
won more distinction as individuals and
as a regiment than any other unit in the
New York Guard, and perhaps more than
any other single unit in the whole Amer-
ought to have faith that it will finally be
completely fulfilled.
According to the natural order of
things, the Fifteenth should have gone to
Europe and fought in the same division
in which the other regiments of New
York State troops were placed. But when
the other side was reached, they were bri¬
gaded with the French, and with the
French they fought through the war.
>g at Camp Jacksc
ican Army. One of them, Henry John¬
son, was the first soldier in the whole
American Army to win both the Croix de
Guerre and the French Palm. The entire
regiment was cited for the Croix de
Guerre and 171 of the men won the deco¬
ration by individual deeds of bravery and
valor. The regiment was in front line
trenches iqi days, and is reported as
never having lost a foot of ground and
never having lost a man by his being taken
prisoner. This regiment captured many
trenches, many prisoners and many guns.
It was farthest to the front of any Amer¬
ican regiment when the Armistice was
signed; and was the first American regi¬
ment to place foot on German soil.
We wonder how many people who are
opposed to giving the Negro his full citi¬
zenship rights could watch the Fifteenth
on its march up the Avenue and not feel
either shame or alarm? And we wonder
how many who are not opposed to the Ne¬
gro receiving his full rights could watch
these men and not feel determined to aid
them in their endeavor to obtain these
rights?
We extend our heartiest welcome to this
great fighting regiment and to Lieutenant
"Jim" Europe and his wonderful band.
—New York Age.
The following are some of the Negro
troopers who have been decorated with the
Croix de Guerre for conspicuous gallantry
in the war in France: Sergeants Daniel
W. Lewis, William Butler, Charles Rick,
Robert Collins; Corporal Fletcher Bat¬
tles; Privates Gilbert Johnson, Lionel
Rogers, George Chapman, Samuel Jack¬
son, Arthur Simpson, Morris Link, Mar¬
shall Scott and George E. Hannible.
Lieutenant Lawrence O'Riley, of Bos¬
ton, Mass., is the third in his family to
receive a commission in the U. S. Army.
His father and brother are now in France
with the "Buffaloes" and he is a recent
graduate from Camp Pike, assigned to
Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Ferguson, a col¬
ored family of Institute, W. Va., have
three sons in the U. S. Army: one, a cap¬
tain; another, a machine gun instructor at
Camp Hancock, Ga., and a third with the
U. S. Army in France.
There is a total of 400,000 Negro sol¬
diers under arms, of whom 100,000 are in
France.—Crisis Magazine.
The Germans said in reference to our
Negro troops that it was no use trying to
gas the Americans because when they at¬
tempted it the Americans merely turned
black in the face and came on.
This letter to a friend from Capt.
George Brokaw Compton, of the 349th
Field Artillery, which, with the 350th and
351st regiments, forms the 167th Brigade,
the first Negro Field Artillery ever or¬
ganized in the American Army, seems to
prove that the Negro artillery was as dis¬
couraging to the Huns as the Negro in¬
fantry :
As I expect to see you some time in De¬
cember or January, my regiment having
received orders to prepare for embarka¬
tion, I am writing only a few of the high
lights in my experiences with the Negro
artillery. Many professional army men
regarded it as impossible or at best experi¬
mental because of the stiff requirements
along the lines of technical training. But
the regiment has had flattering compli¬
ments on its artillery work from disinter¬
ested observers.
Naturally, the difficulties of discipline
and training have been greater with these
troops than with many white regiments:
particularly, the difficulty of training non¬
commissioned officers to take the greatest
responsibilities.
Went over in June
And such must be assumed in artillery
work as you will readily realize, when you
contemplate the crime that artillery men
are guilty of if they shoot short, or, de¬
pending upon the conformation of the in¬
fantry line ahead of them, to the right or
left.
The regiment sailed for France, June
12th and formed with the 350th and 351st
Regiments, the 167th Brigade, which is
the artillery, all Negro, of the 92nd Di¬
vision. We held a sector at Pont-a-
MousSbn.'directly in front of Mfetz, during
Compton Lauds Negro Gunners
New York Captain said Artillery Made Good. Regiment Was Near Mets.
Unit Won Success Against Technical Odds
the American offensive against thai
stronghold, which was ended by the sign¬
ing of the Armistice.
Battery D's No. 2 guns were destroyed by
a direct hit. The battery was equipped
with the famous French 75's.
U • r -1 , ' ,
A Group of French Colonial Artillery .
a Battery o
I was in command of Battery D, and
since I took command the battery has
never had a member tried by court-martial.
It has won squad drill competitions and
field meets, and has an esprit de corps
which is unexcelled in the brigade.
In the drive against Metz, having taken
up an unprotected position in the open,
Ajri,
Two of its enlisted personnel have been
recommended for Distinguished Service
Crosses for gallantry under shell fire. I
am now in command of the 2nd Battalion
of the regiment.
You may meet the 92nd Division pa¬
rading up Fifth Avenue not long after
you receive this letter. I am eager to get
back and resume the practice of law now
that the jpb is done.
One of these reports to the New York
Sun, tells us that:
The Negroes were, perhaps the most
proficient bayonet fighters in the American
Army. They simply doted on the cold
steel, and their natural agility, improved
by intensive training, made them troops to
be feared at close quarters. It was not
long before the fame of the Negro bayonet
wielders spread among the Huns, and it
was seldom that the German troops would
hold out when yelling, sweating Negroes
jumped into their trenches.
Not even liquid fire could break the mo¬
rale of the Negro troops.
The terrors of shrapnel, gas and high
explosives, the grim life of the trench,
were all made bearable by the unfailing
good nature of the Negroes.
They proved their valor on countless
occasions, and it was one of the common
stories that Jerry feared the "Smoked
Yankees" more than any other troops he
met.
And one of their own men, James P
McKinney, attached to the 371st Infan¬
try, telling of his experience, said:
"If there is anything in this war that
the Negro troops missed I certainly never
heard of it. Explosive bullets, liquid fire,
high explosives, gas and all the horrors
of war were certainly turned loose on us.
But, just the same, the Negro troops
went through it, and when it came to the
final test, we proved ourselves better men
than the Germans. This was especially
true when it came to fighting at close
quarters. Jerry would not fight with the
bayonet against the Negro troops, and
that was all there was to it."—New 1 ork
Sim, Jan., 1919-
Croix de Guerre and Rare Praise For
American Negro Troops
FRENCH Army order, ci¬
ting a complete Negro
regiment for the Croix
de Guerre, is a partial an¬
swer to questions, some
of which have found their
way into the Digest office,
as to what the colored man has been doing
for his country "over there." The regi¬
ment cited, the 365th Infanty of the 93d
Division, which is the old 15th Infantry of
the National Guard of New York, is
praised in these words by the French De¬
partment :
Under command of Colonel Hayward,
who, though wounded, insisted on lead¬
ing his regiment in battle; of Lieuten¬
ant-Colonel Pickering, admirably cool
and brave; of Major Cobb (killed), of
Major Spencer (severely wounded), of
Major Little, a true leader of men, the
365th Reserve Infantry, U. S. A., en¬
gaging in an offensive for the first time
in the drive of September, 1918,
stormed powerful enemy positions, en¬
ergetically defended, too, after heavy
fighting, the town of S , captured
prisoners, and brought back six can¬
nons and a great number of machine
guns.
Exceptional though the award of the
coveted French War Cross may be, the
deeds of valor by which this Negro regi¬
ment won it are less exceptional than
typical of the way in which colored troops
measured up to the demands of the war.
This is the verdict of newspaper corre¬
spondents and of soldiers invalided home
from the Western front. Survivors of
the fighting now arriving in New York
have "nothing but praise for the colored
troops," writes a reporter in the New
York Evening Sim. "They proved their
valor on countless occasions, and it was
one of the common stories that Jerry
feared the 'Smoked Yankees' more than
any other troops he met." The report
continues;
The negroes were, perhaps, the most
proficient bayonet-fighters in the Amer¬
ican Army. They simply doted on the
cold steel, and their natural agility, im¬
proved by intensive training, made them
troops to be feared at close quarters.
It was not long before the fame of the
negro bayonet-wielders spread among
the Huns, and it was seldom the Ger¬
man troops would hold out when the
yelling, sweating Negroes, jumped into
their trenches.
Not even liquid fire could break the
morale of the Negro troops. There is a
story told of one wounded soldier who
leapt up and, dragging a useless foot
after him, rushed into the trenches when
he saw an airplane spray the wounded
Yankees with burning oil. He was
killed in his mad attempt to take re¬
venge, but he got at least one Hun with
a good old Southern shaving implement
pressed into service for the occasion.
The terrors of shrapnel, gas, and
high explosives, the grim life in the
trench, were made bearable by the un¬
failing good nature of the Negroes.
When permissible they organized their
quartets and sang plantation songs.
Frank Washington, a wounded Negro
from South Carolina, told the story ot
how a quartet harmonized on "Massa's
in de Cold, Cold Ground." and when the
singing; was over said in unison, "and
we all's gwine be with him tonight."
They were awaiting orders to go over
the top at the time.
That peculiar regard by the foe for
the rules of civilized warfare which in¬
cluded the use of explosive bullets,
among other atrocities, was experienced
by the Negro soldiers. To the certain
knowledge of some of the Negroes at
Debarkation Hospital No. 3, dozens ol
these men were torn to bits by explo¬
sive bullets. Their wounded were
sprayed with liquid fire by the Huns
during the fighting on the Champagne
front.
James P. McKinney, of Greenville, S.
C, attached to the Headquarters Com¬
pany of the 371st Infantry, was wounded
in the right arm by shrapnel in the "Bi^
Stunt." Gas-infection set in and he was
invalided out of service.
"If there is anything in this war that
the Negro troops missed," said Mc¬
Kinney, telling of his experiences, "I
certainly never heard of it. Explosive
bullets, liquid fire, high explosives, gas,
and all the horrors of war were cer¬
tainly turned loose on us. But just the
same, the Negro troops went through
it, and when it came to the final test we
proved ourselves better men than the
Germans. This was especially true when
it came to fighting at close quarters.
Jerry would not fight with the bayonet
against the Negro troops, and that was
all there was to it.
"The Hun would stand out there and
pump a machine gun at us—750 shots
to the minute, but when we came up
close to him he would yell 'Kamerade!'
and hold up his hands. Our officers
made us let up on them, too, but the
Huns did what they pleased to our
wounded.
"The day we went 'over the top' we
took our positions early in the morning,
and waited until our barrage had
smashed the German defenses pretty
well. About the time our barrage lifted,
the Huns sent over a counter-barrage,
but we went right through it, and up
over the slopes commanded by their ma¬
chine guns. They turned loose every¬
thing they had to offer, and the storm of
lead and steel got a lot of our men.
"Still, we followed our officers into
the devils' trenches. A few of the Ger¬
mans tried to fight with their bayonets,
but we could all box pretty well, and
boxing works with the bayonet. A few
feints, and then the death-stroke was
the rule. Most of the Huns quit as"
soon as we got at them. Even the ones
that had been on the machine guns
yelled for us to spare them. I guess in
the excitement some of them fared
poorly."
The narrator's idea of German military
honor is the same as that which American
soldiers have generally brought back.
"You can never tell which Germans to
trust," declared McKinney. "Ordinarily
when men surrender, they are through,
and you can trust them. But the Germans
who surrender to us would have automatic
pistols up their sleeves, and would sud¬
denly drop their arms and open fire. I
know of one squad that was wiped out
because a Jerry killed one of our dough¬
boys."
Continuing his story of the attack, Mc¬
Kinney gives some of the dramatic inci¬
dents of the fighting:
"While we were advancing we
worked along low and took all available
cover against the machine-gun fire di¬
rected against us. As soon as we came
within range we opened fire with hand-
grenades and accounted for the machine
gun nests. I saw some of the gunners
chained to their post.
"The barbed wire gave us trouble.
Our artillery cut it up pretty badly, but
still it was a pretty strong barrier
against the advancing infantry. When
we got tangled up in the wire Jerry
would play with his rifles. I've seen
fellows get into a German trench with
their uniforms flying in shreds.
"I was wounded in the arm at the big
stunt. We were attacking along the
whole front, and the Huns were kept
on the hop. While going up I was hit
and had to fall behind. My arm was
badly mussed up, but I threw a few gre¬
nades here and there and guess I got a
few of them.
"The German artillery-fire was ac¬
curate. They had our ranges down to
a science, and while they had good am¬
munition were hummers. They were
good marksmen. Why, I've seen them
cut a regular ditch along a row of shell
holes to prevent our troops from using
the holes for shelter. There was posi ¬
tively nothing they didn't do that was
horrible.
"I've seen them cut loose at a com¬
pany runner with three-inch artillery. It
was a funny sight for us, but not for the
runner. The Huns would drop shells
all around him where he fled on
wings of terror. I never saw them get
a runner with their artillery fire, but
I've seen some very close shooting.
"Perhaps the most unusual experience
I ever had was one day when we were
advancing toward the German positions.
They cut loose with their artillery and
we were ordered to take open order and
hunt cover. For two hours we were
violently shelled, but thanks to Provi¬
dence, none of us was killed. A few
were slightly wounded. They mixed
high explosives with gas and shrapnel.
"About the hardest luck of the war,
though," concluded McKinney, "fell to
the lot of a pal of mine. He got a piece
of steak somewhere and was cooking it
—his first bit of steak in months. While
the meat was broiling the Germans be¬
gan a gas bombardment. The men put
on their masks, but the meat was ru¬
ined. That's what I call hard luck."
Frank Washington, "a typical planta¬
tion Negro from Edgefield, S. C.," is an¬
other who proved his valor under condi¬
tions worthy of testing the bravery of the
bravest. He was attached to Company C,
371st Infantry, and received an explosive
bullet through tha arm at Champagne.
His story is quoted:
"It was all bad, but the worst was
when the German airplanes flew low
and sprayed the wounded with liquid
fire. There is no way of putting out
that liquid flame, and no one can help
you, because the fire spreads so quickly.
It is bad enough to be helpless out there,
without water or friends, but to have a
hell fiend fly over and just squirt tor¬
ture at you—well, the Indians or sav¬
ages of Africa were not much worse.
They were not so bad, in fact, for they
were savages—the Germans are sup¬
posed to be civilized.
"A Hun plane flew over when I was
wounded, but, believe me, when I see
that fire coming I sure did some lively
hopping around. There wasn't going
to be any broiled Washingtons if 1
could help it. But some of the mortally
wounded were burned to death. Those
Huns should be made to pay for that
sort of thing. It ain't fighting, it's con¬
centrated hell. But we had to tend to
their wounded, and one of our officers
saw that we did it.
"I was 'over the top' in the fighting on
September 29th and 30th. We advanced
after the usual barrage had been laid
down for us. We went up to the Ger¬
mans, and my platoon found itself under
the fire of three machine guns. One of
these guns was in front and jes' runnin'
like a millrace. The other two kept
a-piling into us from the flanks and the
losses were mounting. We got the front
one. Its crew surrendered and we
stopped. The other guns kept right 011
going, but we got them, too.
"It was while we were attacking the
guns on our llanks that 1 was wounded.
Ordinary bullets are bad enough, but
the one that hit me was an explosive
bullet. That's me, sir, every timcu
When things is comin' I sure u*;t mah
share of 'em. Yas, suh, I suttinly get
mah share.
"While I was knocked down, it
safer to stay down. Those machine
guns just kept right on pumping—not
the ones we captured, but others. The
wind they stirred up around your face
jest kept you cool all the time. I finally
started back, but found myself in a Ger¬
man; barrage. It was shrapnel in front
of me and machine guns in back of me.
I lay right down and had a heart-to
heart chat with St. Peter. I sure never
did expect to get home again.
"They say Edgevillc ain't much t"
look at, but I would have given two
months' pay, /including allotments, to
get back on my farm about then. But
now that I've been there and conn back
I kind of feel that I'm square with thi>
country. I did my share, and I'm glad
I did it."
"Yes, sir," interposed McKinney,
"we all did our share and we are all
glad we did it. This was democracy\
war. The Negro troops assumed the
burden of democracy along \\ith th>
white and red troops. We did our
share to keep America unchained, and
we arc all proud we did it We are sure
too, that America will not forget."—
Literary Digest.
Sergeant Robert Terry, of the First
Separate Company of Baltimore, and Ser¬
geant Charles Hughes, of the First Sepa¬
rate Battalion, of Washington. O. C
have been presented the ( roix de Guerre
for bravery.
"NO FINER"
$ ays Colonel of A. V. Colored Troops Who Won Fame in France. New York's
Colored Fighters Outshot the Germans with Bullets and Senegalese
Poilus at "Craps," Their Proud Commander Reports
(Evening Mail)
HEN Col. "Bill" Hay ward,
leading back home the ist
Battalion of the 369th
( colored) I n fantry—the
old 15th Regiment of the
N. Y. National Guard
—touched pier 95, Hud¬
son River, to-day, the first thing he told
reporters was:
"I want you boys to say that no man ever
led a finer, cleaner, pluckier lot of troops
than my command. They were afraid of
nothing; they obeyed orders; there was
fine feeling between them and their white
officers, and I can tell you I'm proud of
them, from the ground up."
Then the colonel relaxed a little and
said:
"They're not merely good fighters;
they're financiers. Most of the men
were from five to twelve months behind in
their pay when we were sent to the Aisne
with a regiment of French (Senegalese)
colored troops near us.
They Needed the Money
"The French didn't know how our fel¬
lows would get along with the others, but
I can say they got along fine. They taught
the colored poilus to shoot 'crap,' and be¬
fore the Germans could make the sector
hot, my boys had won a good portion of
their neighbors' money. And they both
needed and deserved it."
Capt. John H. Clark, the only member
of the 369th Regiment to be honored with
the cross of the Legion of Honor,
came ashore when the transport Regina
docked at pier 60. North River, at 4
o'clock with the remaining battalion
aboard. This decoration was won in the
Champagne region.
Fifty of the men who returned on the
vessel wore the French cross of war.
Col. William A. Pickering, whose New
York address is the Lambs Club, and who
has been decorated by both the American
and French officials, was on board.
Companies E, F, G and H of the 2nd
Battalion, the supply company and a medi¬
cal detachment, thirty officers and 931 men
were on the Regina, which originally was
destined for Boston. The 3rd Battalion
of the regiment arrived Sunday and is
now at Upton.
Col. Hayward and his men arrived on
the Stockholm, which docked at Fifty-fifth
Street at 11 o'clock, carrying altogether
2,084 warriors, of whom twenty-nine offi¬
cers and 1,019 men belonged to the fa¬
mous 369th. The men of the 369th were
of Companies A, B, C and D of the 1st
Battalion and the Field and Staff Head¬
quarters Company and Medical Detach¬
ment.
Flurries of snow fell about the deck
of the vessel as she warped into the pier,
but the dusky warriors greeted them with
smiles.
"Wow! but it's good to be back,"
shouted a big six-footer just as the band
011 the pier began to play "Home Sweet
Home." Something in the sentimental
tune made the colored men keep quiet for
a minute, but when the band presently
broke into a jazz there wasn't a pair of
feet on the ship that could keep still. They
shuffled and jigged, and made the decks
resound with the joy of their homecom¬
ing.
Just as the boat touched the pier Col.
Hayward. limping from an accident, and
a little pale from the gassing that entitles
him to wear a wound stripe on his arm,
leaped over the deck and shaded his eyes
with a hand. But before he could speak
he was greeted with:
"Hello, Bill; glad to see you back."
Then there was a chorus of "Hello
Bills," and the colonel waved in reply. But
he singled out the man who first shouted
to him.
"Glad to see you." he said, "but I
thought you were in Boston."
Cheers for Major Spencer
"Time enough to go to Boston," was
the reply. "Had to be here to see you
The man was Major Lorillard Spencer,
who had come to the pier on crutches and
was wounded while commanding the 3rd
Battalion of the 369th, which came home
last Sunday. When Col. Hayward's merry
boys recognized the major they gave him
a round of rousing cheers that made him
almost throw away his crutches.
On the pier, on every dock along the
river side, in every conceivable place where
a pair of human legs and arms could get
a hold, were members of New York's col¬
ored population shouting themselves into a
trance as the ship warped in.
A thousand of them had gone down the
bay on the steamer Correction, in com¬
pany with the police boat Patrol, with the
mayor's committee on board, and when
they came abreast of the Stockholm at
quarantine there began such a series of
greetings that even if sirens had been
allowed to sound they could scarcely be
heard above the din of human welcome.
Why Hayward Is Proud
But to get back to CoL Hayward and
what he said of the merry, grinning,
healthy looking lot of warriors that let the
white snowflakes lie peacefully on their
bronze skins today.
"We went to France with 53 officers and
2,000 men," he said. "And we've come
back with 20 officers and 1,600 men. These
fellows are the finest, most courageous
troops on earth. They'd fight day or
night. And they were fighting nearly
every minute of the 191 days we were un¬
der fire—all but about a week, when we
rested.
"They went to the front—right into
the thickest of the hell, fighting three
weeks after reaching France—and they'd
be there as good as ever now if the Ar¬
mistice hadn't been signed.
"The French liked them. They hadn't
a notion when we got over there what
American colored troops would be like,
but they soon found out. And they judged
my boys on their merits. There sprang up
the warmest friendship between the
French and my command.
Were "Lost Children"
"You know we were known for a long
time as 'the lost children of the American
Army,' because we always fought under
French generals. And when we were
leaving, the whole French 161 st Division
with which we fought lined up to see us
march past, and they pinned the Croix de
Guerre on the old 15th New York State
flag, and put an inscription on it. 'Aux
armes Francais,' to signify that we were
worthy of the best traditions of their own
army.
"Not only that, but the French general
came and kissed me on the <Vek. As he
did so I heard one of the bo- - mutter. (iee.
but that's the first time any man kissed
our colonel.'
"My boys were adaptable in every way.
They were adaptable in learning French
from the men they fought with and in
learning German from the prisoners they
took, but the greatest adaptability they
showed was with the bolo knives they got
from the French Senegalese troops. They
were fine with the grenades, fine with the
rifles, fine with the machine guns—when
they got to the bolo knives it was good-bv
to Fritz forever. They enjoyed their
work, I can tell you.
"Four Days of Hell"
"The bloodiest fighting we had was Sep¬
tember 26, when we attacked a strong sec¬
tor of the Hindenburg line that stretched
from the Vosges to the North Sea. Two
hundred thousand men had been killed in
that sector, but we finally took the ridge
there. Only we left 1,000 men killed and
wounded there after four days of the most
hellish fighting you could imagine.
"Well, we took four towns on our way
to the Rhine and Berlin. And when the
Armistice was signed we were sent to
Thann, in the Vosges. So much did the
French think of my boys that they se¬
lected 11s to lead the whole French army
into that town.
"We met some Germans there and they
got talking with my boys. 'We'll come
back in ten years.' they said, but my boys
answered them: 'You won't, nor in
twenty, and neither will we.' That really
didn't happen at Thann. It happened at
Blodensheim on the Rhine, where I had
my headquarters."
The colonel said their French comrades
with whom they went through days and
nights of hope, despair and hope again,
always fighting, called the colored men the
"Dis-Doncs" which is the nearest French
equivalent they could get to "Say, there."
the favorite greeting of his men.
When Col. Hayward had told this he
turned to a reporter who had just come
up to the group and said:
"Have you seen Sergt. Johnson. Get
him. He has a fine story."
How Johnson- Did It
Eventually Sergt. Iienry Johnson, of
Company C, the first man in the regiment
to win the Croix de Guerre, was found.
He wears it with a palm and a star, but
at first sight does not look a bit like a man
responsible for killing four and wounding
thirty-two in a single fight, for he is little
more than five feet five inches tall. Before
going to war he was a coal shoveler in Al¬
bany.
"May 5, 1918," began the sergeant, "I
was on guard duty at the Bois de Hauzes
in the Argonne with Private Needham
Roberts, and along about midnight, when
we were going to be relieved, I heard a
noise. So I says to Needham, 'I guess
there's some Germans in that there wood.
We'd better keep quiet.' Needham al¬
lowed there must be some Germans about
and I says. 'Well. I guess we'd better stick
around and get them Germans even
though we're supposed to be off duty
Needham Was Busy, Too
"Well, we didn't hear any more until
about 3 A. M., and then we heard them
Germans cutting through the barbed wire.
Then I took thirty little hand grenades and
took the tops off, and I says to Needham:
'When they come we won't have to take
these babies out of a bag.' So we laid
the grenades in a row and waited. After
a while we heard the Germans quite near
us, and one of them said—I know a bit
of German—'Let's rush 'em.'
"And I says to Needham; 'if they do
they'll get a hell of a reception.'
"Another bit passed and then they came
on. and. oh. boy. if we didn't let them have
it with the grenades—the whole thirty at
"But they came on all the same, and I
fired twenty-one clips with my rifle. But
it got jammed and I used the butt as a
club. That didn't stop them either, and
then I got out my bolo knife just as one
big fellow put his arms round my neck.
"Oh, boy, but that's some weapon. I
slashed right and left with it, swung,
thrust and parried, and I guess I laid some
of them folks low. They gave me several
gashes in the face and body though before
Lieut. Lloyd Thompson and a relief party
got up and put the whole lot out of busi-
Sergt. Johnson would not have told how
many men he did for. or what was the
result of his exploit if Col. Hayward had
not chimed in.
Won His Cross
"The story's all right," said the colonel,
"but he should tell you that he killed four
Germans and wounded thirty-two—we
picked them up the next morning—and
that he and Needham routed a whole ma¬
chine-gun nest that was giving us lots of
trouble. The sergeant, I may tell you, was
decorated with the Croix de Guerre in the
presence of the whole 161st Division."
Then Col. Hayward said again how
proud he was of a regiment that had no
less than 191 of its men decorated for
bravery, which had held a trench for
ninety-one days without relief, and was
the first allied regiment to reach the Rhine.
He was also proud that the Germans had
nicknamed them, "bludlustige schwartze-
man"—the bloodthirsty men. "They had
good reason to," he said. He said there
had been only six cases of inebriety in the
regiment all the time it was abroad.
Col. Hayward also said the regiment re¬
ceived a great reception in the towns it
took over on the march to the Rhine, and
that he himself had acted as mayor for a
time in one of them. He said there had
been little sickness in the regiment until it
reached Brest, but there "in three weeks,"
he said, "we lost more men than during
the months in the field. Lieut. Longshaw,
one of my most capable officers, died
there."
Sergt. Johnson was looking admiringly
at his colonel while the latter finished his
talk, and said at last:
"Say, boys, I'd never have got through
even with that there bolo knife—and it
was some weapon, believe me—if I hadn't
remembered the colonel's advice, 'Have a
still tongue, keep your eyes and ears open,
and you're liable to get safe home.' And
I sure enough did. The Statue of Liberty
looked good to me this morning."
All told there were 2,084 officers and
men on board the Stockholm, made up as
follows: 369th Infantry, field and staff,
Headquarters Company, Medical Detach¬
ment, Companies A, B, C and D, number¬
ing 29 officers and 1,019 men; 854th Com¬
pany Transportation Corps, 2 officers and
245 men: three casual companies of col¬
ored troops, numbering 6 officers and 327
men; a medical detachment with one officer
and 12 men.
Other casuals included 389 officers from
various organizations, 20 enlisted men. 2
field clerks, 14 nurses and 18 civilians.
About two hundred young casual offi¬
cers, fine-looking, athletic chaps, who ap¬
peared to be in perfect health, received a
greeting outside the entrance to pier 06,
at Fifty-fifth Street, which they no doubt
will remember long hereafter, even if it
was intended for the 369th.
A throng of colored people, mothers,
fathers, brothers, sisters, wives ami sweet¬
hearts, and many little tads, too. waited
patiently for nearly two hours after the
Stockholm slipped into her place, to em¬
brace their own and give rousing cheers
to the others. They wore badges reading.
"Welcome, Fighting Fifteenth," and many
of them carried-silk American Flags.
Brave Soldier Exploit Under
Captain Marshall
Informing Letter Received by Wife op Capt. Napoleon B. Marshall
from France — Detachment Extricate Themselves When
Soldier and Sailor Column Dedicated to Memory of Ceraldine L. Trotter by L. L. F.
aptain Napoleon Bona¬
parte Marshall has sent
to his wife a very inter¬
esting letter telling of a
recent raid. It is a very
graphic description of
some of the thrills that
some of our boys have passed through,
and will be of vital interest to Guardian
readers.—Boston Guardian.
Marshall's Letter Tells of Brave
Exploit with Detachment
"Here I am on my back bound around
by interlacing adhesive plasters and a
strait jacket binder, merely a matter of
a sprained back at the base of the spine.
It all happened last Monday night, Oc¬
tober 21 st.
"At 8.00 P. M. I went 'Over the Top' at
the head of a platoon of my brave boys.
My mission was to attack a machine gun
position at a salient in the enemy's line
which was located at the nose of a wood
about half a mile to the left of my trench
sector. It was a clear star-lit night and
my path led through a maze of barbed
wire down a steep hill to the valley of a
river.
"At goodly intervals and in a crouching
position, sometimes crawling, we picked
our way to the lower edge of our field of
wire where I gave the command 'As skir¬
mishers guide right' and taking a position
on the right of my line we advanced down
the hill and across 'No Man's Land' close
to the German line when we took another
formation and turned to the left. In In¬
dian fashion we crept up on the objec¬
tive and after we had cut our way through
the last big Bpche barbed wire I again de¬
ployed my men as skirmishers flanked by
automatics. We had approached to 50
yards of the emplacement, I paused a few
moments and breathlessly waited to get a
signal from the Second Battalion detach¬
ment which was to have co-operated with
us I received no signal, so pointing out
the objective to my men I fired my pistol
as the opening shot. Then was pretty mu¬
sic for a few minutes.
"No return fire came from the emplace¬
ment but to our surprise on our left about
a hundred yards and between us and our
trenches there shot up a German rocket
followed by a fusillade of rifle shots and
Members of the Old 15th Being 1
hand grenades. We had barely gotten
back through the heavy barbed wire be¬
fore the enemy heavy artillery answered
to the rocket signal with a barrage of
shrapnel and belching trench mortars.
Hemmed in but Escape
"It cut off our retreat to our lines and
hemmed us in with a wall of fire and steel.
In single file formation we were skirting
the narrow woods which lay between us
and enemy's position. I gave the order
to the left flank and advanced directly to¬
ward the German guns. It was the only
way. Shells were bursting everywhere,
crashing the limbs of trees about us. For
lined in Modern Trench Warfare.
a while it seemed hopeless and visions of
childhood flitted before me. But my men
were observing my instructions at the out¬
set to be calm, obey and be careful. Ma¬
noeuvring we worked our way under the
range of the shell fire and finally managed
to extricate ourselves. Once more in the
open field I made a detour for my trench,
for the enemy was sweeping the direct
way back by a creeping barrage. This
creeping barrage blew to pieces one of my
favorite sergeants who was in the trenches
but I did not know it until I got back M v
eyes are not so good since the gas attack
that put me in the hospital before^ My
foot got mixed in some barbed wire and
I was thrown heavily into a shell hole hit¬
ting upon the small part of my back I
was stunned and momentarily lost control
of my legs. I told my men to go and leave
me, but dear old Sergeant Heidelburg and
a private stuck by me and brought me
back to my P. C.
Praised by Officers
"The next day the general of my bri¬
gade, the Colonel and the Major sent their
thanks to the officers and men for their
'splendid behavior in that death trap.'
While I felt the keenest pride in the re¬
markable steadiness of my boys and the
coolness and precision with which they
jumped into ordered formations both on
the approach and withdrawal, my greatest
joy was that I brought them all back safe
and unscratched, when a lack of judgment
would have destroyed us all.
"On my return I told them that I loved
every one of them and they shouted back.
'And we love you too, Captain.' The next
day my back stiffened up and became
acutely painful so they sent me to the
rear. I am now in the fourth and last
hospital far away from the front and im¬
proving rapidly. War is over, thank God.
We are happy beyond expression."
All Got War Crosses
11 is with great pride that news lias been
received of Col. William I-Iayward and all
his men being cited for the Croix de
Guerre for gallantry in the Champagne
offensive last September, Col. Hayward
is commander of the 369th Infantry, for¬
merly the 15th Regiment, New York Na-
(Continued on fa<je 48)
in the trenches.
?]ITH the American Army
in France, La Mans, Dec.
20.—One of the units of
the American Army to
arrive here en route for
embarkation to America
that has made good, with¬
out having the glamour and spectacular
setting of combat is the 325th Field Signal
Battalion of the 92nd Army Division, the
only colored signal unit in the American
Army. While this battalion has not had
to occupy front line trenches; make raids
for prisoners, or march, in battle forma¬
tion, into big engagements, it must not be
supposed that it did not have a dangerous
and a very dangerous duty to perform.
The boys of this battalion had to string
the wires for telegraphic and telephonic
connections at times when the enemy guns
were trained upon them; so, in many re¬
spects, their duty took them into situations
fully as dangerous as combatant units.
This battalion is composed of all young
colored men, save the lieutenant-colonel,
major, and two or three white line officers.
They are all, with few exceptions, college
or high school boys—not a few of them
experts in radio and electric engineer¬
ing, and those who were not experts
in the work when the battalion was
formed, are now most proficient men.
Major Spencer, now Lieutenant Colo¬
nel, who was responsible for the for¬
mation of this unit, was firm in the
belief that colored boys could make
good, and he has remained with it long
enough to experience his belief becoming
a realization. After arriving at Brest
June 9, the battalion proceeded to Vitrey.
and from that town began a four-day hike
to Bourbonne-les Bains, a distance of
more than 20 miles. From this point, it
proceeded, after a few days, to Voisey,
and at Voisey the boys got their first taste
of what was to be their daily duties. Here
the radio company received its quota of
the latest type of French instruments, a
Only Colored Signal Unit in
American Army
Shows Rare Courage and Skill Under Fire—Maintaining Connection by Tele¬
graph and Telephone as Dangerous as Work of Combatant
Regiments—Croix de Guerre for Eighth Illinois.
By Ralph W. Tyler
battery plant was established, and a full
supply of telephones and wire was issued
to Companies B and C. Here too, the In¬
fantry Signal Platoons of the battalion
French soldier, turned to the left. They
soon found themselves beyond their lines,
and directly in front of a German ma¬
chine gun nest. The colonel divided his
At fttol&fufrai'hi.i.
4 > ; «1
:w
1 -k -
fv \ .
1 Company of the Old I
joined the outfit and shared in the train¬
ing.
The first test of real courage given the
men, and their first introduction into real
fighting, in addition to stringing wires and
sending and receiving radio messages,
came on the afternoon of September 27,
when a party of liaison men. including the
Colonel and Lieutenant Herbert, latter
being colored, advanced beyond the Bat¬
talion P. C. and at the suggestion of a
men into small groups and advanced on
the enemy's position. This sortie resulted
in the signal boys capturing eight German
prisoners and two machine guns, but the
attack caused the loss of Corporal Charles
1£. Boykin. who did not return. Two days
later, during general advance. Sergeant
Henry E. Moody, of the battalion, was
mortally wounded while at his post. Boy-
kin was killed outright, while Sergeant
Moody died in the hospital from wounds
received—these being the first two of the
Signal Battalion to make the supreme sac¬
rifice.
On the 10th of October the 92nd Di¬
vision took over the Marbache sector, re¬
lieving the 167th French Division, and
here, also, the 325th Field Signal Battalion
took over all existing lines of communica¬
tion, and in the days following, installed
new lines, and maintained connections be¬
tween the various units of the 92nd Di¬
vision. This was no small duty, when it
is remembered that an army "sector" ex¬
tends 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 did
these boys go ahead repairing lines, estab¬
lishing new communications under shell
fire, with no thought of 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 10, when
the Second Army launched its attack on
the famous Hindenberg line before Metz,
the 92nd Division, with which I was
during this big attack, was holding the line
of Vandieres-St. Michel-Xon-Norry. Dur¬
ing the entire engagement, which lasted
from 7 o'clock the morning of the 10th to
ri A. M. of the 11th. the entire Signal
Corps functioned splendidly, and as one
man, keeping up communications, instal¬
ling new lines, repairing those shelled out.
In writing the "finis" to this brief men¬
tion of this important army unit made up
of young colored men it is fitting that I
tell of the particular work done by the
boys of the First Platoon on the first day
of the Metz battle. Shortly after the bar¬
rage was lifted, the big guns of the enemy
began shelling Pont-a-Mousson. The first
shells, as I vividly recall, hit on the edge
of the city, and then gradually 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 German shell struck
the top, passed through the ceiling and
wall and exploded, making havoc of the
cellar. Lieutenant Walker, colored, who
arrived just at this time, displayed admir¬
able courage. He took immediate charge,
and directed things. Sergeant Atwood
tried out the switchboard, and found all
lines broken. He found, on trying it, the
buzzerphone out. Private White then re¬
ceived orders to stay on the switchboard
and Corporal Adolphus Johnson on the
buzzerphone. The twelve-drop monocord
board was nailed up'by White, and then
began the connecting up of the lines from
the outside to the monocord board. All
this time the shelling around this point, by
the Germans was fierce and deadly—shells
hitting all around the boys; struck a near¬
by ammunition dump causing the explo¬
sion of thousands of rounds of ammuni¬
tion, which caused a terrific shock and all
lights to be extinguished. But still these
men worked on, and would not leave this
dangerous post, a veritable target for the
enemy's big guns, until the lieutenant of
the military police arrived and ordered
them out.
What these boys of the 325th Signal
Battalion have not learned respecting ra¬
dio, telephonic and telegraphic work is of
little advantage to any one. What they
have learned about it will be of great ad
vantage to them when they return in mak¬
ing a living. The 325th Field Signal Bat¬
talion, whose rank and file is made up of
colored men, has been a marvelous suc¬
cess.
A white lieutenant in a letter says: "At
several times during the day at intervals
my attention was attracted by one of my
colored soldiers, who kept firing at some
object in the enemy trenches that seemed
invisible to evervbodv else. Verv shortly
afterwards, we captured the enemy's first
line trenches. 1 noticed a pile of dead
Germans at a certain point in the front
trench. It was the exact spot at which
the Negro soldier from Alabama had
aimed twenty-one shots. He thought he
had been firing at one man, but instead
he had put a rifle ball through the skulls
of twenty-one Germans."
The Boston, .Mass., American, shows,
by these two letters, how history repeats
itself: Editor Boston American:
1 am reliably informed that two million
colored Americans have registered lor ser¬
vice in our Army and that nearly 300,000
are already in active duty. In view of
the splendid heroism which some of them
displayed-on the battlefields of France, it
seems opportune to call attention to the
following remarkable tribute paid to col¬
ored soldiers by the late General B. 1T.
Butler, who recruited and commanded
thousands of them during the Civil War.
This address was issued at the time he
retired from the command of the Depart¬
ment of Virginia and North Carolina:
Headquarters Department Virginia; and
North Carolina, Army of the James:
January 8, 1865.
To the Colored Troops of the Army of
the James:
In this army you have been treated not
as laborers, but as soldiers. You have
shown yourselves worthy of the uniform
you wear. Your bravery has won the ad¬
miration even of those who would be your
Your patriotism, fidelity and courage
have illustrated the best qualities of man
hood. With the bayonet you have un¬
locked the iron-barred gates of prejudice,
opening new fields of freedom, liberty and
equality of right to yourself and your race
forever.
Comrades of the Army of the James,
1 bid you farewell! Farewell!
Bexjami.v F. Butler.
Major-General Commanding.
What General Butler said more than
half a century ago is true in our present
struggle. Our colored fellow-citizens are
sustaining America's honor no less loyally
and efficiently than their white comrades.
This is the unanimous opinion of our of¬
ficers at the front.
An American.
America's Record Since Entering the War Two Years Ago Today
April 6. 1917
Regular Vrmy 127.588
.National Guard in Federal Service. 80,466
Reserve corps in service 4.000
Total of soldiers 212.034
Personnel of Navy 65.777
Marine Corps 15.627
Total armed forces 293.438
November 11. 1918—
Army 3.764.000
Navy 497,030
Marine Corps 78.017
Total armed forces 4,339.047
Soldiers transported overseas.... 2.053.347
American troops in action, Nov.
11. 1918 1,338,169
Soldiers in camps in the United
States, Nov. 11, 1918 1.700,000
Casualties, Army and Marine
Corps. A. E. F 282.311
Death rate per thousand, A. 1£. F. . .057
German prisoners taken 44.000
Americans decorated by French,
British, Belgian, and Italian
armies, about 10,000
Number of men registered and
classified under selective ser¬
vice law 23.700.000
Cost of thirty-two National Army
cantonments and National Guard
camps $179,629,497
Students enrolled in 500 S. A. T.
C. Camps 170.000
Officers commissioned from train¬
ing camps (exclusive of univers¬
ities. etc.) 80.0000
Women engaged in Government
war industries 2.000.000
Behind the Battle Lines
Rail
967
Cars of foreign origin operated
!>y A. E. F 973
Miles of standard gauge track
laid in France 843
Warehouses, approximate area
in square feet 23j000,000
Motor vehicles >hipped to
France 110.000
Arms and Ammunition
Persons employed in about 8,000
ordnance plants in U. S- at
signing of armistice 4,000,000
Shoulder riHes made during war 2,500,000
Rounds of small arms ammu¬
nition 2,879.148,000
Machine guns and automatic
rifles . . . 181.662
High explosive shells . 250.000
lias shells 500.000
Shrapnel 7,250,*'"
Gas masks, extra canisters, and
horse masks 8,500.1"
Navy and Merchant Shipping
Warships at beginning of war.. 197
Warships at end of war
Small boats built
Submarine chasers built
Merchant ships armed 2.500
Naval bases in European waters
and the Azores -%i
Shipbuilding yards (merchant
marine) increased from 61 to
more than 200.
Shipbuilding ways increased
from 235 to more than 1,000.
Ships delivered to Shipping
Board by end of 1918
Deadweight tonnage of ships
delivered 3.423.495
Finances of the War
Total cost, approximately . .$24,620,000,000
Credits to eleven nations.. . 8.841.657j000
Raised by taxation in 1918
Raised bv Liberty Loans 14.000.000X100
WS;rSWsS"mr,i.'ON"V"n" «4J53.onn
War relief gifts, estimated. 4,000.000.00)
that
|HE 370th Infantry, the old
Eighth Regiment, now
known as "The Fighting
Devils," are back home.
Monday they carried
their colors down Michi¬
gan Avenue, bearing flags
• touched the ground." These
"boys" covered themselves with glory and
in their ranks marched 26 who wore ser¬
vice crosses and 68 Croix de Guerre. This
is a magnificent record, one that Illinois
and America might feel proud of a regi¬
ment that was "on the firing line" and
"went over the top." A halo of glory and
honor covers every mother's son of them.
No regiment of all the allies ever fought
braver, without a complaint, than these
noble sons of Chicago and Illinois. For
their heroism, their noble record and dar¬
ing on the battlefields all Chicago hon¬
ored them Monday. But the Eighth is a
regiment of daring and deeds. This is the
second time since its organization that it
has brought luster and honor to the grand
old State of Illinois. Back in 1898 it
marched down Michigan Avenue amid the
plaudits of all Chicago.
Hi:
; Eighth
8th ILLINOIS OF CHICAGO
Brief Account of Brave Soldiers Who Wc
Thierry
1 Honors From Cuba to Chateau-
and maneuvers. Marshall and Buckner
were the men who manned the batalion and
many give the credit to Colonel John R.
Marshall.
War Wi
In the spring of i<
: Spain
I the world v
called for 175,000 troops and under the
allotment Illinois was to furnish seven
regiments of infantry, one regiment of
cavalry, no battalion mentioned. The
State's seven regiments left for Spring¬
field, all except the old Eighth. The ques¬
tion arose was it misfortune or predjudice.
It was about 1892 a small group of men
banded themselves together to organize a
battalion of our Race. One company was
formed, Company A, of which B. G. John¬
son was captain and the late Maj. John C.
Buckner, first lieutenant, and Colonel John
R. Marshall, second lieutenant. An addi¬
tional company was added and in 1895
they had an entire battalion with John C.
Buckner as its major and Colonel John R.
Marshall as captain of Company A. Dur¬
ing that period they were admitted to the
State militia as the Ninth Battalion. I. N.
G. For several years the Ninth Battalion
was the West Point of the members of the
Race of the country. Tt was in this bat¬
talion that they learned the knowledge of
military tactics, hard driling, marching
pecting Congress to declare war on Spain.
The press clamored for war and no diplo¬
macy could stop the sentiment for it. War
was inevitable ami the citizen soldiery was
preparing for it. It was on April 25 that
Congress declared that "a stale of war
existed between the United States and
Spain." This was the Ninth Battalion's
chance. The President's proclamation
Governor Cai
; Ma
Governor John R. Tanner, one of the'
best friends the Race ever had, and Illinois
war governor during the Spanish-Ameri¬
can war, called Colonel John R. Marshall
to Springfield and told him if he could or¬
ganize a regiment that he would be the
first man of his race to become a colonel of
an outfit. Other men, such as Major Rob¬
ert R. Jackson, Colonel Franklin A. Deni-
son, Hon. E. H. Wright, Editor S. B.
Turner, Rev. Reverdy C. Ransom and Rev.
J. F. Thomas, proceeded to Springfield to
ascertain from Governor Tanner why the
battalion had not been called. He told the
committee if a second call was made, "I
will put the regiment into service." Two
companies were formed in Chicago, one at
Springfield, Cairo, Mound City, Litchfield
and Bloomington. There were the usual
pessimists who declared the Eighth would
never fill up or go to the front. Captain
John R. Marshall showed splendid ability
as an organizer. He was aided and given
counsel by Colonel James H. Johnson,
then adjutant of the battalion, and Major
R. R. Jackson, captain of Company D.
June 30, 1898, The Day
It was on May 25 that President Mc-
Kinley issued the second call for 75,000
men and twenty days later Gov. Tanner
issued the order, command the 8th and 9th
Regiments to proceed to Springfield, 111.,
June 30, 1898, the regiment marched from
their old armory to the station. At night
it was on its way to Springfield. Other
companies from the State assembled at the
camp, then called Camp Tanner. About
1,000 men were in camp. Col. Denison,
Major Jackson and Lieutenant Hawkins
were dispatched to various parts of the
State for recruiting and a few days after
this the regiment was filled. July 23 John
R. Marshall was sworn in as colonel of
the regiment. The muster roll was 1,195
men and 76 officers. Early in August the
9th Regiment (white) received word to
prepare for Cuba. This brought great re¬
joicing in the camp and much sorrow in
the Eighth. The Ninth left and there was
the same pessimistic cry prejudice. At
this stage Gov. Tanner visited the camp
and in a speech said: "Even from the very
doors of the White House have I received
letters asking and advising me not to of-
ficer this regiment with colored men, but
I promised to do so, so I have done it. I
shall never rest until I see this regiment
—my regiment—on the soil of Cuba, bat¬
tling for the right and its kinsmen." To
Gov. Tanner belongs the honor of the
birth of the 8th Regiment. This brought
joy to the regiment and it knew then there
was a chance for them.
Dandy First Recalled
The First Illinois, the "Dandy First" of
Chicago, were dying like poisoned sheep
in the hot climate of Cuba. They could
not stand it. Every tent became a sick¬
room and the dead march was heard at
every mess call. Colonel Henry Turner
(white) implored Gov. Tanner to have
the First recalled. Colonel Marshall was
called by Gov. Tanner to ascertain the
sentiment among his men to go to Cuba.
Speaking for them Colonel Marshall said,
"Every man is ready." When the colonel
told the regiment the news the whole regi¬
ment said "Let's go." This is the spirit
that has characterized every soldier in all
the wars of the United States, from Cris-
pus Attucks to Colonel Otis B. Duncan.
Gov. Tanner sent the message to H. C.
Corbin, Adjutant General. Washington,
D. C. The Secretary of War sent a mes¬
sage back tha next day that he had di¬
rected the regiment be sent to Cuba on the
steamer Yale, leaving New York the fol¬
lowing Tuesday.
On August 14, i8q8, the regiment ar¬
rived in Cuba. It was in this country that
the gallant Eighth won its spurs, that it
proved that our sons were as brave am1
patriotic as their fathers in the war of
the rebellion. No daring was too great
for them around San Luis hill. Cuba. For
military precision and cleverness General
Ewers (white) said that the Eighth was
the first 011 the island. The planning of
the camp, the execution of its details was
the handiwork of Lieutenant Colonel
James H. Johnson and the splendid hos¬
pital work under Major Allen A. Wesley,
Colonel Franklin A. Denison and Major
R. R. Jackson were valuable aids to
Colonel John R. Marshall. During the
major portion of his time Colonel Deni¬
son served as judge of claims, sitting at
Santiago. General Lawton appointed Col¬
onel Denison president of a general court
martial, being the only member of his
Race at that time thus appointed.
Returns from Cuba
The regiment returned from Cuba on
March 17, 1900. Great preparations
were made for them and a wonderful re¬
ception given them at Tattersall's Hall.
Springfield when it was in camp, and there
saw them go through their military ma¬
neuvers and dress parades, the latter un¬
der two governors, Deneen and Lowden.
One of the prominent figures of the out¬
fit was Sergeant William Berry, who was
bandmaster from 1904 to 1917. Under
him the band made a national reputation.
It was under Colonel Marshall's regime
that great friends were made to secure
money for the purchase of the old and
new armory. His record is cherished by
all Chicagoans. He has the honor of be¬
ing the first colonel of the Race and is
<f the Huns Shells.
President McKinley said when the Eighth
volunteered to relieve the "Dandy First"
"that it was the proudest moment of his
Always a Crack Regiment
For years the regiment was under the
command of Colonel John R. Marshall
since it left Cuba. It was through his
hard work and military sagacity that kept
the outfit together. On many an occasion
we have traveled with it to Peoria and
known all over America. See him once,
you will always recall his military bear¬
ing. Colonel Marshall resigned much to
the regret of his regiment, on January I,
I9I4- , . .
Too much credit cannot be given its
former colonel for his patience and hard
work in giving to the world this brave and
heroic body of fighting men.
Colonel Denison in Command
Colonel Franklin A. Denison took com¬
mand of the regiment on January 12,
1914. The old armory at 37th Street and
Wabash Avenue and Michigan was sold
to the Catholic school and it had to move
to a livery stable on Forest Avenue, north
of 35th Street. In this stable the election
of Colonel Denison took place. Lieutenant
Colonel James H. Johnson, who had
served nobly and honorably under Colonel
Marshall, remained lieutenant colonel.
Then came the task of securing a new regi¬
ment. This is fresh in the memory of
those living today. Senator Samuel Et-
tleson, a member of the State Legislature,
offered a bill in the Senate for an appro¬
priation for an armory and Hon. S. B.
Turner, then and now a member of the Il¬
linois Legislature, offered a bill in the
House. Gov. Dunne favored the bill and
money was appropriated for a new ar¬
mory, the first of its kind for the Race in
the United States. No one denies the he¬
roic work of Colonel Marshall in securing
money to help buy the ground for a new
armory.
11 was the crowning effort of Colonel F.
A. Denison to see that a new armory was
erected. The cornerstone was laid in
1915 by General E. S. Burt.
At no time did Colonel Jame- If. John¬
son, Major Robert R. Jackson, Major Otis
B. Duncan or Major C. L. Hunt relax
their interest in the regiment, nor did any
officer of the staff or enlisted man in the
outfit lag in their duty when the campaign
was on for the new armory. Before the
Mexico imbroglio Major Jackson resigned
as major and Louis B. Anderson as regi¬
mental adjutant. Major Stokes succeeded
Major Jackson and Captain John H. Pat-
ton succeeded Adjutant Anderson. The
late Rev. Jordan Chavis. chaplain, was
succeeded by Rev. Bradden. Captain C.
L. Hunt succeeded Major Franklin A
Denison.
Sent to Texas
It was in 1916 that the Mexican im-
broglio occurred. President Wilson or¬
dered troops to Mexico. Among the na¬
tional guards of the country to respond to
the call was Illinois and the Eighth, true
to its colors, was ready and said, as it did
in 1898, "Let's go." The regiment, under
the command of Colonel Denison, made a
favorable and honorable record while on
the Mexican border. The chase for Villa
was given up and the President of the
United States sent the National Guards
back home.
The United States declared war against
Germany and on April 6, 1917. the regi¬
ment was called to Texas again for prepa¬
rations to fight. It was in April, 1918,
the regiment left Texas for Newport
News, Va., to sail for France. The world
knows of their record in France. Blood
is the toll always demanded for battle
glory and the Eighth paid the price for
their record. Under the chalky soil of
France 95 enlisted men and one officer are
resting. The blood of 500 more has
stained the soil of France, but most of
them have recovered and some have re¬
turned to enjoy the fruits of their valor.
Colonel Franklin A. Denison, who became
ill, was sent to Camp Dodge, Iowa.
Fouc
: French
mans after the Armistice was signed.
Colonel Roberts (white) and Lieutenant
Colonel Otis B. Duncan were in command
at the time of the fighting. General Yin-
cendon, the French commander, said he
never saw a braver regiment. One date
will always stand out in the history of the
Eighth Illinois—Sept. 30, 1918. That was
the day they smashed the Hindenburg
line, driving back the crack Third Prus¬
sian Guard, the flower of the Kaiser'*
army. Owing to an order being late in
reaching the Eighth, the advance started
in broad daylight. Colonels Roberts and
regiment, and its bravery and heroism in
their history. What will America do?
The "Black Devils" Are
Coming Home
The latter part of this week or the first
part of next these colored men from Chi¬
cago—members of the famous old 8th
Regiment—will carry their colors down
Michigan Boulevard, covered with the
glory of the deeds of heroes. They said
| HI,!
1 ' / *' j —* ," . -
It V.ilSl* " : , fT A.K ^
The Eighth participated in the final
drive against the Germans on the French
•sector, advancing in the final stages of the
war as far as 35 kilometers in one day.
They were the first allied troops to enter
the French fortress Laon when it was
wrested from the Germans after four
years of war. The Eighth won 26 service
crosses and 68 Croix de Guerre. "The
Fighting Devils" fought the last battle of
the war, capturing a German wagon train
of 50 wagons and crews a half hour after
the Armistice went into effect. They
even refused to fraternize with the Ger¬
Duncan personally led the regiment, all
officers being in front with them. Over
300 yards of shell-torn land through a ra¬
vine dominated by a plateau from which
the Germans rained machine gun bullets.
The Eighth hit the line and passed it. It
was fighting of the most gruelling sort
and in the end was a hand-to-hand strug¬
gle. France will write the name of this
when they left that they would bring the
old flag back or stay with it in France for¬
ever. And they made good.
They are also bringing on their proud
breasts twenty-two American Distin¬
guished Service Crosses and sixty-eight
Croix de Guerre.
No American regiment has done better.
They are the first Illinois regiment that
was actually in the-fighting to come back
to the city as a body. And, true to the
characteristic good nature of the Race,
they are coming back as they went away
—without a whimper or without a com¬
plaint.
Out in that section of the South Side
where most of them live they are prepar¬
ing for them a reception that will outdo
the welcome that our fighting men re¬
ceived in France. Some of their relatives
have been saving ever since they went
away to make the homecoming all that
money can provide.
But these men went out to fight for the
white race. They went over to help France
and Belgium.
And when they come back not only their
own people, but all of Chicago should go
out to do them honor. They have added
a bright chapter to the history of Illinois
at arms, and they deserve all the honors
that a grateful City and State can give
them.
Furthermore, their people have made a
proud record while they were away. Not
a man of their color went to an intern¬
ment camp for disloyalty. Not a man or
woman of their Race gave the Govern¬
ment any trouble during the period of the
They are hard working people, who
earn their bread by the sweat of their
brow, and out of their small earnings did
their share in Liberty Loan, Red Cross,
Y. M. C. A. and other drives.
Their war record as a race is enviable.
Their soldiers went out to fight the
fight of men; they died the death of he¬
roes: they were Americans to the core.
They proved themselves, and Chicago
should show its pride and appreciation as
they pass by.—Editorial, Chicago Ameri¬
can. Feb. 11*. 1010.
Mousson, France, November 24.—Al¬
though I just wrote you yesterday, I am
writing again today as word just came
that we could write home and tell all the
news. Of course, it would be a pretty
hard job to write all we have seen, heard,
done, etc., but we can give the ones back
home an idea, so I am writing this as a
letter of encouragement and joy fulness to
the boys' dear mothers and to those who
have sons with the 351st F. A. Of course,
I am writing only of the 351st and my
personal experience to some extent, still
it is my desire that the same joy should go
to all the mothers, sisters and sweethearts,
those who to my mind worry the most
about the boys who have gone so far to
fight that peace and harmony might reign
throughout the world and democracy live
forever.
I will begin from the start to where we
are today, giving you all that I can pos¬
sibly recall and memories of each incident.
It was on Saturday, June 15, 1918, at re¬
treat, about 5.30 P. M., when we got word
that we were under overseas orders and
that we were to leave Camp Meade at any
time. Some people might think that this
would discourage the men, but it only
added a new life to our boys and they
simply sang those two songs which have
always been my favorite, "Tell Mother
I'll Be There," and "O, Where Is My Boy
Tonight?"
On Sunday. June 26, we broke camp at
4,30 for Hoboken, N. J., and on the way
large crowds met us everywhere, especially
at Philadelphia, where the Red Cross gave
us cigarettes and matches. We arrived at
Hoboken next morning and after break¬
fast we marched to the boat the boys sing¬
ing the "Caisson Song," which will be
popular when they come home. Each man
was examined before we boarded the ship
Great Northern. We were served hot cof¬
fee and rolls by the Red Cross at the pier,
and remained in the harbor until 3.15
P. M., June iq, when we were all ordered
Wonderful Record Made by Command
351.?/ Crack Regiment of Colored Artillerymen. Composed Chiefly of Pitts¬
burgh and Western Pennsylvania Boys, Shell Hun Positions for 16 Days.
Bv Sergeant Robert L. Steptoe
below deck, and when we came up we bade
the States "good-bye." The second day
of travel we could see nothing but water,
no land in sight, the third day the boys
began to get seasick; the fourth day about
half of the boys were ill and many of them
slept on deck to keep from getting sea¬
sick. On the afternoon of the fifth day
we sighted a buoy which was washed out
into the sea, and when the gunners of the
appeared on the horizon, the gunners lev¬
eled on them and it would make you think
there was going to be a real battle, and
there would had they not been our own
convoys.
We sighted land on Wednesday, June
26, and landed at Brest the next morning.
After a two days' stay eating hard tack,
we started to travel in freight cars. These
French cars remind one of a babv car-
ship had finished their work, we could
only see enough to let us know that it was
a buoy and not a submarine. On the
sixth day, everybody was seasick but the
officers of the ship and the crew, who
laughed at us. We began to look for con¬
voys and they finally arrived. As they
riage, still forty of us piled in the cars
and after traveling about three days, we
arrived at a little village called Lathus.
This town or village was rather small, hav¬
ing a population of about 1,000 or 1,500
people. Everybody was very nice to us,
and they were even proud of us as we
were the first American troops there,
black or white. Some of the people even
cried when we left. It is this town that
our friend, Lieutenant Harry K. Tootle
wrote you about. You published the let¬
ter but did not give the name of the town.
I left my battery at this place after a four
days' stay and started for an artillery
school to take up radio telegraphy. A t ier
traveling all night and a day, I arrived
in La Courtine and attended school there
with James B. Haney. We had to contend
with a lot as there were only 71 of us
race men, and the Southern Static had
loaded the camp up with "crackers." We
would say nothing, but only wished that
the regiment would soon catch up with
us. When they came on August 10. we
stood at the station and welcomed them
with open arms. The remarks from the
"crackers" ceased. We represented the
same country that they did and above all
we proved to be better soldiers through¬
out. We were the first colored troops to
train at La Courtine, and we made more
than good.
On Saturday, October 6, at 11 A. M
we departed for the front and we went
straight through with no more stop- We
made this trip in freight cars and were
on the train for about three days. Every
encouragement was offered us. and I will
always remember that at Dijohn a Red
Cross woman told us good-bye smiling,
but as the train pulled out she began to
cry, but we began singing our old favo¬
rites, assuring her that it would soon be
the last of Kaiser Bill.
We arrived at Fourard on the 28th of
October, about 4.30 P. M., and it was here
that I saw my first air battle. I left in
the morning for the advance position that
we were to take up. I was the only one
from Battery A. and having been made
Sergeant, I had to go up and take over
all lines of communication from the regi¬
ment we relieved, and when I talked with
With the Buffaloes in France
By Lieut. Osceola B. McKaine.
IHE Black Crusader landed
I in France with the same
emotions Elijah must
have had when he landed
in heaven. They had
made a strange and peril¬
ous journey from the ter¬
ra firma where they had played and toiled,
which they hated and loved, to a strange,
semi-mythical region, where a grand re¬
ception and a cordial welcome, where a
square deal and an absolute equality
awaited them. France was a terrestrial
heaven where they could forget that they
were sinners simply because they were
black. They were not disillusioned.
France proved herself: more free from
those color caste distinctions which had
everywhere under the Stars and Stripes,
made them feel a people apart, an abnor¬
mality in the body of its citizens, than
their fondest dreams could have conceived.
They found that the ;"Liberte, Eqalite,
Fraternite" inscribed on her national es¬
cutcheon were more than high sounding
words, for they expressed a national ideal¬
ism that guided them in all of their daily
intercourse. That France was really free;
that the Government of France was the
father of all Frenchmen; that all French¬
men enjoyed the same economic, political
and educational equality without regard to
color or section. They discovered, also,
that France had no man-made laws gov¬
erning social equality; but on the con¬
trary, submitted obediently to the great
natural law of individual selection. The
absolute lack of color caste in this great
republic dazzled and bewildered them for
a moment even as the superb splendors of
heaven must have dazzled and bewildered
Elijah.
America suffered by the comparison.
If you can imagine how Elijah must
have felt when he first penetrated the in¬
ner portals of the heavenly gates you can
obtain a slight conception of how the
"Buffaloes" felt when they were received
by France in her Cities, Churches and
Homes.
The French should have added another
word to those on their national escutcheon
—Service—for the French serve. The
colored soldier has learnt that if he would
be a full-fledged citizen he must serve—
until it hurts—or kills.
For the duration of the war he has put
aside his grievances! but he is determined
that the new physical liberation of Bel¬
gium, Roumania and Serbia will also mean
complete economic, political and educa¬
tional liberation for himself and his race.
The process will be a little different, the
results a little different, but the sum totals
absolutely the same. He feels that any
inhabitant of a country who willingly, nay
eagerly, offers himself for the supreme
sacrifice in defending that country's honor,
liberty and peace has an inalienable right
to share equally in that honor, liberty and
the prosperities of battle he has had to
fight, the double peace. He keenly resents
the double burden he has had to carry.
Not only has he had to fight the enemy
in "No Man's Land," but he has had to
fight at the same time his traditional op¬
pressors and his enemies in the rear. He
was weaponless in the battles with the lat¬
ter, for they were his countrymen and the
enemy was at our gates.
He feels that an unfair handicap has
been placed upon the full expression of
his desire to serve. He feels that any
American who committed any act which
would lessen our chances for an early vic¬
tory should be interned with the rest of
the enemy, for they were as guilty of dis¬
loyalty to the Flag as the German who
blew up munition factories. Because his
first duty was to win the war he ceased
fighting for the compensation for past
services. He further inquires of himself
his peculiar status. How is it possible
for a people to eulogize a certain citizen
for his bravery in battle and then deny
him the right to use public accommoda¬
tions equally with the uneulogized?
What manner of people be these who in
time of national need select certain citizens
to guard its capital and then deny them
the right of economic equality?
Can it be {.possible for people whose
motto is "A square deal" and who live
under a government whose very founda¬
tion is the freest possible individualism,
whose superstructure is a revolt against
"taxation without representation," whose
most beautiful embellishment is a "Gov¬
ernment of the People, for the People, and
by the People," to include in the defender
of this noble edifice a certain class of
citizens whose very lives are nearly hope¬
lessly imperiled by their duties, place them
where the grim shadow of death may for¬
ever obscure the beautiful shrine of life
and deny them right to vote?
Is the servant to remain without com¬
pensation for his services?
These self inquiries are recurrent and
constant. His homecoming will give him
the answer.
Perhaps the most significant and im¬
portant phase of the war's reaction is the
enthusiastic and unconditional acknowl¬
edgment by the colored soldier of intel¬
ligent, efficient and successful black lead¬
ership. He has acquired an inordinate
and passionate love and respect for the
colored officers. The black man in the
ranks demands black superiors. This ac¬
knowledgment, this love and respect for¬
ever refutes the contention that black men
could not successfully lead black men, for
these black officers led their "Buffaloes"
successfully and sometimes brilliantly in
the carnage of Chateau-Thierry, the
bloody and bitter Argonne, and in the
eleventh hour drive on Metz. When the
peace ,bells tolled their first stroke, its
echoes found the old 15th New York (col¬
ored) the nearest American troops to the
Rhine, and the 367th Infantry (the "Buf¬
faloes") the nearest Allied troops to Metz.
The white and colored Americans in
the ranks mixed nearly everywhere indis¬
criminately. There were times when they
ate out of the same mess outfits, drank
out of the same canteen and bunked in
the same hay pile at night. They—the
white and colored soldiers—have been
strolling and eating with French women
without the least exhibition of embarrass¬
ment. Many times white soldiers have in¬
vited the "Buffaloes" to their billets for a
good time, and they have fairly lived
among us. We sang together, played to¬
gether, ate together, slept together, and
fought together. The world was safe for
Democracy. These men will not hold these
friendships lightly. These white "bun-
kies" of the "Buffaloes" will not subject
them to the old humiliating prejudices.
The "Buffaloes" have gained a new re¬
spect and knowledge of their fairer broth¬
ers neither will easily forget. These war
attachments and alliances have been
welded together by a common country, a
common danger and reciprocal respect and
admiration; peace will weld them closer.
They are the finest auguries for the future.
The white soldier has learned that it
was a physical and intellectual impossi¬
bility for the colored soldiers to have lived
in glorious America for more than 300
years, attend its schools, study its history,
(Continued on fa.oc 48)
SERGT. A. A. ADAMS
CORP. JOHN ALLEN
LIEUT. H. J. ARGENT
LIEUT. R. R. DE ARMOND
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
i ST CL. PVT. J. L. BUSH
SERGT. JOSEPH CARMEN
CORP. T. CATTO
CORP. G. H. CHAPMAN
SERGT.-MAJOR B 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
ist 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
Heroes of the Old 15th Infantry
Officers and Men of Regiment Who Have Been Awarded the Croix de
Guerre for Gallantry in Action.
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
SUP. 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
ist SERGT. DE 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. E. W. LEWIS
PVT. W. D. LINK
MAJOR ARTHUR W. LITTLE
LIEUT. WALTER R. LOCKHART
SERGT. B. LUCAS
PVT. LESTER A. MARSHALL
PVT. LEWIS MARTIN
1ST SERGT. A. J. McARTHUR
CAPT. SETH B. MacCLINTON
PVT. ELMER McGOWAN
PVT. HERBERT McGIRT
CAPT. COMERFORD McLOUGHLIN
PVT. L. McVEA
iST SERGT. H. MATTHEWS
1ST SERGT. JESSE A. MILLER
1ST 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
1ST 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
PVT. MARSHALL SCOTT
CAPT. LEWIS E. SHAW
CAPT. SAMUEL SHETHAR
LIEUT. HOYT SHERMAN
MAJOR G. FRANLIN SHIELS
PVT. A. SIMPSON
i ST 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. CASPAR WHITE
CAPT. JAMES D. WHITE
SERGT. JAY WHITE
SERGT. JESSE J. WHITE
1ST 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
Somewhere in France, November 10.—
In the battle raging today in the Ameri¬
can advance towards Metz, the 92nd Di¬
vision, one of the colored combatant di¬
visions over here, played a big role. Not
only was its black infantry and machine
gun units up at the front—in the thickest
of it—but its artillery, the 167th Brigade
of field artillery, was on the line, behaving
like veterans, laying down a barrage for
the infantry that was marvelously effec¬
tive, and 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 men.
This has been a glorious day for the
black soldiers. The fighting is still on,
and I have just received the intimation
that the casualty toll may be heavy—de-
pressingly so, for Metz, and the sector
around about it, is strongly fortified by
the Germans, and resistance determined.
Metz is considered by experts to be the
strongest fortified city in the world, al¬
most, if not so, as impregnable as the forti¬
fications of the Dardanelles. But the
Americans are hammering away at it, and
only the signing of the Armistice terms
by the Germans by 11 o'clock tomorrow
will save Metz from falling. Even as it
is, colored soldiers are now on German
soil.
The husky invaders include the colored
soldiers of the 92nd Division, embracing
the "Buffaloes" or 367th, the 365th and
366th regiments of Infantry and the 167th
Brigade of Field Artillery, composed of
the 349th, 350th and 351st Regiments, and
the 317th Trench Mortar Battery, and all
are conducting themselves with a forti¬
tude and valor that have won for them
high praise from their commanding of¬
ficers every time they have been put to
anv test.
Colored Troops Invade German Soil
Gallant 92d Division Plays Big Role in Advance on Metz—Taking "Pot-Luck" in
Freight Car "Pullmans" on War Front Without Complaint—Wounds' Fail to
Blot Out Native Sense of Humor—Determined to Keep up zuith Procession
By Ralph W. Tyler
Freight-Cars Look Li
Coaches" on Wai
Somewhere in France—To many of our
people back in the States who saw our
boys embark on fine American railroad
coaches and Pullman sleepers to cover the
to sit upon, and just the floors to stand
upon, were crowded some one thousand
of our own colored soldiers from the
States. But a jollier crowd never rode
through American cities in Pullman sleep¬
ers and diners than these one thousand
colored troopers. They accepted passage
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 the station at Yierzon, 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
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 convenience,1-, they
would not worry quite so much about h .w
the boys are faring. They are being
wholesomely and plenteously "fed; they are
warmly clothed; they are cheerful an.'l un¬
complaining; they know this i< war and
for that reason know exactly what they
must expect. To a 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 re¬
ceive the same substantial fare the white
soldier receives, and the white soldier
travels from point to point in the same !■•
freight cars as affords means of passage
for colored soldiers. In short, when it
comes to maintenance and equipment, and
consideration for the comfort of the Amer¬
ican soldier, to use a trite saying: "the
folks are as good as the people." There
is absolutely no discrimination, anil the
cheerfulness of these one thousand boys
whose freight cars became, in imagination
Pullman palace cars, was the proof to me
that the colored boys in the ranks are get-
ing a fifty-fifty break .
Wounds Fail to Blot out Sense of
Humor
Two more stories have come to me to
prove that our colored soldiers preserve
and radiate their humor even where shells
and shrapnel fly thickest. A colored sol¬
dier slightly wounded in the Argonne
fighting—and let mc assure my readers
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 pro¬
gressing 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 docs know all about
With the Buffaloes in France
(Continued from fayc 44)
its literature, absorb its ideals, its princi¬
ples, its culture, and, yes, serve its best
families, without becoming thoroughly
Americanized, without becoming an in¬
separable part of the Republic.
The colored soldier .has learned that
preciate his marvelous progress under
their tutelage.
Contrary to general belief among some
of the whites, the colored soldier broadly
speaking, is more anxious to get back home
than the whites. In spite of the fact he
has experienced what it means to be really
free; in spite of the fine, cordial relations
existing between him and the French; in
spite of the fact that he has penetrated the
hitherto mystic veil of white society by
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 fel¬
low, "I was climbin' over some barbed
wire tryin' to get to them d n Boches,
and they shot me; that's what I knows
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 ran freely from
his wound 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 to take the place of
the one that 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 this
driver from keeping up with the troops
with a needed supply of water.
Brave Soldiers Exploit Under
Captain Marshall
(Continued from page 37)
tional Guard. The old 15th was the only
colored regiment in the State Guard to
which Capt. Marshall belongs . Col. Hay-
ward, though wounded, insisted on lead¬
ing his men into battle, displaying marked
gallantry, the citation says.
He was formerly secretary of the Re¬
publican National Committee and was a
Public Service Commissioner for this dis¬
trict until he entered the army—Boston
Guardian.
there are millions of his white brothers
who are really democratic in spirit and
practice. That they have considered him
a man apart, a foreigner, because they did
not know him, because they had not in¬
vestigated him impartially, because they
did not understand him nor properly ap¬
his associations with the French of all
classes and found warmth and welcome
everywhere; in spite of the injustices, dis¬
criminations, indignities and perhaps
lynchings, he knows he will have to face
and fight, he yearns to return home—for
he is an American.
1 he Harbingers of the Next
World War
According to James M. Tuohy, the New
York World staff correspondent at Ver-
stilles, the Peace Conference has decided
that the English Colonial color line shall
extend to the German colonies, of which
they are to be mandatory in the following
language:
"These British colonial administrations
(Australia, New Zealand and South Af¬
rica) have already in operation codes un¬
der which the status and rights and the
immigration of colored or foreign races
are regulated. The codes are based on a
long practical experience in dealing with
these questions.
"It is now understood that the claim for
the application of these codes to the ter¬
ritories controlled under the League of
Nations mandatory has been conceded and
that a further proposal that the League
shall not interpose any alteration or addi¬
tion to these codes for a term of years,
say five or six. is under consideration."
Any such ruthless, criminal brutality
upon the part of the League of Nations
which would consign all of Africa to the
forbidding color line of South Africa
would at the same time condemn the pres¬
ent Peace Conference as the maker of an
ever-increasing bloody race discord in Af¬
rica until in no distant generation the one
hundred and seventy million Africans will
arise en masse and drive out the few mil¬
lion white invaders of Africa. Any such
policy of perpetuating and extending the
color line against the Japanese, Chinese
and East Indians in the German Island
colonies to be assigned to white Australia
and New Zealand will only drive together
into a bitter and bloody compact the seven
hundred and fifty million Japanese, Chi¬
nese and East Indians of Asia against' its
few white millions. The Premier of
Queensland. Thomas J. Ryan, in New
York on Friday said in perfect accord with
the Peace Conference Bureau: "Although
the Japanese navy did convoy the ships
carrying the Australian troops to the
front, it is and I believe always will be
Queensland through her Premier has
hereby simply challenged Japan's national
honor and manhood.
King Canute commanded the tide to
codes on tablets of stone in comparison.
We make no threats. We prophesy that
another generation will not pass before
the world's peace will be shattered by a
race war if the Anglo-Saxon world now
Peace Conference build a lasting peace
between all the races of the world and the
gates of hell cannot prevail against it.
Those colored men in America. Africa or
Tapan who treacherously advocate >>r >ub-
the feeling in my country that immigra¬
tion must be restricted to the white race.
It must always be 'White Australia.'
"As to the Pacific we feel that the Caro¬
line and the Marshall Islands should be
under international control; that is, Japan
should not be the dominating nation what¬
ever the settlement."
stop rising and was drowned. The Cau¬
casian world seeks to build a lasting world
peace of justice upon the shifting sands
of the color line. The League of Nations,
camouflaged upon this screen—if they
hope to include the darker and major por¬
tion of the world—"made safe for De¬
mocracy"—will make the German scrap-
of-paper treaty appear as the Mosaic
drunk with power persists in writing this
colorphobia into its treaty of peace. The
Japanese ex-Minister of Justice recently
declared that there will be another world
war and that the next war will be a race
war. At the peace table they are demand¬
ing the equality of all races everywhere.
This is as right and as eternal as the
heavens. Upon this rock alone can the
mit to the status quo are criminals
against not only the colored race, but
against world peace. Those white men
at the Peace Conference who dispose oi
world peace problems otherwise are sim¬
ply deferring the dreadful day of reckon¬
ing. They are simply harbingers of the
next world war.—Nnv York Nacs, Feb.
6, 1919.
M
Mme. Touissant Welcome
This wonderful little woman has probably done more to stimulate
patriotic propaganda among a rate of twelve million loyal Americans
than any other woman of the race. Nearly one hundred thousand copies
of the original painting, in seven colors, have been distributed through¬
out America and the West Indies Islands and now grace the walls of
as many Negro homes.
Hers was the only picture from the brush of a colored artist thpt
was accepted by the U. S. Government to be used as a war poster in the
War Savings Stamp and Liberty Loan drives. The Government's ap¬
preciation of her work is amply set forth in the Certificate of Distin¬
guished Service sent her by the National War Savings Committee.
National League for Woman's Service
Hayward Unit Motor CoRrs Division.
During the recent great World War, while men stood in the fore-
guard—out on the front line, behind the lines equally as valiantly stood
the women upholding the hands of their men, furnishing shot and shell
which they, themselves, had made in the factories, and then she ventured
to the front line while battle waged hottest with bandages and first aid
reliefs and driving ambulances conveying the wounded to hospitals and
places of safety, where they might receive prompt medical treatment.
Now that the war has ended and the maimed and wounded soldiers by
the thousands are returning, the women of the Motor Corps arc found
reaching out the welcoming hand to every returning soldier transporting
the wounded soldiers from the ships to the hospitals and conveying
them in comfortable motor cars and ambulances to places of entertain¬
ment where they are made to feel the deep debt of gratitude each indi-
ought so gallantly for
riginal and
National War savings committee
vidual and the Nation owes to those who hav<
Democracy.
The National League for Woman's Servi
first Women's Motor Corps to take up this branch of the Sen
from this mother Motor Corps, other Motor Corps gradually came into
existence.
In October, 1918, the Hayward Unit of the National League for
Woman's Service was organized, this being the first and only Motor
Corps at that time composed of colored women, having then one bus and
one private car. The members of the Motor Corps were instructed by
competent doctors in first aid to the wounded, and also took a thorough
course in autombile mechancis and driving. The work is purely volun¬
teer, each member giving two or more days a week of actual service.
The Hayward Motor Corps now has a large number of cars and
a membership of 45.
This Corps has been rendering efficient service since its organization,
visiting the Hospitals every day carrying smokes, candies and periodicals
to those who are unable to go out and taking the convalescent soldiers
out for a few hours automobile ride and sight-seging trips. It has
carried performers to the hospitals to furnish entertainment, and on
Sundays the wounded soldiers are taken to the various churches to the
morning service, after which they have been served with dinner. The
wounded are taken to entertainments and dinners provided by various
organizations, ball games, theatres, etc. When the gallant 36,9th Infantry
(Old 15th) paraded up Fifth Avenue, New York City, February, 1919,
the wounded of that honored regiment were conveyed iif cars controlled
and managed by the women of Hayward Unit Motor Cojrps. On March
25, 1919, when the 27th Division paraded in New York City, these
women were busily engaged conveying the *wounded men (white and
colored) from the hospitals to the reviewing stands. On April 11, 1919,
when the 350th Field Artillery paraded in Newark, X. J., Hayward Unit
conveyed the wounded in the parade. One could talk indefinitely of
the wonderful work being done by these noble self-sacrificing women.
NATIONAL WAR SAVINGS CONNITTCC
.7 3>. TPaUtmu* Gtaa. (?
Negro Patriotism Versus White Pa¬
triotism—Negroes Willing to Try
Military Life
Out of 100 Negroes gathered in the
county court-house Tuesday morning, the
Wake County Exemption Board selected
sixty men to be sent to camp Wednesday.
Eight of these men will go to Camp Dix,
Newspaper Comments
Judge Timberlake, chairman of the
Wake County Board, said that so far the
Negroes summoned by the board have
Ashe Deserters Defy Off:
One Man Killed
Conditions which, if the d
be supplied, as s
handled by Sta
Our Pirst Industrial
"Doing Their Bit"
CHARLES KNIGHT
Heroes
Charles Knight drove 4,875
three-quarter inch rivets in a
nine-hour day. The previous
highest record was 4,442 made
by a workman in a Scottish
shipyard. This is the way the
Negro is demonstrating his
patriotism at home while his
brothers in black in the army
are showing it in France. Mr.
Knight is a respectable and in¬
dustrious citizen of Baltimore,
a native of Virginia. Knight
has been awarded $227 for
setting the world's record. He
received $102 for his day's
work, a bonus of $50 for
bringing the record back
to America and twenty-five
pounds sterling offered by
The World's Champion Riv,
Donald McLeod, a London
shipbuilder, through the Lon¬
don Daily Mail. Chairman
Hurley of the Shipping Board
has cabled Lord Northcliffe a
new challenge for British
workmen and wrote Knighi as
follows: "Your world's rec¬
ord feat of driving 4,875 riv¬
ets, on May 16, has set for
pace that is so necessary for
carrying on the war success¬
fully. It is the American way
to excel when the occasion <!<•
mands, and you and your asso¬
ciates. in upholding *0 splen
didly this tradition, inspire
emulation throughout t h e
shipbuilding industry."—Neu1
York Age. May 25, KM 8
K«'*» 'I'"'
m=
fljHE League of Nations, its
covenants, constitutions
and conceptions will be a
monument to hypocrisy
if it fails to declare that
the color of one's skin has
nothing to do with justice
and humanity. That is what the Japanese
people think.
On the 5th of February there was a
great gathering at the famous Seiyo-ken
at Uyeno. More than live hundred leaders
of Japanese thought and achievement
gathered there. All the leading political
parties were represented—the Seiyu-kai,
the dominant party at present, and the op¬
position, the Kensei party, and so on. In ad¬
dition, thirty-seven organizations of vari¬
ous types and importance were there also.
It was presided.over by Mr. Teiichi Su-
gifa, a prominent member of the House of
Peers of the Imperial Diet. The gathering
was the first important expression of the
national sentiment on the question of race
discrimination. The gathering made the
following declaration:
"At present the Allied powers at the
peace conference are planning for the
permanent peace of the world through
the establishment of an international
league. The people of Japan indorse it
with full-hearted approval and cease¬
lessly pray for its success.
Pregnant of Discord
"But the discriminatory treatment
against races in practice heretofore
among certain powers is not only
utterly inconsistent with the great prin¬
ciple of freedom and equality, but also
it is pregnant with the fundamental
causes of international discords. If the
principle and practice of race discrimi¬
nation be permitted to abide, hundreds
and thousands of treaties and conven¬
tions might be piled one on top of the
other and they would be nothing more
than a mere temple built upon the sand,
and it is idle to hope for the peace of the
world.
"Therefore, in order to establish the
permanent peace of the world on the
broad principle of justice and humanity,
we wish to appeal to the public opinions
of the world."
And the meeting passed the following
resolutions:
"Be it resolved, that we, the people of
Nippon, shall try to bring about the
complete abandonment of the discrimi¬
natory treatment against races which
has been in practice among nations,
through the peace conference."
Because Japs Are Timid
As the first step in carrying out their
resolution, they decided to call upon the
government authorities to make known
the wishes and sentiment of the people on
the question of race discrimination; also
to call the attention of the Peace Confer¬
ence to their position in the matter. They
cabled their declarations to M. Clemen-
ceau.
"The reason for the abandonment of ra¬
cial discrimination is exceedingly plain,"
said Lieutenant General Kojiro Sato,
speaking at the meeting. He represented
a body of soldiers. "We Japanese are
looked upon as the leaders of the colored
races of the world. It is important that
we should give voice to this issue." Tie
declared that the reasons why the white
races lorded it over the colored races of
the world was due to two main reasons:
the indifference of the colored races in in¬
ternational activities and the shamelessly
timid and spineless foreign policy of
Japan.
Dr. Giichi Fukushima, who represented
a learned societv at the meetine. declared:
"The settlement of the question of politi¬
cal equality and equal treatment of races
of the world is too vital a question to be
left and ienored until after the establish¬
ment 01 the League of Nations. By way
of a preliminary proof that the league will
never commit injustice in its high name
we wish to see it do away with the preju¬
dice and discriminations against races."
Color No Bar
-Admiral Kamizumi, speaking for
iciation of naval men which he rep¬
resented, said: "Blessings and happiness
of life which Heaven dispenses to all hu¬
man kind should not either be given or
withheld because of the color of people's
skins."
And the Hon. Kanichi Otake, of the
Seiyu party, said: "The Entente Allies
are planning for the establishment of per¬
manent peace at the Peace Conference
through the establishment of the League
of Nations. But before they can do that
they must do away with such things as
race prejudice once for all. To try to
make this world a world for the white race
is the extreme of absurdities. The League
of Nations without eliminating the idea
of race prejudice is a league of lies."
Mr. Saburo Shimada, the veteran leader
of the Kensei party, spoke: "The logic for
the abolition of racial discrimination is
•^elf-evident. It is too plain to call for ex¬
planations. T11 advocating it today. I think,
we have hit upon absolutely the happiest
opportunity possible, judging from the
tendencies of the world. * * *"
General Kojiro Sata, writing in the
"Kokumin." a leading newspaper in Tokio.
points out that in the Great War both
England and France utilized the colored
races with eminently pood and satisfactory
results. To deny them, now that the strug¬
gle is over, equal treatment accorded to
white races, even while thev arc preaching
iustice and humanity loudly and insistent-
Iv, is to lay the foundation of a great ra¬
cial war to come. Race discrimination is
not consistent with their profession of jus¬
tice; it does not harmonize with the prin¬
ciple of humanity; it is the real enemy
ol real democracy. * * * He goes on
to say that il" Japan is to agree to a"reduc¬
tion of armaments and the abolition ol
compulsory conscription laws, it is imper¬
ative lor her to insist 011 one thing above
all else: the complete abandonment of dis¬
criminatory treaunent of the colored races
of the world by the "white powers.'
Asks Wilson Declaration
The Tokio Yorozu goes so far as to
think that President Wilson should either
tace the question of race discrimination
frankly like a man or stamp himself a
hypocrite and betrayer of his own repeat¬
edly and loudly proclaimed ideals of polit¬
ical justice and the broader principles of
humanity. Because of this and also be¬
cause of its implicit trust in the passion for
fair play and justice of the American peo¬
ple, the yorozu confidently expects that
the United States will be among the first
to wage war against the discriminatory
treatment of darker skinned races.
The Tokio Xichi-Nichi professess con¬
fidence in the sincerity of President Wilson
but thinks something is decidedly wrong
somewhere in the contradictory realm of
American politics—judging from the
speeches made in Congress, some of which
seem to demand a special protection fori
the "white" people's unrighteous interest*
at the expense of the rest of the world.
The Tokio Asahi declares that Japan
would not send her labor emigration into
the countries where they are not welcomed
even if the principle of perfect equality of
treatment of all the races were adopted by
all the members of the League of Nations.
Btrt it demands that the Japanese (or
members of any other dark skinned races)
who go abroad in perfect accord with the
provisions of treaties and engage in legiti-
mate business in foreign countries <haJl
enjoy the same privileges and treatment a-
arc given to white immigrants—AVrc
Vork Tribune.
ffllTHi the American Army in
France, Nancy, Dec. —.
i.—Monsieur Blaise Di¬
agne is the D e p u t y
Commisioner General of
France in charge of the
effectives or fighting col¬
ored troops of France's colonies, and is a
close friend of Premier Clemenceau.
Monsieur Diagne is a black man, but color
does not count in France—France has no
color problem, though she has millions of
colored subjects.
The Deputy Commissioner has an in¬
timate knowledge of the conditions sur¬
rounding the colored man in America. He
sympathizes with him, as do all of France's
colored subjects. When in Nancy last
week he stated he had requested Premier
Clemenceau to make some helpful refer¬
ence to the colored troops from America
at the peace table: that colored French¬
men had requested that an audience at the
peace gathering be given to a delegation
of France's colored subjects that they
might give voice to sentiments that might
be helpful to their kinsmen in America
who had come over here to fight for world
democracy.
The discriminations to which colored
officers and soldiers have been subjected to
at the hands of many American white of¬
ficers and soldiers have been noticeable
to colored Frenchmen, and they have felt
it keenly. It has been observed by white
French officers, to all of whom color preju¬
dice is unknown, and they have been at a
loss to understand why such brave, endur¬
ing fighting men of the race as the United
States sent to .help 1 win the world de¬
mocracy should be subjected to embarrass¬
ing and retarding discriminations and
segregation.
Monsieur Diagne also told of certain
American white officers writing to French
high officials, urging that the treatment
THE COLOR LINE IN FRANCE
accorded colored men from America in
France, by French officers, be the same ac¬
corded our race in America by certain
white people; that colored Americans were
an inferior race, and should not be ac¬
corded the equality of treatment French
officers and civilians had been in the habit
of according to colored soldiers. This re¬
quest for discrimination against colored
from certain American white army offi¬
cers. Commissaire General Diagne is
keeping the torn bits of that request as a
There have been some American white
officers over here—not a few, but many—
who have, ever since being here, prose¬
cuted a propaganda against the colored
soldiers; who have done their utmost, but
soldiers and officers, on the part of the
Frenchmen, was referred to Monsieur
Diagne, a colored man genuinely black in
complexion, who is Deputy Commissioner
General, charge du control des effectifs
coloniaux, with the request that he tear it
up, such destruction of the paper to con¬
stitute the French officials' only reply to
the impertinent and unreasonable request
without avail, to taint France with Amer¬
ica's prejudice against America's loyal
fighting colored soldiers. There have
been a few American white officers—not
many—over here, who have treated the
colored soldiers as American soldiers, no¬
tably among them being Brigadier-Gen¬
eral M. II. Barnum and Brigadier-Gen¬
eral Sherburne.
In spite of the unjustifiable discrimina¬
tion and handicaps at the hands of certain
American white officers over here, colored
soldiers and men and officers have given
the best in them for their country; have
patiently endured discriminations, because
of their color, as they have heroically en¬
dured the expected hardships of soldier
life, and as heroically fought against the
Hun.
Had it only been the Boche colored
soldiers had to fight against, they would
return to the States without a single com¬
plaint, but in not a few instances I regret
to admit they have had to fight the Hun,
while at the same time they were enduring
an enfilading attack from those whom
they had supposed were here to fight for
the same thing they came overseas to fi^ht
for—world democracy.
However, with it all, the colored soldier
is proud that he had an opportunity to
again prove that which the country had
never had an occasion to doubt—his loy¬
alty to country.
Thousands of our colored soldiers are
now busily preparing for the overseas
return. They are patiently counting the
days, even the hours and the moments,
that must intervene before they can see
the face of the Statue of Liberty in New
York Harbor; before they can again greet
relatives and friends. Many of them who
came here on American troopships in the
fullness of manhood and patriotism, will
not return, for they are lying, where they
will forever lie, in a soldier's grave, rudely
marked, up around Verdun, Chateau-
Thierry, Soisson, Champagne, in the Ar-
gonne Woods, and the Mousson Valley.
France has been magnanimous towards
the American colored soldiers; her men
and women have voiced praise of their
fighting qualities, of their soldierly bear¬
ing and of their faultless behavior.
T]OYV lhat the war has been
concluded in Europe, the
problems and difficulties
resulting therefrom pre¬
sent themselves for our
consideration and deci¬
sion. Africa has always
been a country of much interest to Europe
and the Europeans. They went into it
early, and by military force and other bru¬
tal means, divided it up among themselves.
The conclusive rights of the actual owners
of these vast tracts of lands, namely, the
Africans, have not been fully recognized.
The question of Africa has always
been a delicate and complicated matter,
more so to the British administrators of
South Africa, and the exploiters of Af¬
rica, along with the spoilers of the capital¬
istic class at home—the real cream reap¬
ers of the gold and diamond fields of Af¬
rica. They are endeavoring to show the
world, and to force the colored people
themselves to believe, that the Africans
are still incapable of maintaining a gov¬
ernment, or that, if the Negroes through¬
out the world be permitted to rule them¬
selves, it would prove a sad and lamentable
failure. The fundamental success of
British rule and its great secret in govern¬
ing great bodies of peoples, rest in an ac¬
curate policy to keep as many of those
people separated: handling one party with
the kid gloves, and keeping the other op¬
pressed. The same is true of Belgium, the
most Brutal of them all. The details and
arrangements of this terrible system are
found in the private governmental cham¬
bers of Europe.
It is not so much that the colored peo¬
ple of Africa cannot, or that they are ab¬
solutely incapable of establishing a gov¬
ernment of their own there, but it is, in my
opinion, the anxiousness of the South Af¬
rican lords, and the British spoilers of
Africa, a pretense either to strengthen
i possessions, or to increase their
OUR RIGHT IN AFRICA
By John Haughton
nfluence. With all that England has
complished in Africa, it is hard to con¬
ceive that any group of African chiefs
would agree to any proposition to turn
over any part of that country to any other
government in Europe except France; or
that the territories conquered and taken
away from Germany and her tyrannical
rulers should be turned over to them
again, which is absolutely out of the ques¬
tion, or that, that these territories should
become another burden to the British gov¬
ernment.
These lands must go back to the African
people themselves, for they are their lands,
and 1 can see no good reason why England,
which practically owns one-third of the
universe already, should seek to deprive
the Africans of this right. England has
got hundreds of missions now working in
Africa to this end; her gigantic efforts
are, to impress upon the minds of the Af¬
rican natives the indispensability of her
handling these lands, else the liability of
them falling back into the hands of the
despot. The British administrators of
Africa have never found it very neces¬
sary to render any effective protest
against the butchery and indiscriminate
massacres of African natives. They say
a few words in infantile sympathy when
they conceived—and the British are very
quick to grasp—the situation as reaching
the point of attracting universal attention.
The plain facts are—and as their opera¬
tions and achievements for years in
Africa have proven bevond 'equivocacy
that England. Belgium, Germany, and the
brutal Portuguese, have always adhered
to the policy that the more natives they
get out of the way the freer their exploita¬
tions of Africa, and that is whv they have
in this co-operative policy slaughtered
countless of thousands of the African na¬
tives behind the dark curtains of civiliza¬
tion. Millions have disappeared! Had
this not been so.
We, the colored people throughout
America, have resources enough, and we
are ready to equip as many colored sol¬
diers as would be necessary to guard the
safety of Africa, especially the German
colonies, until the Africans themselves
are able with our aid to secure their own
safety. England has made fortunes in
Africa, and she has extracted from the
soil sufficient wealth to turn over all her
possessions in Africa to the Africans, and
the colored people, on a percentage basis;
or she should be pleased, with her present
doctrine of humanity, and gladly welcome
the proposition that: A COMMISSION
composed of black men, including mem¬
bers of color from the most important
countries, be appointed to see that fifty
per cent of the annual yield of Africa be
spent to develop, to civilize, educate, and
to provide better conditions for the people
of Africa. We must take hold of this task
ourselves if Africa is to be brought to a
recognized standard of civilization, and
if we desire that the resources of Africa
should be spent for the actual uplift of the
people.
The colored people of the world should
wake to these facts, and study the move¬
ments of these great powers. Celtic rule
throughout the world, not only in Africa.
Whatever be lost in this conference, which
will be the greatest international gather¬
ing since creation, will be lost indefinitely.
A great English general of Africa who
has seen the valor <«f the African soldier
displayed against the most formidable
enemy of "democracy," declared that alter
the war England should see to it that the
colored people of Africa receive no "mili¬
tary training." Do you realize what this
means? Now you see plainly the aims of
England and others in Africa. There is
something behind it. America, Italy and
France were included as the powers along
with England to take this necessary step,
but it is not possible that France. Italy or
the United States are going to be led into
such an undertaking as this at any lime.
We ourselves are going into Africa to
educate and train the Africans in a way
that they may be able to maintain their
own freedom, and develop the resources
of their country. It is our duty to occupy
Africa. The time has come; if we are
looking forward to a great and prosper¬
ous future for ourselves. I invite your at¬
tention across the Atlantic Ocean. A i'rica
must be considered! The future i-< both
dark and bright for us. Remember that
whatever the conclusion of this great
world conference be, human conflict is per¬
petual. I hope that the colored people
throughout the world will not fail to grasp
the opportunity.—New York Age, Feb. i,
1019.
French colonies in Africa and Asia
have furnished the Motherland since the
war began with 918,000 men, ot whom
680.000 have been combatants and the re¬
mainder workers.
The Color Line in France
(Con
iSSi
France would welcome them as permanent
residents of France, but they—those who
have survived this awfully decimating,
frightful war—are going to return to the
States, firm in the resolve to help secure,
through peaceful means, for themselves
and their people, that which their arms,
their blood, and their lives helped to
achieve on the battlefields for the alien
countries over here—democracy.
VIVA LA FRANCE
INE eyes have seen" and
they were filled with
tears. The mighty au¬
dience filled the Troca-
dero, and in the center of
the stage stood a black
man, lithe, tall and
straight; on his breast were orders and he
wore the uniform of an officer of the
French Army. A general of France
stepped toward him, touched him on eith¬
er shoulder with his naked sword and
kissed him on both cheeks and said: "In
the name of the President of the Repub¬
lic, I nominate you, Bakhane Diop, Che¬
valier of the Legion of Honor." The
great audience arose, roared and cried
again when the crimson badge of the Le¬
gion was pinned on the Arab who stood
to the Negro's left and the Annamite who
stood on his right, while round about
were black French officers and rank on
rank of decorated troops.
It was France—almighty and never-
dying France leading the world again.
The day was given to honor the black
men and yellow men who gave their lives
for a country they are proud to call theirs
and which is equally proud to claim them.
Seven black deputies represent black
Frenchmen in the French Parliament.
Deputy Diagne, of Senegal, was the first
man introduced today by the Minister of
Colonies and he sat in the place of honor
in the President's box
The exploits of the black and yellow
troops were acclaimed by actors from the
Theatre Francaise, singers from the opera
and orators from the government with
play and music, cheers and the great
strains of the Marseillaise. France, "le
jour de gloire est arrive," and the honor
is yours, Men of Africa! How fine a thing
to be a black Frenchman in iqiq—imagine
such a celebration in America!
In France, 1918
Toul, dim through the deepening dark
of early afternoon, I saw its towers gloom
dusky towards the murk of Heaven. We
wound in misty roads and dropped upon
the city through the great throats of its
walled bastions. There lay France—a
strange, unknown, unfamiliar France.
The city was dispossessed. Through its
streets—its narrow, winding streets, old
and low and dark, carven and quaint—
poured thousands upon thousands of
strange feet of khaki-clad foreigners, and
the echoes threw back awkward syllables
that were never French. Here was France
beaten to her knees yet fighting as never
nation fought before, calling in her death
agony across the seas till her help came
and with their strut and careless bragga¬
docio saved the worthiest nation of the
world from the wickedest fate ever plot¬
ted by fools.
Tim Brimm was playing by the town-
pump. Tim Brimm and the bugles of
Harlem blared in the little streets of
Maron in far Lorraine. The tiny streets
were seas of mud. Dank mist and rain
sifted through the cold air above the blue
Moselle. Soldiers—soldiers everywhere
—black soldiers, boys of Washington.
Alabama. Philadelphia, Mississippi. Wild
and sweet and wooing leapt the strains
upon the air. French children gazed in
wonder—women left their washing. Up
in the window stood a black major, a
captain, a teacher and I—with tears be¬
hind our smiling eyes. Tim Brimm was
playing by the town-pump.
The audience was framed in smoke. It
rose ghost-like out of memories—bitter
memories of the officers near dead of
pneumonia whose pain was lighted up by
the nurses wanting to know whether they
must be "Jim-Crowed" with privates or
not. Memories of that great last morn¬
ing when the thunders of hell called the
Ninety-second to its last great drive.
Memories of bitter humiliations, deter¬
mined triumps, great victories and bugle-
calls that sounded from earth to heaven.
Like memories framed in the breath of
God, my audience peered in upon me—
good, brown faces with great, kind,
beautiful eyes—black soldiers of America
rescuing beloved France—and the words
came in praise and benediction there in
the "Y" with its little stock of cigarettes
and candies and its rusty wood stove.
"Alors," said Madame, "quatres sont
inorts"—four dead—four tall, strong
sons dead for France—sons like the sweet
and blue-eyed daughter who was hiding
her brave smile in the dusk. It was a
tiny stone house whose front window
lipped the passing sidewalk where ever
tramped the feet of black soldiers march¬
ing home. There was a cavernous ward¬
robe, a great fireplace invaded by a new
and jaunty iron stove. Vast, thick piles
of bed rose in yonder corner. Without
was the crowded kitchen and up a half
stair was our bedroom that gave upon a
tiny court with arched stone staircase and
green tree. We were a touching family
party held together by a great sorrow and
a great joy. How we laughed over the
salad that got brandy instead of vinegar
—how we ate the great golden pile of
fried potatoes and how we poured over
the post-card from the lieutenant of the
Senegalese—dear little vale of crushed
and risen France, in the day when Negroes
went "over the top" at Pont-a-Moussan.
Paris. Paris by purple facade of the
opera, the crowd on the Boulevard des
Ttaliens and the great swing of the
Champs Elysees But not the Paris the
world knows. Paris with its soul cut to
the core—feverish, crowded* ncr\ ous, hur¬
ried; full of uniforms and mourning
bands, with cafes closed at 0 30—no su¬
gar, scarce bread, and tears so intertwined
with joy that there is scant difference.
Paris has been dreaming a nightmare and
though she awakes, the grim terror is up¬
on her—it lies on'the sandbags covering
monuments, on the closed art treasures
of the Louvre. Only the flowers arc-
there, always the flowers, the Roses of
England and the Lilies of France —
Crisis.
Ode to the Caucasian
By W. Francis, Jr.
We come—not as the beggar
To ask for things unearned;
But with a voice triumphant
That cannot well be spurned.
We come—not from one section;
But from the whole world round
To call on you Caucasian
To meet on common ground.
We come with strength of numbers;
Re-enforced with cause of right
To open the portals of Justice
To the black man as well as the white
We come with the charter primeval
That tells of your many crimes.
From the dawn of civilization,
Up to these modern times.
We come with the names of our soldiers
Who've died for Democracy's cause:
And rest in the graves with their brothers.
Our heroes of other wars.
We come with our thousands of nurses
Who were willing to do their share:
Was it you—who stopped them Caucasian
From giving a hand "over there ?
(CoHiiuHfi "" h>>< ;»>
GRATEFUL FRANCE
The Colonial and Maritime Dispatch
(la Depeche Coloniale et Maritime)
Paris, France, gives a long account of the
reception given by the French Colonial
League in the Trocadero, Paris, in honor
of her colonial troops. Among those pre¬
siding were M. Henri Simon, Colonial
Minister, and M. Diagne, Deputy from
Senegal.
M. Diagne spoke of the relations exist¬
ing between France and her colonies:
This uninterrupted chain of devotion
and loyalty which has become today a
brotherhood consecrated by blood ought
hearts were with us, and their un¬
restrained eagerness to take up arms
for France gave, a striking and splen¬
did proof of this. In the midst of
horrors, their self-confidence showed
no sign of weakness and in the ter¬
rible hours in which we were forced to
yield to the harsh attack of the invader,
the battlefields of Europe, quickly sur¬
passed our highest hopes. Who can de¬
scribe the gay courage and the heroic de¬
votion of these soldiers from the colonies?
These qualities were to be seen on all
sides, in the Champagne offensive and that
of the Somme as well as in the trenches
of the Oise and of Argonne, or in the
bloody assaults in the Dardanelles. Wheth¬
er they were attacking the fortress of
Douaumont or retaking the mill of Laf-
faux, there was always the same unfalter¬
ing rush toward the enemy. Everywhere
their irresistible elan in attack, their un-
in the face of the entire world when all
Europe had united against her, insisted
on claiming for her black brothers, com¬
plete liberty, that is to say, a recognition
of their right to be considered in the hall
of humanity. (Prolonged applause.)
I do not wish here to touch upon the
series of exploits which our colonial peo-
to rest in your hearts as a token of the
new relations which are going to be ours
in the very dawn of peace. From now on
Frenchmen of the Motherland, French¬
men of the colonies, let us form a union,
indissoluble, indivisible, for the sake of
honor and the grandeur of this country.
We colonials have the right to declare to
the entire world that if there is a nation
which deserves this utter self-abnegation,
this outbui st of devotion, that nation is
France. (Loud applause.) For she alone,
pies, by the coming of their sons into
France, have achieved in the course of the
war; the sufferings which we have en¬
dured, indeed doubly endured because we
had the climate against us, represent such
a vast effort that in magnifying that effort
we do nothing but magnify still further
the merits of France.
. M. Henri Simon, Colonial Minister,
Spoke of the responsiveness of the Colo¬
nials :
From the very first day, their
their ardor seemed to take
their peril and to increase with it. On the
Western Front as on the Eastern they
heaped exploit on exploit. The black
army whose formation had been so well
previsaged by Colonel Mangin became a
leality of noble vigor and sturdy activity!
Under the orders of this same great lead¬
er who had become the glorious general
of the army, this black power, whose su¬
perb role he had been able to foresee on
shakable firmness in defence, their im¬
passive courage, their sublime spirit of
sacrifice, struck terror into the German
ranks, brought tears to the eyes of their
leaders, and cries of admiration even from
their vanquished foes.
In the first days of that year, when the
government under the pressure of mili¬
tary exigencies decided to arrange for a
new recruiting in West Africa, T ad¬
dressed these words to M. Diagne:
"In the name of the authority which is
vested in you by virtue of your position
and title as Commissioner of the Repub¬
lic in West Africa, in the name also of
the influence which you exercise person¬
ally on your compatriots, go and tell them
what France represents in the world. Tell
them of the German assault and of the
heroic resistance of an invaded nation.
Make them understand with your wonder¬
ful eloquence that a victory to which they
contribute will save their race as well as
ally covered with medals and i
impassive to the sound of ovations as they
had been beneath the fire of the enemy—
sharpshooters and saphis of Algeria, Tu¬
nis and Morocco; Senegalese, Somalis,
sharpshooters from the Pacific, Mal-
gaches, Indochinese, Creoles from our old-
established colonies and finally native
chiefs from French West Africa.
Under the folds of the tattered stan¬
dard of the Fourth Regiment of Tunisan
sharpshooters, in the midst of the strident
brought this celebration to its brilliant
close.
In the Annamite theatre the portrayal
of fragments of Antar, the story of the
Arabian hero, gave the last fitting touch
to the splendor of the occasion—Crisis.
A Little Town in Senegal
I hear the music throbbing down the lanes
of Afric rain:
The Afric spring is breaking, down in
Senegal again.
And some are dreaming of the palms thai
bend in Afric rain.
The music of the barracks half awakes
them from their dream;
They smile and sink back sleepily alon-
the Flemish stream.
They dream the hoabab's white buds have
opened overnight;
They dream they see the solemn cranes
that bask in morning light
M
I hear the great drums beating in the
square across the plain.
Where are the tillers of the soil, the gal¬
lant's loyal train?
O little town in Senegal, amid the white
bud trees,
At Soissons, in Picardy. went north the
last of these!—Bv Will Thomp¬
son in The Omaha Monitor.
ours. And above all give them the as¬
surance that their patriotis sacrifice will
not be in vain and that it will create for
grateful France a debt which she will one
day pay in full."
The Dispatch concludes:
And while the list was being read of
the glorious citations bestowed on these
marvelous troops, there they stood, liter-
tones of the notiba, General Archinard
conferred the Cross of Chevalier of the
Legion of Honor upon three chiefs of this
valiant phalanx. One of these deserves
special mention, namely, Bakhane Diop.
Son of a man who offered the most stub¬
born resistance to our penetration into
Africa, he was one of the first to answer
the call of stricken France.
An exquisitely conducted reception
O little town in Senegal, amid the clus¬
tered gums,
Where are your sturdy village lads who
one time danced to druths?
At Soissons, by a fountain wall, they sang
their melodies:
And some now lie in Flemish fields, be¬
side the northern seas:
And some tonight are camped and still
along the Mai ne and Aisne;
Exploiting of Africa
By John Haugi-iton
Somehow, the British politicians find it
quite easy in persuading the African na¬
tives under them and about them to the
that country. While in an endeavor to
maintain her own territorial safety there,
she has taken upon herself to divide up
certain sections of African territory and
turned it over to a nation, Germany, whom
she knew would not treat the people right.
terminate them on the slightest protest.
The invaders take some constitutional op¬
eration for a pretext to their action; then
when such incident occurs in Africa the
report reaches us via London as an open
tary officers, and the Portuguese. The
British statesmen of Africa knew that all
these things were going on there, but very
little.was said to stop them. Every in¬
telligent reader of books on Africa knows
that the Boer War was a capitalistic con-
are facts! If an investigation should be
made in Africa today by intelligent col¬
ored men from this country, not only
would there be found the situation and
conditions of 1800 in America, embodied
in the most brutal system in Africa, of the
natives, existing up until the publishing
of this article; within the region of An¬
gola, and upon the plantations of San
Thome and Principe, there exist actual
slavery in another form. In 1805, dur¬
ing Mr. Henry W. Nevinson's investiga¬
tion, natives were being bought and sold
rectly or indirectly, were actually threat¬
ened whether on sea or on land.
The British capitalistic rulers and oth¬
ers of Africa have been draining that
country for a long time. These are the
class of men in England and in Africa
who are arguing that the natives cannot
rule themselves, for they are afraid that
they may lose their capitalistic hold on the
resources of Africa; they are afraid that
too much of the resources of Africa will
be spent for the uplift of the people. In
Germany the socialistic element was never
in favor at any time of that government
raising up of the people to a natural stand¬
ard of modern civilization. Very little
is heard also from die Congo Free States,
I mean the Belgium Congo, the country
of unparalleled atrocities and brutalities.
Belgium has been carrying on an extermi¬
nation and massacre in Africa much se¬
verer than that which she suffered at the
hands of the Germans, considering the
circumstances under which she performed
her brutal operations by the most unheard
of tortures of the natives.
Recently thev wrote a whole book—it
appeared in Boston. Mass.—about the
the lands of the natives, which were stolen
from them.
There must be a government of the
people, by the people and for the people
of Africa established and maintained by
the colored people.
Germany must not be permitted to hold
another foot of land under any condition
in Africa. Whatever the German spoil¬
ers may think, this is final. We. the col¬
ored people of America and elsewhere, are
no longer a helpless race. We should not
tolerate anything that we think in this
conference will mar the future of our peo-
at, and taken to these islands from Ben-
guela by the thousands!
There was slavery in Africa before the
war started and if we do not take the situ¬
ation in hand in an effort to recover some
of the losses of the war it may still in¬
crease in another way. England, I speak
thus of my knowledge of historic and
diplomatic records, was never known to
interfere with any political, military, cap¬
italistic action or movement of any other
power, unless her personal interests, di-
holding colonies in Africa. The same may
be true of some of the English socialists
of the magnanimous type, but the capital¬
istic element deemed it a grave necessity.
At the present nothing is heard from
France except the improvement of her
colonies and the uplift of the African peo¬
ple; while England in a hullabaloo over
the African territorial question, which
has always been grave, not to the interest
of the natives, but to hers. England very
seldom talks about improvements, and the
African situation, and on the question and
problems of Africa. Of course, the grav¬
est part of this problem, in the estimation
of the British South African spoilers, is
whether or not will their hands be free as
hitherto. I have read all three of these
articles embodied, and I have failed to
discover in them a single paragraph that
dealt conclusively with the interest of the
African people. The whole composition
is jostling over the German territories,
pie. If the truth is known England has
been marring it!
The territories of the chiefs oi Togo-
land must be united and this union must
not be delayed. The chiefs have asked
for a reunion of their respective countries
—this was the country which was "di¬
vided from the British, the Gold Coast,
by the terms of the Anglo-(jerman Boun¬
dary Commission of 1886 —but Englaiv
has'put it off as she has always put off all
other African questions pertaining to the
(Continued on fiOO* }•<■ ' V>
Cable dispatches from the Peace Con¬
ference now in session at Paris indicate
that one of the most important questions
to be settled by the Powers will be the dis¬
position of the German colonies, now in
possession of the Allies. At Tuesday's
conference it was brought to light that
President Wilson's views are in sharp con¬
flict with the claims of the British and
Japanese on the subject.
President Wilson is in favor of the
League of Nations assuming a temporary
trusteeship over the African colonies,
which is in line with some of the sugges-
Clash Over African Colonies
"s Differ as to Hon• Former German Territories Should Be Governed—Wil-
i Milts Control by League Against Exploitation by Any One Nation.
Exploiting of Africa
The President would have the colonics
placed under the League of Nations and
managed by neighboring Powers under
the mandate of the League. He is firmly
against the annexation plan that is being
pressed by Australia and British Africa,
arc involved in this situation. Japan is
pressing her colonial claims and plainly
is hoping for British support, but if the
predictions made in well-informed quar¬
ters tonight arc true she will not obtain
this.
direct interest of the people, and few she
has ever settled without her own interest
plus the natives! She has always been
instrumental in keeping the races apart in
A frica. She has been the only out-spoken
power of Africa that opposed the Amer¬
ican Negroes going into that country in
an endeavor to help to civilize their own
people. They are afraid that the Amer¬
ican Negroes, with the American civiliza¬
tions made by Dr. R. R. Moton, who upon
invitation conferred with Colonel House
and other diplomats on the subject.
"Africa for the Africans" was the ar¬
gument advanced by Dr. Moton, who pro
tested against the exploitation of the Af¬
rican colonies by any nation. He received
assurance from American representatives
that President Wilson would oppose an
nlan that did not insure the Africans a
square deal.
thus putting it up to Great Britain either
to support her dominions or the Wilson
principle.
Premier Hughes, of Australia, is the
foremost champion of annexation, but
confidence is expressed in American cir¬
cles that Great Britain will support the
President, who holds that the claims of the
Dominions are irreconcilable with the
idea of the League.
Japan and the whole Pacific question
The colonial question is productive of
a certain amount of selfishness by some of
the larger Powers not being strictly in
accord with the Wilson principles. Com¬
pensation for war efforts underlies most
of the claims. South Africa wants both
of the former German African colonies,
but Belgium also claims one of them.
France does not appear to be desirous of
adding to her colonies.
tion, will distil into the brain of the Afri¬
can that which he ought to know, which
would perhaps awaken him to the natural
aims of the European powers.—Ne-n1
York Age.
India has sent over 1,000,000 men to
the front, for service in the British Army.
There are 130,000 Negro soldiers on the
Western Front.
Wonderful Record Made by
Command
(Continued from page 43)
the 365th and 366th Infantry boys and
told them that we would soon be fighting
they were as happy as 1 will be when I
get back to the dear old States, to mother,
little sister and all the others. That night
we took up our post; all day the following
day we had quite a number of infantry
boys to visit us and see the mighty 155
MM., as our boys had made more than
good with them. Our chief of sections are
Sergeant R. E. Smith, Centerville, Md.:
Sergeant T. H. Bell, Baltimore, Md.; Ser¬
geant C. C. Owens, Baltimore, Md., the
man who repeated the command to fire
the first shot, and Sergeant T. W. Moore,
Baltimore, Md. Our captain is very proud
of these men, and I assure you they put
forth their best efforts in obtaining re¬
sults.
We went on the front with one motive
in mind, "our country and our flag," and
we walked into battle without fear. On
the 11th day of November, at 11 A. M..
when the Armistice was signed, it found
us waiting for the command to fire, hav¬
ing advanced about 16 kilometres, since
the first day of our appearance on the
front.
Ode to the Caucasian
(Continued from page
We'll come—though the march may be
weary,
And the goal may be far away,
The march will continue in progress
To the dawn of a glorious day,
When men—no matter the color,
Who labor under the sun,
Will share with equal Justice
The fruit of the clays to come
Society and the Negro
(iContinued from page 23)
What if he wants to use the public
schools, the public libraries, the public
parks, the theatres, hotels and railroads,
public institutions and utilities generally,
on an equal footing with other men? What
if he buys real estate and builds a home
in a neighborhood which will provide the
best possible conditions for the rearing of
his children? What if he enters not a
Liberty Loan booth but a voting booth,
and seeks not to purchase a bond but de¬
posit a ballot?
This is different, is it not? The Negro
is suddenly not so precious as before. On
the contrary, he is worthless: or, worse
than worthless, dangerous, and therefore
not merely to be cast aside but trodden
under foot.
The situation is interesting, and. if the
whites be wise, to be enjoyed while it lasts.
For not always will the Negro, for all his
patience and good cheer, be willing to
recognize the validity of this one-sided
compact. Some day he will learn thai
rights are the complements of duties, and
freedom the reward of service—at least
in a democracy! And then will he insist
upon knowing whether or not "a nation
conceived in liberty and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal"
has perished from the earth.—John
Haynes Holmes in The Crisis.
Isobel Field, of the rigilantes, writes
of the disappointment of German propa¬
gandists at the outcome of the East St.
Louis riots:
The German propagandists discovered
to their dismay that their tactics were
having the effect of drawing general at¬
tention to the wrongs of the Negro and
arousing interest and sympathy for him on
all sides. The mute protest <1 the colored
women and children, all in black, marching
down Fifth Avenue, with no bands, no
orators, no disturbances, simply carrying
banners appealing for protection and jus
tice, created a deep and lasting impression.
Finally, in a sort of desperation, the
(ierinans spread the lies far ami wide that
Negro soldiers were being sacrificed at the
front; they were put in the most danger¬
ous places, and when wounded were left
to suffer and die unattended on the battle¬
field. Mere again the boomerang turned
and hit the conspirators. If they hadn't
started the treacherous propaganda, the
American public would not have heard
General Pershing's opinion of the colored
troops. After denying the truth of "the
stories, probably invented by German
agents." he adds, "I cannot commend too
highly the spirit shown among the col¬
ored combat troops who exhibit fine ca
pacity for quick training and eagerness
for the most dangerous work."
Theodore Roosevelt
By Henry Polk Lowenstein
Ah! who shall write his history?
And who shall tell his story?
And who shall name his victor)-?
And who shall mark his glory?
lie served no master but himself.
And used the chast'ning rod;
He feared no party, power nor pelf.
His only Conqueror. God.
Of all great men in this great age.
In God's most wond'rous plan,
He stands as warrior, -eer and sage.
THE GREAT AMERICAN.
A Small Group out of Many
Pew of the Hoys in Far Off Africa Doing Their Hi).
*
When New York City turned out tor the
great parade of welcome to the Twenty-seventh
Division on March 2">th Acting Captain M. Wat¬
son Rudd, by special request of Grover Whalen,
Mayor Hylan's secretary, had charge of getting
all the wounded Negro soldiers and sailors in
ilie various hospitals to their places in the grand¬
stands and back to the hospitals when the big
celebration was over.
Provision Made For Them
For that work Major Basted® had assigned to
her a dozen ambulances and provision was made
for as many more as were needed.
Captain Rudd, who lives at No. 154 West
131st Street, is the mother of First Licutenafj
E. Parker Rudd, of Company K, 367th Jnfantr£_
the famous "Buffaloes." He was graduated''
from Howard University, where the idea of hav¬
ing a Negro officers' training camp originated.
Another fighting member of Captain Rudd's
family is her adopted son, William Cooper, of
Company B, of the 3G9th, who spent 101 days in
i Roberts. (See fai/e 36)
tfie trenches and whose bravery won for him the
Croix de Guerre.
In connection with the drive of the Motor
Corps of America for a 50,000 non-active mem¬
bership and a fund of $50,000 to carry on its
work, the Major Little Unit has commenced its
drive among the Negro residents of the city.
But r
• that the
has been started
Making Smokes for llie Soldiers.
ing Captain Rudd Lelia W. Robin¬
son, of No. 108 WjPB^cn Street; Lieutenant
Lucie Ruffin, of NqSll2 West 131st Street, and , ^ t
Lieutenants Minnie i>nead, of No. 69 West 138tl»-
Street; Mary Jacques, of No. 135 West l3&Bv
Street; Carrie Dublin, of ^^^-136 Hcrkii^r
Street, Brooklyn, and Adjutanr^fcne H R^ida,
daughter of Captain Rudd.—N. V.^^legrtm.
this organization of the Negro women is not to J
cease with the ending of the war.
Mrs. C. J. Walker, of Ipvington on the Hud¬
son, probably the wealthiest Negro woman in
this country, is chairman of the Executive Com¬
mittee of the unit. Its other officers besides Act-
J
ON FLANDERS FIELD
Black Men, Arouse! O wake and hear
The message left by those who fell
Within the flaming jaws of Hell!
Catch up the torch they flung to thee:
High raise it that the world may see
The BLACK TROOPS of Democracy
Who fell on Flanders field.
Breast FORWARD—the bravest of the brave,
They met their fate without a sigh;
And shall it be in vain they died?
In vain they sank 'neath war's red tide?
Ah! Say not so:—to us they left a mission great;
Those dear to them—they left behind, to compensate
Their sacrifice to CONSECRATE
Who fell on Flanders field.
We must this faith keep with the dead;
OUR DEAD, who brave and nobly gave;
Who shed their blood the world to save—
Let every tongue join in their praise,
And every voice in prayer be raised,
Lest we in shame can only gaze
On those who sleep in Flanders field.