.i!H: /% \^"^\/ "-^^^^%°' \^^\/ % -. /\ ^^•' /% ■°^-" /^^ •-SP^.- ^- > ,0 % ^y^^." .V iN % -^ aO, ^<^^ ^"^^ SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO IN THE WORLD WAR BY EMMETT J. SCOTT, A.M., LL.D. Special Assistant to Secretary of War Author of "Tuskegee and Its People," "Is Liberia Worth Saving?" and co-Author of "Booker T. Washington, Builder of a Civilization." Secretary of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. Eighteen years Pbivate Secbetary to the Late Booker T. Washington A Complete and Authentic Narration, from Official Sources, of the Participation of AMERICAN SOLDIERS OF THE NEGRO RACE in the WORLD WAR FOR DEMOCRACY Profusely Illustrated with Official Photographs A Full Account of the War Work Organizations of Colored Men and Women and other Civilian Activities including The Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A. and the War Camp Community Service With Official Summary of Treaty of Peace and League of Nations Covenant Prefaced with Highest Tributes to the American Negro by HON. NEWTON D. BAKER, Secretary of War GEN. JOHN J. PERSHING, Commander-in-Chief, American Exp. Forces, and the late COL. THEODORE ROOSEVELT 5^ Copyright, 1919, by Emmett J. Scott. PHOTOGRAPHS USED IN THIS VOLUME ARE COPYRIGHTED BY Underwood & Underwood; Paul Thompson; E. L. Snyder; Baker Art Gallery; Western Newspaper Union; Scurlock; Committee on Public Information J Beresford Studio; Emmett J. Scott; WftT Camp Community Service ; Canfield & Shook ; Webb Studio; International Film Ser- vice; and others. All rights reserved. JUL 17 1919 ©CI.A530231 y d^ /r DEDICATED TO MY WIFE AND CHILDREN TO WHOSE LOVE AND INSPIRATION I OWE SO MUCH. CONTENTS PAGE Author's Preface 9 Loyalty and Democracy of the Negro, by Secretary Baker 15 Tribute to the Negro Soldier, by General Pershing 16 The Negro's Part in the War, by Theodore Roosevelt 17 CHAPTER I. — How the Great War Came to America 23 The Underlying Causes of the War — Racial Hatreds and National Enmities — Germany's Ambition to Rule the World — The Gathering of the War Clouds — Germany's Attempt to Stir Up Trouble Between the United States and Mexico — Events that Led to America's Participation In the War. CHAPTER II.— The Call to the Colors 32 Negro Troops that Were Ready When War Was Declared — The Famous 9th and 10th Cavalry, U. S. Army— The 24th and 25th Infantry— National Guard Units of Colored Troops — The 8th Illinois — The 15th New York — National Guard Units of Ohio, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, and Tennessee — First Separate Battalion of the District of Columbia — How All of These Responded to the Call. CHAPTER III. — Official Recognition of the Negro's Interest. 40 Appointment of Emmett J. Scott as Special Assistant to the Secretary of War — DifBculties Encountered in Establishing the Negro's Status — Oppor- tunities Afforded for Effective Work on Behalf of Negro Soldiers — Better Opportunities for Negro OflScers, Soldiers, Nurses, Surgeons, and Others Obtained Through This Official Connection. CHAPTER IV. — The Work of the Special Assistant 51 Guarding the Interests of Negro Soldiers and Civilians — Promoting a Healthy Morale — Cases of Alleged Discrimination Against Negro Draftees — The Edward Merchant Case — The John D. Wray Case — How Justice Was Secured — A War Department Inquiry — Training of Colored Officers. CHAPTER V. — The Negro in the National Army 66 Selective Service Law the Most Complete Recognition of the Citizenship of the Negro, North and South — All the Duties and Responsibilities of Patriots Imposed Upon the Negro by the Draft Act — Tribute by the Provost Marshal General to the Colored Soldier — Assignment of Negro Draftees to Cantonments. CONTENTS (CONTINUED) 5 CHAPTER VI. — A Critical Situation in the Camps 75 Race Problems that Had to be Solved— Fear of the Southern Whites that Trouble Would Follow the Training of Negro Troops in the South- Situation Complicated by the Houston Riot— Protest of the Governor of South Carolina — Dr. Scott Called to Spartanburg, S. C, to Allay Trouble There — How the Negro Soldier Finally Won the Respect and Confidence of the South. CHAPTER VII.— Colored Officers and How They Were Trained 82 First Officers' Training Camp for Colored Men at Fort Des Moines, Iowa- Major J. E. Spingarn's Fight for the Establishment of This Camp — Methods of Training Reserve Officers — Negro Educational Institutions Furnish Personnel — Seven Hundred Colored Officers Commissioned at Fort Des Moines. CHAPTER VIII. — Treatment of Negro Soldiers in Camp 92 Men from the South Sent to Northern Camps to Face a Hard Winter — Attempts at Discrimination Against Negro Soldiers and Officers — Firm Stand of the Secretary of War Against Race Discrimination — General Ballou's "Bulletin No. 35" — Members of Draft Boards Dismissed for Dis- crimination Against the Race. CHAPTER IX. — Efforts to Improve Conditions 105 Secretary Baker and the Trying Situation at Camp Lee, Virginia — Reports on Investigations at Numerous Camps — Improved Conditions Brought About Gradually — The Case of Lieutenant Tribbett and Similar Cases of Race Prejudice, CHAPTER X. — Negro Soldiers of France and England 117 French Colored Colonials the First Black Soldiers to Take Part In the War — The Story of These Senegalese Fighters — Their Important Part from the Beginning of the War — The Fight for the African Colonies — German Employment of Negro Troops in the Early Part of the War. CHAPTER XL— The Negro Combat DmsiON 130 Full Detailed Account of the Organization and Fighting Campaigns of the Famous Ninety-Second, as Recorded by the Division's Official His- torian — Complete Official Reports of Every Battle In Which the Ninety- Second Took Part — Commendation by Commanding Officers. CHAPTER XII.— Citations and Awards, 92nd Division 173 Officers and Men of the Famous Negro Division Whose Heroic Conduct Gained for Them the Distinguished Service Cross — Details of Their Deeds of Heroism in Action — Special Mention of Officers and Men by Various Commanding Officers. CHAPTER XIII.— The Story op *'The Buffaloes" 190 Glorious Record of the 367th Infantry Regiment — Colonel James A. Moss — Presentation of Colors by the Union League Club — "The Buffaloes" in France — How They "Saw It Through" at Metz — Their Heroic Conduct Under Fire — Regimental Colors Decorated by Order of the French High Command — A Tribute from France to "These Sunburned Americans." 6 CONTENTS (CONTINUED) CHAPTER XIV.— Record of "The Old Fifteenth" 197 The Glorious Story of the 369th United States Infantry, Formerly of the New York National Guard— The Regiment That Never Lost a Man Cap- tured, a Trench, or a Foot of Ground— First Negro Troops to Go into Action in France. CHAPTER XV.—' ' The Eighth Illinois" 214 story of the 370th U. S. Infantry— Another Negro National Guard Regi- ment that Won Distinction on the Battlefield— Chicago's Colored Fighters- Called "Black Devils" by the Germans and "Partridges" by the French Because of Their Proud Bearing— First American Troops to March into the Fortified City of Laon— Their Stubborn Resistance at the Oise-Aisne Canal. CHAPTER XVI.-— The 371st Infantry in France 231 How This Colored Regiment of the "Red Hand" Division Helped to Win the War — Service in the Trenches under General Goybet — In the Great Champagne Offensive — Fierce Fighting and Heavy Losses — The Regiment Decorated by the French — Individual Citations and Awards. CHAPTER XVII.— The Record of the 372nd 239 A Regiment Made Up of National Guard Troops and Drafted Men — ^Attached to the Famous French "Red Hand" Division — Its Splendid Record in France — At Hill 304 — Heroic Exploits of Individuals — The Regiment Dec- orated with the Croix de Guerre — Citations and Awards. CHAPTER XVIII.— Negro Heroes of the War 256 The Exploit of Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts — How One American Soldier in No-Man's Land Killed Four Germans and Wounded Twenty- Eight Others Single-Handed — First American Soldiers to Receive the French Croix de Guerre — Other Instances of Individual Heroism by Negro Soldiers. CHAPTER XIX.— The Negro Soldier as a Fighter 274 Unanimous Praise by Military Observers — Value of Negroes as Shock Troops — Discipline and Morale Under Fire — What the War Correspondents Said About Them — Comments by Foreign Military Observers — Estimates by American and French Officers. CHAPTER XX.— With Our Soldiers in France 284 f- Official Reports of the Only Accredited Negro War Correspondent — Ralph W. Tyler, Representative with the A. E. F. of the U. S. Committee on Public Information— The Story of the Life and Fighting of American Negro Soldiers in France as Seen by This Trained Observer. CHAPTER XXI.— Negro Music That Stirred France 300 Recognition of the Value of Music by the U. S. War Department— The Patriotic Music of Colored Americans— Lieutenant James Europe and His Famous "Jazz" Band — Other Leaders and Aggregations of Musicians — Enthusiasm of the French People and Officers for American Music as Interpreted by These Colored Artists and Their Bandsmen. CONTENTS (CONTINUED) 7 CHAPTER XXII.— The Negro in the Service of Supply 315 A Vast Army of Colored Stevedores In France — Their Important and Efficient Work — Essential to the Combatant Army in the Trenches — Their Loyalty and Cheerfulness — Important Lessons Learned In the War — The Labor Battalions — Well-Earned Tributes to These Splendid Colored Workers Overseas. CHAPTER XXIII.— "With Those Who Wait" 328 Provision for Technical Training of Draftees — Units that Did Not Get to France — Vocational and Educational Opportunities Opened to Them — The Negro In the Students' Array Training Corps — In the Reserve Officers* Training Corps. CHAPTER XXIV. — German Propaganda Among Negroes 344 Insidious Efforts to Create Dissatisfaction Among Colored Americans — Germany's Treacherous Promises — How the Hun Tried to Undermine the Loyalty of Our Negro Citizens — Steps Taken to Combat Enemy Propa- ganda — Work of the Committee on Public Information. CHAPTER XXV.— How Colored Civilians Helped to Win 355 Their Co-operation in All the Liberty Loan Drives — The Negro and the Red Cross — In the United War Work Campaign — How the Negroes Bought War Savings Stamps — Special Contributions and Work of Colored Citi- zens — The "Committee of One Hundred" and Its Valuable Work. CHAPTER XXVI.— Negro Labor in War Time 365 Organization for War Work — The Division of Negro Economics — Pioneer Work of Dr. George E. Haynes — Negro Representation in Council — Seeking to Improve Race Relations — Good Work by Negroes in the Shipyards — Attitude of Organized Labor — The Opportunities of the War. CHAPTER XXVII.— Negro Women in War Work 374 Enthusiastic Service of Colored Women in the Wartime Emergency — Over- coming the Problems of Race by Pure Patriotism — Work for the Red Cross — The Young Women's Christian Association — The Colored Hostess Houses and Rest Rooms for Soldiers — War Problems of Living — The Circle for Negro War Relief — Colored Women in the Loan Drives — Important Work in War Industries. CHAPTER XXVIII.— Social Welfare Agencies 398 Important Welfare Work of the Young Men's Christian Association and Other Organized Bodies — Negro Secretaries of the Y. M. C. A. — The Prob- lem of Illiteracy in the Camps — The Social Secretaries — Results of Educa- tion — The Y. W. C. A. Hostess Houses — The Knights of Columbus- -Caring tor Returned Soldiers. CHAPTER XXIX.— Negro Loyalty and Morale 411 Eager Response of Colored Draftees — Notable Tributes to the Patriotism of the Negro Race by the White Press — Also by President Wilson, Secretary Baker, Secretary Daniels and Others — Negro Loyalty Never Doubted — Patriotic Negro Demonstrations and Other Instances of Loyalty. 8 . CONTENTS (CONTINUED) CHAPTER XXX.— Did the Negro Soldier Get a Square Deal 1 426 Reports of "Widespread Discrimination and Harsh Treatment In Camp — Many Manifestations of Prejudice by White Officers — The Question of White or Negro Officers for Negro Regiments— Higher Officers of the Army Usually Fair — Disinclination to Utilize Colored Nurses and Colored Medical Men — Secretary Baker's Efforts to Prevent Race Discrimination — Reports of Negro Observers on Conditions Overseas. CHAPTER XXXI. — What the Negro Got Out op the War 458 A Keener Sense of His Rights and Privileges as a Citizen of the United States— Racial Attitude of the South — Returning Negro Soldiers and Con- ditions in the North — The Attitude of Organized Labor — Instances of Dis- crimination — The Black Man and His Claims to Equal Treatment. APPENDIX. — Colored Officers Commissioned at Ft. Des Moines 471 Colored Chaplains in the U. S. Army 482 Officlvl Summary of the Treaty of Peace 483 'Map of Central Europe Showing Territorial Changes Under the Treaty , 502 Key to the Map 503 Final Changes in the Treaty 504 Chronology of the World War 505-512 AUTHOR'S PREFACE The Negro, in the great World War for Freedom and Democracy, has proved to be a notable and inspiring figure. The record and achievements of this racial group, as brave soldiers and loyal citi- zens, furnish one of the brightest chapters in American history. The ready response of Negro draftees to the Selective Service calls — together with the numerous patriotic activities of Negroes generally, gave ample evidence of their whole-souled support and their 100 per cent Americanism. It is difficult to indicate which rendered the greater service to their Country — the 400,000 or more of them who entered active military service (many of whom fearlessly and vic- toriously fought upon the battlefields of France) or the millions of other loyal members of this race whose useful industry in fields, factories, forests, mines, together with many other indispensable civilian activities, so vitally helped the Federal authorities in carry- ing the war to a successful conclusion. When war against Germany was declared April 6, 1917, Negro Americans quickly recognized the fact that it was not to be a white man's war, nor a black man's war, but a war of all the people living under the '^ Stars and Stripes" for the preservation of human liberty throughout the ivorld. Despite efforts of pro-German propagandists to dampen their ardor or cool their patriotism by pointing out seem- ing inconsistencies between their treatment as American citizens and their expected loyalty as American soldiers, more than one million of them (1,078,331), according to the Second Official Eeport of the Provost Marshal General, promptly responded to, and regis- tered under the three Selective Service calls. More than 400,000 Negro soldiers (367,710 draftees plus voluntaiy enlistments and those already in the Eegular Army) were called to the colors and offered their lives in defense of the American flag during the recent war. Relative to their population, proportionately more Negroes were *' drafted" than was true of white men. The Negro was represented in practically every branch of military service during the Great World War, — including Infantry, Cavalry, Engineer Corps, Field Artillery, Coast Artillery, Signal Corps (radio or wireless telegraphers). Medical Corps, Hospital and Ambulance Corps, Aviation Corps (ground section). Veterinary 9 10 AUTHOR'S PREFACE Corps, and in Stevedore Regiments, Service or Labor Battalions, Depot Brigades, and so fortli. Nor was this the first instance in the Nation's history that this ever-loyal racial group rightly and cheerfully responded to the tocsin of war and made a military record of which any race might well be proud. In the Revolutionary War, in the War of 1812, in the Mexican War, in the Civil War, and in the War with Spain, — the American Negro soldier has always distinguished himself by bravery, fortitude, and loyalty. His military record has always compared favorably with that of other soldiers. It is because of the immensely valuable contribution made by Negro soldiers, sailors, and civilians toward the winning of the great World War that this volume has been prepared, — in order that there may be an authentic record, not only of the military exploits of this particular racial group of Americans, but of the diversified and valuable contributions made by them as patriotic civilians. A notable group of colored Americans, men and women, has joined me in this effort adequately to present a reliable record of the many services and sacrifices that the Negro race has willingly laid upon the altar of Patriotism. It is a matter of profound satis- faction to have had the earnest cooperation of : Caeter G. Woodson, A. M., Ph. D., Director of Research, The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, whose mono- graphs on Negro Life and History appear regularly in the "Journal of Negro History," the one publication of its kind in America. Dr. Woodson is a graduate of Harvard University, from which he re- ceived the degree of Ph. D., and is an authority on Negro History. His cooperation is, therefore, rightly to be prized as bringing to this work an appreciation of historical values. Ralph W. Tylee, accredited Negro War Correspondent, who served overseas, representing the Committee on Public Information. Mr. Tyler had full opportunity at the front to know how colored soldiers acquitted themselves in camps and upon the battlefields of France. His letters and official reports sent to America and pub- lished through the Committee on Public Information in various white and colored newspapers of the country contained first-hand information concerning Negro troops overseas, and served to keep up the morale of colored Americans at a time when there was much anxiety and complaint among them due to the fact that adequate AUTHOR'S PREFACE 11 news regarding the treatment and activities of Negro soldiers abroad was not finding its way into the press of the country. William Anthony Aery, Publication Secretary of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, and Monroe N. Work, in charge of the Division of Records and Research at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, both of whom, being connected with the largest industrial schools among colored people in the United States, had full opportunity to observe the conduct and training of Negro sol- diers in the various Vocational Detachments, Students * Army Train- ing Corps, and Reserve Officers ' Training Corps units ; their counsel and data furnished have been of material assistance in the prepara- tion of this volume. Mrs. Alice Dunbar-Nelson (formerly the wife of Paul Laurence Dunbar, the ''Poet Laureate" of the Negro race), who wrote Chapter XXVII, entitled: ''Negro Women in War Work." Mrs. Nelson, prominent in educational and literary circles, was actively engaged during the war in helping to mobilize the colored women of the country for effective war work, representing the Women's Divi- sion of the Council of National Defense ; she traveled extensively in various parts of the country in the effort to promote patriotic activi- ties among the colored women of America, and with eloquent tongue, trenchant pen, and untiring personal service helped them to make a record that will stand forever as a monument to the practical value and absolute dependability of Negro womanhood in a national crisis. Miss Eva D. Bowles, Executive Secretary in charge of the Colored Young Women's Christian Association, who did a notable piece of work in connection with the War Work Council, not only in the matter of selecting well-trained women to take charge of Hostess Houses that were provided at various camps and cantonments, but in keeping alive the fires of patriotism among the colored women of the country as she went from place to place lecturing and otherwise working for the betterment of social conditions in Army camps and especially in communities adjacent thereto. A full report of the work done by the organization, which this consecrated young woman so worthily represents, is contained in Chapter XXVII, entitled: "Negro Women in War Work." Lieutenant T. T. Thompson, Personnel Officer and Historian of the 92nd Division, to whom I am especially indebted for a large amount of official data concerning the various activities of this im- 12 AUTHOR'S PREFACE portant Divisional unit of the American Expeditionary Forces. Lieutenant Thompson, by training and experience, was well fitted for the exacting post which was held by him as an officer in the U. S. Army and as a chronicler of the activities and operations of the 92nd Division. The material supplied by him and incorporated in Chapters XI and XII must, therefore, be regarded as official, authentic, and reliable. It is the one clear record of the activities of the 92nd Division, — that justly famous military unit composed of American Negro officers and soldiers who served their country so gallantly during the recent war. The data supplied by Lieutenant Thompson has been checked up by various other officers of the 92nd Division, including Lieutenant Chakles S. Pakkee, Regimental Adjutant, 366th Infantry, a man of scholarly attainments, judicial poise and clear understanding, and who, also, has supplied definite and important data with reference to the operations of certain Negro units that distinguished themselves by valor when the 92nd Division fearlessly faced the formidable fortress at Metz. It is a matter of great benefit to the Negro Race, and certainly most grati- fying to the Author to have had recourse to the official records kept by these colored officers. I am also especially indebted to Captain John H. Patton, Regimental Adjutant of the 370th Infantry Regiment, U. S. A. (bet- ter known as the Old Eighth Illinois Regiment) which unit actively participated in many a bloody conflict overseas and won imperishable fame. Captain Patton placed at my disposal the full and complete official record of the ''Eighth Illinois" (370th) Regiment and it was largely from that record, of undeniable authenticity, that Chapter XV was compiled. Grateful reference must also be made to De. Jesse E. Mooeland, International Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association, \\dth Headquarters at Washington, D. C. Dr. Moorland was in charge of all the Y. M. C. A. work conducted among colored soldiers in the various camps and cantonments throughout America as well as overseas, and with a well-selected cabinet of efficient, consecrated young colored men, rendered service of the utmost value in looking after the moral and social welfare of thousands of Negro soldiers who were called to the colors. Each and every Y. M. C. A. Secretary selected for service in camps or cantonments at home or overseas was designated by Dr. Moorland and his large corps of capable helpers co- AUTHOR'S PREFACE 13 operated most effectively with the War Work Council. No more notable work was done during the war than that performed by the Young Men's Christian Association among colored soldiers as it received the untutored, untrained and, in many cases unlettered col- ored men who poured into the various camps, and, largely through the practical help afforded by colored Y. M. C. A. Secretaries, were transformed within a few weeks or months into upstanding, sturdy, forward-looking men. The story of the Y. M. C. A. work among colored soldiers is a story most interesting and worthy of preser- vation. Captain E. L. Snyder, Y. M. C. A. Secretary, who served for a time at Camp Grant with the 183rd Depot Brigade and later upon three battle fronts overseas, has placed the Author and his Eace under many obligations for permitting me to use and in securing for use in this volume a large number of very valuable pictures or illus- trations contained herein; they indicate the widespread and varied activities of Negro troops in American camps and cantonments and in service overseas. Many of these illustrations were photographed by him at the front — some being photographed while he was in danger of being wounded or killed by flying pieces of shrapnel, while others were secured from the French Official Photographic Division. They show both American Negro and French Colonial troops in action. Most or all of the photographs of colored officers have been supplied by these officers themselves at my special request, and I wish in this way to express to them all my grateful acknowledgment, with my sincere regret that the space devoted to illustrations did not permit the publication of all of the photographs so kindly fur- nished. Many of these colored officers have furnished me with first-hand information of interest and importance, duly verified by their com- rades in arms, — setting forth their individual exploits as well as those of the various units with which they were connected. To all of them, and to all others who have aided me in the preparation of this work, I am profoundly grateful. In calling attention to these cooperating agencies, I want espe- cially to pay tribute to my loyal and efficient secretary, Mr. William H. Davis, without whose generous support and valued services it would have been difficult for me to have done this work or to have 14 AUTHOR'S PREFACE presented a record of the activities of my office during the period of nearly two years I have been serving in the War Department as Special Assistant to the Secretary of War. Since entering upon the duties of that office, Mr. Davis has given a great deal more than time in supporting my various efforts in behalf of Negro soldiers and in the interest of Negi'o citizens generally; without regard to recom- pense and without counting time, strength or anything else except a desire to serve to the uttermost, — and I wish in this way and in this place to record my deep indebtedness to him, an indebtedness which must be shared by the Negro people of this country as well, in whose interest and for whose welfare he has served so loyally and un- selfishly. I wish also gratefully to acknowledge the help and encour- agement I have had from my corps of office assistants, clerks and stenographers, viz: Mr. R. W. Thompson, Mr. Charles Webb, Mr. J. B. Smith, Mrs. Madeline P. Childs, and Miss Ernestine English. In response to the natural desire and nation-wide demand for an authentic and reliable record of Negro military achievements and other of their patriotic contributions, this volume has been pre- pared as a lasting tribute to the American Negro's participation in the greatest war in human history. Much of the material, as the reader will note, is based upon first-hand study, official reports and data, and the greatest possible care has been taken in the effort to set forth definitely what has been done — not only by black men in America but by those other brave black soldiers of Africa (Sene- galese, Soudanese, and Algerians) who served with the Allies and who rendered such timely and valuable service, — in helping to save to the casket of Freedom the precious jewel of Human Liberty! Washington, D. C, June 15, 1919. LOYALTY AND DEMOCRACY OF THE NEGRO PRAISED BY THE SECRETARY OF WAR The following is the testimony of the Honorable Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War, to the loyal and enthusiastic support of colored civilians and the part played by colored soldiers in the war: In a most encouraging degree, it is being regarded by colored civilians throughout the country, as a privilege and as a duty to give liberally of their substance, of their time, of their talents, of their energy, of their influence, and in every way possible, to con- tribute toward the comfort and success of our fighting units and those of our allies across the seas. The colored men, who were subject to draft, are to be com- mended upon their promptness and eagerness in registering their names for service in the National Army, and likewise mention is made of the relatively low percentage of exemption claims filed by^ them. Those in the service of their country proved faithful and efficient, and will uphold the traditions of their race. I want the soldier who did not go over seas to know that he is as much a soldier as though he had taken part in the more spec- tacular side. I want to insist that the men who were in training in this country are just as much a part of the Army of the United States as if they had gone. Now, I want to impress this upon you men, that if you feel that things have not been as you would like them — if there have been some things which you think were not as they should have been, you must try to forget them and go back to civil life with the deter- mination to do your part to make the country what it should be. After all, what is this thing we call ''DEMOCRACY" and about which we hear so much nowadays? Surely it no catch-phrase or abstraction. It is demonstrating too much vitality for that. It is no social distinction or privilege of the few, for were it that, it could not win the hearts of peoples and make them willing to die for its establishment. But it is, it seems to me, a hope as wide as the human race, involving men everywhere — a hope that permits 15 16 TRIBUTES TO THE NEGRO IN WAR each of us to look forward to a time when not only we^ but others, will have our respective rights, founded on the generosity of Nature, and protected by a system of justice which will adjust its apparent conflicts. Under such a hope nations will do justice to nations, and men to men. Nor can I believe that this democracy will be attained as a finished and complete thing, but rather with increased education and knowledge its application will enlarge and new meanings be discovered in it. It is not the philosophy of disorder, but of prog- ressive order, not the doctrine of restraint by force, but rather of self-restraint imposed by men who realize that one's own freedom is safest when that of others is equally safe. Newton D. Baker. General Pershing's Tribute to the Negro Soldier ' ' The stories, probably invented by German agents, that colored soldiers in France are always placed in most dangerous positions and sacrificed to save white soldiers, that when wounded they are left on the ground to die without medical attention, etc., are abso- lutely false. ^'A tour of inspection among American Negro troops by officers of these headquarters show^s the comparatively high degree of train- ing and efficiency among these troops. Their training is identical with that of other American troops serving wi^h the French Army, the effort being to lead all American troops gradually to heavy combat duty by a preliminary service in trenches in quiet sectors. *' Colored troops in trenches have been particularly fortunate as one regiment had been there a month before any losses were suffered. This was almost unheard of on the western front. *'The exploits of two colored infantrymen in repelling a much larger German patrol, killing and wounding several Germans and winning the Croix de Guerre by their gallantry, has aroused a fine spirit of emulation throughout the colored troops, all of whom are looking forward to more active service. "The only regret expressed by colored troops is that they are not given more dangerous work to do. I cannot commend too highly the spirit shown among the colored combat troops, who exhibit fine capacity for quick training and eagerness for the most dangerous w^^^k'" John J. Pershing. Above — Colonel Hay ward's "Hell Fighters" in Parade. The famous 369th Infantry of colored fighters marching in New York City in honor of their return to this country after having covered themselves with glory on the blood-stained fields of France. Below — The Buffaloes (367th) Marching up the Avenue in New York on Their Return Above — American Negro Machine Gunners in tlie Marne Sector in France. Below — In the trenches ; a French Officer explaining operation of tlie hand grenades to Senegalese and American Negro soldiers. Above — Lt. Rutherford's Minstrels, recruited on board the "Saxonia" on homeward trip, where they amused and entertained over 1700 wounded boys on the way back from France. Below — Transport "Ulua," with her cargo of dusky fighters who are glad to be baclv home after doing their bit in France. Among them are the 3] 7th Supply Train, 317th Trench Mortar Battery, 325th Field Signal Battery. MAJOR-GENERAL, C. C. BAL.LOU, COMMANDER OF THE FIGHTING 92nd DIVISION. Above — How the boys enjoyed themselves in France. A group of Negro soldiers off duty around a Y. M. C. A. tent at Villers le Sec (Meuse). Below — A German tank destroyed by allied shell Are in a sector occupied by American Neg-ro Troops. .Above — Welcoming a Victorious Hero. Htni v Johnson, the American Private who killed four Germans and wounded twenty-two with his bolo knife, and was the First American of any „ , "^^ceto receive the Croix de Guerre, being carried in triumph up Fifth Avenue on his return. Below — Negro Stevedores of the National Army Unloading a Transport in the Harbor of Brest. 'The Flags of the Fig-hting 15th." Color Bearers of the 369th, inarching up Fifth Avenue with Regimental Colors bearing the decoration presented to the entire Regiment by the French Government. These flags were given to the Regiment by the Union League Club of New York, and returned to the Club at the close of the war. The Regimental Standard has the distinction of being the only State flag carried into action by any American unit. GP:0UP of colored officers op the 368th INFANTRY. Left to rig-ht — Top — 1st. Lt. Clayborne George ; 1st Lt. C. B. Curley ; 1st Lt. Wm. Harris. Center — 1st Lt. J. S. Heslip ; Capt. T. N. Dent ; 2nd Lt. P. W. Alexander. Bottom — 1st Lt. Levi Anderson ; 1st Lt. J. E. Scott : 1st Lt. R. E. Banks. Above — A detachment of American Negro Infantrymen Operating in the Front Line Trenches. Below — Here is a photograph right from the front, an unusual picture showing how the trenches really looked. These are American and French Colonial colored soldiers in a French trench. WOODROW WILSON ,'Pbesident of the United States During the Great World War. Hon. Newton D. Baker, Secretary of "War. Throughout the war Secretary Baker stood for a square deal for the Negro soldier, and was prompt to rectify every injustice or case of dis- crimination that came to his attention. /^^j-'tr^^*.-*-^- Above — The Band that Introduced France to Ragtime." Lieut. James Europe's aggregation of Negro musicians accompanied the 369th Infantry overseas. The music of these dark skinned players took France by storm. Gen. Pershing borrowed the band for a month to play at iieaaquarters ot the A. K P., but sent it back to the regiment wlien General Gouraud. the French Commander, begged for its return Belqw—Ueut Maxom and the band of the 814th Infantry on the pier at New York just after disembarking' from the transport Celtic from overseas. Our colored bands were the wonder of France. Above — "Returning the Colors." Major David Appleton commanding the "Buffaloes, re- turning the Colors intrusted to this Negro regiment, upon its return from its glorious service in France. „ . j, Below— Hon. Charles Evans Hughes Receiving the Colors of the 367th Infantry from Major Daniel Appleton, who is on Justice Hughes' left. FORMER PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT ON "THE NEGRO'S PART IN THE WAR" It is a source of pride and gratification to record the fact that Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, the great former President of the United States, whose sudden and untimely death occurred on Jan- uary 6, 1919, made his last public appearance and address at a meeting held in Carnegie Hall, New York, on November 2nd, 1918, under the auspices of the Circle for Negro War Relief. It was on this occasion that Colonel Roosevelt paid the following high tribute to the Negro Race in War: ' ' The Negro has a right to sit at the council board where ques- tions vitally affecting him are considered, and at the same time, as a matter of expediency, it is well to have white men at the board too. And I say that, though I know that there are many men — Dr. Scott is one — whom I would be delighted to have sit at the council board where only the affairs of white men are concerned. As things are now, the wisest course to follow is that followed in the organiza- tion of this circle. ''Such an organization as this, though started and maintained with a friendly co-operation from white friends, is intended to prove to the world that the colored people themselves can manage war relief in an efficient, honest and dignified way and so bring honor to their race. Every organization like this Circle for Negro War Relief is doing its part in bringing about the right solution for the great problem which the Chairman has spoken of this evening. ' * I do not for one moment want to be understood as excusing the white man from his full responsibility for anything that he has done to keep the black man down ; but I do wish to say, with all the empha- sis and all the earnestness at my command, that the greatest work the colored man can do to help his race upward is by, in his own person and through co-operation with his fellows, showing the dignity of service by the colored man and colored woman for all our people. ''Let me illustrate just what I mean when I say the advisability of white co-operation and the occasional advisability of doing with- out white co-operation. Had I been permitted to raise troops to go on the other side, I should have asked permission to raise two colored 17 18 ROOSEVELT'S THIBUTE TO THE NEGEO regiments. It is perfectly possible, of course, that there is more than one colored man in the country fit for the extraordinarily diffi- cult task of commanding one such colored regiment, which would contain nothing but colored officers. But it happens that I only knew of one and that was Colonel Charles Young. I had intended to offer him the colonelship of one regiment, telling him I expected him to choose only colored officers, and that while I was sure he would understand the extreme difficulty and extreme responsibility of his task, I intended to try to impress it upon him still more; to tell him that under those conditions I put a heavier responsibility upon him than upon any other colored man in the country, and that he was to be given an absolutely free hand in choosing his officers, and that on the other hand he would have to treat them absolutely mercilessly, if they didn't come right up to the highest level. *'0n the other hand, with the other colored regiment, I should have had a colonel and a Lieutenant-colonel and three majors who would have been white men. One of them, Hamilton Fish, is over there now. One went over and was offered permission to form another regiment. He said no, he would stay with his sunburned Yankees. He stayed accordingly. *'Mr. Cobb has spoken to you as an eyewitness of what has been done by the colored troops across the seas. I am well prepared to believe it. In the very small war in which I served, which was a kind of a pink tea affair, I had a division, small dismounted cavalry division, where in addition to my own regiment we had three white regular regiments and two colored regiments; and when we had gotten through the campaign my own men, who were probably two- thirds Southerners and Southwestemers, used to say, ^The Ninth and Tenth Cavalry are good enough to drink out of our canteens.' "And terrible though this war has been, I think it has been also fraught with the greatest good for our national soul. We went to war, as Mr. Cobb has said, to maintain our own national self-respect. And, friends, it would have been something awful if we hadn't gone in. Materially, because the fight was so even that I don't think it is boasting, I think it is a plain statement of fact, Mr. Cobb, that our going in turned the scale. Isn't that so? I think the Germans and their vassal allies would have been victorious if we hadn't gone in. ROOSEVELT'S TRIBUTE TO THE NEGRO 19 And if they had been victorious and we had stayed out, soft, flabby, wealthy, they would have eaten us without saying grace. ''Well, thank Heaven! we went in, and our men on the other side, our sons and brothers on the other side, white men and black, white soldiers and colored soldiers, have been so active that every Ameri- can now can walk with his head up and look the citizen of any other country in the world straight in the eyes, and we have the satisfac- tion of knowing that we have played the decisive part. I am not saying this in any spirit of self-flattery. If any of you have heard me speak during the preceding four years you know that I have not addressed the American people in a vein of undiluted eulogy. But without self -flattery we can say that it was our going in that turned the scale for freedom and ag-ainst the most dangerous tyranny that the world has ever seen. We acted as genuine friends of liberty in so doing. "Now after the war, friends, I think all of us in this country, white and black alike, have also got to set an example to the rest of the world in steering a straight course equally distant from Kaiser- ism and Bolshevism. ''And now, friends, I want as an American to thank you, and as your fellow American to congratulate you, upon the honor won and the service rendered by the colored troops on the other side ; by the men such as the soldier Needham Roberts w^e have with us tonight who won the Cross of War, the greatest War Cross for gallantry in action ; for the many others like him who acted with equal gallantry and who for one reason or another never attracted the attention of their superiors and, well ti^ough they did, did not receive the out- ward and visible token to prove what they had done. I want to con- gratulate you on what all those men have done. I want to congrat- ulate you on what the colored nurses at home have done and have been ready to do, and to express my very sincere regret that some way was not found to put them on the other side at the front. I con- gratulate you upon it in the name of our country and above all in the name of the colored people of our country. For in the end services of this kind have a cumulative effect in winning the confi- dence of your fellows of another color. "And I hope — and I wish to use a stronger expression than 'hope'; I expect — and I am going to do whatever small amount I 20 ROOSEVELT'S TRIBUTE TO THE NEGRO can do, to bring about the realization of the expectation, I expect that as a result of this great war, intended to secure a greater jus- tice internationally among the people of mankind, we shall apply at home the lessons that we have been learning and helping teach abroad; that we shall work sanely, not foolishly, but resolutely, toward securing a juster and fairer treatment in this country of colored people, basing that treatment upon the only safe rule to be followed in American life, of treating each individual accordingly as his conduct or her conduct requires you to treat them. *'I don't ask for any man that he shall because of his race be given any privilege. All I ask is that in his ordinary civil rights, in his right to work, to enjoy life and liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness, that as regards those rights he be given the same treatment that we would give him if he was of another color. ''Now, friends, both the white man and the black man in moments of exultation are apt to think that the millennium is pretty near ; that the sweet chariot has swung so low that everybody can get upon it. I don't think that my colored fellow-citizens are a bit worse than my white fellow-citizens as regards that particular aspiration. And I am sure you do not envy me the ungrateful task of warning both that they must not expect too much. They must have their eyes on the stars but their feet on the ground. I have to warn m}^ white fellow-citizens about that when they say: 'Well, now, at the end of this war, we are going to have universal peace. Everybody loves everybody else.' I want you to remember that the strongest expo- nents of international love in public life today are Lenine and Trotsky. "I will do everything I can to aid, to help to bring about, to bring nearer the day when justice and what in a humble way may be called the square deal will be given. And yet I want to warn you that that is only going to come gradually; that there will be very much injus- tice, injustice that must not over-much disappoint you and it must not cow you and above all it must not make you feel sullen and hopeless. "And one thing I want to say, not to you here but the the colored men who live where the bulk of the colored men do, in the South, and that is always to remember the lesson which I learned from Booker Washington : that in the long run, in the long run, the white ROOSEVELT'S TRIBUTE TO THE NEGRO 21 man who can give most help to the colored man is the white man who lives next to him. And in consequence I always felt it my official duty to work so that I could command the assistance and respect of the bulk of the white men who are decent and square, in what I tried to do for the colored man who is decent and square. * ' To each side I preach the doctrine of thinking more of his duties than of his rights. I don't mean that you shan't think of your rights. I Avant you to do it. But it is awfully easy, if you begin to dwell all the time on your rights, to find that you suffer from an ingrowing sense of your own perfections and wrongs and that you forget what you owe to anyone else. **I congratulate all colored men and women and all their white fellow-Americans upon the gallanty and efficiency with which the colored men have behaved at the front, and the efficiency and wish to render service which have been shown by both the colored men and the colored women behind them in this country." Theodore Roosevelt. TWO FIRST CLASS AMERICANS! This cartoon, with the above title, was drawn by Mr. W. A. Rogers, the famous cartoonist of the New York Herald, in cele- bration of the exploit of Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts, the first two American soldiers to win the Croix de Guerre. — Copyrig-ht, 1918, by New York Herald Co. CHAPTER I HOW THE GREAT Y/AR CAME TO AMERICA The Underlying Causes of the War — Racial Hatreds and National Enmities — Germany's Ambition to Ride the World — The Gather- ing of the War Clouds — Germany's Attempt to Stir Up Trouble Between the United States and Mexico — Events thai Led to America's Participation in the War. As all the world now realizes, tlie Great War which came to an end by the surrender of Germany and the signing of an Armistice on November 11, 1918, had its roots in racial hatred and inter- national jealousy between the peoples and rulers of different European countries. What directly brought on the war was the resentment of the Serbians of the effort of the Germanic Austrians to rule them. For centuries the oppression of one race by another had been going on in Europe. All over Europe there were races ruled and exploited by people of another race. The Poles had no government of their own, but were divided among Germany, Russia and Austria. Italians bitterly resented the rule of Austria over large territories, including some great cities, whose population was almost wholly Italian. On the west, the French people of Alsace-Lorraine were held in subjection by Germany. The Czecho-Slovaks of Bohemia were under the control of Austrians; Turkish authority tyrannized over the Armenians, and the Lithuanians were the subjects of Rus- sian masters. Confident of her ability to overcome all resistance, determined to reduce still more nations and races to subjection and to extend her dominion from the North Sea to the Indian Ocean, Germany entered upon this war to crush friend and foe. The whole civilized world revolted when the German Government declared that its solemn treaty in which it had agreed to the permanent independence of Belgium was only *'a scrap of paper," and s6nt its army into that neutral country. The invasion of Belgium was the act that brought 23 24 . SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY England into the war against Germany; the atrocious treatment of the Belgians and the French by the Germans was the moving force that stirred the American people and prepared them for this coun- try's own entrance into the war even before atrocities committed npon our own citizens forced the issue. So, in a very literal sense, it may be said that our American soldiers of the Negro Race went over to France to fight for the liberation of the oppressed peoples of Europe. It was a marvelous thing to have occurred, that a race itself so long oppressed should have had the opportunity to help save others from oppression ! It is something for every man and woman of the Negro race to be proud of, that our people did eagerly welcome this opportunity and play so glorious a part. The pistol shot which put an end to the life of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro- Hungarian throne, at Serajevo, June 28, 1914, turned Europe into a battlefield six weeks later. The Serbians were blamed for the assassi- nation, and on July 23 Vienna sent an ultimatum to Belgrade demanding the punishment of the offenders and Austria's participa- tion in their trial in Serbia. Eussia supported Serbia in rejecting the last demand; Germany supported Austria. England, France, and even Italy, then the ally of Austria and Germany, suggested arbitration by the Great Powers. By treaty Germany was obliged to support Austria if attacked by two or more powers, France to support Russia for a similar reason, and Italy to support her allies in case of a defensive war, Germany deemed Russia's mobilization tantamount to a declara- tion of war against her and declared war on August 1,' 1914. Alleging that France had already begun hostile action against her, Germany declared war on France on the third of August and invaded Belgium in order to attack France. Great Britain declared war on Germany the fourth of August. Italy, deeming Austria the aggressor, pro- claimed her neutrality. But these were merely the culmination of a long-standing con- spiracy on the part of Germany and Austria-Hungary soon to be revealed by German propaganda. Germany wished to render France impotent and absorb the Germanic provinces of Russia; she would then be in a position to coerce Great Britain. Austria-Hungary wished to absorb the Balkan Slavs and make her way to the ^gean. For HOW THE WAR CAME TO AMERICA 25 Germany there was a corollary to the success of the Austro-Hun- garian scheme, which, by the bribery of Turkey, would establish German dominion from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf. In November Turkey entered the w^ar on the side of the Central Empires. All this was arranged, even to the minutest detail, at the German Kaiser's Potsdam conference on July 5, 1914. There it was believed that if the corollary did not come into evidence too soon, both Great Britain and Italy would remain neutral. That Japan would enter the war on account of her treaty with Great Britain was thus dis- counted. Germany attempted to defend her position morally on the ground that she had been attacked by Eussia on account of the Pan- Slavonic ambitions of that empire, and by Great Britain on account of the latter 's jealousy of her world trade and industry. She was, therefore, ''fighting for her existence." Her enemies in defending themselves entered into treaties for mutual advantages after the war, in case of the defeat of the Central Empires. There was cooperation, but no great unity of action or purpose among them. This gave Gennany a great advantage until the spring of 1917, when the United States entered the war. That event, besides bringing the material deciding factor to the Allies' cause, established their war aims upon a world basis of a fight for humanity — of republicanism against absolutism, for the rights of small nations, and "to make the world safe for democracy." All this was to be done by annihilating Prussian militarism and Hohen- zollern absolutism. On these humane principles twenty-nine nations arrayed themselves against Germany, of which twenty-four declared war. The war, which brought to the state of practical application the principles for which the enemies of Germany have been fighting, has been prodigious in geographic and social extent and unprece- dented in expenditures of lives and treasure. Through battle, atrocities, and massacres it is estimated that 10,000,000 lives have been sacrificed; that $50,000,000,000 of property, not including the waste of war material, has beeji destroyed in various ways; that the productive wealth of the belligerents, which in 1914 was esti- mated at $600,000,000,000, has now been mortgaged for over $200,- 000,000,000, much of which now seems unrecoverable. Germany's initial plan was to place France Jiors de combat 26 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY and tlien obtain a victorious peace over Russia. Austria-Hungary, meanwhile, would attend to tlie Balkans. The intervention of Great Britain brought this to nought. Germany then directed Turkey to attack Egypt and the Suez Canal, and so strangle Great Britain in the East. The first act of Great Britain was to isolate the German fleet; her second to send an expeditionary force under the command of Sir John French to Belgium and France. The Germans advanced into France to within fifteen miles of Paris, and were then driven back to the Aisne at the battle of the Marne, September 5-12, 1914. Eussian armies advanced into East Prussia, w^ere held in the center east of Posen, and overran Austrian Galicia. The Turks were de- feated at the Suez Canal on February 2-4, 1915. In the following April the Austro-Germans began a drive in Galicia, which by the following November had carried them eastward to a 450-mile per- pendicular extending from near Riga to the Russian frontier. Bulgaria and Italy in the War From March until October the Allies attempted to gain Con- stantinople from the Peninsula of Gallipoli, and then withdrew to Saloniki in an attempt to defend Serbia, Bulgaria having joined the Central Empires on September 22, Bulgaria overran Serbia and established communication between Berlin and Constantinople via the Orient Railway. Meanwhile Italy had declared war on Austria on May 23, and had invaded Austrian territory, isolating the Tren- tino and advancing to the River Isonzo. The Russians, advancing through the Caucasus, were defeating the Turks in Armenia. The sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, and the atrocities of the Germans in Belgium, the Austrians and Bulgars in Serbia, the Turks in Armenia, and the criminal propaganda in the United States to prevent supplies from going to the Allies, all tended to lower Germany's moral standard in the war. By the naval battle off the Falkland Islands on December 8, 1914, Germany's only fleet on the high seas had been put out of existence; a similar fate soon followed her commerce destroyers, Japan had taken the German- leased territory of Kiao-Chau in China, and soon, out of Germany's oversea possessions of 1,027,820 square miles, none remained. Japan has been fighting down to the end of the war. HOW THE WAR CAME TO AMERICA 27 The second year of the war, 1915-1916, saw the Germans com- pleting their occupation of the Balkans down to the Saloniki line held by the Allies ; there was a British defeat on the Tigris, with the surrender of Kut-el-Amara, on April 28. There were also the battle of Verdun, w^hich began on February 21 and cost the Germans half a million casualties ; the sea fight off Jutland on May 31, which left the British Navy in control of the sea; the battle of tlie Somme in France, July 1-November 13, which regained 170 square miles of territory and secured several strategic positions which five months later forced the great German retreat; General Brusiloff's cam- paign on the eastern front, which regained 7,300 square miles of territory and captured 358,000 prisoners from June 4 till December, 191G. On August 27, 1916, Eumania entered the war on the side of Germany's enemies and by the dawn of 1917 had been crushed. In March and April, 1917, took place the German retreat to the llindenburg line, which surrendered to France nearly 1,500 square miles of territory. There were British victories at the ridges of Vimy and Messines, respectively April 19 and June 7, and the great attack of the French from Soissons to Eheims, which secured 100,000 prisoners. In Mesopotamia the British recovered Kut-el- Amara and on March 11 occupied Bagdad; the Arab kingdom of Hedjaz joined the Allies. Political Events of the Third Year But the most important events of the third year of the war were political, however — the Russian revolution, March 15, and the entrance of the United States into the war, April 6. The former was brought about without any premeditation by the Cossacks refusing to fire on the Petrograd mob and the Duma taking advan- tage of the situation and establishing a mild Provisional Govern- ment, which opened the country to destructive German propaganda and the rise of the anarchy knowTi as Bolshevism. The moral and material grievances of the United States against Geraiany culminated in a series of revelations showing the latter 's crimin- ality. On January 31 she proclaimed her intensified U-boat cam- paign, repudiating the promise of May 4, 1916, and on February 28th came the revelation of the Zimmerman note to Mexico and 28 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Japan. Up to the time the United States declared war this country had lost by the illegal operation of U-boats twenty-two ships, amounting to more than 70,000 tons, together with hundreds of lives, most of which, however, had been lost on other neutral ships or on the passenger ships of Germany's enemies. Early in the fourth year of the war, November 7, 1917, saw the collapse of the Eussian Provisional Government and the dominance of the Bolsheviki. They finally drove Russia from the war by the betrayal at Brest-Litovsk, which culminated in the treaty of peace of March 3, 1918. Rumania w^as forced to make peace on May 6, at Bucharest. Other events which occupied the closing months of 1917 were equally discouraging for the Allies, whose morale, however, was kept firm through the rapidly augmenting evidences of American aid, which would be decisive. Even here there was fear that this aid could not be brought overseas, due to the intensified action of the U-boats, whose toll of merchant shipping for 1917 had been in the first quarter 1,619,373 tons ; in the second, 236,934 ; in the third, 1,494,473; and in the fourth, 1,272,843. And as yet there were no sure grounds to believe in the great victories which were to come to the Allies a year afterward. On the western front the battle of Flanders, which had been begun by the British on July 31, ended with the capture of Paschen- daele Ridge on the 6th of the following November. There was the abortive battle of Cambrai, November 20-December 5. In October Retain secured the Chemin des Dames on the Aisne front. Italy advanced over the Bainsizza to within 35 miles of Laibach, between August 20 and October 1, only to be defeated at Caporetto and driven back to the Piave, losing a large part of the Regione of Veneto. The allied front in Macedonia continued to remain inactive save for the excursions of Greek troops, whose new Government had entered the war on the side of the Allies on the second of July. The war against the Turk, however, showed encouraging signs; in Palestine General Allenby captured Jerusalem on the 22nd of December; in Mesopotamia General Marshall, who had succeeded to the command on the death of Maude on the 18th of November, HOW THE WAR CAME TO AMERICA 29 extended his advance to tbe Euphrates, and was still ascending the Tigris toward Mosul. Ic was known before 1917 closed that Germany, released from war with Eussia, was preparing a great offensive. The Austro- German reply to the Pope's peace note of August 1 revealed merely a readiness to talk peace on the basis of the military status quo. President Wilson, in his reply to the Pope on the 27th of September, reaffirmed the great moral issues at stake, but in the chancelleries of the Allies in Europe men like the Marquis of Lansdowne lowered the morale by constantly asking for the war aims of the belligerents, and there was anti-war propaganda abroad. France had her Caillaux and Bolo Pacha, Italy her Giolitti, and England her Irish Sinn Fein. With these distracting and discouraging influences lightened only by the hope placed in the United States and the faith that the U-boat campaign was being neutralized, the combat was carried for three months into 1918 with forebodings for a long war. Germany's Last Great Struggle Then Germany on March 21, 1918, began her great offensive on the western front with the object of separating the British and French armies by reaching the Channel ports at the mouth of the Somme and then defeating each army in turn and occupying Paris. Between March 21 and July 15 her offensive had passed through four phases, giving her Lys, the Pieardy and the Marne salients. She had stretched a 195-mile front to one of 250. However, the Allies held the sectors which bound the salients and also strategic positions on their perimeters. Germany's huge losses prevented her from proceeding further unless at a given point she could break the Allies' line. This in a desperate effort she attempted to do on July 15 by driving across the Marne. She failed and began a highly organized strategic retreat to save her armies. Meanwhile, the Allies had decided, in April, on unity of com- mand and had placed the conduct of the war in the hands of Gen- eral Foch. The arrival of nearly 1,000,000 American bayonets in France gave him the opportunity to organize an army of manoeuvre. 30 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTOEY His attacks begun between Soissons and Chateau- Thierry against the Marne salient on July 18 were unceasing down to the time of the armistice, steadily pushing the German armies east through Bel- gium and north to the French frontier, a series of battles in which the First American Army played its full part w^est of the Meuse. The series of sledge-hammer blows administered by Foch's army began to have their effect not only on the battlefront, but in Berlin and Vienna, in Sofia and Constantinople. The enemy w^as not reaping the material benefits he had expected to derive from a Bolshevist Eussia. There the Czecho-Slovak armies — former prisoners of war released by the Provisional Government — ^^vere fighting against the Germans and Bolsheviki and were soon joined by contingents of the Allies and Russians of the educated class. The Allies recognized the belligerency of the Czecho-Slovaks ' coun- try — Bohemia — and the national aspirations of the Slavonic sub- jects of Austria-Hungary. On the 14th of September the allied armies in Macedonia under General Franchet d'Esperey made an attack which, on the last day of the month, drove Bulgaria to seek unconditional sur- render. On the 15th of September the forces under General Allenby in Palestine annihilated three Turkish armies, which forced the Turks out of the war, on the same terms, October 31. Austria Sues for Pea.ce On the 4th of November, Austria-Hungary, whose note to President Wilson on the 5th of October, asking for a peace parley, had been rejected on the 15th of October, and which was being severely punished by an Italian offensive begun on the 27th of October, accepted an armistice which left her helpless, with revolu- tionary movements in Vienna, Prague, and elsewhere tending to- ward the complete dissolution of the dual monarchy of the Haps- burgs. As far back as the 14th of September Austria-Hungary had attempted to have all the belligerents meet in conference, and Presi- dent Wilson had rejected the proposal on the 17th of September. On the 6th of October the new German Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, prepared a peace parley on the basis of the President's HOW THE WAR CAME TO AMERICA 31 14 Articles of January 8 and subsequent utterances of formulae for permanent peace. On the 8tli of October President Wilson asked for the Chancellor's mandate — did it come from the authorities who had begun and carried on the war or from the people? Ger- many on the 12tli of October pointed out the reforms that were going on in the empire and asked for a mixed commission on the evacuation of the occupied territory in Belgium and France. To this note President Wilson replied the next day, defining the process by which Germany might receive terms for an armistice, but insisting that the mandate must come from the German people and be preceded by an evacuation of the occupied territories. Other notes were exchanged, Germany answering on the 21st of October and the President on the 23rd of October; and, respect- ively, on the 27th and the 5th of November, when the President sent to Germany a memorandum saying that the military advisers of the associated governments were prepared to submit to Gemiany the terms on which an armistice might be secured. On the 8th of November the German commissioners received the terms of the armistice at General Foch's headquarters and seventy-two hours were allowed them in which to make answer. The armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. CHAPTER II THE CALL TO THE COLORS Negro Troops That Were Ready When War Was Declared — The Famous 9th and 10th Cavalry, U. 8. Army — The 24th and 25th Infantry — National Guard Units of Colored Troops — The 8th Illinois — The 15th New York — National Guard Units of Ohio, Massachiisetts, Connecticut, Maryland and Tennessee — First Separate Battalion of the District of Columbia — How All of These Responded to the Call. Nearly 400,000 Negro Soldiers served in the United States Army in the Great World War. About 367,710 of these came into the service through the operation of the Selective Draft Law. How this selective draft operated and how the Negro responded to the call to the colors, will be discussed in another chapter. It is a matter of pride, however, to realize that at the instant of the declaration of war, there were nearly 20,000 soldiers of the Negro race in the United States, uniformed, armed, equipped, drilled, trained and ready to take the field against the foe. Proportionately to the total Negro population of America, this was a splendid showing. Many of these Negro soldiers of the Regular Army and the National Guard had already seen as long and as active service in the field as any of the Regular Army or National Guard regiments of white soldiers. About 10,000 of these Negro troops that were ready when war was declared were in the original four colored regiments of the Regular Army. Of these, the most famous are the 9th and 10th Cavalry. It was the 9th and 10th Cavalry, the Negro troops of the U. S. Regular Army, that saved the day at San Juan Hill for Colonel Roosevelt's Rough Riders, and helped to give him much of his military prestige and fame. The story of the famous charge of these black troops who rushed the Spanish stronghold, singing ''There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight," is a familiar story to everyone. 32 THE CALL TO THE COLORS 33 In the war with Spain, in the Philippines, on the Mexican Bor- der, these Negro troops and the two colored infantry regiments of the RegTilar Army, the 24th and the 25th, won high distinction and merited praise. Besides these 10,000 Negro soldiers already in the Regular Army, there were nearly 10,000 more in the National Guards of several States, such organizations as the 8th Illinois, the 15th New York, tEe First Separate Battalion of the District of Columbia, the First Separate Company of Maryland, the 9th Battalion of Ohio, the First Separate Company of Connecticut, Co. L of Massa- chusetts National Guard and Co. G of the Tennessee National Guard. Some of these, when the United States became a belligerent in the World War, had only recently seen service on the Mexican border. In the regular army one colored man, Charles Young, of Wil- berforce, Ohio, a graduate of West Point, rose to the rank of Colonel, prior to his recent retirement the highest rank attained by any colored man. Benjamin Oliver Davis, of Washington, D. C, rose from the ranks, entering during the Spanish- American War, to Lieutenant-Colonel, and is now stationed with the 9th U. S. Cavalry in the Philippines. Walter H. Loring, retired, another Washingtonian, served with distinction as bandmaster of the Philip- pines Constabulary Band, and is now a Major. Several colored chaplains of the Regular Army retired with rank of Major, as did one paymaster, Major John R. Lynch, of Chicago. Col. Young was U. S. Military Attache in the Republic of Haiti, and Lieut.-Col. Davis served in a similar capacity in the Republic of Liberia. Quite a number of colored men were Colonels and Majors in the various National Guard organizations. Colored Guard Units Called The Negro people have always taken particular pride in the records of the four Regular Army units, and they were gratified beyond measure that when war was declared April 6, 1917, there became immediately available not only the Regular Army military units but also the National Guard units, to which reference has been made. According to the records of the War Department, the Colored National Guard units were called into Federal service as follows: 34 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY 1st Separate Battalion, District of Columbia National Guard, March 25, 1917 ; 50 officers, 929 men ; Medical Corps attached with 5 officers, 21 men. 1st Separate Company, Maryland, July 25, 1917, 3 officers, 154 men. 1st Separate Company, Connecticut, July 31, 1917, 1 officer, 136 men; 1 officer, 4 men attached. 1st Separate Company, Massachusetts (Co. L), August 5, 1917, 3 officers, 150 men. 9th Separate Battalion, Ohio, August 5, 1917, 14 officers, 600 men; 1 officer, 7 men attached. 8th Illinois Eegiment, July 25, 1917, 42 officers, 1,405 men. 15th New York Regiment, July 25, 1917, 54 otHcers, 2,053 men. All of those units were afterwards brought up to full strength. The 15th New York went into final training at Camp Wads- worth, Spartanburg, S. C, where the New York National Guard units were trained; the 8th Illinois went into training at Camp Logan, Houston, Texas, along with the Illinois National Guard; the Separate Battalion of the State of Ohio at Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, Alabama, where the Ohio National Guard units were trained; while the various National Guard Companies of Massa- chusetts, Maryland, and Tennessee were eventually amalgamated with the troops here mentioned at Camp Stuart, Newport News, Virginia, from which point these units were sent overseas as mem- bers of the 93d Division (Provisional), under command of Brigadier General Roy Hoffman. At the beginning of the war the War Department apparently was uncertain as to just exactly what attitude it should take with reference to having Negroes enlist. Eager youths of the race volunteered their services, but after the four regular military units had been brought up to their proper strength, Negro enlistment was discouraged. A sample of the kind of thing which served to discourage the colored people in the early days of the war v/as reflected in the following Associated Press telegram, which was sent out from Richmond, Virginia, April 24, 1917: ^^ NEGRO EECKUITING HALTED ''Richmond, Va., April 24. — No more Negroes will be accepted for enlistment in the United States Anny at present. This was THE CALL TO THE COLORS 35 the order received by Major Hardeman, officer in charge of the recruiting station here, from the War Department. ' Colored organ- izations filled,' was the explanation." The Negro press and Negro leaders generally became insistent and pressure began to reach the War Department from all parts of the country to make provision for colored troops. The attitude of the Negro people was reflected in the editorial expressions of the colored ne^vspapers. Up to the time of the war there had been among colored people generally a great deal of hostility to the administration at Washington, wiiich was regarded as un- friendly to them, and this attitude of mind is reflected in many of the editorial expressions which then appeared in the colored news- papers. Negro Troops in the Post of Honor Of particular interest to Negro Americans, however, is the fact that on March 25, 1917, the Secretary of War, by order of the President, called the First Separate Battalion, District of Columbia Infantry, National Guard, to the colors to defend the National Capital. This was even before a formal declaration of war. The telegram follows: WAR DEPARTMENT TELEGRAM. Official Business Washington, D. C. 2557669 AGO March 25, 1917. To Brigadier-General William E. Harvey, Commanding General District of Columbia National Guard, Washington, District of Columbia. Having in viev^ the necessity of affording a more perfect protection against the interference with postal, commercial, and military channels and instrumentalities of the United States in the District of Columbia and being unable with the regular troops available at his com.mand to insure the faith- ful execution of the laws of the Union in this regard, the President har, thought proper to exercise the authority vested in him by the Constitution and laws and to call out the National Guard necessary for the purpose. I am, in consequence, instructed by the President to call into the service of the United States forthwith, through you, the followhig units of the d6 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY National Guard of the District of Columbia, which the President desires shall be assembled at the places to be designated to you by the Commanding General, Eastern Department, now at Governor's Island, New York, and which said Commanding General has been directed to communicate to you: First Separate Battalion District of Columbia Infantry, National Guard. (Signed) Newton D. Baker, Secretar^^ of "War. Brigadier-General Harvey at once issued orders for tlie First Separate Battalion to be mobilized for instruction and muster. Before breakfast following the issuance of this order of March 25, 1917, the entire strength of the battalion was ready for orders and assembled at its armory under command of Major James E. Walker, a colored officer. The battalion was placed in charge of watching the water sup- ply system, guarding six immense reservoirs, the Potomac Eiver projects, and the various power plants of the District of Columbia, to counter any possible scheme of enemy aliens interfering with these projects and various utilities. The colored Americans of the District of Columbia and all Washington regarded this assignment of the First Separate Bat- talion to guard duty within the shadow of the White Hourje as a compliment not exceeded by any since the Negro became a full- fledged citizen of the American Republic. The duty of protecting life and property in the Nation's capital was regarded by them as being comparable to the assignments usually given the guard regiments in England, where men of undoubted loyalty and integ- rity are given the sacred obligation of protecting St. James's Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, and the Houses of Parliament, the places that stand nearest to the welfare and dignity of the British crown. The men of the First Separate Battalion and the colored citi- zens of the District of Columbia, and of the whole United States, regarded the call of the First Separate Battalion to the colors as having in it a special compliment from another point of view. It was highly significant that their very color which vTas the basis of discrimination in time of peace was considered prima facie evi- dence of unquestionable loyalty in time of war. THE CALL TO THE COLORS 37 In this battalion there were to be found no hyphenates. In fact, the Negro has always proved himself to be 100-per-cent American, without alien sympathies and without hyphenate alle- giance. The fact that a colored military unit was placed in this first honor post, to protect the President, the Congress, and the great Executive Departments of the Nation, as well as the vital supply stations that make for the health, happiness, and personal security of the capital of the American Republic, was hn honor keenly appreciated. At about the time that the First Separate Battalion was called out to guard the National Capital the Baltimore Sun, a white news- paper, contained the following expression: "The Afro- American is the only hyphenate, we believe, who has not been suspected of a divided allegiance." It was altogether natural that there should be speculation among both white and colored citizens as to why this particular regiment should be the first called to the colors on the eve of the great war declaration. Probably the editorial expression of the Baltimore (Maryland) "Afro-American" may be quoted as to the speculative attitude at least, of colored Americans, which was as follows : "why this particular honor?" "Washington, D. C, has assumed a rather warlike aspect through the calling out of the National Guard to keep an eye on the railway bridges in and around the city, the public buildings, and the water and lighting systems. Strangely enough the First Separate Battalion of colored troop- ers were mustered in to perform this service, and by this time have per- haps taken the oath, which will incorporate them into the ranks of the regulars. "In answer to this question of why such honor should be conferred upon the colored troops when the white national guards of the same city are more nearly prepared — the Separate Battalion is still w^earing its old blue uniforms — many explanations have been heard in the capital city. "There are some who have in mind President Wilson's statement that great care should be exercised in calling out the Guardsmen, and every precaution taken that the industrial plants of the country might not suffer by premature loss of workers belonging to the Guards. Should this be 38 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY the explanation of the Government's move in Washington, then Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois might also expect that their colored troopers will be the first to be called into service. "However, there is also another whisper going the rounds in the cap- ital of the nation, to the effect that the white regiments of the National Guards have so many foreigners and especially Germans belonging that the Government was afraid to entrust to them the task of watching over Gov- ernmental buildings of such immense importance as the Capitol, White House and the houses where the various departments transact their business. It is said that a white trooper on guard at some strategic point might be a German-American and be persuaded to let pass a German confederate armed with dynamite to blow up the Capitol. On the other hand, the col- ored troopers are known to be loyal Americans, and the army officials are certain that no one can pass their lines, not even the Commanding Gen- eral, unless he has the password. "For loyalty of this kind our country ought to be willing to pay some- thing. It ought to be willing to pay the price of having its loyal colored men educated for commissioned ofiicers in the very best schools in the nation; it ought to be willing to pay the price of having these citizens en- joy every right and privilege that German- Americans or any others enjoy; it ought even to be willing to have trustworthy colored ofiicers command regiments of white men, v/hich may not be regarded as quite so trustworthy^ "Our Government will do these things, if the Negro will regard his loyalty as an asset, to be sold at the price of citizenship." Major James E, Walker, the colored officer who was iu com- mand of the First Separate Battalion, District of Columbia Infantry National Guard, when it was called to guard the National Capital, was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, September 7, 1874. He attended the public schools and was graduated from the high and normal schools of the District of Colmnbia. He was connected Avith the public schools of the District for more than twenty-four years as a teacher and supervisor of the Thirteenth Division and served as such until ordered to the Mexican border with the District of Columbia National Guard in 1916. His military services began in 1896, when he was appointed first lieutenant in the First Separate Battalion of the National Guard of the District of Columbia. In 1909 he was commissioned cap- tain; in 1912, by and through a competitive examination, he was THE CALL TO THE COLORS 39 commissioned major, after the resignation of Major, now Lieuten- ant-Colonel, Arthur Brooks. The First Separate Battalion, under Major Walker, was the first unit of the District National Guard to be recruited to war strength in Washington City, and they were among the first troops to be sent to the Mexican border at the time war threatened be- tween Mexico and the United States in 1916. They immediately relieved the troops of the regular army and were assigned to the duty of guarding the water works at Naco, Arizona, which supplied five or six towns in the vicinity. Aside from his duties there as battalion commander, Major Walker was selected to act as intelli- gence officer for the Government. On March 25, 1917, the battalion was called on to guard the National Capital, and it was there that the constant vigil of Major Walker began its inroads on his health. He realized that in select- ing his command to safely guard the National Capital, with its public buildings, water supply, railroads and all other important facilities, the Government was prompted in its selection by the high rate of efficiency and undoubted loyalty which his battalion had established for itself, and in order to continue in this high regard, he sacrificed health and everything else save that which makes for the true soldier — duty. He was ordered to Fort Bayard, New Mexico, to the United States hospital, for treatment, hoping to regain his health. How- ever the best medical skill w^as of no avail and he died, April 4, 1918, the first officer of the military forces of the District of Columbia to give his life for the Nation and world-democracy. His remains were sent home with military escort, and his body was interred in Arlington National Cemetery. His funeral, which was conducted from the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, Washingion, D. C, of which Eev. W. H. Brooks is pastor, was attended by a large proportion of the colored citizen- ship of the District of Columbia, who, despite the cold, bleak day, followed his remains to Arlington Cemetery. CHAPTER III OFFICIAL RECOGNITION OF THE NEGRO'S INTEREST Appomtment of Emmett J. ScoU as Special Assistant to the Secre- tary of War — Difficulties Encowitered in Estahlishing Negro's Status— Opportunities Afforded for Effective Work on Behalf of Colored Soldiers— Better Opportunities for Negro Officers, Soldiers, Nurses, Surgeons and Others Obtained Through This Official Connection. On October 5, 1917, the Official Bulletin (published under the direction of the Committee on Public Information), and the Asso- ciated Press, carried the following announcement: ''ADVISOR TO WAR DEPARTMENT ** Secretary Newton D. Baker of the War Department announces that Emmett J. Scott, for eighteen years confidential secretary to the late Booker T. Washington, and at present secretary of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for Negroes, has been assigned to duty in the War Department as confidential advisor in matters affecting the interests of the 10,000,000 Negroes of the United States, and the part they are to play in connection with the present war." This was the first intimation that the Secretary of War had been giving attention to the matter of calling to his side a colored man to advise with him matters concerning colored soldiers and colored Americans generally. There has been very great curiosity on the part of a great many people as to how this appointment came about. Unfortunately, at the outbreak of the war with Germany there seemed to be in America an epidemic of racial disturbances, such as 40 RECOGNITION OF THE NEGRO'S INTEREST 41 friction due to the rapid emigration of Negro labor from the South to the North, lynchings of Negro men and women in a number of the states, etc., all of which disturbances were seized upon and mag- nified through the lens of a well-directed German propaganda, with the manifest purpose of stirring up a feeUng of bitterness and unrest among both white and colored Americans. There is ample evidence to support the statement that pro-German influence was for a time diligently at work in the vain effort to dampen the ardor and cool the patriotism of Negro Americans and to thus make them careless or indifferent in support of their country's war program. With a view to stabilizing conditions, as an earnest of the Govern- ment's desire to secure the unqualified support of all classes of American citizens, and evidently for the special purpose of reassur- ing Negroes throughout the country that the Government in general, and the War Department in particular entertained a friendly and just attitude toward them, a representative member of that racial group was appointed by Secretary Baker to serve with him as Spe- cial Assistant during the period of the war. My designation was due primarily to a call during the month of August, 1917, by Dr. Robert R. Moton, Principal of Tuskegee Institute, upon the Secretary of War, in which he pointed out the need and necessity of having in the War Department a colored man in touch with Northern and Southern white people and colored peo- ple, who could advise whenever delicate questions arose affecting the interests of the colored people of the United States. Dr. Moton sought to convey the heartening impulse which would come to the colored people of the country if the Government during its period of war should in this direct Avay recognize the racial group of which he is himself an honored member. Correspondence with Julius Rosenwald. Prior to Dr. Moton 's call at the War Department to confer with the Secretary of War, the author had been in direct corre- spondence with Mr. Julius Rosenwald, a member of the Advisory Board of the Council of National Defense, to whom he addressed a letter under date of March 24, 1917, reading as follows : 42 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, March 24, 1917. Mr. Julius Rosenwald, Member National Defense Board, Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. Rosenwald: I have not been in the slightest degree confused as to what attitude the Negro people should assume in connection with the present threatened v\'^ar situation, but I have been somewhat concerned at what the attitude of the Administration will be wdth respect to the Negro people. There are ten millions of us in this country — the only country to which we owe allegiance, etc. You will note by the attached interview which was sent out by the Associated Press last summer following the Carrizal incident, what I had to say respecting the threatened trouble with Mexico. The Negro people feel just the same way wdth respect to the German situation. The point of this letter, then, is to ask you as a member of the National Defense Board as to whether or not you wall carefully bear in mind what I have written, and command me and all of us here at Tuskegee m.ost freely in connection with any and all situations in which Ave can be of service during this crucial hour. In all former wars in which they have participated, the Negro people have proved by their courage and valor their willingness to fight for . American liberty, and I believe they will respond in like measure in the present emergency ; and I also believe that the American people will find themselves more and more disposed to accord full appreciation to a people who are willing to lay down their lives in defense of democracy and the well-being of their great country. My responsibilities here at Tuskegee Institute you know about as fully as any one else, but I wish you to know at the same time my entire Avillingness to serve the present situation in any way that in your opinion may seem wise and desirable. Yours very truly, (Signed) Emmett J. Scott. Mr. Rosenwald suggested that the author prepare a resolution expressive of the feelings of the colored people that might be presented to the Council of National Defense. The answer was as follows : Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, April 7, 1917. Dear Mr. Rosenwald: I have your letter of April 4th, and am returning the papers here- RECOGNITION OF THE NEGRO'S INTEREST 43 with, together with revised resolution which I trust may have your approval. I am very much gratified to learn that the Council of National Defense is entirely sympathetic and disposed to pass a resolution of this character. It will accomplish very great good. It should be done, however, as you say, in just the right way. Throughout the South there is considerable apprehension at tliis time as to whether or not the Negro people are going to remain loyal to the country in this crisis. There need be no fears on this score. As I sought to express in my letter of i\Iareh 24, the American people, I believe, will be disposed more and more to remove such handicaps and to right such injustices as we now struggle against after the settlement of this great emergency which now faces our common country. I have referred to the patriotism of the Negro rising above wrongs and injustices so as to disarm that element of our people who are urging that the Negro emphasize his wrongs and injustices so as to force from the Government his recognition of his guaranteed rights under the Constitution, etc. lay thought and idea is that a sentence of this character \\ill take note of the fact that the Negro does labor under certain handicaps and injustices and yet rises above it in the face of national emergency and need. I hope that the resolution as drafted may have your approval. "With best wishes, I am, Yours very truly, (Signed) Emmett J. Scott. The Eesolution as finally drafted and submitted to Mr. Eosen- wald follows: "1. There are in the United States ten million Negro people. These people have shoAvn allegiance to no country other than the United States. They are in a peculiar and noble sense the children of a united republic. They possess a patriotism which has always risen above wrongs and injustices. There are no hyphenates among them. These people take pride in the fact that it was the charge of Negro troops at San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War that turned the tide there, and that Negroes have fought bravely in every war in which this country has engaged. The Negro was with Jackson at New Orleans, with Perry on Lake Erie, and 180,000 Negro soldiers served in the Civil War. "2. The Government and the people of the United States are deeply sensible of the lo3%al support rendered by the Negroes of America to their country in past days of national emergency and need. "3. Therefore, Be It Resolved, That the Council of National De- 44 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY fense and the Advisory Commission thereto, in joint conference assembled, urge that this Government shall, without regard to racial, political or geo- graphical divisions, give due heed to, and exercise appreciation of the past loyalty of its Negro citizens and of their eager desire to bear anew a generous and helpful part in the common cause of the national defense." There were still some doubts and misgivings, however, as to whether the Council of National Defense should pass the resolution, which led to further correspondence: Tuskegee Intitute, Alabama, April 17, 1917. My Dear Mr. Rosenwald: I do most earnestly urge that the resolutions, preamble and) all, be published. My reasons rest on the concrete fact that the opinion pre- vails in many quarters that colored men are not desired by the Adminis- tration to have any part in the prosecution of this war. For instance, as I write, I have before me now a letter just received from a man who is probably the most prominent colored physician of Philadelphia, with this paragraph: The war. There is not much to be said about it. Mr. Wilson has plainly shown that he would like to get along as much as possible without the Negro. I see in tonight's *' Bulletin" that it has been decided for the first time in two years to enlist colored men for the reg- ular infantry and cavalry. Active enlistment campaigns are going on here for crews for various warships, but Negroes are not wanted save as waiters and lackeys. It is hard to be loyal and patriotic under these circum- stances, though it will not do any good to be otherwise. This same thing is being said over and over again by other colored men, and by many of the colored newspapers of the country. I enclose two statements I have just clipped from one of our most prominent colored newspapers. I have kept watch on this phase from the beginning, and fundamentally this was back of my original communication to you. I appreciate the point of view suggested by members of the Council, and am of the opinion that what I have here suggested and mentioned) bears out the fact that there is an existing feeling that there is ''some evidence (or feeling) of discrimination sentiment," if not in action. The compelling reasons, in my opinion, overbear the suggested objections. I have taken occasion to mention the matter to Dr. Moton and he concurs with me in my conclusion. RECOGNITION OF THE NEGRO'S INTEREST 45 With thanks always for your interest and generous support of all that concerns us as a race, I am Yours very sincerely, (Signed) Emmett J. Scott. After the Race Was Recognized Shortly after the author's appointment as Special Assistant to the Secretary of War, hundreds of letters poured into the War Department from colored citizens residing in all parts of the country, commending Secretary Newton D. Baker for his action in selecting a colored man to represent the interests of that racial group during the period of the War, and expressing their satisfac- tion with the particular choice which had been made. The senti- ment of the white South with reference to this appointment is best conveyed by the following typical editorial expression which appeared in the Mobile News Item, a white newspaper published in the heart of the South: ''The appointment is a wise move and a wise selection. While the Government is coordinating all the interests of the country in the movement to win the war with Germany, it should not overlook the colored people. Thousands of them have been drafted and are being trained for duty in the trenches. They are to wear their country's uniform and represent their country in the greatest conflict of all times. Millions will stay at home tilling the fields and working in the country's indus- tries. They have their problems no less than others, and it is well that one who knows them so intimately is to advise the Government how to meet these problems." The colored newspapers were equally responsive in their endorsement of the new policy adopted by Secretary Baker as indicated by his appointment of a representative of the Negro race to advise him on all matters affecting the interests of that particular group during the period of the war, and in numerous editorial comments and special articles warmly commended the selection. Endorsed by Leading Citizens Important white Americans, including such representative citi- zens as Mr. George Foster Peabody, the New York philanthropist, 46 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY and Mr. Julius Eosenwald, a member of the Advisory Commission of the Council of National Defense, approved the appointment at various times and have given the author the warmest encouragement and support; without such encouragement and support from colored Americans and white Americans alike, it would have been most difficult to handle even a small proportion of the many prob- lems which came to the office. Mr. Eosenwald, in an address at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, of which he is a trustee, speaking to the officers and teachers and students of the school, March 12, 1918, said: ^'In noticing this flag, this Service Flag, hung here in the Chapel, I could not help but feel that there ought to be one very large star there, because the Secretary of War said to me^ — although I was not directly responsible, and I wanted to deny the responsi- bility, while I would have been proud to claim it, for Mr. Scott's coming into the War Department — but, notwithstanding that, the Secretary of War has thanked me over and over again, as a Trustee of Tuskegee Institute, for the service he is rendering the War Department and the Nation. When the question came up, I said that nothing would please me better than to see Mr. Scott in Washington, in the War Department, and, of course, none of us would question but what we would all be proud of him in that work as we always have been in everything he has undertaken. There was no question about his making good. That was a fore- gone conclusion, and as a Trustee I know you, teachers and students of Tuskegee, share that pride with me and the other Trustees in having Mr. Scott in that conspicuous position. Cer- tainly no prouder honor could come to anyone!" Professor Kelly Miller, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Howard University, a colored college professor of high standing, at a mass meeting of the colored citizens of the District of Columbia at the Dunbar High School, October 22, 1917, also in referring to the appointment said: "The thanks of the race, am^ounting almost to gratitude, are due the Secretary of War for his statesmanlike grasp of the situa- tion in designating one of our number to help in bringing the race into sympathetic understanding and cheerful cooperation with the RECOGNITION OF THE NEGRO'S INTEREST 47 plans and purpose of the Government as tliey relate to the great struggle in which the world is now involved. Secretary Baker in meeting the impending military emergency has laid the basis of a broad and far-reaching statesmanship. I have always contended, and shall always contend, that the fundamental grievance of the Negro against the American people consists in the fact that he is shut out from participation in the making and administering of the laws by which he is governed and controlled. The nation cannot expect that the Negro will always remain an ardent, enthu- siastic citizen, eager to play his part, if he is to be forever shut out from equal participation in and protection under the law. It is imposing too great a tax upon the docility even of the Negro, to make him the victim of harshly enforced discriminatory laws and expect that he will forever exhibit this patriotism and loyaltj'- with ecstatic enthusiasm and paeans of joy. The race may rest assured that its interest will be looked after and safeguarded so far as the military situation is concerned as long as Emmett J. Scott sits at the council table. *'I regard the appointment of Mr. Scott, as Special Assistant to the Secretary of War, as the most significant appointment that has yet come to the colored race. Other colored men have been appointed to high office under different administrations, but the appointments have been mainly a reward for political service, or representation of a contributing element to party success. Such appointments are altogether worthy and desirable, but they are not supposed to caiTy with them any particular function affecting the welfare of the colored race. The appointment of Mr. Scott, on the other hand, is for the express purj^ose of securing the cheer- ful cooperation of the Negro race in the accom-plishment of the greatest task to which our Government has committed itself. This is not merely representation for the sake of political reward, but representation carrying with it the vital governmental function." Shortly after the appointment of the Special Assistant, letters written by a number of representative colored Americans in all sections of the country, and representing many of the leading Negro organizations, denominations, etc., were received by the Secretary of War, to which he made reply similar in tenor to that indicated in the correspondence printed below: 48 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Financial Department of the A. M. E. Chureli, Washington, D. C. October 8, 1917. Hon. Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. Dear Sir: Please allow me to express to you my very great delight and appre- ciation of your appointment of Mr. Emmett J. Scott as a special assistant or aid of the War Department to represent the Colored, race during this war period. The selection and appointment of capable colored men to such posi- tions of trust and responsibility will prove of very great value in the work of a proper adjustment of matters so vital to the best interest of our common cause. This act of yours is a fitting recognition of the Negro's high sense of patriotism and faithfulness to duty as well as his fitness and willing- ness to contribute his best in mmd and spirit to the cause of right. Very sincerely yours, (Signed) John R. Hawkins, Secretary, Financial Department, A. M. E. Church. The Reply- War Department Washington Office of the Secretary of War October 9, 1917. My Dear Mr. Hawkins: I have received, your letter of October 8th and am delighted to know that the appointment of Mr. Scott is meeting with such general approval among his people. I have long known of his splendid character and of his attainments, and it is source of comfort to me to know that I can have the benefit of his advice more constantly, now that he has accepted a permanent relation to my office. Cordially yours, (Signed) Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War. Mr. John R. Hawkins, 1541 Fourteenth Street N. W. Washington, D. C. Group of Officers— Reading- left to right— Top Row— 2nd Lt. A. C. Murdough, 350th F. A. ; Capt. T. E. Jo.nes, Med. Corps ; 1st Lt. J. H. Scott. 350th F. A. Center— 1st Lt. J. W. Love; 1st Lt. G. A. Price, and 1st Lt. Wm. R. Smalls, all of 350th F. A. Bottom — 1st Lt. Herbert Harris, Dental Corps ; 1st Lt. J. H. Cooper, 350th F. A. ; 1st Lt A. B. McKenzie, Med Corps. Above— Dancing School Conducted at K. of C. Building: for Men of Labor Battalion by Louis- ville W. C. C. S. ^ ^ f, ^ , T r^^ V, BeJoic— Baltimore W. C. C. S. Saturday night dance at the W. C. C. S. Colored Club. iS8* CeX^^Sncfn "l^^l'r^^r^^^^ -^ 'i""- Bringing up the machine guns, with French machine guns '^"^'^^^^^ ^'^h the French Army, drilling under French Officers Above — Two Officers Who Won the Croix de Guerre. Capt. Stewart Alexander on the left, and Lieut. Frank Robinson, both decorated by the French for conspicuous bravery on the field of battle. Below — Three Negro Officers Who Won Distinction Overseas. Left to right : Lieut. Wm. Andrews, Commanding Negro Casuals, of Chicago ; Lieut. H. A. Rogers of Richmond, Va., and Lieut. J. A. Rucker of Natchez, Miss. Above— Colored Troops on Sentry Duty Near the Front Lines, ieioi;— American Camp for Colored Troops m France. RECOGNITION OF THE NEGRO'S INTEREST 49 Letter of Credentials To make my work effective as I went from camp to camp, Secretary Baker addressed a letter to Division and Brigade Com- manders which was inclusive enough to give me authority to make any inquiries I deemed necessary to be made in camps or canton- ments regarding conditions affecting Colored Troops. The Secretary of War's letter read as follows: War Department Washington Office of the Secretary of War November 1, 1917. TO DIVISION AND BRIGADE C0M3IANDERS: I have appointed Mr. Emmett J. Scott, of Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of War, to advise with i^espect to the colored people of the United States, colored drafted men, and the colored men who constitute units of National Guard Divisions. He will be visiting National Army cantonments and National Guard camps, and it is my desire that he be given every opportunity to follow up the work I have entrusted to his care. He will personally present this letter. (Signed) Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War. How the Office Has Functioned There was considerable misunderstanding and false impression at the beginning as to the real function of the office of ** Special Assistant to the Secretary of War, " as to the real scope and limita- tions of the appointment, and as to the real purpose that called the author to Washington. Judging from thousands of letters he received, covering every subject imaginable, and from various public comments and utterances during a period of twenty-one months, it would seem that he had been appointed a '* Special Committee of One" to adjust and settle at once any and all mat- ters and difficulties of whatsoever kind and nature which had any bearing upon the race problem in America. Some of the correspondents, and a few critics, seemed to forget that this appointment was never intended to be an immediate cure for all of our racial ills in America. My call to the Nation's Cap- 50 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY ital was to advise in matters affecting primarily the interests of colored draftees and colored soldiers, as well as to render counsel and assistance in those matters, including the interests of soldiers' families and dependents, and, in a sense, the morale of Colored Americans generally during the war. Some seemingly failed to remember that the race problem in America has been pending ever since the Civil War; that certain, phases of that problem have remained troublesome and unsolved even in the ordinary times of peace in spite of the vigorous and consecrated efforts of prominent race leaders who have ably pleaded our race's cause before the bar of public opinion for the past fifty years. It was therefore manifestly unfair to expect that the mere appointment of a ''Spe- cial Assistant to the Secretary of War" would effectually abolish overnight all racial discriminations and injustices, some of which were sanctioned by law; or that the Special Assistant would be able to solve, during twenty-one months of the critical and abnormal period of war, all those intricate problems affecting the Negro race in America that others were unable to solve in fifty years of peace. While the author has never minimized any wrong, nor acted in the role of an apologist, nor condoned any injustice visited upon a single member of the Negro race, either before or during the recent world war, yet he has diligently directed his efforts towards secur- ing the best possible results obtainable out of every situation that has arisen. CHAPTER IV THE WORK OF THE SPECIAL ASSISTANT Guarding the Interests of Negro Soldiers and Civilimis — Promoting a Healthy Morale — Ca^es of Alleged Discrimination Against Negro Draftees — The Edward Merchant Case — The John D. Wray Case — How Justice Was Secured — A War Department Inquiry — Training for Colored Officers. At the time that the Special Assistant to the Secretary of War was called to Washington, in October, 1917, the war was in progress and the first draft law was being enforced. His first duties consisted principally in urging the equal and impartial ap- plication of the Selective Service Regulations to black men and white men alike, and formulating plans calculated to promote a healthy morale among Negro soldiers and civilians. In his effort to properly represent the interests of Negro draftees throughout his tenure of office, he received and keenly appreciated the prompt and cordial cooperation and support of the Secretary of War and of the Provost Marshal General's office. While it is true, and only fair to state, that Negro men, in many cases, were not treated as equitably and justly as white men in the application of the draft law, and that in certain sections they were made victims of many errors, irregularities, and injustices in the matter of classifications, inductions, etc., yet it is a fact that three Local Draft or Exemption Boards were removed from office by the Secretary of War, because it was proven that these Exemption Boards had flagrantly violated the Selective Service Regulations by discriminating against Negro draftees; furthermore, it was ordered that all wrongful classifica- tions, etc., made by them should be coiTected forthwith. The office was also instnimental in obtaining justice for a large number of Negro draftees who sent in countless letters, affidavits, and the like, registering their complaints against the unfair treatment of various Draft Boards ; and the victories won in their cases, together 51 52 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY with tlie wide newspaper publicity connected with the removal of three local Draft Boards mentioned above, because of their unfair- ness and injustice to Negro men, served as helpful and warning precedents and had a most salutary effect in the application of the second and third draft laws. In handling these numerous cases of alleged discrimination and injustice, much correspondence passed between the office of the Special Assistant and the office of Provost Marshal General E. H. Crowder and numerous telephone messages and personal con- ferences were required. Some Typical Correspondence A small portion of the correspondence in typical cases is hereto appended that indicate the efforts made on behalf of Negro draftees as well as the sympathetic attitude of the Provost Mar- shal Greneral's office in its partially successful effort to correct abuses and injustices that arose in the application of the Draft Law by various Local Boards: Provost Marshal General — Army. February 21, 1918. Adjutant General, Jackson, Mississippi. Number 4496. — Case of Edward Merchant of Local Board of Leake County, serial number 792, has again been brought to this office. Please direct the board to wire at once if they did or did not grant discharge to this registrant prior to November 13, and transmit original reply from local board by mail after wiring contents. (Signed) Crowder. State of Mississippi The Adjutant General's Office Jackson, Miss. February 22nd, 1918. FROM: Adjutant General Mississippi, TO: F. E, Leach, Govt. Appeal Agent, Carthage, Mississippi. SUBJECT: Status Edw. Merchant. I am directed by the Governor to inform you that the Provost Mar- shal General desires the Local Board of Leake County to advise the status of Edward Merchant, therefore, please answer the following ques- tions on the bottom of this letter. WORK OF THE SPECIAL ASSISTANT 53 Did the local board grant Merchant a discharge from the draft? If a discharge was granted, Avas it issued prior to November 13th? (Signed) Edw. C. Scales, Brigadier General. Carthage, Miss., Feb. 23, 1918. 1st. Records of Local Board show that Edward W. Merchant was discharged by them on reconsideration of his claim. 2nd. Date of discharge is November 7, 1917. F. E. Leach, Govt. Appeal Agt., Leake County, Miss. War Department, Washington. February 26, 1918. Memorandum for the Provost Marshal-General 's Office : Attention of Major Roscoe S. Conkling, Judge Advocate. With further reference to the case of Edward Merchant, of Leake County, Mississippi, Avho was transferred from Camp Pike, Little Rock, Arkansas, to Camp Upton, New York, and to your memorandum bearing on his case which you forwarded me under date of February 14th. I am venturing to raise the question as to whether or not this man is not entitled to discharge under the Selective Service Regulations in view of the fact that the Local Exemption Board of Leake County, Mississippi, — on the 7th day of November, 1917, actually discharged EdAvard Merchant, as stated in affidavit filed by H. N. McMillan, Circuit Clerk, of said County — notAvithstanding the disinclination of the State authorities of Mississippi to recommend such discharge. The said EdAvard Merchant, Avhose letter I brought to your atten- tion under date of January 25th, states that he has "a mother 50 years old and feeble, a wife and baby," and that his wife is pregnant and not able to perform any work whatsoever, that he is their only support and in the shape they are in it Avill be impossible for the Government alloAV- ance to keep them from suffering. This man is also a productive farmer, and it appears from all the evidence at hand that the decision of the Local Board discharging him was wise and just, and should be affirmed. This man's case was up tAvice before the Local Board of Leake County, Miss., after Avhich he Avas discharged, and in your memorandum to me, of February 9th, you stated: "This was apparently in accordance with Compiled Rulings No. 12 (m) of this office, and it appears that the 54 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY man (referring to Edward Merchant) should have been dischaTged from service. ' ' In telegram of February 12th, the Provost Marshal General (see last clause of telegram) asks the Adjutant General at Jackson, Missis- sippi, to "Please advise why Ad)jutant General's office recommended that registrant be held to service." I fail to find, in the documents you kindly transmitted (and which are hereby returned as requested) any satisfac- tory reply to the inquiry above quoted, and in view of the discharge granted Edward Merchant by his Local Board (verified by the affidavit of the Circuit Court Clerk of Leake County) it does seem that a serious injustice has, in some way, been done this registrant, inasmuch as the telegram from "Scales" (presumably the Adjutant General of Missis- sippi) states "that the records submitted to State headquarters did not grant an exemption from the draft." Will you, therefore, kin-dly have a full investigation of this case made, and ascertain if the action of the Local Board was properly made known to the State authorities. I would very much appreciate a further report on the findings in this case, as soon as the reasons for ignoring or over-ruling the action of the Local Board by the State authorities can be ascertained. (Signed) Emmett J. Scott, Special Assistant to Secretary of War. March 4, 1918. FROM: Office of the Provost Marshal General. TO: The Adjutant-General of the Army. SUBJECT: Case of Edward Merchant, Serial No. 792, Order No. 109, Ofahoma, Leake County, Mississippi. 1. Your attention is respectfully invited to the case of Edward Mer- chant, Serial No. 792, Order No. 109, Ofahoma, Leake County, Mississippi, inducted into military service by operation of the Selective Service Law and forwarded to Camp Pike, thence transferred to Camp Upton, where he now is. As a matter of identification, it is stated that Merchant was at Base Hospital, Ward G-6, Camp Upton, on February 12th. 2. This case has been under investigation by this office for more than two months, and it appears that on November 7, 1917, after due and proper reconsideration of the facts, the local board of the proper juris- diction granted a discharge on dependency grounds; that through an error or negligence the man was not discharged from service. 3. It appears that the regular procedure prescribed by the regula- tions has been followed up to the point of transmittal of the final recom- mendation to the Camp Commander, and that through an error of the WORK OF THE SPECIAL ASSISTANT 55 State headquarters, the man has been held to service. It therefore ap- pears that the discharge should have been issued, in due course, more than three months ago. 4. A special request is made that prompt action be taken in this matter, as severe hardship and distress is reported to this office from various sources, due to this failure of the proper functioning of local officials, and that this office be ad\'ised of the final disposition of the case in order that it may speedily inform the parties interested. E. H. Crowder, Provost Marshal General. By Roscoe S. Conkling, Major, Judge Advocate. 201 (Merchant, Edward) E. M. 1st Ind. War Dept., A. G. 0., March 7, 1918.— To the Commanding General 77th Division, Camp Upton, Yaphank, N. Y., for investigation, necessary action and report. By order of Secretary of War : J. W. Riley, Adjutant General. 201 (Merchant, Edward) 2nd Ind. Hdq., 77th Division, Camp Upton, New York, March 15, 1918.— To Com- manding Officer, 367th Infantry, for compliance with the first indorse- ment hereon. By Command of Brigadier-General Johnson: Louis B. Gebom, Capt., Field Artillery, N. A., Asst. to the Adjutant. IIIK 3rd Ind. Hq. 367th Inf., Camp Upton, N. Y., 19th March 1918.— To Comdg. Gen'l, Camp Upton. Private Edward Merchant states that on being inducted into the service at Camp Pike, he was informed that his certificate of discharge on account of dependent relatives was unnecessary, as he was to be dis- charged for physical -disability. This not being done, he wrote to his mother who appeared before the Board and obtained the certificate which is inclosed herewith. W. G. DR.VNE, Lieutenant-Colonel, 367th Infantry, Administrative Officer. 56 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY March 28, 1918. Memorandum for Colonel Easby-Smith : In re Edward' Merchant, Leake County, Miss. The discharge of this registrant was recommended by this office in our letter of March 4th to the Adjutant General of the Army. We have received no advice that such discharge has been granted. History of tJie Case December 26, 1917, registrant wrote Special Assistant Emmett J. Scott of the War Department, stating that his Local Board- had, by order of the Adjutant General of Mississippi, reopened his case and granted his exemption, November 7, 1917, his discharge was refused by the Camp Commander. January 25th, Mr. Scott referred the matter to this office. February 11th, the Adjutant General of Mississippi advised that the Local Board for Leake County had refused to grant exemption to the registrant. The certificate of the Secretary of the Local Board showed that the discharge of the registrant was recommended by his Local Board' on November 7, 1917. On February 18th, the matter was presented by Senator Williams. On February 27th the Adjutant General advised that their records show that the discharge of the registrant was actually recommended on November 7, 1917. The error in the case was obviously in the office of the Adjutant General of Mississippi. March 4th, discharge recommended by this office in letter to The Adjutant General of the Army. March 22nd, memorandum from Mr. Scott, "Is this in accordance with the decision reached?" James H. Hughes, Jr., 1st Lieut., Infantry, R. C. The John D. Wray Case September 3, 1918. Memorandum for Colonel Roscoe S. Conkling, Office of the Provost Marshal-General: Dear Colonel Conkling: Mr. John D. Wray, who is a substantial Negro farmer engaged in Cooperative Extension Work, headquarters A. & T. College, Greensboro, North Carolina, has written me the enclosed letter concerning certain definite cases of alleged injustice to colored draftees in said State, and I WORK OF THE SPECIAL ASSISTANT 57 wish to bring the same to your attention for such investigation as they may merit. Sincerely yours, (Signed) Emmett J. Scott, Special Assistant to Secretary of War. Enclosures. WHD September 9. 1918. Honorable Emmett J. Scott, ^^ Special Assistant, Office of The Secretary of War. Washington, D. C. Dear Sir : — Your letter of September 3, with enclosure from Mr. John D. Wray attached, has been referred to The Adjutant General of North Carolina with instructions to have an immediate investigation made of the matters complained of in Mr. Wray's letter and to make a report of the results of said investigation. Upon receipt of this report you will be further advised. (Signed) E. H. Crowder, Provost Marshal General. By Roscoe S. Conkling, ^ Lieut. Colonel, J. A., Chief, Classification Division. JDL October 11, 1918. Mr. Emmett J. Scott, Special Assistant, Office of the Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. Dear Sir: There is returned hercAvith a letter from John D. Wray of Greens- boro, North Carolina, which accompanied your memorandum of the 3rd ult., together with photostat copies of reports from the Adjutant General of North Carolina and from various Local Boards, relating to the cases of the several registrants named in the complaint filed Avith you by John D. Wray. (Signed) E. H. Crowder, Provost Marshal General. By Roscoe S. Conkling, Lieut. Colonel, J. A., Chief, Classification Division, WGdcR^gm Ends. 58 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY War Dept., P. M. G. C, September 9, 1918.— To The Adjutant General, Raleigh, N. C. 1. Referred. 2. Nothing could be more harmful to the A> ^■= o^ C o S QO) o •JO Tli* ,C (0 X3 s- H 0) to 'OCO ;«! fl "< 1 t. (D OJ'O O , ^ js*-^ 3cij «'2 £^ J* a c o 2 ;^0 sC3 ® ^« 5.2 2 S5^-S 2^ rj o r t- O r- ai' 4) CD S .G M .t: '5 i! g >.^ ^ £ ^ (33 'O " >i ■:; a> o '^ 0) s- t. JO'S jj > Sh o t< CO ^=3.§^« j^:. ^'-, CO O I o CD e O) o 1) ^-1 0) . o a; ^i-"0 53 — C ^" ct3^£c5 ^ m > 0) kc ci3*5'a O WORK OF THE SPECIAL ASSISTANT 65 WAR DEPARTMENT. The Adjutant General's Office. Washington, Nov. 6, 1918. FROM: The Adjutant General of the Army. TO: Col. Charles Young, U. S. Army (retired), 19121/2 Fourteenth St., N. W., Washington, D. C. SUBJECT: Assignment. The Secretary directs as necessary in the military service that you proceed to Camp Grant, Rockford, Illinois, and report in person to the Commanding General of that camp for assignment to duty in connection with the Colored Development Battalions at Camp Grant. William Kelly, Jr., Adjutant Generrl. One of tlae most important functions of the office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary of War was to help maintain a healthy morale among Negro soldiers and the twelve million colored Amer- icans, whose continued loyalty was so severely tried during the war. In cooperation with the Committee on Public Information, he conducted a systematic campaign of publicity through the Negro press, the Official Bulletin, leading white newspapers and maga- zines, etc., which kept the colored people and the country at large fully informed as to the aims and policies of the Government and especially as to the attitude of the War Department with reference to opportunities offered and treatment accorded colored draftees and soldiers. This campaign did much to reassure the colored soldiers, to maintain the morale of colored Americans generally, and to vitalize their efforts toward winning the war. While it was not possible to accomplish even a small propor- tion of favorable results in all of the matters which arose; and while in many instances the full measure of justice was not ac- corded Negro soldiers, sailors, and civilians, it yet remains a fact that during the whole period of the war the office of Special Assist- ant continued to urge a program of One Hundred Per Cent Americanism, it sought to obtain for them the fullest measure of opportunity possible and to promote friendly feelings between white and colored citizens of the country, based upon the highest ideals of justice and fair play. CHAPTER V THE NEGRO IN THE NATIONAL ARMY Selective Service Laiv the Most Complete Recognition of the Citi- zenship of the Negro, North cmd South — All the Duties and Responsibilities of Patriots Imposed Upon the Negro hy the Draft Act — Tribute by the Provost Marshal General to the Colored Soldier — Assignment of Negro^ Draftees to Canton- ments, On May 18, 1917, Congress enacted what came to be known as the Selective Service law. As stated in the First Report of the Provost Marshal General, "It was unequivocal in its terms. It boldly recited the military obligations of citizenship. It vested the President with the plenary power of prescribing regulations which should strike a balance between industrial and economical need on the one hand and the military need on the other. It provided that men could be summoned for service in the place in which it would best suit the common good to call them. It was a measure of un- doubted significance and power and flung a fair challenge at the feet of those doubters who did not believe that the country would respond to a draft upon the man-power of the republic." It is of moment to state that on June 5, Registration Day, a number of representative colored citizens served as Selective Service registrars to the entire satisfaction of the Provost Marshal General. There was complaint, however, that so small a number of colored men were permitted to serve as Selective Service registrars, considering the large number of colored men who were called upon to register under the draft. Under the first selective draft 9,586,508 men between the ages of 21 and 31 were registered; of this number 8,848,882 were whites and 737,626 were colored. Thus it appears that the total registra- tion of citizens of African descent was nearly eight per cent of the entire (racially composite) registration. Of the number of white^and colored draftees who were certified for service, official 66 THE NEGRO IN THE NATIONAL ARMY 67 figures sliow that, in the first draft, 75,697 colored men, or 36.23 pei cent of tlie total number were called to the colors and served as soldiers; while 711,213, or 24.75 per cent of the total number of white men certified were called to the colors and served as soldiers. On this particular point I quote directly from Provost Marshal General Crowder's First Eeport: ''Thus it appears that out of every 100 colored citizens called 36 were certified for service and 64 were rejected, exempted or discharged; whereas out of every 100 whites called 25 were certi- fied for service and 75 were rejected, exempted, or discharged." Further drafts during the course of the war led to increas- ingly large numbers of whites being called to the colors, and of course increasingly large numbers of colored selectmen as well. Nineteen months brought the total enrollment for service up to twenty-four million (24,000,000), including those who were en- rolled under subsequent calls, which were put into operation as the result of Congressional legislation, which afterwards enrolled even those men who reached the age of 45 years. Under the law, as has been stated, no difference was made as between white and colored citizens. The citizenship of the Negro as provided in the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was fully recognized; color and race were not material, and the regula- tions for the purpose of classification did not exempt the Negro. A comparison of white and colored registration at the end of the war discloses the following facts: That between June 5, 1917, and September 12, 1918, there were registered 21,489,470 whites and 2,290,527 Negroes, the proportion of colored registrants to the whole being 9.63 per cent. The figures above, however, do not include some 300,000 additional registrants during September and October. The Mobilization Division of the Provost Marshal General's Office furnished the following table (December 16, 1918), showing the total number of white and colored men called under the Selective Service Draft Regulations during the entire war as shown by States : State White Colored Alabama 36,172 25,674 Arizona 8,308 77 Arkansas 33,217 17,544 California 71.026 919 68 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Colorado 24,178 371 Connecticut 33,802 941 Delaware 3,879 1,365 District of Columbia 6,576 4,000 Florida 12,769 12,904 Georgia 34,748 34,303 Idaho 13,222 95 Illinois 178,036 6,754 Indiana 70,701 4,579 Iowa 70,899 929 Kansas 43,761 2,127 Kentucky 48,977 11,320 Louisiana 29,230 28,711 Maine 16,415 50 Maryland 26,211 9,212 Massachusetts 82,765 1,200 Michigan 99,027 2,395 Minnesota ■ 76,406 511 Mississippi 21,182 24,036 Missouri 67,920 9,219 Montana 27,965 198 Nebraska 31,520 642 Neva-da 3,227 26 New Hampshire 9,174 27 New Jersey 69,974 4,863 New Mexico 9,082 51 New York 260,759 6,193 North Carolina 40,740 20,082 North Dakota 19,087 87 Ohio 139,695 7,861 Oklahoma 61,287 5,694 Oregon 18,182 QS Pennsylvania 197,336 15,392 Rhode Island 11,785 291 South Carolina 19,909 25,798 South Dakota 22,132 62 Tennessee , 44,405 17,774 Texas 91,583 31,506 Utah 11,631 77 Vermont 7,294 22 Virginia 37,295 23,541 THE NEGRO IN THE NATIONAL ARMY 69 "Washington 30,912 173 West Virginia 41,362 5,492 Wisconsin 75,261 224 Wyoming 8,095 95 Alaska 1,957 5 Hawaii 5,523 Porto Rico 15,787 Totals 2,442,586 367,710 Of the colored men wlio were classified, 51. G5 per cent were put in Class I, while of the whites between the same dates who were registered 32.53 per cent were put in Class I. The Provost Marshal General at some length offers an explana- tion of the high figures for colored registrants in Class I, but the essential fact stands that under the Selective Service Regulations 51.65 per cent of the colored registration was placed in Class I, while only 32.53 per cent of the whites were so classified. The Pro- vost Marshal General in his Second Annual Report to the Secretary of War discusses ''The Negro in Relation to the Draft." Officially he states: "The part that has been played by the Negro in the great world drama upon which the curtain is now about to fall is but another proof of the complete unity of the various elements that go to make up this great Nation. Passing through the sad and rigorous expe- rience of slavery ; ushered into a sphere of civil and political activity where he was to match his endeavors with those of his former masters still embittered by defeat, gradually working his way toward the achievement of success that would enable both him and the world to justify his new life of freedom ; surrounded for over half a century of his new life by the spectre of that slavedom through which he had for centuries past laboriously toiled; met continuously by the pre- judice born of tradition ; still the slave, to a large extent, of super- stition fed by ignorance — in the light of this history, some doubt was felt and expressed, by the best friends of the Negro, when the call came for a draft upon the man-power of the Nation, whether he would possess sufficient stamina to measure up to the full duty of citizenship, and would give to the Stars and Stripes, that had guar- anteed for him the same liberty now sought for all nations and all 70 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY races, the response tliat was its due. And, on the part of many of the leaders of the Negro race, there was apprehension that the sense of fair play and fair deahng, which is so essentially an American characteristic, would not, nay could not, in a country of such diver- sified views, with sectional feeling still slumbering but not dead, be meted out to the members of the colored race. ''How groundless such fears, how ill considered such doubts, may be seen from the statistical record of the draft with relation to the Negro. His race furnished its quota, and uncomplainingly, yes, cheerfully. History, indeed, will be unable to record the fullness of his spirit in the war, for the reason that opportunities for enlist- ment were not opened to him to the same extent as to the whites. But enough can be gathered from the records to show that he was filled with the same feeling of patriotism, the same martial spirit, that fired his white fellow citizen in the cause for world freedom. No Discrimination Shown "As a general rule, he was fair in his dealings with draft officials; and in the majority of cases, having the assistance of his white employers, he was able to present fairly such claims for defer- ment or discharge as he may have had, for the consideration of the various draft boards. In consequence, there appears to have been no racial discrimination made in the determination of his claims. Indeed, the proportion of claims granted to claims filed by mem- bers of the Negro race compares favorably with the proportion of claims granted to members of the white race. "That the men of the colored race were as ready to serve as their white neighbors is amply proved by the reports from the local boards. A Pennsylvania board; remarking upon the eagerness of its colored registrants to be inducted, illustrated this by the action of one registrant, who, upon learning that his employer had had hini placed upon the Emergency fleet list, quit his job. Another registrant, who was believed by the board to be above draft age, insisted that he was not, and, in stating that he was not married, explained that he 'wanted only one war at a time.' General Crowder requested a statement as to the cooperation shown the office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary of War by the Provost Marshal General's office in the matter of selective THE NEGRO IN THE NATIONAL ARMY 71 service administration as it affected the Negro people, especially in reference to complaints which were from time to time received from his office. He quotes in his Report the following extract from a memorandum written to him by the Special Assistant under date of December 12, 1918 : '* 'Throughout my tenure here I have keenly appreciated the prompt and cordial co-operation of the Provost Marshal General's office with that particular section of the office of the Secretary of War especially referred to herein. The Provost Marshal General's office has carefully investigated and has furnished full and complete reports in each and every complaint or case referred to it for atten- tion, involving discrimination, race prejudice, erroneous classifi- cation of draftees, etc., and has rectified these complaints whenever it was found, upon investigation, that there was just ground for the same. Especially in the matter of appljT.ng and carrying out the Selective Service Regulations, the Provost Marshal General's Office has kept a watchful eye upon certain local exemption boards which seemed disinclined to treat Negro draftees on the same basis as other Americans subject to the draft law. It is an actual fact that in a number of instances, where flagrant violations have occurred in the application of the draft law to Negro men in certain sections of the country, local exemption boards have been removed bodily and new boards have been appointed to supplant them. In several instances these boards so appointed have been ordered by the Pro- vost Marshal General to reclassify colored men who had been unlaw- fully conscripted into the Army or who had been wrongfully classi- fied; as a result of this action hundreds of colored men have had their complaints remedied and have been properly reclassified.' The Special Assistant also ventured in the same memorandum which Gen. Crowder quotes, to say: ** 'In a word, I believe that the Negro's participation in the war, his eagerness to serve, and his great courage and demonstrated valor across the seas, have given him a new i(Jea of Americanism and likemse have given to the white people of our country a new idea of his citizenship, his real character and capabilities, and hia 100 per cent Americanism. Incidentally, the Negro has been helped in many ways, physically and mentally and has been made into an even more satisfactory asset to the Nation.' " 72 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY A Problem for the War Depaxtment In view of the restiveness which obtained in the South with reference to sending colored soldiers into the training camps an acute problem was presented to the War Department. Toward the latter part of August, 1917, a conference was held to discuss this question. It was attended by a number of educators who were in Washington for the purpose of being present at an Educational Conference which had been called by Hon. P. P. Claxton, United States Commissioner of Education, an appointment having been made with the Secretary of War, at which conference the whole question was discussed at some length. Present were Mr. George Foster Peabody, New York, philanthropist and unfaltering friend of the Negro; Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard, then editor and o^\mer of the New York Evening Post; Dr. T. H. Harris, State Superin- tendent of Education for Louisiana; Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones of the Phelps-Stokes Fund Foundation; and such prominent colored men as Dr. Robert E. Moton, Principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute; Dr. John Hope, President of Morehouse Col- lege; Bishop George W. Clinton of the A. M. E. Z. Church, and a number of others, including the author. This conference Avas fol- lowed by another which was held by Mr. Peabody, Dr. Moton, and the author, with Messrs. Walter Lippman and Felix Frankfurter, who were advising the Secretary of War at that time in matters relating to the colored people. At this latter conference it was sub- stantially agreed that while the South might object to having col- ored men from Northern states sent into the various camps and cantonments of the South, it could not well refuse an acceptance of the principle of having such colored selectmen as might be called in such states trained in the cantonments of the states in which they lived. Considerable hardship followed, however, as the result of this prin<3iple ; as, for instance, while Alabama has a large colored popu- lation, colored soldiers were not sent to Camp Sheridan, Alabama, where a camp was located, but instead were sent to Iowa, because Camp Sheridan was not a cantonment but a camp at which the Ohio National Guardsmen were trained, — the colored battalion from Ohi/) for a while, along with the whites; but the colored selectmen from THE NEGRO IN THE NATIONAL ARMY 73 Alabama could not be trained at this camp under the program agreed upon. Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Ga., however, was called upon to accept colored registrants from Georgia because it was a canton- ment rather than a camp, and the same thing was true of Camp Jackson, South Carolina, to which colored selectmen of South Carolina were assigned. The first call for colored selectmen was under date of Septem- ber 22, 1917, the men being distributed as follows: Approximately To Camp Devens, Ayer, Mass., its oa\ti colored quota 600 To Camp Upton, Yaphank, L. I., New York, its o\vn colored quota 5,,800 To Camp Dix, Wrightstown, N. J., its own colored quota and Florida colored quota 4,500 To Camp Meade, Annapolis Junction, Md., its own colored quota and Temiessee colorc-d quota 6,100 To Camp Lee, Petersburg, Va., its o'uti colored quota 6,300 To Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio, its own colored quota, and Oklahoma colored quota 3,000 To Camp Jackson, Columbia, S. C, its own colored quota 5,900 To Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Ga., its own colored quota 9,000 To Camp Pike, Little Rock, Ark., its ovm colored quota, and Louisiana colored quota 9,600 To Camp Custer, Battle Creek, Mich., its own colored quota 600 To Camp Grant, Rockford, 111., its own colored quota and North Carolina colored quota 7,200 To Camp Taylor, Louisville, Ky., its OAvn colored quota 3,000 To Camp Dodge, Des Moines, la., its own colored quota and Alabama colored quota 6,600 To Camp Funston, Ft. Riley, Kas., its own colored quota and Mississippi colored quota 8,300 To Camp Travis, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, its OAvn colored quota. . 6,500 To Camp Lewis, Washington, D. C, its own colored quota 400 Total 83,400 The effect of the above distribution was in many cases to throw, in the beginning, the colored selectmen of Georgia, for instance, with some 30,000 selectmen from the North and East; the same thing was true at Camp Pike, Arkansas, to which some 30,000 Western selectmen were first sent. Under this program it was 74 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY proved that colored and white men could be trained together in Southern camps without friction. Long before the nineteen months of the war had ended, colored selectmen were being sent into prac- tically every camp in the South, and it is a matter of congratulation to both races that no such friction and trouble followed as had been feared beforehand. The draft revealed the fact that the Negro could stand the high physical tests of the Selective Service Regulations, a smaller pro- portion of his number proportionately being rejected than was true of the rest of the composite American population. Americans generally were more or less amazed to find that the Negro not only stood up physically, but that in many important respects where he was supposed to be *'off color" his record stood the test. CHAPTER VI A CRITICAL SITUATION IN THE CAMPS Race Problems that Had to he Solved — Fear of the Southern Whites that Trouble would Follow the Training of Negro Troops in the South — Situation Complicated by the Houston Riot — Protest of the Governor of South Carolina — Dr. Scott Called to Spartan- burg, S. C, to Allay Trouble There — Hoiv the Negro Soldier Finally Won the Respect and Confidence of the South. Secretary Baker would not brook discrimination against colored soldiers. It is of official record that at no time during the war period did the Secretary of War give countenance to the practice of discrimination against colored soldiers because of their race. On the contrary, there are many instances which may be cited to prove that he was sincerely and vigorously opposed to any exhibi- tion of race prejudice, and that officers and men have met with severe and condign punishment for acts in contravention of justice to the colored defenders of the flag. It will be remembered that just after the Houston riot in Texas, during the month of August, 1917, there was a common feeling throughout the South that no more colored troops should be sta- tioned on Southern soil. Many problems, therefore, had to be solved in connection with sending the Negro soldiers into the various camps. There was the fear, ill concealed in the North as well as in the South, that if Negro soldiers, in large numbers, were sent into any particular camp they would be a menace to the surrounding- population and to peace and order. When the time Came to call colored troops under the draft, so strongly did some of the Southern States feel on this subject that officials and citizens visited Washington to protest against such troops being sent into their States for training. This was notably tnie of South Carolina, a visit to Washington being made by Governor Manning, who most strongly conveyed to the War Depart- 75 76 SCOTIA'S OFFICIAL HISTORY merit tlie feeling of the citizens of that commonwealth. The War Department, however, adhered to its policy of sending colored units of National Guard organizations to the camps where such National Guard Divisions were to be trained, whether it happened to be in the North or the South. Under this program it so happened that the 8th Illinois Regi- ment, colored, was sent with the remainder of the Illinois National Guard to Camp Logan, Houston, Texas, where the riot, just referred to, had occurred in August of the same year. The 8th Illinois was commanded from Colonel to corporal by colored officers. Col. Frank- lin A. Denison being in command. The old fires of resentment were rekindled and it was difficult to predict what would follow. Col. Denison, himself a native of Texas and an attorney who had won wide prestige as Assistant City Prosecuting Attorney, and afterwards Assistant Corporation Counsel of Chicago, handled his men wisely and well, and no outbreaks occurred between the white citizens of the town and these colored soldiers who were being- trained for service overseas. Week by week during the course of the training Col. Denison and his men won the confidence of the best white and colored citizenship of the town. He asked for a ^^ square deal" for his men, and he resolved that they should not suffer because of the former riot, with which they had nothing to do, although at several places en route to Houston from Illinois they were jeered at along the way, stoned in one or two places, and a riot was barely averted at a way station in Texas. The Ninth Ohio was sent to Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, Alabama, the capital of the Confederacy, along with the Ohio National Guard Division. Organizations of colored citizens under the leadership of Mr. Victor H. Tulane, a trustee of Tuskegee Institute and friend and counselor of the late Booker T. Washing- ton, took charge of the matter of bringing the colored and white people of the city into agreement so that there should be no un- toward incident while the Ohio battalion was at Montgomery. A change as to sentiment soon followed among the citizens of various cities throughout the South where National Guard Camps, or National Army Cantonments were located, when the colored soldiers began to show by their demeanor that they were bent upon serious business and that they were disposed to go about their CRITICAL SITUATION IN THE CAMPS 77 business without molesting the common citizenship, asking only that they in turn be not unfairly treated. It is to the credit of the South that outside of the common friction which always occurs where any group of soldiers are gath- ered, whether they be white or black, no clash of the kind feared took place during the whole period of the training. City officials, judges, and chiefs of police began to speak in the highest terms of the men, expressing in nearly every instance great suiprise that none of the anticipated troubles had occurred. The relations be- tween the colored and white soldiers in the camps, with rare excep- tions, were pleasant and friendly; and where those exceptions occurred it was due more or less to the policies pursued by such authorities as were fearful of untoward results rather than to any other reason. Shortly after the Special Assistant was called to service, the Secretary of War held a conference with Mr. Eaymond B. Fosdick, Chairman of the Commission on Training Camp Activities, and the author, making a survey of the whole situation with reference to the presence of these colored men in the various camps and cantonments and expressing the hope and idea that the Commission on Training Camp Acti\dties would make full provision for the entertainment, recreation, and amusement of colored soldiers, such as was being provided for white soldiers. Mr. Fosdick, as the responsible executive officer of this important work, most enthusi- astically developed and carried out this program. His representa- tives in the various States cooperated, more or less slowly to begin with, but in the end most enthusiastically, to provide proper recrea- tion and amusement for colored as well as for white. It is a fact to be noted, however, that the War Camp Community Service organization made provision for colored soldiers in only one city 'during the first seven months after they were drafted, but between May, 1918, and August 5 of the same year, six or eight clubs were opened in various cities. Military Training An Educational Uplift While the Field Sig-nal Battalion and some of the Headquarters companies of the 92nd Division were composed of specially trained enlisted men, and well educated men selected from the draft, there 78 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY was an amazing amount of illiteracy when the Division was first organized. As the trains from the South brought the men into the camps during the bleak days of November, 1917, they were a spectacle to behold. Hundreds coming directly from the cotton and corn fields or the lumber and mining districts— frightened, slow- footed, slack-shouldered, many underfed, apprehensive, knowing little of the purpose for which they were being assembled and possibly caring less— the officers but recently from the training camp received them. The task of making soldiers of such raw material presented a most discouraging problem. Night school with the veriest rudi- ments of elementary training and talks on the simple rules of better living and army sanitation were conducted by the officers of every organization in connection with the daily drill schedules. The officers of the 92nd Division determined to make men of this material, men capable of occupying a larger place in the community life at the same time that they were making soldiers of them, fitted to fill the place in a modern fighting machine such as was being built by the United States Army. Without exception the men showed that they were eager to learn; and as the stoop came out of their spines, the shamble from their gait, they learned to read and write their names. On the first pay-roll of one regiment of the 92nd Division 90 per cent of the men being unable to wi^ite, made their marks. Five months of night school eliminated this condition and in its place came smartness in drill, cleanliness in billets, discipline, a pride in the uniform, respect for the flag, and the ability to sign their names to the pay-rolls. When that same regiment which had had 90 per cent of its members unable to write their names was on its return trip South to be mustered out of the service, Red Cross workers in two cities marveled at the improvement in the men's appearance, some doubting that they were the same men who had passed these points going into the draft. The difference was not one of appearance alone, for every one of those same men gave Uncle Sam a receipt in his own handwriting for his final pay and was capable of correcting any error that might have been made by the clerk. All of the new influences which the colored soldier met in the camp conspired to give him a new vision, and the testimony from CRITICAL SITUATION IN THE CAMPS 79 such widely separated points as Camp Dodge, Ft. Des Moines, Iowa, and several of the camps in the South will illustrate the change which soon came to be noted as to the conduct and demeanor of the colored soldier. Collier's Weekly dispatched one of its staff contributors, William Slavens McNutt, to make a round of all the camps and cantonments and to report conditions as he found them. In one of these articles entitled, *' Making Soldiers in Dixie, '^ Mr. McNutt devoted considerable space to the description of the change which was taking place in the Southern cities and towns, and even in some of the Southern camps where colored soldiers and Southern white men were being trained for overseas service. In this article Mr. McNutt reported visits made by him to two Southern camps and paid many compliments to the Negro soldiers because of their solemn attitude toward the war and the earnestness with which they undertook and passed through the ordeal of training. A Situation at Spartanburg, S. C. But it was not all easy sailing in all the camps and there was considerable jarring from time to time and enlightening wisdom and firmness were required to overcome certain threatening situa- tions. One of these stands out in my memory particularly just now, and is probably being related for the first time. At Spartan- burg, South Carolina, where the New York National Guard units were being trained, there developed a little trouble. The 15th New York Regiment (colored) under command of Col. William Hayward, which regiment afterwards came to be known as the 369fh, won enduring fame in France, being the first colored combat regiment to go overseas. On October 22, 1917, Col. Hayward came personally to the War Department to place before it the highly inflammable situation existing at Spartanburg, South Carolina, near which city Camp Wadsworth was located. Spartanburg is a small Southern city which closely follows what are usually regarded as Southern traditions and prejudices in the treatment of the Negro. Some of its citizens rather felt that something was needed to let the jaunty Negro soldiers from New York "know their place," and so one Sunday evening when a colored soldier. Noble Sissle by name, stepped into a white hotel to buy a New York newspaper, the pro- 80 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY prietor walked up to liim, it is stated, and with an oath demanded to know why he did not remove his hat. Sissle, holding the news- paper in one hand and his change in the other, did not quickly enough respond to the demand and his hat was knocked from his head. When he reached down to pick it up and arose he was all but felled by a blow, and as he retreated toward the door was kicked by the irate proprietor. On the sidewalk, awaiting Sissle 's return, was Lieut. James B. Europe, a colored officer, bandmaster of the 15th New York Regiment. A group of colored and white militiamen ''rushed" the hotel, but were "called to attention" by Lieut. Europe, who demanded that the crowd disperse. The New York militiamen expressed themselves as being vio- lently opposed to the treatment which had been visited upon Sissle; and so the next night a group of these soldiers banded together and began marching to Spartanburg, several miles away, to ''shoot it up ' ' as the soldiers at Houston had ' ' shot up ' ' that town after the clash with the Houston police in the August preceding. It was only because of Col. Hayward's courage and j5rmness in overtaking these men, and in safely bringing them back to camp that another Houston riot was for the moment averted. The feeling grew more and more intense, however, and Col. Hayward, to ward off another "situation," came to the "War Department. The Special Assistant to the Secretary of War was hastily summoned by the Secretary of War and ordered to proceed to Spartanburg. The atmosphere, it was easily observed, was surcharged. Col. Hayward called his officers together, advised them of the object of the mission of the Special Assistant to the Secretary of War and had all non-commissioned officers of the regiment assemble. Col. Hayward then withdrew and carried with him every commissioned officer of the regiment. Non-commissioned officers usually prove themselves to be the backbone of a regiment, and it was these men that Col. Hayward desired I should address. These men and the Special Assistant to the Secretary of War were thus left alone to discuss the delicate situation face to face and in the frankest way possible. My address to these men was an appeal and admonition to do nothing that would bring dishonor or stain to the regiment or to the race which they represented; that what- ever of violence they should do in the present difficulty would only CRITICAL SITUATION IN THE CAMPS 81 react upon their race throughout the country, and that the situation was potentially dangerous, in that it was hardly to be expected that the country would stand for another riot of the Houston char- acter, despite the fact that the men, when visiting the towm, had suffered rebuffs and mistreatment which had tried their patience and caused them to wish to visit violence upon the community. As the Special Assistant now recalls that dramatic setting in the late afternoon of that Fall day, there is nothing in the service rendered by him in the War Department which he remembers more vividly, or as being more serviceable than that appeal addressed to these men, that they should listen to the counsel of patience for the Great Cause, even in the face of studied insult and maltreatment. Afterward many of the men, with tears streaming down their faces, approached him and voiced how bitterly they felt in the face of the insults which had been heaped upon them from time to time as they passed through the town, but at the same time they told him of their willingness to listen to the counsel which had been addressed to them for the sake of the Negro race, and for all that was at stake for it and the country during the war. The War Department faced three situations: It could keep the regiment at Camp Wadsworth and face an eruption, and pos- sibly further anger the white citizens who were opposing the reten- tion of the regiment there, while at the same time inflaming the men of the regiment and many of the white New York guardsmen who were restive under the treatment accorded the colored soldiers, or the regiment could be removed to another camp and thereby convey the intimation that whenever any community put forward sufficient pressure, the War Department would respond thereto and remove soldiers from such location, whether they had given provocation for such demand or not. As a third alternative the Department could order the regiment overseas. The latter alterna- tive was decided upon, and soon after reaching New York the 15th New York was on its way overseas. The story of its wanderings from camp to camp in America, of its ship breaking down after being two days at sea, and of its return to New York harbor, of its finally reaching France, and of the glorious record it achieved as the 369th Infantry will be re- counted again and again by the heroic sui'vivors for years to come. CHAPTER YLl COLORED OFFICERS AND HOW THEY WERE TRAINED First Officers' Training Camp for Colored Men at Fort Des Moines, Iowa — Major J. E. Spingarn's Fight for the Establishment of This Camp— Methods of Training Reserve Officers — Negro Educational Institutions Furnish Personnel — Seven Hundred Colored Officers Commissioned at Fort Des Moines. While tlie great nations in Europe were flooding the continent with human blood, leaders in American political thought saw that the United States would sooner or later become a partner in the great cataclysm. The weakness of our Army and Navy crystallized into a national slogan, ''Preparedness." Accordingly, several leading citizens in New York and vicinity organized a civilian camp at Plattsburg, N. Y. The purpose of this camp was to fit men to take examinations for commissioned officers for the new National Army which was inevitable. The Government endorsed the propo- sition and furnished aid to the extent of upkeep and living expenses during the period of training. But ''Plattsburg" was a voluntary — almost a social camp, and true to American tradition no colored men could be admitted to such a camp with white men. When the United States entered the great European war, Congress authorized the establishment of a nmnber of training camps for white officers, the number to be left to the discretion of the Secretary of War. No provision was made for the training of colored officers. After repeated efforts of various kinds, a committee composed of representative citizens, headed by Dr. Joel E. Spingarn of New York City, held a confer- ence with the military authorities. The efforts of the committee were fruitless for the time being, at least, and the committee was dissolved. The project was later taken up by the students of Howard University together with a few members of the faculty 82 COLORED OFFICERS AND THEIR TRAINING 83 and students from other colleges, from Lincoln University, Fisk Uni- versity, Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Hampton Agricultural and Industrial Insti- tute, Virginia Union Seminary, and Morgan College. Efforts of Dr. Spingam Dr. Joel E. Spingarn consulted Gen. Leonard Wood, who was at this time in charge of the Eastern Department, Governor's Island, New York, about the establishment of a *'Plattsburg" for colored men. General Wood gave assurance that the same aid and assistance could be given a camp for colored men that were given the camp for white men, provided 200 men of college grade could be secured. Dr. Spingarn set out upon a vigorous campaign, send- ing letters and circulars in every direction and personally visiting Howard University and kindred institutions. Success crowned his indefatigable industry, but not without great opposition. Dr. Spingarn 's efforts, by many of the important newspapers and leaders of the race, were referred to as being designed to bring about the establishment of a ''Jim Crow Camp" for training colored officers. The agitation grew quite violent at times, par- ticularly because of the fact that Dr. Spingarn was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Association for the Advance- ment of Colored People, an organization generally regarded as standing uncompromisingly for the rights of the Negro people. In his efforts to secure the establishment of this camp Dr. Spingarn had the cooperation of his aide, Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, Editor of The Crisis, also regarded as an uncompromising champion of the Negro, and of Col. Charles Young, United States Army, and such virile speakers and leaders as William Pickens and others. The agitation among the Negro group and the recognized friends of the Negro grew so w^arm that for a while divided counsels threatened the establishment of a camp. Whether through a fortunate or unfortunate turn of circumstances, while this agitation was at its height, Congress declared that a state of war existed between the United States and the Imperial German Government. Immediately, civilian training camps were abolished and fourteen Government camps were established for the training of officers. Strange and paradoxical as it may seem, America, while 84 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY fighting for tlie democratization of the peoples of far-off Europe, was denying democracy to a part — an honest, loyal and patriotic part— of her citizens at home. Fourteen camps were instituted for the training of WHITE officers — none for colored officers, nor were colored men admitted to any of the fourteen camps. The next best thing seemed to be a separate camp. The students were joined by faculty members and an executive com- miittee was organized with Prof. T. Montgomery Gregory as Chair- man. Colored men ivere fighting the Government in order to wring from it permission to fight for it. The President and Deans of the University gave full cooperation. A convention of the student body was called on Tuesday, May 1, 1917, when money was raised by students and faculty for the dispatch of delegates to take up this matter with the student bodies of various schools. At the suggestion of Prof. Gregory, the Executive Committee was transformed into the Central Committee of Negro College Men with Mr. C. Benjamin Curley as Secretary, and an office was opened in the basement of Howard University Chapel. The work was so organized that the secretary was in control of the situation at all times and his office became the radiating center from which the latest information was flashed throughout the country. Letters and telegrams flooded the office in quest of details and instructions. The delegates announced success in obtaining in ten days, 1,500 names to be presented according to agreement, to the War Depart- ment as a justification for the appeal for an *' Officers' Reser\'e Training Camp for Colored Men." Meanwhile the committee interviewed Congressmen, leaving a copy of the following card on each Congressman's desk: TRAINING CAMP FOB NEGRO OFFICERS Our country faces the greatest crisis in its history; the Negro, as ever, loyal and patriotic, is anxious to do his full share in the defense and sup- port of his country in its fight for democracy. The Negro welcomes the opportunity of contributing his full quota to the Federal army now being organized. He feels very strongly that these Negro troops should be officered by their own men. The following statement presents the facts upon which we base our request for an officers' reserve training camp for Negroes. COLORED OFFICERS AND THEIR TRAINING 85 1 (a) Fourteen officers' training camps are to be opened on May 14, 1917, to provide officers for the new Federal Army. (b) No officers are to be commissioned unless they receive training in one of these fourteen training camps: (c) The "War Department has stated that it is impracticable to admit Negroes to the fourteen established camps; 2 (a) The Negro is to furnish his proportionate quota in this army; (b) It seems just that the competent and intelligent Negroes should have the opportunity to lead these troops; (c) One thousand Negro college students and graduates have already pledged themselves to enter such a training camp immediately; (d) In addition men in the medical profession desire to qualify for service in the Medical Corps, and there are other competent men ready to qualifj^ for other specialized corps provided for ; (e) Records of Negro officers and troops warrant the provision for Negro officers to lead Negro troops. Lieut. Col. Young, Major Loving Capt. Davis Major Walker 3. Therefore, the Negro race requests the establishment of an officers' reserve training camp for Negroes. Central Committee of Negro College Men. Signed : Frank Coleman, Chicago, T, M. Gregorv, Harvard, W. Douglas, Lincoln, C. II. Houston, Amherst, W. A. Hall, Union, L. H. Russell, Cornell, M. H, Curtis, Howard, C. B. Curley, General Secretary, Howard University, Washington, D. C. Over 300 Senators and Eepresentatives signified approval, and the War Department was soon the center of a storm of telephone calls and peisonal interviews. The colored churches in the District of Columbia were inter- ested. Dr. J. E. Moorland advised that the Y. M. C. A. branches throughout the country be used as recrniting stations, a valuable suggestion which was readily accepted. Frequent mass meetings were held by the Howard students; and when additional funds were needed a concert was given in the chapel. A little later the University Dramatic Club repeated its performance of ''Disraeli" through the courtesy of the management of the Howard Theater, at which time over $125 was raised. 86 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY With 1,500 names in the hands of the War Department on May 7, the campaign became more heated. Press articles were sent out by the committee. The following is one of a large variety: ^'the colored people op the country making strenuous efforts to secure training camp for colored officers. Headquarters and Recruiting Station at Howard University. "According to the best authorities about 83,000 Negroes will be drafted for the New Federal Army. The Negroes welcome this opportunity of serving their country, and sharing their full responsibilities in this time of national peril. They feel, however, that Negro troops thus raised should be officered by men of their own race and are making strenuous efforts to secure a training camp in which such officers can be prepared. The War Depart- ment has stated that it is impracticable to admit Negroes to the fourteen camps for officers to be opened on May 14, 1917. And it has also stated that no officers are to be commissioned unless they receive training in one of these camps. This means that unless some provision is made whereby colored men may be trained for officers these 83,000 Negro troops will be officered exclusively by white officers; and that Negroes qualified both mentally and physically to serve as officers will be forced under the conscription law to serve as privates. The colored man is willing and ready to carry out the duties imposed upon him as an American citizen, and feels that he should be given the same opportunities in the perform- ance of these duties as are given to other American citizens. The Negroes from every section are requesting that the Government provide means whereby colored officers may be trained. The appeal is just, reasonable, and practicable. The proposition is squarely up to the Government. This is no time for sectional differences and race prejudice and the highest patriotism demands that every American citizen be given the opportunity to serve his country in the capacity for which he is best fitted. "Over one thousand colored men have sent their names to their headquarters at Howard University, and hundreds of others are arriving by mail and telegrams. "Why should not colored troops be officered by colored men? Their records show them to be competent and efficient, and to deny any class of citizens the opportunity of rendering its best service belies the very theory of our democracy, and the basic principle for which the present war is waged. Our American statesmen should frown upon any procedure that does not offer an equal opportunity for all at all times, but more especially at a time when our country is faced by a foreign foe." COLORED OFFICERS AND THEIR TRAINING 87 An important conference was held in Washington with Dr. Robert R. Moton, Principal, and Mr. Emmett J. Scott, Secretary of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, by Dean George W. Cook and Professor T. Montgomery Gregory of Howard Uni- versity and the valued support of Tuskegee Institute enlisted in behalf of the Officers' Reserve Training Camp. The work in Con- gress w^as kept up. Communications were sent to President Wilson, Secretary Lansing, Secretary Baker, and other Cabinet officers. Finally there were two important conferences: the one at the War College where President Newman of Howard University, Deans Miller, Cook and Moore, Professors Tunnell and Gregory, Mr. H. E. Moore, Doctors Marshall and Cabannis met and dis- cussed the matter with Major Kingman, then head of the War College; the other with Secretary Baker the following day, when he practically assured the same committee of the establishment of the camp. "The question of location, it was said, w^as the only remaining obstacle; to offset this the grounds and buildings of Howard Uni- versity were offered by the authorities, but were not accepted for various reasons. The tension was then at its height and just as a more extensive campaign was about to be launched President Newman was notified that the camp would be established. This happened about 7 P. M., May 12, 1917. '^The authorization of the camp brought joy unspeakable to the hearts of the committee and students. Smiles and handshakes soon made the campus seem like an old-fashioned Methodist prayer meeting and the news was heralded far and wide. The following was sent to all those who had submitted their names: *' 'Dear Sir: " 'The War Department has announced that a camp to which colored men can be admitted to be trained as officers will be established at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, June 15th.' Twelve hundred fifty men will be admitted. Two hundred fifty will be selected from the regular army and one thou- sand from the various states and the District of Columbia on a pro rata basis. The camp will be organized and maintained on the same regula- tions as all the other camps now in operation. " 'There will be recruiting stations throughout the country to which applicants must report for physical and mental examinations. The mental 88 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY training will be rigid and none but thoroughly qualified men ought to apply. " 'Successful applicants must pay their transportation to the camp. They will be reimbursed at the rate of 3^/2 cents per mile from their homes to Des Moines by the shortest route. The men will be paid while in camp but the exact amount has not yet been determined. Additional information will be given to the Press as soon as the War Department issues it. "Watch the papers from this date. The race is on trial. Come to camp determined to make good. " 'Yours truly, C. Benj. Curley, General Secretary, Central Committee of Negro College Men.' Howard University, Washington, D. C. May 23, 1917. ''Of the 1500 names submitted, these were almost witliout exception men from colleges and averaged between 18 and 25. The War Department in the interim suggested that in as far as possible only men between 25 and 40 be included. This meant additional work, but the committee met it cheerfully and aug- mented its already widely advertised propaganda by numerous press articles. The following is one of the many: " 'Howard University, " 'Washington, D. C, " 'May 24, 1917 " 'Dear Brother: "'A Eeserve Officers' Training Camp, accommodating 1250, at Des Moines, Iowa, for Colored men, to start June 15th. Such was the official announcement of the War Department last Saturday, May 19th. " 'Stop but a moment, brother, and realize what this means. At present, we have only three officers of the line in the army; in less than four months we shall have 1250 officers. Our due recognition at last. But no one who was not in the fight knows what a struggle we had to obtain the camp. Only a few of those in authority would support the project; most of them did not want to consider it; and the remainder were bitterly against it. "Why waste time trying to train Negroes to be officers," they said, "when the Negro can't fight unless he is led by white officers?" The truth is, the Negro has had no chance to fight under his COLORED OFFICERS AND THEIR TRAINING 89 own leadership. Now the chance has come; the gi'eatest opportunity since the Civil War. But what if we fail? Eternal disgrace! Our enemies will say forever: "Oh, yes, the Ninth and Tenth were uneducated men; but just as soon as the Negro gets a little education he becomes a coward." There is a terrible responsibility resting upon us. The Government has challenged the Negro race to prove its worth, particularly the worth of its educated leaders. We must succeed and pour into the camp in over- whelming numbers. Let no man slack. " 'Some few people have opposed the camp as a "Jim Crow" camp; they say we are sacrificing principle for policy. Let them talk. This camp is no more "Jim Crow" than our newspapers, our churches, our schools. In fact, it is less "Jim Crow" than our other institutions, for here the Government has assured us of exactly the same recognition, treatment, instruction and pay as men in any otlier camp get. The Government bears all expenses, including transportation, uniform, and keep ; and, in addition, pays a salary of not less than $75 a month while in training. When commissioned, the lowest salary is $145 a month. But the salary, though not to be despised, is not the fundamental element. Our great task is to meet the challenge hurled at our race. Can Ave furnish officers to lead our own troops into battle; or will they have to go again (and if they have to go now, they will go forever) under white officers? " 'Let us not mince matters; the race is on trial. It needs every one of its red-blooded, sober minded men. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, business men, and all men who have graduated from high school. Let the college student and graduate come and demonstrate by their presence the prin- ciples of virtue and courage learned in the academic halls. Up, brother, our race is calling. " 'We cannot tell you how to register just now; but in a few days v:e shall know everything. What you are to do NOW is to send this letter to another brother and tell him to do the same, to pass the word along, and to stir up all the enthusiasm in your district. Watch all the papers and when you see news distribute it. Look for all bulletins; and, above all, be ready! " 'Just think a moment how serious the situation is. Peal the war tocsin; stand by the race. If we fail, our enemies will dub us COWARDS for all time ; and we can never win our rightful place. But if we succeed — then eternal success; a mighty and far-reaching step forward; 1250 Colored Army officers leading Negro troops. Look to the future, brother, the vision is glorious! " 'Ever your brothers, " 'Central Committee op Negro College Men.' " 90 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY As a result of these persistent efforts a training camp for colored officers was authorized by the Secretary of War on the 19th of May and soon thereafter the candidates for commissions set out for Fort Des Moines, Iowa, where they were to undergo training. The Honorable Champ Clark, Speaker of the House of Representa- tives, said that this marked ''an epoch in American history and a new day for the Negro." The student officers were put through weeks of intensive train- ing under Col. C. C. Ballon, his staff, and a group of colored non- commissioned officers from the four colored regiments of the Regular Army. The Presidents and other officers of the various colored institutions of learning whose officers, teachers and stu- dents were in training visited the camp and spoke to the officer- candidates. Dr. George W. Cabannis, a colored physician of "Washington, D. C, voluntarily gave up his practice and enlisted in the Y. M. C. A. work as a Secretary, and took charge of the Y. M. C. A. tent at Ft. Des Moines, working in closest cooperation with Col. Ballou and his military aides. It was expected that the training would last three months. At the end of that period, however, the War Department decided to continue training for another month. Suspicion became rife among the men; many of them dropped out, giving as a reason that **the War Department never intended to commission colored men as officers in the army." There were only a few of those faint-hearted fellows, however; the great majority remained, and on October 14, 1917, Col. W. T. Johnson of the Adjutant General's Office arrived at Ft. Des Moines with commissions for 639 officers, — 106 captains; 329 first lieutenants, and 204 second lieutenants. On that day, October 14, 1917, amidst impressive ceremonies, the 17th Provisional Training Regiment, as the Fort Des Moines Training Camp was called, was formed on the drill-ground facing the Administration building; here with bared heads and uplifted hands these 639 members of the regiment (the unsuccessful mem- bers having been dismissed) took the solemn oath which was administered by Col. Johnson, Chief of the Division of Training Camps, War Department. On the next day, October 15, the successful candidates received COLORED OFFICERS AND THEIR TRAINING 91 eommissions and were ordered to report after fifteen days' leave of absence to their respective camps. In equally divided groups the 639 officers were sent to the following camps, reporting for duty on the 1st of November, 1917; Camp Funston, Kansas; Camp Dodge, Iowa; Camp Grant, Illinois; Camp Sherman, Ohio; Camp Meade, Maryland; Camp Dix, New Jersey; Camp Upton, New York. It was at these widely distributed camps that the various units of the 92d Division (the authorized colored Division) were trained. Some of the difficulties which befell the 92d Division are to be ascribed to the fact that the units of the Division were never united until they reached France, being trained in the seven camps here mentioned; this was true of no other division of the army sent overseas. On October 15, 1917, impressive exercises were held in the Y. M. C. A. tent. Dr. George W. Cabannis of Washington, D. C, presiding, following the bestowal of the commissions. A program had been hastily arranged. Addresses were made by Brigadier General C. C. Ballon, who had started the training at Fort Des Moines and who had been made a Brigadier General and assigned to Fort Dodge; by Col. Hunt, who had succeeded Col. Ballou in charge of the 17th Provisional Training Regiment training camp; by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams of Chicago, Illinois, who was present as a visitor, and by one or two officers of the 17th Regiment Training Camp. The Special Assistant to the Secretary of War also spoke upon this occasion, having been detailed by the Secre- tary of War to represent him at the exercises in connection with the bestov/al of the commissions. CHAPTER VIII TESATMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS IN CAMP Men from the South Sent to Northern Camps to Face a Hard Winter — Attempts at Biscrimination Against Negro Soldiers and Officers — Firm Stand of the Secretary of War Against Race Discrimination — General Ballou's "Bidletin No. 35" — Members of Draft Boards Dismissed for Discrimination Against the Race. The treatment of Negro soldiers in the various camps and cantonments of the country was a subject much discussed during the war, Reports of discrimination against colored soldiers because of race and color were heard upon all sides and at times the colored people were greatly exercised when alleged situations of a particularly outrageous character came to their ears. The morale of the race was at times lowered to a degree that was little short of dangerous. Prompt and vigorous action, however, on the part of officers high in command led to a correction of many of the evils complained of, and in this way countless episodes preg- nant with the possibility of serious clashes and violent conflicts were happily adjusted and no end of trouble thus averted. Before going into the analysis of a number of exceptionally trying instances of color discrim^ination — incidents that more than once attracted nation-wide attention — it might be well to make note of the manner in which the colored troops were apportioned throughout the country. As was perfectly natural, by virtue of the immense Negro population, the South furnished the bulk of the colored men called through the selective draft law. If the unwritten custom of assigning men to the camps nearest the place from which they were drawn had been carried out to the letter, the camps in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina would have been made up in many cases almost exclu- sively of Negro soldiers. For this reason, and to prevent concen- tration of over-large contingents of colored soldiers at any one camp,— a policy frankly decided upon long before the Special 92 TREATMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS IN CAMP ^ 93 Assistant came to the War Department — thousands of colored draftees found their way to the North in the fall of 1917, being- stationed at Camps Grant, Illinois; Funston, Kansas; Dodge, Iowa; Zachary Taylor, Kentucky; Sherman, Ohio; Meade, Mary- land; Custer, Michigan; Dix, New Jersey; Upton, New York, and Devens, Massachusetts — all of these classed as Northern States from the Southern soldiers' climatic standpoint. The climate of the North — with its long winter, unusually severe in 1917-18 — proved to be the source of much suffering, on account of its deadly effect upon colored soldiers bred and born amid the magnolia blossoms and in the balmy atmosphere of the ''sunny South." These colored soldiers faced the hard winter of 1917 with sinking hearts and grave apprehensions, and with an equipment in many instances far from adequate, owing to the haste with which the preparations for war were made. There was great suffering among colored and white soldiers, and the mortality from pneu- monia and like troubles was alarmingly heavy among the unacclim- atized colored men from the South. Nevertheless, they bore their sufferings with a fortitude that approached the heroic. It was unjust, but not strange, that there should be many attempts at discrimination against Negro officers and soldiers in many of the camps, particularly those in the South, and in other sections where white soldiers from the South were brought into contact with colored troops. Prejudice, based on race, was some- thing too deeply implanted in the mental fabric of an element of the American people, it seemed, to be overcome over night through any pressure the war might bring to bear. Clashes between white and colored soldiers happened North and South, after a sporadic fashion, but at no time were their clashes so general or persistent as to endanger the well-being of the Army as a whole. In many sections of the South violent protests against the quartering of colored troops were registered with the War Depart- ment, and the Governors, Senators, and Representatives of more than one State filed formal objections with the President of the United States and the War Department, insisting that Negro troops be not stationed at the camps within their borders. The War Department steadily declined to be moved by these protests and pursued unhesitatingly its practice of stationing units of 94 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY troops, colored and white, at whatever posts the exigencies of the service seemed to make their presence expedient or necessary. The dignified bearing of the Negro soldiers and their studious avoidance of any excesses, however, tended to mollify the feelings of the Southern people and they finally began to accept them, not as an inescapable burden ''wished upon them," but with genuine pride in their progress, declaring that they were a part and parcel of the South and should be accorded full credit for their unques- tioned valor, patriotism and loyalty. The Houston Episode The unfortunate episode at Houston, Texas, in 1917, which precipitated a so-called ''race riot," in which were involved a number of the soldiers of the 24th Infantry, Regular Army, had its origin in the prejudice of a portion of the citizens of Houston against Negro soldiers, and the reciprocation of this dislike by the colored soldiers themselves. The clash that took place in that city in August, 1917, marked the beginning of the end of the disorder that had obtained throughout the earlier months of the stay of the colored troops at Houston, for afterwards, when the Eighth Illinois Regiment came to Camp Logan from Chicago and the West, there were but few ebullitions of race feeling between the whites and the men of the Eighth. The execution of thirteen of the colored soldiers implicated in the Houston riot was one of the dark spots on the escutcheon of the Army, but it did not dampen the ardor of the colored men who went to the front for the Stars and Stripes. They realized that neither the meanness of those who fomented the riot, nor the undue haste that led to the summary execution of the soldiers convicted of being guilty of murder and mutiny, was typical of the feeling of the great body of the American people, nor of even the large majority of Southern white people of real influence and standing. Incipient race riots were reported at frequent intervals at various stations. North and South. Of these, mention might be made of the magnified reports of a fracas said to have occurred between Negro soldiers and the police at Newport News, Virginia, in September, 1918, and of other affairs of no great seriousness that were reported at Camp Upton, Camp Merritt, Camp Grant, TREATMENT OP NEGRO SOLDIERS IN CAMP 95 and one or two others. Many minor encounters grew out of the refusal of white soldiers to salute colored officers, and of efforts to draw the color line in places of recreation and amusement. Most of these cases were adjusted by the commanding officers of the army camps. At Camp Grant, Illinois, General Thomas H. Barry, Com- manding General, faced this question as soon as it was presented. A newspaper reporter started a campaign of inquiry among cer- tain of the white soldiers to ascertain whether or not they meant to salute colored officers. The question began to run through the camp, but this reporter was challenged by General Barry in the presence of others to cease his activity. The General plainly stated that in that particular camp the Commanding Officer desig- nated by the War Department alone was in command, without the aid of journalistic helpers, and that the only color recognized in Camp Grant was to be the ''0. D." — the olive drab of the Army uniform. How General Bell Acted At Camp Upton, New York, General F. Franklin Bell met a similar situation without hesitation: **Now, gentlemen," said he, ''I am not what you would call 'a Negro lover.' I have seen service in Texas, and elsewhere in the South. Your men have started this trouble. I don't want any explanations. These colored men did not start it. It doesn't matter how your men feel about these colored men. They are United States soldiers. They must and shall be treated as such. If you can't take care of your men, I can take care of you; and," said he in conclusion, *'if there is any more trouble from your men you will be tried, not by a Texas jury but by General Bell, and not one of you will leave this camp for overseas." And he thus dismissed them. General Bell was talking to white officers of a Southern regiment that came to Camp Upton. The remarks quoted above followed a fracas between white soldiers of this Southern regiment and colored soldiers whom the white soldiers attempted to throw out of the Hostess House, while he was Commanding General there. At Camp Lee, Virginia, General Adelbert Cronkhite was re- 96 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY ported in the Eichmond, Virginia, daily newspapers and in the camp newspaper as saying: *'I met some junior officers who said they were not keen on saluting Negro officers. They would not feel that way if they understood the spirit of the salute. If one of them came from a town where there was an old Negro character, one of those old fellows who do odd jobs around and is known to everybody, he'd at least nod his head and say, 'Howdy, uncle.' Now, suppose through some freak of nature this old Negro should be trans- planted into an officer's uniform; the salute would be merely saying to him 'Howdy, uncle,' in a military way." It is fair to say that General Croiikhite disavowed responsi- bility for the appearance of a certain article in the Richmond Times Dispatch and said that he had never made a statement in the way it was quoted in the article. He explained, however, that "the idea involved in this statement expressed in becoming lan- guage is the expression of my idea and was not based on any special case," whatever that may mean! General Cronkhite also said that his statement was not an official one and had not there- fore been published by him in the official bulletin of the command. Attempts at segregation were charged against the Quarter- master's Depots at Chicago and at St. Louis, where color dis- crimination was alleged in the matter of appointments, promotions, and working conditions, and where unfairness was said to exist in the withholding from the colored employees of the use of toilet facilities, as well as restrictions in the service of the depot restau- rants, cafeterias and the like. ^Vhenever these cases were called to the attention of the War Department they were carefully inquired into, to develop the facts. In more instances than the Special Assistant can now recall, remedial action was taken by the officials in charge of the stations under criticism. Discriminat- ing orders were rescinded, restrictions modified, and favorable interpretation of ambiguous regulations was secured in many of the cases that came to the War Department. Gen. Ballou's Bulletin No. 35 at Camp Funston Perhaps no single incident in the camp life of the Army attracted so large a measure of attention at the hands of the Above — This is how the Western Front in France looked most of the time. The Germans kept down in t heir trenches and the Allies in theirs, with barbed wiie enfeanglements of No Man's l^and between theio. Negro soldiers with machine guns. Below — Another corner of the Fighting Front: American Negro Soldiers and French Colonials fir- ing rifle grenades. Atove— Wax Camp Community Service, Dance Graduates, Louisville, Ky. Below— Wax Camp community Service Workers, Girls' Patriotic League of Louisville, i^y. Ahov€ — Afttr the capture uf Cantigny. Colored troops won glory in taking this city from the Germans. Photograph shows American Negro soldiers cleaning up the ruins with flame throwers and grenades. Below — Ames :.-""- Negro soldiers throwing hand grenades from a French trench into No Man's Land. Above— One of the most important parts of war is keeping up communication with the front. Tele- phone lines must be maintained no matter how heavy the enemy's fire. This French Official Photograph shows Senegalese troops carrying telephone lines forward to observation posts. Below — American Negro Soldiers and French tanks. This is the way the colored infantrymen ad- vanced on the Somme. Above— Some of the Chicago Girls Welcoming Home One of the Boys of the 370th (Old Sth Illinois National Guard). . ^. ,-, . *•,, Below— The Salvation Army Draws No Color Line, Soldiers of the 351st Field Artillery are receiving candy from Salvation Army lassies, on their return to New York. Above- — Negro Troops in Camp in France. This temporary shelter was not far from the front line. The men are wearing their trench boots and the top of shelter is covered with branches of trees, a form of camouflage intended to prevent detection by enemy aeroplanes. Below — Routing the enemy with cold steel. — From Photo and Painting. TREATMENT OP NEGRO SOLDIERS IN CAMP 97 colored people as ''Bulletin No. 35," issued to the officers and soldiers of the 92d Division by General C. C. Ballou, commanding officer of the Division, with headquarters at Camp Funston, Kansas. The issuance of the Bulletin came about because of the refusal of the manager of a theater at Manhattan, Kansas, to admit a sergeant of the 92d Division, because of the possible objection of his white patrons. The interpretation placed upon the order by most people was that General Ballou requested and indirectly "ordered" that Negro officers and soldiers refrain from exercising their preroga- tives as citizens in the matter of attending places of public amuse- ment or recreation, if their presence seemed offensive to the white patrons of such resorts and likely to provoke racial friction. The colored press was particularly bitter and many newspapers pro- nounced the "order" an "insult" to the Negro race. At various public gatherings of colored people General Ballou 's resignation as connnander of the 92d Division was demanded, and at no time during his incumbency as the head of the Division was General Ballou able to regain the confidence of the colored masses, with whom he had been immensely popular prior to this episode, in recognition of his valued and sympathetic services as supervisor of the Officers' Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, from which came 639 colored men, graduating with commissions as captains and first and second lieutenants. The full text of "Bulletin No. 35," as issued by General Ballou was as follows: Headquarters 92d Division, Camp Funston, Kans., March 28, 1918. "1. It should be well known to all colored officers and men that no useful purpose is served by such acts as will cause the 'color question' to be raised. It is not a question of legal rights, but a question of policy, and any policy that tends to bring about a conflict of races, with its resulting animosities, is prejudicial to the military interest of the 92d Division, and therefore prejudicial to an important interest of the colored race. "2. To avoid such conflicts the Division Commander has repeatedly urged that all colored members of his command, and especially the officers and non-commissioned officers, should refrain from going where their 98 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY presence will be resented. In spite of this injunction, one of the sergeants of the Medical Department has recently precipitated the precise trouble that should be avoided, and then called on the Division Commander to take sides in a row that should never have occurred had the sergeant placed the general good above his personal pleasure and convenience. This sergeant entered a theater, as he undoubtedly had a legal right to do, and precipitated trouble by making it possible to allege race discrimina- tion in the seat he was given. He is strictly within his legal rights in this matter, and the theater manager is legally wrong. Nevertheless the sergeant is guilty of the GREATER wrong in doing ANYTHING, NO MATTER HOW LEGALLY CORRECT, that will provoke race animosity. "3. The Division Commander repeats that the siiccess of the Division with all that success implies, is dependent upon the good will of the public. That public is nine-tenths white. White men made the Division, and they can break it just as easily if it becomes a trouble maker. "4. All concerned are again enjoined to place the general interest of the Division above personal pride and gratification. Avoid every situation that can give rise to racial ill-will. Attend quietly and faith- fully to your duties, and don't go where your presence is not desired. "5. This will be read to all organizations of the 92d Division. "By command of Major-General Ballou: (Signed) "Allen J. Greer, "Lieutenant Colonel, General Staff, "Chief of Staff." Commenting in an editorial of the issue of April 13, 1918, upon the order as issued by General Ballou, The Advocate, a colored newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, printed the following: GENERAL BALLOU 's ORDER. Major General Ballou has just issued an order to the Colored men of his division which is, to say the least, "extry." In part, the order calls for the exercise of care on the part of the commissioned and non-commissioned officers and men of the division in shunning places where they have reason to believe that their presence will be resented. It is an apparent appeal for lessening the "racial issue" controversies. The order might possibly be considered "perfectly harmless" and of the "vaudeville type" of monologues if it were not for the paragraph, "White men made possible the division, and white men can break it up." We expected better than this of Major General Ballou in this day of TREATMENT OP NEGRO SOLDIERS IN CAMP 99 bitter warfare when the President is calling upon all America^ — white and black, we presume — to rally to the Flag and Kelp to crush "the foe of humanity. ' ' We can only urge our race to forgive General Ballou, "he knows not what he says." WE ARE NOT IN FAVOB OF THE MEN OF ANY DIVISION SEEKING TO STIR UP ''RACIAL STRIFE." We feci that NOW IS NOT THE TIME for injecting any such issue into the already over- crowded portfolio of Uncle Sam. Let us help "lick the Kaiser" FIRST and then thrash out our local difficulties. We do not want to be classed in the President's list of "creatures of passion, disloyalty and anarchy," therefore let us say "shoo fly" to General Ballou 's "undiplomatic paragraph." Now, all together — let's get the Kaiser! Many similar expressions of resentment appeared in the Negro press. A news report, sent out shortly after the issuance of the Ballou Bulletin No. 35, preliminary to the publication of a letter sent by General Ballou to me, in response to my request for a statement that might give the purpose that prompted the Commander of the 92d Division to issue the bulletin, said: "It transpires that while Major General C. C. Ballou, of the 92d Division, was addressing the men under him through Bulletin No. 35, he was at the same time pressing the prosecution of the theatrical manager who had discriminated against a sergeant of the Division. "The prosecution of the manager of the Wareham Theatre for dis- crimination on account of color, instigated at General Ballou 's request, was, after being twice continued, tried in Police Court at Manhattan, Kansas, a few days ago, and resulted in the conviction of the defendant and the imposition of $10 and costs. It is generally assumed that the conviction of the theatrical manager will serve to prevent a repetition of the offense, and will deter other theater owners and managers from making discrimination on account of color. General Ballou followed the same course here as he did at the Officers Training School at Des Moines, Iowa, last summer, namely: while admonishing his men to refrain from precipitating racial disturbances, to prosecute those who should discrimi- nate against his men." General Ballou 's letter to the author said: 100 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTOKY Headquarters 92d Division, Camp Fiinston, Kansas, April 22, 1918. My Dear Mr. Scott: I have your request that I make a brief statement relative to Bulletin No. 35, these Headquarters. There seems to be no good reason why I should not do so. Here are the preliminary facts: A soldier of this Division got into trouble with a theater manager at Manhattan and reported it to me. I at once ordered an investigation, placed the facts before the Division Judge Advocate and was informed by him that the theater manager had violated the law. I then put the case in the hands of the United States Attorney and requested the prosecution of the theater manager. The case was set for April 22d. I then issued Bulletin No. 35, which, in brief, is counsel to my soldiers to avoid race troubles. This Bulletin was given out to the colored press of the country, accompanied by an entirely misleading letter that not only completely suppressed all mention of any prosecution of the theater manager, but directly and falsely conveyed the impression to editors and readers that I had not done so. The most prejudiced person will, I think, at once see that this was a malicious attempt to stir up race feeling by misrepre- sentation. GOOD ORDER AND MILITARY DISCIPLINE FOUNDATION STONES. The character of Bulletin No. 35 was that of advice, as already stated. This advice was ordered published to the Division. It had nothing to do with any policy of segregation, or with any policy outside of the military establishments. Its purpose was to prevent race friction, with the attendant prejudice to good order and military discipline. Good order and military discipline are the foundation stones of the military service. They are indispensable. Nothing connected with the service of the colored troops has ever been so threatening to good order and discipline as race troubles have been, and it is well-known that our enemies have sought to profit by this fact ever since there was a prospect of war. No stone has been left unturned. There have always been foes of our country ready to aggravate the grievances of the colored people on the one hand and to stir up the whites on the other. It was no mere coincidence that the East St. Louis atrocities occurred in a city filled largely with German sympathizers. There is little doubt that the same influence egged on both whites and blacks at Houston. Most troubles have small beginnings. At Houston they grew from the fact of colored soldiers entering cars reserved for whites, and other similar matters. Great wrongs were eventually committed on both sides, culminating in the killing of a score or more of white people TREATMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS IN CAMP 101 and the hanging of thirteen Negroes. In the midst of all the feeling and excitement caused by the East St. Louis and Houston troubles, the colored officers' training camp at Fort Des Moines won golden approbation all over the United States, made thousands of friends for the colored race and achieved a glorious success. It did all of this by following precisely the advice that was repeated to the 92d Division in Bulletin No. 35. "by their fruits ye shall know them." Our enemies do not Avish the United States to have its military power increased by colored soldiers, and they stand ready to add fuel to every race discord in order to embarrass our country as much as possible in this war. Is it any wondei' then, in view of what the enemy has accomplished in the past and is seeking to accomplish again, that the Commander of the colored Division seeks to nip troubles in the bud, and while prosecuting white men for their offences against his soldiers, urges the soldiers to do their part to keep the peace and promote harmony. I have shown that my position and action were deliberately and maliciously misrepresented to the colored people by the suppression of the news of my prompt prosecution of the theater manager, and by falsely conveying the impression that I had taken no such action. The entire letter that accompanied Bulletin No. 35 to the press of the colored people was a misrepresentation of my attitude and of the facts in the case, and no fair-minded person, when the facts are known, as stated above, can fail to see the work of an enemy — an enemy of our country and an even greater enemy to the colored race. Is the colored race going to "fall" for such schemes? I think not. I think they will contrast the work of the trouble-maker with the solid achievements of the colored officers' training camp at Fort Des Moines and of the 92nd Devision, and consider thought- fully the words — "By their fruits ye shall know them." Sincerely, C. C. Ballou, Major-General, Commanding 92d Division. Baker Against Discrimination Early in the summer of 1918, a flood of complaints reached the War Department from many of the camps, the burden of which Avas that the Negro soldiers were being grossly mistreated by their white officers, ofttimes physically assaulted, called by names that were highly insulting — such as ''nigger," ''coon," "darkey," and worse, and that the colored men were forced to work under the most unhealthy and laborious conditions, with a certain penalty 102 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY of long periods of imprisonment in guard-houses and stockade and other cruel and unusual punishments if they dared to resent any indignity or failed to perform ''impossible" tasks. In many cases, it was alleged, opportunity for advancement was refused to colored men of ability, and all the assignments worth while were given to white men, some of whom had doubtful qualifications. Besides the complaints growing out of unfair treatment of colored men in the camps numerous instances of unequal standards and straightout discrimination in the operation of the selective draft law were reported as being practiced by the draft officials in several States, particularly in the South. The claim was made, and almost invariably substantiated by reliable testimony, that colored men, palpably unfit for military service, and others who were entitled to exemption under the law, were ''railroaded" into the army while other men with no legitimate excuse for exemption were allowed to escape the requirements of the draft system. The situation reached such a stage, by reason of the growing disregard for fair play and the honest interpretation of the law, that Secre- tary Baker felt called upon to check the infractions by Exemption Boards and the unfair treatment of Negro soldiers in the camps by issuing a clean-cut statement to the effect that "the War Department will brook no discrimination, based upon race or color," and that all instances of unfairness in the Army on this score would meet with speedy correction, with adequate punish- ment for all violators of the military regulations bearing on the rights and privileges of soldiers. As indicating the general attitude of some Army officers in carrying out the instructions of the War Department, there may be mentioned the particular attitude of certain officers in charge of units of the so-called Labor Battalions. The pressure from colored people throughout the country and from other sources as well became so strong that the War Department found it necessary to issue a certain memorandum changing the former decision (which called for white sergeants) to a decision which required that the non-commissioned officers in the Reserve Labor Battalions should be "all white or all colored" instead of "white." The effect of this immediately was to eliminate in many camps the colored men who werie serving as nbn-cdmmissioned officers and to substitute TREATMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS IN CAMP 103 white men, no matter how unfitted such white non-commissioned officers were for the duties required of them. No element con- tributed to more unrest among the colored men who were drafted than this organization of Reserve Labor Battalions. It was a situation of this character which inspired the uncom- promising memorandum of the Secretary of War to the Special Assistant under date of November 30, 1917, of which this para- graph stands as the ** keynote": ''As you know, it has been my policy to discourage discrimina- tion against any persons by reason of their race. This policy has been adopted not merely as an act of justice to all races that go to make up the American people, but also to safeguard the very institutions which we are now, at the greatest sacrifice, engaged in defending, and which any racial disorders must endanger." It will be noted that the same fundamental principle of simple justice to all defenders of the flag was reiterated in the interview made public July 1, 1918, when it seemed that the earlier procla- mation failed to prove as effective as the Secretary of War had hoped it would be in wiping out color proscription in the army. In consequence of the firm stand of Secretary Baker against dis- crimination against colored men on the part of draft boards, sev- eral offending members of these boards were separated from their positions, and in one notable instance, in Fulton County (Atlanta), Georgia, an entire Exemption Board was summarily removed, upon proof of improper manipulation of the Selective Draft Law in its application to colored registrants. In keeping with the insistence upon a ''square deal" for all, there came a marked improvement in the morale of the camps where much trouble had been made for colored soldiers through the petty meanness practiced by the so-called "Military Police." Re- ports had come into the War Department in immense volume to the effect that there was increasing friction between colored soldiers and the Military Police, in charge of order and general discipline in the camps. Colored soldiers complained that they were kept more closely confined to the camps than were white soldiers; that they had the greatest difficulty in obtaining passes to go to town or to visit relatives, and that they were punished more severely than were white soldiers for trivial offenses. The "bad blobd" 104 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTOEY between the ''M, P." and the colored soldiers frequently led to free fights, near ''race riots," and the "rushing" of the guards in an attempt to leave the camp, regardless of the possession of passes. Wherever the blame may be placed for these outbreaks, a system- atic effort was made to remedy the evils complained of, and a memorandum from the Morale Branch of the War Department, commenting upon the matter, carried the observation that: ''The action that has been taken at these camps, as reported to this office, indicates that a genuine effort has been made to correct any abuses that may have existed.'* A further evidence of the potency of the rigid policy of the War Department to stamp out as far as was possible the evil of race prejudice on the part of officers in their relation to colored soldiers, is found in the case of Captain Eugene C. Rowan, of the 162d Depot Brigade, with headquarters at Camp Pike, Little Rock, Arkansas. Upon positive proof, adduced by evidence given before a court-martial, Captain Rowan was found guilty of wilful dis- obedience of the orders of a superior officer and was ordered by the War Department to be dismissed from the service. The case attracted more than ordinary attention because of the fact that it was the first instance wherein the color question had figured in an action against a white officer of the Army, in a National Army court of inquiry. Captain Rowan was charged with having refused to obey an order issued by the Brigade Commander, Colonel Fred- erick B. Shaw, calling for a troop formation, because, it was as- serted, both colored and white soldiers were included in the forma- tion. The defense attempted to justify Captain Rowan in his disobedience of explicit military orders on the ground that he was a native of Georgia, had long resided in Mississippi, and that in keeping with his own personal feelings and a definite promise made to his men, he did not desire to give any order that would compel white men to "lower their self-respect." The dismissal of Captain Rowan followed his conviction by the court-martial, and the judg- ment of the Army tribunal was promptly sustained by the War Department at Washington. A number of other cases are on record where white officers were separated from the service for discrimination against colored soldiers and for unwarranted acts of cruelty in dealing with them. CHAPTER IX EFFORTS TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS Secretary Baker and the Trying Situation at Camp Lee, Virginia — Reports on Investigations at Numerous Camps — Improved Con- ditions Brought About Gradually — Help for Colored Draftees — The Case of Lieutenant Tribbett and Similar Cases of Race Prejudice. From Secretary of War- —Menioran dum for Mr. Scott. Should you not go p ersonally to Camp Lee and investigate ? Then I can go and finish the job. Baker. The attitude of Secretary Baker toward a trying situation at Camp Lee, Petersburg, Virginia, and his vigorous handling of the charges of racial discrimination that were rife at that military station, was significant of his consistent policy with respect to the colored soldiers throughout the entire war period. The above mem- orandum was sent to the Special Assistant by the Secretary about the last of November, 1917, in response to a report which the former had made to him touching the conditions complained of at Camp Lee, and which had formed the basis of the longer memoran- dum, making known, in language unequivocal and of extraordinary force, the Secretary's antagonism to all practices of discrimination in the Army based on race or color. At Camp Lee there was much dissatisfaction among the colored soldiers. The reports which came to hand embodied the universal complaint that ''the whole atmosphere in regard to the colored soldier at Camp Lee is one which does not inspire him to greater patriotism, but rather makes him question the sincerity of the great war principles of America." The efficiency of the War Department was interfered with, it was stated, because of this unwholesome atmosphere. The colored soldiers were compelled to work at menial 105 106 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY tasks, regardless of their educational equipment or aspirations for higher duties, and discontent reigned because it was said the white soldiers were given genuine, intensive military training, while Ne- groes were not given enough drilling to give them the simplest rudi- ments of real soldier life and were not permitted to fire a gun. The statement was made that if the Negroes were allowed to be trained for combatant service, as white soldiers were, thousands would be inspired to enter the work more whole-heartedly, and the Labor Battalions would also show a larger measure of efficiency by the inculcation of a feeling that colored men were getting a ** square deal." Not a few of the men asserted plainly that it was useless for colored men to try to improve themselves at Camp Lee, as white officers openly admitted to them that sergeants and an occasional sergeant-major was as high as the Negro might hope to reach, no matter what might be his intellectual attainments or executive ability. Mr. C. H. Williams, of the Hampton Institute, Virginia, a young colored man of superior training, was designated by the Committee on Welfare of Negro Troops of the War Time Commission of the Federal Council of Churches to visit all the cities where military camps were located, to make a sui'vey of conditions as they affect colored troops. Under an arrangement he filed mth the Special Assistant a copy of each of his reports, so that they might be fol- lowed up from time to time inside of the War Department so as to change conditions where necessary. Mr. Williams sought to get the exact facts as to the feeling of the colored soldiers as well as of the colored population in the camp cities, and as he went from one part of the country to the other he also got a line on Negro public opinion generally. Practically all the camps and canton- ments where colored troops were located were visited by him as well as by the Special Assistant. Mr. Williams submitted a survey of conditions as they existed. His survey included inquiry into the social and religious conditions and the state of mind of the colored troops generally and made recommendations as to the steps that should be taken to bring about a correction of the ills complained of. At some points he found the situation fair, in others not good, and in many it was inexcusably bad. All of this had to do in the most direct fashion EFFORTS TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS 107 with the morale of the colored soldiers, and hence the remedy to be sought for the unfavorable circumstances indicated in Mr. Wil- liams's reports was regarded by the Special Assistant as a mission of the highest and most pressing importance. COMPLAINTS LODGED BY COLORED SOLDIERS IN CAMP "Discrimination as to the issuance of passes to leave the camps — that white soldiers were allowed to go at will, while Negroes were refused permission to leave. "Unfair treatment, of times brutality, on the part of Military Police. "Inadequate provision for recreation. "Unfair treatment, ofttimes brutality, on the part of Military Police, and denial of the enjoyment of privileges in the huts, where colored huts had not been provided. "White non-commissioned officers over colored units, when the colored men were of a higher intellectual plane than the whites who commanded them. "Lack of opportunity for educated Negroes to rise above non-com- missioned officers in the Reserve Labor Battalions. "Confinement to the guard house for long periods and compelled to pay heavy penalties for minor infractions of the rules of camp, or for disobedience of unreasonable commands. "Frequently, lack of proper medical attention and treatment. "Negro soldiers compelled to w^ork at menial tasks, and denied suffi- cient drill work and not allowed training in manual of arms and denied an opportunity to fire a gun, in many instances. "Insufficient number of Hostess Houses — especially in the earlier stages of the war. Insufficient number of chaplains in most camps, in earlier stages of the war. Never enough of either of these helpful agencies at any stage of the war. "Slow discharge of colored men in labor battalions after the armistice. "At more than one camp — Humphreys notably — colored men had practically no sanitary conveniences, bathing facilities, barracks, mess halls, Y. M. C. A. service, during the war period, until after white soldiers had left the station. "Use of abusive language to the colored soldiers by white officers and calling them by opprobrious names. "Working with civilians, soldiers getting $30 per month, and the civilian, doing identical work, gfetting from $3.50 to $5.00 per diem. "Too many tent camps for Negroes, while whites are given barracks. 108 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY "Reluctance of white oflScers to recommend colored men for induction into the Officers' Training Camps. "Men with venereal diseases not segregated in the matter of washing mess kits and general use of camp facilities from those not so infected. "During winter of 1917-18, general complaint was made of insuffi- cient clothing, shortage in supply of overcoats, inadequate bedding, and tents without flooring and ofttimes situated in wet places, where ice formed in winter and where mud and malaria flourished at other times. A state- ment came from Camp Alexander, Va., that during the winter of 1917-18 men died like sheep in their tents, it being a common occurrence to go around in the morning and drag' men out frozen to death. It took a long time for this situation to get to the authorities, but when it did get to the proper officials, steps were taken to correct the trouble. "Men pronounced unfit for overseas service, and often in cases where they were unfit for any kind of military duty, were kept at the camps and forced to work. "Alleged essential labor required at many stations on Sundays. "Made to work in rain and cursed when any dissatisfaction was shown.' 'Gotten even with' by commanders if report was made of con- ditions to higher officers or to outsiders. "Promise of officials to muster out first the men in tent camps not promptly kept. "Passes refused colored men, even when messages of critical illness of parents or near relatives had been received." The Camp Lee situation being of a piece with the conditions obtaining at most of the army stations where colored men were located, it may be dwelt upon at length, to illustrate the plan of research and operation which was adopted to ameliorate the ills that were brought to the attention of the Special Assistant and laid, before the Secretary of War, with suggestions and recommendations looking toward a speedy betterment. Letters were sent to the War Department by the men and com- munications of the same tenor doubtless went outside to their friends. Telegrams and protests were received from representatives of several colored protective organizations, prominent ministers, leading editors, college heads, and men of aifairs generally, and other communications sent to them were forwarded to me in Wash- ington, asking that vigorous action be taken to assist in the un- raveling of the problem confronting the men at Camp Lee. One very urgent letter was sent by the Governor of a State, intimating EFFORTS TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS 109 that he was confident that discriminations against colored soldiers were practiced at Camp Lee, but declared it to be his belief that this was without the knowledge of the War Department. ^'I re- spectfully request that you make an investigation of the situation there at the earliest possible moment," concluded the Governor. These very timely requests were most cheerfully complied with. That an improved state of affairs was brought about at Camp Lee is evidenced by a report submitted to the Special Assistant under date of February 20, 1919, by Louis L. Watson, Jr., of 603 L Street, Southeast, Washington, D. C, formerly Captain of In- fantr)^, United States Army, after an exhaustive inquiry, covering every phase of Army life at that point, in its relation to the treat- ment of the Negro and the opportunities afforded him. Captain Watson, at the outset of his communication, refers to *'the evolution of a somewhat equitable military regime, as far as the races are concerned," which has a decidedly hopeful ring, and which hope is given quite a considerable realization before his final paragraph is reached. Noting his observations as ^'a, race man on the scene, seeking to correct the most flagrant violations of military law," and his purpose to **get things done," rather than to pile up dry statistics, Captain Watson concluded his introduction by saying: ''The following recapitulation, however, is quite true in the large, and inclusive of camp improvements worked out in the last five m,onths. I hope you may find it of value. ' ' Captain Watson's "Recapitulation** Said Captain Watson, in recapitulating the results that had been secured at Camp Lee in the five months of intensive inquiry and practical reformatory effort: "Until about the middle of July, 1918, there had been several colored officers at Camp Lee, but none had remained for more than twenty-four hours. Then came Lieut. Myron McAdoo, commissioned second lieutenant from the ranks of the 9th Ohio. He was assigned to the 13th Battalion Replacements Training Center to serve with white officers until the 15th of August, when five first lieutenants and three second lieutenants, colored, were assigned to the outfit — 1st Lieuts. Allan Turner, Frank M. Goodner, Chas E. Roberts, G. Cleveland Morrow and Louis L. Watson, Jr., and 2nd Lieuts. Leonidas H. Hall, Joseph L. Johnson, Gloucester A. Price. Iklorcover, until this time there had been relatively few non-connnissioned no SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY officers, colored, in the camp and a large percentage of these were corporals of little ability or promise. It was characteristic of white officers to ignore men of ability and to make non-commissioned officers of the illiterate funny fellows who could furnish entertainment for them in the orderly room with their antics and shameful ignorance. But what was even worse than this came the report that in other sections of the camp, where there were not even non-commissioned officers of this caliber, white officers were inflicting bodily punishment upon ignorant enlisted men of color. This of course is contrary to all military law and custom. As far as I know, however, none of this happened after the colored officers came to camp. "The colored officers immediately launched a discreet educational campaign to combat this condition. Their presence alone did much to put a stop to this practice, but the fact that they used considerable tact in spreading knowledge of the law in such cases, did even more. It became apparent almost immediately that colored enlisted men were growing cognizant of their right to redress and the way to get it, and iU-treatment reduced itself to the personal factor entirely, which is not illegality so much as it is inefficiency in handling men, and not politic. "At the same time the colored officers set out to get more non- commissioned officers worthy of their rank, by a careful selection and promotion of the men in the four companies of the battalion. This being the only combatant organization of colored men in the camp it took the lead in efficient colored non-commissioned officers. The efficiency of these men was highly commendable. "In view of the prevalent antagonistic public sentiment against the rise of colored men in these parts the promotion of four colored First Lieutenants to Captaincy on the 10th of September, 1918, and their subse- quent assignment to the command of the companies of the Battalion with a commissioned personnel of an average of ten white first and second lieutenants, including the former company commanders, is nothing short of marvelous. / sJiall not recount in detail your work in bringing this condition about except to say tJiat your investigation in this matter alone proved to officials in the camp that colored men could get a hearing in the War Department, and it would not be good policy to violate the integrity of their office with prejudicial treatment of colored officers and enlisted men under their command. The Battalion had on an average of forty white first and second lieutenants serving in companies under colored captains. These officers were from almost all walks of life. Among them were a lawyer and school teacher from Alabama, a light-weight pugilist from Louisiana, an owner of orange groves from Florida, a ranchman from EFFORTS TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS 111 Texas, a coalmine owner formerly from Virginia, and several stockbrokers, contractors, electrical engineers, merchants, graduate and undergraduate students of the large Eastern and Western Universities, as well as two "movie" actors, one principal of a Pennsylvania high school, and the son of a classmate of the great Gen. Joffre. Most of these officers were originally from the South. "Of the company commanders, one had done twenty-four years and another eleven years in the Regular Army, while the other two were from civil life, one a graduate from Massachusetts State College and the other a graduate of Howard University. The Battalion Commander was a criminal lawj'er with a large practice in Shreveport, Louisiana. All worked together and made the Battalion the most efficient and the most praised organization in all the Replacements Camp. There was no hesi- tancy on the part of the commanding officer to point to the 13th Battalion as an example in drill, parade, and administration. "When the 13th Battalion was completely demobilized and I was attached to the 1st Development Battalion I had the opportunity to obser^^e the working of organizations of colored enlisted personnel under the command of white officers, I found this organization, in contrast to the 13th Battalion which I had just left, to be poorly disciplined and over- burdened with complaints concerning mess. Regulations were wholly ignored where punishments were concerned and general dissatisfaction was spread over the entire outfit. The morale was very low among the enlisted imen and the officers unconcerned. From my observations this condition appeared inexcusable. "I will conclude this resum^ with a statement of several definite and unbiased convictions growing out of my experience and observations: "(1) Colored officers show marked superiority over white officers of the same grade. "(2) A mixed organization of both white and colored officers is a very efficient machine and works out to perfection from a purely military point of view because a man's race pride will not allow him to neglect his duty and thus bring down criticism from officers of the other race. Each tries to excel. "(3) Wherever it is possible colored troops should have colored officers. There is no doubt that the interests of our troops are better conserved by colored officers. "(4) Your eagerness to correct evils in tJie camp and your effective work in tlii-s regard liave done more than any otlier single factor to make life tolerable for colored officers and enlisted men Jiere. Assuming con- ditions at this camp to be the average in Southern cantonments such an 112 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY office as yours held by a man of the race is indispensable to the welfare of the colored soldier. Very respectfully, (Signed) Louis L. Watson, Jr., Formerly Capt. Inf. U. S. A. Help for Colored Draftees The National Medical Association, under the active leadership of Dr. George E. Cannon, of Jersey City; Dr. A. M. Curtis, of Washington, D. C. ; Dr. A. M. Brown, of Birmingham, Alabama ; Dr. E. T. Belsaw, of Mobile, Alabama; Dr. M. 0. Dumas, of Washing- ton, D. C, and Dr. W. G. Alexander, of Orange, New Jersey, ex- erted a helpful interest in the welfare of the medical men drawn in the draft. The Special Assistant took up the cases of many colored doctors who had been drafted and assigned to service battalions or as mere privates in the infantry organizations, with a view of having them transferred to the Medical Corps, where they might render a more effective service to their country along the line of their professional equipment. Another investigation, which may properly find a place in this chapter on the treatment of colored soldiers in the camps, is that which resulted in the admission of colored draftees, regardless of the time of their call, into the training schools for officers. The number permitted to enter at the outset was unusually small, and these were restricted to draftees who had been conscripted prior to January 5, 1918. The number recommended by their camp com- manders was not at all commensurate with the abilities of the men who desired to take advantage of the Government's plan of develop- ing officer material, and was reported to be so niggardly as to amount almost to an ignoring of the explicit order of the Secretary of War that no form of injustice or discrimination be practiced against any soldier because of race or color. There were also per- sistent rumors that an attempt was being made to promote white non-commissioned officers in Negro units to commissioned officers, which could have no other result than to fill all of the line-officer places with white men and make it impossible for a Negro non- commissioned officer, no matter how efficient or how intelligent he might be, to rise above that rank. Another flood of protests came into the War Department from colored men in the army and from colored people everywhere. Those in authority were apprised of Above — Biggest and fastest dock construction ever done was the Iniildiiig ..f the i:ass(>ns at Bordeaux, France, by the American Army. Photo shows work under way. Practically all materials had to be shipped from America and the work done by American Labor Bat- talions. Below- — Photo shows that all glory and credit of important construction work in French harbors, without which our Army and Navy would have been useless, does not belong to white men. Picture shows members of Negro Labor Battalion working on harbor improvements at Bordeaux. Above— One of the Docks at Bordeaux Where Negro Stevedore Regiments Played a Vital Part in the War in Unloading Supplies for Our Troops. Transportation of supplies is just as important a part of war as firing guns at the enemy. All the armies m the world could not have defeated Germany if it had not been for the Service of Supply, getting the guns, ammuni- tion, equipment and food to them. ,. , , t^t *. j i Below— To give an idea of the enormous quantities of supplies handled by Negro stevedore regi- ments, here is a photo of a few cook stoves that came in one shipment. Above — On the Docks at Brest, another P^-ench port where colored stevedore regiments were the chief reliance in getting supplies through to the boys at the front. Below — It took tens of thousands of motor trucks to get supplies from docks to the front in Frajice. These had to be shipped from America and here are a few in Assembling Yard at St. Nazaire, France, with cases and barrels of gasoline and oil in the foreground. If it had not been for Negro stevedore regiments, these trucks could not have been taken off the ships. GROUP OF COLORED OFFICERS Reading left to right— Top— 1st Lt. Chas. Lane, 367th Inf. ; Chaplain E. H. Hamilton. Camp Jentf/-lstl"tS^'H.\.''wfS"367th%Zf-2nd Lt. R. W. Fearing. 367th Inf.; 1st Lt. J. W. BotSl^cLlVJi F.' C. Shirley. Camp Mead : Capt. Chas. Garvin. Med. Corps. 367th Inf.; 2n(i Lt. H. D. Smith. Depot Bng. Camp Mead. Above — The Only Negro General Court Martial Board Which Ever Existed. Photograph shows the General Court Martial of the 370th Infantry (8th Illinois National Guard) convened at Camp Logan, Houston, Texas. Officers in picture indicated by numbers following : 1 — Lieut. F. P. Boss, 2 — Capt. L. Jackson, 3 — Capt. James C. Hall, 4 — Capt. George M. Allen, 5 — Major (Now Lieut. Col.) Otis B. Duncan, President; 6 — Capt. Wm. B. Crawford. 7 — Lieut. C. N. Hinton, 8 — Lieut, Louis C. Washington, 9 — Capt. L. E. Johnson, Counsel for Defense; 10 — Lieut, R. A. J. Shaw, Judge Advocate; 11 — Court Reporter McCarty. Selow — War Camp Community Service Club for Colored Soldiers, Louisville, Ky. Alio re — What real war looks like. Photograph of American Negro soldiers groing into action in the attack on Cantigny. American Infantry is co-operating with French tanks. Below — In the Trenches. The smoke Is from explosion of a hand grenade just thrown by the American Negro Soldier at the right. 3 **^ fM O * ■a Q ^-•5« 2. to « •«» EFFORTS TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS 113 the unrest that existed. The Secretary of War gave orders that ample provision be made for the induction of properly qualified colored men into the Officers' Training Schools. In the end, train- ing camps for colored candidates for officers' commissions were made available at Camp Taylor for field artillery; at Camp Pike for infantry, and at Camp Hancock for machine gun training. The Case of Lieutenant Tribbett An instance of the workings of race prejudice, in its relation to colored officers, was found in the case of Lieutenant Charles A. Tribbett. Lieutenant Tribbett was from New Haven, Conn., and was graduated from the Officers' Training Camp at Des Moines, Iowa, and assigned to duty with colored troops at Camp Upton, Yap- hank, Long Island. While on that duty, the records of the War Department show that he was ordered to proceed by the usual means of transportation to the army post at Fort Sill, Okla., for instruction in aviation. Wlien the train on which he was traveling stopped at a station near Chickasha, Okla., it was boarded by a sheriff and party, who arrested Tribbett, who was in regulation military uniform, for riding in a car with white people. In spite of his protest that he was an officer of the United States Army, traveling under orders, on Government business, he was forcibly removed from the car and imprisoned in the county jail, and sub- sequently fined. Following an appeal to the War Department, Tribbett was released and permitted to resume his journey to Fort Sill, where he resumed his military duties. The matter was brought to the attention of the War Depart- ment by Mr. George W. Crawford, of New Haven, Conn., and Mr. Robert L. Fortune, of Chickasha, Okla., who protested against the mistreatment to which Lieutenant Tribbett had been subjected. These well-posted attorneys set up the contention that as an inter- state passenger, traveling under orders on Government business, he was not subject to the jurisdiction of the State authorities, and gave notice that they would exhaust every resource to gain adequate redress for their client. The case was cited for investigation by the Department of Justice, and is still pending. Here was a flagrant instance of 114 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY injustice to an officer of the United States Army, in the full uniform of the military service, on Government business and traveling on a road under Government supervision. From every viewpoint it was a case for Federal intervention. All the available evidence seemed to indicate that the arrest of Lieutenant Tribbett was an inexcus- able usurpation of authority on the part of the civil officials of the State of Oklahoma, and for this reason the Special Assistant to the Secretary of War felt warranted in urging that the whole matter go to the Department of Justice for adjudication by the Federal Government. General Ansell, Acting Judge Advocate General, who has conducted a campaign against the army system of court-martial as being ''unfair," did not move to have the case of Lieutenant Tribbett pressed on its merits, and therefore nothing officially has been done. Treatment of Colored Soldiers Overseas An important matter, in conne«tion with the treatment of colored soldiers in the camps, which ought not to pass without mention, was the suggestion made by the Special Assistant to Mr. George Creel, Director of the Committee on Public Information, looking to an investigation of conditions among colored soldiers in France. The morale of the colored people in America was notice- ably lowered by ugly rumors that came by devious and winding- ways from abroad, and the Special Assistant thought it worth while to have a commission named, made up of representative men, in whom the masses had implicit confidence, to give this situation a searching investigation and make a full report thereon, to set at rest the uneasiness and anxiety that was alarmingly prevalent toward the end of the summer of 1918. The mails and cables were congested, and for weeks and weeks not a word could be had by relatives at home from their loved ones battling for freedom and democracy across the seas. The following letter addressed to Mr. Creel more fully explains the motive which prompted the Special Assistant to offer the suggestion that a special inquiry be made and the remedy be applied: Washington, D. C, August 10, 1918. Dear Mr. Creel: Recently in a conference with the head of the Military Intelligence Bureau, the matter was discussed of having two or three rQpresentativo EFFORTS TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS 115 colored men go to France for the purpose of making an investigation of the facts with respect to several matters indicated herein. 1. A military man who is qualified to make a free and full investi- gation of the general treatment being accorded colored troops on the French and other fronts. There has been, and still continues, considerable propaganda and rumor to the effect that colored soldiers are being mis- treated and discriminated against. Letters have come to the Office of the Secretary of War and to me, the same being forwarded by United States Senators in some instances, etc., to the War Department conveying these complaints. The information which would be secured first-hand by the military man suggested would be (under such direction as you miglit approve) conveyed to the Negro people of the United States through the Negro newspapers, public meetings, public speakers, the Committee of One Hundred of the Public Speaking Division, etc. (2) Two other representatives, not necessarily military men, but of sound judgment, capable of studying the facts and cooperating with the military representative, above referred to, in making a full report of exist- ing conditions abroad with respect to colored men at the front as well as those behind the lines (referring to service battalions, stevedore regiments, etc.). The joint testimony of these men would satisfactorily establish the facts and enable us to do a good piece of work in disposing of these damaging rumors which are being continually circulated. In this connection, I wish to state that, at a meeting held in New York City, Monday, August 5th, attended by officials of the Federated Council of Churches, by a representative of the Surgeon General's Office, a representative of the Military Intelligence Bureau, Mr. George Foster Peabody (the well-known New York philanthropist) and others, including the undersigned — the same suggestion was made that a commission of colored men in whom they have confidence be sent abroad for the purpose of studying the situation above indicated, and the matter was broached by Mr. Henry A. Atkinson, of the National Committee on Churches and Moral Aims of the War, of New York City, who expressed the opinion that it would be highly desirable for the Government to take the initiative in this matter. There is more depressed morale among the colored people than is generally supposed, due to stories of unfair treatment of colored men in various camps in America as well as abroad. Under the circumstances, I am quite seriously of the opinion that such a commission as herein suggested would accomplish very great good. An interview with you, at your convenience, would bo very much 116 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY appreciated. Will you kindly let me hear from you directly or through Mr. Byoir, Associate Chairman. Sincerely yours, (Signed) Emmett J. Scott, Office of the Secretary of War. The proposal outlined in the above letter was given serious consideration by Mr. Creel, by the Morale Branch of the War Department, and by a number of officials of the War Department, who readily recog-nized the gravity of the situation which confronted them, with reference to the attitude of the Negro mind of the nation on this matter of the treatment of colored soldiers over- seas. There is strong ground for the belief that some steps of the nature suggested would have been taken by the authorities in charge of war operations had not the conflict come to an abrupt end in November, 1918, many months earlier than even the initiated dared to hope for. It is not without the range of probability that the movement, already set in motion by the Conference of Negro Editors and I^eaders in the preceding summer, to send to France a competent representative of the Negro press, to report accurately and fully the activities and conditions of the colored troops, received a positive impetus by the letter to Mr. Creel. Action to relieve the tension referred to, was apparently ** speeded up." Y/ithin a month after this suggestion that a commission be appointed to inquire into what the colored troops were actually doing on the battlefields across the water, Mr. Ralph W. Tyler, an experienced newspaper man of the race, was on his way to France as the ac- credited representative of the Committee on Public Information, commissioned as a war correspondent on the staff of General Pershing, and directed to chronicle the labors and achievements of the colored soldiers. Later Dr. Robert Russa Moton, Principal of Tuskegee Institute, as told elsewhere, was delegated by the President of the United States and the Secretary of War to go to France on a special mission, which had in mind the promotion of the welfare of the colored troops, and the maintenance of the morale of the Negro people in this country, by taking them fully into the confidence of the Government on all matters relating to their sons who had gone abroad to risk their lives in defense of the Stars and Stripes. CHAPTER X THE NEGRO SOLDIERS OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND French Colored Colonials the First Black Soldiers to Take Part in the War — The Story of These Senegalese Fighters — Their Im/portcint Part front the Beginning of the War — The Fight for the African Colonies — German Employment of Negro Troops in the Early Part of the War. From the very beginning of the European war, in 1914, soldiers of the Negro race had a great and growing share in the fighting. For nearly three years before America's entry into the conflict these colored ' ' Colonials ' ' from the French and British Colonies in Africa and Asia, had been taking part in the warfare on European soil, while in the fierce but little heard of campaign that resulted in the crushing of German authority in East Africa, it was the Negro troops who bore the chief burden and brunt of tlie fighting. At my request. Colonel Edouard Requin of the French Military Com.mission to the United States, has prepared the following state- ment of the participation of French Negro troops in the Great War : ''France has had colored troops ever since it has had colonies. These troops have participated in all our expeditions overseas; they have been the best instrument of our colonial expansion. Algerian troops (Arabs and Kabyles) fought in France in 1870-71 against Germany. ''But it v/as for the first time, in 1914, that black troops (Sene- galese and Soudanese) took part in the European war against an enemy as redoubtable as Germany. If it is asked what have been the results of this experience there is only one answer: they have been excellent. "The black troops of Africa are grouped either by battalions or by regiments with our colonial French troops. The reason is that the colonial officers understand them thoroughly, and that the men themselves, in fighting together in the colonies, have acquired a nutual confidence in each other. 117 118 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Recruited among the warrior tribes of Senegales and the Sou- dan these troops have great combatant qualities. They are partic- ularly apt for attack and counter-attack, but they are primitive men without civilization — men who cannot be compared from this point of vietu with colored Americans. The black French soldiers are excellent grenadiers, but they are less prepared in the use of the machine gun and the automatic rifle, which demand a certain mechan- ical aptitude. They receive the same instructions as the French sol- diers; these instructions are given to them by white officers and non-commissioned officers who understand them well, and who for this reason ought to be changed as Httle as possible. ' ' The characteristic of the black soldier is an entire devotion to these officers who have merited it and whom they will never abandon. In other words, the valor of the colored unit depends essentially on grouxjing and leadership. '^ Colored troops won distinction for themselves at Dixmude in 1914; at Verdun; on the Somme in 1917; on the Aisne, and more recently still in the counter-attack which forced back the Germans north of Compiegne. Salute Their Flag and Die ''These troops are not only devoted to their officers, they are equally devoted to France, whom they serve most loyally, and to the flag which represents France. The following example may be cited as an illustration : One day in 1916, on the Mediterranean, a trans- port carrying a battalion of Senegalese was torpedoed by a Boche submarine. It was impossible to save everybody. The last who remained on board lined the deck, saluted the flag, and went to tire bottom with a discipline and a self-abnegation which must remain an example to all the world. ''It is because these soldiers are just as brave and just as devoted as white soldiers that they receive exactly the same treat- ment, every man being equal before the death which all soldiers face. In the French Army white and black wounded soldiers are cared for in the same hospital by the same personnel, so that just as we have delivered these black men from African barbarism so we have given them civilization and justice ; it is their duty in turn to defend among us that justice and that civilization against Prussian bar- barism. NEGRO SOLDIERS OF FRANCE 119 "I recall a design in the Parisian magazine 'L' Illustration' which represents a Senegalese guarding some German prisoners. This black soldier said with a smile to a visitor who approached to see the Boche: 'I suppose you have come to see the savages, is it not so?' There was in this irony which the artist placed in the black man's mouth an infinitude of truth. ** There is one difficulty which presents itself in connection with colored French troops — a difficulty which results from the climate. The blacks of Sengal are accustomed to a very hot climate auil stand our winters very badly, so the French Command, anxious to con- serve their health, sends them during the winter to the camps in the south of France, or to Algeria. This inconvenience, however, ia only relative ; for the black soldiers perfect their instructions in the southern camp and in spring once more take their place in combat beside the white soldiers. ''To sum up, it may be said that, contrary to the opinion so often stated in times of peace by the adversaries of the colonial French expansion necessary to every modern state, the French colonies, far from enfeebling the military effort of the metropolis in face of the common enemy, have on the contrary augmented that power. Not a single territory which we occupied in Africa or in Asia has been abandoned. No serious revolt has been produced out- side of a few local agitations provoked by German agents. All those colonies have given us volunteers — Arab, Kabyles, Moroccans, Tunisians, by hundreds of thousands, Senegalese, Madagascans, Somalis, and even Indo-Chinese, have come to fight on French soil in order to defend the liberty of which they have learned under our aegis to appreciate all the benefits. "The fact that certain countries like Morocco, not yet pacified, furnish us with soldiers taken from the faithful tribes — and tribes that we ourselves fought only yesterday — is one of the most extraor- dinary illustrations that could be cited. "All this honors those men who are in charge of the organiza- tion of these colonies and the methods which they apply there. It shows equally what prodigious faculty of assimilation the French possess. If one considers that in North Africa the Mohammedan group has been essentially refractory to all foreign intervention, the voluntary participation of colored men in the defense of French 120 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY soil consecrates definitely the motivating principles of our colonial expansion. '^It is wholly apart from every question of national interest, and solely from the point of view of humanity and morals that the role played by France outside of France itself received its noblest justification. ' ' The Negro Forces of Britain Less has been heard of the part played in the war by British Colonials of the Negro race. Before going into further detail about the French Colonials, let me quote here an article from the London Spectator, one of the most influential British journals, which gives an excellent summary of the way in which the Negro served under *'the meteor flag of England." *'Sir Auckland Geddes said the other day that, for every man in the Army who was actively engaged in fighting at a given moment, twenty-four men were hard at work in connection mth the war. The statement illustrated the complexity of modern warfare and the importance of the unarmed laborer as an assistant to the fight- ing man. In the present war this is generally understood, but it was not always so. AVhen we invaded Crimea we had no labor corps. The troops on the plateau above Balaclava through the winter of 1854-55 starved mthin a few miles of abundant supplies because there was no proper means of transport and no road along which vehicles could move rapidly. The General declared that he could not spare soldiers from the trenches for roadmaking; the trenches were indeed very thinly held. No one at the War Office had foreseen the necessity of enlisting large gangs of laborers to keep the troops prop- erly fed and equipped, and it was not till after months of hardship that a corps of navvies was sent out to the Crimea. Nowadays this would be done as a matter of course. *'It is a common knowledge that there are in France many thousands of British workers who never hear a shot fired, but are nevertheless indispensable to the comfort and efficiency of the army. The problem of finding labor for the manifold tasks that have to be performed — not merely in constructing fortifications, but in making new roads and railways, in unloading ships, and in transporting the stupendous quantities of food, munitions and stores of every kind that a modern army requires — ^is as important and difficult as any NEGRO SOLDIERS OF FRANCE 121 probieia of tlie 'var The Germans have tried to solve it by e&in- pelling the people of the occupie*^ territories to work for them, but this forced labor is probably inefficient as a rule because the poor slaves are ill fed and harshly treated. We have done better because we have called on the immense reserves of colored labor in the empire to supply voluntary workers, who are well fed and well paid, and cheerfully assist us in the struggle for liberty. "Sir Harry Johnston's little book on the part that the colored races are playing in the war is interesting and informing, especially from this point of view. He begins by reminding us that: '* 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland rules more or less directly some 44,700,000 Africans, about 1,700,000 Aframericans in the West Indies, Honduras and Guiana, and about 338,000 Oceanic Negroes, Melanesians and Polynesians in the Pacific archipelagoes. And in addition the Daughter Nation of the South A-frican Union governs another 4,000,000 of Bantu Negroes, Hotten- tots and half breeds; lastly, the Commonwealth of Australia and the Dominion of New Zealand are responsible for the safe keeping and welfare of about 400,000 Papuans, 150,000 Australoids and 100,000 Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians.' "Our Asiatic subjects are more than six times as numerous, but our fifty-one million Negroes are not greatly inferior in numbers to the sixty-one million white people within the Empire, and their help, freely and loyally tendered, has been most valuable. The author proves his case by taking each Negro country in turn, describ- ing its races and showing what they have done in the war. British West Africa naturally comes first. Nigeria alone contains over sixteen million Negroes, some of whom are among the best native troops that we have. The French Senegalese battalions have done magnificent service on the Western front, and their southern neigh- bors under our rule have an equally fine record in the African cam- paigns. The Hausa of Nigeria and the Mandingoes of Gambia and Sierra Leone make first-rate soldiers, and have faced German troops and their machine-gun fire without flinching. "Ebrima Jalu, a Mandingo sergeant-major in the West African Frontier Force, received the D. C. M. in 1916 for his gallantry in a severe action in the Cameroons. When his white officer had been killed, he took command of his sector and directed the guns for sev- 122 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY er^l t^ours until another officer could reach him, Sir^L-itfaj. Eblima Jalu is not the only hero of his rsoe. It is good to know that all these West African troops, perhaps thirty thousand in number, are volunteers, and that they enlist with the warm approval of their people. We could hardly have better testimony to the popularity of British rule in West Africa than the anecdote which Sir Henry Johnston cites from Southern Nigeria early in the war: ** 'The people of New Calabar and their hereditary enemies, the people of Okrika, had now sworn blood brotherhood (lest their intertribal quarrels should embarrass us), and had brought in £1^000 — each tribe contributing £500 — which they begged the local Political Officer to forward as a token of personal loyalty to the King. They wrote letters in broken English saying that they wanted to help in the Great War because they were grateful for having such good and kind rulers. This means a great deal when one real- izes what keen, hard-headed traders are the few headmen with money, and how comparatively poor (except in foodstuffs) are the masses of the people.* ''Attempts were made by Turkish agents to rouse the Moham- medans of Nigeria against us, but not even the ruling Fula caste, whom we had to fight when we took over Nigeria, would pay any attention to these sedition-mongers. "Incidentally the author tells us that the Negroes of German East Africa are akin to those of British East Africa and Nyasa- land, and like them use Swahili as a lingua franca. They were well treated by Major von Wissmann and other early administrators, but in recent years their interests have been completely subordinated to German greed: " 'The general cry of the natives in German East Africa since victories of the Allied troops has been, "Watu wa kumina-tano wametoka; wasirudi." ("The people of '15' have departed; may they never return. ' ' ) The " 15 " refers to the lowest number of lashes with hippopotamus hide which were administered by the Germans for minor offenses. The natives would regard with terror any possi- bility of the return of the Germans. In one district where a small British column temporarily occupied the country and were welcomed by the natives, the latter were massacred when the Germans returned.' " NEGRO SOLDIERS OF PRANCE 123 The loyalty and devotion of the British and French Negro colonials to the flags and governments of the British Empire and the French Republic, respectively, is in sliai*p contrast to the feel- ing toward the German government and the German flag among the Negro population of those sections of Africa which were held as German colonies, but which under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles have been taken away from that country. While other considerations than the rights of the Negroes themselves may have and doubtless did enter into the considerations that led to the decision of the Peace Conference to take her colonies away from Germany forever, this decision can nevertheless be properly re- garded as a fulfillment of the wish and desire of every American citizen of the Negro race. German Atrocities in Africa The record of German duplicity and cruelty in Southwest Africa as disclosed in the official reports of the British adminis- trator embodies many of the stories of these atrocities. Between 1904 and 1911 the numbers of thi-ee native races were reduced from 130,000 to 37,742. The decrease was brought about by a war of extermination undertaken by the Germans against tribes with whom they had made agreements — the ** scrap of paper" over again. The Kaiser undertook by the treaties ''to give his Al]-Highest pro- tection to the chief and his people." As soon as the Germans had sufficient force on the spot they tore up the treaties, goaded the natives into rebellion, and then massacred them. The German Governor Leutwein avows the crime as cynically as Bethmann- Hollweg admitted the crime against Belgium. He simply says: "The specific provisions of the agreement did not matter; the fact of their conclusion was sufficient. The manner of the carrying out of those agreements thus depended entirely on the power which stood behind the German makers of the agreements. So long as the German Government in the protectorate had no means of en- forcing its power the agreements were of small significance. After this state of atfairs had been changed the agreements were, in practice, dealt with uniformly without regard to their stipulated details. So the native tribes were all in the same way, as a whole, whether it was arranged or not, made subject to German laws and 124 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY German jurisdiction and received German garrisons." That was how the Kaiser's ''protection" was given. Then came the slaughter. All the records in the report are from the archives at Wind- hoek, from sworn statements made by Europeans familiar with the country, by native chiefs, and from the writings of Leutwein, who was governor from 1894 to 1905, and other German authorities. Every injustice and atrocity dealt with is a substantial fact. The death of a native from a thrashing was not regarded by the German courts as murder. Leutwein says : ' ' The natives could not understand such subtle distinctions. To them murder and beating to death were one and the same thing." Government of this kind impelled the Herrero rebellion. Samuel Kariko, son of Under-Chief Daniel Kariko, stated on oath: ''Our people were shot and murdered; our women w^ere ill-treated; and those who did this were not punished. Our chiefs consulted and we decided that war could not be worse than what we were under- going. We all knew what risks we ran, yet we decided on war, as the chiefs said we would be better off even if we were all dead. ' ' Johannes Kruger, appointed by Leutwein as chief of the Bushmen and Berg-Damaras of the Grootfontein area, stated on oath with regard to the campaign of Gen. von Trotha: "I went with the German troops right through the Herrero rebellion. The Afrikander Hottentots of my werft were with me. We refused to kill Herrero women and children, but the Germans spared none. Two of my Hottentots, Jan Wint and David Swartbooi, were invited by the German soldiers to join them in violating Herrero girls. The two Hottentots refused to do so." Hendrik Eraser of Keetmanshoop stated on oath: "On one occasion I saw about 25 prisoners placed in a small inclosure of thorn bushes. They were confined in a very small space, and the soldiers cut diy branches and piled dry logs all around them — men, women, and children and little girls were there. The prison- ers were all alive and unwounded, but half starved. Having piled up the branches, lamp oil w^as sprinkled on the heap and it was set on fire. The prisoners were burnt to a cinder. I saw this personally." The official photographs of natives hanged by Germans, are pitiful. Capt. L. Fourie, S. A. M. C, district surgeon at Windhoek, NEGRO SOLDIERS OF FRANCE 125 states: "Executions were carried out in a very cnide and cruel manner. The prisoner was conducted to the nearest tree and placed on an ammunition, biscuit, soap, or other box or convenient object, and the rope, after being run around his neck and through a fork of the tree, was fixed to the trunk. The box was removed and death resulted from asphyxiation. In other instances the condemned prisoner was strangled by merely hoisting him off his feet by utilizing the fork or branch of a tree. Wlien the rope was not available, telegraph or telephone wire or other convenient material was used. Very rarely could death have resulted instan- taneously. ' ' Such had been the history of German East Africa which was completely captured and taken over by the British early in the World War. Here the Germans sought to resist the British forces, consisting of native and Boer regiments from the British South African colonies, under the command of Boer officers, by compellin/j Negroes to fight them against the invaders. Their resistance was half-hearted; even the least intelligent African native could feci neither loyalty nor respect for the brutal and tyrannical Germau. officers and Colonial officials, and the Germans were left practic- ally to conduct their resistance unaided. The extension of the British protectorate over German East Africa was hailed with joy by all the natives. If the author has digressed from his theme of the Negro Soldiers of France, it is because he has v>dshed to draw a picture of the contrast between the loyalty of the French and British Colonials on the one hand and the hatred and terror inspired by Germany wherever that nation has attempted to establish colonies and rule the natives. To the French, who draw no color line, there is nothing startling or worthy of special comment in the fact that in the armies of France in the Great War, two colored soldiers reached the rank of General, and four the rank of Colonel. And the French as a race are proud of the exploits of "Les Joyeux" (the happy ones), the Negro soldiers of the special corps called officially ''Bataillons d'Afrique." It was ''Les Joyeux" who electrified the entire sector when on May 27, 1918, the Germans attempted to storm their defenses. Al- though the enemy attacked in superior numbers, the ** Joyeux," fight- 126 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY ing desperately, with entire disregard to numbers, held their ground and every yard of the line of barbed-wire entanglement fronting the French trenches was ornamented with dead Germans. Some of the enemy elements which succeeded in penetrating the trenches were slaughtered with bayonets and grenades. Supreme abnegation was shown by the war-hardened *' Joyeux," who checked the power- ful German assaults. The line of trenches was firmly held and communication was kept open between the various defending elements. On the night of May 28 the First Battalion of the Chasseurs d'Afrique fell back in an orderly manner, having fulfilled the mis- sion intrusted to it and picking up the equally weary elements of the Third Battalion, which had struggled no less gloriously. After an all-night march of twenty kilometers (twelve miles) they arrived at their destination without abandoning any material, the machine gunners carrying their pieces on their backs. Several of the '* Joyeux" spoke of this moving night march with heroic simplicity. ''We were counted and reconstituted," said one of them. ''About midnight of May 29, 1918, without taking a rest, we again went to the front. On June 1 we launched an attack, making a formidable charge, which caused the boches to renounce their attempt to advance." Many Deeds of Heroism Many deeds of heroism were performed by these men. One of the battalions taking part in the action was composed of very youHg men and had arrived on the French battlefields as late as January 3, 1918, after distinguishing itself in Morocco by its ardor and endurance. The esprit de corps animating this battalion was most chivalrous. Four "Joyeux" in the night of May 28th, saw their company commander, Lieutant Marechal, fall in a boyau pierced by enemy bullets. Not wishing to lose the body of their chief, the valiant four resisted the Germans with grenades, holding them at bay. After they had recovered the body the same four "Joyeux" carried it all the way during the terrible back-breaking twenty kilometer retreat. On the morning of May 29, although harassed by fatigue and lack of sleep, they organized a short funeral service, glorifying the officer who had fallen at their head. On June 1 the same NEGBO SOLDIERS OF FRANCE 127 battalion, supported by two companies of other battalions, after being almost submerged by the German waves, threw itself, the officers leading with drawn revolvers, into a hand-to-hand encounter with the Germans, who fell back in disorder, abandoning their field and machine guns. The Germans applied the common name of ''Frenchmen from Africa" to the soldiers of all the French regiments which in time of peace served in Africa, including legionnaires, zouaves, **Joy- eux," colonials, mitrailleurs — Arab and black sharpshooters re- cruited in northern Africa — Spahis and African chasseurs. These corps were especially feared by the enemy and formed one of the firmest bulwarks of the allied defense. The annals of the French Army in the Great War are filled with records of individual heroism on the part of the French Colonial troops. Here is the official record of Fako Doumbia of the Fifty-first Senegalese Battalion, serving at the observation post of the trench. He was three times buried by projectiles, three times released himself, resumed his post with the greatest calmness, and continued on duty until relieved by the commandant of his com- pany. Fort Douaumont, which had gained renown for its obstinate and prolonged defense by the French during the German rush at Verdun in 1916, was defended by the Huns with equal obstinacy when the French began their counter-attack in 1918, but was re- captured at last. In the course of the attack a battalion of the ''Tirailleurs," together with one of the "poilus," was held up by an artillery barrage in front and machine-gun fire on the flanks. A veteran lieutenant of the Tirailleurs cautiously raising his head shouted to his men: "How now. Tirailleurs, are we going to stick here? Forward!" The Tirailleurs immediately bounded forward, carrying the "poilus" with them in their rush. They passed the barrage and captured the fort and raised the tricolor once more upon its walls. On March 1, 1916, a battalion was organized at St. Kaphael from the veterans of the previous campaign and recruits recently arrived from Africa. After three months' training, to give the necessary cohesion, the battalion was sent to the front on June 1, and went into the trenches on the Oise, and then on the Somme, 128 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY taking its part in all the battles. At the end of October the battalion went into winter quarters near Arachon, where it was put under ''intense" training, and on March 19, 1917, joined the armies of the North and Northeast on the line of the Aisne, where it was attached to a regiment of Colonial infantry with which it took part in the spring offensive. On April 16 and 17 it distinguished itself greatly at the farm of Noisy, the men dying at their posts rather than abandon the position which they had taken. In May it served at the Mill of Lafaux, and in June and July was in the trenches in the reconquered part of Alsace. During July- August it took part in the defense of the plateaux of Craonne and California and fought on the Chemin des Dames. These places are mentioned to show that the battalion was always at the seat of the hottest fighting, and wherever it was called upon to ser^^e, whether in attack or in defense, it attracted attention by its courage, devotion and self-sacrifice. The quality of these gallant soldiers will be shown by a few quotations from the ''citations a Pordre" for a single day: "Kofi Alia, private: Cool and collected; courageously led his comrades on April 16, 1917, to an assault of the enemy positions. Although wounded, continued to throw his bombs on a hostile machine gun and only left his post when his strength gave out." "Moderi Comba, private: Very devoted and courageous; on April 16, 1917, dressed, under fire, the wounds of his lieutenant and returned to his post in the line. ' ' "Demba N'Daigne, private: Very courageous. On April 16, 1917, taking the quick firing gun of one of his wounded comrades, stopped by his fire an attempted bombing attack by the enemy." "Namadon N'Daigne, sergeant: On April 1, 1917, distinguished himself among the bravest of those who advanced against a Ger- man counter-attack and formed a first line of defense behind the barbed wire." "Donga Thiam, private : On April 16, 1917, being with a group of bombers and all his comrades having become casualties con- tinued alone to cast his bombs into the enemy's trench." "Eli Diot, corporal: Showed remarkable courage in the attack on the enemy's lines on April 16, remained at his post, although seriously wounded and never ceased to encourage his comrades." NEGRO SOLDIERS OF FRANCE 129 It was with records like these, made by men of their own race though under different flags, that the Negro soldiers of America had to compete. That they did compete, and nobly upheld the tradition of valor established by these French soldiers of their own color, is a source of much satisfaction. A Study ix Black and Yellow CHAPTEE XI THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION Full Detailed Account of the Organization and Fighting Campaigns of the Famous Ninety/Second, as Recorded by the Division's Official Historian — Complete Official Reports of Every Battle vn Which the Ninety-Second Took Part — Commendation by Com- manding Officers. *Pursuant to War Department Orders, the 92nd Division was organized November 29, 1917, from the first contingent of Negro draftees arriving at the various camps and cantonments throughout the United States during the latter part of the month of October, 1917. The entire enlisted personnel was made up of Negroes and represented practically all the States in the Union. The Staff and Field Officers, officers of the Supply Units, Quartermaster Corps, Engineers' Corps, and of the Artillery Units, with few exceptions, were white. The remainder of the commissioned personnel, compris- ing about four-fifths of the whole, were colored. The plans of the War Department did not provide a separate cantonment for this division. It was therefore necessary to dis- tribute its various units among seven widely-separated camps. This distribution was effected as follows : Name of Camp Location 92nd Division Units Funston Ft. Riley, Kansas Division Headquarters Headquarters Troop 349th Machine-gun Battalion Divisional Trains Dodge - Des Moines, Iowa 366th Regiment of Infantry Grant Rockford, 111. 365th Regiment of Infantry 350th Machine-gun Battalion *The information contained in this chapter with reference to the organization, operations and other data of the 92nd Division has been supplied for this worli by First Lieut. T. T. Thompson of the 92nd Division, who accompanied it to France and served during the whole period at Headquarters at Camp Funston and In France as acting Personnel Oflflcer. He was specially detailed as Historian of the 92nd Division. 130 THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 131 Sherman Chillicothe, Ohio Meade Annapolis Jet., Md. Dix Wrightstown, N. J. Upton Yaphank, New York At the time of were as follows : Charles C. Ballou Chaiincey Dewey Allen J. Greer *Harry L. Hodges Sherburne Whipple Robert P. Harbold Edward L. Glasgow Perry L. Boyer Philip S. Gage Alfred M. Craven Thomas C. Spencer organization the Major General. Captain F. A. Lt. Colonel G. S. Major Inf. Major Inf. Major Inf. Colonel Q. M. C. Lt. Colonel M. C. Major Ord. C. Major J. A. G. D. Major Inf. 317th Engineers Regiment 317th Engineers Train 325th Field Signal Battalion 368th Regiment of Infantry 351st Field Artillery 349th Field Artillery 350th Field Artillery 317th Trench Mortar Battery 367th Regiment of Infantry 351st Machine-gun Battalion Staff Officers of the Division Commanding Division Aide-de-Camp Chief of Staff Assistant Chief of Staff Division Adjutant Division Inspector Division Quartermaster Division Surgeon Division Ordnance Officer Division Judge Advocate Division Signal Officer "Never reported. The 183rd Infantry Brigade comprised the 365th and 366th Regi- ments of Infantry and the 350th Machine-gun Battalion, and was organized as follows : ]\Ialvern H. Barnum Edmund A. Buchanan Vernon A. Caldwell John J. Ryan Frederick E. Sweitzer James E. Abbott Charles W. Mason William F. Robinson Ralph W. Parrott Adelbcrt G. Aldrich James E. McDonald Brigadier General Major 365th Regiment of Infantry Colonel Lt. Colonel Captain Major Major Major 366th Regiment of Infantry Colonel Captain Major Brigade Commander Brigade Adjutant Rbg'l Comd'r Regiment Regimental Adjutant Comd'g 1st B'n Comd'g2ndB'n Comd'g 3rd B'n Reg'l Comd'r Reg'l Adjutant Comd'g IstB'n 132 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Ralph Leavitt Horace F. Sykes George M. Lee Dennis M. Matthews Major Major 350th Machine-gun Battalion Major 1st Lt. Comd'g2nd B'n Comd'gSrdB'n B'n Comd'r Actg. B'n Adjutant The 184th Brigade was organized as follows William H. Hay Herman S. Dilworth James A. Moss William C. Doane Fred W. Bugbee Frederic Bull Charles L. Mitchell Wilford T\^^^man Fitzhugh L. Minnegerodc 368th William P. Jackson William S. Mapes Harry Armstrong Henry S. Terrell Max A. Elser William R. Pope Robert M. Barton Oscar C. Brown Brigadier General Major 367th Regiment of Infantry Colonel Lt. Colonel Lt, Colonel Captain Major Major Major Regiment of Infantry Colonel Lt. Colonel Captain Major Major Major 351st Machine-gun Battalion Major 1st Lt. Brigade Commander Brigade Adjutant Reg'l Comd'r Regiment Unassigned Regimental Adjutant Comd'g 1st B'n Comd'g2ndB'n Comd'g 3rd B'n Reg'l Comd'r Regiment Regimental Adjutant Comd'g 1st B'n Comd'g 2nd B'n Comd'g 3rd B'n B'n Comd'r B 'n Adjutant The 167tli Field Artillery Brigade was organized as follows : John H. Sherburne Brigadier Gen. 349th Field Artillery Regiment Dan T. Moore Charles S. Blakely Royal F. Nash William F. McCleave Fred T, Austin Walter E. Prosser William Heffner Allen McBridc Colonel Lt. Colonel Captain Major 350th Field Art. Regiment Colonel Lt. Colonel Captain Major Brigade Commander Reg'l Comd'r Regiment Reg'l Adjutant B'n Commander Reg'l Comd'r Regiment Regimental Adjutant B'n Commander THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 133 William E, Cole Edward L. Carpenter Earl Briscoe Wade H. Carpenter 351st Field Art. Regiment Colonel Lt. Colonel Major Major Reg'l Comd'r Regiment Comd'g 1st B'n Comd'g2ndB'n The 317tli Engineers' Regiment was organized as follows Earl I. Brown Henry A. Finch Charles Ecton William H. Ferguson Arthur E. Wenige PiTTMAN E. Smith Ether Beattie Colonel Lt. Colonel Captain Major Major 317th Engineers' Train 1st Lt. 2nd Lt. Comd'g Regiment Regiment Reg'l Adjutant Comd'g 1st B'n Comd'g 2nd B'n Train Comd'r Tr. Adjutant The 325th Field Signal Battalion was organized as follows: Irving Deems Major B'n Commd'b Luther N. Hull Captain B'n Adjutant The 317th Supply Train was organized as follows : Otto W. Rethorst Major Tr. Comd'r John N. Douglass Captain Tr. Adjutant The 317tli Ammunition Train was organized as follows : Henry B. Clark Allan R. Williams Charles C. McClure Charles C. Hoag Edward F. Springer Colonel Tr. Comd'r Major Comd'g Horse Sec. Major Comd'g Motor Sec. Captain Adjutant Mot. Sec. Captain Adjutant Horse Sec. Major, M. C. Tr. Comd'r Captain, M. C. Comd'g Ambu. See The 317th Sanitary Train; David B. Downing Edward B. Simmons The 317th Trains Headquarters and Military Police : Isaac S. Jenks Colonel Tr. Comd'r Joseph C. Wilson Captain Tr. Adjutant The 349th Machine-gun Battalion : Robert S. Sterrett Major B'n Comd'r Arthur Hubbard Ist Lt. B'n Adjutant 134 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY The Division Headquarters Troop: Edward J. Turgeon Captain Troop Comd'b Marion C, Rhoten 1st Lt. Troop Sidney D. Frissell 1st Lt. Troop Arthur R. Williams 2nd Lt. Troop The Training in France The organization and training of the Division extended over a period of five months. In May, 1918, the Division was ordered over- seas to join the American Expeditionary Forces in France. The first contingent embarked at Hoboken, N. J., on June 10, 1918, and reached Brest (Finisterre) on the 19th day of June, 1918. During the same month the Infantry Units, the Divisional Trains and the Field Artillery Brigade, elements of the division which had not embarked with the first contingents, reached France and went immediately into a secondary period of intensive training. Bourbonne-les-Bains (the baths of the Bourbons), in Haute Mame, was the first training area of the 92nd Division in France. Bourbonne is a historic little town of five or six thousand inhabitants, situated almost midway between the lower reaches of the Marne on the west and the Moselle on the east, in the northeastern part of the country. To the east about one hundred miles flows the Ehine, while to the southeast at a less distance lies the border of Switzerland. Sixty miles north of the town, the battle line ran angling to the south- east and thirty miles northwest was Chaumont, the headquarters of the American Expeditionary Forces. Like most of the towns of France, Bourbonne-les-Bains counted its age in centuries. In peace , times its natural hot-water baths attracted health-seekers from all parts of the country. Tradition relates that the hot mineral waters of the surrounding springs had not only been a favorite gathering place for the Bourbon kings in the Middle Ages, but of the Romans as well, many centuries before. In the old city park, at the foot of the hill, near where a moving-picture theater now stands, may be seen the ruins of ancient Roman colonnades, standing near an excavation in the solid rock. This excavation until recently was still used as a swimming pool, into which the same hot springs continue to flow. The various units of the Division, except the Artillery Brigade THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 135 and the Ammunition Train, were quartered in the numerous villages extending in a semicircle to the north and east of Bourbonne, ranging from six to sixteen kilometers from Division headquarters, which was established in the city. Following the plan of quartering tke American army as it entered France, the soldiers were billetted in buildings vacated by the French people. These buildings consisted of public halls, hotel buildings, barns and in many instances the homes of families where available space could be found. The training period continued through eight weeks, embracing all phases of offensive and defensive tactics found necessary to meet the actual methods in use in the allied armies. In the meantime, the complete Artillery Brigade and the Ammunition Train reached France and went into training July 18 at Montmorrillon, in the department of Vienne, the training area for artillery units. Takes Over the St. Die Sector Leaving this training area about the 7th of August, 1918, the Division moved up by stages to take over its first sector. Leaving Bourbonne-les-Bains, the Division established temporary headquar- ters at Bruyeres, Vosges, remaining twelve days, during which time the Division was equipped for front line duty. From Bruyeres the Division moved up by marches to St. Die on the 21st of August, and took over its first sector on the 25th of August, 1918. From St. Die to the Rhine is not more than a day's march. From the towers and other elevations of the city, the dim outlines of the distant mountains — the foothills of the Alps — covered with impene- trable forests, are plainly visible. The clear and shallow waters of the river Meurthe flow through the heart of the city. A quaint bit of history connected with St. Die is that it gave the name to the con- tinent of America. This is explained by large placards posted in different parts of the city to welcome incoming American troops, by the announcement in French that the city of St. Die is the "Marraine" of America, because it was for Americus Vespucius, a St. Diean monk, that the continent was named. One of the leading streets terminating at the square knowTi as the ''Place de Jules Ferry" is called "Rue de President Wilson." The headquarters of the Division in this city of 10,000 inhabitants, was located in the historic old building for- merly used by the Bishop of Eastern France as office and prefecture. 136 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY This rambling old building crowns the single eminence of the city and part of it is still used for church services by the native population. The St. Die sector formed the southeastern tip of the great battle line which extended from the North Sea to the borders of Switzer- land. Across the line opposite the sector lay Alsace. Beyond the Alsatian strip of country lay impenetrable mountains and forests. Physical barriers made extensive military movements impracticable, and for this reason the sector was comparatively a quiet one and usually assigned to inexperienced divisions coming into the front line for the first time. The city of St. Die, on the French side, was easily within range of enem.y guns, and Saales, the Alsatian city opposite St. Die, v/as as easily within the range of our own artillery, but through a tacit understanding, neither of these cities suffered from artillery bombardment from opposing forces, although the villages' and roads beyond were frequently bombarded. The Baptism of Fire and Gas ^^^tf'"'^ With the coming of American troops, the sector became more active. The 92nd Division in this sector relieved the 6th Infantry, American Expeditionary Forces, and French units of the 33rd Army Corps, with which the 6th Infantry had been brigaded, less the French artillery which supported the 92nd Division. The Artillery Brigade of the 92nd Division was still in training at Montmorrillou. In a raid on the 16th of August, nine days before the 92nd took over the sector, the 6th Infantry had captured the village of Frapelle and extended its front line trenches. As a result of this loss, the 92nd found the enemy on the offensive and received its baptism of fire and gas on August 25, 1918. Amid intermittent shelling with shrap- nel and gas, the front line trenches were taken over by three com- panies respectively from the 368th and 365th Eegiments, two com- panies of the 367th Infantry, and five companies of the 366th Infantry, with other combat units in reserve and support. From the 25th of August until the Division was relieved on the 20th of September, the principal activities consisted of patrolling and raiding parties, with artillery and aerial bombardment of enemy positions. Skirmishes between raiding parties were frequent. One of the most intense engagements during this period was on the night of the 31st of August, 1918, when the enemy made an attempt in THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 137 force to retake Frapelle. In this attack the enemy was supported by intense artillery bombardment, employing mustard gas and flame projectors, but was repulsed with heavy losses. Our casualties were 34 wounded and gassed and four killed, including First Lieutenant Thomas Bullock, 367th Infantry, the first officer of the Division to meet death at hands of the enemy. On the following day, the enemy attacked our forces at Ormont, after hea^^ artillery barrage, but were driven back by the 366th Infantry. In this attack more than 12,000 shells were fired into our front line trenches between the hours of 12:30 and 3:00 in the afternoon. After this intense barrage the enemy charged our gun fire. In this action, the 365tli were commended for repelling the enemy's attack. 5 • Following the enemy's defeat at Hermanpere, the enemy at- tempted a raid at Frapelle but was repulsed by our infantry, assisted by artillery barrage. Among the casualties on this date, Lieutenant Aaron Fisher of the 366th Infantry, later awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, was seriously wounded. Negro Soldiers Eager to Attack No immediate offensive operations were attempted by our forces at this time. Our officers and soldiers pleaded for an opportunity to attack the enemy, to assume the offensive; especially was this true at Senones, where our patrolling parties entered the town and mingled with its occupants, and brought back valuable information, but it was deemed inadvisable at that time. Troops not actively engaged in holding positions and repelling the enemy attacks were extending and repairing trenches and dugouts. The entrenchment system was inadequate for the protection of the troops and out of repair from long non-use. In the meantime it developed that not- withstanding the incessant activities of the enemy, he was never- theless falling back and taking up new positions to the rear. Numerous patrolling parties sent out from our lines returned after long patrols and reported failure to come in contact with the enemy. In many cases enemy trenches were found abandoned. This was regarded as indicating that the enemy was not anxious to meet our troops in a general engagement. At Hermanpere, La Fontenelle, La Raniese, Vanifosse, Ban de 138 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Sapt, Denipaire, Robedeau, Coichots, Ravines, Germanfaing, Moyen- moutier — villages occupied by the 92d in this zone of operations — the enemy kept up incessant bombardment, including a variety of gas shells. During the latter days of September aerial activity, both bombing and reconnaissance, increased daily. A Duel in the Air Near Raon L'Etape, on the 15th of September, our troops wit- nessed their first airplane duel. A German aviator, steering a com- bat plane of the larger Fokker type, entered our lines at an altitude of 8,000 feet. The enemy plane was reported by observers at 14 hrs. At 14 :40 hrs. a combat plane from the French aero squadron which was cooperating with our forces in this area, had sighted the enemy plane and was climbing rapidly to give battle. Taken by surprise, the Boche aviator circled and attempted to rise to the level of his antagonist, but the French lieutenant was now opening his batteries on the port side of the Boche plane at a superior height of 800 feet. The accurate aim and superior maneuvering by Lieut. Fagon enabled him to reach the vitals of the Boche plane before the latter could bring his machine into position to defend himself effectively. After twenty minutes of circling, swooping, diving and sparring for ad- vantage, the German plane with its propeller shot away, crashed headlong to earth, its occupant pierced many times with machine-gun bullets. During the week of September 14, 1918, one of the raiding parties of the 366th Infantry surprised and captured a group of five German soldiers, the first prisoners taken by the 92nd Division. Other raiding parties captured enemy rifles, machine-guns and mes- sage dogs. In the meantime two members of one of our own patrolling parties fell into the hands of the enemy. In this way the Germans learned for the first time that the 92nd Division, the oppos- ing force which faced them, was made up of American Negroes. "With this information, the Germans changed their tactics for the moment and launched into our trenches the first propaganda which reached us. On the morning of the 12th of September, a section of the 367th Infantry was bombarded with what at first was thought to have been gas shells. On closer inspection it was found to be THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 139 circular printed matter. Printed in good English, a copy of this circular read as follows : "To THE Colored Soldiers op the American Army" "Hello, boj's, what are you doing over here? Fighting the Germans? Wh.y? Have they ever done you any harm? Of course some white folks and the lying English-American papers told you that the Germans ought to be wiped out for the sake of Humanity and Democracy. . ""What is Democracy? Personal freedom, all citizens enjoying the same rights socially and before the law. Do you enjoy the same rights as the white people do in America, the land of Freedom and Democracy, or are you rather not treated over there as second-class citizens? Can you go into a restaurant where white people dine? Can you get a seat in the theater where white people sit? Can you get a seat or a berth in the railroad car, or can you even ride, in the South, in the same street car with white people? And how about the laAv ? Is lynchi]ig and the most horrible crimes connected therewith a lawful proceeding in a democratic country? ' ' Now, this is all different in Germany, where they do like colored people, where they treat them as gentlemen and as white people, and quite a number of colored people have fine positions in business in Berlin and other German cities. "Why, then, fight the Germans only for the benefit of the Wall street robbers and to protect the millions they have loaned to the British, French, and Italians? You have been made the tool of the egotistic and rapacious rich in England and in America, and there is nothing in the whole game for you but broken bones, horrible wounds, spoiled health, or death. No satis- faction whatever will you get out of this unjust war. "You have never seen Germany. So you are fools if you allow people to make you hate us. Come over and see for yourself. Let those do the fighting who make the profit out of this war. Don't allow them to use you as cannon fodder. To carry a gun in this war is not an honor, but a shame. Throw it away and come over into the German lines. You will find 'friends who will help you along." Be it said to the honor and credit of the many thousands of Negro officers and soldiers to whom this propaganda was addressed, the invitation had no effect other than to present an intimate view of German methods and to confirm in our men a loftier conception of duty. On the 20th of September, 1918, the 92nd Division was relieved in the St. Die sector by the 81st (the Wildcat Division). During the 140 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY four weeks the Division held this sector, all enemy attacks were repulsed, a number of prisoners and quantities of material were captured, trenches and roads were constructed and repaired, and most important of all, the Division demonstrated its ability to fight in or out of the trenches as it had been trained in the back areas. Second Sector Held by the 92nd Division Beginning on the 21st of September, 1918, the Division left the St. Die sector, dropping down into the Corcieux zone for entrain- ment. Orders from the Commander-in-Chief of the American Expe- ditionary Forces directed the Division to proceed to the Department of the Meuse and take up position as a Corps Reserve unit. From Corcieux and other nearby entraining points, the various units of the Division, less the artillery and Ammunition Train, were entrained and en route to the Argonne region within twenty-four hours after orders were received. Preparations for the great drive of the Allies which had been scheduled to begin on the 25th of September, 1918, were almost complete. More than 650,000 American troops were hurrying day and night to take up their places in the line. The whole Hindenbnrg line contained no section more difficult than that assigned to the American Army. This great offensive operation was a part of the general progTam to break the German line. The objective for the American Army was a point opposite Sedan on the Meuse, to reach which it was necessary to drive the enemy entirely out of the Ar- gonne, a section he had held tenaciously for four years. The distance of more than three hundred miles was covered by the 92nd Division in troop trains by the afternoon of the 23rd. With all equipment and supplies each unit was in place by the morning of the 24th of September. Division headquarters was established in echelons at Triacourt and Beauchamp, sixteen kilometers apart. The Argonne is a narrow oblong strip of territory extending almost north and south between the Aisne and the Aire, with a ridge of hills through almost its entire length, skirted by the river valleys on either side. Several villages are located in the region, but the greater part is densely wooded, with gorges and ravines. In length it is nearly thirty miles from Grand Pre at one end to Triacourt at the other, and varies in width from eight to fifteen miles. The entire THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 141 section is crossed by only two main wagon roads and one railroad. On the western side is St. Menehould, on the eastern side is Clermont. To the east a few kilometers lies battered Verdun, while westward of St. Menehould 90 kilometers lies naked Eheims. The line of rail- road running from Metz to Paris and passing through Verdun, Cler- mont, St. Menehould, and Eheims, bisects the Argonne forest at Les Islets. The entire area of the strip is less than 500 square miles and yet because of the rugged terrain and imj^assable forests, the Allies found this section the most difficult of the whole line from which to dislodge the enemy. Throughout the whole period of the war this forest remained the scene of the fiercest struggles. It was overrun in 1914 when the German army advanced to the Marne after driving its wedge between Verdun and Rheims. After four years of fighting in which the German army had been pushed back grad- ually, that portion of the Argonne between the line of railroad and Grand Pre still remained in the hands of the enemy. On the date of the beginning of the Argonne-Meuse offensive, more than 21 divi- sions of the American Army held this portion of the line, while the enemy had more than 40 divisions opposite. A change in the disposition of allied troops made it necessary for the 368th Infantry to take over the sector opposite Binarville on the 25th of September. At this time the 368tli Infantry was com- manded by Colonel Fred R. Brown with the following battalion com- manders: First battalion, Major John H. Merrill; second battalion, Major Max Elser; third battalion, Major Benjamin F. Norris. For this engagement, the regiment cooperated with the French forces, the 4th French Army, commanded by General Gourard. Moving over from Vienne-le-Chateau it took up a position on the left of the American forces and on the right flank of the French. The sector held by the 368th Regiment formed an irregular triangle projecting forward beyond the general line. In front of this position vast stretches of enemy wire entanglement extended at intervals in all the intervening *' no-man's-land.'' Beyond this wire entanglement were numerous concealed machine-gun emplacements. At this point the fighting was harder than anj^hing the Division had experienced up to that time. At least two unsuccessful attempts were made to advance before the first objectives were reached. The total casualties exceeded 450 men killed, wounded and gassed. Among the 142 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY casualties in this action, the following officers were killed: Lieut. Norwood C. Fairfax and Captain Walter Green of the 368th Infantry. During the five days in which the 368th held this position a total advance of five kilometers was made and the village of Binarville Avas taken. Infantry Activities of the Division The following statement indicates somewhat in detail the In- fantry activities of the 92nd Division : On August 23, 1918, the entire 92nd Division except the artillery moved from the training area into the St. Die (Vosges) sector, to relieve the 5th Regular U. S. Army Division. The front line trenches of this sector were established 60 days after the opening of the war and had not changed until the taking of the village of Frapelle. More than three years of attack and counterattack had caused both the French and Germans to conclude that the Vosges Mountains offered too many difficulties for either to advance and hold. This bit of rugged terrain had been used by both sides as a ^ ' rest sector. ' ' About the middle of Augaist, 1918, the 6th Infantry of the 5th Eegular U. S. A. Division in an early morning surprise attack captured the village of Frapelle. This is said to have been the first town taken by an Am-erican unit independent of any assistance from the French. Frapelle controlled a very important highway and its loss by the Germans threatened a railroad which was much used to convey troops and military supplies into Southeast Alsace. Before the 6th Infantry had time to reorganize to hold the newly captured territory, the 366th Infantry (colored troops) was ordered to relieve them. The Germans were very angry at this loss and hurriedly moved Prussian troops in to replace Alsatian Guards (second class troops) and supplemented the sector artillery with many heavy guns. Counterattacks began immediately upon the arrival of the new troops and many efforts were made to retake the village. The casualties of the 6th Infantry were probably larger than the accomplishment would seem to merit. Wliile the relief of the 6th Infantry by the 366th was in progress a bombardment of Frapelle took place which lasted four hours, and not a wall in the entire town was left standing. The Catholic church steeple was the last to topple over. That this had ceased to be a "quiet sector" was learned by the first company of the 366th Infantry the very night THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 143 they entered the trenches, for two men were killed and six severely wounded before the relief was completed. In this sector the "dough- boys" of the 366th were first introduced to a flame-projector attack. There the Germans also had air-superiority, and when the weather was clear, the front line trenches were bombed from above. In addition to their systematic daily program of artillery fire, one and at times two barrages were placed over the front line posi- tions. Aeroplanes flying above often directed the fire for more than thirty minutes at a time before being driven away by the French anti-aircraft guns. The roads traveled by the supply trains were bombed, shelled with shrapnel, high-explosive and gas shells every night. Enemy Defeated with the Bayonet After the first week in this sector the men of this (366th) regi- ment, not only took complete possession of "no-man's-land," but made nightly patrols over the first and second line trenches of the enemy. One bright Sunday morning after being in the trenches two weeks, the Germans following closely behind a most terrific bom- bardment, which battered down two front line dugouts, entered the front line trenches and after a hand-to-hand bayonet encounter were forced to retire in complete disorder. After this first and only time that the Germans actually entered the trenches, they seemed to con- clude that the Negro infantryman knew how to use "cold steel" and that he was not to be driven from his post. Snipers, machine guns and artillery alone were used against him after that one attack. At night motor trucks armed with light artillery and machine guns were sent forward to commanding positions on the enemy side and the strong points shelled. With the aid of bright rockets on moon- light nights during the early part of September, 1918, these same trucks were used, and often very effectively, against the patrols in "no-man's-land." During the 28 days in the St. Die sector the men of the 366th Regiment gained a confidence in themselves and their weapons, such as could never have come in a camp or training area. They learned coordination and a real love for the war game. It became difficult to send out small patrols, for every officer and man desired to par- ticipate. Company commanders in order to settle disputes as to 144 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY priority among the volunteers for niglit patrols and raiding parties were compelled to promise places days in advance of orders. Many officers of the 366th Infantry think the regiment lost its best opportunity in this sector because orders were never received allowing them to advance. The mission of the regiment was to reorganize the captured territory and hold at any cost. They did this and more. Raiding parties succeeded in driving the German patrols from "no-man's-land" and out of their own front line trenches at night, without assistance from the French sector artillery, which was inactive most of the time, and being situated beyond range was ineffective in silencing enemy batteries when it did fire. Ten days before leaving the sector it was generally recognized that the regiment had superiority in all arms and could, it is believed by its officers, have gone over and captured the villages of Beaulay and Provenchires, thereby bettering their position, with fewer casualties than were sustained by remaining in the valley of the Fave. The March to the Argonne Relieved by the ''Wildcat" Division and a battalion of French troops the 366th Infantry, weary and badly rest-broken, moved back for what was rumored to be a rest. After a 20-kilometer march with heavy packs over the flinty roads of the Vosges Mountains to the railroad, they were entrained with other units of the 92nd Division and rushed to the village of Le Chemin, arriving there on the morn- ing of the 23rd of September, 1918. The 92nd Division Headquarters was established at St. Menehould. At seven o'clock in the evening of September 23rd, in a very heavy rain, a start was made for the Foret d 'Argonne. The march from St. Die to Granges, which was very hard on the men, proved disastrous to the horses and mules. The road from Le Chemin to Camp D'ltalien was strewn with dead animals and equipment which had to be abandoned for want of transportation. Most of the men of the 1st and 3rd Battalions of this regiment removed their shoes, while on the train, for the first time in ten days ; this condition was but a trifle worse with the officers and men of the 2nd Battalion, who had been in the front line trenches twenty days under the most terrifying artillery fire. In recognition of the splendid services rendered during this period eighteen Distin- guished Service Crosses were awarded the men of this battalion. THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 145 Resting in the woods of Camp d'ltalien without shelter except from pup tents during the day of the 24th, another start was made that night and after marching nine kilometers, a part of which was over the famous Verdun highway, Camp Cabaud was reached early in the morning and rest once more established. The march over the Verdun highway that night will never be forgotten by the thousands of soldiers racing for a place in the great offensive of the First American Army. Several miles of trucks were stranded along this highway; congestion was never worse on any 'oad. After several days' rain the shell-torn roads caused some of the trucks to turn end for end; some were on one side, while others were completely upside down. Every effort on the part of the Military Police failed to keep trucks and troops moving. Ammunition having the right of way over everything, forced infantry and even ambulances to halt. Roads Blocked with Trucks Determined to keep transportation moving, trucks were ordered forward over the left side of the road, when the right had become solidly blocked. Despite the skill and ingenuity of higher com- manders, for both Major Generals and Brigadier Generals left their automobiles and vied with Colonels in spending every human energy in an effort to open the roads, the left side of the road became blocked about midnight and for seven kilometers trucks and troops were banked together in mud and mire. The infantry, moving forward by file in small detachments, finally reached the woods above Passa- vant-en-Argonne about 5 o'clock in the morning. The sky, though cloudy that night after the rain, was well lighted by the continuous flash from the big guns. The roar was deafening. Hearing one speak in ordinary tones beyond a few feet was impossible, though we were ten to twelve kilometers from the battery positions. It was not the ordinary noise of the battle front that night; every soldier knew that a something different was ''coming off." Single guns could not be heard; no, not even single batteries; it was just one continuous roar. So numerous were the guns and so regular the fire that the discharge could not be distinguished from the burst of the shells. Secret Field Order No. 13, Headquarters 92nd Division, made this 146 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY division, less the 368th Infantry, a Corps Reserve and designated its station as ''the woods north of Clermont." Hardly had these woods (Camp Caband) been reached when, by verbal order of the Brigade Commander, the 1st Battalion of the 366th Infantry was ordered to go forward and build a road across ''no-man's-land." The ar- tillery of the First Army had done its work well, the infantry attack- ing waves of the assaulting divisions were moving forward. In order that the heavy guns, ammunition, and supplies might follow in close touch with the rapidly advancing troops, roads had to be built in great haste. Amid gas, shrapnel, and high explosive shells, with but few casualties, this battalion did its work. So rapid was the advance the first few days that the entire 183rd Brigade, which included both the 366th and 365th Infantry, were ordered, in conjunction with the 317th Engineers (also of the 92nd Division), to move forward and engage in the work of making roads. In speaking of this work, General Pershing says in his report to the Secretary of War, dated November 20, 1918 : "We had gained our point of forcing the battle into the open and were prepared for the enemy's reaction, which was bound to come as he had good roads and ample railroad facil- ities for bringing up his artillery and reserves. In the chill rain of dark nights our engineers had to huild new roads across spongy, shell torn areas, repair hroJcen roads beyond no-man's -land, and build bridges. Our gunners, with no thought of sleep, put their shoulders to the wheels and drag-ropes to bring their guns through the mire in support of the infantry, now under the increasing fire of the enemy's artillery. Our attack had taken the enemy by surprise, but, quickly recovering himself, he began to fire counterattacks in strong force, supported by heavy bombardments, with large quan- tities of gas." Third Sector Held by the Division About the 5th of October the 92nd Division was withdrawn from this sector and ordered to the Marbache sector. This sector extended along the Moselle river from Marbache to Pont-a-Mousson, a dis- tance of 16 kilometers. The troops of the Division took up a position on a line crossing the river at right angles and resting on both sides THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 147 of the picturesque stream. Division headquarters was established at Marbache. The elements of the Division were distributed in Belle- ville, Millery, Saizerais, Dieulouard, Pont-a-Mousson, Jezainville, Loisy, Ste. Genevieve, Ville-au-val, Norroy, Montauville, Port-sur- Seille, and Lesmesnils. This section lies directly south of Metz in distances varying from 10 to 14 kilometers. According to the plans of the Commander- in-Chief, Metz was selected as one of the next important objectives in the forward movement of the American Army. With several lines of railroads centering at Metz and passing into Germany, its use as a base of the German army, and its location, it was considered an important strategic point. At the same time it was strongly pro- tected by many outlying forts manned with powerful guns. In the chosen plan of isolating Metz, the 92nd Division would have occupied a prominent place between the Moselle and the Seille and nearer than any other unit to German soil (Lorraine). These plans were interrupted by the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918. The position of the enemy opposite the 92nd Division in the Marbache sector was strengthened by the fortifications of Metz. For this reason, the enemy was not falling back in this region as he was doing in other parts of the now shattered Hindenburg line farther to the north, but was stubbornly holding his ground until forced to fall back. Active operations commenced in this sector about the 8th of October. The 69th French Artillery was relieved from the Division on the 10th of October by the 62nd Field Artillery Brigade, American Expeditionary Forces. By the middle of October the greater part of the Division's forces had crossed to the east bank of the Moselle and was pressing the enemy steadily back to second line positions. Patrols and raiding parties kept in constant touch with the enemy all along the front, with ever-increasing artillery bombardments. Dur- ing the early days of November the enemy was driven from numerous positions which he held for many months and which were strongly fortified. Eeference to this series of rapid offenses launched by the 92nd Division, in which the enemy was routed, is made in the follow- ing memorandum from the Commanding General : 148 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY HEADQUARTERS 92nd DIVISION AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES A. P. O. 766 7 November 1918. OPERATING MEMORANDUM NO. 41, 1. When the Marbache sector was taken over by the 92nd Division, the Germans owned "No-man's-land" and were aggressive. They held Belle Air Farm, Bois de Tete d'Or, Bois Frehaut, Voivi'otte Farm, Voivrotte Wood, Bois de Cheminot, Moulon Brook. 2. The consistent, aggressive action of our patrols, night and day, has resulted in many casualties to the enemy, and the capture of many prisoners. 3. Each of the places named above has been raided, as has Eply also, and patrols have penetrated north nearly to the east and west line through Pagny. The enemy has been driven northward beyond Frehaut and Voivrotte Woods, and eastward from Cheminot Woods across the Seille, destroying the Cheminot Bridge, flooding the Seille and attempting to destroy the Seille bridge — evidence of the fact that he regards the 92nd Division as an uncom- fortable neighbor, with whom lie intends to avoid close relations in tlie future. 4. West of the river excellent results have also followed energetic offen- sive action. The enemy has suffered losses in killed, wounded, and prisoners during the brief occupancy of this part of the sector. 5. The results should greatly stimulate and encourage every man of the Division. With the prospect of efficient artillery support in the future, there will be no let-up in the hammering of the enemy wherever found. 6. Unit commanders wiU promptly submit reports of all specially meri- torious action of officers and enlisted men, in order that the same may be appropriately recognized. 7. This will be read to all troops of the 92nd Division. By Command of Major-General Ballou: (Signed) Allen J, Greer, Colonel, General Staff, Chief of Staff. Our own artillery brigade and ammunition train complete, joined the Division about the ISth of October, 1918. The splendid work of the artillery units soon showed itself in the effective support given in the capture of objectives tal^en from well-trained and seasoned soldiers — ^positions that had been organized and strengthened for more than four years. An attack on Pagny and other positions of the enemy was ordered by the Commanding General of the 183rd Brigade, 92nd Divi- sion, to start at 5 A. M., November 10, 1918. This attack was under way and progressing when orders to cease hostilities were received THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 149 on the morning of the 11th of November. A report of that operation is appended. Another report by the Division Commander is also appended. HEADQUARTERS 183rD BRIGADE A. P. 0. No. 766, France, November 19, 1918. FROM: Commanding General, 183rd Brigade. TO: Commanding General, 92nd Division. SUBJECT: Report on Offensive Operations. 1. On November 8, 1918, the 183rd Infantry Brigade was garrisoning a portion of the Allied line immediately east of the Moselle river and extend- ing from Pont-a-Mousson (east bank of Moselle river inclusive to Clemery, exclusive). This portion of the general front was known as Marbache Sector. Marbache Sector was normally divided into sub-sectors, namely, the sub- sector Seille, and the sub-sector Mousson. The sub-sector Seille comprised one center of resistance, the sub-sector Seille two, namely from East to West Lea Menils and I\Iousson. 2. On November 8, 1918, plans were made at Brigade Headquarters for an attack to be executed on the morning of November 10, on the Bois Frehaut and the Bois Voivrotte by two battalions of infantry, each battalion sup- ported by its machine-gun company. The co-operation of the divisional artil- lery was procured for this attack. Trench mortars and 37-mm. guns were to support the attack. The object of this attack was to capture and hold the Bois Frehaut and the Bois Voivrotte with the object of advancing the line of observation of the Marbache Sector to the northern boundary of these woods. Operation Order No. 7, Hq. 183rd Brigade, Nov. 8, was issued describing the details of this attack. 3. The attack was to be made on the Bois Frehaut by the 2nd Bn., 365th Inf., Major Warner A. Ross, commanding. The attack on the Bois Voivrotte was to be made by two platoons, 2nd Bn., 366th Inf. At the zero hour, one platoon, 366th Inf., was to occupy the Bois Cheminot in order to cover Cheminot bridge. 4. On Nov. 8 Marbache Sector was garrisoned as follows : C. R. Seille, by the 3d Bn., 366th Inf. and Co. A, 350th M. G. Bn. ; C. R. Les Menils, by the 3rd Bn., 365th Inf. and Co. B 350th I\I. G. Bn. ; C. R. ]\Iou8son, by the 1st Bn., 365th Inf. and Machine Gun Co., 365th Inf. The 2nd Bn., 366th Inf., and Co. C, 350th M. G. Bn., were in support position southern part Foret de Facq. The 2nd Bn. 365th Inf., and Co. D, 350th M. G. Bn., were in support position western part Foret de Facq. The 150 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY 1st Bn., 366th Inf., and the M. G. Co., 366th Inf., were held as Brigade Re- serve at Bezaumont. 5. On the afternoon of Nov. 9, the 2nd Bn., 365th Inf., was in Pont-a- Mousson, the 2nd Bn., 366th Inf., in the northern part of Foret de Facq, where they had been placed in preparation for the attack as specified above. The zero hour for the attack had been given for 5 A. M., November 10. 6. The plans for the attack were changed by telephone instructions from the Commanding General, 92nd Division, to the Commanding General, 183rd Brigade, received 12 :45 A. M., Nov. 10. These instructions were to the effect that the second American Army would attack on the morning of Nov. 10 at 7 :00 A. M. ; that the 92nd Division would attack at that hour, pushing the advance as expeditiously as possible, and holding all captured ground. Telephone messages were immediately sent the attacking troops, changing the hour for the attack from 5 :00 to 7 :00 A. M. The Commanding General, 183rd Brigade, with the Brigade Adjutant, started out at 2 :00 A. M. by auto- mobile to consult the Commanding Officer, 365th Inf. and 366th Inf., with reference to the change in plans. Both of these officers were notified as to the new plans, and given preliminary instructions as to their execution. The Brigade Reserve Bn. was ordered alerted and moved to Camp Schnable, Foret de Facq. The supporting artillery was notified as to the change of plans. 7. At 6 :15 A. M., Nov. 10, F. 0. No. 24, C. S. 92nd Div. was received. At 7:00 A. M., Nov. 10, attack as specified in Operation Orders No. 7 above was launched. At 7 :25 A. M., F. 0. No. 19, 183rd Brigade, was issued. This order was based on F. 0. No. 24, 92nd Division, as above, and required the advance to be pushed bej'-ond the objective as ordered in Operation Order No. 7. It was in accord with verbal instructions given Regimental Commanders the early morning of Nov. 10. 8. At 8:00 A. M., information was received that the French Division on our right was not attacking. Telephone instructions were then sent to the Commanding Officer 366th Inf. to hold his 3rd Bn. in C. R. Seille, and to have his 3rd Bn. maintain liaison between the French Division on our right and the attacking troops. At 8:12 A. M., a pigeon message was received from the C. 0. 2nd Bn., 366th Inf., by runner, and relayed by telephone, to the effect that the Bois Voivrotte had been completely occupied and that three prisoners had been taken. At 9:00 A. M. a message was received that sharp fighting by machine guns was going on in the Bois Voivrotte and the Bois Frehaut. At 10:00 A. M., a runner message was received from the Commanding Officer, 2nd Bn., 365th Inf., to the effect that they were being heavily shelled THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 151 in the Bois Frehaut by enemy artillery, and requesting counter battery fire ; it was also stated that their advance had almost reached the northern edge of Bois Frehaut. Heavy artillery was asked to counter-fire on enemy artillery, which they promptly did. At 10 :30 A. M. a message from the Division was received that the attack of the 367th Inf., 184th Brigade, had been repulsed (on our left), but that two companies were being sent forward to reinforce their attack. At 11 :15 A. M., a message from the C. 0. 2nd Bn., 365th Inf., to the effect that Bois Frehaut Vv-as completely occupied, that Boches were shelling woods with gas and high explosives, and requesting counter battery fire. At 11 :16, Heavy Artillery asked to counter fire on German battery, which they promptly did. At 11 :30, the Commanding General, 167th F. A. Brigade, called in con- sultation in reference to artillery preparation for a further advance. After consultation, it was decided to bring forward reinforcements, and to launch a new attack on the strong enemy positions of Champey, Bouxieres, and La Cote at 5 :00 P. M. 11 :50 — Telephonic orders to Commanding Officer, 365th Inf., to move his 1st Bn. to the northern edge of Foret de Facq as Brigade reserve, and to move his P. C. to C. R. Les Menils, and take command of the advancing troops of his regiment. 12:00 M. — Information from Commanding General, 92nd Div., that one Bn., 368 Inf., was moving to Pont-a-Mousson, east bank of river, as reserve of 183rd Brigade; that 368th Inf., less one Bn., would be concentrated at Camp Schnable as Division Reserve. 1 :05 P. M.— F. 0. No. 20, 183rd Brigade, issued ; 2 :00 P. M., 365th Inf. reports capture one Boche, Bois Frehaut. 3 :05 P. M.— Telephonic message from C. O. 2nd Bn., 366th Inf., that he had withdrawn his lines to southern edge of Bois Voivrotte because of heavy enemy shelling, high explosives and gas in woods. 3:55 P. M. — Orders received from Commanding General, 92nd Division, not to launch attack as planned for 5 :00 P. M., but to consolidate positions gained, holding them at all costs against possible counter-attacks. 4:00 P. M. — Telephonic message sent Commanding Officer 365th-366th Inf., C. G. 167th F. A. Brigade to this eflPect. 4:10 P. M. — Operation Memo. Hq. 183rd Brigade issued. 5 :50 P. M.— Telephonic instructions to C. 0. 365th Inf., 366th Inf., and C. G. 167th F. A. that attack specified in F. O. No. 20 would be made at 5 :00 A. M. on Nov. 11. 6 :00 P. M.— F. 0. No. 21 issued. 6 :30 P. M. — F. 0. No. 25cs 92nd Division received. 152 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY 7 :30 P. M.— Message from C. 0. 365th Inf. that 1st Bn. was moving into Bois Prehaut to support of 2nd Bn. Nowmher 11. — 5 :(X) A. M,, attack launched as ordered in F. 0. No. 21. Attacking troops met by strong enemy artillery, machine gun and in- fantry fire. Troops on right had reached the outskirts of Bouxieres by 7 :30 A. M. Troops on left had advanced a short distance, but had been forced to retire to woods.' 7:18 A. M. — Telephonic message from Division to the effect that Armis- tice signed, effective at 11 hours, 11th Nov. ; that all hostilities must cease at that hour. All firing ordered stopped by our troops by 10 :45 A. M. Firing stopped promptly at that hour. The line held by our troops at the cessation of hostilities was as follows : Line shown by co-ordinates. Map, Pont-a-Mousson, 1/20,000. 65-97; 76; 98 (Ferme de Ponce) ; 81:02 (N. W. corner) Bois Frehaut; 92-02, N. W. corner Bois Frehaut, 93-01 ; 95-01 ; 95-95 ; 01-96, N. W. corner Bois Voivrotte; 07-97, N. E. comer Bois Voivrotte; 06-92, La Voivi'otte Ferme ; 02-87 ; Norroy, thence East and S. E. as formerly held ; 19-86 ; Bois Cheminot, held as an advance post. 9. The enemy units engaged between the Moselle and the Seille were, from west to east, the 86th and 30th Regiments of Infantry, 31st Landwehr Brigade, and the 47th Infantry Regiment. These regiments were supported by one Bn. of Sharpshooters. East of the Seille river were the 70th Infantry Regiment and the 6th Grenadiers, formerly 10th Division. 10. Summary: (a) Our advance was for about a depth of 3i/'2 kilo- meters. When this Brigade took over the sector just east of the Moselle river there was a deep re-entrant next to the river, due to the St. Mihiel drive which advanced the line several kilometers on west bank of the Moselle river, while the line on the east bank remained in place. The attack on the morning of Nov. 10, by the units of this Brigade, wiped out this re-entrant, by advancing our lines on the east bank of the Moselle river a distance of 21^4 km- The advance thus made was held against heavy artillery and machine gun fire and high concentration of gas. The attack was renewed on the morning of Nov. 11, lines being advanced a distance of 3^4 km., an original line. Our liaison with the troops west of the river was thereby greatly improved. (b) A total of six prisoners was captured; three in the Bois Frehaut and three in the Bois Voivrotte. (c) The following material was captured: 1,000 (approximately) gren- ades, all types; 5,000 (approximately) rounds ammunition; 25 (approxi- mately) boxes M. G. ammunition, in belts; 50 (approximately) rifles and bayonets, 10 (approximately) pairs field glasses, 4 (approximately) machine THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 153 gims, 6 carrier pigeons, 1 signal lamp and battery, 2 Verey pistols, 3 carbide lamps, 100 helmets. Many overcoats, boots, canteens, belts, and other articles of equipment were left by the fleeing enemy. (d) The following were our casualties: Killed Wounded Gassed Missing Total 365th Infantry 14 67 211 8 300 366th Infantry 17 52 63 132 350th M. G. Battalion 1 11 12 Total 32 119 285 8 444 (e) Full use was made of auxiliary arms, machine guns, 37 mm. guns, Stokes mortars, and rifle grenades. All of these weapons, except Stokes mortars, were brought into play in the heavy fighting in the Bois Frehaut to combat enemy machine-gun nests. 37 mm. guns were pushed well to the front when direct fire at machine-gun positions could be obtained. It was to the extensive use of these w^eapons that the rapid advance through the Bois Frehaut was due. Machine guns were used frequently to cover the flanks of the attacking infantry. They aided materially in protecting the N. E. corner of the Bois Frehaut from an enemy counter-attack from Bouxieres. Trench mortars were placed in position after the Frehaut woods were taken, to cover the new front. (f ) No tank or gas troops were available for this attack. Regtl. and Bn. gas officers and N. C. O.'s rendered valuable assistance in disinfecting in- fected areas, posting gas alarm sentinels, and upholding gas discipline. (g) The divisional artillery supported both attacks with a rolling bar- rage, preceding the troops. These barrages were very well laid and proved effective. It also rendered valuable work in placing heavy concentration fire on enemy strong points and machine-gun nests. Its counter-battery work was excellent. (h) The attack was executed over a very difficult terrain. For a distance of about li/o kni. in front of our lines, the terrain was open, heavily wired with a downward slope. It was well registered by the enemy artillery, as the numerous shell holes over its surface indicated. The Bois Frehaut is a wood of about 1,500 meters square and breaks the western half of the sector at- tacked, about 700 meters to the east of the Bois Voivrotte, a small wood about GOO meters square. Both of these woods were a mass of heavy German wire, much of it new. Their edges were protected by bands of heavy wire and chevaux-de-frise. Both of these woods were at the foot of and north of the ridge of which Eon hill, a hill 358 meters high, is the summit. From their southern slopes the ground rises slightly for a distance of about 700 meters, 154 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY then falls again to a deep ravine traversing the Bois Frehaut from east to west. It then rises again, culminating in La Cote hill, a hill 1,500 meters north of the Bois Frehaut,- and 87 meters higher than the highest point of the Bois Frehaut, namely, Hill 260.8. This hill is heavily wooded on its summit, and was strongly held by infantry, machine guns, trench mortars, and light artillery. The southern slopes of this hill were protected by a small wood about 500 meters square about 200 meters north of the Bois Frehaut and by the strongly fortified towns of Bouxieres and Champey. These towns, together with the small wood in question, were heavily garrisoned by enemy infantry and machine guns. They formed together a dominating and strongly organized position, protected by heavy bands of wire. Numerous tank traps had been prepared south of this position. These positions dominated the Bois Voivrotte, the Bois Frehaut and the ground to the north. Conclusion. — The lines held by the Germans were unusually strong, Taeing the result of four years of stabilization in that sector. Their artillery was most active, as unquestionably during these years they had registered on every point of importance in the sector. Furthermore, their positions were the first line of defense of Metz. The troops occupying them were young efficient men and not old soldiers from a rest sector. From the time we entered the sector, our patrols were very active, so much so that we took complete possession of "no-man's-land." After the first few days we were unable to find any German patrols outside their lines. Previous to November 10, we made several reconnaissances in force (that is, employing a company in each instance) to ascertain if the Germans were still holding their lines. The abundance of machine-gun fire developed in each case, showed that they were. Our attack on the morning of November 10 was the first offensive move made by the Brigade which required artillery preparation. The Command- ing Officers of units making the attack, and also of the artillery, were con- stantly stating that they were hurried into these movements without proper preparation. Had they been familiar with such operations, the time allowed would have been sufficient. Our artillery was having its first experience in the line and was meeting with the usual difficulties : Lack of transportation, unfamiliarity with sector, little opportunity to register on probable targets, etc. There is no doubt that some details of the operation were not carried out as well as might have been done by more experienced troops. These were the results of mistaken judgment due to lack of experience, rather than to lack of the offensive spirit. These minor features have no effect on the gen- eral outcome. From my intimate contact with the troops making these attacks, I can THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 155 state definitely that these men were just finding themselves. The improve- ment in the aggressive spirit from day to day was manifest. As a summary, I desire to again call attention to the following: Ist, that we were operating in a sector that had been organized for defense against us for over four years, and was made unusually strong on account of being in front of the great fortress Metz ; 2nd, that our inexperienced troops were operating against trained soldiers of the greatest military power of the world ; 3rd, that from the time we entered the sector our troops were constantly on the offensive; 4th, to the success that was obtained, viz., removing the re- entrant and advancing our lines SYo kilometers. (Signed) Malvern Hill Barnum, Brigadier General, U. S. A. Major A. E. Sawkins, commanuing- the Second Battalion of the 366tli Infantry, in referring to the same offensive operations of November lOth and 11th, 1918, said : 2nd Battalion, 366th Infantry, 17th November, 1918. FROM: Battalion Commander. TO: Commanding General, 92nd Division. SUBJECT: Conduct of troops in action. 1. Reference to action in which this battalion was engaged in Bois de la Voivrotte on 10th and 11th November, 1918, the following report is made on conduct of officers and men while in action. Troops : 2nd Bn. 366th Infantry, Company C, 350th M. G. Bn. attached. Company A, 366th Infantry, Officers and men deserving special mention have been recommended in other communications. An observation of the general conduct of officers and men is the reason for this report. / desire especially to call to the attention of the Division Commander the fact that the handling of their units hy the company and platoon commanders was all tlmt could he expected from the vfJDst experienced ojjlcers. There was an absolute lack of any disorder, and I cannot say too much in praise of the manner in which these officers handled their men. The men responded as though at a maneuver, and although without food or sleep for 48 hours at time of the attack on morning of the nth November, the men went into action in such a manner that I feel proud to command such fine, soldierly troops. (Signed) A. E. Saw^kins, Major 366th Infantry. 156 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY The Commanding General of the 92nd Division reported as to these operations of November 10-11, 1918, as follows : HEADQUARTERS NINETY-SECOND DIVISION American Expeditionary Forces A. P. 0. 766 30 November, 1918. FEOM: The Commanding General, 92nd Division. TO: The A. C. of S., G-3, G. H. Q. SUBJECT: Report on Operations 10-11 November, 1918. 1. This report made pursuant to paragraph 3, G. 0. 196, G. H. Q., American Expeditionary Forces, 1918, embodies the operations of this Divi- sion during the period 10-llth November, 1918. (1) Situation at Beginning of Operations On November 9, 1918, it having been reported that the enemy, disor- ganized, was retreating along the entire front, the Commanding General of the 2nd Army, of which this division is an element, gave the order for an attack at 7 hours, 10th November, 1918, along its entire front, following the enemy in his withdrawal, pushing with all energy to secure decisive results, and holding all ground taken. The mission assigned to the Division was to push forward west of the Seille river, along the heights on both banks of the Moselle river in the direction of Corny, maintaining liaison with the 32nd Army Corps (French) and the 7th Division on the left. The western boun- dary of its zone of action being the same but extending north — Preny (Excl.) — Gorze (excl.). At the beginning of operations 10th November, 1918, the 92nd Division of the 6th Corps, 2nd Army, with three regiments in line and one in reserve, P. C. Marbache, held the Marbache sector, constituting the existing front of the 6th Corps and extending from Clemery (Excl.) to Prenj'- (Excl.). The 165th D. I. (Fr.), P. C. Custines, occupied the sector on the right. The 7th Division, P. C. Euvezin, occupied the sector on the left. The Divisional limits were as follows: Eastern Boundary, — Port-sur-Seille (inch) — Ste. Genevieve (inch) — ■ Bezamont (inch) — Ville-au-Val (incl.) — ^Autreville (inch) — Belleville (inch) — Marbache (incl.) — Sazerais (inch). Western Boundary. — Preny (excl.) — Eastern edges of B. des Rappes — Villers-sous-Preny (excl.) — about one kilom. west of Montauville— -Gezon- court (incl.) — Rogeville (inch). Southern Boundary. — Roiseres-en-Haye (excl.) — St. Georges (excl.). The portion of the sector east of the Moselle was divided into two sub- sectors. The dividing line being — Ste. Genevieve (inclusive) north through THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 157 southern portion of Foret de Facq to a point on the Atton-Morville road about two km. N. E. of Atton (381.2—234.6) then N. E. along road for 1 km. to road cross, then north by west along Ste-Genevieve-Les Mennils road to road cross at (381.5 — 236.5) (1:50,000) Cheminot map, thence east by north along road to front at point 383.0 — 237.2. This portion of the sector was organ- ized in successive positions, viz. : (a) A covering position consisting of a line of observation and a zone of resistance and including the special defense position of the region of Aon. (b) A position of resistance consisting of a high line and a low line. The garrison east of the Moselle consisted of the 183rd Brigade and elements of Divisional Machine-Gun Battalions (349th) with Division and corps artillery support. The 366th Infantry with one battalion in line, one battalion in support, one battalion in reserve, garrisoned the sub-sector east of the Division line. This will be referred to as C. R. Seille. The other sub-sector east of the Moselle was garrisoned by the 365th Infantry with two battalions in line and one in support. Tlie areas occupied by these two bat- talions were referred to as C. R. Les Mesnils and C. R. Mouson respectively. The region included between the Moselle and the western boundary of the division area was known as the C. R. Vandieres, it was garrisoned by the 367th Infantry with one battalion in line, one battalion in support, and one battalion in reserve. At the commencement of operations units of the Division were disposed in conformity with its defensive mission announced in F. 0. No. 19, Hqs. 92nd Division, 11 October, 18 (See Appendix "A"), and amplified by F. 0. No. 20, Hqs. 92nd Division, 24 October 18, Appendix "B," F. 0. No. 23, Hqs. 92nd Division, 8 November, 1918 (See Appendix "C"). In the event of forward movement, advance P. C.'s had been selected after reconnaissance and had been announced. The Division advance P. C. was at Ville-aurVal. On 10 November, 1918, at 3 :30 hours, F. 0. No. 4, Hqs. 6th Army Corps issued prescribing interalia as follows: "1. It is reported that the enemy, disorganized, is withdrawing along the entire front. "The second army will attack at 7 hours, 10th November, and follow closely the enemy in his withdrawal, pushing him with all energy to secure decisive results, and holding all grounds taken. "2. The 6th Army Corps will attack in conjunction with the 4th Army Corps on the left. "3. (a) The 92nd Division will push fonvard west of the Seille River along the heights on both sides of the Moselle River in direction of Corny. It will maintain liaison with the 32nd Army Corps (Fr.) on its right and the 158 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY 7th Division on its left; Western boundary of its zone of action being as at present, extended North as follows : Preny (exel.) — Gorze (excl.). * ' Artillery taken forward will be limited to that which can be fully horsed and adequately supplied with ammunition. **(b) Corps Artillery. Counter battery work on such targets as may be designated by the Chief of Artillery. "(c) TJie 115tli Engineers. Company D at disposal of Commanding General, 92nd Division. Regiment (less Company D) will await orders in Foret de Puvenelle. It will be in readiness to promptly repair the bridge across the Moselle River at Pont-a-Mouson and to open and maintain road communications North therefrom. "(d) Tlie Cliief of Air Service will make the necessary assignments of Artillery, infantry and command planes, and will prescribe the observation to be executed by the 10th Balloon Company. "(e) Corps Signal Troops will maintain communication between 92nd Division, Corps Artillery, 115th Engineers, Corps Air service and these head- quarters. " *********** In conformity with the foregoing, the Division Commander having re- ceived advance information, issued F. 0. No. 24, Hqs. 92nd Division, 3 hours, 10 November, 1918, as follows : HEADQUARTERS 92nD DIVISION AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES, A. P. 0. 766, 10 November, 1918, 3 hours. Field Order No. 24. 1. 2nd Army attacks at 7 hours, 10 November, 1918. 6th Corps attacks with Western boundary same as at present, extending north — Preny (excl.; Gorze (excl.). Eastern limit of action — Seille River. 2. 92nd Division will attack in direction of Corny, advancing from present front at 7 hours, 10 November, 1918. Decisive results will be ob- tained and all ground taken will be held. 3. (a) Division Artillery wall support advance with standing and roll- ing barrage east of the Moselle in initial phase of advance, thereafter follow- ing advancing infantry with all mobile elements and supporting further ad- vance as occasion presents. (b) 183d Infantry Brigade will attack east of the Moselle River with elements of two battalions in line maintaining liaison with the 165th Division (Fr.) on the right. (c) 367th Infantry will attack west of the Moselle with two companies in line maintaining close contact with elements of the 7th Division on its left. (X) Liaison between advancing elements east and west of the Moselle THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 159 will be maintained by all means possible. Strong combat liaison between all advancing elements will be maintained and liaison from front to rear will be given particular attention. (Y) Division reserve will await orders in alert positions. 4. Administrative instructions follow. 5. P. C.'s later. By command of Major General Ballon. (Signed) Allen J. Greer, Colonel, General Staff. Chief of Staff. The detailed dispositions of the infantry and artillery units in each of these C. R.'s (Centers of Resistance) are shown in the annexed reports of the Commanding General, 183rd Brigade, Commanding General 167th Field Ar- tillery Brigade, and the C. 0. 367th Infantry, which are hereto appended, and marked appendices "D," "E," and "F" respectively. (2) Tlie Attack — A Chronological Stateme7it of Enemy Units Engaged — Time and Place. 1918 9 November, 23 hour. Instructions received from 6th Army Corps in advance of F. 0. No. 4, 6th Army Corps, 10 November, 1918, relative to pro- jected offensive along front of 2nd Army. 9 Nov. 23 hr.— Instinictions given to C. G. 183rd Brig., C. G. 167th F. A. Brig., C. 0. 337th Inf., relative to projected attack and in advance of F. 0. No. 24, Hqs. 92nd Div., issued. 10 Nov. 3 hr. — 10 November, 1918, at 3 hours. The exact time when these instructions were received and detailed action taken shown on ap- pended reports. 10 Nov. 4 hr.— Received F. 0. No. 4, Hqs. 6th Army Corps, dated 10 November, 3 -.30 hrs., prescribing attack and confirming telephone instructions. 10 Nov. 7 hr.— Attack initiated along front east of :Mosclle between Moselle and Seille Rivers. Division reserve in alert position at the time of the attack. 10 Nov. 8 hr. — Information received that the French Division on right was not attacking, whereupon C. 0. 365th Infantry was directed to hold 3rd Battalion in C. R. Seille maintaining liaison with the French on right. 10 Nov. 9 :30 hr. — Attack by 367th Infantry west of :Moselle not prose- cuted because of failure of the 56th Infantry, 7th Division, to capture Preny. The report of the C. 0. 367th Infantry at pages 2 and 3 shows the facts and reasons. 10 Nov. 11 hr. — All first objectives east of ^loselle were attained. The exact progress of the attack and orders and messages sent and received are 160 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY shown clearly in the appendices. They are not reproduced in great detail here. 11 Nov. 1 :40 hr. — C. G. 184th Brig, directed to proceed with two remain- ing battalions and other remaining combat elements of the 184th Brigade to Foret de Facq, locating P. C. at crossroads at 382,5 — 233.3. Field and com- bat trains to same position after dark. Command to be placed off road await- ing employment. 11 Nov. 3 :59 — Artillery directed to put down barrage on northern edge of Bois de la Voivrotte, this point not being occupied by our troops. 11 Nov. 4:13 — Five o'clock advance called off. Divisional Artillery and 6th Corps notified. Advance troops directed to organize first position. 11 Nov. 16 :30— Received F. 0. No. 5, 6th Army Corps, 10 November, 1918, 18 hr., directing continuation attk. 10 Nov. 18 hr.— Issued F. 0. 25, Hqs. 92nd Division, 10 November, 1918, 18 hr. (Annxd. as appendix **G"), continuation of attack directed. 11 Nov. 5 hr. — Attack launched on front of 183rd Brigade between SeiUe and Moselle Rivers, direction as before. 7:10 hr. — Information from 6th A. C. received that armistice had been signed, effective 11 hr., 11 November, 1918. Attacking troops met by strong enemy artillery, machine-gun and infantry fire. 11 Nov. 10:45 A. M. — All firing by our troops ceased in accordance with armistice. (3) Statement of Enemy Units Engaged, Time and Place. Inasmuch as the 367th Infantry operating west of the Moselle made no advance due to the fact that it was necessary that the 7th Division should first capture Preny before an advance was practicable. No report is made here of enemy units engaged west of Moselle. The same condition applies under subheads (4) and (5) of this report. The report of the Commanding General of the 183rd Brigade under these heads is adopted with some modifi-^ cations as the report of the Division and to that extent is embodied herein. The enemy units engaged by elements of the 183rd Brigade between the Moselle and the Seille were, from west to east, the 96th and 30th regiments of infantry, 31st Landwehr Brigade, and the 47th Infantry regiment. These regiments were supported by one battalion of sharpshooters. East of the Seille River the 70th Infantry regiment and the 6th Grenadiers, formerly 10th Division, were encountered. See report of the Commanding General 183rd Brigade, appended. (4) SumwMry. Our advance was for a depth of 31/2 km. When this Brigade took over the sector Just east of the Moselle River there was a deep re-entrant next to the river, due to the St. Mihiel drive, which advanced the line several kms. THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 161 on the west bank of the Moselle, while the line on the east bank remained in place. The attack on the morning of the 10th of November, by one battalion, 365th Infantry, and the Machine Gun company of that regiment, and one battalion 366th Infantry supported by Company C, 350th Machine Gun Bat- talion, wiped out this re-entrant, by advancing our lines on the east bank of the Moselle River a distance of 2i/2 km. The advance thus made was held against heavy artillery and machine- gun fire and high concentration of gas. The attack was renewed on the morning of the 11th, the lines being advanced to the northern edge of the Bois Frehaut, a distance of 31/2 km. from an original line. Our liaison with the troops west of the line was thereby greatly improved. The line held by our troops at the cessation of hostilities was as follows: (Details already given). A total of six prisoners were captured, three in the Bois Frehaut and three in the Bois Voivrotte. The following material was captured: 1,000 grenades, 5,000 rounds of ammunition, 25 boxes of M-G ammunition in belts, 50 rifles and belts, 10 pair of field glasses, 4 machine-guns, 6 carrier pigeons, 1 signal lamp and battery, 2 Verey pistols, 3 carbide lamps, 100 helmets, many overcoats, boots, canteens, belts, and other equipment left by the fleeing Germans. The following were our casualties: Killed Wounded Gassed Missing Total 365th Infantry 14 67 211 8 300 366th Infantry 17 52 63 132 350th M-G Battalion 1 11 12 Total for Brigade 32 119 285 8 444 Full use was made of auxiliary arms for this attack — Machine-guns, 37- mm. guns, Stokes mortars, and rifle grenades. No tank or gas troops were available for the action. The Divisional Artillery supported both attacks, with a rolling barrage preceding the troops in placing heavy concentration fire on enemy strong points and machine-gun nests. The attack was executed over a very difficult terrain. For a distance of about 11/2 km. in front of our lines the terrain was open, heavily wired, with a downward slope. It was well registered by the enemy artillery as the numerous shell-holes over its surface indicated. The Bois Frehaut is a wood of about 1,500 meters square and breaks the western half of the sector at- tacked, about 700 meters to the east of the Bois Frehaut, and about on a line 162 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY with the southern edge of the Bois Voivrotte, a small wood of about 600 square meters. Both of these woods were a mass of heavy German wire, much of it new. Their edges were protected by heavy bands of wire and chevaux- de-frise. Both of these woods were at the foot of and north of the ridge of which Eon hill, a hill 358 meters high, is the summit. From their southern slopes, the ground rises slightly for a distance of about 700 meters, then falls again to a deep ravine traversing the Bois Frehaut from east to west. It then rises again, culminating in La Cote hill, a hill 1,500 meters north of Bois Frehaut and 87 meters higher than the highest point of the Bois Frehaut, namely Hill 260.8. This hill is heavily wooded on its summit and strongly held by infantry, machine guns, trench mortars and light artillery. The southern slopes of this hill were protected by a small wood about 500 meters square, about 200 meters north of the Bois Frehaut and by the strongly fortified towns of Bouxieres and Champey. These towns together with the small wood in question were heavily garrisoned by infantry and machine guns. They formed together a dominating and strongly organized position protected by heavy bands of wire. Numerous tank traps had been prepared south of this position. These positions dominated the Bois Voivrotte, the Bois Frehaut and the ground to their north. In the area west of the Lloselle, the ground in front of the position slopes to the north into a basin with little or no cover. On the west Preny heights rise precipitously out of the plain and the town and citadel dominate the entire basin up to Preny and beyond. This basin is enfiladed from the right by enemy artillery N. E. to S. E. over an are of 140 degrees in part by direct fire. Moulon creek crosses the basin from west to east about 1 km. in front of position. Creek line formerly held by enemy as advanced night outpost, taken by us and held for same purpose. This line in daylight can be reached by infiltration or by patrols but owing to flanking fire from Preny has been found untenable except at night, any small body of troops attracting both machine-gun and artillery fire under conditions of fair visibility. At the time of our attack east of the Moselle, there was no general re- tirement immediately on our front. A vigorous resistance was interposed by the enemy. The attack was made on very brief preparation, too brief in view of the strength of the enemy positions, which were very strongly held. The wire entanglements about Bouxieres rendered a very considerable artillery preparation necessary to make a further advance possible. The attack was to have been continued with this preparation had not the armistice occurred. A decided improvement in offensive spirit and aggressive action was shown by all troops engaged. (Signed) Charles H. Maetin, Major General Commanding. THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 163 After the Armistice Was Signed Immediately following the signing of the armistice, the 92nd Division was named among those divisions scheduled to embark for the United States in the first available transportation. The various units of the division were withdrawn gradually from front line posi- tions to back areas for rest and renovation. At this time the rail facilities of France were taxed to the utmost in transporting supplies into the area to be occupied by the allied armies according to the terms of the armistice. In addition to the hundreds of troop trains going forward daily, all wagon roads lead- ing toward the region of the upper Rhine were crowded with troops forming the army of occupation. After waiting five weeks at Mar- bache, transportation w^as finally supplied and the Division moved down to Maronne for entrainment on the lOtli of December, 1918. Leaving Maronne between the 19th and 22nd of December the ele- ments of the Division arrived at Mayenne, in the zone of the embarka- tion center, on the morning of the 24th of December. Pending orders to move forward to Brest, the units of the Division were billeted in the following to\vns and villages : Mayenne, Ambrieres, Domfront, La Chapelle, Couterne, Lassay, Villaines, Javron. In this section, formerly a part of old Brittany, many evidences remain of the ear- liest days of the country's settlement. One of the principal roads leading through the section w^as laid out by Julius Caesar, more than fifty years before the birth of Christ ; at Domfront the old fort built by the Roman legions remains in a remarkable state of preservation. The language of the ancient Bretons is often spoken by the people at this time. Five weeks were spent in this area completing preliminaries incident to embarkation and waiting for transportation to the sea- board. The last units left Mayenne on the 29th of January, passing through the forwarding camp at Le Mans and arriving at Brest the first week in Febiniary. The first transports left Brest bearing our troops homeward on the 5th of February and were followed by others throughout the month and until the 12th of March, when the last unit of the 92nd Division landed at Hoboken, completing nine months of foreign service. 164 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Casualties of the Division The total number of casualties in the 92nd Division was as follows : Officers Enlisted Men Killed in action 6 208 Died of wounds 1 40 Died of Disease 1 43 Died of other causes 9 Severely wounded 6 203 Slightly wounded 46 348 Gassed 43 672 Missing 20 103 1,543 Total— 1,646 Personal Conduct of Troops The statistics of the Judge Advocate's Department show that the individual conduct of the soldiers of the 92nd Division was highly creditable. Both in number of offenses committed against military law and the nature of the offenses, the record of the 92nd. Division compares most favorably with that of any other Division in the American Expeditionary Forces. The only case of a conviction with death penalty assessed applied to a soldier who was not a member of the 92nd Division, but whose trial was held in the Division's courts for convenience. During the month of October, twelve hundred enlisted men were granted furloughs with privilege of visiting Aix-lcs-Bains, the leave center for soldiers of the American Expeditionary Forces. The report of the Commanding Officer of Aix-les-Bains leave area is referred to in the copy of General Order 31 given below : HEADQUARTERS 92nD DmSION AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES A. P. 0. 766 .T^'November, 1918. General Orders No. 31. 1. The Division Commander desires to make known to the members of this command the fact of his appreciation of the exemplary conduct of the THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 165 men composing the first and second leave quotas at Aix-les-Bains during October, 1918. The Commanding Officer of Aix-les-Bains reports that the neatness, gen- eral appearance, and military courtesy of the men of the 92nd Division while on leave, was highly commendable. By Command of Major General Ballou. (Signed) Allen J, Greer, Colonel, General Staff, Chief of Staff. Official : EdW. J. TURGEON, Major, Infantry. Adjutant, The Artillery Brigade From the outset of the 92nd 's organization, it was a problem to get together and build up an artillery brigade that would in all essentials be thoroughly efficient and dependable. In such warfare as the European war entailed, the artillery arm was of the greatest importance. It was doubted whether or not an artilleiy brigade made up of Negro soldiers could be developed and sufficiently trained in the technique of artillery to make an effective fighting artillery unit. Men were needed for this branch of the service who were educated and who could be depended upon to know fractions and be able to read scales, deflections, and other technical details. In the ordinary run of the enlistment, the draft did not furnish enough men qualified along these lines to build up the artillery regiments, and it therefore became necessary for the officers of the artillery brigade to make special canvasses to secure a sufficient number of qualified men. In this work, voluntary enlistments were called for. In the course of time enough men were enlisted to make up the Artillery Brigade. Tuskegee Institute furnished a group of students. Baltimore, Pittsburg and other cities furnished men from the high schools and other institutions. Through this special canvass the great bulk of the artillery troops was secured. In recruiting these men, specially qualified for the artillery regi- ments, through the process of voluntary enlistments, much credit is due the following officers of the Brigade: General John H. Sher- burne, Colonels Fred T. Austin, William E. Cole, Dan T. Moore; Lieutenant-Colonels Walter E. Prosser, Edward L. Carpenter, 166 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Cliarles L. Blakely; Captains Royal F. Nash, William Heffner, and Lieut. Harry K. Tootle. The last named officer made personal can- vasses in the churches and schools of Pittsburg and other cities. As a result of this plan of building up the Artillery Brigade, the three regiments were made up of picked men, forming the first artil- lery brigade of Negroes ever organized in the world. During the training period and afterward on the battlefield, General Sherburne frequently expressed the opinion that his artillerymen were the equals of any artillerymen in the American Expeditionary Forces. Even during the short time in which the artillery was engaged, the high degree of efficiency was evidenced by the accuracy and effective- ness of their barrages and bombardments as laid down by these Negro gunners. The following is a copy of the last General Order issued to the Brigade by General Sherburne just before his transfer from the Division to take up other duties : HEADQUARTERS 167th FIELD ARTILLERY BRIGADE 92nd division, a. e. f. 3 February, 1919, General Orders No. 1. 1. In leaving the 167th Field Artillery Brigade, to take up other duties, the Brigade Commander wishes to record in General Orders the entire satis- faction it has given him to have commanded the Brigade, the first Brigade of Negro artillerymen ever organized. The satisfaction is due to the excellent record the men have made. Undertaking a work that was new to them, they brought to it faithfulness, zeal, and patriotic fervor. They went into the line and conducted themselves in a manner to win the praise of all. They had been picked for important work in an offensive which had been planned to start after November 11. 2. The Brigade Commander will ever cherish the words of the Com- mander-in-Chief, the compliments he paid in all sincerity to this Brigade, while he watched it pass in review last Wednesday. He wishes the Brigade to understand that these words of appreciation were invoked because each man has worked conscientiously and unflaggingly to make the organization a success. 3. The Brigade Commander feels that he should also make an acknowl- edgment in General Orders of the remarkable esprit-de-corps displayed by the officers of the brigade. They were pioneers in a field where, at the start, success was problematical. This being the first brigade of its kind ever organized, it has been only natural that the work of the men should have THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 167 featured prominently, yet the same prominence and the same praise should be accorded the officers. While the Brigade Commander takes this occasion to praise splendid work, he believes the greatest praise will come from the men themselves, not only now, but ever in greater measure when they have returned to civilian life and have secured the perspective of time and ex- perience that will teach them how fortunate they were in making the race's initial effort as artillerymen under officers who were both skillful artillei*}'- men and sympathetic leaders. By Command of Brigadier General Sherburne. (Signed) H.\i{UY King Tootle, First Lt. F. A., U. S. A. Acting Adjutant. Praised by General Pershing The passage in the foregoing General Order from General Sher- burne, in which allusion is made to the compliments from the Com- mander-in-Chief, refers to the address delivered to the assembled units of the 92nd Division at Le Mans on the 28th of January, 1919. On this occasion General Pershing reviewed the troops of the Divi- sion for the last time before its embarkation for the United States. In the course of his address to the officers and soldiers of the Divi- sion, the Commander-in-Chief, General Pershing, said: "I want you officers and soldiers of the 92nd Division to know that the 92nd Division stands second to none in the record you have made since your arrival in France. I am proud of the part you have played in the great conflict which ended on the 11th of November, yet you have only done what the American people expected you to do and you have measured up to every expectation of the Commander- in-Chief. I realize that you did not get into the game as early as some of the other units, but since you took over your first sector you have acquitted yourselves with credit, and I believe that if the armistice had not become effective on the 11th day of November, the 92nd would have still further distinguished itself. I commend the 92nd Division for its achievements not only in the field, but on the record its men have made in their individual conduct. The American public has every reason to be proud of the record made by the 92nd Division." The following memorandum, issued on the date on which Major General Ballon left the Division as Commander to take up other 168 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY duties to which, he had been transferred, marks the last official order from the officer to whom, more than to any other individual, is due the credit for orgamzing and training the first Division of American Negro soldiers ever placed in the field : HEADQUARTERS 92nD DIVISION American Expeditionary Forces A. P. 0. 766 18 November, 1918. Me^norandum: Five months ago today the 92nd Division landed in France. After seven weeks of training, it took over a sector in the front line, and since that time some portion of the Division has been practically continuously under fire. It participated in the last battle of the war with creditable success, continuously pressing the attack against highly organized defensive works. It advanced successfully on the first day of the battle, attaining its objectives and capturing prisoners. This in the face of determined opposition by an alert enemy, and against rifle, machine-gun and artillery fire. The issue of the second day's battle was rendered indecisive by the order to cease firing at eleven A. M. — when the armistice became eifective. The Division Commander, in taking leave of what he considers himself justly entitled to regard as Ms Division, feels that he has accomplished his mission. His work is done and will endure. The results have not always been brilliant, and many times were discouraging, yet a well organized, well disciplined and well trained colored Division has been created and commanded by him to include the last shot of the war. May the future conduct of every officer and man be such as to reflect credit upon the Division and upon the Colored race. By Command of Major General Ballou : (Signed) Allen J. Gremi, Colonel, General Staff, Chief of Staff. Official: Edw. J. Turgeon^ Major, Infantry, x\djutant. Changes in Official Personnel Through the process of transfers and promotions, many changes occurred in the official personnel of the numerous elemenrs of the 92nd Division. The same was true on a larger scale of the entire THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 169 American Expeditionary Forces. In keeping with military methods of promotions, transfers, etc., every promotion, transfer, or discharge resulted in a chain of promotions or transfers or vacancies in all units affected. Through this method, every unit of the A. E. F. experienced a continual changing and shifting of its official personnel. This was true of Field officers as well as Staff officers. Among the names of officers who made up the Staff of the 92nd Division when it sailed for France in 1918, not one was on the roster when the Division returned. The following synopsis, with military record, of the Division Commanders gives an idea of the changes in the General Staff: Commanding General: — 1. Major General Charles C. Ballou : Born in Orange, Schuy- ler County, New York, June 13, 1862. Entered West Point June 6, 1882, by appointment from Fourth District, Illinois. Graduated June 12, 1886. Commissioned 2d Lt., 16tli Infantry, July 1, 1886, and served in that regiment in Texas, Utah, and Sioux campaign of 1890-91 in South Dakota. Promoted 1st Lt., 12th Infantry, April 23, 1893. Served in Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Georgia, Illinois, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Missouri. Mustered in 8th and 9tli Illinois Volunteers at Camp Tanner, 1898. Promoted Captain, 12th Infantry, March 2, 1902. Served in that regiment as captain in the Philippine Insurrection, during which time he participated in several battles and small actions. Name sent to Senate by President Roosevelt for confirmation for brevet of Major for ** distinguished gallantry in action near Anzeles, Luzon, P. I.," August 16, 1899. Quartermaster 12th Infantry. Transferred to 15th Infantry Feb- ruary, 1904. Quartermaster 15th Infantry. Commissary 15th Infan- try. Transferred to 12th Infantry, February, 1906. Detailed in Quartermaster Department October, 1908. Promoted Major 7th In- fantry, June 26, 1909. Duty in Quartermaster General's office 1909-10. Transferred to 24th Infantry in 1912. Lt. Colonel 24th Infantry February 7, 1915. Commanded 24th Infantry during por- tion of campaign in Mexico. Colonel of Infantry July 19, 1916. Con- ducted Training Camp for Colored Officers, Ft. Des Moines, Iowa, 1917. Brigadier General, August, 1917. Commanded Depot Brigade, Camp Dodge, Iowa, September and October, 1917. Major General, November 28, 1917. Organized, trained and commanded 92nd Divi- 170 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY sion, October 26, 1917, to November 19, 1918. Attended Infantry and Cavalry School at Ft. Leavenworth Field Officers' School, and War College, Five times in Philippine Islands. Sailed for France June 10, 1918. On front line August 24 to November 19, 1918. 2. Major General Chaeles H. Maetin : Commanded 86th Divi- sion prior to transfer to 92nd Division. Organized 86th Division at Camp Grant, 111. Camp Commander Camp Grant, 111., 1917-18. Commanded 92nd Division from November 19, 1918, to December 15, 1918. 3. Brigadier General James B. Eewin: Cadet U. S. Military Academy June 12, 1875. Second Lieutenant, Cavalry, June 12, 1880. First Lieutenant, 4th Cavalry, March 18, 1886. Captain, 4th Cavalry, March 18, 1896. Major, 9th Cavalry, April, 1903. Lieutenant Colonel, Inspector General's Department, May, 1911. Colonel, January, 1914. Brigadier General, August, 1917. With 82nd Divi- sion to December 27, 1917. Organized and served with 6th Division to December 14, 1918. Commanding 92nd Division since December 15, 1918. Honor Graduate Infantry and Cavalry schools, class 1883. Inspector General 1906-10 and 1911-15. Adjutant General Septem- ber, 1914-August, 1915. Served in Indian wars, Philippine Insurrec- tion, Punitive Expedition in Mexico, and European War, 1914-18. Aides-de-Camp: — Staff of General Ballon — Captain Chauncey Dewey. Staff of General Martin— Captain J. E. Eddy, Captain E. H. Spencer, Captain Gordon McCormick. Staff of General Erwin — Lieutenant Charles H. Cox, Lieutenant Henry B. Tompkins. Chiefs of Staff:— 1. Colonel Allen J. Geeee : Appointed Second Lieutenant, 4th Tennessee Volunteers, July 5, 1898. Second Lieutenant 4th Infantry, October 5, 1899. Appointed First Lieutenant, July 1, 1901. Trans- ferred to 26th Infantry, September 29, 1904. Twenty years con- tinuous service in grades of second and first lieutenants, captain and major in regular army. Appointed Lieutenant Colonel and assigned to duty as Chief of Staff, 92nd Division, November 2, 1917. Promoted to rank of Colonel, August, 1918. Continuous service as Chief of Staff with 92nd Division until December 4, 1918. 2. Colonel Geoege K. Wilson: Regular Army, May 1, 1898. THE NEGRO COMBAT DIVISION 171 Second Lieutenant, Infantry, June, 1900. First Lieutenant, May, 1904. Captain, April, 1915. Major, August, 1917. Lieutenant Colonel, June, 1918. Colonel, October, 1918. Transferred to 92nd Division as Chief of Staff, December 4, 1918. Assistant Chiefs of Staff: — Lieutenant Colonel James P. Barney, Major Frederick P. Sclioonmaker, Lieutenant Colonel Van L. Willis, Major Cliarles S. Buck, Major Donald J. McLachlan, Lieutenant Colonel John D. Sayles, Major Harding Polk, Major H. L. Taylor, Lieutenant Colonel James L. Cochran. Division A djutants : — Major Sherburne Whipple, Captain Edward J. Turgeon (Act- ing), Major Alfred E. Sawkins, Major Ralph H. Leavitt, Major Edward J. Turgeon. Division Inspectors: — Major Robert P. Harbold, Major Clifford D. Davidson, Major Clifford B. King, Major Clift"ord D. Davidson. Division Quartermasters : — Colonel Edward L. Glasgow, Major Odiorne H. Sampson, Major Joseph T. Byrne. Division Surgeon: — Lieutenant Colonel Perry L. Boyer, Lieutenant Colonel Jonas T. White. Division Ordnance Officer: — Major Philip S. Gage, Captain Warner F. Russell. Division Judge Advocate: — Major Alfred M. Craven, Major Adam E. Patterson. Visitors to the Division During the sojourn of the 92nd Division in France, several dis- tinguished visitors, all of whom were interested in war work of one phase or another, called at headquarters, or visited camps where our troops were quartered. In July, Miss Elsie Janis, famous actress and movie star, in company with her mother, visited the Division at Bourbomio-les- Bair". The coming of Miss Janis had not been generally announced. 172 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY It was therefore only a small group of soldiers whom she entertained in an impromptu program in the city park on the afternoon of her visit. Mr. Ralph W. Tyler, of Columbus, Ohio, editor and writer, and formerly Auditor of the Navy under President Roosevelt, visited the Division during the month of October and remained throughout sev- eral weeks in the Marbache sector. Mr. Tyler visited a number of organizations of Negro troops not included in the 92nd Division. During his tour he represented the Committee on Public Information. Dr. R. R. Moton, principal of Tuskegee Institute, in company with Mr. Thomas Jesse Jones, national educator, Mr. Nathan Hunt of Tuskegee Institute, and Mr. Lester A. Walton, of the New York Age, visited the Division in December at Marbache. Dr. Moton came as the representative of the administration at Washington and directly from the War Department to bring official greetings to Negro troops in France. Dr. Moton discharged this mission in a manner creditable to himself and to the race. Dr. John Hope, President of Moorehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, energetic Y. M. C. A. worker, visited the Division from time to time in connection with Y. M. C. A. work. Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, editor and writer, visited the Division during the months of December and January. CHAPTER XII CITATIONS AND AWARDS, 92ND DIVISION Officers and Men of the Famous Negro Division Whose Heroic Conduct Gained for Them the Distinguished Service Cross — Details of Their Deeds of Heroism in Action — Special M edition of Officers and Men by Various Commanding Officers. The gallant Ninety-second Division, composed entirely of colored American troops, received a great number of citations and awards for meritorious and distinguished conduct on the battlefields of France, and besides those who earned the coveted medals there were many more members of the Division who were specially mentioned in communications from Headquarters and by the commanding officers of the various units, as appears hereafter. The lists given below, however, are necessarily incomplete, as many recommenda- tions for awards were still under consideration when this volmne went to press. The following is reproduced from a January (1919) issue of the Army and Navy Journal : ' ' COLORED TEOOPS OF THE A. E. P. VABIOUSLY HONORED. ' ' "Colored troops forming the 92nd Division of the A. E. F. have recently been awarded many honors. The entire 1st battalion of the 367th Infantry have been cited for bravery and awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French military authorities. ''The citation was made because of the bravery and fine sei'\'ice of the battalion in the last engagement of the war, the drive toward Metz on November 10 and 11. ''Major-General Martin, U. S. A., commanding the 92nd Divi- sion, has cited a number of colored officers, noncommissioned officers and privates of the 365th Infantry for meritorious conduct in action at Bois Frehaut on November 10 and 11. The officers cited are Captain John L. Allen, Lieuts. Leon F. Stewart, Frank L. Drye, 173 174 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Walter Lyons, David W. Harris, Benjamin F. Ford, George L. Gains, and Russell C. Atkins, all U. S. A. In another order, Lieut. Nathan 0. Goodloe, of the machine-gun company of the 368th Infantry, was commended for meritorious conduct in the Argonne Forest. In the entire Division, fourteen colored officers and forty-three enlisted men have been cited for bravery in action and awarded the Distin- guished Service Cross. The total casualties suffered by the Division since its arrival in France number 1,748. Of officers, six were killed in action and one died of wounds ; 46 officers were wounded and 39 gassed. Of enlisted men, 31 died of wounds, 203 were killed in action, 543 were wounded, 661 were gassed, 40 died of disease, and 28 were reported missing." The following letter of commendation is self-explanatory: HEADQUARTERS FIRST BATTALION, 367tH INFANTRY FROM: Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion, 367th Infantry. TO: Commanding Officer, 367th Infantry. SUBJECT: Conduct of Company A. 1. I wish to call attention of the regimental commander to the merito- rious conduct of Company A on the night of November 2 and 3. 2. Under intense shell fire of gas and H. S. lasting two hours, the com- pany maintained its advanced positions, staying there without any shelter and finally repelling the enemy raid and capturing one prisoner. 3. The conduct of Captain Peter McCall, his officers and men was such as deserves the highest commendation, and in my opinion merits mention. (Signed) Charles L. Appleton, Major; 367th Infantry. Extended space would be required to detail the meritorious work of the individual units of the Division throughout the several opera- tions in which it participated. In the Argonne-Meuse offensive, after overcoming its first extreme difficulties, the 368th Infantry performed gallant service. Among the officers whose conduct was mentioned for gallantry in the Argonne were Captain T. M. Dent, promoted after commendation for special bravery and heroism ; Captain R. A. Williams, who also won commendation of his regimental commander for skillful handling of his troops in the crucial advance through the Argonne; Lieut. Charles G. Young and Captain Thomas E. Jones, of the 368th, who each won the D. S. C. for extraordinary heroic service and gallant conduct in the Argonne Forest. CITATIONS AND AWARDS, 92ND DIVISION 175 Of the 367 til Regiment, the unit organized and trained by Colonel James A. Moss, much could be said of its excellent record, both in the St. Die sector and in the Argonne and on the Moselle in front of Metz. In this last-named position it rendered its most distinguished service during the closing days of the war. On the 10th of November, an attack was made on Pagny, a stronghold of the German line opposite the Metz forts. In the general advance, two battalions of the 56th Infantry, a white unit on the left of the 367th, after advanc- ing a half mile abreast of the 367th, became hopelessly entangled in the enemy's wire entanglements and were being slaughtered by German machine-gun batteries. Our own advance was stopped, and a part of the 367th was sent to the rescue of the 56th in order to cover their withdrawal from the perilous position. The 367th dis- patched two machine-gun companies, one of their own and the other from the 350th machine-gun battalion. A counter fire was turned on the German positions, which silenced their batteries, while the 56th retired leaving a third of their men dead or wounded. In the mean- time the 367th held the position until relieved by reinforcements from the 56th and then resumed their advance tov/ard Pagny. Doubtless the entire forces of the 56tli would have been wiped out but for the timely rescue of the 367tli. For this action the entire battalion was cited by the French commanding officer under whom the 56th was brigaded. Awarded the Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Servdce Cross of the United States was awarded to the following officers and men of the 92nd Division, for the heroic deeds and exploits stated after their respective names : HoRTON, Ya^, Corporal, Company E, 366th Inf. (A. S. No. 2168859). Medal Number 431. For extraordinary heroism in action near Lesseau, France, 4 September 1918. During a hostile attack, preceded by a heavy minenwerfer barrage, involving the entire front of the battalion, the combat group to which this courageous soldier belonged was attacked by about twenty of the enemy, using liquid fire. The sergeant in charge of the group and four other men having been killed, Corporal Horton fearlessly rushed to receive the attack and the persistency with which he fought resulted in stopping the attack and driving back the enemv. 176 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Home address: Mrs. Minnie Horton, mother, Route 5, Box 93, Athens, Ala. Medal presented to above named soldier Dec. 2, 1918, near Pont-a-Monsson. Fisher, Aaron E., 2nd Lieut., 366th Infantry, Medal No. 432. For extraordinary heroism in action near Lesseau, France, 3 Sep- tember 1918. Lieut. Fisher showed exceptional bravery in action when his position was raided by a superior force of the enemy by directing his men and refusing to leave his position although he was severely wounded. He and his men continued to fight the enemy until the latter were beaten off by counter attack. Home address : Benjamin Fisher, father. General Delivery, Lyles, Lidiana. Lieut. Fisher was evacuated to Base Hospital No. 45, Sept. 18, 1918, consequently his medal was not presented to him while in the Division. Williams, Joe, Pvt., Company E, 366th Inf. (A. S. 2169035). Medal No. 433. For extraordinary heroism in action near Lesseau, France, 4 September 1918. Private Williams was a member of a combat group which was attacked by twenty of an enemy raiding party, advancing under heavy barrage and using liquid fire. The sergeant in charge of the group was killed and several others, including Private Williams, were wounded. Nevertheless, this soldier with three others fearlessly resisted the enemy until they were driven oif . Home address: Mrs. Carrie Gordon, friend, Octon, Ala. Medal presented to above named soldier Dec. 2, 1918, near Pont-a-Mousson. Brown, Roy A., Pvt., Co. E, 366th Inf. (A. S. 2168841). Medal No. 434. For extraordinary heroism in action near Lesseau, France, 4 September 1918. Private Brown was a member of a combat group which was . attacked by twenty of an enemy raiding party, advancing under a heavy barrage and using liquid fire. The sergeant in charge of the group was killed and several others, including Private Brown, were wounded. Nevertheless, this soldier with three SECRETARY BAKER'S WAR CARTNET. Top Left to Right — Hon. Benedict Crowell. Assistant Secretary of War: Hon. E R. Stet- tinius, Second Assistant Secietaiy of War; Dr. Ernest Martin Hopkins, I r.^sidont Dartmouth College. Special Assistant. Center — Hon. Newton D. Baker. Secretary of War. A/r,,.„h nh;..f Below—Dr: F. B. Keppel, Third Assistant Secretary of War: General P. (. Maich Chi< of Staff U. S. Army, and Dr. Emmett J. Scott, Special Ass;istant to the Secretai.v ot War, representing- the interests of the Negro Race of the United States, GROUP OF COLORED OFFICERS. Top, Left to Right-lst LL B A. Jackson 350th Mchn. G,m B„.; 1st Lt. Abraham Morse, cIl5!^&aS''^S^B^='ca^^pSr;e^s^„„fer|&' h |'t'[''is. Lt Ohas. H. Fearin,, B.,.i'^hftriSo. 1f»Jo^^?ri.?.Tfi;fnt|ri/p°pracer: is. L.. Benjamin F. Ford, 365th Inf.; 1st Lt. Anderson Trapp, 366th Inf. Above — Nes'i'o troops returnins' to camp Ix-liind tlio lines aftor a strenuous day on tlit> Wc'stein Front during operations on the Maine. Center — Officers of Dental Corps attached to various units of the 92nd Division. With the exception of Capt. Jacob Drause, Division Dentist, all were Negroes. Below — The American lied Cross knew no color line and sought to render the same service to Colored as to White troops. - _^ i-s = .^ a - < •ffi t. O O Kfqo cc C o ;Q a o d U U < 4 ;^^£g> .'"Ml ^ oi § -s s :;, uK ar e^ fc. fc, Toi}, Left — Capt. Moody Staten, 317th Military Police. Center- — 2nd Lt. Charles Udell Turpin, 365th Infantry. Belotv — 1st Lt. E. C. Morris, 366th Infantry. Center Panel — Major James E. Walker, 1st Separate Battalion, District of Columbia N. G. Toth Right — Capt. Thos. E. Jones, 368th Infantry, 92nd Div., Awarded Distinguished Service Cross for bravery at Argonne Forest. Right Cent&r — Capt. Samuel Reid, 317 A. T., Veteran of Spanish "War and Philippine In- surrection; served over thirty years in United States Army, retired since close of the war. Below — Sergt. Rufus Pinckney, Baltimore, Md., 1st Separate Company, 372nd Inf., wears hig'hest honors from French Government; captured 15 Germans, saved French Officer's life, fought in Champagne, Argonne and at Verdun. GROUP OF LEADING WOMEN WAR WORKERS. Centei- — Miss Eva D. Bowles, Secretary of Colored Women's War Work in cities. National Board of the Young- Women's Christian Association. Above, Left — Miss May B. Belcher. Field Worker among- colored -women of War Work Council: a graduate of Sargent School, studied at Moody Institute and later Secretary of Phyllis Wheatley Branch. Y. W. C. A. in St. Louis. Right — Alice Dunbai- Nelson (formerly Mr.s. Peail Laurence Dunbar), recognized leader in mol)ilization of colored women of the United States for War Work under auspices Council of National Defense. Below, Left — Miss Mary E. Jackson, Special Industrial Worker among colored women for War Work Council. Right — Mrs. Louise J. Ross, Chairman New Orleans Chapter Anurican Red Cross, recog- nized leader of the race in the South. Above — Amciican Negio Suldicrs in hospital, Glasgow, Scotland, receiving cisarettos and chocolates from Red Cross Chaplain Thos. E. Swan and a visit from Mrs. Jas. Gardiner, one of the Red Cross Worlvers. Below — Sergeants of Headquarters Company 372nd Infantry "somewhere in France" just before the big drive. CITATIONS AND AWARDS, 92ND DIVISION 177 others fearlessly resisted the enemy until they were driven off. Home address ; Mrs. Ellen Brown, mother, 620 Madison St., Decatur, Ala. Medal presented to above named soldier Dec. 2, 1918, near Pont-a-Mousson. Merrifield, Ed., Private, Co. E, 366th Inf. (A. S. No. 2817823). Medal No. 435. Far extraordinary heroism in action near Lesseau, France, 4 September 1918. Although he was severely wounded. Private Merrifield re- mained at his post and continued to fight a superior enemy force which had attempted to enter our lines, thereby preventing the success of an enemy raid in force. Home address: Mrs. Lucinda Merrifield, mother, Green- ville, Illinois. Private Merrifield was evacuated to Base Hospital No. 17, Sept. 30, 1918, consequently his medal was not presented to him while in the Division. Hammond, Axex., Private, Co. E, 366th Inf. (A S. No. 2169003). Medal No. 436. For extraordinary heroism in action near Les- seau, France, 4 September 1918. Although he was severely wounded. Private Hammond re- mained at his post and continued to fight a superior enemy force which had attempted to enter our lines, thereby preventing the success of an enemy raid in force. Home address : Will Hanunond, father, Et. 1, Harvest, Ala. Private Hammond was evacuated to Base Hospital No. 17, Sept. 30, 1918, consequently his medal was not presented to him while in the Division. Bell, George, Private, Co. E, 366th Inf. (A. S. No. 2168986). Medal No. 437. For extraordinary heroism in action near Lesseau, France, 4 September 1918. Although he was severely wounded, Private Bell remained at his post and continued to fight a superior enemy force which had attempted to enter our lines, thereby preventing the success of an enemy raid in force. Home address : Mrs. Clara Bell, mother, Et. 2, Athens, Ala. Private George Bell, Co. E, 366th Inf., deceased, Sept. 16, 1918. 178 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL PIISTORY CuNCY, Will, Private 1st CL, Company F, 366th Inf. (A. S. No. 2169151). Medal No. 438. For extraordinary heroism in action near Frapelle, France, 4 September 1918. Private Clincy showed exceptional bravery during an enemy raid. His teammate on an automatic rifle having been mortally wounded and although he was himself severely wounded, he continued to serve his weapon alone until the raid was driven back. Home address: John Clincy, father, 2616-6th Alley, N. Birmingham, Ala. Private 1st Class Will Clincy, Co. F, 366th Inf., was evacu- ated to Base Hospital (no record of number), Sept. 4, 1918, con- sequently his medal was not presented to him while in the Divi- sion. Young, Chakles G., First Lieut., 366th Infantry. Medal No. 931. For extraordinary heroism in action near Binarville, France, 27-28 September 1918. Lieutenant Young, while in command of a scout platoon, was twice severely wounded from shell fire, but refused medical attention and remained with his men, helping to dress their wounds and to evacuate his own wounded during the entire night, and holding firmly his exposed position covering the right flank of his battalion. Home address; Mrs. Millie G. Young, wife, 1802 Greenlaw St., Austin, Texas. Watkins, Lewis, Private 1st Class, Co. A, 350th Machine Gun Bat- talion (A. S. No. 2816183). Medal No. 1139. For extraordinary heroism in action near Eply, France, 4 November 1918. Private 1st Class Watkins accompanied an infantry patrol, acting as gunner with a heavy machine gun. When a large party of the enemy had worked around the flank of the patrol and was advancing across a road along which the patrol was withdrawing. Private Watkins went into action with his gun at a range of less than 100 yards, although the order to withdraw had been given. Displaying exceptional coolness and bravery under hea\^ rifle and machine-gun fire, he succeeded in dispersing the enemy. He was the last of the patrol to retire. CITATIONS AND AWARDS, 92ND DIVISION 17fl Medal presented to above named soldier December 2, 1918, near Pont-a-Mousson. Lawbence, Jackson S., Major Medical Corps, 368th Infantry. Medal No. 1052. For extraordinary heroism in action at Binarville, France, 30 September 1918. Major Lawrence with tw^o soldiers voluntarily left shelter and crossed an open space fifty yards wide, swept by shell and machine-gun fire, to rescue a wounded soldier, whom they carried to a place of safety. Home address: Mrs. Florence McC. Lawrence, wife, 405 S. 42nd St., Philadelphia, Pa. Medal presented to above Officer November 26, 1918, at Villers-en-Haye. Davis, Thomas H., Private 1st Class, Sanitary Detachment, 368th Lifantry (179930). Medal No. 1053. For extraordinary heroism in action at Binarville, France, 30 September 1918. Private Davis with an officer and another soldier voluntarily left shelter and crossed an open space fifty yards wide, swept by- shell and machine-gun fire, to rescue a wounded soldier, whom they carried to a place of safety. Home address: Mrs. Francis Davis, mother, 49 West Lincoln St., Hampton, Va. Medal presented to above named soldier November 26, 1918, at Villers-en-Haye. Handy, Edward H., Private 1st Class, Company B, 368th Infantry (1799754). Medal No. 1054. For extraordinary heroism in action at Binarville, France, 30 September 1918. Private Handy vnih an officer and another soldier volun- tarily left shelter and crossed an open space fifty yards wide, swept by shell and machine-gun fire, to rescue a wounded soldier, whom they carried to a place of safety. Home address: Mrs. Rosena Gibson, sister, 26271/2 Vir- ginia Ave., Washington, D. C. Medal presented to above named soldier November 26, 1918, at Villers-en-Haye. Rivers, Tom, Private, Co. G, 366th Inf. (No. 2169507). Medal No. 1633. For extraordinary heroism in action near the Bois de la Voivrotte, France, 11 November 1918. 180 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Private Rivers, although gassed, volunteered and carried important messages through heavy barrages to the support coro- panies. He refused first aid until his company was relieved Home address : Mrs. Cornelia Rivers, wife, R. F. D. 2, Box 7, Opelika, Ala. Medal presented to above named soldier December 11, 1918, at Maron. Lewis, Beenakd, Private, Co. A, 368th Infantry. Medal No. 858. For extraordinary heroism in action near Binarville, Fj-ance, 30 September 1918. Private Lewis, during an attack on Binarville, volunteered to go down the road that leads into the village, to rescue a wounded soldier of his company. To accomplish his mission, he was compelled to go under heavy machine gun and shell fire. In total disregard of personal danger he brought the wounded man safely to our lines. Home address: Mrs. Martha Lewis, mother, 135 E. St., N. W., Washington, D. C. Medal presented to above named soldier November 8, 1918, at Villers-en-Haye. James, Joseph, Hqrs. Co., 368th Infantry (1798927). Medal No. 1731. For extraordinary heroism in action near Binarville, France, 30 September 1918. Private James went to the aid of a wounded companion under very severe machine-gun and artillery fire and brought him to cover. He stayed with the wounded man, giving him all possible aid until assistance came, when he returned to his place with the platoon. Home address: Mrs. Martha James, mother, 1622 N. Alder St., Philadelphia, Pa. Medal presented to above named soldier January 2, 1919. Jones, Thomas Edwaed, 1st Lieut., Med. Corps, 368th Inf. Medal No. 1844. For extraordinary heroism in action near Binarville, France, 27 September 1918. Lieutenant Jones went into an open area subjected to direct machine-gun fire to care for a wounded soldier who was being carried by another officer. While dressing the wounded runner a machine-gun bullet passed between his arms and his chest and a man was killed within a few yards of him. CITATIONS AND AWARDS, 92ND DIVISION 181 Home address ; Mrs. Leonie Jones, wife, 509 St., N. W., Washington, D. C. Medal presented to above Officer January 2, 1919. Bkeckenkidge, Egbert M., Private 1st Class (Deceased), Company H, 365th Infantry (1967624). For extraordinary heroism in action at Ferme de Bel Air, France, 29 October 1918. Although severely wounded in the leg from shell fire, Private Breckenridge, an automatic rifleman, continued in action, crawled forward for a distance of 100 yards to a position where he obtained a better field of fire, and assisted preventing an enemy party from taking a position on the company's flank. In spite of his wound, Private Breckenridge continued to use his weapon with great courage and skill until he was killed by enemy machine gun fire. Next of kin: Amelia Wilson, mother, Boute 5, Box 95, Hennessey, Oklahoma. Pollard, Russell, Corporal, Co. H, 365th Infantry (1967745). Medal No. 1899. For extraordinary heroism in action at Bois Frehaut, France, 10 November 1918. During the assault at Bois Frehaut, Corporal Pollard, a rifle grenadier, conducted his squad skillfully in firing on hostile machine guns, until his rifle was broken. He then used his wire- cutters with speed and skill under heavy shell and machine-gun fire. Although wounded in his right arm, he continued to cut the wire with his left hand, and assisted his men in getting through it, until ordered to the dressing station a second time by his company commander. Home address: Caroline Pollard, mother, Weatherford, Texas. PuRSLEY, Earl, Private 1st Class, Medical Detachment, 366th Infan- try (2170837). Medal No. 1900. For extraordinary heroism in action near Lesseux, France, 4 September 1918. Private Pursley voluntarily carried a wounded soldier from an exposed position under intense enemy shell fire for a distance of 400 yards to dressing station. He then immediately returned to the position and helped to dig out men who had been buried by the explosion of a shell. 182 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Home address: Earl Pursley, father, General Delirerj, Hickman, Ky. Medal presented to above named soldier 2 January 1919. Special Mention of OflScers and Men There were issued from Headquarters of the 92nd Division and also by the Commanding Officers of the various units of the 92nd Division through successive periods expressions of special com- mendation of various officers and soldiers. Among those which may be quoted are the following: Company M, 368th Infantry, Trench Brealau, 94.1-71.75, 3 October, 1918. FROM: The Commanding Officer, Co. M. 368th Inf. TO: The Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion. 8V EJECT: Lt. T. M. Dent, 368th Inf. 1. I desire to call the attention of the Battalion Commander to the work of First Lieutenant T. M. Dent, 368th Infantry, during the days covering the advance from Vienne-le-Chateau. 2. Lieut. Dent was the only officer present with me during the greater part of that time and his conduct was at all times characterized by fearless- ness and initiative. His platoon captured a German automatic rifle which covered the bridge crossing the Yallee Moreau and he later on the same day, 28th September, led his platoon to the wire in front of Trench Clotilde at 92.5-73.5, but owing to heavy machine-gun fire from his right was unable to remain there or to penetrate the unbroken wire. 3. In the event of another detail from this Company to the First Corps Schools, I request that this officer be given the opportunity to further increase his value to the service by attending said schools. R. H. WlLLLlMS, Captain, 368th Infantry, Headquarters 92nd Division, Army Post Office No. 766. American Expeditionary Forces. October 11, 1918. General Orders No. 27. 1. The Commanding General desires to call the attention of the entire command to the excellent work and meritorious conduct of Captain R. A. Williamfi and First Lieutenant T. M. Dent, both of the 368th Infantry. During the days of the fight around Vienne-le-Chateau both of these officers CITATIONS AND AWARDS, 92ND DIVISION 183 displayed courage and leadership, and their conduct should be an example to the other officers of the Division. 2. The Division Commander desires to commend the conduct of Private Philip Estrada (1766914), Battery A, 350th Field Artillery, who at the risk of his own life saved Corporal Alfred Tinson (1767196), Battery B, 350th Field Artillery, from drowning on or about the 8th day of August, 1918. By Command of Major General Ballou. (Signed) Allen J. Greer, Lieut.-Colonel, General Staff, Chief of Staff. HEADQUARTERS 92nD DIVISION A. P. 0. 766 28 November, 1918. General Orders No. 35. # * * II. PvT. Bert Walker, 367th Infantry. The Division Commander desires to commend in orders the meritorious conduct of Pvt. Bert Walker, 367th Inf. Pvt. Walker, on November 9, 1918, m the vicinity of Villers-sous-Preny — after it was learned that the road lead- ing to Villers-sous-Preny had been so heavily shelled by gas shells as to make it almost impassable — volunteered to assist in carrying gas masks down this road to organizations in position, and made several trips through this gassed area, helping to equip and protect against a heavy gas attack which troops were later subjected to. III. Lieut. E. B. Williams, 367th Infantry. The Division Commander desires to call the attention of the entire com- mand to the excellent work and meritorious conduct of Lieut. E. B. Williams, 1st Battalion Gas Officer, 367th Infantry. During the action around Villers- sous-Preny this officer was gassed, but maintained his post until all shell- holes were properly covered and his entire area free from gas. Lieut. Wil- liams refused to rest until ordered to do so by his superior officer. By Command of Major General Martin. (Signed) Allen J, Greer, Colonel, General Staff, Chief of Staff. Official : Edw. J. Turqeon, Major, Infantry, U. S. A., Adjutant. 18i SCOTT S OFFICIAL HISTORY HEADQUAETERS NINETY-SECOND DI\^SION American Expeditionary Forces 29th November, 1918. General Orders No. 36. I. 2nd Lieut. Nathan 0. Goodloe, 368th Infantry. The Division Commander desires to call the attention of the entire com- mand to the excellent work and meritorious conduct of 2nd Lieutenant Nathan O. Goodloe, Machine Gun Company, 368th Infantry. During tlio operations in the Foret D'Argonne, September 26 to 29, 1918, this ofScer was attached to the 3rd Battalion of his regiment, and on September 28, during; the course of action, it became necessary to reorganize the Battalion and •withdraw a part of it to a secondary position, and he rendered valuable as- sistance. The movement was carried out under a continual machine-gun fire from the enemy, and Lieut. Goodloe's calm courage set an example that inspired confidence in his men. 11. Wagoner Tom Brown (1725697), Hq. Det, 351st M. G. Bn. The Division Commander desires to commend in orders the meritorious conduct of Wagoner Tom Brown, 1725697, Headquarters Detachment, 351st Machine Gun Battalion, who, as driver with a combat wagon carrying am- munition to organizations going into action near Vienne-le-Chateau, in the Argoime Forest, on September 27, 1918, displayed marked devotion to duty, exceptional coolness, and great courage under fire. The ammunition was hauled over a shell-swept road and Wagoner Brown insisted on completing his work, even after his wagon and horses had been hurled into a ditch; he, despite a painful injury, worked faithfully until he had extricated his horses, and his conduct was such as to merit having it called to the attention of members of the Division as worthy of emulation. By Command of Major General Tilartin. (Signed) Allen J. Greer, Colonel, General Staff, Chief of Staff. Official : EdW. J. TURGBON, Major, Infantry, Adjutant. HEADQUARTERS NINETY-SECOND DIVISION American Expeditionary Forces 1st December, 1918. General Orders No, 37. 1. The Division Commander desires to commend in orders for meri- torious conduct in action at Bois Frehaut near Pont-^-Mousson, France, November 10-11, 1918, the following named officers and enlisted men: CITATIONS AND AWARDS, 92ND DIVISION 185 Major E. B. Simmons, Regimental Surgeon, 365th Infantry; Captain John H. Allen, Machine Gun Company, 365th Infantry; Ist Lieut. Leon F. Stewart, 2nd Bn. Scout Officer, 365th Infantry ; Ist Lieut. Frank L. Drye, Company "E", 365th Infantry; 1st Lieut. Walter Lyons, Company "G", 365th Infantry; 1st Lieut. Bravid W. Harriss, Company "H", 365th Infantry; 1st Lieut. Benjamin F. Ford, Company *'H", 365th Infantry; 2nd Lieut. George L. Gaines, Company "G", 365th Infantry; 2nd Lieut. Russell C. Atkins, Company '*H", 365th Infantry; Sergeant Richard W. White, 2073368, 2nd Bn. Scouts, 365th Infantry ; Sergeant John Simpson, 2074325, M. G. Co., 365th Infantry ; Sergeant Robert Townsend, 1967208, Company "E", 365th Infantry; Sergeant Solomon D. Colston, 2073518, Company "E", 365th Infantry; Sergeant Ransom Elliot, 1967307, Company "G", 365th Infantry; Supply Sergeant Charles Jackson, 2073816, Company "H", 365th Inf.; Corporal Thomas B. Coleman, 1967082, Company "E", 365th Infantry; Corporal Albert Taylor, 2091596, Company *'E", 365th Infantry; Corporal Charles Reed, 2073745, Company "G," 365th Infantry; Corporal James Conley, 2073730, Company "G", 365th Infantry; Private 1st Class Jesse Cole, 2817706, Company "G", 365th Infantry; Private 1st Class Earl Swanson, 1967391, Company "G", 365th Inf.; Private 1st Class James Hill, 2091205 (deceased), Co. "11", 365th Inf.; Private 1st Class Charles White, 2089235, Company "H", 365th Inf.; Private George Chaney, 2655690, Company "H", 365th Infantry. II. The Division Commander desires to commend in orders for meritori- ous conduct in action as specified below, the following named officers and enlisted men: During action near Frapelle, France, September 3, 1918: Sergeant Isaac Hill, 2169092, Company "F", 366th Infantry. During action near Lesseux, France, September 7, 1918: 1st Lieut. John Q. Lindsey, Company "E", 366th Infantry. Ihiring action near Heminville, France, November 10-11, 1918: Ist Lieut. Edward W. Bates, Medical Corps, Ambulance Co. No. 368 ; Sergeant Werter L. Gross, 2167835, Company ''A", 366th Infantry. By command of Major General Martin: (Signed) Allen J. Greer, Colonel, General Staff, Chief of Staff. Official : EdW. J. TURGEON, j\Iajor, Infantry, U. S. A., Adjutant. 186 ^ SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY HEADQUARTERS NINETY-SECOND DIVISION Army Post Office No. 766 American Expeditionary Forces 6th December, 1918. General Orders No. 38. I. Sergeant Rufus B. Atwood, 1974547, 325th Field Signal Battalion. The Division Commander desires to call the attention of the entire com- mand to the excellent work and meritorious conduct of Sergeant Rufus B. Atwood, 1974547, 325th Field Signal Battalion. On the morning of Novem- ber 10, 1918, while returning to the switchboard in Pont-a-Mousson, a shell struck the house in which the switchboard was being operated, breaking all the lines. Sergeant Atwood rendered valuable assistance to the officer in charge in reconstructing the switchboard and connecting new lines under heavy shell fire. When the ammunition dump began to explode in the same neighborhood, he remained on the job, tapping new connections. After re- pairs were made from the first explosion, there were two to follow which completely wrecked the switchboard room and tore out all the lines which were newly fixed. Sergeant Atwood was left alone, and he established a new switchboard and the same connections they had at first. The coolness with which he went about his work and the initiative he took in handling the situa- tion justifies his being mentioned in orders. II. Private Charles E. Boykin (Deceased), Co. "C", 325th Field Signal Bn. The Division Commander desires to commend in orders the meritorious conduct of Private Charles E. Boykin, Company C, 325th Field Signal Bat- talion. On the afternoon of September 26, 1918, while the 368th Infantry was in action in the Argonne Forest, the Regimental Commander moved for- ward to establish a P. C. and came upon a number of Germans, who fled to the woods, which were found to be alive with machine guns. The Command- ing Officer ordered the woods searched to the top of the hill, the officer in charge of the scouting called for volunteers, and Private Boykin, a telephone linesman, offered his services and set out with the rest of the detail. "While trying to flank an enemy machine gun another opened fire, killing him instantly. By command of Major General Martin: (Signed) Allen J, Greer^ Colonel, General Staff, Chief of Staff. Official : Edw. J. Turgeon, Major, Infantry, U. S. A., Adjutant. CITATIONS" AND AWARDS, 92ND DIVISION 187 1CEAJ>QU.SATBBS 92nD DIVIBION A. P. 0. 786 16 November, 1918. General Orders No. 32. I. The Commanding General wishes to call the attention of the com- mand to the excellent and meritorious conduct of the following officers and enlisted men : IVIajor Warner A. Ross, 365th Infantry. Captain William W. Green, 365th Infantry. Sergeant Rufus Bradley, 2073505, Company E, 365th Infantry. Bugler Junius Jules, 2075822, Company H, 365th Infantry. During the advance of November 10, 1918, in the action of Bois Frehaut, these officers and men displayed such exceptional bravery and coolness under fire as to merit commendation in orders. This order will be read to the command at first assembly after its receipt. II. The Commanding General wishes to call the attention of the com- mand to the excellent and meritorious conduct of the following officers and enlisted men of Company A, 366th Infantry: 1st Lieutenant William H. Clark, 1st Lieutenant William Jones, Ist Ser- geant Eugene Love, Sergeant Gus Hicks, Sergeant Richard Parker, Sergeant James E. Green, Corporal John H. James, Corporal Fred Lewis, Corporal Ben L. Moore, Bugler Irvin Turpin, Pvt 1st CI. Fred Littlejohn, Pvt. 1st CL Ed Martin, Pvt. 1st CI. Riley Porter, P\i;. 1st CI. Ames Robertson, Pvt. 1st CI. Mathew Rose, Pvt. Ist CI. Lonnie Rice, Pvt. Ist CI. Richard Wells, Pvt. 1st CI. Henry Williams, Private Conce Cooks, Private Willis Coles, Private Charles Dozier, Private Frank W. Franklin, Private Harvey Hite, .Private Leonard Morton, Private Clarence Leake. In the action near Bois de Voivrotte, France, on November 11, 1918, these officers displayed such excellent qualities of leadership and courage, and the men such heroic conduct and attention to duty under fire, as to merit commendation in orders. This order will be read to the command at first assembly after its receipt. By command of Major General Ballou. (Signed) Allen J. Greer, Colonel, General Staff, Chief of Staff. Official : EdW. J. TURGEON, Major, Infantry, U. S. A., Adjutant. 188 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY HEADQUARTERS 372nD INFANTRY S. P. 179, France Granges, Vosges. December 23, 1918. (1383) FROM: The Acting Adjutant. TO: Captain Clarence S. Janifer, 92nd Division, American E. F., France. SUBJECT: Decoration. 1. It is with pleasure that I inform you that you have been awarded a Croix de Guerre with citation in the orders of the 157th Division. The ap- proval of the award was received from the Personnel Section, G. H. Q., Amer- ican E. F., on December 14th. 2. The citation is as follows: 1st Lieut. Clarence 8. Janifer, M. C. Surgeon 3rd Battalion 372nd Infantry. '^Fearless to danger, established his First Aid Post on the battlefield in front of BuBsy Farm September 28, 1918, following the Battalion in the open fields, giving help and relief to the wounded and dying at first hand. ' ' Pending the receipt of the official citation from the 157th Division, this letter will serve as authority for the wearing of the Croix de Guerre with a silver star. (Signed) Preston F. Walsh, Captain Infantry, U. S, A. I certify that the above letter is a true copy. T. T. Thompson, 1st Lt, Inf., U. S. A. There were many such commenaations of indi^ddual soldiers issued during tlie period of the stay of the 92nd Division in France. No officer in the 92nd Division won the respect and devotion of his men more completely than did Brigadier-General Malvern-Hill Barnum, commanding the 183rd Brigade. That General Barnum felt a deep attachment to his command is shown by the following letter addressed to the entire brigade: A. P. O. 714, France. 22 December, 1918. From: Malvem-IIill Barnum, Brigadier-General, U. S. A. To: The Officers and men of the 183rd Brigade. Subject: Relief from command. The order detaching me from command of the 183rd Brigade was unex- pected and coming, as it did, just as the Brigade was moving, made it im- CITATIONS AND AWARDS, 92ND DIVISION 189 possible for me to give expression to my regret at having to sever an asso- ciation of over a year and one that will be one of the pleasantest recollec- tions of my Army career. . Having organized and trained the 183rd Brigade and commanded it through its active service in the present war, I can speak for the willing compliance to all requirements that made the work very enjoyable. When men work with their hearts as well as their heads and hands, the best results are certain to follow. I feel that the officers and enlisted men of the Brigade may justly be proud of the record made and I believe that history will accord them no little credit. I trust that each one wiU do his utmost to insure to the Brigade the finest record possible during the remainder of its period of service. Finally in returning to their homes I trust that each one will take with him a high sense of responsibility as an American citizen and a keen desire to perform faithfully whatever duties fall to him in the future. With such a heritage from his Army service each one will not only have helped win the war and thus rendered a great service to humanity, but will himself have become the gainer through the remaining years of his life. (Signed) Malvern-Hill Barnum. This letter will be published to all members of the command at the earliest opportunity. By order of Colonel Parrott. Hq. 366th Infantry. (Signed) R. D. McCord, December 24, 1918. Capt. and Adjt., 366th Inf. CHAPTER Xni THE STORY OF "THE BUFFALOES" Glorious Record of the 367th Infantry Regiment — Colonel James A. Moss — Presentation of Colors at the Union League Club — The *' Buffaloes" in France— How They "Saw It Through" at Metz — Their Heroic Conduct Under Fire — Regimental Colors Decorated by Order of the French High Command — A Tribute From France to "These Sunburned Americans." Quite naturally, and with pardonable pride, all the officers and men of each unit of the 92nd Division regard their particular unit as having contributed most to the glory of that Division and to the record of the achievements of Negro troops upon battlefields overseas. However, it will probably not be disputed that the 367th U. S. Infantry was, in some respects, the most notable unit of the 92nd Division. The 367th Regiment was organized at Camp Upton, N. Y., on November 3, 1917, pursuant to Order No. 105, War Department, 1917, and Special Order No. 72, Headquarters 77th Division, 1917. Colonel James A. Moss, Lieutenant Colonel William G. Doane, Majors Charles L. Mitchell, Fred W. Bugbee and William H. Ed- wards were assigned to and joined the regiment, 3rd November, 1917, per Order No. 105, War Department, 1917. Pursuant to telegraphic instructions from the War Depart- ment, 2nd November, 1917, Major Henry N. Arnold, Inf. R. C, was transferred to the regiment vice Major William H. Edwards, trans- ferred to the 306th Machine Gun Battalion. The Captains of the regiment (with the exception of the Regi- mental Adjutant, Commanding Officers' Headquarters and Supply Companies), also the 1st and 2nd Lieutenants, graduated from the Officers' Training Camp, Fort Des Moines, Iowa, were assigned to and joined the regiment 3rd November, 1917, per Special Order 72, Headquarters 77th Division, 1917. 190 THE STORY OF "THE BUFFALOES" 191 The Regimental Adjutant, Captain Frederic Bull; Command- ing Officer, Headquarters Company, Captain Benjamin F. Norris, and Supply Officer, Captain Charles L. Appleton, were transferred to the regiment 3rd November, 1917, from the 152nd Depot Brigade, 77th Division, per Special Order No. 72, Headquarters 77th Divi- sion, 1917. The enlisted personnel of the regiment was assigned from selective draft men, who joined as follows: In November, 1917: New York, N. Y., 1,198; Camp Devens, M^ss., 22; Camp Custer, Mich., 301; Camp Lewis, Wash., 100. In December, 1917: Camp Travis, Tex., 300; Camp Pike, Ark., 600; Camp Lee, Va., 300. Six enlisted men from the Regular Army were transferred to the regiment. During the period, 3rd November, 1917, to 31st December, 1917, the troops of the regiment were given training and instruction daily, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays excepted, in the prescribed course of instruction for officers and men. The field officers, regimental adjutant, regimental supply offi- cer, regimental surgeon, and the commanding officers of the Head- quarters Company, nine in all, were white, while all the company officers (87), except the commander of the Headquarters Company; the medical officers, except the regimental surgeon; the dental sur- geons, and the chaplain, 97 in all, were colored officers. The colored officers, with the exception of the chaplain, were all grad- uates of the Fort Des Moines (Iowa) Officers' Training Camp. The enlisted men (3,699) were drafted from various parts of the country, quotas having come from Camp Devens, Camp Custer, Camp Lewis, Camp Lee, Camp Pike, Camp Travis, and about 1,500 from New York and Brooklyn. An enlisted training cadre of 19 men was assigned to the regiment from the 25th U. S. Infantiy. Being trained at Camp Upton, near New York City, the atten tion of the metropolitan press was focused upon this particular regiment, which was commanded by a Southern officer, Colonel James A. Moss, a West Point graduate, who was born in Louisiana. Colonel Moss early began to put the 367th Infantiy ''on the map" after the regiment was organized; first by speaking before the Union League Club and other important organizations in the City 192 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY of New York, and by the formation of the 367th Infantry Welfare League, the object of which was to keep open the line of cjDmmnnica- tion with the home ties that the colored soldiers had left behind. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt became its Honorary President, follow- ing an address he made to the men of the regiment at Camp Upton, October 18, 1917. Colonel Roosevelt was delighted with the regi- mental singing and was fervent in his praise of the men. The officers of the League were : Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, Honorary President; Hon. Charles W. Anderson, First Vice-President; Dr. W. M. Moss, Second Vice-President; Dr. William Jay Schieffelin, Treasurer; Captain Walter B. Williams, Secretary; George W. Lattimore, Field Secretary, and Colonel James A. Moss, Com- mandant, 367th Infantry. This regiment paraded with the 77th Division through the streets of New York City on the occasion of the celebration of George Washington's birthday, February 22, 1918, and was acclaimed by the metropolitan press as presenting a fine soldiery appearance; this was especially noteworthy in view of the fact that nearly one-half of the men had been drafted from the far South and had come up from cotton plantations and fields without pre- vious military experience. Union League Club Bresents Colors A particularly notable incident in connection with the stay of the 367th Infantry at Camp Upton was the ** presentation of colors" by the Union League Club on Saturday, March 23, 1918. The Union League Club during the Civil War always stood firmly aod boldly for equal rights of American citizens, regardless of color. It decided, in 1863, to enlist Negroes of New York State in the Union Aniiy and within one month raised $18,000 for that pur- pose and in November, 1863, one thousand and twenty Negroes — a regiment — ^were in training on Riker's Island. There remained in addition six hundred men, who formed the skeleton of a second regiment which the club subsequently raised. These regiments were known during the Civil War as the Twentieth and Twenty- sixth U. S. Colored Troops. Later the club assisted in the recruit- ing of two more colored regiments. The recruiting of Negro soldiers, however, was not regarded with general favor. The then Governor Above — r.ureau of War Risk Insurance. M^t^r, ATr,v>nr^ Ain- Front Roiv, Left to Right— Miss V. L. Comer Atlanta Ga., Mrs F AUtonMob^^ Mr. W. Bernard Gardner. Philadelphia. Pa.: Mi.ss \B. Adams, Washington. D. C. . Miss F. M. Botteese, Washington, D.C.: Miss B Kebble Waco Tex. ^ ..j,,. Second Row. Left to Right— Miss C. J. Tarby Boston, Mass Miss E. M. Camoion.^n^ mingham. Ala.; Mrs. H. L. Johnson. Washington, D. C. Miss E. R. Ntlson, Laim i. J. Francis Gregory. Religious Work. ^j,ot;e— Group of Depot Company Sergeants of the 372nd Infantry behind the lines BeZo:^-T?#clf Trai''n'of'°36"'?r?n?antry unloading- troops at. Bruyeres It required the services of 500 big- army trucks for three days and nights to transport the 92nd Div^s^on from Bou?bonne-les-Bains to this point in the Vosges zone. Aiove — Commander of Labor Battalion and Staff at Governor's Island. Capt. Jones was Commander of the U. S. Labor Battalion stationed at this point. Below — Baltimore War Camp Community Circle. Some of the beds at the War Camp Community Service Colored Club which is typical of many such clubs organized throug-hout the entire United States. Above^GTOup of colored woman war workers of the New Orleans Chapter of American BeJo^-Nelrf Sailors enjoying a few hours' •liberty" in the restrooms. American Red Cross Headquarters, New Orleans. AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES Corps Expediiionpaires Amcricains IDENTITY CARD CARTE D'IDENTITE Name. Norn Rank X^^^ Giade Above, Left — Ernest P. Attwell, who did organization work amons" the coloied people for Food Administration. Center- — 1st Lt. Denton J. Brooks, Regimental Insurance Officer, 365th Infantry, who covered members of his regiment with over $29,000,000 War Risk Insurance. Right — Clias. H. Williams, Special Investigator for Cominittee on Welfare of Negro troops and conditions existing' among' Negro soldiers in camps and war camp community centers. Below — Capt. Dee Jones, and sample Identification Card printed in English and French carried by all American soldiers of Expeditionary Forces in Europe. On each identity card was shown photo of its owner and a number corresponding- with metal tagr worn by each soldier. THE STORY OF "THE BUFFALOES" 193 of New York State not only refused his authority, but withheld his sanction of the movement, and it became necessary for the Union League Club to obtain the proper authority from the War Depart- ment at Washington. It was not a matter of surprise, then, that the Union League Club decided to present a ''stand of colors" to the 367th Infantry that comprised so large a number of colored draftees from New York City and State for service in the World War. The 367th Infantry regiment was a part of the first contingent of the 92nd Division that sailed for overseas, leaving the port of embarkation at Hoboken, N. J., on June 19, 1918, and arriving at Brest, France, on June 29, 1918. The regiment made a notable record in France — the entire First Battalion of the 367th (Buffalo) Infantry being cited for bravery and awarded the Croix de Guerre, thus entitling every officer and man in the battalion to wear this distinguished French decoration. This citation was made by the French Commission because of the splendid sei-vice and bravery shown by this battalion in the last engagement of the war, Sunday and Monday, November 10 and 11, in the drive to Metz. This hattalion went into action through a valley commanded by the heavy German gums of Metz, and held the Germans at hay ivhile the 56th Regiment retreated, hut not until it had suffered a heavy loss. In the record of operations of the 92nd Division as a whole, the detailed statement of the glorious part played by the 367th Infantry (see Chapters XI and XII) will be noted. It may be said that this unit lived up to its regimental motto — "SEE IT THROUGH," Particular reference is made to this regiment (the 367th U. S. A.), not only because its splendid record at home and achievements overseas merits special mention, but also for the purpose of bringing out in bold relief the fact that it is possible for a white man born and bred in the South to learn to appreciate the real worth of the Negro soldier and, whenever placed in com- mand of them, to treat them as all American soldiers should be treated and to accord to them a full measure of respect, oppor- tunity, and credit. This has been notably tiiie in the case of Colonel James A. Moss, Conunanding Officer of the regiment, who enjoyed the confidence and even the affection of the men of his 194 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY command. It will be interesting, in this connection, to read the tribute whicb be paid to the Negro as a soldier and military- officer, and which was issued as an "Introduction" to a booklet concerning his regiment of colored soldiers: STATEMENT BY COLONEL JAMES A. MOSS, COMMANDING 367th INFANTRY, U. S. A. ''Having been bom and reared in the State of Louisiana, whose confines I did not leave until I went to West Point at the age of eighteen, and having served eighteen years with colored troops, including two campaigns, what I say about the colored man as a soldier is therefore based on many years' experience with him in civil life and in the Army — ^in peace and in war, in garrison and in the field. ''If properly trained and instructed, the colored man makes as good a soldier as the world has ever seen. The history of the Negro in all of our wars, including our Indian campaigns, shows this. He is by nature of a happy disposition; he is responsive and tractable; he is very amenable to discipline; he takes pride in his uniform; he has faith and confidence in his leader; he pos- sesses physical courage — all of which are valuable military assets. "The secret of making an efficient soldier out of the colored man lies in knowing the qualities he possesses that are military assets, and which I have named, and then appealing to and devel- oping them — that is, utilizing them to the greatest extent possible, "Make the colored man feel that you have faith in him, and then, by sympathetic and conscientious training and instruction, help him to fit himself in a military way to vindicate that faith, to 'make good.' Be strict with him, but treat him fairly and justly, making him realize that in your dealings with him he will always be given a square deal. Commend him when he does well and punish him when he is refractory — that is to say, let him know that he will always get what is coming to him, whether it be reward or whether it be punishment. In other words, treat and handle the colored man as you would any other human being out of whom yon would make a good soldier, out of whom you would get the best there is in him, and you will have as good a soldier as history has ever known — a man who will drill well, shoot well, march well, THE STORY OF "THE BUFFALOES" 195 obey well, fight well — in short, a man who will give a good account of himself in battle, and who will conduct and behave himself properly in camp, in garrison and in other places. *'I commanded colored troops in the Cuban campaign and in the Philippine campaign, and I have had some of them killed and wounded by my very side. At no time did they ever falter at the command to advance nor hesitate at the order to charge. "I am glad that I am to command colored soldiers in this, my third campaign — in the greatest war the world has ever known. (Signed) "Jas. A. Moss, ''Colonel 367th Infantry." Colonel Moss has the reputation of being one of the best- known military authors in the world. He has written twenty-six military books, of which several have been for years regarded as standard. His ** Manual of Military Training" has been called the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica of the Army." His "OflScers' Manual," a guide in official and social matters, is used by prac- tically every young officer entering the Army. His "Privates' Manual" was adopted several years ago by the United States Marine Corps, and a copy is placed in the hands of every recruit. Other books of his, such as "Non-Commissioned Officers' Manual," "Army Paperwork," "Infantry Drill Regulations Simplified," "Field Service," "Riot Duty," "Company Training," and "Applied Minor Tactics," are also regarded as standards among all military men. Since his graduation from West Point in 1894 Colonel Moss's service has been distinguished. It includes a record of three campaigns. In addition, he was aide-de-camp for three years to Lieutenant-General Henry C. Corbin, during which time, although only a captain in the Regular Army, he had the rank, pay, and allowances of lieutenant-colonel. For three years he was instructor at the Army Service Schools, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1911 and 1912 he was on special duty in the office of the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Leonard Wood, by whom he had been specially selected to reduce and simplify the adminis- trative work of the Army. Not only is he the father of the present system of Army correspondence, but he also gave to the service the new, simplified pay and muster rolls, and several other labor- 196 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY saving blank forms that have done much to reduce military administrative work. Perhaps the secret underlying the splendid relations that con- tinually existed between this Southern white Army officer and the colored soldiers and officers of his command, is partly disclosed iu the brief biographical sketch of his military career given above, for, whenever a THOROUGHLY EDUCATED WHITE MAN meets the EDUCATED TYPE AND BETTER CLASS OF NEGRO MEN, like most if not all of those comprising the officer- group of the 367th Regiment, the difficulties connected with the so- called Race Problem are simplified and reduced to the minimum. The success of the 367th U. S. Infantry therefore strongly suggests (1) that whenever white men are put in command of Negro troops they should be of that high intellectual and moral caliber that will enable them to appreciate, bring forth, and develop the best that is in the colored men of their command; and (2) that Negro officers are more and more demonstrating their fitness and capacity to command men of their own race. CHAPTER XIV RECORD OF "THE OLD FIFTEENTH" The Glorious Story of the 369th United States Infcmtry, Formerly of the New York National Guard— The Regiment That Never Lost a Man Captured, a Trench, or a Foot of Ground — First Negro Troops to Go into Action in France. The first effort to organize a colored National Guard regiment in New York City was sponsored by Charles W. Fillmore, a colored citizen, who afterwards was commissioned a Captain in the "15th" by Col. Hayward. The effort to secure proper approval of such a regiment was more or less abortive until Gov. Charles S. WTiit- man, following the gallant fight of Negro troops of the Tenth Cavalry against Mexican bandits at Carrizal, authorized the project and named Col. William Hayward, then Public Service Commis- sioner, to supervise the task of recniiting an organization. It was found that there were more than two hundred Negro residents of the city who had seen service in the regular army, or in the militia of other states. With these as a nucleus the work of recruiting began on June 29, 1916. By the first of October, ten companies of sixty-five men each had been formed, and the regiment was then recognized by the State and given its colors. By April 8, 1917, the regiment had reached peace strength, with 1,378 men, and was recognized by the Federal Government. Two weeks later the organization was authorized to recruit to war strength. The 600 men needed were recniited in five days after the applicants had been subjected to a physical examination more stringent than that given in the regular army. The first battalion of four companies was recruited in Manhattan; the second battalion was composed of Brooklyn men, and the third of men from Manhattan and the Bronx. "There is no better soldier material in the world," said Col. Hayward, fol- lowing the organization of the regiment. "Given the proper training, these men will be the equal of any soldiers in the world." 197 198 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Col. Hayward in a personal memorandum to the author sub- mitted the following diary of dates in the history of the 15th New York, which afterwards became the 369th Infantry prior to its going overseas : ''July 15, 1918, mobilized at various halls and meeting places where regiment was recruited and went to Camp Whitman, near Poughkeepsie, N. Y., for muster-in to United States service; ''August 2, Machine Gun Company sent to Ellis Island to guard German spies and internes; "Two companies — 1st Battalion, Harrison, N. J., for guard duty on Jersey railroads and certain essential factories. "One company — 1st Battalion, guarded tunnels and bridges New York Central and other railroads from New York City to the Adirondack Mountains in small detachments; "One company, in and around New York City, including guard duty on seized German ships; "Second Battalion, less one company, pioneered Camp Upton. "Fourth company, on guard over lona Island near "West Point and Bear Mountain; "Third Battalion, pioneered Camp Dix. "First week in October, Eegimental Headquarters, 2nd and 3rd Battalions, Headquarters and Supply Companies to Camp Wadsworth, Spartanburg. "October 12, assembled and secretly transported at 9 to 10 A. M. via Fifth avenue busses and elevated railroads and on foot in various parts of New York City to dock at 95th street and East River, and transported to Hoboken. Embarked on transport "Hoboken." Second day at sea ship broke down and limped back to Hoboken. Regiment moved to Camp Merritt. "October 23, back to Hoboken to sail October 27. OAving to incomplete equipment, unable to sail and battalions stationed at Camp Mills, Park Avenue Armory, Van Cortlandt Park, 2nd Field Armory and other armories in New York City. "November 12, moved secretly with colors cased and drums forbidden to play, at 10 A. M. by train to Hoboken and marched through the principal street to transport "Pocahontas" at Pier 3. Ship on fire and regiment remained on board, sailing again December 3. RECORD OF "THE OLD FIFTEENTH" 199 ** December 4, collision at sea; ** December 5, regiment repaired ship; ''December 27, landed at Brest. Right side up." In sending the diary, Col. Hayward adds the following sig- nificant statement: *'We had no wrecks, no fires, no explosions, no escaped pris- oners during our tour, prior to sailing. Gen. Hoyle, Commanding General Easteni Department, said ours was the only regiment, regular or national guard, on this duty against which no complaint had been filed by civilians or others." Training the Regiment Training the men presented some difficulty. At first they were drilled in Lafayette Hall, 132nd street and Seventh avenue. New York City. But the place was altogether too small and many of the fifty squads which drilled nightly had to take to the streets to carry out the maneuvers of their drill sergeants. Later they went for three weeks to Camp Whitman. An announced plan to send the regiment to train at Camp Wadsworth, Spartanburg, S. C, caused a storm of protest from the citizens of the South Carolina town. *'The most tragic consequences," they insisted, ''would follow the introduction of the New York Negro with his Northern ideas into the community life of Spartanburg." The Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce drafted resolutions protesting against the training of Negro troops at Camp Wadsworth, which were sent to New York State officials. The resolutions, however, had less weight than the exigencies of war and, early in October, the 15th Negro Infantry detrained at Camp Wadsworth. The "tragic con- sequences" did not materialize. Certain stores refused to serve Negro customers and were, in turn, boycotted by the white soldiers, but the chief result of the Fifteenth's visit to Spartanburg was an increased respect in some measure, at least, for the black soldier. While at Spartanburg the regiment was supplied with the latest things in trench shoes, hesLvy underwear, and other over- seas supplies. This led the men to expect immediate transfer overseas. They were, indeed, ordered overseas, but as Colonel Hayward 's memorandum quoted above indicates, the regiment 200 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY made tliree distinct starts for France before it finally got away from America. The accident that caused the first turning back occurred when still in sight of the Narrows. The vessel was dis- abled by a bent piston rod and had to put back to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for repairs. Four days later the ship put out again, only to halt when fire was found in the reserve coal bunker. Putting back to Hoboken, the sorely tried Fifteenth counted the hours until a new transport could be obtained. Hours became days, and days weeks, but still no other ship offered. Delayed by Storm and Collision Finally, on December 3, 1917, the Navy Department notified the transport's commander to put to sea. But while the pier lines were being cast off a storm started to blow up, and by the time the "Pocahontas" — nameless at the time — reached the outer bay, the greatest blizzard of the year was raging. Clouds of snow, through which nothing could be seen, forced the "Pocahontas" to drop anchor. She had hardly done so when a huge hulk, appearing suddenly through the murk, bore down upon the transport's bow and cut a ten-foot hole in her side. Then the storm abated in the bay, but a new one arose below decks, where 3,000-odd exasperated soldiers were maintaining their belief that no such place as France existed. The captain of -the transport was for turning back again to the Navy Yard. The hole was above the water-line, he admitted, and there was no great danger impending as a result of the collision, he said. Nevertheless there would be an inquiry, and it was necessary that he be present to state his case. "I can see no reason for turning back except that of fear," said Col. Hayward to the captain. The captain did not turn back. There was an ambulance assembly unit on board with electric drills. Ten hours, it was said, would suffice to make sufficient repairs to enable the vessel to proceed. The bent plates were drilled out and double planking erected in their place. Concrete was then poured between the planks. The result was not elegant, but the ship was water-tight and best of all, still bound for France. Brest was reached on December 27 without incident except for an epidemic of German measles which attacked the crew of the RECORD OF "THE OLD FIFTEENTH" 201 transport, but which was escaped by nearly all officers and men of the Fifteenth. From Brest the regiment was transferred to St. Nazaire, where the troops were put to work constructing a huge railroad yard, building roads, and unloading ships. The fact of being in the country ** where the war is" helped the impatient soldiers to endure their lot for awhile, but before long there was a general feeling that ''while stevedoring may be all right, it is not war," and the officers were besieged with apologetic and respectful queries, ''When do we fight I" Guarding German Prisoners The answer was assumed to have been supplied when, early in January, the Third Battalion was ordered to Colquidan, in Brittany, where there was a big American artillery camp. It turned out, however, that peace was still longer to bear down upon the spirits of the Fifteenth. At Colquidan^ they found, as well as an American artillery camp, there was also a large German prison camp, and it was for the purpose of guarding this camp that their services were required. Three weeks passed, and then the Third Battalion received orders to join the rest of the regiment at Givry-en-Argonne, there to be formally transferred to the French high command and to be known as the 369th Regiment d'Infanterie Etats Unis (United States Infantry). Actual fighting was still afar off, it seemed to the soldiers, for they were put to training under French officers. One hundred and twenty picked men and a number of officers were sent to the French Divisional Training School, where they were taught to use the French arms, including grenades, French bayonets, rifles and machine guns. Upon the completion of the course others of the former Fifteenth were sent to take this training. They proved apt pupils. In grenade-throwing they easily out- did their instructors, and in bayonet work they demonstrated great skill. They surprised the French, also, with the manner in which they acquired the French language. Many of them were talking quite fluently after a week with their French comrades. It turned out, however, that many of the soldiers hailed from Louis- 202 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY iana, and that their new environment merely had revived for- gotten memories of the French language. In May the regiment went to the Main de Massiges, a part of the French line which offered the greatest danger as well as the greatest opportunity for training in trench warfare and raiding. A small number of the Fifteenth's men were sent with each French company, with instructions to observe all regulations and familiarize themselves with the tactics of the French. The French **poilus" were delighted with their colored comrades and soon sought to teach them all they knew. After two weeks' experience obtained in the manner described, the 369th was sent into action in the Bois d'Hauze, Champagne, where the regiment, unassisted by the French, held a complete sector, which in length constituted 20 per cent of all territory held by American troops at the time. In this action, which lasted until July 4, 1918, when the colored soldiers, their ranks thinned by the deadly German fire and completely worn out, were relieved by the 4th French Chasseurs-a-pied. Fighting Ability Recognized By this time the fighting effectiveness of the Negro troops from New York was recognized by the high command, and after resting behind the lines for a few weeks they were transferred and placed in the path of the expected German offensive at Minancourt, near Butte de Mesnil, where they bore the brunt of the German attacks of July 15 and thereafter. Against the enemy in this action the old Fifteenth was completely successful, holding against the German fire, repelling German attacks and by counter-attacks becoming possessed of the front line German trenches. At the end of July the regiment, after a three days' march to the rear, went into training for open warfare, but had hardly started work when a hurry call was sent to them to take over the same place in the line which they had left a few days before. Motor lorries were impressed and the New York soldiers hastened back to the front, arriving in time to assist in repelling the most violent German attacks. During the action which followed it was the policy of the French strategists to retreat from the lines then held, after having RECORD OF "THE OLD FIFTEENTH" 203 *'g£issed" all the dug-outs. The advancing Germans thereupon were met with such heavy shell fire that they were forced into the underground shelters and so fell by the hundreds, victims of the noxious fumes released by the French. The men of the 369th, advancing again after this defeat of the enemy, found enough Mauser rifles lying beside the dead Ger- mans to equip an entire brigade. Finding the German Mauser to resemble the Springfield formerly used by the American troops and preferring it to the French weapon furnished them, the men of the Fifteenth promptly adopted the captured rifle, and it was with considerable difficulty that the French equipment was finally restored to them. Wins the Croix de Guerre Early in September the men of the 369tli were transferred from the 16th French Division, in which they had been serving, and made an integral part of the 161st French Division. And then, on the morning of September 26th, they joined with the Moroccans on the left and native French on the right in the offensive which won for the entire regiment the French Croix de Guerre and the citation of 171 individual officers and enlisted men for the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor, for exceptional gallantry in action. The action began at Maison-en-Champagne ; it finished seven kilometers northward and eastward and over the intervening territory the Germans had retreated before the ferocious attacks of the Fifteenth and its French comrades. A month later a new honor came to the regiment — the honor of being the first unit of all the Allied armies to reach the River Rhine. The regiment had left its trenches at Thann, Sunday, November 17, and, marching as the advance guard of the 161st Division, Second French Army, reached Blodelsheim, on the left bank of the Rhine, Monday, November 18. The 369th is proud of this achievement. It believes also that it was under fire for a greater number of days than any other American regiment. Its historian will record; That the regiment never lost a man captured, a trench, or a foot of ground; that it was the only unit in the American Expedi- tionary Force which bore a State name and carried a State flag; 204 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY that it was never in an American brigade or division; tliat it saw the first and the longest service of any American regiment as part of a foreign army; and that it had less training than any American unit before going into action. Letter from Colonel Hayward A highly significant letter written by Col. Hayward to the author shortly after the 369th reached France and went into training may be quoted: "Dear Scott: "Am writing this from away up on the French front where the 'Fighting Fifteenth,' now the 369th U. S., is really fighting in a French Division. We are known to the French as 369 R. I. M. S. and our Secteur Postal is No. 54, France. *'I have two battalions in the trenches of the first line and the third in relief at rest just behind our trenches. The three rotate. Our boys have had their baptism of fire. They have patrolled No Man's Land. They have gone on raids and one of my lieutenants has been cited for a decoration. Of course, it is still in the experi- mental stage, but two questions of the gravest importance to our country and to your race have, in my opinion, been answered. * ' First : How will American Negro soldiers, including commis- sioned officers (of whom I still have five), get along in service with French soldiers and officers — as for instance a Negro regiment of infantry serving in a French combat division? ''Second: Will the American Negro stand up under the terri- ble shell fire of this war as he has always stood under rifle fire and thus prove his superiority, spiritually and intellectually, to all the black men of Africa and Asia, who have failed under these conditions and whose use must be limited to attack or for shock troops? "We have answered the first question in a most gratifying way. The French soldiers have not the slightest prejudice or feel- ing. The poilus and my boys are great chums, eat, dance, sing, march and fight together in absolute accord. The French officers have little, if any feeling about Negro officers. What little, if any, is not racial but from skepticism that a colored man (judging of course by those they have known) can have the technical education necessary to make an efficient officer. However, as I write these RECORD OF "THE OLD FIFTEENTH" 205 lines, Capt. Napoleon Bonaparte Marshall and Lieut. D. Lincoln Reed are living at the French Officers' Mess at our division Infan- terie School, honored guests. ''The program I enclose gives you an idea of the way I've cul- tivated friendship between my boys and the poilus. You should have seen the 500 soldiers, French and mine, all mixed up together, cheering and laughing at the show arranged while the Boche shells (boxcar size) went screaming over our heads. ''Now, on the second question, perhaps I am premature. But both my two battalions which have gone in have been under shell fire, serious and prolonged once, and the boys just laughed and cud- dled into their shelter and read old newspapers. French company got shelled and it was getting very warm around the rolling kitchen. The cooks went along about their business in absolute unconcern until the alarmed French soldiers ran to them and told them to beat it. One of the cooks said, 'Oh, that's all right, boss. They ain't hurting us none.' They are positively the most stoical and mys- terious men I've ever knowTi. Nothing surprises them. And we now have expert opinion. The French officers say they are entirely different from their own African troops and the Indian troops of the British, who are so excitable under shell fire. Of course, I have explained that my boys are public school boys, wise in their day and generation, no caste prejudice, accustomed to the terrible noises of the subway, elevated and street traffic of New York City (which would drive any desert man or Himalaya moun- taineer mad) and are all Christians. Also, that while the more igno- rant ones might not like to have a black cat hanging around for fear it would turn into a fish or something, they have no delusions about the Boche shells coming from any Heathen Gods. They know the d child-killing Germans are firing at them T\nth pyrocellulose and they know how the breech mechanism works. "I am very proud of what we've done and are doing. I put the whole regiment through grenade (live grenade) practice. Nasty, dangerous business. They did it beautifully. I found one rank arrant coward, who refused to throw. Said he couldn't. Another threw prematurely after igniting the bomb. We asked him why he did not wait for the command to throw (barrage). He said, 'Run- nel, that old grenade, she begun to swell right in my hand.' The 206 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY boys keep writing home that the 'war is not so bad if you just go at it right.' Well, a very wise command somewhere, I don't know where, has let us go at it right. You know I've always told these boys I'd never send them anywhere I would not go myself, so I went first to the trenches, prowled around, saw it all and came back to the regiment to take in the battalion which was to go in first. When they saw me covered with mud, but safe and sound they said, 'How is she, Kunneir 'She's all right,' I said. They all laughed and then the sick and the lame of that battalion began to get well mirac- ulously and begged to go. Captain Clark called for twelve volun- teers for a raid and the company fell in to the last man — all wanted to go, and he had to pick his twelve after all. "Do you wonder that I love them, every one, good, bad and indifferent? "Personally I am well, strong, and the happiest man in the world. I've learned more about the military game, at least the fighting of this war, since I have been here with the French than I learned in all the years as drummer boy, private. Sergeant, Cap- tain, Major and Colonel Second Nebraska Infantry, Spanish War, Maneuvers, Officers' School, Gettysburg and Leavenworth prob- lems, etc., etc., and all the time I spent with my present regiment in the New York National Guard. "And another thing, I believe I know more about Negro soldiers and how to handle them, especially the problem of Negro and white officers, than any other man living today. Of course, the other regi- ment I commanded for three years was a white regiment, so I had a lot to learn, but I've learned it and I wouldn't trade back now. "Suppose after I've held my sector up here by blood and iron two or three months, some National Guard Brigadier, who has just arrived in France, will come along and point out all the mistakes I've made and tell me just how to do it. Well, 'C'est la guerre/ as we French say. "Brother Boche doesn't know who we are yet, as none of my men have been captured so far, and the boys wear a French blue uniform when they go on raids. I've been thinking if they capture one of my Porto Eicans (of whom I have a few) in the uniform of a Normandy French regiment and this black man tells them in Span- ish that he is an American soldier in a New York National Guard RECORD OF "THE OLD FIFTEENTH" 207 regiment, it's going to give the German intelligence department a headache trying to figure it out. *'We are proud to think our boys were the first Negro American soldiers in the trenches. Jim Europe was certainly the first Negro officer in. You can imagine how important he feels I In addition to the personal gratification at having done well as a regiment I feel it has been a tremendously important experiment, when one considers the hosts of colored men who must come after us. I wish I had a brigade, yes, a division or a corps of them. We'd make his- tory and plant the hob-nailed boots of the 'Heavy Ethiopian Foot' in the Kaiser's face all right. *'We were so disappointed that the Secretary didn't gert up to see us. The town we were holding then had be<3n named by me *Bakerville' and it is so on our maps. ** Regards and good wishes to you. ''Sincerely, "William Hayward." Called "Hell Fighters" by the Enemy The men of the 369th came to be known among the French and the Germans as "Hell Fighters." The regiment participated in the action which followed the German offensive on the 15th of July, 1918, when the Germans were reinforced by released pris- oners from Russia, so that they then had their maximum forces. They had broken through the British line and disaster was at hand. This was east of Rheims. The Germans had also torn through the French at Montdidier and had gone through for 30 or 40 kilometers. During the 191 days that the regiment was in the trenches there were weeks in that immediate sector when there was nothing between the German army and Paris but these black men from America. It was through the action of ihe men of the 3G9th in capturing German prisoners on the night of July 14 that the expected German attack was learned. When the French found out that the great German offensive was coming, their forces did not remain a thin blue line. Gen. Gouraud, who commanded the Fourth French Anny, took his troops out of the front line trenches over a front of 50 kilometers, and when the attack oc- 208 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTOKY curred he had the 369th on one flank of a 50-kilonieter line and the old 69th New York, a part of the Rainbow Division, on the other. When the German fire fell on these front line trenches for five hours and twenty minutes, the shells fell on empty trenches except for a few patrols left in reinforced trenches with signal rockets, gas shells, and a few machine guns. When the hour for the German infantry attack came, these patrols let off their gas bombs and signal rockets and the massed allied artillery let loose on the massed Germans, who were literally smashed and never got through to the second line of the 369th. On the other end they did get through, crashing into the Rainbow Division and the old 69th New York, which met them hand-to-hand in some of the most terrible fighting of the war. Individual Exploits of the 369th There are many outstanding exploits of the men of the 369th and of Col. Hayward himself. In Bellea.u Wood on June 6, 1918, the regiment came up to the German front lines where it met a very heavy counter-attack. Some one suggested that they turn back. ^'Turn back? I should say we won't. We are going through there or we don't come back," was what Colonel Hayward said as he tore off the eagles of his insignia, grabbed a gun from a soldier, and darted out ahead of the rest of Company *'K," which went through a barrage of German artillery that was bearing down upon it. A French General ordered the regiment to retire, but Colonel Hayward, who, of course, was under direct command oT this French General said: ''I do not understand you." Then the French General raised his arms above his head and cried : ''Retire! Retire!" And then Colonel Hayward, with his hat knocked off, came running up and cried: ''My men never retire. They go forward, or they die!" A Prussian officer captured by the "Black Watch," as the 369th was called after they had reached the Rhine, is said to have remarked: "We can't hold up against these men. They are devils! They smile while they kill and they won't be taken alive." The regiment was eleven times cited for braverj^ in action, and RECORD OF "THE OLD FIFTEENTH" 209 Colonel Hayward himself received a citation, reading: "Colonel Hayward, though wounded, insisted on leading his regiment in battle." Following is the citation awarded the 369th for its courage and valor in the great offensive in the Champagne, September and October, 1918, by the French Commanding General: CITATION FOR CROIX d. GUERRE AWARDED 369S RfiGlMENT d'lNFANTERlE U. S. (formerly 15''' N. Y. ini-antry) FOR ITS OPERATIONS AS A COMBAT UNIT OF A I-nENCH DIVISION IN THE GREAT OFFENSIVE IN CHAMPAGNE, SEPT. and OCT. 1918, BY THE FRENCH COMMANDING GENERAL Soiis le CoDtmandcment du Colonel HAYIVABD qui, lieu que hlessS, a term a conduire son rigiment an combat, dti Lieutenant Colonel PICKERING, admirable de sang-froid et de courage, du Cofiiniandant COBB (tuf), du Comman- dant SPENCER (grih'cment bkssi), du Commandant LITTLE viritabk entraineur d^hommes, le j6')' R. I. U* S. qui lors.' des attaqucs de Septembre 1918, voyait k feu pour la premise fois, s'cst cmpari de puissantes organisations enncwies, inergique- vtent difendues ct a enlevi de haute lulle le village de S , a fait- des prisonniers, rameni 6 canons et un grand nombre de mitrailleuses. tRANSLATION Under command of Colonel HA YIVARD, zvho, tlxnigh injured, insiued on leading his regiment in the battle, of Lieutenant Colonel PICKERING, admirably cool and brave, of Major COBB, (killed), of Major SPENCER (grievously twunded), of Major LITTLE, a true leader of men,- the 36^'^ R. I. U. S. engaging m an offensive for the first time in the^ drive of September,. i^iS, stormed powerful enemy positions energetically defended, look, after- heavy fighting, the town of S captured prisoners and brought back six cannons and a great nunJ)cr of machine guns. A typical story of the dare-devil courage of the men of the 369th is afforded in the exploit of Elmer McCowin of Company 210 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY '*K," who won the Distinguished Service Cross. He tells his own story as follows: ''On September 26 the Captain asked me to carry despatches. The Germans pumped machine-gun bullets at me all the way. But I made the trip and back safely. Then I was sent out again. As I started with the message the Captain yelled to bring him back a can of coffee. He was joking, but I didn't know it at the time. ** Being a foot messenger, I had some time ducking those German bullets. Those bullets seemed very sociable, but I didn't care to meet up with them, so I kept right on traveling on high gear. None touched my skin, though some skinned pretty close. *'0n the way back it seemed the whole war was turned on me. One bullet passed through my trousers and it made me hop, step, and jump pretty lively. I saw a shell hole six feet deep. Take it from me, I dented another six feet when I plunged into it hard. In my fist I held the Captain's can of coffee. ''When I climbed out of the shell hole and started running again, a bullet clipped a hole in the can and the coffee started to spill. But I turned around, stopped a second, looked the Kaiser in the face, and held up the can of coffee with my finger plugging up the hole to show the Germans they were fooled. Just then another bullet hit the can and another finger had to act as a stopgap. "It must have been good luck that saved my life, because bullets were picking at my clothes and so many hit the can that at the end all my fingers were hugging it to keep the coffee in. I jumped into shell holes, wriggled along the ground, and got back safely. And what do you think? When I got back into our own trenches I stumbled and spilled the coffee!" Not only did Lieut. George Miller, Battalion Adjutant, confirm the story, but he added about Private McCowin: "When that soldier came back with the coffee his clothes were riddled with bullets. Yet half an hour later he went back into No-Man 's-Land and brought back a number of wounded until he was badly gassed. Even then he refused to go to the rear and went out again for a wounded soldier. All this under fire. That's the reason he got the D. S. C." Corporal Elmer Earl, also of Company "K," living at Middle- RECORD OF "THE OLD FIFTEENTH" 2U town, New York, also won the Distinguished Service Cross. He explained; ''We had taken a hill September 26 in the Argonne. We came to the edge of a swamp, when enemy machine guns opened fire. It was so bad that of the fifty-eight of us who went into a particular strip, only eight came out without being killed or wounded. I made a number of trips out there and brought back about a dozen w^ounded men." How Sergeant Butler Won the D. S. C. On authority of General Pershing, Colonel Hayward himself presented the Distinguished Service Crosses to the heroes among bis regiment. Then, from the hands of General CoUardet, of the French Army, he received the medal of the Legion of Honor. But even among this list of distinguished heroes those who knew of the exploits of Sergeant ''Bill" Butler insisted upon calling for him and making him the object of their attentions. It was on the night of August 12, 1918, while the fighting was raging in the Champagne District, that Sergeant Butler's opportunity came to him. A German raiding party had rushed the American trenches and, after firing a few shots and making murderous use of the short trench knives and clubs carried for such encounters, had captured five privates and a lieutenant. The victorious raiders were making their way back to their own trenches when Butler, occupying a lone position in a forward post, saw that it would be necessary for the party to pass him. The Negro sergeant waited until the Germans were close to his post, then opened fire upon them with his automatic rifle. He kept the stream of lead upon the raiders until ten of their number had been killed. Then he went forth and took the German lieu- tenant, who was slightly wounded, a prisoner, released the Amer- ican lieutenant and five other prisoners, and returned to the American lines with his prisoner and the rescued party. Under the heading, "Trenton Has Nothing on Salisbury,** The Afro-American of Baltimore said: "Trenton, New Jersey, may have her Needham Roberts, but it takes Salisbury, Maryland, to produce a William Butler. Roberts had his comrade, Henry John- son, to help him in repulsing a raiding party of Germans, but Butler took care of a Gennan lieutenant and squad of Boches all 212 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY by himself. Herbert Corey, a white newspaper correspondent, in telling of the incident said that Butler came 'a-roaring and fogging' through the darkness with his automatic, and 'nobody knows how many Germans he killed.' It was for this that General Pershing awarded him the Distinguished Service Cross recently and the citation read: 'Sergt. William Butler, Company L, 369th Infantry (A. S. No. 104464). For extraordinary heroism in action near Maison de Champagne, France, August 18, 1918. Sergeant Butler broke up a German raiding party which had succeeded in entering our trenches and capturing some of our men. With an automatic rifle he killed four of the raiding party and captured or put to flight the remainder of the invaders. Home address, Mrs. Jennie Butler, Water Street, Salisbury, Maryland.' *'The rest of the State of Maryland and the whole United States now has its hat off to Butler of Salisbury." And the New York Tribune, on April 28, 1919, said: '' 'BilP Butler, a slight, good-natured colored youth, who until two years ago was a jack-of-all-trades in a little Maryland town, yesterday came into his own as a hero among heroes. More than 5,000 men and women arose to their feet in City College stadium and cheered themselves hoarse while representatives of two Govern- ments pinned their highest medals upon the breast of the nervous youth. Sergeant Butler was one of a list of twenty-three members of the famous 15th Regiment upon whom both France and the United States conferred medals of honor because of extraordinary heroism on European battlefields. But by common consent his name comes first on the list — a list that was made up only after a careful comparison of the deeds of gallantry that finally resulted in the breaking of the Hun lines." Won the Cheers of the French Of the 369th it may be stated that although the Germans never captured a single man, they killed nearly 200 of them and wounded more than 800 others, but on the other side of the score were to be found more than 400 Germans captured by the Third Battalion of the 369th alone, and countless men of the enemy killed and wounded. It proved itself to be one of the most efficient military units of all the Allied forces. The officers and men were constantly RECORD OF 'THE OLD FIFTEENTH" 2i:i cheered by the gratitude of the French, who never failed to place in evidence their appreciation for the wonderful fighting prowess of the men of the 369th. The French were amazed not only at the proficiency of the men as soldiers but at their proficiency in laying railroad tracks, which was the first duty assigned them near one of the larger French ports. The 369th laid many stretches of track, pushed them into alignment, gave twists to the bolts, and proceeded half a mile farther down to repeat the performance. ''Magnifique!" exclaimed a party of French officers who watched them do the work. The story of the wanderings of **the old 15th," of its hard fighting in France, of its returning to America, and of the trium- phant procession through the streets of New York City, down Fifth Avenue, is one of the proudest possessions of the Negro race and of American arms. Five colored officers went over with the 369th Regiment. These officers were afterwards transferred to the 92nd Division. Considerable criticism followed the transfer of these colored offi- cers from a colored regiment which had won such renown as the 369th. Col. Hayward, however, gave the following as reason for the transfer: ^'In August, 1918, the American Expeditionary Force adopted the policy of having either all white or all colored officers with Negro regiments, and so ours were shifted away (though Lieut. Europe later was returned to us as bandmaster, whereas he had been in the machine g-un force before). Our colored officers were in the July fighting and did good work, and I felt then and feel now, that if colored officers are available and capable, they, and not white officers, should command colored troops. I hope, if the Fifteenth is reconstructed, as it should be, colored men will have the active work of officering it, from top to bottom. "There is splendid material there. I sent away forty-two sergeants in France who were commissioned officers in other units. I would have sent others, but they declared they'd rather be sergeants in the Fifteenth than lieutenants or captains in other regiments." CHAPTER XV *'THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS" Story of the 370th U. S. Infantry — Another Negro National Guard Regiment That Won Distinction on the Battlefield — Chicago's Colored Fighters — Called ''Black Devils" by the Germans and '' Partridges'' by the French Because of Their Proud Bear- ing — First American Troops to March into the Fortified City of Laon — Their Stubborn Resistance at the Oise-Aisne Canal. The Eighth Illinois National Guard Eegiment, which during the great war came to be known as the 370th U. S. Infantry, was the only regiment in the entire United States Army that was called into service with almost a complete complement of colored officers from the highest rank of Colonel to the lowest rank of Corporal. Having been brigaded with French troops and given every oppor- tunity to get into the thickest of the fray and to demonstrate their bravery, ability, and solidarity as fighting men, the brilliant record made by this regiment effectually served to answer the question as to whether colored soldiers would follow colored officers into battle. Below will be found the record of events of the 370th U. S. Infantry (formerly 8th Illinois Infantry) from July 25, 1917, the date of responding to the call of the President, to March 11, 1919, the date of demobilization of the regiment. Pursuant to the call of the President, dated July 3, 1917, the regiment reported at the various rendezvous on July 25, 1917, as follows : At Chicago, Illinois — Headquarters, Headquarters Company, Machine Gun Company, Supply Company, Detachment Medical Department, and Companies A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H. At Springfield, Illinois — Company I. At Peoria, Illinois — Company K. At Danville, Illinois — Company L. At Metropolis, Illinois — Company M. 214 "THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS" 215 On the date of responding to tlie call, tlio Field and Staff was as follows; Colonel Franklin A. Denison, commanding the regiment. Lt. Col. James H. Johnson, duty with the regiment. ]\fajor Rufus M. Stokes, commanding the 1st Battalion. Major Charles L. Hunt, commanding the 2nd Battalion. lilajor Otis B. Duncan, commanding the 3rd Battalion. Captain John HL Patton, Regimental Adjutant. On August 18, 1917, Company G proceeded to Camp Logan, Houston, Texas, for the purpose of preparing camp for the arrival of the remainder of the regiment. This company was present at Camp Logan during the riot in Houston which involved certain colored soldiers of the 24th Infantry, U. S. A., in the latter part of August, 1917, and was commended by the public, the press, and military authorities for its conduct and general bearing. At the end of October, 1917, on the date of the closing of the Second Liberty Loan campaign, out of a total of 2,1G6 officers and enlisted men, belonging to the regiment at that time, 1,482 officers and men subscribed $151,400.00 to the Second Liberty Loan. Ap- proximately 96 per cent of the regiment took out $10,000.00 War Risk Insurance. There was some question in military circles as to whether or not this regiment should be sent overseas, to meet the Huns with its colored Colonel and a full complement of colored officers; but the splendid way in which Colonel Denison had handled his men and maintained discipline at Camp Logan, and at Camp Stuart (Newport News, Virginia), proved to the War Department that he was every inch a man, that he was an intelligent and experienced soldier, and a competent officer who knew how to command and to guard the interests of his regiment. It is especially pertinent to refer to the discussion as to whether this regiment should be sent overseas with a colored commanding officer and its entire colored officers' personnel, because, at that time. Colonel Charles Young, the veteran colored officer, a graduate of West Point, who had given the best years of his life to the United States Regular Army, had been retired from active duty on the strength of a report submitted by a Medical Board of Examiners, before which he was called, and who decided that he was physically disqualified to 216 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTOKY lead a regiment of colored soldiers on the battlefields of France. Such service was not only Colonel Young's fervent desire, but it was the equally fervent hope of colored Americans that he would be permitted to do so. The morale of the colored people was, therefore, very much de- pressed by the retirement of Colonel Charles Young over his earnest protest and the protest of his legion of friends. Negro newspapers, reflecting the sentiment and desire of the Negro people, urged that he be not only retained and actively utilized as an officer of the National Army, but that he be given what they believed to be his rightful re- ward — namely, promotion in rank to at least that of a Brigadier- General. The futility of these requests and protests, and the failure of repeated efforts to have the findings of the Medical Board which passed upon Colonel Young's case reviewed, and set aside, so that he could be placed in active command of a Negro regimental unit, gave rise to suspicions of unfair play and disturbed the morale of colored Americans generally. For another colored Colonel to be denied active service would have further dampened the morale of the colored people, especially in view of the openly expressed feeling on their part that the highest ranking Negro officer in the United States Beg-ular Army had been unjustly denied active service in the world's greatest war and had been likewise deprived of pro- motion to the next rank above him — that of Brigadier-General — which he would have automatically received upon being called to active duty. Colonel Denison, however, proceeded overseas with his regi- ment, which v/as the first American regiment to set foot upon the soil of Alsace-Lorraine — territory that had for nearly fifty years been wrongfully held under German domination. Equipped with French Arms After about six weeks' training under French instructors, the regiment was considered sufficiently trained to go into the lines, and on June 12 and 13, 1918, pursuant to Ordre Particulier No. 30, Headquarters 10th Division, French Army, dated June 11, 1918, the regiment marched to Morvillars (Haut-Ehin), entrained and proceeded to Ligny-en-Barrois (Meuse), detrained and marched to stations as follows: Headquarters, Headquarters Company, Sup- "THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS" 217 ply Company, and the 1st Battalion at Nancois-le-Petit (Mouse) ; the 2nd Battalion and Company K (Depot Company) at Trouville (Mouse); the 3rd Battalion at Velaines (Mouse). The French instructors referred to were needed in view of the fact that the men of the 370th Infantry, when they arrived at Grandvillars, were relieved of all of their American equipment, with which they had been trained at home, and were re-equipped with French arms and equipment exclusively, including French rifles, pistols, helmets, machine guns, horses, wagons, and even French rations, which consisted of food sufficient for about two meals per day, while the American ration had provided for three meals per day. But in spite of difficulties arising from difference in languages, the issuing of French arms, ammunition and other equipment, and the French ration, which Avas considered insufficient, the regiment made rapid progress. In the St. Mihiel Sector On June 21, 1918, the regiment began occupying a sub-sector, Han-Bislee, St. Mihiel sector. This being the first time the regi- ment had occupied positions in the line, it was deemed advisable by the Division Commander to intermingle the 370th with French troops, in order that officers and men might observe and profit by close association with veteran French troops. Thus, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, commanded by Majors Rufus M. Stokes and Charles L. Hunt respectively, were intermingled with platoons and companies of the French battalions. Except for occasional shell- ing and rifle and machine gun fire of the enemy, nothing of interest occurred while in the sector, and there were no casualties. On the night of July 3-4, 1918, the regiment was withdrawn from the St. Mihiel sector, marched to Loxeville, and entrained for the Argonne Forest. Various positions were occupied in tho Argonne until August 16, 1918. The particular sector occupied by the 370th Infantry was exceptionally quiet at that time, except on one or two occasions. In this position the regiment suffered its first casualty, namely. Private Robert E. Lee of Cliicago, Company E, Machine Gun Company No. 2. It is highly encouraging to note the fact that General Mittlehauser, the French general in command 218 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY of the entire division, although burdened with important official duties, found time to attend in person the funeral of this brave Negro soldier, who was buried with every military honor. While in this sector, a portion of the regiment engaged in its first offensive encounter with the enemy. The Stokes mortar platoon, under the command of First Lieutenant Robert A. "Ward, took part in a ''coup de main" (raid), on August 4, 1918, having as its mission the filling-in of the gaps in the French artillery bar- rage. For his work during this raid Lieutenant Ward and his platoon were highly commended by General Mittlehauser. On August 16, 1918, the 370th was relieved from its position in the Argonne Forest and sent for rest behind the lines near Bar-le-Duc. On September 1, the regiment again began to move toward the front lines, and by easy stages, proceeded to positions in the Soissons sector. On September 16 Companies G, H, I, and L were pushed forward to positions in front of Mont des Signes, and from that date to September 21 took part in the various bat- tles and engagements incident to the capture of this exceptionally strong enemy position. One platoon of Company F, under command of Sergeant Matthew Jenkins, especially distinguished itself by capturing a large section of the enemy works, turning their own guns on them and holding the position for thirty-six hours without food or water, until assistance came and the position was strengthened. For this meritorious work in this engagement Sergeant Jenkins received both the American Distinguished Service Cross and the French Croix de Guerre. Company F was relieved on September 21, spending the night at Antioche Farm and proceeding to Mont des Tombes (Aisne) the following day and taking position in reserve; Company G was relieved on September 21, 1918, and proceeded to the caves near Les Tueries (Aisne) ; Companies I and L were relieved on Sep- tember 22, 1918, and proceeded to Antioche Farm and Tincelle Farm, respectively, and placed in reserve. From September 19 to 21, the organizations not engaged in the front lines were employed in constructing defensive works between Antioche Farm and Vauxaillon. ''THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS" 219 Takes Over a Full Sector Prior to September 21, the regiment had never occupied a full regimental sector, the companies and battalions having been there- tofore attached to various French units of the 59th Division. Pur- suant to Order 187/S, Headquarters 59th Division, French Army, dated September 21, the regiment for the first time took over a full regimental sector. The 1st Battalion relieved the Battalion Gar- nier of the 325th Regiment of Infantry, French Army, in the posi- tions outlined by La Folie-1 'Ecluse on the Oise-Aisne Canal and the Farm Guilliminet. The 2nd Battalion went into the support position at Mont des Tombes and Les Tueries, and the slopes west of Antioche Farm. The 3rd Battalion went into reserve at Tincelle Farm. The Headquarters Company was stationed at Levilly and the Supply Company at Monte Couve. On September 25 Company K (Depot Company) changed sta- tion from Duvy (Aisne) to Resson le Long (Aisne). On the night of September 26-27 the 2nd Battalion, commanded by Captain John H. Patton, was ordered to relieve with like units one-half of each of the companies of the 1st Battalion in the lines. The relief was completed about 2:00 a. m. An attack along the Oise-Aisne Canal was ordered at dawn on September 27, 1918, By extreme effort the remainder of the 2nd Battalion was brought up to the front, relieved the remainder of the 1st Battalion, commanded by Major Rufus M. Stokes, and the attack began as ordered. The attack continued from the morning of September 27 until October 4. The 2nd Battalion was relieved by the 1st Battalion after having gained possession of the railroad track and woods to the northeast of Guilliminet Farm. On September 30 the 3rd Battalion, commanded by Lieut. Colonel 0. B. Duncan, was ordered to make an attack with the Ferme de la Riviere as the principal objective, and about 3 :00 p. m. on that date the attack began. The fighting in front of the Bois de Mortier, which woods the enemy held strongly, continued and it was not until October 4 that it was certain that the enemy had been driven across the canal. From the 27th of September to the 4th of October the 370th was subjected to severe shelling and to murderous fire of numerous machine guns and rifles. After the 2nd Battalion was relieved by 220 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY the 1st Battalion on October 17, Company G of the 2nd Battalion supported the 1st Battalion until October 3, 1918. During this time patrols from the 2nd and 3rd Battalions were out between the lines night and day, making effort to locate machine-gun nests in the Bois de Mortier and making other necessary reconnaissances. On October 4, just before dawn, a reconnaissance in the Bois de Mortier was ordered. As the enemy strongly held the woods, a patrol consisting of volunteers was ordered to make the recon- naissance. Captain Chester Sanders and the necessary 20 men readily volunteered and at 3:30 a. m. crossed the canal and pene- trated into the woods about 50 meters east of the Vauxaillon-Bois de Mortier Road, more than a hundred m.eters within the enemy lines. When reaching this point they were discovered by the enemy and were fired on by numerous machine guns. The mission of the patrol being to discover whether the woods had been aban- doned by the enemy, the patrol retired to the French lines under heavy machine gun fire and shelling without the loss of a man. October 4, 1918, pursuant to Order No. 330/S, Headquarters 59th Division, French Army, the 1st Battalion was ordered to make the following dispositions: Company A sent to the 325th Regiment of Infantry, French Army ; Company B sent to the 232nd Regiment of Infantry, French Army. These companies to be used as reinforcements for those regiments. October 6, 1918, General Vincendon, commanding the division, went on leave and General Rondeau assumed command. October 7, 1918, at 4:30 a. m., after five minutes' violent bom- bardment by the French artillery, three raiding parties started into the triangle formed by the Oise-Aisne Canal, the railroad, and the Vauxaillon-Bois de Mortier road. The mission of these raid- ing parties was to capture prisoners. One of these parties undei command of 1st Lieutenant Elisha C. Lane entered the triangle, gained the trenches along the south bank of the canal and ejected the enemy after a hand-grenade fight, Lieut. Lane and two enlisted men being wounded. This party was unable to hold this trench on account of its being exposed to enfilade fire from two directions. The other two patrols established themselves along the railroad and sent small patrols into the triangle, but were unable to establish themselves therein. No prisoners were captured. "THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS" 221 During the night of October 7-8 Company C of the 1st Bat- talion relieved Company F of the 2nd Battalion in the lines near PEcluse. Company C continued the effort made by Company F to establish themselves in the above mentioned triangle, but were unable to do so for the same reasons that prevented Company F from remaining therein. On October 10 the remainder of the 1st Battalion moved up into the front lines, relieving the rest of the 2nd Battalion, and the units of the 3rd Battalion in the lines along the Oise-Aisne Canal in front of the Bois de Mortier. The 2nd Battalion went into reserve at Antioche Farm and the 3rd Bat- talion went into division reserve at Mont des Tombes. Pushing the Enemy Back A general advance having been foreseen, Order No. 1978/3 of the Division provided that after the objective, the Laon-La Ferre Railroad, was reached, the Division would be relieved by the 33rd Division, French Army, and sent into the reseiTe for rest. T)ie alarm for the advance was given at 9:40 a. m., on October 12, and the various units of the regiment proceeded to the Zones of Assembly previously assigned. The 1st Battalion was given the mission of clearing the Bois de Mortier. The 2nd Battalion was placed at the disposition of Lieut.-Colonel Lugand of the 232nd Infantry, French Army. Company F and one section of Company E (Machine Gun Company No. 2), were detached from the 2nd Battalion and sent to join the Battalion Garnier of the 325th Regiment of Infantry, which had as its mission the mopping up of the hills and woods from near Anizy-le-Chateau to a point near Crepy. One company of the 325th Regiment of Infantry, French Army, was attached to the 2nd Battalion to replace Company F. The 3rd Battalion was assigned as reserve of the division, the command of which was assigned to Colonel T. A. Roberts. Soon after the alert was given, the pursuit began. The 1st Battalion advanced through the Bois de Mortier and successfully reached the first objective, Penancourt, on the same date. The 2nd Battalion began the pursuit on the morning of October 13, having been assigned as the support battalion of the 232nd Infantry, and passed Anizy-le-Chateau, the Farm Fontenille, Tervanne, Ces- sieres, and Butte de Sevresis, and bivouacked at dark with the head 222 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY of the battalion resting at the north edge of the Bois d'Oiry and the rear on the National Koad. On October 13 the 1st Battalion continued the pursuit via Cessieres to a point to the west of Molinchart. The 3rd Battalion rested in the Bois de Mortier the night of October 12, and next day went to Manneux Farm. For the work done in this general advance, the 1st and 2nd Battalions were complimented by the Commanding General — the 1st for its passage of the exceedingly strong position in the Bois de Mortier, and the 2nd for a well- conducted march in pursuit via Anizy-le-Chateau. The regimental P. C. moved up to Cessieres and late in the night of October 13 the division was ordered into rest for twelve days. The first ten days were spent in hard work on the roads, but the last two were given over to the issue of badly needed clothing and equipment. These twelve days found the regiment at the following places: Regimental Headquarters at Susy; 1st and 2nd Battalions in the St. Gobain Forest near Le Cateau; the 3rd Battalion at Manneux Farm. By Order No. 4442, Headquarters 59th Division, French Army, dated October 16, 1918, the General Com- manding the division thanked the Colonel of the 370th Infantry for the good work done by the regiment in aiding the Engineers in the repair of roads and the cleaning of villages in the devastated districts. On October 19, 1918, Major Rufus M. Stokes was relieved from command of the 1st Battalion and Captain John T. Prout assigned to command the battalion. Major Stokes being assigned to the Supply Company as administrative officer. On October 27 the regiment was again ordered into the lines, and pursuant to Ordre de Mouvement No. 30, I. D. 59th Division, French Army, the 2nd Battalion during the night of October 27 proceeded to Farms d'Allemagne and de Cordeau. On the follow- ing night, October 28, the 2nd Battalion proceeded to a position in support to the northeast of Grandloup, remaining in various positions near Grandloup until November 5. Except occasional shelling and some machine gun fire on the support positions, noth- ing of interest occurred to the 2nd Battalion while in position near Grandloup. On October 29 fla& 1st Battalion left camp in the St. Gobain ''THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS" 223 Forest and proceeded to Chambry, rested for tlie night, and on the following day, October 30, moved up into the support position about one kilometer to the northwest of Grandloup. On November 1 Regimental Headquarters moved up to Chambry. On November 2 the 1st Battalion was moved to new positions with a view to the defense of Grandloup in case of enemy attack, Companies B and C taking position in the open trenches to the southwest of Grandloup and Company A to the southeast of the village. On November 3, an enemy shell struck in the mess line of Company A, at the Farm Chantrud, killing 35 men and wounding 41, making it necessary to withdraw this company from the lines. On November 4, Company C of the 1st Battalion relieved a com- pany of the 325th Regiment of Infantry in the front lines in the vicinity of Brazicourt Fann. The positions of the 1st and 2nd Battalions received severe intermittent shelling while in these posi- tions. Further Pursuit of the Enemy On November 5, the enemy began again to retreat and the pursuit recommenced and continued until November 11, 1918, the date of the signing of the aiTaistice. On November 5 the 2nd Battalion, commanded by Capt. John H. Patton, moved out in pursuit of the enemy via Farm Att^n- court, Autremontcourt, and bivouacked in the woods north of Ernecourt Fann for the night. The position was shelled inter- mittently during the entire night. At 6:00 a. m. the following day, in a heavy rain, the pursuit was again taken up, the battalion pro- ceeding to the Farm Bellimont, arriving at about 11:00 p. m., and resting until 6:00 a. m. the following morning, November 7, at which time the battalion moved out and proceeded to Longue Rue de Bas, arriving about 9 :30 p. m. At 3 :30 a. m. the battalion pro- ceeded to Beaume, arriving at 5:30 a. m., and reporting to Lieu- tenant-Colonel Lugand, 232nd (French) Regiment of Infantry. An attack was ordered at 6:30 a. m. by the division. The 2nd Battalion occupied a position on the left of the division with the 68th Regiment of Infantry on the left. At 6 :30 a. m. the battalion moved out to the attack. The first operation, crossing the River Thon, was successfully accomplished, and the battalion continued the attack eastward towards Aubenton for about one and one-half 224 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY kilometers, pushing tlie enemy back as it went. The enemy, fighting a rearguard action, had located numerous machine guns to the south of Leuze and along the heights stretching in the direction of Auben- ton. The 68th (French) Regiment of Infantry, on the left, did not advance as anticipated, thus exposing Company H to an enfilade fire from machine guns located to the south of Leuze, and the company suffered severely. About 11 :40 a. m. the advance was ordered stopped and preparation made for another attack, which began at 2:00 p. m. and continued until dark, at which time the battalion had reached its objective, the Hirson-Mezieres Rail- road. Casualties during the day, 4 killed and 2 officers and 33 enlisted men wounded. On the morning of November 9 the advance began again and the battalion continued the pursuit until dark, when it occupied positions from Goncelin, the advance outpost, to the woods northeast of Tarzy. On November 10 the battalion re- ceived orders to continue the pursuit with La Verte Place, Bel- gium, as the objective. The French military officials, as will be seen by the official communication which follows, always called the battalion by the name of the battalion commander. Thus the 2nd Battalion, just referred to, commanded by Capt. John H. Patton of Chicago, Illinois, was termed "the Battalion Patton." 232nd regiment d'infantrie (Translated) FEOM: Lieut. Colonel Lugand. TO: Captain John H. Patton. November 7, 1918. 1. ORDER OF OPERATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY OF THE 8TH. In the morning of the 8th, the 59th Division will attack as follows : First Operation: Passage of the River Thon, occupation by the ad- vanced lines of the line Bas-Val-la-Canre to LaHayette. 2. The 6th Battalion of the 232nd Infantry and the Battalion Patton will turn off at Anbenton towards the Northwest. The 325th Infantry will occupy Anbenton. On the left the 68th Infantry wiU attack Leuze. 3. Axis of the march of the 232nd Infantry Le Four a Chaux, Hill 246, Fligny. 4. Limit of the left of Battalion Patton, Bas-Yal-la-Caure, Lisiere, south of Mattin Rieux. 5. Formation — On, the right the 6th Battalion of the 232nd Infantry will form an "THE EIGHTH HXINOIS" 225 advance guard "in echelon" in rear of the left of the Battalion Patton, having two companies in the first line, one company in the second line. The company on the right of the first line will march on the "axis of the march" of the regiment, so as to be 600 meters from the company on the left of the 6th Battalion. Battalion Patton will attack on the left of the 232nd each time the enemy resists during the forward movement. 6. The movement will commence at 6:30 a. m. 7. Battalion Patton will maintain "liaison" (keep in touch) with the 6th Battalion on his right and with the 68th Infantry on his left. 8. The Command Post of the Colonel will be at Beaume. (Signed) Luqand. On November 6 the 1st Battalion received orders to take up the pursuit in support of the Battalion Michel of the 325th Regi- ment of Infantry, and proceeded to Hill 150, near St. Pierremont, via Brazicourt, Vesles-et-Caumont, Rapiere. The Battalion P. C. was stationed on the road to Marie and this road was shelled in- termittently during the night. On November 7 the battalion con- tinued the pursuit, advancing through St. Pierremont, Taveaux-et- Pontsericourt to Maison De Garde, south of Nampcelles. At Val St. Pierre, Company C of the battalion, commanded by Captain James H. Smith, by a series of flanking operations, drove the enemy from a position they occupied with three field pieces (77 's) and two machine guns, causing them to abandon the cannon, which were taken by Company C. The enemy left several dead on the field and evidently had defended the position to the last. For this action. Company C was decorated with the French Croix de Guerre. On November 8, the battalion was ordered to Camp at LaHayette. On November 9 the command advanced to Mont Plaisir. On No- vember 10 the battalion moved south to a position at Farm La- Hayette. On November 11 it proceeded to Fligny, at which place it was found at the signing of the armistice at 11:00 a. m. on No- vember 11, 1918. On November 5 the 3rd Battalion began the pursuit and rested in the open field at night on the 5th and 6th. On November 7 the battalion moved up and passed Bosmont, Tai-veaux, Virginette, Lambercy, Mont Plaisir, and on into the front lines at the Rue Larcher. At the Rue Larcher the battalion passed under command of Colonel Pernin, of the 325th (French) Regiment of Infantry. On November 9, the battalion passed under command of Lieut.- 226 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Colonel Lugand and was ordered to attack Pont d'Any. The ob- jective was reached, the enemy retiring before the advance of the battalion. On November 10 the battalion continued the pursuit to Etignieres, where it was stopped temporarily by heavy shell fire. On November 11 the battalion again took up the pursuit with Reginowez as the principal objective. Later the objective was changed to Gue d'Hossus, Belgium. The battalion reached its objective a few moments before the signing of the armistice. After the Armistice On November 12 the 3rd Battalion, pursuant to Order No. 2082/3, Headquarters 59th Division, French Army, retired from Belgium and took station at Auge (Aisne). On November 15 the regiment changed station as follows: Regimental Headquarters and the 1st Battalion to Dagny (Aisne) ; the 2nd Battalion to St. Clements (Aisne) and the 3rd Battalion to Morgny (Aisne). On November 16 the regiment changed station as follows : Regimental Headquarters and the 1st Battalion to Barrenton-sur-Serre (Aisne) ; the 2nd and 3rd Battalions to Froidmont-Cohartille (Aisne). On the following day, November 17, Regimental Headquarters and the 1st Battalion changed station to Verneuil-sur-Serre (Aisne). From November 17 to December 12, 1918, the regiment was engaged at its various stations in cleaning and repairing roads and villages in the immediate vicinity of its stations. On December 12 the regiment formally passed from under command of the French and on the same date left the various villages in which cantoned and marched to Soissons, arriving in the afternoon of the 13th. On December 15 Capt. John H. Patton was relieved from command of the 2nd Battalion and resumed his duties as Regi- mental Adjutant and Major R. M. Stokes was relieved from duty with Supply Company and was assigned to command the 2nd Battalion. The usual cantonment duties were performed at Soissons until December 23, 1918, on which date the regiment entrained for the American Embarkation Center at Le Mans, arriving on December 25, 1918, and going into cantonment. While stationed at Le Mans, the regiment was engaged in the various inspections incident to embarkation for the United States until January 8, 1919, on which "THE EIGHTH H.LINOIS" 227 date the regiment entrained for Brest, arriving there on January 10 and going into camp at Camp Pontanezen. Until Febniary 1, 1919, the regiment engaged in the various delousings, inspections, etc., incident to embarkation and on that date began embarking on the SS. La France IV, Colonel T. A. Roberts assuming command of the troops on board and Captain Patton the duties of Transport Adjutant. The embarkation hav- ing been completed on February 2, the steamer sailed for the United States, arriving at New York on February 9, and proceeding to Camp Upton, Long Island, for station. The Reception in Chicago February 15, 1919, the regiment entrained at Camp Upton, Long Island, N. Y., en route for Camp Grant, Illinois, via Chicago. On February 17 the regiment arrived at Chicago, detrained, and proceeded to the Coliseum, where the citizens had arranged a re- ception for the returning regiment. At 2:00 p. m. the regiment paraded through the "Loop" district of Chicago and at about 4:00 p. m. entrained for Camp Grant, Illinois, arriving the same date and going into barracks. From the date of arrival at Camp Grant, the regiment engaged in the various duties incident to preparation for demobilization until Februarj^ 24, on which date the discharge of officers and enlisted men began, and continued until March 12, 1919, on which date the regiment formally ceased to exist. Cordial Relations Overseas In commenting upon the friendly and cordial relations which existed between French, English, and Negro officers overseas Capt. John H. Patton, at one time commanding the 2nd Battalion, 370th Infantry (and who, together with Capt. James E. Dun j ill and Lieut. Charles S. Parker, 366th Infantry, 92nd Division, were the only three Negroes who served in the capacity of Regimental Adjutants during the war), made the following statement: ''Both French and English officers were very friendly and hos- pitable in their relations with the colored officers of the 370th In- fantry, which unit was brigaded with French troops. They made no discrimination whatsoever in their treatment of Negro officers, 228 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY with whom they fraternized freely and truly regarded them as brothers in arms. ''Colonel Franklin A. Denison and Lient.-Colonel Otis B. Duncan were frequently entertained at lunch, not only by officers of their own rank, but occasionally by French generals, for instance, by Gen. Hirshauer, Commander 2nd French Army ; Gen. Lebuc, com- manding the 73rd Division; Gen. De Boisuide, commanding the 10th Division; Gen. Savatier, commanding the 34th Division; Gen. Pauliner, commanding the 40th Army Corps, and frequently by Gen. Mittlehauser, who was the commanding officer of the 36th (French) Division." Awards and Commendations The first American Distinguished Service Cross won by the 370th Regiment was awarded to Corporal Isaac Valley, Company M, in the following language: "When on July 22, 1918, a hand grenade was dropped among a group of soldiers in the trench and when he might have saved himself by flight he (Corp. Isaac Valley, Company M, 370th Infantry), attempted to cover it with his foot and thereby protect his comrades ; in the performance of this brave act he was severely wounded." While serving under General Mangin, the French command- ing officer of the Tenth Army of France, the men of the 370th U. S. Infantry came to be known as the ''Black Devils" by the Germans because of their fighting spirit, and were facetiously called "Part- ridges" by their French comrades because of their proud bearing. Lieut.-Colonel Otis B. Duncan, commander of the Third Bat- talion, 370th Infantry, formerly the old Eighth Illinois National Guard Regiment, who was raised from the rank of Major to Lieutenant-Colonel at Camp Stuart, Newport News, Virginia, March, 1918 (being the highest ranking Negro officer in the Amer- ican Expeditionary Forces), in speaking of the military campaign overseas in which the 370th U. S. Infantry participated, spoke in St. Louis of the difficulties which his men had to face and of the hardships they had to endure. He related some of the deeds of the regiment, but modestly refused to speak of his personal ex- ploits. He wears, however, the French Croix de Guerre, with silver star, conferred by the French Government through General Vin- ''THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS" 229 cendon, who, in a general order, relates how the Third Battalion (Lieut.-Colonel Duncan's command) took Logny, and "carried away hy their ardor of the previous week could not he stopped short of Gue d'Hossus, on November 11th after the ar^nistice." Colonel Duncan continued: "Beginning September 27, 1918, we sailed into them and drove them back to the Ailette Canal, where they made a stand, facing us not 50 yards away. The fighting here was fierce. The Germans had placed barbed-wire entanglements in the canal, but we avoided these with pontoon bridges and continued our drive. We reached what was known as Mont des Signes, or "Monkey Mountain." We took up our position here between "Monkey Mountain" and the German line, near a narrow-gauge railroad. Here we encountered more con- crete emplacements, dugouts, and barbed wire, and in getting to the Germans every man of us had to climb up on that railroad embankment, where we were fair marks for any kind of shell the Germans sent over. Naturally we lost many of our men. "The 370th Infantry," Colonel Duncan said, "was the first regiment of allied troops to enter Petit Chapelle, in Belgium, and the citizens gave them an ovation. In the advance made by Gen. Mangin's army in its 59-day drive, from September 11, 1918, to the date of the Armistice (November 11, 1918), one or another of the units of the regiment was always under shell fire and fighting. In Petit Chapelle the regiment established its lines while German combat troops still were in the town." Colonel Duncan served for 16 years with the Illinois National Guard, and saw service on the Mexican border, where he held the rank of Major. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in April, 1917. His home is in Springfield, Illinois, where for twenty years he was connected with the State Department of Education. The order citing him for braveiy w^hich was signed by Gen. Vincendon of the French Army, reads : "The General commanding the Fifty-ninth Division cites to the Order of the Division Military the following names: "Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan, Otis B., commanding the Third Battalion of the 370th R. I. U. S. "In command of a battalion during the operations of September, October and November, 1918, up until our victorious annistice, with the very best of tact and highest type of judgment. 230 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY ''At all times during the pursuit from the 6th of November to Novem- ber 11th, 1918, he was present in person and was an example of bravery and endurance for his soldiers. (Signed) * ' Vincendon. " On the Soissons front the 370th Regiment met with the strong- est resistance of the enemy. Companies F, G, H, I, and M dis- tinguished themselves in the great drive. They took ''Hill 304" from the Germans, and the Tenth French Army, with which this unit was fighting renamed it ''370th Infantry U. S. Hill" in honor of this Negro regiment. Death Valley was another exciting place for this unit, for they had advanced into the Hindenburg line and eveiy inch of ground that was won had to he held with science and grit. The ''8th Illinois Regiment" gave a splendid account of itself, and proved at the Oise-Aisne Canal to be among the world's greatest troops. Their position was near the center of the 59th Division, in the same spot where France had lost division after division. Record of the 370th in France Suffered 20 per cent casualties, lost ninety-five men and one officer killed outright. Lost only one prisoner to the Germans in all the months they fought. Captured many German cannon and German machine guns. Participated in the final drive against the Germans on the French sector, advancing in the final stages of the war as far as thirty-five kilometers in one day. Were the first American troops to enter the Fren-ch fortress of Laon when it was wrested from the Germans after four years of war. Won twenty-one American Distinguished Service Crosses, sixty-eight French "War Crosses, and one Distinguished Service Medal. Fought the last battle of the war, capturing a German wagon train of fifty wagons and crews a half-hour after the Armistice went into effect. Refused to fraternize with the Gennans even after the Armis- tice was signed. CHAPTER XVI THE 371ST INFANTRY IN FRANCE How This Colored Regiment of the *'Red Hand" Division Helped to Win the War — Service in the Trenches Under General Goy- bet — In the Great Champagne Offensive — Fierce Fighting and Heavy Losses — The Regiment Decorated by the French — In- dividual Citations and Awards. In addition to the 369tli Infantry Regiment (old New York Fifteenth) and the 370th (old Eighth Illinois), the 371st and 372nd Regiments, also composed of colored troops, were brigaded with the French during their active service overseas. It had been first decided by the United States War Department that these four colored regiments should form the nucleus of the 93rd Division (Provisional), but it was finally decided not to organize the 93rd Division, but to brigade these four regiments with French troops. The 371st Infantry was organized August 31, 1917, at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, in compliance with War Department General Order No. 109, of August 16, 1917, as the First Pro- visional Infantry Regiment (colored). Col. Perry L. Miles assumed command of the regiment September 1, 1917. All the officers of the 371st regiment were white. On September 5, 1917, fourteen colored men from Pensacola, Florida, were received as the first recruits for the regiment. The time of arrival of recruits for the regiment was delayed by the War Department for about a month, because of the shortage of labor in moving the 1917 cotton crop. It was not until early in October that the first considerable body of recruits was received. By November 20, 1917, however, 3,380 men had been received by the regiment. These men were not all received at once, but in varying sized draft increments at different times. Of this number, 1,680 men were transferred to labor organizations and 500 to a combat organization at Camp Upton. 231 232 SCOTT'S OFFICUL HISTORY Under a staif of Frencli officer instructors and interpreters, the 371st Infantry was reorganized on the French plan, soon after its arrival in France (April 23, 1918), with 194 men to the com- pany and three machine gun companies to the regiment instead of one as on the American plan. All the American equipment was turned in, and the men were given the French rifles, bayonets, helmets, packs, and other equipment of the French soldier. Only the American khaki uniform remained. After a few weeks' in- struction in this new equipment and in French tactics, the regi- ment went into the trenches as part of the 157th French Division under General Goybet. It remained in line for over three months, holding first the Avocourt and later the Verrieres subsectors (northwest of Verdun). The regiment, with its division, was then taken out of line and thrown into the great September offensive in the Champagne. It took Cote 188, Bussy Ferme, Ardeuil, Mont- fauxelles, and Trieres Ferme near Monthois, and captured a num- ber of prisoners, 47 machine guns, 8 trench engines, 3 field pieces (77s), a munition depot, a number of railroad cars, and enormous quantities of lumber, hay, and other supplies. It shot down three German airplanes by rifle and machine-gun fire during the ad- vance. During the fighting between September 28 and October 6, 1918, its losses — ^which were mostly in the first three days — ^were 1,065 out of 2,384 actually engaged. The regiment was the apex of the attacking salient in this great battle. The percentage of both dead and wounded among the officers was rather greater than among the enlisted men. Realizing their great responsibilities, the wounded officers continued to lead their men until they dropped from exhaustion and lack of blood. The men were devoted to their leaders and as a result stood up against a most gruelling fire, bringing the regiment its well deserved fame. For its action in the Champagne, the 371st was very highly commended by the French high command and awarded the Army citation. Vice-Admiral Moreau on behalf of the French Govern- ment decorated the regimental colors on January 27, 1919, in Brest. In addition to this regimental citation, 146 individual cita- tions were awarded members of the 371st regiment. These were divided as follows; THE 371ST INFANTRY IN FRANCE 233 American Distinguished Service Cross: Officers, 10; enlisted men, 12. French decorations: Legion of Honor: Officers, 1. Croix de Guerre, in various grades: Officers, 34; enlisted men, 89. The 371st went into line for its initial experience in sector work at a time when a big German offensive was expected. From that time until shortly after the Armistice, the regiment remained continuously in line or was on the offensive. It was never in rest. Eeturning homeward, the regiment sailed from Brest February 3, 1919, on the U. S. S. Leviathan and arrived at Hoboken, February 11, 1919. From there it went to Camp Upton, where it was broken up into detachments and sent to various camps for demobilization. The largest detachment, nearly 1,400 men with Eegimental Head- quarters, was sent to Camp Jackson, at Columbia, South Carolina, the place of the regiment's birth. Demobilization was completed and the regiment dissolved February 28, 1919. Praise for the Regiment Col. P. L. Miles, who commanded the 371st, speaks in warm and approving terms of the efficiency of his men. ' * I never heard of similar performance by any regiment of any nation," Col. Miles writes, commenting on the feat of shooting three Boclie airplanes ''on the wing." "Our division commander, who had over four years of war over here, said he had heard of a former case where one machine had been shot down in a similar manner." Another officer of the 371st, Capt. J. Leo Collins of East Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, a member of the Allegheny County bar, who was commissioned an officer at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and assigned to duty at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, where the 371st was organized and trained, says: ''The 371st was the first draft regiment to sail from this country, sailing in April, 1918, and the first draft outfit, to take the trenches. In the engagements around Verdun the fighting qualities and courage of our boys won the admiration and most profuse praise of the French. Citations were showered upon the valorous boys for their unflinching conduct in the face of withenng machine-gun fire, which they overcame and silenced at the point of the bayonet. We broke the Hindenburg line at Monthois, and so rapidly did our boys move that a halt was 234 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY called to enable the right and left flanks of our line to catch up. An excellent opportunity was furnished by comparisons as to just how good our colored soldiers were. At times we were brigaded with the French Moroccan and with English Canadian troops, with the G-ermans opposite, and it is quite safe to say that we certainly did not suffer by comparison." Frank Washington's Story A typical story of the courage and bravery of the men who composed the 371st Regiment is revealed in the record of Frank Washington of Edgefield, South Carolina. He proved his valor under conditions worthy of testing the bravery of the bravest. He was attached to Company B, and received an explosive bullet through the arm at Champagne. His story was as follows : *'It was all bad, but the worst came when the German air- planes 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 torture at you — well, the Indians or the savages of Africa were not much worse. They were not so bad, in fact, for they were savages — ^while the Germans are sup- posed to be civilized. **A Hun plane flew over when I was wounded, but believe me, when I saw that fire coming I sure did some lively hopping around. There wasn't going to be any broiled Washington if I could help it. But some of the mortally wounded were burned to death. Those Huns should be made to pay for that sort of thing. It ain't fighting; it's concentrated hell! But we had to attend to thew wounded, and one of our officers saw that w^e did it. *'I went over the top in the fighting on September 29 and 30. We advanced after the usual barrage had been laid down for us. We went up to the Germans, and my platoon found itself under the fire of three machine guns. One of these guns was in front and running like a millrace. The other two kept a-piling into us from the flanks, and the losses were mounting. We got the front one. Its crew surrendered and we stopped. The other guns kept right on going, but we got them, too. THE 371ST INFANTRY IN FRANCE 235 **It was while we were attacking the gims on our flanks that I was wounded. Ordinary bullets are bad enough, but the one that hit me was an explosive bullet. That's me, sir, eveiy time! ^Vlien things are coming, I am sure to get my share of them. I certainly did get my share. ** While I was knocked dovim, it was safer to stay down. Those machine guns kept right on pumping, not the ones we captured, but others. The wind they stirred up around your face kept you cool all the time. I finally started back, but found myself in a German 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 never expected to get home again. **They say Edgefield, back home, isn't much to 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 come back, I feel that I'm square with this country. I did my share, and I'm glad I did it." Jim McKinney's Experience James P. McKinney, of Greeneville, South Carolina, attached to the Headquarters Company of the 371st Infantry, was wounded in the right arm by shrapnel. Gas infection set in and he was invalided out of service. "The day we went over the top," says McKinney, **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 over the slopes commanded by their machine guns. They turned loose everything 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 tlie ones that had been on the machine guns yelled for us to spare them. I guess in the excitement some of them fared poorly. ** While we were advancing we worked along low and took all 236 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY available cover against the macliine-gun fire directed against us. As soon as we came within range we opened fire with hand gren- ades and accounted for the machine-gun nests. I sav/ some of the gunners chained to their posts. Their 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, Fritz 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 at- tacking 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 grenades here and there, and guess I got a few of them. *'The German artillery fire was accurate. They had our ranges down to a science, and while they had good ammunition 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 positively nothing they didn't do that was horrible. I've seen them cut loose at a company 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 while 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 Providence, none of us was killed. A few were slightly wounded. They mixed high explosives mth gas and shrapnel. "About the hardest luck of the war, though," concluded Mc- Kinney, "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 began a gas bombard- ment. The men put on their masks, but the meat was ruined. That's what I call hard luck." THE 371ST INFANTRY IN FRANCE 237 The Men Never Flinched Capt. W. R. Richey of Laurens, South Carolina, who com- manded a company of the 371st Regiment, in writing of the men of that regiment, said: *'0n the afternoon of September 26, 1918, we received orders to move forward. We slept that night in a French communicating trench. I say slept, but really there was no sleep, as it was raining, and the noise from the guns would not let one sleep. The French had gone over the top and were pur- suing the Huns. ''On Sunday morning my company went over the hill. We arrived at the position the attack was to start from at 7:30, after having a deadly artillery barrage on us over the hill. At 10 o'clock Sunday morning we were ordered to advance up the valley, but in the meantime an enemy plane flew down low, discovered our posi- tion, and signalled his artillery, which opened on us, and every minute seemed to be the last one. However, by rifle fire we brought the plane down, killing the pilot and observer. "Long before we reached the village we could see the cowards i-unning up a steep hill beyond, leaving lots of machine guns to stick out, and, believe me, when we reached our objective and rounded up the machine gTinners the men of the 371st made quick work of them. "In all, during the two days, Sunday and Monday, our battalion advanced about five miles without the aid of a single friendly artillery shot or any other help. We killed lots of Germans, captured lots of them, and also captured any quantity of material and several big guns. "I am proud of all m.y officers and all of my men. The whole regiment fought like veterans, and with a fierceness equal to any white regiment. This was the first time any of them had been under aimed shell and machine-giin fire and they stood it like moss-covered old-timers. They never flinched or showed the least sign of fear. All that was necessary was to tell them to go and they went. Lots were killed and wounded, but they will go down in history as brave soldiers." "They Were Splendid Fighters" Lieut. John B. Smith, another Southern officer, residing at ^ith whom they v/ere fighting, while the Germans' casualty toll was eleven killed and three wounded, and the remainder were captured." The Negro in the Argonne ''Stories of the fight in the Argonne Forest," said Mr. Tyler in a later report, "and the splendid endurance and valiant fighting of the colored soldiers continue to come in. It is reported that a company of the old Ninth Ohio Battalion, under command of its colored captain from Dayton, Ohio, lay in an open field all night, awaiting orders to go into action, while all the time the Germans were dumping big shells and machine-gun fire into them. But even in the face of such a murderous fire, the colored line stood as firm as if the huge shells and murderous machine-gun fire were but the discharge of toy blowguns. Among their casualties were Anderson Lee and William Chenault, of Dayton, who were killed. The firmness of the line these khaki-garbed black soldiers main- tained in the face of a withering fire — a veritable heU — constitutes one more reason why the folks of the race back home should be proud of these, their colored soldiers over here, whose unyielding spirit and bravery is making history for the race. "I have learned that Hill 304, which the French so valiantly held, and. which suffered such a fierce bombardment from the Germans that there is not a single foot of it but what is plowed NEGRO HEROES OF THE WAR 267 Tip by shells, and whose sides, even today, are literally covered with the corpses of French soldiers who still lie where they fell, was later as valiantly held by the colored soldiers from the United States, who fought with all the heroism and endurance the best traditions of the army have chronicled. The colored soldiers, under their own captain from Dayton, Ohio, who so splendidly maintained their line in the Argonne Forest, and those who held that bloody and forever historical Hill 304, had the odds against them, but like Tennyson's immortalized *Six Hundred,' they fought bravely and well, firmly in the belief it was 'not theirs to reason why, but theirs to do or die,' and, like the patriots they were, they did DO and this war's history will so record." How Two Colored Captains Fell Still another report by Mr. Tyler says: ''Recently, in an engagement already reported, a colored unit was ordered to charge, and take if possible, a very difficult objective held by the Germans. Captains Fairfax and Green, two colored officers, were in command of the detachments. They made the charge, running into several miles of barb-wire entanglements, and hampered by a murderous fire from nests of German machine guns which were camouflaged. Just before charging, one of the colored sergeants, running up to Captain Fairfax, said: 'Do you know there is a nest of German machine guns ahead?' The Captain replied: 'I only know we have been ordered to go forward, and we are going.' Those were the last words he said, before giving the command to charge, 'into the jaws of death.' The colored troops followed their intrepid leader with all the enthusiasm and dash characteristic of patriots and courageous fighters. They went forward, they obeyed the order, and as a result 62 men and two officers were listed in the casualties reported. Captains Fairfax and Green being among those who fell to rise no more. Captain Fairfax's last words: 'I only know we have been ordered to go forward, and we are going,' are words that will forever live in the memory of their race; they are words that match those of Sergeant Carney, the color sergeant of the 54th Massachusetts during the Civil War, who, although badly wounded, held the tattered, shot-pierced Stars and Stripes aloft and exclaimed: 'The old flag never touched the ground.' Men 268 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY who have served under Captains Fairfax and Green say two braver officers never fought and fell." "Since this 92nd Division has been in France there has come to it four promotions for its colored officers, among these being the promotion of Captain Adam E. Patterson and Captain Dean to majorships, the former now serving as Divisional Judge Advo- cate, while the latter is in command of a munition train. Major Patterson will be remembered as the colored man whom President "Wilson, soon after his first inauguration, nominated for the posi- tion of Register of the Treasury, but who, on learning certain Southern Senators would prevent his confirmation, wrote the Presi- dent requesting, in order not to embarrass the President, that he withdraw his name, which was done. The Division Commander speaks in high terms of Major Patterson's ability, his attentiveness to duty, and his fine conduct of the office of Division Judge Advo- cate. Both Major Patterson aiid Major Dean won their promotion, the Division Comynander says, on merit alone." Captadn Jones and His Gallant Fighters **In one engagement in the Argonne woods, where the fighting has been most sanguinary, ' ' said Mr. Tyler, ' ' and where the Amer- ican troops showed their mettle. Captain J. "Wormley Jones, of Washington, D. C, is reported to have stood like a stone wall, and rallied his men, when others were wavering in the face of a mur- derous fire and of great odds. In this particular engagement. Captain Jones displayed such fine leadership, such fearlessness of danger, that his Division Commander, in a personal talk with the writer, praised in highest terms the valor and leadership shown by the Captain. It is such instances as these, and there are many coming to light almost daily, that justify the hope entertained by the race that our colored officers would prove efficient, and that our colored soldiers v/ould fight as well under colored officers as under any others." And in a later dispatch Mr. Tyler continued: ** Realizing that there is nothing more encouraging to the race back in the States than to learn how bravely our colored soldiers over here are enduring and fighting, I made it a point to secure a fuller report of the bravery displayed by Captain J. Wormley Jones, of Washing-ton, D. C, in one of the Argonne engagements. NEGRO HEROES OF THE WAR 269 The place of honor, it appears, fell to Captain Jones's regiment, and to the battalion to which he belongs. Under cover of the night 's pitch-black darkness, the Captain led his men into the trenches overlooking No-Man's Land, that grim sepulcher that holds so many thousands of the Allies' and the enemy dead. *' Notwithstanding that Captain Jones and his men had just completed a forced march of some twenty kilometers, the men were in excellent condition and splendid spirits, and eager to demon- strate their fitness to try conclusions with the Huns. Captain Jones was supported by Lieutenants Frank Coleman, C. W. Mar- shall, D. J. Henderson, and Paul Jones, the last mentioned being a brother of the captain. These men were all of 'the sterner stuff,' and fit for the trying ordeal which awaited them. Space forbids dealing with the blackness of the night, or with the awful bombardment. '* Neither can I individualize respecting the magnificent valor of the men of the company led by Captain Jones in this engage- ment, which Secretaiy Baker himself praised. When the awful bombardment died away, just as the gray streaks of early dawn pierced the night's blackness, which was made grayer by a thick heavy fog, the Captain ordered a charge *over the top' with fixed bayonets; through the treacherous fog and into no-man-knew-what or seemed to care. The first wave, or detachment, went over with a cheer — a triumphant cheer — and the second wave followed their comrades with a dash. It may, perhaps, be best to let these boys and officers tell with their own lips of the terrific, murderous shell, shrapnel, gas, and machine-g-un fire which baptized them, only to make them the more hardened and intrepid warriors; of how they contended every inch; fought with marvelous valor, never for an instant faltering. Trench after trench of the enemy was entered and conquered; dugout after dugout was successfully grenaded and made safe for the boys to follow; wires were cut and communi- cating trenches explored; machine-gun nests were raided and silenced, and still the boys fought their way on. Of course, as a natural sequence to such a daring raid, there were casualties, but the black soldiers, heroes as they were, never flinched at death, and the wounded wore too proud of their achievements even to mummr because of the pain they endured. Captain Jones and his men 2T0 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY took over a mile of land and trenches which for four years had been held by the Germans. The newspapers have given due and proper credit to the Americans for this daring raid, but the world has not been informed that it was the colored soldiers of Ajnerica, under Captain J. Wormley Jones, a former Washington, D. C, policeman, who made the charge that was as daring, and more successful, than the Tennyson-embalmed charge of 'The Light Brigade.' " A Brave Y. M. 0. A. Secretary To E. T. Banks, of Dayton, Ohio, belongs the honor of being the first Y. M. C. A. colored secretary to go ''over the top," which he did in one of the Argonne engagements. It was permitted him to fight for two days and nights in the forests and trenches side by side Avith real soldiers. On the last night, while lending first aid to a wounded black scout soldier, he was fired upon by a Ger- man machine gun, but succeeded in bringing his wounded scout to the American line, though not until they had lain all night in the forest under a most fearful barrage fire. For his bravery. Banks was cited and recommended for meritorious service. An officer, in a personal letter to him commending his splendid service, wrote: "When the full story of the Argonne is told, the 'Red Triangle* represented by Mr. Banks will add beauty to the rainbow that is reflected from the silent tombs of those who sleep the sleep of death that Democracy may not perish from the earth.*' A Heroic Colored Physician There was a heroic calmness, according to Ralph W. Tyler, in the death of Lieutenant Urban F. Bass, of Fredericksburg, Vir- ginia, colored, serving as a physician with one of the colored regi- ments, and it is deserving of more than a passing notice. He was directing the affairs of his temporary aid station just behind the crest of a hill, while the battle was raging, when a shell from the enemy's gun combed the hill and struck among the group of work- ers being directed by him, tearing off both legs of the physician. Lieut. Bass, with remarkable fortitude, as calmly instructed his hospital corps how to give him first aid as if he was but writing a prescription for one of his patients back in his Virginia office. NEGRO HEROES OF THE WAR 271 He died a few moments later, from blood hemorrhage. Thus went a most promising colored physician who, although beyond the draft age, volunteered his services ; left a splendid practice, wife and children, to serve his country in France, and by so doing help to advance the interests of his race back in America. Here is another story told by Mr. Tyler: ''Yesterday about 10 o'clock, a platoon of colored men, under colored officers, was sent out to reconnoiter, to learn the strength and position of the enemy, and with positive instructions to bring back live prisoners. They went, but discovering that the enemy was strongly entrenched, and realizing that it would be suicidal to attempt to attack almost a regiment with a handful of men, returned and reported. The Major of the battalion thereupon said he would go himself and do the job, and called for eight volunteers to accompany him. There was no lack of volunteers, even from among those of the platoon that had previously returned to make this report. The Major, a white officer, selected eight men from the many who had volunteered to make the perilous trip, and started out to locate the Huns' position and return with a live prisoner. Instead of returning, he, with two of his volunteers, are now prisoners of war in the German camp, for they found, to their Major's regret, that the colored officer had reported correctly the German strength. This is but one more instance showing that the colored soldiers are indifferent to fear; that they quickly, cheerfully, and eagerly vol- unteer to go even though death or capture is the sure fate await- ing them." How Lieutenant Cameron Died **It was but one of the many small raids nearly every night chronicles here at the front," said Mr. Tyler in another dispatch, **but it demonstrated the daring courage of our colored troops. Some two hundred colored soldiers, under Captain Robert Stephens, of Columbus, Ohio, were ordered to raid the Boche's trenches. They were ordered to do this without a barrage fire being first laid down for them, and without artillery or machine-gun support. They never hesitated, however, but out into the pitch-black darkness of night they moved, encountered the usual barbed-wire entangle- ments which so fearfully harass advance even in the day, to say 272 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY nothing of the night. The Germans lay quiet nntil these black warriors were within forty rods of their trenches, and then they opened np a mnrderous machine-gun fire, and exploded shells of deadly gas among the black soldiers. But ther latter never wavered. They fought manfully against great odds. Among the casualties were Captain Stephens and Lieut. Stewart, badly gassed, and Lieut. Cameron, of Nashville, Tennessee, killed. Bruce McCray, Maxton, North Carolina, just as he was going over the top, was hit by a machine-gun bullet that ripped his stomach, and Cor- nelius Turner, of Sellars, Louisiana, was stopped from going over the top by a bullet which indented his helmet, cutting a jagged wound in his head. There were a number who were more or less gassed. I visited them in the hospital the following afteraoon, and found those injured and gassed getting along as well as could be expected, and had the assurance of the physicians in attendance — careful physicians of their own race — that all would recover. The death of Lieutenant Cameron, however, cast an impenetrable gloom over every one in the regiment, and even in the entire division, for he was loved by officers and men. The draft would not and could not have reached Lieutenant Cameron, but he came — ^volunteered — to serve his country, and died for it." Badly "Wounded, He Fought On "An incident shoAving unusual fidelity to duty came to light yesterday. Sergeant Gans, with two other colored comrades, was on guard at a 'strong point' on one of the active fronts. During the night his two comrades were killed by enemy shrapnel, smd he himself had ugly wounds in his back and leg, from which the blood flowed freely; still he remained at his post. When it was learned that his two comrades had been killed, and he himself wounded, Captain Harry Atwood sent to have the dead and wounded brought in, but Sergeant Gans refused to leave his post, because a sergeant, as he thought was proper, was not there to relieve him. It became necessary for Captain Atwood to order this badly wounded sergeant to leave his post at the point of a bayonet, to secure medical treatment. All he knew was duty; he was firm in the belief that before he could leave his post for any- thing, a relief should be there to take his place." NEGRO HEROES OF THE WAR 273 A Fighting Colored Chaplain **The gas mask has saved hundreds from being gassed," said Mr. Tyler, ''but perhaps the first case reported of a gas mask saving a soldier's life by warding off a deadly bit of shrapnel was the case of Chaplain J. T. Simpson, a former Pittsburgh colored minister. The courageous chaplain, as full of fight as of religion, was going over the top with 'his boys,' as he called the troops of his regiment, when a big shell exploded, and a piece of the shrapnel from it hit the mask he was wearing, striking the metal part, other- wise he would now be a dead chaplain instead of confined in the hospital from shell shock. Frequently it takes longer to recover from shell shock than from a shell wound. The chaplain, when I saw him was, however, slowly but surely recovering." Mental Effect of a Big Shell "When one calmly reads of the shelling of a to^vn, he cannot form any adequate knowledge of the feeling which possesses those who experience the shelling. Yesterday afternoon the Boche opened up on the little town at the front, in which I was gathering news," said Ralph W. Tyler in another letter. "The big guns of the Huns sent their awful instruments of death whistling through the air. First a belching sound is heard, and then comes the siren-like whistle of the shell as it races overland to its tenninal of destruc- tion; and then a roaring,- hellish sound — 'Boom!' — shaking hills and vales for miles around. The people are startled. They gather in little knots and look far over the lines, whence came the belch- ing sound, to see if they can get a view of the approaching engine of death. Soldiers hardened to the oft-heard sound, calmly proceed about their duties, when they find the Hun has failed to get the proper range of the town. But the feeling is peculiar. Even when the shell misses, involuntarily there arises, in one's mind, the ques- tion: 'Will the next one hitT There are experiences far more pleasant than seeing a big death-tipped shell— so I thought when two whistled over my head yesterday and struck a few yards to the right and left of me," CHAPTER XIX THE NEGRO SOLDIER AS A FIGHTER Unanimous Praise by Military Observers — Value of Negroes as Shock Troops — Discipline and Morale Under Fire — What the War Correspondents Said About Them — Comynents by Foreign Military Observers — Estimates by American and French Officers. The Negro has always had the record of being a good soldier. General Pershing has been quoted as to the courage and valor of the colored troops. It may be well to quote here the testimony of four other distinguished Americans as to the faithful service of colored soldiers in other wars. Commodore Perry said after the Battle of Lake Erie: ''They seemed to be absolutely insensible to danger." General Jackson asserted on the occasion of the Battle of New Orleans: ''You surpassed my hopes. The nation shall applaud your valor." Speaking of the NegTo in the Civil War, General Grant said: "The colored troops fought nobly." Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, reporting on the record of the Negro soldiers in the Spanish- American war, said: "No troops could behave better than the colored soldiers." The reader will have noted that Negro combat units in their fighting overseas lived up to all the traditions of their race. They distinguished themselves by bravery, fortitude, and loyalty, and the records of the regiments of which they were a part compared favorably with any of those who went overseas. "Whether in Flanders, in Champagne, in the Argonne Forest, in the Vosgee, on the Meuse, or before Metz, it was the old story of indomitable courage, of willingness to go forward always, no matter how mur- derous the opposing fire. There was the same valor and spirit displayed by them in every action, and they saw some of the most intense and critical fighting of the war. The Negroes went into the World War with a spirit of the true 274 THE NEGRO SOLDIER AS A FIGHTER 275 soldier. They were determined to fight it out at the earliest possible moment. Sixteen Negro soldiers passing through Defiance, Ohio, were asked whether they were going to France. **No, sir, I am not going to France," replied one of them, **I am going to Berlin and I may stop in France for a short time on the way. ' ' **What we are aiming to do," said a Negro ofiicer, **is to push our way right on into Berlin without stopping, as we promised the folks at home we would do, and we don't intend to be long about it either." "Heaven, Hell or Hoboken" Soldiering for the Negro was a pleasant pastime as long as there were any Germans around. They, therefore, had for their watchword that of the Black Herald: '* Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken by Christmas." They soon established themselves as being cool and reliable fighters in the front line. Both Americans and French report that if the Germans ever discovered who it was that held part of the line through the Argonne Forest when the Boche failed once to get through, they would have a decidedly high respect for the American Negro infantry. Their fighting spirit always ran high. They seemed to fear nothing. There is a story of a Negro soldier who was found sitting pensively in a field while shells were roaring overhead like invisible midair express trains. **What are you thinking about. Buddy? Making your will? Are you wondering why you were nut enough to enlist?" **No," said the doughboy gloomily, '^I was wondering how I was ever nut enough to let a man hold me up in Chicago last spring. He only had a thirty-two." Upon an occasion of a Negro regiment hammering its way through the German lines the brigade commander summoned the colonel of a Negro regiment before him and demanded to know in terse military fashion, why that colonel had not maintained better control over his troops, and why, above everything else, he had not ''stopped" his men and kept them from passing beyond their appointed objectives, and, in fact, hacking their way through ahead of their own protective barrage. 276 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY ''Stop them?" queried the Colonel ''Stop them? Hell, man, how could you expect me to stop them, when the whole German army couldn't do it?" Because of these unusual feats in war the Germans soon began to regard the Negroes not with mere curiosity but with unusual fear. Early in the war the German army offered a reward of 400 marks for the capture alive of each Negro as an inducement to German soldiers to overcome the great fear and terror of the Negroes. A discharged German soldier reported that one evening on the front a scouting party consisting of 10 Germans including himself encoun- tered two French Negroes. In a fight which followed, two of the scouting party were killed. One of the Negroes escaped, the other being taken prisoner. In the fight two of the Germans left their comrades and ran to the protection of their own trenches, but these, it was explained, were young soldiers and untrained. The reward of 400 marks subsequently was divided among the remaining six Germans for capturing the Negro. German Fear of Colored Troops How the Germans feared the colored American soldiers is indi- cated by Mr. Tyler in his report of a conversation with two American aviators, Lieut. V. H. Burgin of Atlanta and Lieut. A. L. Clark of Boston. Both had been forced to descend behind the German lines and had been held as prisoners of war for two months. Writing from Brest, where these airmen were waiting for transport home, Mr. Tyler said: "The interesting part of these intrepid American airmen's nar- rative of their fight, capture and imprisonment, to colored people, is that while they were captured at different points, and imprisoned at widely separated prisons, both state that when brought before the German military intelligence department and questioned as to the American force in France, one of the first questions asked of them, and which the Germans seemed most concerned about, was how many colored troops the Americans had over here. Lieut. Burgin, of Atlanta, said he told them there were 13,000,000 American colored troops in France. He stated that this not only surprised the Ger- mans, but appeared to depress them, 'For,* he added, 'the Germans have a holy fear of colored troops and their knives wielded mth THE NEGRO SOLDIER AS A FIGHTER 277 skill and dexterity.' He stated that this information made a tre- mendous impression on the Germans, although he admitted he did not know, at the time, how many colored troops were in France, but thought it was best to exaggerate rather than underestimate the strength of our forces when questioned by the enemy. » "Lieut. Clark, the Boston aviator, also said that the leading ques- tion put to him by the German military intelligence officers was: *How many Negro troops have the Americans got over here!' He stated that not knowing, he was frank in telling them that he did not know, but that he believed there were several millions. He, too, stated that this information regarding the force of colored troops in France, given to the German officers who questioned him, greatly depressed them. *'It was a fact patent to every American officer and soldier who had had contact w^ith German soldiers, that they had a mortal fear of colored soldiers. This fear had been occasioned by two things. First, before the American colored soldiers had been put on the battle front the Germans had encountered the fierce fighting Sene- galese and Algerians, fighting with the French, who took no prisoners, and who were prone to cut off the ears and other parts of a German 's anatomy before dispatching him into eternity. Then again, later, they had encountered the 372nd, 371st, 370th and 369th colored regi- ments, the first colored Americans to arrive in France, and who were brigaded and fought with the French. The Germans had learned that the American colored soldier, while not brutal like the Senegalese and Algerians, were even harder, more scientific and more dangerous fighters. They were men who fought with precision — fought like trained veterans — were good in trench warfare, in raids, or in at- tack — any way they were ordered to fight, while the Senegalese and Algerians were best in attack — being dashing, whirlwind fighters in attacks, or as shock troops." Efficiency of Colored Fighters Major L'Esperance of the 369th regiment has borne testimony to the efficiency of his men. Says Major L'Esperance: "The heaviest fighting was on September 26, 1918, when we went into action with twenty officers and 700 men in our battalion in the morning- and at the close we had seven officers and 150 men left. 278 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Our boys advanced steadily like seasoned veterans and never lost a foot of ground they had taken or let a prisoner escape. ' ' The testimony of Colonel William Hayward of the 369th has already been quoted to the same general effect. Colonel T. A. Roberts, who commanded the 370th referred to in the foregoing chapters, says: **I have been commended for the fighting qualities and general bearing of the men who were actually over the Belgian border when the Armistice was signed, and one of my battalions was the most advanced unit of the French army with which we were cooperating at the time." As the New York Times said upon the return of these gallant soldiers from France: **The American Negro troops in France never failed to share the glory of battle with the Fi-ench, or with their white American comrades." In all that makes the soldier, bravery, intelligence, endurance, and, particularly, good nature under hardship and privation, the Negro soldier excels. He is never downhearted, and usually he is gay and full of humor. No American army would be complete without the familiar and historic Negro troops. In the war of wars in which the Negro has participated it remained for the American Negro to be represented by a full divi- sion, with all the military units thereof. The band of the 350th Field Artillery Regiment appeared in Nancy for a concert, and this was the first information to reach the inhabitants that the only brigade of Negro artillery ever organized had been defending Nancy by holding the Marbache sector south of Metz. This organization came up behind the line about a month before the end of hostilities. It was so eager to get into the fray that the men drew some of the guns into, position by hand. The brigade participated in the taking of Foret de Frehaut. It was the accurate fire of these colored artillerymen which reduced the resistance and enabled the infantry to capture the position without great loss. It was said by a war correspondent at the front that if Emperor William in the weeks preceding September, 1918, had been on his historic observation post at Mount Fauson, where he saw the fight- ing before Verdun in 1916, he would have seen the American Negro r-oldiers holding a portion of the trenches in the Foret de Hesse. The unanimous opinion of French military observers, with whom THE NEGRO SOLDIER AS A FIGHTER 279 the four regiments of colored troops served, as well as of their oommanders who have been quoted (both Northern men and Southern men) was that the colored soldier met every test of service. Rev. D. Leroy Ferguson, Chaplain in the United States Army, writing from France, is quoted as saying: **The colored soldier here is making a great record in France, and the officers and French people with whom I have talked praise his worth and work. The same bravery and courage and skill that characterized his efforts in other wars in America and Mexico are shown here in an excellent way. They are enduring the hardships and the suffering with smiles; their deportment is good; and whether it is unloading the great cargoes, digging the roads or on the firing line, the black soldier is equal to any. When the history of the war is written our soldiers will have their names written large with honors, and though here in France for victory, they all want to and expect to return to the good old U. S. A. With all her faults we love her still — our wives, our sweethearts, families and our homes. I am proud to be able to contribute something to the war." Comparison with European Soldiers The European war gave colored American soldiers the first opportunity for comparison of their mettle with the best soldiers of Germany, Great Britain and France; and unanimous testimony is more or less to the effect that they were able to hold their own in courage, endurance and aggressiveness without whimper or com- plaint. Colored Americans are proud of the following two para- graphs which appeared in TJie Stars and Stripes, the organ of the American troops in France: "The farthest north at 11 o'clock (when the armistice went into effect) on the front of the two armies was held at the extreme American left, up Sedan way, by the troops of the 77th New York Division. The farthest east— the nearest to the Rhine — was held by those New York soldiers who used to make up the 'old 15th New York' and have long been brigaded with the French. They were in Alsace and their line ran through Thann and across the railway that leads to Colmar." ** Probably the hardest fighting by any Americans in the final 280 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY liour was tliat wliicli engaged the troops of the 28th, 92d, 81st, and 7th Divisions of the Second American Army. It was no mild thing, that last flare of the battle, and the order to cease firing did not reach the men in the front line until the last moment, when the runners sped with it from foxhole to foxhole." The gratifying thing is that there should be recorded in the official organ of the American Expeditionary Forces a reference to the fact that colored troops were nearest the Ehine of all American troops, as, indeed, they were later the first of all Allied troops to reach the Rhine, and that the 92d Di\dsion — their Divi- sion — ^was engaged *'in the hardest fighting of the last hour of the war." The Brooklyn Standard Union epitomizes in an editorial expression the general opinion which obtains as to the fighting quality of the colored American troops sent overseas to fight ''for democracy" during the world war: ''Of the American Negro soldiers it has been frequently said since we have been fighting in France, that they are decidedly the most cheerful troops who have spilt blood in this war, and as highly courageous as any who have shouldered guns. This is not an exaggerated tribute, for the testimony of the Allies, and, of course of General Pershing and other white officers bears out this esti- mate, while the War Department at Washington has abundant proof, in the way of records, showing the bravery of these boys. "Some of those who recognized the extremely sociable and good natured qualities of the Negro questioned his ability as a fighter. They feared he would not stand up well in a bayonet charge, or in an advance upon singing machine guns, or where shells from the big cannon were bursting and rocking the earth. But that was a superficial view. Under his smile and ready laugh or grin the colored man has the qualities of a fighter — coolness, patience, steadfastness, optimism, pluck and, of course, courage. All these have been brought out in recent months, and honors have fallen upon him in France in a manner that is cause for national pride. "In every department of the army, from wireless telegraphy to the sanitary squad, the Negro has played his part and played it conscientiously, and it is gratifying to know that this city has con- tributed a very large number of Negro fighters to the nation's' THE NEGRO SOLDIER AS A FIGHTER 281 army, for the percentage of volunteers here has been high. Easy to mold to the requirements of discipline, happy under any and all circumstances, he is an exemplary soldier. On the charge he sees red, as the fighter should, and in rest billets or even in the trench he seldom loses his cheerful outlook upon life." French Wanted Colored Troops Assigned to the French High Commission in the city of Washington during the war were two distinguished Frenchmen, Colonel Edouard Requin and Major L. P. DeMontal. These gentle- men often called at the office of the author to make inquiry as to when additional combat troops were to be sent to France. They spoke in terms of gratitude of the services of the S. 0. S. men but their eagerness always manifested was that the War Department should decide to send over increasingly large numbers of colored combat troops, for, as they both stated, every report that reached them from France spoke of the wonderful courage and coolness of the colored American troops, who made a wonderful impression upon the French population both civil and military and as will have been noted from the praise and commendation of high French officers, they won the respect of those militaiy representatives of the French army. The courage of these colored American troops was always in evidence; their cool headedness and bravery under fire as well as their desire to engage in the aforesaid engagements went to demonstrate that the colored soldiers were unsurpassed as fighters. The Germans had little or no respect for the fighting ability of these soldiers until they encountered them in several hand-to-hand combats. The Bulletin of the Armies issued by the French government after the completion of every drive in which the allied armies participated, gives some of the most amazing records of heroism in the history of wars. The Algerian and Senegalese soldiers gained favor continuously as fighters of the first rank. The records of these soldiers were heralded on the European continent as incom- parable achievements of bravery, and upon every occasion when they paraded the streets preparatory to leaving for the first line trenches, storms of api3lause greeted them from every roadside and tavern, and upon one occasion when these black troops returned 282 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY to the city of Paris, after having been engaged in a vigorous drive against the Germans at Verdun, every soldier was bedecked with a shower of flowers tendered him by French women, who wept bitterly as they viewed the wounded Negroes limp through the Paris thoroughfares. One of the most remarkable feats recorded in the Bulletin was the work performed by a corporal of a French infantry regiment, Louis Hermitte, a Senegalese. After a German attack in December, 1917, he went out of the trench and drove back the enemy by hurling hand grenades. He dug himself into a little corner quite close to the German line and stayed there for several days. He received a military medal. Heroism of French Negroes The black troops of France won many honors and proved them- selves unafraid of suffering. One page in the Bulletin was devoted to the mention of five cases of Algerian and Senegalese soldiers, men born in a hot climate and quite unused to frost and snow, who remained at their posts under fire and fought bravely, though all of them were terribly frostbitten — so badly in two cases that both legs had to be amputated. In two other cases the men lost a leg each. One of these men endured the agony of frostbite and of terrific German attacks for nineteen consecutive days and finally fell when his ammunition gave out. Still another, with hands and feet frozen, fought with such fury that he captured several machine guns and single handed brought back sixty German prisoners. These feats of heroism have crowned several of the men with the Croix de Guerre honors, but these honors are not received with a vainglorious boast on the part of the soldiers. It is one of the highest honors that a soldier can receive from the government. Hard fighting in close quarters calls for a greater measure of athletic ability and superior physical strength and endurance. This the Senegalese seem to possess to a greater degree than any other allied body. In every single close battle with the German they proved themselves masters of the situation and slaugh- tered their opponents unmercifully. In one instance Corporal Hamilde Annonetti was badly gassed, but continued work until his lungs were overcrowded with the vapor. He was taken to the THE NEGRO SOLDIER AS A FIGHTER 283 relief station and begged to go back to the firing line to finish his attack. After being temporarily relieved he escaped from the hos- pital and dragged himself back two miles over the bullet riddled ground and renewed his attack, killing, it is claimed, five or more Germans who were manning a machine gun. He was picked up by the ambulance corps with both legs shot away. The high state of discipline and the morale which existed in the 92d (colored) Division was the subject of a great deal of comment from all of the allied officers who had the opportunity to view the troops who composed this command, and is attested by the remarks of General Pershing relative to discipline and morale addressed to the 92d Division at Le Mans, France, just previous to their departure for the United States, when he said: ''The 92d Division has been, without a doubt, a great success, and I desire to commend both the officers and men for the high state of discipline and the excellent morale which has existed in this command during its entire stay in France." Brig. Gen. W. H. Hay, of the 184th Brigade, 92d Division, said : "I have been with colored troops for 25 years, and I have never seen better soldiers than the drafted men who composed this divi- sion." Capt. Willis, of the 365th Infantry, said: ''These men are the best disciplined and best saluting soldiers that I have ever seen." An officer en route between Camp Meade and Washington, D. C, on or about February 26, 1919, said, "You just have to give it to these colored troops; they have come back with the stuff; there has been absolutely no slump in their discipline and saluting, but I notice that the white troops have slumped considerably." CHAPTER XX WITH OUR SOLDIERS IN FRANCE Officidl Reports of tlie Only Accredited Negro War Correspondent- Ralph W. Tyler, Representative with the A. E. F. of the U. S. Committee on Public Informatimi^The Story of the Life and Fighting of American Negro Soldiers in France as Seen By This Trai/ned Observer. One of the most important results of the conference of Negro editors held in Washington in June, 1918, was the sending to France of a trained newspaper writer of the Negro race with instructions to report on the life and the activities of the Negro soldiers as he saw things, in order that the Negro press of America might be furnished with first-hand and accurate information for their read- ers of the precise conditions under which their people were work- ing and fighting in France. The announcement of Mr. Tyler's appointment was made by the Committee on Public Information on September 16, 1918 when the following bulletin was issued to the press of the country: ^ **One of the direct requests of the Editors' Conference in June was that a reliable colored news-writer be sent to France to report the doings of the colored troops on the western front in France, for the information of the anxious millions of colored Americans in this country and to the end that the correct story of the valor and patriotic devotion of their brethren might be told fully and in a sympathetic vein by one of their own blood and kindred. **In compliance with this request, the Committee on Public Information has designated Ralph W. Tyler, of Columbus, Ohio, former Auditor of the Navy Department at Washington, as a regu- larly-commissioned war correspondent, to specialize on the conditions surrounding the colored troops in France and to make daily reports of the activities and engagements in which the colored soldiers are prominent. He will be on the staff of General Pershing, commander- in-chief of the American Expeditionary Forces overseas. Every 284 WITH OUR SOLDIERS IN FRANCE 285 facility has been provided by Mr. George Creel, director of the Committee on Public Information, for the prompt and accurate gathering of all facts that may be of interest to the colored people. *'Mr. Tyler is the first colored man to be named as a regular war correspondent by any Government in the world. He is a native of Ohio. For seventeen years he served in various departments on the Columbus Evening Dispatch and the Ohio State Journal, which gave him experience in the technique of the newspaper craft and afforded him opportunity for association with many influential newspaper men. This intimate contact with such forces will be invaluable to him in his labors as a war correspondent. The fact that he has a wide acquaintance with correspondents now at the front, will make it possible for him to get news concerning colored troops which, perhaps, no other colored correspondent could secure. *'The claims of a number of men were fully considered in connection with this important assignment, but Mr. Tyler was finally selected as the most efficient of those available. Immediately after war was declared by the United States on Germany, Mr. Tyler wrote the President, tendering his services in any capacity. He has three sons, all of whom are at the front in France." The plan under which Mr. Tyler worked was to send his reports to the Committee on Public Information, which in turn sent them to me for editing and for circulation throughout the country. This news service unquestionably had a tremendously valuable effect in 6ringing the truth about conditions in France to the colored people of America. As it happened, the war came to an end in less than three months after Mr. Tyler's appointment. In that brief time, however, and in the short time after the armistice was signed during which he remained in France, he wrote and sent to this country the most valuable and interesting first-hand reports about our Negro soldiers that have come from any source. There is no better way in which I can present an adequate picture of the life of our soldiers in France than by reproducing here Mr. Tyler's dispatches, begin- ning with his graphic account, written after the fighting had ceased, of the last great battle of the war and the glorious part which the Negro soldiers had in it. This is Mr. Tyler's summing up of tlie work of the 92nd Division: ** Somewhere in France, November 20. They were in it at the 286 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY finish, as they were at Verdun, Soissons, Chateau-Thierry, Argonne and Champagne. At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in the fifth year of the war, when the signal flashed from Eiffel Tower in Paris stopped hostilities, in conformity with the terms of the armistice just signed by the Germans, the 92nd Division, composed of Colored American Soldiers, occupied the point closest to the German city of Metz, the objective of the last drive of this war. At the stroke of eleven the cannon stopped, the rifles dropped from the shoulders of our Colored soldiers, and their machine guns became silent. Then followed a strange, unbe- lievable silence as though the world had ceased to exist. It lasted but a moment — lasted for the space of time the breath is held. Then, among these dark-skinned troopers came a sigh of relief — came jubi- lance, as every colored soldier, in true Parisian vernacular, ex- claimed: *La Guerre est fini* — the war is over, and immediately thoughts turned to dear ones back across the sea, while tears flowed down their war-grimmed black faces for their hundreds of comrades bivouacing forever in sepulchers over here in France. The wish was father to the thought when it was prophesied, back in the states, when the first colored troops sailed for Prance, that they would be in it at the finish, that their "On to Berlin" slogan would become a reality. The armistice stopped their advance into Berlin, but they did reach the nearest point to the German city of Metz in what was designed as a victorious march to Berlin, and the valor they displayed, their courageous, heroic fighting all along that advance, won for our men in the 92nd Division high praise from superior officers, including the corps and division commander, for they never wavered an instant, not even in that awful hell, the Frehaut Woods, upon which the big guns of Metz constantly played; which the Sen- egalese were unable to hold, but which our colored soldiers from America did take, and did hold until the signal came announcing the cessation of hostilities.*' Mr. Tyler also wrote: Colored Troops in the Final Drive **In this last battle of the war to establish world democracy — a thing the colored soldiers and their kinsmen back home crave, the following colored army units effectively took part : 365th, 366th, and 367th Infantry; 349th, 350th, and 351st Field Artillery, and WITH OUR SOLDIERS IN FRANCE 287 167th Machine Gun. All these were combatants in this final drive, but in this account of the battle the three non-combatant units, the 317th Ammunition Train, under the command of a colored major, Major Milton T. Dean; the 325th Field Signal Battalion; the staff of the 366th Field Hosptial, to which the wounded and gassed were rushed, and the 365th and 366th Ambulance Corps, under the command, respectively, of Captain Sherman Hickman of Memphis, and Captain Charles H. Garvin of Cleveland, must not be over- looked or slighted. The 368th Infantry, while they did not get into this last action, had however been moved up to Guzoncourt, where they were held in reserve. **If the reader will get out his map of France, and observe it, he will be able to follow the advance of the combatant colored troops in this last drive, w^hich must go down in history as the final battle of the World War. The 367th, or *' Buffaloes," as they were familiarly known, had been holding Villers-sous-Preny for many days and up to the time, seven o'clock Sunday morning, November 10, they were ordered to advance to Pagny, which they did, and held. The advance of this regiment was through "Death Valley," exposed to the heavy fire of the German guns stationed on the hill skirting the advance. They made the advance without a single casualty, and that they did so, considering the fire the men were subjected to, appears like a miracle, blind fate, or the will of God. They reached their objective in good form, and it was providential that they did, for it was from this point they were able to open up fire on the German guns, and save the 56th Infantry (white) from annihilation, when it had become pocketed by a murderous German fire which prevented its making Preny, or retreating. **This saving of the 56th by the 367th was history repeating itself — colored troops saving white troops from destruction in 1918 as the 10th Cavalry saved the Rough Riders during the Spanish- American War in 1898. So splendidly did the 367th colored regi- ment advance and perform that they wrung from the Corps and Division Commander a letter of praise, in which he paid tribute to the regiment's high qualities. Although the "Buffaloes" had for weeks been holding the front line trenches in a particularly active zone, upon which the Boche rained shells and gas daily and nightly, 288 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY and althougli from this regiment, almost daily and nightly, raiding parties of colored soldiers went out and brought in German prison- ers, the regiment was the only colored regiment over here, per- haps, that had not been sent into an engagement — something they had longed for. The order to advance, at seven o'clock Sunday morning the 10th of November, gave them the opportunity they had so long waited for impatiently. In spite of the fact that their advance was to be through ''Death Valley," a section flanked by big German giins massed on the overlooking hills, the order gave them more enthusiasm and satisfaction than an order to embark for home. When seven o'clock came they were ready to move, these ** Buffaloes," and they did move Avith astonishing rapidity, absolutely indifferent to the bursting shells,^ which, fortunately, fell a little short of them, or caromed over their heads. ''Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here, What the Hell Do We Care?" greeted many a Boehe shell as it fell short, or spent its force a few yards beyond their advancing line. They established and maintained a perfect liaison, and even their Supply Department, under that efficient acting supply offiicer, Lieut. McKaine, coordinated per- fectly with the line advancing "on to Metz." Colored Officer Refuses to Retire * ' The 366th had been occupying the line at Vaudieres, prior to the Metz advance, and the order was to advance into one section of Bois Frehaut and Bois de Voivrotte, which it did in a most effective manner, displaying such bravery, in the face of a deadly shell fire, and its colored line officers displaying such excellent qual- ities of leadership as to merit unstinted praise from the Division Commander. In the engagement in the Bois Voivrotte, Lieut. Guy W. Canady, of Atlanta, was killed, and Lieut. M. W. Rush, of the same city, fell mortally wounded, dying a few days later in the hospital, after having lain out in the woods, thus terribly wounded, for twenty-four hours. Capt. George A. Holland, of the same regiment, also displayed remarkable courage and leader- ship. He had been ordered to take a position by his Colonel, and hold it at any cost. With his men he took it, but the fire was so heavy and murderous that his white major, commanding his bat- talion, sent orders to him to retire. This he positively refused to Above— Some heroes of the famous 15tli Nt w Vurk, who went away singing and came back singing after having earned all the Honors of War. , „ Below— The "Stockholm" with her cargo of "Hell Fighters" under command of Colonel Hay- ward on deck, just before docking in New York harbor. WITH OUR SOLDIERS IN FRANCE 289 do, sending word back that he had been ordered by his Colonel to hold the position taken, and he and his men would hold it until the last man fell, unless he had orders from his Colonel to retire. Few instances, in the annals of war, are recorded showing equal courage, in the face of heavy odds, to that shown by this colored officer. Captain Holland, and his company of the 366th who obeyed to the letter, the order given to take and to hold a position. As a result of the incomparable courage, endurance, and bravery shown by this company, twenty-five of them were commended, in General Orders, by the Division Commander. **The First Battalion of the 365th engaged in this final drive of the war, had occupied the front line trenches in the Marbache sector. From almost the moment of occupancy, active patrolling and raiding into the enemy's lines was ordered, to determine the strength of the enemy. Officers and men of this battalion were sent out daily and nightly on such missions, and many instances of conspicuous bravery were displayed. Several of their number, however, were captured, and not a few killed and wounded, but the number of the enemy killed, captured, and wounded greatly out- numbered the casualties suffered by this First Battalion. The 365th in the Bois Frehaut *'The 365th, prior to the last drive, had been occupying the front line trenches near Dieulouard, that town being the regimental headquarters. It had orders to advance into, take and hold a position in the Bois Frehaut. It happened that, for one reason or another, all the white officers of this regiment, including the Colonel commanding, and save the Major conmaanding the 2nd Battalion, had been incapacitated for action, and so the 2nd Battalion wont into action with but one white officer, the Major. No unit in the advance had a more difficult position to take and hold than the position assigned to the 2nd Battalion of the 365th. The Bois- Frehaut was a network of barbed-wire entanglements, and the big guns in Metz had nothing to do but sweep the woods with a mur- derous fire, which they did most effectively. French and Senegal- ese in turn had failed to hold these woods, for it was worse than a hell— it had become the sepulcher of hundreds. I (Ralph W. Tyler) was over and through these woods; I saw the mass of 290 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY barbed- wire entanglements; I saw the nests in tlie trees in which Germans had camouflaged machine guns that rained a fire upon the Allied troops. **It is impossible to describe this scene of carnage. The order to the colored men of the 365th was to "take and hold," although it was believed, almost to a certainty, that they could not hold it, even if they did take it. But they did take and hold it, and these men of the 2nd Battalion, with Spartan-like courage; with an en- durance unbelievable, would be holding the position at this writing had not the Armistice been signed, or had they not received orders to retire. In these woods, at the head of his company. Captain Boutte, and the other line officers, fought tenaciously, heroically — ■ so heroically that the Major commanding stated to me that the world had never produced gamer fighters than the colored men who made up his battalion of the 365th Infantry. The casualty list, because of the savage nature of the resistance the Germans made, because of the heavy, well directed big guns and machine gun fire, was large. But the 365th did take and did hold that which the fighting Senegalese could not hold after they had taken it. "After sixteen days of activity on this front, the battalion was ordered in support for a week, and on November 5th it was ordered to the front line trenches in the Mousson sector, an in- tensely active front, that was shelled daily and nightly. On the memorable morning of November 10, 1918, the 1st Battalion was ordered to the "alert," as support for the 2nd Battalion of the same regiment, then engaged in the last drive. On the evening of the 10th it was ordered to attack Champey and LaCote Hill, a very strongly fortified German position. The battalion moved to the attack at five o 'clock Sunday evening, entering the position from the rear of the 2nd Battalion's position. A very hea^^ gas-shell and high explosive barrage laid down by the Germans checked the advance, and the battalion was ordered to remain in its position for the night. "At five o'clock the nest (Monday) morning, the 11th of No- vember, the battalion moved into position for the resumption of the attack. Its line moved into position under cover of our artillery barrage, which began at 4:30 a. m. With two companies in the front line and two in support, the 1st Battalion advanced through WITH OUR SOLDIERS IN FRANCE 291 the difficult woods, Bois de Frehaut. It advanced with machine-gun support until the northern edge of the woods was reached, over- looking Champey. At this point the advance was met by a most terrific artillery bombardment and machine-gun fire delivered by the Gei-mans stationed on the heights of LaCote Hill. The fight- ing at this point was bitter. Men and officers, however, remained in action and held their line under extremely adverse conditions. Up to this point the line had advanced, in the face of a terrific fire, about 400 yards, forcing many machine guns of the enemy to retire, and capturing a number of others along with much material. This action continued until 10:45 a. m., at which time the ** Cease Fire" was sounded, which ended the hostilities of this titanic war. **The casualties of the 1st Battalion of the 365th in this engage- ment were two officers wounded and 61 enlisted men killed, wounded, and gassed. Among the wounded officers was Lieut. Charles H. Fearing, formerly of Washington, D. C, who was slightly cut in the arm by shrapnel. Lieut. Fearing, but a few days before, had escaped death most miraculously. Work of the Ammunition Train "Distributing the many tons of ammunition along the route of the advance, and moving it up to the American combatants in this final drive for the 92nd Division, was a big task, but was success- fully done by a colored Ammunition Train, under the command of Major Milton T. Dean, a colored officer. Arranging the telegraphic and sig-nal communications between the various units, was a dan- gerous — ^most dangerous — and big achievement, and this was done by the 325th Colored Field Signal Battalion. Caring for and at- tending to the hundreds of wounded and gassed, as they were rushed back to the field hospital in ambulances driven by colored men and commanded by colored ambulance commanders, was the big task of those sacrificing and sympathetic colored surgeons on the staff of the 366th Field Hospital. **I was at the front when the drive began — this the last battlo of the world war. I was thrilled, and inspired by the enthusiasm of our men, and their eagerness to get into battle. The thundering of the big guns, the terrific explosion of death-carrying shells — hell opening up — served only to inspire our colored soldiers with 292 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY a grim determination to maintain the race's traditional fighting reputation. As I retraced my steps over the battlefield, the awful field of carnage, and saw the havoc German shells had wrought; saw lifeless, blood-bespattered bodies of colored soldiers lying on the dark and bloody field; saw the maimed and mangled living, the natural feeling of sorrow, of anguish, of pain, was made en- durable only by the thought that our men — our colored soldiers — were in it to the end, that they fought like heroes, died like heroes, died like martyrs. And then there was the radiant hope — ^perhaps they fought and fell, in the last battle of the greatest war ever waged for civilization, NOT in vain. **As the colored troops, in the last battle of the war, the drive on Metz, were the first to reach the nearest point to the city of Metz, so it was colored troops, the old 15th New York, that first reached the point farthest east and nearest to the Rhine in the battle on the Meuse. They were in Alsace, and their line ran through Thann and across the railroad leading to Colmar.'* Mr. Tyler continues: As to Transfers of Officers ** Distance lends enchantment to the view, and likewise, not infrequently, to some degree, distance exaggerates a rule into an exception. The transfer of colored commissioned officers from combatant to non-combatant units is, I know, regarded by a very considerable number of colored people in the States as an * ex- ception.* I am aware that information has been, or soon will be, received back in the States that a number of colored officers were recently given assignments to casualty camps, and that white offi- cers were assigned to their places in the line. German propaganda is sure to convey these transfers as an 'exception' prompted by racial prejudice. To one who is here on the scene, and who knows of countless number of white officers who are daily being trans- ferred to units and assignments which they would not themselves have selected, and of some having been peremptorily shorn of their rank on the field of battle, the 'rule' carries no evidence of 'ex- ception' due to racial discrimination. So far as I hnve been able io ascertain all transfers are 7nade for the good of the service, WITH OUE SOLDIERS IN FRANCE " 293 regardless as to whether the ones transferred are white or colored. ''The number of colored commissioned oflScers discharged, or transferred from their units, has been negligible when compared with the number of white officers honorably {?) and dishonorably discharged and transferred, even when the proportionate number of each is considered. ''This is war over here — actual, not theoretical war, and its prosecution to the earliest conclusion is so urgent that command- ing generals have no time to consider racial problems, even if they were, ordinarily, so inclined to do. To 'win the war' as speedily as possible, with the best available units and officers, appears to prompt all allied commanders, Americans, French, and British, and if some few colored officers, like hundreds of white officers, fall into the discard, or receive new assigimients, the race back in the States must not too quickly assume that race discrimination was the actuating factor. I have learned of instances, over here, where white colonels who had aspired to become brigadier-generals have lost the insig-nia of colonelcy. I have learned of many w^hite officers whose self-estimate made them available for conmianding and di- recting attacks in battle who have been, much to their chagrin, given desk assignments. ' ' Just prior to a recent engagement, it is reported, a number of commissioned colored officers were transferred from their units to casualty and other assignments. Had they not been transferred just when they were some of them would have their names now appearing in the list of 'Killed in Battle.* They, doubtless, would have as vvillingly filled a martyr's grave as they, unwillingly and uncomplainingly , accepted other assignments. "The fact is patent to all who are conversant with the war over here that casualty camp assignments nro as necessitous as field assignments; that the stevedore regiments make possible the success of the combatant regiments; that the swivel-offico-chair officer performs an important and necessitous function. Secretary of War Baker, although a civilian, performs a duty, the non-per- formance of wliich ^vould have made it impossible for General Per- shing to achieve glory over here for the United States. I simply want to impress upon my race, back in the States, that in this war 294 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY 'the hewer of wood and the drawer of water' is as necessary to victory as the man who adjusts the distance for the 75-centimeter giin, and that when the world has been made safe for democracy it will be impossible to deny honor to all who helped to achieve victory, even to those who, having received no assignment in the theater of war, cheerfully stood and waited for an opportunity to serve, even if only in some humble capacity. ''The necessarily quick decisions made on a battlefield, or im- mediately prior to entering battle, where victory hangs as mucli on strategy as on man-power and equipment, will ofttimes disillusion even the theorist who employs platitudes, at a safe distance far behind the battle front, rather than bullets and shrapnel with which wars are won. I am now here where life is but a gamble, and the flow of blood is but commonplace, and know whereof I speak, and knowing the necessity of war here at the seat of it, I am willing to stand or fall by the foregoing statement, and in the assurance that our race is actually winning glory over here in France." Negroes in the Final Fighting Following is Mr. Tyler's report of the final fighting, written on the day before the Armistice took effect: ''In the battle raging today in the American advance toward Metz, the 92nd Division played a big role. Not only were 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 effective; 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 — depressingly 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, almost as impregnable as the fortificcions of the Dardanelles. But the Americans are hammer- WITH OUR SOLDIERS IN FRANCE 295 iiig away at it, and only the signing of the Armistice terms by the Germans, by eleven o'clock tomorrow, will save Metz from fall- ing. 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 Eegiments and the 317th Trench Mortar Battery, and all are conducting themselves with a fortitude and valor that have won for them high praise from their commanding officers every time they have been put to any test.'* And here is Mr. Tyler's report on the very day of the Armis- tice, November 11, 1918 : "The colored troops who took part in the last battle of this war acquitted themselves splendidly, fought valiantly, and with such precision and order as to earn for them high praise. Reminiscent stories of this engagement will be coming to light for weeks — even months — after this battle has long been a matter of history, for, as in all big battles, the reverberations of the big guns, the rattle of musketry, and the smoke of the battle must have died away be- fore the accounting can be made. There is one remarkable, even astonishing, record made in this last drive, a record that either establishes the fact that God was with the colored regiments en- gaged, as a protector, or that Fate is not merely a fetish, for the 'Buffaloes' suffered not a single casualty — not one wounded or killed. Just how they could have advanced along the difficult line given them; flanked by heavy German guns — guns from whose rain of hell-made and death-charged shells it seems incredible that any could escape, is beyond the conjecture of man, and yet they made their advance, gained their objective, and held it without the loss of a single man. The 366th, 365th, 351st Machine Gun, and 167th Field Artillery, all colored, engaged in this final battle of the war, suffered a casualty which, in the aggregate, was but slight, and yet they were in the thick of it, and to the finish when the note was sounded that, under the terms of the Armistice signed this morning by the Germans, hostilities cease. "It will be gratifying to the colored people to know that the colored soldiers and officers have acquitted themselves splendidly, 296 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY from the first engagement into which the 372nd was rushed soon after landing to the final drive 'on to Metz' in which three colored regiments and colored field artillery took part. And, claim what they will, in every one of these engagements in which colored units took part their colored officers led mth commendable bravery and efficiency, and the soldiers in line followed with such a fidelity, loyalty, devotion, and dash as to forever set at rest the claim that colored men are incapable to command as officers, and that colored soldiers best fight under white officers. The drive 'on to Metz' which concluded the four years' titanic war affixes 'finis' to the argument put forth by some as to the loyalty of the race to their own leaders. "The effect of the signing, and promulgating in the camps of our colored soldiers, of the Armistice today, was like magic in this Marbache sector, where more than 30,000 combatant colored troops are centered. Just out of the trenches, just out of the fierce and bloody battle, they began singing and cheering, and nearly every Frenchman they met, it mattered not the sex, greeted them, these bronzed, khaki-garbed troops, with an embrace and the exhilarating *La guerre est fini,' meaning 'The war is finished.' This evening, as I am writing this account, colored soldiers are moving up and down, back and forth, over the streets of this little French town at the front, cheering and singing. Their repertoire of songs and hymns, exultingly and plaintively sung, from 'Down on the Suwanee River,' 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,' to 'Hail, Hail, the G-ang's All Here,' interrupted ever and anon, although strictly forbidden, with the firing of a revolver or gun, tell how happy they are over the conclusion of peace. And many of them — ^most of them, if not all — are anxiously awaiting the order for embarka- tion back to America, although they must realize that, of a neces- sity, many of them will witness the blooming of next June's roses in France, rather than back in the States. "It is perhaps one of the most glorious epochs in the history of the race, since the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation, that the race, represented by three regiments — crack fighting regi- ments — and a field artillery unit, was engaged in the last battle of the war; that the race was among the first of the Allied troops WITH OUR SOLDIERS IN FRANCE 297 to go over the top and set foot on German soil after more than four years' courageous fighting. Here are some of the expressions with which colored privates gave vent to their happiness at the war being over, in this sector last night: ** 'We done signed another Emancipation Proclamation!' *' 'That ''New Freedom" must come — we have won it.' " 'We came to France and won a man's chance!' " How France Received the Negro Soldiers Let Mr. Tyler's fascinating and gossipy narrative of the life of the American Negro troops in France close with a reproduction of the tribute paid them by the French people themselves. The following is a translation of an article written by a talented French woman and published in the leading newspaper of one of the large French cities: "A peaceful town, far from the front. A beautiful June day full of perfume of roses; resplendent summer freely bursting into bloom, indifferent to human plaints, frets, and agitations. A boy of ten years, head like the urchin of the year one, runs through the streets crying: 'The Americans are coming to B ; the in- habitants are invited to greet them.' "The Americans! For months they had been discussed; they had been expected, and there was great curiosity; groups of people go down to the public square of the to^vn, where they see upon our white streets the first ranks of the Allied troops. But what a sur- prise! They are black soldiers! Black soldiers? There is great astonishment, a little fear. The rural population, not well in- formed, knows well the Negro of Africa, but those from America's soil, the country of the classical type, characterized by the cold, smooth white face; that from America could come this dark troupe — none could believe his own eyes. "They dispute among themselves; they are a little irritated; some of the women become afraid ; one of them confides to me that she feels the symptoms of an attack of indigestion. Smiling, re- assurably, 'lady with all too emotional stomach, quiet yourself! They do not eat human flesh; two or three days from now you will be perfectly used to them. ' I said two or three days, but from 298 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY that very evening the ice is broken. Natives and foreigners smile at each other, and try to understand each other. The next day we see the little children in the arms of the huge Negroes, confidently pressing their rosy cheeks to the cheeks of ebony, while their mothers look on "with approbation. **A deep sympathy is in store for these men, which, yesterday, was not surmised. Very quickly it is seen they have nothing of the savage in them, but, on the other hand, one could not find a soldier more faultless in his bearing, and in his manners more affable, or more delicate than these children of the sun, whose ancestors dreamed under the wonderful nights along murmuring streams. We admire their forms — ^handsome, vigorous and athletic; their intelligent and loyal faces with their large gleaming eyes, at times dreamy, and with a bit of sadness in them. *^Far removed is the time when their inauspicious influence was felt upon the digestive organs of the affrighted lady. Now one honors himself to have them at his table. He spends hours in long talks with them; with a great supply of dictionaries and manuals of conversation. The white mothers of France weep to see the photographs of the colored mothers, and display the portraits of their soldier sons. The fiancees of our own 'Poilus' become interested in the fiancees across the sea, in their dress, in their head dress, and in everything which makes woman resemble woman in every clime. Late at night the workers of the field forget their fatigue as they hear arise, in the peaceful night, the melancholy voices which call up to the memory of the exile his distant country, America. In the lanes along the flowery hedges, more than one group of colored American soldiers fraternize with our people, while the setting sun makes blue the neighboring hills, and gently the song of night is awakened. **And then these soldiers who had become our friends depart. One evening sad adieus are exchanged. Adieu? How we wish they may be only *Au revoirs.' Promises to correspond, to return when furloughs are granted. Here and there tears fall, and when, the next day, the heavy trucks roll off in the chilly morning, carry- ing away to the front our exotic guests, a veritable sadness seizes us. WITH OUR SOLDIERS IN FRANCE 299 ** Soldier friends, our hearts, our wishes, go with you. That destiny may be merciful to you; that the bullets of the enemy may spare you. And if any of you should never see your native home again, may the soil of France give you sweet repose. ** Soldiers, who arrived among us one clear June day, redolent with the scent of roses, you will always live in our hearts." CHAPTEB XXI NEGRO MUSIC THAT STIRRED FRANCE Recognition of the Value of Music hy the U. S. War Department— The Patriotic Music of Colored Americans — Lieutenant James Europe and His Famous "Jazz'' Band — Other Leaders and Aggregations of Musicians — Enthusi^oman, pre- eminently the best nurse in the world, would necessarily turn to the Red Cross Society as a field in which to exercise her peculiar gifts. Red Cross branches were organized in practically every community in the country. Yet it is extremely difficult to tell just what the contribution of the colored woman has been to this organi- zation. We are told that, **The American Red Cross during the war enlisted workers ^^ithout regard to creed or color and no NEGRO WOMEN IN WAR WORK 377 separate records were maintained of the work of any particular Auxiliary. We know that some eight million women worked for the Red Cross in one way or another during the war, but we have no figures indicating how many of them were colored." In the Northern cities the colored women merged their identity in their Red Cross work with the white women, that is, in some Northern cities. In others, and in the South, they formed inde- pendent units, auxiliaries to the local branches presided over by the women of the other race. These auxiliaries sent hundreds of thousands of knitted garments to the front, maintained restaurants, did canteen service where they could ; sent men from the local draft boards to the camps with comfort kits; in short, did all that could be done — all that they were allowed to do. But the story of the colored woman and the Red Cross is not altogether a pleasant one. Unfortunately, her activities in this direction were considerably curtailed in many localities. There were whole sections of the countiy in which she was denied the privilege of doing canteen service. There were other sections in which canteen service was so managed as to be canteen service in name only. Local conditions, racial antipathies, ancient prejudices militated sadly against her usefulness in this work. To the ever- lasting and eternal credit of the colored woman be it said that, in spite of what might have been absolute deterrents, she persisted in her service and was not downcast in the face of difficulties. The best part of the whole situation lies in the fact that in the local organizations of the Red Cross the Negro woman was the beneficiary. The Home Nursing classes and the classes in Dietetics not only served to strengthen the morale of the women engaged therein, but raised the tone of every community in which they were organized. This was shown during the influenza epidemic of 1918, when a panic-stricken nation called upon its volunteer nurses of every race and color, and the women of the R^d Cross were ready in response and in training. Theodore Roosevelt has said, **A11 of us who give service and stand ready for sacrifice, are the torch-bearers. We run with the torches until we fall, content if we can then pass them to the hands of other runners." If that be the case, the gray chapter of the colored nurses in overseas service is a golden one. Early in 1918 378 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY the Government issued a call for nurses. The need was great over- seas; it was greater at home. Colored women since the inception of the war had felt keenly their exclusion from overseas service. The need for them was acute ; their willingness to go was complete ; the only thing that was wanted was authoritative sanction. In June, 1918, it was officially announced that the Secretary of War had authorized the calling of colored nurses in the national service. It was an act that did more complete justice to our people, in enfranchising our women for this noble service than any other of the war. All colored nurses who had been registered by the American Eed Cross Society were thus given the right to render service to their own race in the army. Colored nurses were assigned to the base hospitals at Camp Funston, Kansas; Camp Grant, Eockford, Illinois; Camp Dodge, Des Moines, Iowa; Camp Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky; Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio, and Camp Dix, Wrightstown, New Jersey. At these camps a total of about 38,000 colored troops were located. The Service of Colored Nurses Colored people throughout the country felt deep satisfaction over this authorization of the enrollment of colored nurses at the base hospitals and camps. Hundreds of competent colored nurses had registered their names for many months with the Nursing Division of the American Eed Cross, in the hope of finally securing positions where their skill and experience could be utilized to proper advantage. These last were particularly gratified over the happy turn of affairs. At the convention of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses held at St. Louis, Missouri, a formal message of appreciation was sent to the War Department, the American Eed Cross Society, and other agencies that had been instrumental in pushing their claims. Mrs. Adah B. Thomas, E. N., president of the National Asso- ciation of Graduate Nurses, attached to the staff of the Lincoln Hospital and Home in New York City, gave a typical expression of the sentiment of the colored nurses and the colored people gen- erally with reference to the admission of colored women to this branch of service. She was the first to offer herself for overseas service. Indianapolis, Indiana, sent a contingent for active service at once. Elizabeth Miller of Meharry Medical College, Nashville, NEGRO WOMEN IN WAR WORK 379 Tennessee, answered the Government call and was assigned to duty at a nitrate plant in Alabama. These were but sporadic instances indicating the instant re- sponse to the long-waited call to service. Unfortunately, before any considerable change in existing circumstances surrounding this branch of service could be made, the Armistice was signed and his- tory will never know what the colored woman might have done on the battlefields of France as a Red Cross Nurse. Rumor, more or less authentic, states that over 300 colored nurses were on the battlefields, though their complexion disguised their racial identity. Young Women's Christian Association Of the remedial agencies at work for the relief of humanity, and the shouldering of responsibility for the health, morals, and happiness of those also working for the relief of humanity, the Young Women's Christian Association in its operation among the colored girls, women, and men stands out pre-eminently. The reason for this is not hard to seek — the qualities of personality in the leader of this work among colored women, Miss Eva D. Bowles. At the time the country faced the possibility of war, the National Board of the Young Women's Christian Association was confronted with the great responsibility of helping to safeguard the moral life of women and girls as affected by war conditions. Request came from the United States War Department Commis- sion on Training Camp Activities and from the Young Men's Christian Association, for women workers to undertake work among girls in communities adjacent to army and navy training camps. Hence the formation of the War Work Council. It was organized in June, 1917, with a membership of 100, its func- tion to help meet the special needs of girls and young women in all countries affected by the war. Allied with this was the Junior War Work Council, and the Patriotic League. The extension of these activities among colored girls and women was simultaneous, and one of the brightest chapters in the story of women in the war is the one which records how this work measured up to the responsibilities laid upon it. The War Work Council of the Young Women's Christian Association, recognizing the loyalty and the need of the colored 380 SCOTT *S OFFICIAL HISTORY women and girls of the country, devoted $400,000 of its 1918 budget to the work among the colored girls. Y/hen it was organized there was one colored National Secretary and sixteen associations or com- munities, with nine paid workers. The great demand for a better morale among the girls of the country soon raised that number to twelve National workers, three field supervisors, and forty-two centers, with sixty-three paid workers. There were opened up in the various camps fifteen hostess houses with complete staffs of colored women. These houses served a splendid purpose. A^Hien the War Department planned the great training camps it may not have remembered the women of the country in the stress of making up the army of men, or it may have thought that if it said that there were to be no women in the camps, there would be none. But every woman knows that as long as there is a path to the camps, that path the women will follow; be it on foot, by boat, in cars, trains, trolleys, motor cars, or on horseback; and if there be no trail, the women will blaze one. They must see if their men are ill, or living, and how they are living. If they are ill, they must get to them; if homesick, they must cheer them; if they are leaving for overseas, they must say good-bye to them. And if there are none of their owti, they must be charitable enough to extend their good-will to the lonely and heart-hungry of others. Hence the birth of the Hostess House idea; a bit of home in the camps, a place of rest and refreshment for the women folks belonging to the soldiers; a sheltering chaperonage for the too- enthusiastic girl; a dainty supplement to the stern face of the camp-life of the soldiers; an information bureau for women and soldiers alike; a clearing-house for the social activities which included the men in camps and their women visitors. As the colored troops came into the camps in large numbers, there was an urgent appeal to meet the needs of their women. The first house to be opened was at Camp Upton, when the ''Buffa- loes" (367th) were being made into the crack regiment that it afterward became; Mrs. Hannah C. Smith, the pioneer among the Hostess House leaders, going there to take charge in the early part of November, 1917. Only great enthusiasm and faith in the value of the work to be done could have brought about the results NEGRO WOMEN IN WAR WORK 381 which Mrs. Smith achieved at Camp Upton at this time. The temporary headquarters for the hostess house were in a bar- racks with few conveniences and ahnost no possibilities. Mrs. Smith, with her co-worker, Mrs. Norcomb, soon made the place as homelike as possible. This was the beginning of the Hostess House work for colored women. In no very great while Hostess Houses in seven of the large camps were in operation and others soon followed. In some camps, where there was a definite surety, work was begun in the barracks. From many Southern camps came the request for the immediate erection of houses on an insufficient plan, but these plans were rejected. Finally, in the natural progress that came, the houses were erected, and used the same as other Hostess Houses. The relationship of the staff to the whole staff of the camp developed into an ideal, and all groups working under the general tutelage of the Young Women's Christian Association understood each other and had a better appreciation of mutual problems by working together. The Y. W. C. A. and War Industries As the war progressed, our colored girls were taken into almost every phase of the industrial field. It was then recognized early in the work that the success of the movement depended largely upon the correct interpretation of the colored girl to her employer and her white co-worker, and of a fair, just attitude of the white worker toward the colored girl. The war opened up many avenues of employment and service to the colored girls that had not hitherto been her privilege to accept, principally in the industrial field, and with the opening up of these new lines of work, new problems were developed; consequently there came a demand for women to go into localities where factories were located, to make investigations as to working conditions, housing and recreational facilities; to create a better understanding between the employer and employee, and to assist in the opening up of new opportunities for work. As a result of this, an industrial worker was placed at such vital points as Detroit, St. Louis, Louisville, East St. Louis, Nitro, West Virginia ; Penniman, Virginia, and Philadelphia, with one appointed for Baltimore, and an acute situation in Washington carod for. Not only was there need for the care and protection of the girl in the factory, but equally as much so for those in more social 382 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY communities. This led to the development of club and recreational centers especially in cities near which camps were located. To-day, these centers reach from New York to Los Angeles, California, and from St. Paul, Minnesota, to San Antonio, Texas. These clubs and recreational centers are also an important feature in industrial communities. Splendid Colored Women Workers Not only in groups, but as individuals, the women felt the call of this great and important work, and responded from every walk of life. There were many offers of volunteer service, and Miss Mary Cromwell, of Washington, D. C, was one of those to offer. She spent the summer at Camp Dix as a volunteer information and emergency hostess, and completed her two months of observa- tion and service, feeling that there was an imperative need for the workers to be able to differentiate between types of people and to deal with each type scientifically as well as sympathetically; to know enough about such things as Home Service, "War Risk Insur- ance, Protective Agencies, and Allotments, to answer any ques- tion that might be asked. Miss Cromwell was well fitted both by training and experience for her work. As an undergraduate at Ann Arbor, she spent her summers in New York doing special investigations for the Charity Organization Society. After graduating, she became a teacher in the Dunbar High School of Washington, and there she became interested in the Washington alleys, and opened a settlement in one of the most congested districts. Later, she received her ** master's degree'' from the University of Pennsylvania for special research work in psychology. The arduous task of directing the work of the Industrial Sec- tion of the War Work Council was given over to Miss Mary E. Jackson, as Special Industrial Worker among Colored Women for the War Work Council. She was appointed in December, 1917. Prior to that time, Miss Jackson did statistical work in the Labor Department of the State of Rhode Island. Associated with Miss Bowles in this War Work Council of col- ored women as heads of departments in addition to Miss Mary E. Jackson, were Miss Crystal Bird, girls' worker; Mrs. Vivian W. Stokes, who at one time was associated with the National Urban NEGRO WOMEN IN WAR WORK 383 League and assisted in making a survey of New York City in con- nection with the Urban League of New York (Mrs. Stokes' work in connection with the Room Registry work has already been men- tioned) ; Mrs. Lucy B. Richmond, special worker for town and coun- try; Miss Mabel S. Brady, recruiting secretary in the Personnel Bureau; Miss Juliette Dericotte, special student worker; Mrs. Cor- delia A. Winn, formerly a teacher in the public schools of Columbus, Ohio; Mrs. Ethel J. Kindle, special office worker. Miss Josephine V. Pinyon was appointed a special war worker in August, 1917. She is a graduate of Cornell University, a former teacher, and a student ,Y. W. C. A. secretary from 1912 to 1916. The field workers were Mrs. Adele Ruffin, South Atlantic Field, appointed in October, 1917. Mrs. Ruffin was a: teacher for some years at Kittrell College, and then secretary of the Y. W. C. A. branch at Richmond, Virginia. Miss May Belcher had charge of the iSouth Central field and Miss Maria L. Wilder of the Southwestern field. Miss Elizabeth Carter was loaned to the Association work by the Board of Education of New Bedford, Massachusetts, where she is the only colored teacher in the city. She is chairman of the Northeastern Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, and former president of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs. She was placed in charge of the center in Washington, D. C Aside from these, there was a small army of club and recreation workers. Hostess House workers, industrial workers, and super- visors. Throughout the trying ordeal of directing the work of these assistants, and meeting the huge problems presented to the council, Miss Bowles remained perhaps the most effective and achieving, and at the same time, noiseless worker among the colored women in this country. Women's Division, Council of National Defease The Council of National Defense made the best organized at- tempt at mobilizing the colored women of all the war organizations. In most Northern States it was felt that separate organizations were superfluous, yet, on the other hand, in many cases it was agreed that the work could be best served by distinct units. There were many ramifications to the work of the Council of Defense ; registration of wt>men, the weighing and measuring of babies, the establishment of milk stations, health and recreations centers, supei-vision of women 384 SCOTT %S OFB^ICIAL HISTORY in industry, correlation with other war organizations. Different States excelled in different phases of the work. In the establishment of Child Welfare and the conservation of infancy Alabama seems to be the banner state, the best work emanating from Tuskegee, where the examination of infants was under the care of Mrs. J. W. AVhit- aker. At Birmingham, Alabama, Mrs. H. C. Davenport had charge of the activities of the Council and was particularly successful in the establishment of Community houses at two great industrial centers, Acipco and Bessemer. In the first community, where the managers of the plant had established a model village with com' munity house and all forms of Community life, the entire program of the Council of Defense was carried through, conservation of chil- dren, attention to health and recreation, with a very strong empha- sis on food conservation. In the latter instance, a Community house established in the heart of the village of Bessemer concentrated on child welfare, food conservation, and war gardens. Service in Various States Two women in Florida stand out as doing yeoman service under the work of the Women's Committee of the Council of De- fense. Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune, who at Daytona, where her splendid school is situated, pushed forward the work of the Emer- gency Circle, Negro War Relief, and Miss Eartha White, the State Chairman of the Colored Woman's Section of the Council of De- fense. Under her direction Florida was organized into excellent working units, with a particular concentration on a Mutual Protec- tion League for Working Girls, who had taken up the unfamiliar work of elevator girls, bell girls in hotels, and cliauifeurs. From this it was not far to a Union of Girls in Domestic Service, a by- product of war conditions that might well be continued in every city and hamlet in the country. In Colorado, the women formed themselves into a Negro Women's Auxiliary W^ar Council, a Negro Women's League for Service, and a Red Cross Auxiliary, all apparently working under the general management of the Council of Defense. In Georgia, the president of the Georgia State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, Mrs. Alice Dugged Carey of Atlanta, reported organizations in Tallapoosa County, a community canning center in Bremen, Coweta and Cobb counties, with other organizations in every im- NEGRO WOMEN IN WAR WORK 385 portant city. The Illinois women, organized into a Committee on Colored Women, worked in cooperation with the Urban League for training of Negro Women. Delaware did not have a separate organization of the Coun- cil of Defense, but the race was represented on the State Com- mittee, and through them work was carried on. Mrs. Blanche W. Stubbs, president of the City Federation of Christian Workers, rep- resented the women, and through her efforts the usual classes in food conservation were established at the Thomas Garrett Settlement, while a baby-weighing station was established, and a public nurse appointed. The work in Indiana was carried on by a separate division, largely directed by the State President of Colored Women's Clubs, Mrs. Gertrude B. Hill. Kentucky, with no special woman's divi- sion, specialized on the protection of girls. The best work done in Louisiana was in the conservation of children through the weighing and measuring of babies, and in the effective registration of the women and the conservation of food. Maryland did some splendid and effective work under the direc- tion of Miss Ida Cummings, the State Chairman of the Colored Women's Committee. Practically every phase of the inclusive pro- gram mapped out by the Council of Defense was carried through, and a public-speaking class at the Bowie Summer School was most successful. Mississippi was organized by Miss Sallie Green, of Sardis, into eleven sections, corresponding with a similar organiza- tion among the white women, with good work done in child conserva- tion at Jackson. Mrs. Victoria Clay Haley saw to it that Missouri did effective work. Colored women in North Carolina merged their war activities into one, and were most successful in training camp activities, the War Camp Community Service maintaining an inter- esting work at Charlotte. In Portland, Oregon, the Rosebud Study Club, as was the case with so many clubs, turned its attention to knitting and a practical study of food consei*vation. In Columbia, South Carolina, the Phyllis Wheatley Club opened a community center to be used as a clearing-house for war activities, welcoming all war organizations to work within its walls — Y. W. C. A., Red Cross, War Camp Community Service, and Council of Defense. In Tennessee, Mrs. Cora Burke, of Knoxville had a successful 386 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY ■ work; registration of nurses was particularly complete. The col- ored women of Nashville had a tag day to raise funds for their Branch Council of National Defense. Virginia concentrated on food conservation and the Children's Year, with most successful war gardens. A Colored Woman's Volunteer League was organized at Newark, New Jersey, as a branch of the Mayor's committee, of the Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense, Mrs. Amorel Cook, president. This league established a canteen and specialized on making soldiers feel at home. War Problems of Living The problems of living, made by the war, which were solved sometimes in whole, sometimes in part by the Woman's Committee of National Defense, were many and various. For instance there was the shifting of the percentage of women in the rural population particularly in the South, the same condition wliich was met in the North in industrial plants. The employment of women in the cotton fields was as great a problem in its way as the mass of girlhood in the Northern mills. This employment of the women could not but react upon the child, with a consequent lowering of child vitality and raising of infant mortality. It was this condition which the Council of Defense tried to meet, and to forestall the inevitable problems of reconstruction. Hence the establishment of stations where babies were weighed, measured, tested, and placed under weekly supervision with competent nurses in charge. Perhaps the various units did not always accomplish this end, but it was an ideal worth striving for. "The Lure of the Khaki" One of the fundamental problems of the War — ^no new one but suddenly aggravated by the abnormal atmosphere and excitement accompanying the presence of large numbers of soldiers—was that of the relationship of the young girl and the soldier. What has been called "the lure of the khaki" is but an expression on the part of the girl of her admiration for the spirit of the men who are willing to give their lives, if need be, in the defense of their country. How to win this feeling into the right channels was one of the problems of the women in the war. It was met by two organizations, the Young- Women's Christian Association, of which we have spoken, and the War Damp Community Service. It was the duty of the latter organi- NEGRO WOMEN IN WAR WORK 387 zation to recreate home ties for enlisted men in cities adjacent to training camps. It was in providing this home atmosphere that the "War Camp Community Service was most successful. Entertainment was devel- oped for the colored soldiers ; concessions let for poolrooms, picture shows, canteens and cafeterias in connection with the work. But where the War Camp Community Sei^ice was most successful was in the chaperoned dances, given at the clubrooms. Here *'the lure of the khaki" might find conventional self-expression. The largest of the Negro Community Service Clubs were in Des Moines, Iowa; Battle Creek, Michigan; Louisville, Kentucky; Chillicothe, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina; Petersburg and Newport News, Virginia; Washington, D. C. ; Baltimore, Maryland; Atlanta, Georgia; Mont- gomery, Alabama; and Columbia, South Carolina. This working together for a common purpose is resulting in building up a new community consciousness among our owti people and in turning our thoughts to community projects of a penaianent nature. Early in the war, work was started at Des Moines, Iowa. From that time, with the next two centers at Chattanooga, Tennessee, there were established in all sixty-six centers, located in Richmond, Newport News, Lynchburg, Norfolk, Petersburg and Peniman, Vir- ginia ; Nitro, West Virginia ; Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Williamsport, Gennantown, Pennsylvania ; San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth, Texas; St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri; Washington, D. C. ; Winston-Salem and Charlotte, North Carolina; YoungstowTi, Day- ton, Cincinnati and Colmnbus, Ohio; St. Paul, Minnesota; Orange, Jersey City, Burlington and Montclair, New Jersey; Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia; Brooklyn and New York City; Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina; Detroit, Michigan; Indianapolis, Indiana; Little Rock, Arkansas; Louisville, Kentucky; Chicago, Illinois; with a special industrial worker at Chester, Pennsylvania, in the person of Mrs. Sarah Fernandis, of Baltimore, an experienced social worker. The Circle for Negro War Relief Time and time again it was borne in upon the inner conscious- ness of the women of the race that though the various organizations for war relief were doing all that was humanly possible for the sol- diers of both races, they were inadequate for all the needs of the Negro soldier and his family. There were avenues open for more 388 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY extensive relief; there were places as yet untouched by any organi- zation ; there were programs of direct War Eelief and Constructive Relief work which needed to be carried out and some separate or- ganization for this work was an imperative necessity. So the Circle for Negro War Relief came into existence in November, 1917. The leading spirit in this movement was Mrs. Emily Bigelow Hapgood, the president, and associated around her were the best minds of the country, white and colored. The Circle was incorporated, and dedi- cated itself to the purpose of promoting the- welfare of Negro soldiers and their dependent families as they might be affected by the emer- gencies of war. The success of this Circle was immediate and phenomenal. Within a few months, sixty ''units" were formed, extending from New York to Utah, to the far South, throughout the East, and middle West. Each unit dedicated itself in its particular locality to the relief of some vital need either in the Community or in some nearby camp. For instance Ambulance Unit of N. Y. gave a two-thousand dollar ambulance to Camp Upton. Unit No. 29 in St. Helena, South Carolina, not only did the usual war knitting and letter writing, but during the influenza epidemic formed itself into a health committee in cooperation with the Red Cross. It would be difficult to give a complete report of the work of all the units. It forms a voluminous mass of interesting and illuminat- ing statistics. The activities of the Circle ranged from the making of comfort kits to the furnishing of chewing gum to the soldiers; from the supplying of victrolas and records to the introduction of Theodore Roosevelt, Irvin Cobb and Needham Roberts at Carnegie Hall; from the giving of Christmas trees in Harlem to Southern dinners for the home-sick boys in Augusta, Georgia ; from contribu- tions of air-cushions from Altoona, Pennsylvania, to the issuing of educational pamphlets on the subject of the Negro soldier. The Circle of Negro War Relief and the Crispus Attucks Circle organized in Philadelphia in March, 1918, constituted the nearest approach to a Red Cross or other organization of this character through which the colored people cooperated during the war. The Crispus Attucks Circle did for Philadelphia what the Circle of Negro War Relief did for New York. Its name fitly commemorated the first Negro who gave up his life to help make ''the world safe for democracy." The one great project to which it directed all its NEGRO WOMEN IN WAR WORK 389 energies was the attempted establishment in Philadelphia of a base hospital for Negro soldiers, in which Negro pliysicians and Negro nurses should care for their own. It may be objected and is frequently a source of controversy that separate hospitals are non-essential. Idle and fallacious reason- ing ! They are needed in some places as schools, churches and social organizations are needed. A moot question, not to be thrashed out here; merely a remark in passing that the Crispus Attuck Circle saw a need, a vital need, and aimed to fill it. Certainly if eveiy individual in the world saw the vital need in his own particular home circle or community and met that need with joyous service, there would be no more wars. This is what the women of the race have done since April, 1917. As the Circle of Negro War Eelief radiated its influence from New York City and the Crispus Attucks Circle concentrated its efforts in Philadelphia, so all over the United States various inde- pendent and private organizations for the relief of the soldier came into being. The Soldiers' Comfort Unit of the War Service Center opened headquarters on Massachusetts Avenue, Boston. It was one of the hundreds of similar organizations made up of women who instinctively got together to work for the great cause, and who, with a small beginning, found themselves a part of a big v/ork with possi- bilities only limited by the ability to meet them. In February, 1918, Mrs. H. C. Lewis called together a small group of women who in a week's time supplied an urgent need for knitted garments at New- port News. From this beginning, made with a dozen women, the unit grew into an organization of a hundred and seventy-seven women and eventually connected itself with the Circle of Negro War Relief. In the first days the work was almost exclusively for the com- fort of the soldiers, but before many months had passed the scope of the organization had widened to a place of entertainment for the soldiers, visits to hospitals, visits to the nearby camp — Devens, with home-made pies and cakes; liberty sings on Sunday afternoons; lectures on social hygiene and special educational lectures ; coopera- tion with ''Company L" auxiliar>% and with the Red Cross. The officers of the Soldiers' Comfort Unit were: President, Miss M. L. Baldwin ; first vice-president, Mrs. C. H. Garland ; second vice-president, Mrs. Mary E. Rollins; recording secretary, Mrs. 390 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Geo. W. Torbey; financial secretary, Mrs. Wm. L. Reed; treasurer, Mrs. C. Henry Bobbins; executive secretary, Mrs. U. A. Ridley. Executive Committee — Mrs. Lucy Lewis, Chairman; Mrs. Wm. J. "Williams, Mrs. Maud Cuney Hare, Mrs. Wm. Cromwell, Mrs. Geo. B. Lewis, Mrs. Amos Mason, Mrs. Alice Casneau, Mrs. Jas Hinton, Mrs. Agnes Adams. Chairman Red Cross, Mrs. A. M. Gilbert; Chairman House Conmaittee, Mrs. Geo. Drummond; Chair- man Hospitality Committee, Mrs. Nellie Brown Mitchell. After a year of work the Soldiers* Comfort Unit found itself facing a still larger field, the returning soldiers coming from scenes of horror and devastation with problems and needs. Like all of the war organizations of the women of the race, they found their work had only just begnin. Woman's Auxiliary of the 15th Regiment In the early days of the old Fifteenth New York Regiment, when colored men were volunteering as members of the military organi- zation which was to become the first New York State Guard com- posed of colored men, it occurred to a thoughtful woman of the race, a New Yorker by birth, that earnest colored women banded together could be a potent factor in the life of the regiment. The idea was carried out, and the Woman's Auxiliary, Fifteenth Regiment, was organized May 2, 1917, with one hundred members. It received its credentials from Colonel William Hayward, May 9. The first definite work undertaken was the investigation of the cases of men whose dependents claimed exemption for them. This was an important factor in the perfect recruiting of the regiment and won commendation from the commanding officer and his official staff. It is the exclusive privilege of the colored people to adopt the slogan, *'No Color Line." It would seem a strange commentary on the magnanimity of the American people to note that those who are the first to adopt the policy of no discrimination are the ones against whom that discrimination is most often practiced. We have noted how in every instance where organizations of colored women have been formed for War Relief there is a definite policy of ''No Color Line." Now and then the fact was proclaimed publicly in sign or in motto, as in Boston and by the Josephine Gray Colored NEGRO WOMEN IN WAR WORK 391 Lady Knitters of Detroit, Michigan, who ''knitted for all American soldiers regardless of race, color, or nationality." Colored Women in the Loan Drives But not only in the definite work of relief, in knitting, sewing, care of dependents of soldiers or in the more spectacular forms of war work were the women engaged. The raising of the sinews of War was a problem which the United States faced. Every man, woman, and child in the country needed to be taxed to the utmost. How to make the giving a pleasing privilege rather than a doleful duty devolved upon the women of the country. Five Liberty Loan drives, six Red Cross drives, the constant Thrift Stamp Drive, and a tremendous United War Camp Drive, wherein uncountable billions were spoken of airily, staggered the average mind both in prospect and retrospect. But Americans learned to think in big figures. Every one got the habit of saving ; and the purse-strings of America were permanently opened for the relief of the needs of the nation and to aid needy peoples overseas. This reaction on the national conscience is of inestimable value. Charity will never again be the perfunctory thing that it was before the ^ireat War. Penury in giving will be frowned down upon as immoral. And this quickening of the national conscience, this loos- ening of the national purse, is due in no small measure to the fervor and zeal with which the women of the nation threw themselves into the campaigns for filling the war coffers. As was to be expected, the colored women were foremost in all the financial campaigns. The National Association of Colored Women organized at the very beginning of the war to cooperate in every way with the Woman 's Council of Defense. Mrs. Philip North Moore, President of the National Council of Women, says, *'No women worked harder than the women of the National Association of Colored Women.'* Mrs. Mary B. Talbert, President of the National Association of Colored Women, which has a membership of a hundred thousand, is authority for the statement that in the Third Liberty Loan the colored women of the United States raised about five million dollars. Savannah, Georgia, alone raised a quarter of a million dollars. Poor colored women in a tobacco factory of Norfolk, Virginia, subscribed 392 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY ninety-one thousand dollars. Macon, Georgia, subscribed about twenty thousand. The National War Savings Committee appointed colored women to conduct campaigns for the War Savings Committee. One of the most notable of these appointments by the Secretaiy of the Treasury was that of Mrs. Laura Brown, of Pittsburgh. She maintained an office from which whirlwind campaigns emanated, and set a standard of efficiency of organization not easily equaled. War Work Among Negro Children One of the most effective ways of reaching the people of any community is through the children. Hence the work of the colored teachers in reaching the race through the children under their care, has been in the highest degTee effectual. Throughout the South, in the middle Atlantic states in which there is a separate school system, in the Middle West, and in the Southwest; in public schools, in endowed institutions, in colleges — in short wherever colored teachers are employed to teach colored children, there was a constant and beneficial influence being exerted in the entire race through its chil- dren. This influence made for loyalty, patriotism unquestioning and devoted; and particularly did this influence raise the quota of the race's contribution to the National war chest. Colored schools taught by colored teachers sent in every com^munity a pro rata to the Thrift Stamp, Red Cross, United War Campaign, and Liberty Loans in considerable excess of the natural percentage. It would have been easy to have failed just here with the children; it was difficult in many communities to overcome the natural obstacles. But they were overcome. The amounts raised in all National drives through the colored women teachers working with their children, are a monumental credit to the women of the race. The Negro Exodus of 1917-18 Such a move as this was more important than appears on the face of the bald statement of the fact. In the Northern cities directly affected by the exodus of Southern Negroes in 1917 and 1918, a by- product of the war, there was suffering, intense and "^^^despread, among the Negroes suddenly thrust into a climate and conditions for which their life in the South had given them no preparation. Some cities, notably Detroit, met the situation with a whole-hearted NEGRO WOMEN IN WAR WORK 393 desire on the part of the civic authorities to cope with the condition correctly and humanely. Other cities lamented the influx into their borders, and let the new population shift for itself as best it could, resulting in a pitiful increase of the death rate in pneumonia. The unprecedentedly hard winter of 1917-1918 was trying even to those inured to the rigors of a Northern winter. Some cities drove out the invaders, or made conditions so uncomfortable that they drifted aw^ay, or suffered in silence. In other cases, notably Chester, Penn- sylvania, the colored women of the city took the matter in their own hands, and saved as best they could the pitiful strugglers in their search for homes and work. The tide of migration swept northward, and broke in a huge wave, beginning at Chester, Pennsylvania, in the East, St. Louis and East St. Louis in the Middle West, and Los Angeles in the West, the crest of the wave breaking in Philadelphia, Detroit and Chicago. It was a situation which the war had inevitably brought about — the increase in munition plants and shipyards, with their need for more help, and consequent high w^ages ; it was helped by nature — the boll- weevil devastating the little which the Southern laborers owned in cotton-field and home; it was fostered by the growing unrest and bitterness due to lack of economic and educational opportunities and to injustice dealt at home. \^Tien the true history of the great Negro Exodus of 1917-1918 shall be written, it will prove as fasci- nating and as peculiar in its psychological ramifications as the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Not the least interesting and splendid is the part played by the colored women in those cities where the crest of the wave broke. Hunger and privation, even in the face of the big wages paid by the huge war plants, stared the newcomers in the face, for there was not always work enough, and illness laid off many of those who had made places for themselves in the industrial elysium. The housing conditions, or rather the lack of them, constitute one of the blackest chapters in the history of the movement. Here is where the Chris- tian fortitude and love of the colored women who lived in those cities shine forth resplendently. They gave up their own homes to the newcomers; they endured discomforts and inconveniences to helj) the women thus pitifully thrust into these adverse conditions ; thoy taught the women from the South the art of coping with the northern 394 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY climate;^ they nursed them when the inevitable sickness broke out; they gave them warm clothing and taught them how to spend money to the best advantage in purchasing suitable clothes and proper food; they took women and children into their homes, and helped them in ways that only women understand how to help each other. Maintaining the Negro Morale Rumors, many and various, of the disaffection of the Negro, of his lack of patriotism, of the influence upon him of so-called German propaganda, of the need of stimulating his patriotic fervor, swept through the country in the spring and summer of 1918. Just how much of this so-called propaganda was German, and how much American, and how much of it rumors which had their rise in hys- terical fear, it is not given us to know. Why there was a loss of patriotic interest in certain localities was not hard to discover. Here and there studied indifference on the part of certain organiza- tions toward the well-meant efforts of the colored women in attempt- ing to help in war relief; labor conditions; the old, old stories of prejudice and growing bitterness in the labor situation; rumors of increased lynching activities — from all these a lukewarmness towards the conduct of the war had grown up in various cities. And it was here again that the women met a difficult problem and helped to solve it. Again we look to the army of women teachers, and their subtle and pervasive influence over the youth of the race, and through children over their parents. It would be difficult to measure the service of these women in this particular direction. Here and there, however, there was a more spectacular ap- peal made to the patriotic emotions of the race through pageants, demonstrations, or mass meetings. In some cases, the schools through school pageants and plays appealed directly to the patriotic emotions; plays written by Negro authors were staged, commence- ment exercises became rallying grounds of calls to the warmth of the race in its love for the nation. Colored Women in War Industries War has a way of forcing expedients. From 1914 until No- vember, 1918, the economic balance of the nation was sadly upset, first by the stopping of the tide of inmiigration from Europe, secord by the exodus of the Negro to the North, third by the NEGRO WOMEN IN WAR WORK 395 drastic sweep of the draft law. The first opened the door of opportunity to the Negro laborer, the second depleted the fields of the South, the third plunged the colored woman pell-mell into the industrial world — an entirely new place for her. ''For generations colored women have been working in the fields of the South. They have been the domestic servants of both the South and the North, accepting the positions of personal service open to them. Hard work and unpleasant work has been their lot, but they have been almost entirely excluded from our shops and factories. Tradition and race prejudice have played the largest part in their exclusion. The tardy development of the South and the failure of the colored woman to demand industrial opportunities have added further values. Clearly, also, two hun- dred years of slavery and fifty years of industrial boycott in both the North and the South, following the Civil War, have done little to encourage or to develop industrial aptitudes. For these reasons, the colored women have not entered the ranks of the industrial army in the past.'* But war expediency, for a time at least, partially opened the door of industry to them. It was an. experiment and like all ex- periments, it fell against problems, and those problems were met by the earnest consideration of several agencies. We have already spoken of the splendid work of this department of the Young Women's Christian Association, under the direction of Miss Mary E. Jackson of Providence, Rhode Island. In June, 1918, a joint committee was formed in New York to study the employment of colored women in that city and its environs. Serving on that committee were representatives from practically all the philan- thropic organizations in the city, and the result of its labors through two investigators, Mrs. Gertrude McDougald (colored) and Miss Jesse Clarke (white), were given publicity in an interesting pam- phlet, from which the above paragraph was quoted. It is a significant fact that the colored woman in industry in a short time had reached the point where she merited trained investiga- tion. ''Come out of the kitchen, Mary," was the slogan of the colored woman in war time. She doffed her cap and apron and donned her overalls. Some States, such as Maryland and Florida, specialized in courses in motor mechanics and automobile driving. 396 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY The munition factories took the girls in gladly. Grim statistics prove that their scale of wages was definitely lower than a man's doing the same work, and sad to say a considerable fraction below that of white girls in the same service, although Delaware reports some very high-priced, skilled ammunition testers, averaging seven to twelve dollars a day. The colored girls blossomed out as switch- board operators, stock takers, wrappers, • elevator operators, sub- way porters, ticket choppers, track-walkers, trained signallers, yard-walkers. They went into every possible kind of factory de- voted to the production of war materials, from the most dangerous posts in munition plants to the delicate serving in aeroplane fac- tories. Colored girls and colored women drove motor trucks, un- loaded freight cars, dug ditches, handled hardware around ship- ways and hardware houses, packed boxes. They struggled with the discomforts of ice and fertilizing plants. They learned the delicate intricacies of all kinds of machines, and the colored woman running the elevator or speeding a railroad on its way by signals was a common sight. Just what the effect of this marvelous influx of colored women into the industrial world would have upon the race was a problem viewed with considerable interest. Pessimists predicted a socio- logical and psychological upheaval in the ranks of the women of the race. A strange thing about it was that there was no perceptible racial disintegTation and the colored women bore their changed status and higher economic independence mth much more equanimity than white women on a corresponding scale of living. The reason for this may perhaps be found in the fact that the colored woman had a heritage of 300 years of work back of her. Her children were used to being left to shift for them- selves ; her home was used to being cared for after sundown. The careful supervision of the War Work Council and the Council of Defense over the health and hours of the woman in industry averted the cataclysm of lowered vitality and eventual unfitness for maternity. The possible economic effect of this entrance into the unknown fields of industry on the part of the colored woman will be that when pre-war conditions return and she is displaced by men and is forced to make her way back into domestic service, the latter will be placed on a strictly business basis and the vocation of NEGRO WOMEN IN WAR WORK 397 is forced to make her way back into domestic service, the latter will be placed on a strictly business basis and the vocation of housekeeping and home-making will be raised to the dignity of a profession. We have touched lightly the Negro woman in the world war. Lightly perforce, because of her innate modesty and reticent care- lessness in proclaiming her own good deeds. She emerges from the war more serious-minded, more responsible, with a higher opinion of her own economic importance; with a distinct and definite aim and ambition to devote her life to the furthering of the cause for which her men died on Flanders fields. She has sei-ved the Red Cross at home and begged to serve it abroad; she has probed to the depths the real meaning of the word Christianity ; she has formed a second line of defense at home; she has learned the real value of community service, and what it means to give of her tune, means, and smiles to the weary soldiers passing through her town; she has organized special circles of war relief on her own initiative, and given all that she could afford, from the homely apple and sandwich and cigarette to an ambulance for service overseas. She has given regally, munificently of her little to help fill the national war chest, and when there w^as no more in her slender purse she has given her time and persuasiveness to induce others to follow her example. She has endowed and maintained Hostess Houses and helped support the wives and children of the men in service. When disaffection threatened, she fostered patriotism and overcame propaganda with simple splendid loyalty. She gave up ease and clear skies for the dangers and hardships of death- dealing labor. She shut her eyes to past wrongs and present discomforts and future uncertainties. She stood large-hearted, strong-handed, clear-minded, splendidly capable, and did, not her bit, but her best, and the world is better for her work and her worth. CHAPTER XXVIII SOCIAL WELFARE AGENCIES Important Welfare Work of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion and Other Organized Bodies — Negro Secretaries of the Y. M. C. A. — The Problem of Illiteracy i/n the Camps — The Social Secretaries — Results of Education — The Y. W. C. A. Hostess Houses — The Knights of Columbus — Caring for Re- turned Soldiers. Prior to the outbreak of the war it was a well-established fact that the Young Men's Christian Association, the Young Women's Christian Association, the Eed Cross, and other organized bodies primarily concerned with the welfare of people in general, had figured so largely in the life of the young men prior to their call to arms that something should be done to enable these agencies to throw around them the same influences under which they came when at home. One of the first efforts, therefore, to provide for the social betterment of the men under arms was to connect these movements officially with the Government, that they might func- tion efficiently in caring for the soldiers at the front. It was observed that the social welfare organizations could adapt them- selves as successfully to the needs of men in times of war as in times of peace. At the beginning of the war the War Work Coun- cil declared that the same thing done for white men would be done for colored men when in the various cantonments, and while it has been difficult to cany out this letter of the law, for many reasons too tedious to be mentioned. Dr. J. E. Moorland, the Senior Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association in charge of colored men's work, believes that the Negro has come more nearly to receiving a square deal in this instance than in anything else in the history of the country. When the unusual appeal was made to the American people, adequate funds were raised to finance the work of the welfare organizations. Nearer to the end of hostilities, however, when a 398 SOCIAL WELFARE AGENCIES 399 more systematic effort for financing all of these social organizations had to be made, the Government provided that all such agencies should be absorbed by the seven recognized groups, and a national drive for $170,000,000 was made by these organizations, resulting in raising the desired amount. They were therefore at an early period in a position to construct successful machinery for the training of social workers to supply these needs throughout the camps in this country and among the soldiers overseas. While it must be admitted that it was impossible to choose upon such short notice persons who met in every way the requirements for this unusual task, the personnel of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion staff so far as the colored workers were concerned were of a high class. At the head of this staff, to select and equip for this unusual service the numerous secretaries needed in the camps and canton- ments, was Dr. J. E. Moorland, Senior Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association. Associated with him was Mr. Robert B. DeFrantz, visiting secretary of the Des Moines camp, and formerly engaged in the work at Kansas City, Missouri. There were also the placement secretaries, Mr. William J. Faulkner and Mr. Max Yergan, who after his return from Africa, assisted in recruiting men; Professor Charles H. Wesley of Howard Uni- versity doing similar work. J. Francis Gregory and George L. Johnson, two specialists in religious work, were later added. The former directed his efforts toward the religious life of the men in the camps, while the latter, a noted tenor, rendered valuable service with his singing. Negro Secretaries of the Y. M. 0. A, At the beginning of the War Work Council it was decided to send Negro secretaries to care for troops of their own race. There were fifty-five centers or groups in Army camps with Association privileges, served by two hundred and sixty-eight secretaries in the home camps and forty-nine secretaries ser\'ing overseas. The grand total of all colored secretaries was three hundred and thirty- one. The buildings in which these secretaries worked were twenty- five '*E" type and National Guard buildings. The other centers were housed in barracks, mess halls, and tents. 400 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY ^'Tliis work, too," according to Dr. J. E. Moorland, its moving spirit, ''was not a haphazard one. It had a definite purpose, promoted by carefully selected specialists. To be more explicit, it is well to describe a staff organization which is responsible for the work in a building. It is composed of a building secretary, who is the executive ; a religious work secretary, who has charge of the religious activities, including personal work among the soldiers, Bible class and religious meetings; an educational secretary, who promotes lectures and educational classes, and uses whatever means he may have at hand to encourage intellectual develop- ment ; a physical secretary, who has charge of athletics and various activities for the physical welfare of the soldiers, works in the closest relationship with the military officers and is often made responsible for all of the physical activities in the camp; a social secretary, who promotes the social activities, including entertain- ments, ''stunts" and moving pictures; a business secretary, who keeps close tab on the sale of stamps, postcards, and such supplies as may be handled by the Association, and is held responsible for the proper accounting of finances. In every case these secretaries were thoroughly investigated before being appointed and were required to be members of evangelical churches in good standing, and men capable of commanding the respect of the soldiers with whom they work. The Problem of Illiteracy ' The large number of illiterates who were brought into the various camps of the country brought with them a tremendous problem. Many of them could not sign the payroll. Some of them did not know the right from the left hand, and not a few were not sure about their names. The Association was able to solve this problem by teaching thousands of men to read and write their names. Some men after having learned to write their names," says Dr. Moorland, "have actually shouted for joy over the new-found power which at last had released them from the shackles of an oppressive ignorance. Speakers of both races have inspired the men and enlarged their vision. Many men with a better educational equipment have increased their talent* by sober thinking along with purposeful programs of reading. Above — Colored Woinen War Workers of the Youns Women's Christian Association at Hostess House, Camp Upton, Lons' Island. ^ ,, r^ y^,.^A Belotv— Colored American Red Cross Canteen War Workers who canteened all Coloied soldier troop trains passing- through Chicago to and from the front „, „. „ ,-.„ First Row Left to Right— Mrs. Eva Jenifer, Captain Dr. Mary Fitzbutlor Waring. Mrs. Second Roiv Left to Right— Ueut. Hattie Oldham, Mrs. Sadie Anderson, Mrs Helen Thorne. Mrs. Juanita Hawkins, Mrs. Mary WlcklifCe, Mrs. Lillian Gully, Lieut. Mayme Haddox Dr. Mary Fitzbutler Waring is also Chairman of the Col. Denison Red Cross Auxiliary, and Chairman of Red Cross Work of the Colored Women's Clubs of the L. b. Above — Negro American Red Cross Workers of the Byhalia ('oluixd Auxiliary u( nortlu-ni Mississippi where negroes outnumber the whites five to one. Beloiv — Colored boys on troop train passing- throush Now Orleans to training- camps being' served with cholocates and cigarettes by Colored Auxiliary of American Red Ci'oss. 1 ^ J- Top. Left to RiKht-lst I.t. Kucll W. .Mark.., ^-i-t Iv.snnnH ^'V'n 'hu , " '^ot if l' ''■ Div 1st lA Almando HencU-r.son, 367lh Inl. l.-^l l.t. !• . i^. Ip.-lnii. ... i t i i Center Left to RiVht-2nd Lt. U. 1 >. Hardeway, 3B7th Inl Tapl. Aaron l>a>. J... Am Tr ''nd Lt A M. Watson, 350tli Mchn. Ciun l.at. , , ^ ,„ ^ r'.„^,. in an attack on IMnarville. !IL'lld aiTth 368th Forest the bi ■>nd Headquarters, who kept com- j- drive in Champagne, Argonne and Above — Colored messengers of Motoroyc munication lines alive at all hours during Be?oS;-Amerfcan White and Negro soldiers being served to chocolate and sandwich ro.^^^ in canteen established in basement of American Red Cio^s Buieau ot Ketu^ees at Toulouse. r ) nm' H^" *^'i.' r 1A.W-.C~.: «* , >.. -"zifUtin-^ «■?->-';,- v'iT.jtf'iw^ ^ ^a. .. '•/"J^'"- """trTMiV.'''' ^'^'■'' '"" ^^^ ,32nd Pivi.sion near a roadside leading- out of I'..nt-a-Mousson , lho^e^\^ho"d!I^ oTsi'crno^^ dTr^ni' t^lt^p'^-io^^" '" ^'"^ "^^^''^'^"'^ ^^^'^^^ ^^^^ -'^ N^m^okfi'ei^s. '"""■'''' "''"'' ^^"^ '''""' '^"^""^ '" '"^ ^'-^"'"'^ ■•^^'^^'^•- "'^oupiod by American OVERSEAS SECRETARIES OF THE YOUNG MEN'S r HIM ST [AX ASSOC [ATTON. Left Top — E. L. Snyder. Left Center — J. A. Croon. Below — Moses A. Davis. Center Top — Group of "Y" Secretaries ready to sail for France. Beloiv — B. P. Seldon behind the lines in France just emergini^- from the trip through the trenches. Right, at top — Thos. M. Clayton. Right Centei-— Gary Ward Moore. Beloiv — G. W. Jackson.- All the above overseas Y. M. C. A. Secretaries are well known to the American Negro Soldiers who served overseas. \hnvP •IM- Nims" of the 3i(l r.attalinn. :i(iHlh Infantiy. who r..uiui gr,-al aim.s.ni.tU in '^,Z,'^u,^\^y^^r'^^\0^^^unnue.iionaMo courage at many timers serve., to cheer Be/ol^Gn^S"of 'l^i^ro ^ldiors"byhi'^- the lines bein^ instructed in approved methods of using gas masks before yoing forward to the trenches. SOCIAL WELFARE AGENCIES • 401 "The religion of the soldiers was not neglected. Hundreds of Bible classes were conducted and religious meetings with pur- pose were largely attended. The best of both races have been able to give encouragement and helpful messages to the men, many of whom have had their faith strengthened; many others for the first time in their lives accepted the Christian faith. The effort was to give a religious program adapted to the lives of the men and enable them to go overseas and come back fit to look mother, wife, sister, and sweetheart in the face and not be ashamed. **The emphasis, however, was placed upon life, and speakers were requested to avoid emphasizing death. Although the training in the army camps is physical development to a very marked de- gree, it was soon learned that there must be a recreational side. The physical director had to meet this need to prevent men from becoming sullen and morose. Baseball teams, football teams, box- ing and all sorts of recreational games were staged. These proved to be as essential in the matter of self-defense as lectures and private talks on health and the protection of the body against the ravages of every form of vice." Work of the Social Secretaiies The social secretaries rendered no less a service than the other workers. In providing programs for the entertainment of the men, in presenting interesting moving pictures, in utilizing the talent of various communities near the camps for the needs of the men in camps, they accomplished a task which in the past had seemed impossible. The social secretary, moreover, enabled these men to entertain themselves. The Selective Draft brought together men of all grades, from the most illiterate to the highly trained university graduate, messing together side by side daily. Men who had lived in the atmosphere of vice and those who had been trained in the best Christian homes were th^o^^^l together in a common cause, wearing the same imiform, obeying the same orders. In this great mass the social secretary discovered remark- able talent, which was able to provide entertainment for the soldiers in the camps and at certain times for the people outside the camps. 402 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY According to Dr. Moorland, the letters of appreciation re- ceived from many of the soldiers for the service rendered by these faithful secretaries sound like a new edition of the Acts of the Apostles. ^'Not only in France are our men serving. We also have secretaries in East Africa, working with natives and Bri ish troops, and their story is that of pioneers laying foundations as Christian statesmen for the building of future manhood in that great continent; for they are serving men representing tribes from all parts of the continent of Africa, and these men are learning what unselfish service means as well as, in many cases, learning to read and write in the little evening schools provided for them." There were thirty-nine official directors, giving their entire attention to directing recreational activities and thirty secretaries who served as song leaders. There were six or more secretaries, physical and social directors, however, to do recreational work and direct singing. It has been estimated that two million men attended these various centers for Negro soldiers every month; that there were two hundred lectures with an attendance of eighty a month; ten thousand Scriptures circulated every month; nine thousand personal interviews; seven thousand Christian decisions; eleven thousand war roll singers; one hundred and twenty-five thousand taking part in physical activities; five hundred motion picture exhibitions with an attendance of three hundred thousand ; 1,250,000 letters written, and $110,000 worth of money orders sold. Important Results of Education Out of such unusual efforts to educate, in fact to remake, the enlisted man, came important results. The Negro soldier was brought, so to speak, from a sequestered vale into the broad light of modern times, where various agencies which have constituted a leverage in the elevation of men gave him during these few^ months more opportunity for mental improvement than he had experienced during the other part of his life. Thousands of men were not only taught to read and write, but also formed the habit of reading good books, which in a short time showed results in the appreciation of higher ideals and in giving them a more intelligent attitude toward life. These agencies, too, operating among the whites and the blacks equally deficient in education during their early SOCIAL WELFARE AGENCIES 403 careers, tended to promote better relationship between the races and as a result to produce a higher class of men. The record of these secretaries was highly commendable. First among those to attain recognition was Dr. Geo. W. Cabaniss, of Washington, D. C, known for a long time as the dean of the colored secretaries, a man who had much to do with making pos- sible the camp for the training of the colored officers at Fort Des Moines; and who after the camp had been provided went into the service with them to serve these young men as a Y. M. C. A. secretary. Returning home after they were commissioned. Dr. Cabaniss abandoned his lucrative practice in the city of Washing- ton and went to Camp Meade to serve as a secretary at one of the Y. M. C. A. huts. Being a Christian gentleman, Dr. Cabaniss was especially anxious to look after the morals of the young men, and in the end he was glad to report that the habits in general of the men who came under his supervision were of a very high order, and that they exhibited evidences of being men who would make good at the front. Among those who won distinction in reaching men may also be mentioned Matthew W. Bullock, William Stevenson, and J. C. Wright. Distinguished Service of Supervisors Some mention should be made also of those men of color who although Y. M. C. A. workers went to France for supervision, to render a larger service than that of the average social w^orker. Among them were Mr. Max Yergan, President John Hope of Morehouse College, and Dr. H. H. Proctor of the First Congrega- tional Church, Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Max Yergan had already rendered distinguished service as an earnest worker among the British troops of color in Africa. His work in France, like that of President Hope, was largely that of a field secretary to consider cases of friction, discipline, and general difficulty and to administer affairs which could not be attended to by the staff on this side of the Atlantic. It was only late in the war that Dr. Proctor answered the call to engage in this same work. These gentlemen, in mani- festing a spirit of sacrifice and interest in the welfare of the men at the front, not only exhibited examples worthy of emulation, but rendered the race and the country a distinguished sendee. 404 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY The Y. W. 0. A. Hostess Houses The work had not gone forward very far when the peculiar need for a plan by which the wives and daughters of the enlisted men might visit them at camp necessitated the bringing in of women as Y. W. C. A. workers. It was accordingly provided that each of these camps, wherever practicable, should have hostess houses, to be placed in charge of a woman of honor. The hostess house was a means of communication between the enlisted men and their relatives. Here the sweetheart came to say goodbye to her loved one, the wife to see her husband for the last time, and the mother to bid her son farewell. The Y. W. C. A. maintained a colored hostess house in every camp where there were colored soldiers, the plan being the same as that for the white soldiers. The official report states that these houses "are not only hospi- tality centers, but also demonstrations to visitors of the best ways of entertaining and of serving food. Many men and women are here first brought in contact with high yet simple standards of social intercourse. Each house is a training center for new colored social workers." The heads of these houses are among the best known women of the race, many of whom have been doing social work of a high type among their people for years. The need for such women, of course, was experienced abroad, but there was much objection to the sending of women of color to the front, just as there had been in the case of barring them from the Red Cross units. In the course of time, however, this prejudice was overcome and it was possible to send a number of women of color to serve in the hostess houses in France. The first of these to sail was Mrs. Helen Noble Curtis of New York, the widow of the late James L. Curtis, Minister Resident of the United States to Liberia. For a number of years she had been a member of the committee of management of the colored women's branch of the Y. W. C. A. As she had been in France and had learned to speak the language thoroughly, she was much desired for this work. The appointment of Mrs. Curtis proved to be such a success that another colored secretary was sent over in the following month. This was Mrs. Addie W. Hunton of Brooklyn, New York, widow of the late William A. Hunton, the first International SOCIAL WELFARE AGENCIES 405 Secretary of the Y. M. C. A. for colored men in America. She is an educated woman of excellent standing and had for a number of years been a moving spirit in Y. W. C. A. work. She had also traveled in Europe, studied at the University of Strasburg, and formed certain connections which enabled her to render the race invaluable service abroad. Mrs. Hunton was soon followed by Miss KathrjTi M. Johnson, and later by twelve or more women of the same high character. Tributes to Y. M. C. A. Workers "The colored Y. M. C. A. workers here in France," said Ralph W. Tyler, * ' working under handicaps, and limited, as to numbers, in proportion to the number of white Y. M. C. A. workers, and consider- ing the proportionate number of colored soldiers in France, have been paid a high tribute by Colonel (now General) W. F. Creary. Writing to Wm. Stevenson, colored Y. M. C. A. secretary of Hut No. 2, General Creary said: '' 'I have seen the workings of your huts along the line, from the front line trenches to the base ports, and have been a personal recipient of the comforts afforded by them on many occasions. " ' I have always been impressed by the zeal with which the secretaries, and others, have prosecuted their work, with untiring energy, and with their valor and bravery, for the work at the front cannot be done except by real red-blooded men. " 'I have been particularly interested in the activities of your huts, devoted exclusively to the interests of colored soldiers since my assumption of the command of this camp, and I congratulate you on the progress you have made, and are making now. " 'Besides the splendid athletic, social, and canteen service offered by yourself and your assistants, I have been much impressed by your activities in the educational departments, and have been much pleased to see many of OUR Colored soldiers, who have had but few advantages of early education, availing themselves of the advantages offered by you for the acquirement of knowledge of the elementary branches of education. " 'Your thrift department is the means of many of OUR men saving their money and purchasing money orders to send back home, thereby placing their money where it should be. ' *'In Mr. Stevenson's hut, Mrs. James L. Curtis looks after the canteen, and most laudably aids in the work of comforting the 406 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY thousands of colored boys who are contributing their might in the interest of world democracy. Mr. Stevenson, to whom General Creary wrote this commendatory letter, is a Cincinnati, Ohio, boy, and he fairly bubbles in his enthusiasm in his work for colored soldiers. "While visiting this particular point, I came in contact with the work of colored Y. M. C. A. people, who are seconding and cooperating with the work of the Army in a most effective way. Here I met Mrs. James L. Curtis, widow of our late Minister to Liberia, who is idol- ized by the men in the camp in which is located the particular Y. M. C. A. hut in which she labors. I also came in contact with and investigated the splendid work of Miss Kathryn Johnson, of Chicago, and Mrs. A. W. Hunton, the other two colored women Y. M. C. A. workers over here, and, unfortunately, the only three (with Mrs. Curtis) colored women assigned over here for war work by the Y. M. C. A. The effect of the work these three splendid colored women have done, and will continue to do, will be in evidence long after this war has been fought to a glorious peace. Here I also met the following colored Y. M. C. A. secretaries: Franklin Nichols, of Philadelphia, who has been here for more than a year; Prof. Moses A. Davis, of Evansville, Ind. ; Rev. D. Leroy Ferguson, erstwhile rector of the Colored Episcopal church at Louisville, Ky. ; Leon James, J. Green, and Wm. Stevenson. When I considered that all these Y. M. C. A. people, and most especially the women, forsook comfortable homes and zones of culture and refinement to come over here and, far from immediate relatives and friends, bury themselves among these colored soldiers in order that the greatest possible amount of sunshine might be shoved into the lives of these men helping to establish world democracy, I could not help but feel that those of the race^ back in the states, who are at an absolutely safe distance from German bullets, shrapnel and gas, should consecrate themselves, also, so far as within their power, to the rendering of aid and comfort to these soldiers of ours. ''When I visited the hospital at this point and noted the many colored boys who were bearing their illness with a cheerfulness that was amazing, I could not help but feel much of the criticism one hears back in the states could well be held in abeyance and instead the efforts put forth in criticism expended in sympathy and efforts fo? SOCIAL WELFARE AGENCIES 407 'our own' boys who are here so many thousand miles from home, enduring cheerfully for their country's sake. "The work being- performed by the stevedores, and by these colored Y. M. C. A. workers in the camps I have just visited, and the amicable relations existing between them and superior army officers, I feel certain, would be as disillusioning to the race back home as it has been, in many respects, to me. "Here one finds these colored men performing nearly every kind of work, skilled and unskilled. Their camp is a model of clean- liness — a cleanliness that would put to shame most of our cities back in the States, and a cleanliness in which the colored boys take a commendable pride. A fine brass band here, composed exclusively of stevedores, frequent moving picture showings, educational work, etc., conspire to make the 'after work' hours of these thousands of colored service men pass quickly and profitably. Recently General Pershing visited this camp and gave the boys an interesting talk, which has since been regarded by them as epochal. "Thus far, my only regret is that there w^ere not more colored Y. M. C. A. workers over here to enlarge and spread the splendid work being done by Mrs. Curtis, Mrs. Hunton and Miss Johnson. The right sort of women, fine, big-hearted, devoted colored women, have such a refining influence in camps such as this, and the colored Y. M. C. A. secretaries themselves are anxious for them, and feel that colored women, to a number proportionate with the number of white w^omen sent over by the Y. M. C. A., would further tend to make camp life for these soldiers ideal, and render easier the disciplinary work of the army." Early in April, 1919, some ten or twelve additional well- educated, solid, substantial women were selected and sent to France to work among colored soldiers and to supply the need mentioned by Mr. Tyler. The Knights of Columbus Another organization was of much service in making Negro soldiers comfortable at the front. This was the Knights of Colum- bus, a Catholic society, which has to its credit that, unlike the other social welfare organizations operating in the war, it never drew the color line. It provided separate huts for Negroes at some of the 408 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY camps when special requests to this effect were received. These were recreational buildings, provided with home surroundings for the preparation of which no pains were spared. Such arrangements were made at Camp Meade, Camp Dodge, Camp Funston, Fort Eiley, and Camp Taylor. As an evidence of the general liberality of the management of the war work conducted by the Knights of Columbus, no better testimony can be given than that by Joseph J. Canavan in a report to the Kansas Plain-Dealer. "Under the system as it now has been working out," says he, ''the Negro soldier needs no other countersign than his khaki uni- form to gain for him every advantage offered by the Knights' service. True there are places both in this country and abroad where the Knights of Columbus have erected special huts for the use of the Negro soldiers, but where that has been done it has been at the express request of the Negro soldiers themselves, who in numerous instances have expressed a preference for a building of their own where they may enjoy their own pleasure in their own way and be assured of meeting their own friends when and where and under circumstances they desired. Similarly the other day," says he, ''when there were six Negro soldiers in training at Port Jervis, New York, on their way to Goshen, New York, whence they were to start upon their journey to a training camp, it was a group of Knights of Columbus' secretaries who met them and supplied them with cigarettes and tobacco." It happened, how- ever, that the six Negroes did not take a train for Port Jervis. Instead the Knights loaded them into automobiles and drove them across the pretty hilly country to their point of departure for the camps. There were only six men in that draft consignment, but the Knights would have been as hearty and as generous if there had been 600. There have been innumerable instances where a larger number of men have been cared for and had their wants provided for by the Knights, as the men themselves have testified. Caring for Returned Soldiers Upon the signing of the Armistice and the return of soldiers from France, severing their connections with the social welfare organizations which had once cared for them, a serious problem presented itself to the American people. Many cities were stunned SOCIAL WELFARE AGENCIES 409 by the sudden influx of so many soldiers. In some cases small towns did not have facilities adequate to the task of accommodat- ing the number which came even if it had been expecting them. Vice conditions in the communities became unspeakably bad, sol- diers were mingling with lewd women, and when their funds became exhausted, they became dissatisfied and even rebellious. The situation was in every sense an acute one, but no one could be blamed and no one was willing to accept the responsibility for improving the situation. Realizing the seriousness of this problem the whites and blacks endeavored to find some solution of the peculiar problem. This, however, was no problem peculiar to the Negro soldiers, for the whites were similarly situated. There were, however, a few narrow and prejudiced whites believing that anything was good enough for Negroes. There were also a good many men of color, and especially ministers and the like, who maintained an attitude of apa-thy towards these men returning from the war. Then there was, worst of all, a strained feeling between the whites and blacks in the various communities — a feeling apparently of long standing and intensified by war conditions. Upon the appearance, there- fore, of a few unusual types of soldiers of both races, with the misdemeanors which usually characterize persons lacking self- control, the situation was decidedly aggravated. The Wax Camp Community Service To find a way out of this difficulty it was planned to extend the War Camp Community Service. To various cities, and espe- cially to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, Newport News, Nor- folk, Portsmouth, Augusta, Chattanooga, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and San Antonio, Texas, were sent directors to enlighten the communities as to the inevitable results of the war, the reason for the appearance of the returned soldiers in the towns, and their responsibility to these veterans. Their first problem was to reach the churches and the schools. They addressed mass meetings, spoke before social groups, and had personal conferences with men of influence, to find their way into the hearts of the people. The next step was to convince the community that such an effort was worth while. A club house, too often some abandoned dilapidated 410 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY building, was secured and remodeled to suit the peculiar needs of the time. Adequate furniture and equipment for dormitories and cafeteria service were supplied and a desirable club with a file of newspapers, branch circulating library, a hall for entertainments, in fact a social center, was provided for service in the community. Men generally stood aloof, but it was soon fomid that while in some cases the support of the schools and the churches could not be obtained, some business men and professional men of intelli- gence, character, and vision came to the support of these War Camp Community Service workers, and it was not long before the entertainment and the atmosphere maintained by the center con- vinced a majority of the people of their importance and value. It was soon possible thereafter to enlist the support of a larger number of influential people in the various communities. One organization after another engaged in the service and appeared at various times to entertain the soldiers assembled at these centers. Out of such beginnings came the support of the churches and other religious organizations. It was necessary to add other men and even women to the staff, so rapid was the progress and so exten- sive was the work. Club activities increased; soldiers were visited in the various camps and hospitals, friendly relations were estab- lished and business men were brought together, so as to cause a contact helpful to them in other ways. It then became possible to organize clubs in school buildings and Sunday schools, and women in clubs worked together in a practical way whenever the oppor- tunity came. Various ways in which they contributed may be summarized as follows: The community became reconciled and active in the service; it was then an easy matter to welcome the returning soldiers. Provision was made for their entertainment in the theaters; community centers and concerts were arranged for them; large numbers of citizens attended the recreation rallies and entertainments, dinners, and dances multiplied throughout the period of demobilization. CHAPTER XXIX NEGRO LOYALTY AND MORALE Eager Response of Colored Draftees — Notable Tributes to the Patriotism of the Negro Race by the White Press — Also by President Wilson, Secretary Baker, Secretary Daniels, and Others — Negro Loyalty Never Doubted — Patriotic Negro De- monstrations and Other Instances of Loycdty. When the United States declared war against Germany and the Teutonic allies, there were internal conditions existing in America that were by no means ideal so far as the Negro was con- cerned, nor were they altogether conducive to loyaity and a healthy morale among this pfarticular group of American citizens. Beset by a vicious and persistent propaganda on the one side, and by continued instances of lynching and mob violence of which he was the chief victim on the other, the Negro in America faced a real ciisis at the beginning of the war. Temptation after temptation was presented to him to render lukewarm and half-hearted sup- port to the Government in the prosecution of the war, without making himself criminally liable, but Negro leaders in all parts of the country recognized at once that the national crisis demanded, and the plain duty and best interests of the Negro racial group required that, without bargaining, there must be a pledge on the part of the Negro of his undiluted and unfaltering loyalty. History records no parallel where, under similar conditions, any racial group has been more loyal to the Government or has main- tained a higher morale than was tnie of colored Americans dur- ing the trying period of the recent war. The Negro pledged his loyalty and was depended upon in all sections of our country. He entered fully and bravely into the work of defending the ** Stars and Stripes." All propaganda efforts to weaken his morale abso- lutely failed. A black skin during the war was a badge of patriotism. The Negro was not unmindful of certain wrongs, injustices, and discriminations which were heaped upon his race in many sections of the countiy, but in the face of it all he remained ada- 411 412 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY mant against all attempts to lower liis morale, and realized that his first duty was loyalty to his country. America is indeed the Negro 's country, for he has been here three hundred years, which is about two hundred years longer than many of the white racial groups; he realized that he was formally declared a citizen of this country by the Constitution of the United States, and that although many of the rights and privileges of citizenship were still denied him, yet the plain course before him was to perforai all of the duties of citizenship and at the same time continue to press his demands for all of the rights and privileges which the Constitution has vouchsafed to him. He realized that he would not be in a position to demand his rights unless he fully performed his duties as an American citizen, and in thus lending his loyal allegiance he ex- emplified his belief in the doctrine expounded by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt to the effect that ''rights and privileges" are contingent upon the faithful discharge of the ''duties and responsibilities" of citizenship in any country. And so it was that although the lynch- ing evil and other wrongs against the Negro proceeded with un- abated fury, unrestrained even by the President's proclamation, the Negro remained steadfast in his loyalty to the Government. His last ounce of devotion was pledged without question to the principles of freedom and democracy for which America stood, and the thought uppermost in the minds of twelve million colored Americans was that the Teutonic allies should be brought to their knees, and that the war would result in the downfall of all kinds of tyranny and oppression. E£iger Response to the Draft Tf there was ever any question as to the Negro's loyalty, it was soon dispelled by the readiness with which he answered the draft call, by his eagerness to volunteer, even though in many instances denied this privilege; by the splendid spirit in which thousands of Negroes, educated and uneducated, accepted tasks assigned to them in non-combatant and Service of Supply regi- ments; and by the whole-hearted way in which Negro civilians, men, women, and children, representing every section of the country and every walk of life, responded to every call of the Nation. The valiant, varied, and effective services rendered by NEGRO LOYALTY AND MORALE 413 four hundred thousand Negro soldiers who were called to the colors, both in camps and cantonments at home as well as upon the battlefields of Europe, canceled every possible doubt and furnished proof positive of the Negro's unfaltering loyalty. Many agencies sought to lower the morale of the Negro. Not only did German propagandists labor diligently i n certain sec- tions of the country, particularly among the unlettered element of the Negro population, in the effort to impress upon their minds the two fallacies that (1) America had no right or cause to engage in a foreign w^ar, and (2) that the Negro was foolish in fighting for a country which did not fully protect him in his rights as a citizen. Propagandists sought to advertise every instance of lynching, mob violence, or other wrong visited upon a member of the Negro race, with a view of turning him against his own country, and found additional fuel for their seditious flames in the anti-Negro attitude manifested by a number of white newspapers, governors of states, mayors of cities, legislators, race-prejudice- breeding moving picture show^s, etc., that were allowed to propa- gate a dangerous hate doctrine and to exert a disquieting influence even in the critical period of war. Propagandists emphasized racial discriminations of one kind or another and unfortunately were able to refer to the facts that the black American, supposedly a citizen, was in many states denied the ballot; that he was *Mim Crowed'* on many of the railroads and public carriers, although charged first-class fare for transporta- tion ; that he was denied admission to most public places of amuse- ment, hotels and the like. Using such arguments as a basis, the question was raised as to why the Negro was willing to jeopardize his life, his liberty, and his pursuit of happiness in coming to the rescue of America in her extremity and thus helping to defeat Germany — a country where, it was said, such racial discriminations did not exist. None of these questions, however, disturbed the thoughtful leaders of the Negro' people. They knew the designing motive back of such propaganda. They recognized, without question, that the moment the American Negro failed to perfonn all of the duties of citizenship, he immediately abdicated the right of claiming the full privileges of citizenship. The Negro leaders knew that the 414 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY central tliought in the German mind and tlie traditional policy of the Central Powers was ''might/' and that "compelling force'' was intended to be nsed, as a part of a world-wide conquest, to reduce to German domination the weaker and other peace-loving peoples of the earth. They remembered something of the history of Germany's African colonies. They recognized that the great masses of the Negro race in America belong to a submerged group — seeking education, industrial opportunity, wealth — and, more than all, liberty, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness, and as a means of obtaining possession and permanent enjoyment of those price- less privileges (along with white Americans who vfere fighting for the same cause), they declared in the public press, in pulpits, upon the public rostrum, in lodge-rooms, in schools and everywhere — that no discouraging or untoward conditions existing among the Negro people must interfere with their whole-hearted support of their country's war program. Promoting the Negro Morale As a part of the Government's program of promoting a healthy morale among colored soldiers and colored Americans generally, the author was delegated by the Secretary of War to visit various camps and cantonments where colored soldiers were stationed, also leading centers of Negro population; first, for the purpose of learning as to conditions existing likely to affect their patriotism; and, second, for the purpose of delivering addresses such as would be calculated to promote the continued loyalty and a healthy morale among the members of this racial group. Preliminary to his tour of the Middle-West he made a care- ful investigation of conditions existing in Camps Meade, Dix, Lee, Upton, and others, and had sought to ameliorate conditions existing among colored soldiers stationed at those camps. This middle-western itinerary served to give the colored people full opportunity of hearing directly from a representative of the War Department with respect to its policy concerning Negro troops. The 92nd Division (colored) was trained at seven different cantonments. Early in May, 1918, it became evident that orders would shortly be issued for the entire division to go overseas, and it was therefore arranged that the author should ' ' swing around the NEGRO LOYALTY AND MORALE 415 circle," visiting all camps not already visited, where any units of the 92nd Division were stationed, and speaking at snch strategic centers en route tlirough the AVest Where his itinerary would per- mit. As a part of this program he spoke at various times in all parts of the country, including Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; New Y'ork City; St. Louis, Mis- souri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus, Ohio; Atlanta, Georgia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore, Maryland. His return to Washington about the middle of May brought the itinerary to a close. Though the gait at which he traveled was a strenuous one, he w^as immeasurably strengthened for his work by this intimate contact with the people of the country of both races, soldiers and civilians. Wise counsel and friendly encouragement were met with at every turn and he was convinced that the extended tour had not been made in vain. He had spoken thirty-two times, to thousands of his fellow-citizens, all of whom were impelled by a common impulse of patriotism. A high note of patriotism was sounded by thoughtful leaders of the Negro people in all walks of life. Negro editors, with but few exceptions, rallied to the Nation's call and wrote in a martial spirit; the Negro clergy put on the whole armor of patriotism and awakened the Negro laity to a sense of its duty, opportunity, and resjoonsibility ; Negro educators in all sections taught loyalty as a cardinal virtue and representative Negro public speakers sought diligently to maintain a healthy morale among the rank and file of colored Americans. It was also recognized on the part of the white people of the South and elsewhere that the Negro's loyalty was not to be ques- tioned, and representative white Americans, both North and South, testified in the public press that they regarded the Negro's un- divided loyalty as a valuable asset to the Nation. White news- papers all over the country devoted column after column of space to the whole-souled loyalty of colored Americans. Notable Newspaper Tribute '^The Negro population of the United States,** said the St. Louis Globe Democrat, ''is loyal to the core, and of all the fantasies 416 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY of Germany diplomacy toward the alienation of elements of our composite population, after it was recognized that our declaration of war was coming — none was more fantastic than the well-accred- ited plot to turn our native colored citizens against the country with which all their fortunes are bound up and identified. *'It has been possible for Prussianism to find among us some weak and credulous people and some even who, coming here as aliens, have prospered greatly under our institutions, to be deluded with the notion that they could reap advantage out of the nation's humiliation and defeat. The colored citizen of the United States has a shrewd understanding of the fact that we must aU stand or fall together, and he doesn't want to fall. ''Aside from all such practical considerations," continued the editor, ''there is a Negro loyalty which is one of the finest traits of the race. It has been sung in song and story. The older gen- erations were loyal even to those who were fighting to hold them in slavery, out of ties of love and affection which nothing could break. Men of the South, intelligent and high-charactered men, some of whom had personal and family knowledge of this fine fidelity and devotion, have permitted grosser elements to persecute the race, purely out of political considerations. We trust, and now believe, that that discreditable era is drawing to a close. It has been the one blot on an escutcheon never marred by want of valor or chivalry in fighting for a lost cause. /'The colored people are justifying all of our faith. Not only are they, at home, responding to every patriotic need, hut their men in the field, in France, are proving themselves ivorthy comrades of those U'ho so signally earned laurels at San Juan, and those who, on the Mexican border, under Pershing, proved themselves at Carrizal to he of the stuff American soldiers are made of.^' In Jackson, Mississippi, in the heart of the South, Rev. George Luther Cady, pastor of the First Congregational Church, preached a special sermon pleading for a deeper consideration of the black man and a fairer judgment of him in view of his demonstrated patriotism and dependability, especially in time of war. He em- phasized the fact that the crimes with which the Negro is charged are few in number and in proportion to those of the white popula- tion, and that, through the narrow viewpoint of the whites, his Ahm^e — Cdliiiid Ainiiii-\ i<-.' Crciss by Major-Genei al lOli Helniick of tht- rnitcd States Army in piosotuf of Admiral Moi-caii of the F"ienfh Navy. Below — Cfoup of Ne^ro OfHcors, S66th Infantr.v. l^. S. A. Left to Riqht — ('apt. L. H. C.odman. I.t. and Adj. Chas. S. Parker, ("apt. ("has. C. Kelley, ('apt. Wm. Hill. ('apt. ('. W. Owens, Capt. Geo. A. Holland, ('apt. \V. T. Thompson, 2iid Lt. Wm. D. Nabors. Above — The Curtis brothers, three sons of Dr. and Mrs. A. M. Curtis, Washinston. D. C, commissioned as Officers in United States Army. Left to Right — A. Maurice Curtis, Medical Reserve Corps; Arthur L. Curtis, 368th Medical Corps; Merrill H. Curtis. 349th Field Artillery, all First Lieutenants. .- ^ ,^ ^ ^ ^ -r. ^^ Below — The Gould family of fighters. Seated in front is Wm; B. Gould of East Dedham. Mass a veteran of the Civil War. Standing- are his six sons who have also served their country. Left to Right — Lawrence W. Gould, 1st I.,t. James E. Gould, Major >V^m. B Gould Jr., Lt. Herbert R. Gould, 1st Lt. Ernest M. Gould, and Frederick C. Gould. Toil I.. It til ]li^:lit — liiu] LI. .[as. T.. H.>iaii-. liit.l. Offlc.i-. :',ti.'.tli liiT.; -Jiui 1. 1. St.i.li.n K. Moses, Jr., 351st K. A.: 1st lA. Marion T. Jthot.-n. Hdqis. 'ri..-.i). y^iul l>iv.: 1-t. I'lank U Frances, M. G. Co. 366th Int. , , . . Left, Center — 1st Lt. Kdward C. Knox, 349th Mchn. Ciin I'.at. hUt/ht. i .'nl>'r — C apt. Spuhr H. Dickey, 351st Mchn. Gun Bat. , . , , . ,> i. . ,, liottom. Left — Capt. Beverley L. Dorsey, 317th Am. Tr. Bottom, HiLilit— ( apt. Hubert 1.. Chubb, 367th Inf. „ ^ , • ^ r. Center Panel — Serg^t. Wm. I'.utler of Salisbury, .Md., who received the ( roix de Guerre from the French Government and nistinunished Service Cross and Sharpshnoter'.s Medal from the Ignited States Government. Tlie story of Serut. F.utler and his hand to hand encounters with the r.oches is related in full in this volume. NEGRO LOYALTY AND MORALE 417 crimes have been mag-nified without keeping in mind the short- comings of his white brothers. Mr. Bolton Smith, a representative white Southern gentleman of Memphis, Tennessee, impressed by Negro loyalty and possessed with a high sense of justice, wrote Governor Tom C. Rye, of Tennessee, as follows: **The Government of the United States is controlled by Southern men. It has called the Negro to the defense of the colors, and the American people will demand that a race thus honored shall be granted the justice of a fair trial when accused of crime. We all know that when guilty there is no doubt of full punishment. As Secretaiy of the Tennessee Law and Order League, organized to stop lynching, I urge you to issue a proclamation to our people pointing out the treasonable effect of such lynchings." A white newspaper of Texas published an article that was reprinted in the Houston Observer and other Negro journals, headed ''The Black Man Stood Pat and Fought the Good Fight/' In the course of the article it was stated: "The war did more for the American Negro than had been accomplished in several decades of peace. He demonstrated that he could fight — that his willing- ness and capacity for work were unlimited; that he could easily adapt himself to strange surroundings and that he understood the purpose of Liberty Bonds, which he almost invariably bought until it actually and positively 'hurt.' One of the most glorious things that happened to the Negro, however, was the revelation of his absolute, unshakable loyalty to the Stars and Stripes. Evidence adduced before a Senate Committee shows that German propa- gandists failed miserably in their efforts among the blacks. That they operated principally among the plantation Negroes of the South and there made no headway whatever, is significant. It is a splendid tribute to the Americanism of the Negro. It might be supposed that among men and women who are not regular readers of the newspapers, who tnist to the 'grapevine,' which makes a wireless station of every cabin, for most of their informa- tion, the fairy tales of the paid Gennan agents would find fertile ground. But the Negro stood pat. 'You have no country,' was an insidious remark that was dinned into his ears night and day. 'You'll never get your Liberty Bond money back,' was another. 418 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY * You '11 get forty acres of land if the Germans win,' they were told. And they were assured that victory for the 'humane' Ger- mans meant an end of all hangings and instant leveling of all social lines in the United States. Many tvhite 'intellectuals' in the North succumbed to sophistries and lies, hut those hla-ch mil- lions did not. Their hearts proved pure gold and they stood hy Uncle Sam. The Secret Service needed no special trains for Negro excursions to internment camps. It is that same inborn spirit of loyalty to the Goven^nment that has prevented the I. W. W. front gaining converts among the blacks of the South, no matter how poor they are or how unjust their position eco'nomically." Tributes by Wilson, Baker and Daniels President Woodrow "Wilson, in a special memorandum which accompanied his commutation of the sentences of a group of Negro soldiers who were charged with being implicated in the Houston (Texas) riot, paid tribute to the loyalty and fidelity of colored Americans. Similar tributes were frequently paid by Hon. Newton D. Baker, Secretaiy of War. In a special message of encouragement and confidence which he addressed to the Chicago Branch of the National Security League, which held a patriotic mass meeting at the Coliseum in Chicago, Februaiy 12, 1918, the Secretary of War wrote: ''As stated to you in the telegraphic reply which Mr. Emmett J. Scott, my Special Assistant, forvvarded to you at my instance and request, I sincerely wish it were possible for me to be present on the occasion referred to, for I would then have a splendid opportunity to tell of the fine spirit with which the great test of the quality of Amenca is being met by the colored people of our country. * * * j wish, however, in view of my enforced absence, to send, especially to the colored Americans of your community and elsewhere, just a few words of encourage- ment and confidence. * * * In a most encouraging degree, it is being regarded by colored citizens throughout the country as a privilege and as a duty to give liberally of their substance, of their time, of their talents, of their energy, of their influence, and in every way possible, to contribute toward the comfort and success of our fighting units and those of our allies across the seas. The colored men, who were subject to draft, are to be commended NEGRO LOYALTY AND MORALE 419 upon their promptness and eagerness in registering their names for service in the National Army, and like\\dse mention is made of the relatively low percentage of exemption claims filed by them. Those in the service of their country, I am sure, will prove faithful and efiScient, and will uphold the traditions of their race." In addition to the splendid tributes paid to Negro loyalty, time after time, by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and William H. Taft, both former Presidents of the United States, Hon. Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, at a banquet given in his honor by the citizens of Albany, N. Y., on Flag Day,. June 14, 1918, warmly commended the colored people for their never-failing devotion to the American flag. In introducing Secretary Daniels at the afternoon gathering, following a monster parade, former Governor Martin H. Glynn referred to the fact that Henry Johnson, an Albany colored soldier who was cited by General Pershing for extreme valor on the battlefield, was bom in North Carolina, near Secretary Daniel's home. The Secretary, in mentioning Private Johnson in his speech, paid a high tribute to the colored people of the South ; he said that while * * there has been occasion to question the patriotism of some of the people in this country, the loyalty of the colored citizens had never been in doubt/^ Upon the floor of the House of Representatives of the United States, a Southern CongTCSsman — Hon. R. W. Austin, of Tennes- see, paid glowing tribute to Negro soldiers and warmly commended the loyal part that the Negro citizenship of the countiy was play- ing in helping to win the war. He read into the Congressional Record the wonderful tribute which General Pershing, Command- ing Ofiicer of the American Expeditionary Forces, paid to the colored soldiers, and stated that not only in the military ranks were Negro patriots to be found, but likewise they were serving in munition plants, in mines, in factories, foundries, and upon the farm, doing their utmost to support their Government in the time of stress and storm. He bore cheerful testimony to the loyalty of this racial group and stated that in his section of the country, the South, the Negro people had not only furnished their full quota for the Army but had liberally subscribed to Liberty Loans, the Red Cross, and the Army Y. M. C. A. funds. He closed his ad- dress by saying: ''It gives me pleasure to place upon the endur- 420 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY ing records of the Government this brief but true and deserved tribute to the loyalty, fidelity, and patriotism of the colored citizens of America." Negro Loyalty Never Doubted Even though white men who held positions high in the public life of the country were, in some cases, under suspicion as to their loyalty and several members of the United States Congress were charged with entertaining anti-American ideas — one of the latter being convicted in a court of law on the charge of disloyalty, he it said to the everlasting credit of the Americmi Negro, it was never necessary to question his loyalty. This racial group placed itself squarely on the side of a wider democracy for all peoples, as expressed by the President in his public utterances, and gave cordial sanction to that sentiment contained in the Presi- dent's address delivered July 4, 1918, at Washing-ton's Tomb, when he said: ''What we seek is the reign of law based upon the consent of the governed and sustained by the organized opinion of mankind.'* Notable among the patriotic meetings and parades conducted in all sections of the country to sustain the morale of the colored people were those which occurred (1) at Wilmington, Delaware, under the direction of Mrs. Alice Dunbar-Nelson, whose splendid efforts in mobilizing the colored women of the country for war work is referred to elsewhere in this volume; and (2) at St. Louis, Missouri, where a "Negro Loyalty Day" was observed, June 13, 1918, featured by a "Loyalty Day Parade and Patriotic Benefit" under the auspices of the Colored Women's Unit of the Council of National Defense, with Mrs. Victoria Clay Haley, as Chairman. Colored men and women from every walk of life, including thou- sands of school children enthusiastically took a part in these patriotic demonstrations; some of the special sections of the St. Louis parade included representatives of the Colored Waiters' Alliance, Wayman A. M. E. Church, Summer High School, Banne- ker School, Simmons School, Cottage School, Dessalines School, Lincoln School, Delany School, colored employees of the Post Office, St. Louis Medical Forum, Boosters' Club, Young Ladies' Beading Club, colored Patrons from Kinlock and Ferguson, Missouri, First NEGRO LOYALTY AND MORALE 421 Baptist Church, Church of God, A. M. E. Churcli, Olive Street Terrace Realty Company, Negro business and professional men of St. Louis, and others. The two parades mentioned above, and many others, reached the high-water mark of Negro patriotism. In New Orleans, La., a monster parade was held by colored citizens, each marcher carrying an American flag. Some of the strikingly worded banners were: *' Stand by Our President'*; ♦'What It Takes To Lick the Kaiser, We've Got It"; "Victory Calls Us"; ''The Colored Man Is No Slacker." A squad of steve- dores who had served under General Pershing in France and sailors from the Algiers Naval Training Station headed the parade ; they were some of the troops who built the great docks in France. In point of numbers, enthusiasm and fidelity to the cause the parade held in Atlanta, Georgia, was also a tremendously signifi- cant demonstration. Negro laborers, factory hands, porters, and workers in stores and office buildings, chauffeurs, gardeners, and other colored employees were granted by their employers a special half-holiday in order that they might participate in the Loyalty Parade; and along Tv^th them marched hundreds of other men, women, and children, representing practically every phase of Negro life. Along the route of the parade the marchers were liberally applauded by their white fellow-citizens, who were much impressed with the spirit of the occasion and who gladly contributed to its success. Other Instances of Loyalty The enthusiastic farewells that were given to departing Negro draftees and soldiers by their mothers, wives, and other relatives and friends furnished by no means the least valuable evidence of the self-sacrificing loyalty of this entire racial group. In numerous cities could be witnessed scenes where Negro enlisted men marched through the streets, on their way to camp, accompanied by cheer- ing throngs of colored women, men, and children carrying flags and filling the air with shoutings of patriotism. Nor was their loyalty merely vocal, for it found additional concrete expression in the purchase of Liberty Bonds, War Savings Stamps, and the like. Miss Kate M. Herring, Director of Publicity for the North Caro- lina War Savings Committee, has published in Northern and South- 422 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY ern magazines some interesting facts in regard to the thrift cam* paigns among Negroes in her State. In the "Black Belt," where m fourteen counties the Negroes average 56 per cent of the popula- tion, she wrote, the average subscription loas 80 per cent of the allotment, 4 per cent more than in the State at large. In the county which subscribed 128 per cent of its allotment, the Negroes constitute 47 per cent of the population. They furnished 42 to 61 per cent of the thirteen of the nineteen counties ivhich subscribed 100 per cent or over. Subscriptions ranged from that of a Negro who took the limit of one thousand dollars for each member of his family to those whose subscriptions were paid for in 25-cent stamps, including a washerwoman with a, blind husband who subscribed for $50 worth for herself and him. Another extraordinary case indicating the sublime patriotism and loyalty of the Negro was that of David H. Haynes, a colored farmer of Thibodeaux, Louisiana, who subscribed for $100,000 worth of the Fourth issue of Liberty Bonds while fighting was at its height, making note of his confidence in the Government and his determination to risk his all in defense of the lofty purpose and high ideals that caused America's entrance into the arena of war. This is said to be the largest individual subscription made by any citizen in the state of Louisiana and was certainly the largest pur- chase of its kind made in the country by a colored man. That the Negro was a willing factor in the war has been so convincingly demonstrated on so many occasions that additional evidence is scarcely necessary; a striking case in point, however, may be noted in the journeying at his own expense from Birming- ham, Alabama, to Washington, D. C, of Archie Neely, a stalwart young colored American, to enlist in the Army. It was stated that he had been refused by the Local Boards at his home, denied the privilege of voluntary enlistment, but was so detemiined to battle for Uncle Sam that he scraped together the necessary funds and came to Washing-ton to see the officials of the War Department in person and tender his services ; his personality was so inviting and his plea so effective that he left the War Department with a paper authorizing him to proceed at once to Camp Meade. Another striking individual case is that of John Ward, colored, of Goldsboro, North Carolina, who, according to th^ sheriff of the NEGRO LOYALTY AND MORALE 423 county, had thirteen (13) of his eighteen (18) sons in the United States AiTny, while his daughters were busy with war work- Aside from the immensely valuable part performed by the Negro press during the war, representative colored men and women in every section of the country appeared upon the public platform and delivered patriotic addresses before countless audiences composed of members of their racial group with a view of stimulating their patriotism, and to prevent any possibility of their yielding to sinis- ter influences which tended to weaken their morale. All of them seemed to realize the fact that no matter how well equipped a nation may be in a material Avay, it cannot win any worth-while victory imless it is able to maintain among all groups of citizens that indefin- able, spiritual something wliich is called *^ MORALE.'* In its gen- eral application it is a *' moral condition" or a ''mental state" which renders a man capable of endurance and of exhibiting c-ourage in the presence of danger, but in time of war it becomes a spiritual force which keeps men constant in their devotion to their country's flag. Whether the Stars and Stripes was carried into battle by Negro soldiers or held in the hands of patriotic Negro citizens — during the recent war as in all other wars, **the old flag never touched the ground." A Negro's Idea of Loyalty Henry Watterson, editor of the Louis\dlle Courier- Journal, a Democratic newspaper, published an editorial expression regard- ing the address of a colored man w^hich was quite generally repub- lished throughout the countiy. The address was also published in the Congressional Record. Mr. Watterson wrote: "With all his genius and culture, Roscoe Conkling Simmons is a Negro. His college degrees and personal refinement cannot change his blood or color or make him one bit less a member of a race regarded as socially, econom- ically and mentally inferior to the white. That Louisville is proud of him as a citizen; that the Negro people of the countrj^ look to him for leadership much as they did to his illustrious uncle, Booker T. Washington; that men of prominence in the nation axicord him fellowship and a place in high councils, does not change his status. For these very reasons, his words, spoken the other day before a gather- ing of his own race, should spread a blush of shame on the Caucasian skins of some who are conspicuous in the eyes of the nation just now. When men 424 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY of superior learning and vaunted super-race connections, intrusted with tho solemn duty of serving and protecting their country's destiny, join with foreign tyrant cut-throats to heap contumely upon the nation's head and tie the hands stretched out to protect the lives and rights of Americans; when sniveling white pacifists join with all the traitor-slacker crew to invite national disgrace and ruin, well may this member of an " inferior race ' ' boast : ''We have a record to defend, but no treason, thank God, to atone or explain. "While in chams we fought to free white men — from Lexington to Carrizal — and returned again to our chains. No Negro has ever insulted the flag. No Negro ever struck down a President of these United States. No Negro ever sold a military map or secret to a foreign government. No Negro ever ran under fire or lost an opportunity to serve, to fight, to bleed and to die in the republic 's cause. Accuse us of what you will — ^justly and wrongly — no man can point to a single instance of our disloyalty. "We have but one country and one flag, the flag that set us free. Its language is our only tongue, and no hyphen bridges or qualifies our loyalty. Today the nation faces danger from a foreign foe, treason stalks and skulks up and down our land. In dark councils intrigue is being hatched. I am a Republican, but a Wilson Republican. Woodrow Wilson is my leader. What he commands me to do I shall do. Where he commands me to go I shall go. If he caUs me to the colors, I shall not ask whether my colonel is black or white. I shall be there to pick out no color except the white of the enemy's eye. Grievances I have against this people, against this Government. Injus- tice to me there is, bad laws there are upon the statute books, but in this hour of peril I forget — and you must forget — all thoughts of self or race or creed or politics or color. That, hoys, is loyalty/' That this address was a notable piece of diction and oratory means little, save as a tribute to the talent and erudition of its author and an augury of what may come from others of his race when given his opportunities. As a rebuke to the traitors and Americans not worthy of the name it deserves the widest reading, while such white men as La Follette, Stone, 'Gorman, Var- daman, Works, Bryan and all their ilk, instead, perhaps, of being tarred and feathered black, should be forced to read these words of a black man. Negro Love for the United States In one of his interesting letters from France, Ealph W. Tyler, the accredited representative of the Committee on Public Informa- tion, wrote as follows : **For some time, prior to sailing for France, I was cognizant of a very general belief that many of the colored soldiers here in France, because of the unrestricted freedom and absolute equality NEGRO LOYALTY AND MORALE 425 doled out cheerfully to all people of the Allies, without respect to color, would locate here after the war. I have interviewed hundreds of the boys, and I have not found one who expressed a desire to remain here. This reluctance !a remain in France longer than the close of the war is no reflectior upon La Belle France, but rather a high testimony to the loyalty of the colored man to his own and native land. I have talked with colored men who came from Dr. Vernon's ''Everglades of Florida"; with many who came from the State of Texas, made famous so far as colored men are concerned, by Emmett J. Scott, the achieving Special Assistant to the Secretaiy of War; with those from Alabama, knowTi principally because of the fact that the late Dr. Booker T. Washington laid the foundation for his fame there. I have talked with many from Mississippi, Georgia, and other Southern States, and, without exception, all, w^hile willing to remain here until German militarism is crushed, want to get back 'home' to the States as soon as peace is declared. The burden of their song is : ' My countiy ! Eight or wrong, my CQun- try!' 'With all thy faults, I love thee still.' "To me this eagerness, on the part of colored soldiers, in the face of the absolutely unrestricted freedom offered them by France, and while willing cheerfully to remain here, and die here if neces- sary, to secure world democracy, is the finest possible testimony to the loyalty to their countiy — the United States — of the 175,000 col- ored soldiers who are noiv in the service of their country on French soil. To a man they mil retura to the States as gladly as they em- barked for France. ' ' Those of the race back in the States who complain because of a restricted sugar and flour allowance, etc., but who, nevertheless, enjoy Sundays and holidays for themselves as days bereft of work, perhaps would not complain were they over here at the front where there is neither rest nor Sundays for the boys who must fight and work seven days in the week, rain or shine, hot or cold. But these boys over here accept most cheerfully the inclusion of Sundays and holidays as duty days, and rain and cold as no excuse for relief from work and fight — a necessity, now, to achieve world democracy. The colored men of this Division, commissioned officers and men in the ranks, I find, are anxious to contribute their mite and their MIGHT to maintain the best traditions of the American Army.'* CHAPTER XXX DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER ( ^ A SQUARE DEAL? Reports of Widespread Discrimination and Harsh Treatment in Camp — Many Manifestations of Prejudice by White Officers — The Question of White or Negro Officers for Negro Regi- ments — Higher Officers of the Army Usually Fair — Disinclina- tion to Utilize Colored Nurses and Colored Medical Men — Sec- retary Baker's Efforts to Prevent Race Discrimination — Reports of Negro Observers on Conditio'ns Overseas. In discussing the question, ''Did the Negro soldier get a square deal ? " it is pertinent, first, to show the occasion for the inquiry, and, incidentally, such worthy purpose as will be sei^ved by the treatment of that question in this volume. It is a question that has been re- peatedly suggested by articles and editorials, reports of war corre- spondents, and the like, which have appeared in the Negro press and other publications of the country, based upon information received from various sources, including letters of criticism written by Negro soldiers and officers, chaplains, Y. M. C. A. secretaries, special in- vestigators, and others, concerning conditions among Negro soldiers in camps at home as well as overseas, and, in some cases, based upon official orders that have been issued with reference to Negro soldiers in the Army of the United States. It is a question necessarily aif ecting the morale of colored Amer- icans which must be frankly met and impartially considered. To dodge it would be unworthy of an honest historian whose duty it is to chronicle facts, and might deny to the Negro race and also the Government the opportunity of learning some valuable lessons from the war, of mutual profit not only in the present but possibly in the future. Therefore its discussion in this volume has a three-fold purpose: (1) To enable colored Americans to know the truth about conditions which existed among soldiers of their race during the war; (2) to correct certain false impressions which have been made upon the minds and hearts of colored Americans based, in some iu- 426 DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 427 stances at least, upon certain exaggerated, erroneous, and incomplete statements they may have read or heard with reference to such con- ditions and which impressions, unless corrected, are capable of working serious harm; (3) to disclose what opportunities were ac- corded, and what measure of justice was meted out to Negro soldiers, officers, and war workers by the War Department and by others in authority. A grave mistake can he made hy any one who looks only on one side of a question! While it has been the consistent policy of the Special Assistant never to condone nor minimize wrong or injustice in any form or wherever found, yet it is no less important that we should never be so completely absorbed and ovei-w^helmed with our grievances that we cannot find time and have vision to * * look on the other side of the shield," — thereby gaining encouragement and strength to fight for improved conditions. Therefore, it is hoped that the frank discussion contained in this chapter will make for a better understanding between the Negro and the Government he has served so well. May it also tend toward the adoption of a better attitude and policy on the part of the Government toward the Negro soldier and citizen and, at the same time, enable colored Americans generally to properly appreciate the difficulties which were con- fronted, as well as the measure of justice which was attempted and meted out by the Government during the recent war, which involved the handling of millions of men. Instances of Unfair Treatment In view of the fact that the majority of Negro soldiers were commanded largely by white men and the records which they will finally make will most likely defend their owti side of the case, it will be difficult to bring a majority of the white people of the country around to the position of thinking that the treatment of Negro sol- diers in the Army was other than honorable. With all those who are fair-minded, however, due weight will be given to the complainants in the case, namely the thousands of Negro soldiers who complained and protested. It must also be remembered in this connection that Ai-my rules and regulations rigidly require all complaints to be made by a soldier through regular military channels,— that is through his immediate commanding officer, and, in the very nature of the case, 428 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY it becomes at times extremely difficult for a soldier, even tlioiigTi unjustly treated, to publish his grievances or to obtain proper and prompt redress. In the beginning of the draft, when men were being first called to the colors, there was much apprehension among Negroes as to whether they would be treated as other soldiers in the camps. The manifest discrimination practiced by various Local Draft Boards against Negro men in many sections under the Selective Service Law, together with the almost certain knowledge that they would, in many instances, be placed under the command of white officers, some of whom at least, it was feared, would not entertain a friendly and sympathetic attitude toward them, increased their apprehension. The fact that three Local Draft Boards were peremptorily ordered removed by the Secretary of War because of their flagrant injustice to Negro draftees is in itself a *' straw" which shows that the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. Instances upon instances can be cited to show that the Negro did not get a ' ' square deal ' ' in the draft ; in many sections he contributed many more than his quota ; and in defiance of both the spirit and letter of the draft law, Negro married men with large families to support were impressed into military service regardless of their protests and appeals, and their wives, children, and dependents suffered uncalled-for hardships. Local Draft Boards, in almost every instance composed exclusively of white men, were in a position, if so inclined, to show favoritism to men of their own race; the official figures of the draft reveal the fact that in many sections of the country exemptions were granted white men who were single with practically no dependents, while Negroes were conscripted into service regardless of their urgent need in Agriculture or the essential industries, and mthout considering their family relations or obligations. Would it not have been eminently just and fair, and more in line with the spirit of the American Constitution, to luive granted the Negro Ms rightful quota of representation on Local Draft Boards and District Boards of Appeal ivhich passed upon matters of such vital consequence to him? This is a question which should be an- swered in the affirmative. The Negro was willing to do his full share of the fighting, but the official record shows that he was called upon to do more than his DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 429 share under the Draft Law, for, although constituting 10.7 per cent of the total population of the United States, he contributed 13.08 per cent of the total colored and white inductions from June 5, 1917, to November 11, 1918. He had practically no representation upon the Draft Boards which passed upon his appeals — an arrangement which was wholly at variance with the theoiy of American institu- tions. To catalogue or specify all of the complaints that have come to the War Department, that have been published in the Negro press, and that have been contained in letters written to the relatives of Negro soldiers with reference to unfair treatment accorded them would be an almost endless task, and w^ould consume far more space than can possibly be allotted in this volume, but a few typical ones are given herein. They include charges of harsh and even brutal treatment by some of their commanding officers and especially by white *' non-coms" who were placed over them. Colored Americans have deeply resented the "table of organi- zation" which denied colored soldiers the privilege of serving as non-commissioned officers over men of their own race. It was fur- ther alleged in numerous cases that white officers and white "non- coms" required of them unusually hard tasks under the most trying circumstances and frequently cursed them, beat them, domineered over them as if they w^ere "slaves" instead of fellows in a common cause, and applied to them all manner of epithets and opprobrious terms such as "nigger," "darkey," "coon," and other more objec- tionable terms. A lack of medical care and proper nursing, inferior food, clothing, and sleeping accommodations were also alleged. In one camp in ^^irginia it was actually found that no adequate facilities whatsoever had been provided for Negro soldiers who were sick; they were huddled together, fourteen, sixteen and eighteen in one tent, without any wooden floors in the tents, although it was in the midst of the cold winter of 1917, and with practically no hospital accommodations. The official record of conditions then obtaining at Camp Hill, Virginia, conclusively proves that the Negro soldier did not get a square deal at that particular camp, at that particular time, for white soldiers had ample hospital accommodations, suitable barracks or floors in their tents, and were not huddled together as were the Negro soldiers, whose abnormally high death rate, due to 430 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY pneumonia, was directly traceable to the unfair conditions they were forced to endure. Similar disparities between accommodations provided for white and colored soldiers occurred at other camps and occasioned con- siderable complaint. Perhaps, hoivever, nothing contributed so much to friction in the Army as did the assignment of, and the ivrongful attitude manifested hy white " non-coms'' who served in connection with Negro troops. Comments by the White Press Not only did the Negro press notice, and protest against various indignities visited upon Negro soldiers, but many of the white news- papers made comments thereupon. An editorial in the Netv York World read in part as follows : * ' It is our claim that we are fighting this war to make the world safe for DEMOCRACY. Democracy implies equality of privilege and equal obligation of service. // we fight for this for the world in general we ought to he prepared to practice it among ourselves. At present we mingle democracy with discriminations. All the elements of our citizenship do not stand on the same level. But there is no way of evading the fact that under a modem military regime — one of uni- versal service — all elem.ents of our citizenship 7nust stand on the same level. No distinction can be drawn in applying the military code between tvhite soldiers and black soldiers, betiveen white officers and black officers. They are all fighting for the same cause and deserve the same credit for doing so. Yet, only the other day a Negro officer revisiting his home in Vicksburg, Mississippi, was counseled by friends to put on civilian clothes, for fear that he might be mobbed if he appeared on the streets in the uniform of a United States Army officer. * * * The Govermnent is telling all Americans that they have an equal stake in the war. All are invited to put their energies and resources into a common pool. But if the enterprise is conmion and the burdens are common, the glory must also be common." It has been reliably reported that Lieutenant Joseph B. Saun- ders, the Negro army officer evidently referred to in the article just quoted, was abused, knocked off the sidewalk, and set upon by certain residents or citizens of Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he had gone to DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 431 visit his parents; and compelletl to remove his uniform and escape from that city in disgnise to avoid mob violence. The effort to humiliate Negro officers and to either prevent or limit their utilization in the Army assumed what appeared to be a decidedly organized form. In the first place the West Point officers' group seemed to look with resentment upon all aiTciy officers who, after a few months' intensive training in camp were awarded the same commissions for which they had had to sudy four years at the West Point Military Academy, and they seemed especially disinclined to regard favorably colored officers so easily elevated to their rank. The colored people had cause to feel that there seemed to be a common understanding in many quarters that, wherever possible, the Negro officer should be discredited and that the Negro soldier should be praised only for what he did when led by white officers. To get rid of the Negro officers serving overseas, the plan was usually that set forth in the following document: FROM: The Commanding Officer, 372nd Infantry. TO: The Commandmg General, American Expeditionary Forces. SUBJECT: Replacement of colored officers by white officers. 1. Request that colored officers of this regiment be replaced by white officers for the following reasons : First: The racial distinctions which are recognized m civilian life nat- urally continue to be recognized in the military life and present a formidable barrier to the existence of that feeling of comradeship which is essential to mutual confidence and esprit de corps. Second: With a few exceptions there is a characteristic tendency among colored officers to neglect the welfare of their men and to perform their duties in a perfunctory manner. They are lacking in initiative. These defects entaU a constant supervision and attention to petty details by battalion commanders and other senior officers which distract their atten- tion from their wider duties ; with hannful results. 2. To facilitate the desired readjustment of official personnel it is recommended : (A) That no colored officers bo forwarded to this regiment, replace- ments or otherAvise. (B) That officers removed upon recommendation of efficiency boards be promptly replaced by white officers of like grade. But, if white officers are not available as replacements, white officers of lower grades bo for- warded instead. 432 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY (C) That the opportunity be afforded to transfer the remaining col- ored combat officer personnel to labor organizations or to replacement units for other colored combat organizations according to their suitability. 3. Reference letter No. 616-3s written by Commanding General 157th D. I. on the subject August 21, 1918, and forwarded to your office through military channels. (Signed) Herschel Tupes, Colonel, 372nd Infantry. Received A. G, 0. 26th Aug., 1918. G. H. Q., A. E. F. 1st Ind. (Endorsement.) G. H. Q., A. E. F., France, August 28, 1918. To Commanding Officer, 372nd Infantry, A. E. F. 1. Returned. 2. Paragraph two is approved. 3. You will submit by special courier requisition for white officers to replace officers relieved upon the recommendation of efficiency board. 4. You will submit list of names of officers that you recommend to be transferred to labor organization or to replacement units for other colored combat organizations; stating in each case the qualifications of the officers recommended. By Command of General Pershing : (Signed) W. P. Bennett, Adjutant General. 2nd hid. {Endorsertient.) Hq. 372nd Infantry, S. P., 179, France, September 4, 1918. To Commanding General, A. E. F., France. 1. Requisition in compliance with par. 3, 1st Ind., is enclosed herewith. Special attention is invited to the filling of two original vacancies by appointment. • , In the carrying out of these apparently well-matured plans, various Negro officers were cited to appear before Efficiency Boards, and in practically every case the decision seemed to go against them. Those pronounced ''inefficient" were easily disposed of and when the question arose as to how their positions might be filled there was not in France every time a sufficiency of Negro officers in reserve for this purpose. The military staff then availed themselves of the opportunity to make the claim that inasmuch as additional Negro officers were not available, and white officers would not serve in the same regiment with Negro officers, it was DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL/ 433 necessary to turn over the command entirely to white officers. Only in rarely exceptional cases were any of the colored ofifioers promoted while overseas. In keeping with the prevailing custom at that time of dis- crediting Negro officers, desperate efforts were made, it seemed, to show the unusual efficiency of Negro soldiers when led by white officers, and their inefficiency when led by officers of their own race. Negro officers were often charged with "cowardice" in spite of demonstrated valor of Negro troops in all the wars of the Eepublic. Such a complaint was brought against four Negro officers of the 368th Infantiy, who uniformly stated that they re- treated only when they found themselves surrounded by barbed- wire entanglements with the enemy using machine guns with deadly effect, and when they themselves had no wire cutters and other implements necessary to extricate them from such a dangerous position. They were without maps, without hand grenades, and lacked sufficient ammunition. Their Major, a white officer supposed to be leading them, was nowhere to be found during the engage- ment. Two of the colored Captains, according to Ralph W. Tyler, special war correspondent — after they had gone over the top and had run into a nest of machine guns — turned back and asked for support and got the Third battalion. But they could not get in touch with their Major, who had gone to the rear *' somewhere" immediately after the engagement got hot, thus preventing com- pany commanders from connecting with him to secure orders. The Major, however, because of the failure of the engagement, under such circumstances, charged the colored officers with cowardice and inefficiency. Seemingly as a reward for his shifting the blame so successfully, he was a few days thereafter raised to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and given command of a colored regiment. Too many Negro officers and soldiers won the Croix de Guerre, Distinguished Service Medals or Crosses, etc., to lend any color to the charge that Negro officers were inefficient or cowards. The Case of the 92nd Division In connection with tho organization of the 92nd Division, made up entirely of colored units, a certain measure of injustice 434 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY was involved in tliat the official order creating that Division rec- ognized the color line as such, and specifically provided that colored men, however capable, were not to be permitted to hold certain positions as officers of said Di\'ision. It practically announced to them, so far as their military opportunity was conceraed : "Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." The order was as follows: WAR DEPARTMENT TELEGRAM. Washington, October 26, 1917. Commanding Oeneral, Camp Fimston, Kansas : The Ninety-Second Division (colored), with headquarters at Camp Funston, Kansas, will be organized at that place, and Brigadier-General C. C. Ballon has been directed to proceed with his authorized aides to that place and organize following troops from white officers, who wiU be directed to report to him and from colored officers and men who Avill be designated by you to report to him; Division Headquarters, including Headquarters Troops, Three Hundred Forty-Ninth Machine Gun Battalion, four com- panies. Division Trains to include: Three Hundred Seventeenth Head- quarters and Military Police, Ammunition Train, Supply Motor Trahi, Engineer Train and Sanitary Train. Following officers of Division wiU he white: All officers of general and Field rank, such medical officers and veterinarians as the Surgeon-General may designate, all officers attached to Division Headquarters, except the Lieutenants of the Headquarters Troop, all Regimental Adjutants, Supply Officers, commanding officers of Headquarters Companies and of Engineer Train, Adjutants of Train Head- quarters, and Ammunition Trains and Supply Officers of Sanitary Train, all captains of the Field Artillery Brigade and Engineer Regiment and aides to Brigade Commanders. You will transfer to the Ninety-Second Division the necessary colored officers and men to organize the units indicated above. (Signed) McCvin, (Adjutant-General.) First Lieutenant T. T. Thompson, of Houston, Texas, went up against this rule in his efforts to be appointed a Captain in the Adjutant General's Department, and to be assigned as Division Personnel Officer of the 92Dd Division; although admittedly com- petent and strongly recommended by Major General C. C. Ballon, Commander of that Division — simply because he was a colored man whose promotion was specifically prohibited by the "War Department telegram which prescriljed that a "white" man should occfupy the DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 435 position to which he rightfully aspired, and which position he had filled as Acting Personnel Officer practically from the time of the organization of the 92nd Division. The following communications explain themselves: (Exhibit "A") Headquarters Ninety-Second Division. Camp Funston, Kansas. April 30, 1918. FROM: Commanding General, 92nd Division. TO: The Adjutant General of the Army, Washington, D. C. SUBJECT: Appointment of Division Personnel Officer. 1. It is recommended that First Lieutenant T. T. Thompson, Inf., N. A., he appointed a Captain in the Adjutant General's Department and assigned to this Division as Assistant-Adjutant to he in charge of the Personnel Section as authorized by the Tables of Organization. 2, This officer lias been in cluirge of the Personnel work of this Dim-sion practically fro^n the time of its organization and his work lius been found to be thoroughly satisfactory, and his promotion is therefore recommended so that he may continue on his present duty with adequate rank. (Signed) C. C. Ballou, Major-General. (Exhibit "B") (A competent Negro officer, officially prohibited from promotion in the Army, becomes discouraged and asks for an Honorable Discharge.) Headquarters Ninety-Second Division American Expeditionary Forces A. P. 0. 766 October 21, 1918. FROM: T. T. Thompson, 1st Lt. Inf. U. S. A. TO : Commanding General, 92nd Division, A. E. F. SUBJECT: Discharge. 1. Application is respectfully made ^:erein for discharge from tlie Mill- tary Service of the United States. Reasons for this application may be sum- marized by the following notations: (a) By S. 0. 82 Hqs. 92d Division, April 25, 1918, I was detailed as Acting Division Personnel Officer. (b) By announcement of Division Adjutant, the work of the Personnel Department was merged into and placed under the head of Statisti- cal Officer on arrival of the Division overseas and I was designated as an assistant to the Statistical Officer. 486 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY (c) Under this arrangement other officers were placed in clmrge of the work which I had begun, SYSTEMATIZED, AND BUILT UP, and I was given a subordinate place. Since tliat time other officers have been assigned and detailed to the department and each addi- tion lowers me, but has not lessened my work or responsibilities. (d) Paragraph 4, G. 0. 100, G. H. Q., A. E. F., June 20, 1918, specifies that Personnel officers will also perform the duties laid down as functions of Statistical Officers. From which it appears that where a Division brings over its Personnel Officer, he is eligible to become Statistical Officer (not an assistaiit to Statistical Officer). (e) G. O. 60. W. D., June 24, 1918, also contemplates that the Per- sonnel Officer under the change of name, becomes the Personnel Adjutant. When this order was issued, another officer was desig- nated as Personnel Adjutant and I was designated as an assistant. 2. Without questioning any of the actions above mentioned as to fair- ness or wisdom, I have felt that each change has advanced others and lowered me and it has discouraged and disheartened me to the extent that I cannot work with the same spirit as an officer who feels that he is getting a square deal. 3. No one has ever charged me with inefficiency. As assistant to the first Personnel Officer, my work was satisfactory in every respect, and when I afterward relieved him, my work continued to be satisfactory and was commended by the commanding general of the division. The only conclusion I hcuve been able to reach is that others are placed in charge of the work because I am a Negro, and under the plan of organization as promidgated in Memo, dated September 11, 1918, Headquarters 92nd Division, ineligible to be attached to division headquarters. 4. Under these circumstances, and without having had any experience in any other divisional branch of duty, I respectfully ask to be discharged. (Signed) T. T. Thompson, 1st Lt. Inf. U. S. A., Assistant Personnel Adjutant. (Exhibit ''C") (Official Evidence showing how the "color line" in the Army decreases the Negro's efficiency.) HEADQUARTERS NINETY-SECOND DIVISION (Copy) Camp Funston, Kansas. Forwarded recommending approval. DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 437 Tliis officer (Lieutenant T. T. Thompson) was originally assigned to duty as Acting Personnel Officer, in which capacity he did good work, and was recommended to he -promoted Captain with a view to being assigned toi duty as permanent Personnel Officer. This was disapproved by tJie War De- partment on tlie ground that the Personnel Officer shoidd he "white." Lieutenant Thompson was continued as an assistant, there being no other line of work to ivJiich he was so well adapted. The ruling of the War Department made his advancement impossible and otJiers passed him as stated in his letter. The result has been the discouragement and lessened efficiency of an officer of considerable promise, who has much justice on his side in alleging race discrimination. (Signed) C. C. Ballou, Commanding General. When Lieutenant Thompson brought his case to the attention of the Special Assistant he took up the matter with the War De- partment, and received the foUomng reply from the Adjutant General's office: MEMORANDUM for Mr. Emmett J. Scott, Special Assistant to the Secretary of War. In compliance with your memorandum request of March 10th, I hav» had the record in the case of Lieutenant Toliver T. Thompson carefully ex- amined and can find no evidence of the fact that he has been discriminat-ed against in any way. The instructions of the Secretaiy of War dated October 20, 1917, which referred to the organization of the 92d Division require, "That the following officers of the division he WHITE: (a) All officers of General and Field Rank. (b) Such Medical officei-s and Veterinarians as the Surgeon General may decide. (c) All officers attached to Division Headquarters except the Lieuten- ants of the Headquarters Troop. (d) All Regimental Adjutants, Supply Officers, Commanding Officers of Headquarters Companies and of Engineer Train, Adjutants of Train Headquarters and Ammunition Train, and Supply Officers of Sanitary Train. (e) All Captains of the Field Artillery Brigade and Engineer Regi- ments. (f) Aides to Brigade Commanders." 438 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY In view of the above instructions of the Secretary of War dated October 20, 1917, you will see that the recommendation made on April 30, 1918, for the appointment of Lieutenant Thompson as Division Personnel Officer was in direct violation of the above quoted orders. For this reason the recom- mendation was filed without action. (Signed) P. C. Harris, The Adjutant General. March 12, 1919. To further the project of eliminating Negro officers from the Army forever, it was reported to the Special Assistant, in a letter sent from France by Ealph W. Tyler, the accredited Negro War Correspondent of the Committee on Public Information, that Colonel Allen J. Greer of the United States Army, 92nd Division, had addressed a letter to this effect to Senator Kenneth D. Mc- Kellar, in violation of a law which would subject him to court- martial. Among other things Colonel Greer was reported as writing : * ' Now that a reorganization of the Army is in prospect, and as all officers of the temporary forces have been asked if they desire to remain in the Regular Army, I think / ought to bring a matter to your attention fhat is of vital importance not only from a military point of view, hut from tliat which all Southerners have. I refer to the question of Negro officers and Negro troops. The records of the Division will probably never be given full pub- licity, but the bare facta are facts about as follows. We came to France in June, were given seven weeks in training area instead of four weeks in train- ing area usually allotted, then went to a quiet sector of the front. From there we went to the Argonne and, in the offensive starting there on September 26 (1918) had one regiment in the line, attached to the 38th French Corps. 'i*hey failed there in all their missions, lay down and sneaked to the rear, until they were withdrawn. Thirty of the officers of this regiment alone were reported either for cowardice or failure to prevent their men from retreating — ^and this against very little opposition. The French and our white field officers did all that could possibly have been done; but the troops were im- possible. One of our Majors commanding a battalion said: "The men are rank cov/ards ; there is no other word for it. During the entire time we have been operating, there has never been a single operation conducted bj'' a colored officer, where his report did not have to be investigated by some field officer to find out what the real facts were. Accuracy and ability to describe facts is lacking in all, and most of them are just plain liars in addition." DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 439 This manifestly prejudiced statement by Colonel Allen J. Greer lias been disproved in toto by men who know of the un- questioned valor of Negro troops and the high percentage of efficiency obtaining among Negro officers, many of whom have been awarded the Croix de Guerre and Distinguished Service Medals; it constitutes one of the basest misrepresentations (bom of race prejudice, which he openly confesses) that were ever made concerning the efficiency and fearlessness of Negro men in the United States Army, and is in striking contrast to numerous views expressed by other American and by French officers. Colonel Greer entirely overlooked numerous citations to Negro men and officers of the 92nd Division that he had personally signed as Chief of Staff of the 92nd Division. The Negro press, as a unit, vigorously resented Colonel Greer's insinuation that Negro officers and Negro troops were cowards and incompetents, and, in the interest of national unity and national security, hammered away at injustice and racial dis- crimination wherever it w^as showTi. Tyjiical of the attitude of the Negro press, is the following editorial comment from the facile pen of that veteran Negro journalist, John Mitchell, editor of T}ie Richmond (Va.) Planet: ** Complaint is not made of the hardships to which our colored troops were subjected, but on account of discriminations made on account of race and color. They went over there to take a soldier's fare but they did not go over there to feel the pangs of American race prejudice in the midst of a people who made no discrimination on account of race or color.'* The following statement of the Negro officers' case comes from Colonel Charles Young, a graduate of West Point, who reached the highest rank ever held by a Negro in the United States Army. Colonel Young's Statement ''The black officer feels that there was a prejudgment against him at the outset, and that neariy every move that has been made was for the purpose of bolstering up his prejudgment and dis- crediting him in the eyes of the world and the men whom he was to lead and will lead in the future. 440 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY *< Unpatriotic and unwarranted statements do no good and lull the country to sleep, and throw it off its guard while the effects of these statements are causing just rankling in the breasts of the Negro people who have had a new vision. *'The Negro officers know the psychology of their own race and also of the white race; but it is to be feared the latter will never know the mind and motive forces of the Negro if he imagines that this group has not had a new birth in America, whose language it speaks, whose thought it thinks for its own betterment, and whose ideals, both social, political and economic, it emulates." Under such circumstances, therefore, with the Hun as an enemy in front and certain American army officials utilizing race prejudice as a destructive agency against him in the rear, the Negro officer seriously suffered during the World War, and upon the return from overseas of the regiments formerly commanded by Negroes, it was most disappointing to the colored people in the various cities of this country where parades were held, to see black men led by white officers, their colored officers in many cases having been removed. Race Discrimination Overseas In keeping with this policy, there were many instances of color discrimination in France. On one occasion, after an order had been issued to the effect that certain Negro troops should bo carried on the battleship ''Virginia/' the executive officer requested the Admiral to have these troops removed on the ground that no colored troops had ever traveled on hoard a United States battle- ship. The Negroes were accordingly removed to a tug and sub- jected to unusual hardships in being brought back to port. In certain places where it was sometimes necessary for officers of both races belonging to the American Expeditionary Forces to eat together, peculiar provisions were made so as to have Negro officers report to certain quarters, or sections of the same mess- room, inasmuch as white officers refused to sit at mess with them. There is ample evidence to show that in most cases the Negro officers had inferior accommodations. On one occasion, in pro- viding for the reception of General John Pershing, the Command- ing Officer of the American Expeditionary Forces, at one of the DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 441 forwarding camps in France, the order was given that "all troops possible (except colored) should be under arms;" colored troops, who were not at work, were to be in their quarters or in their tents, according to the command of Brigadier General Longan. This order, however, was later revoked, after a firm protest by Negi'o officers and men, and, as a result, colored troops did appear ** under arms'* in General Pershing's review. With reference to conditions existing among Negro soldiers overseas and to certain discriminations which were attempted and practiced against them. Lieutenant Charles S. Parker, of Spokane, Washington, connected with, the 366th Infantry, and who was the only Negro who served as a Regimental Adjutant, in the 92nd Division, made the following statement: **At Brest, France, a Memorandum was issued by the Com- mander of Zone Five, prescribing nvess hours for colored officers (a) one hour earlier than the usual hour for breakfast; (b) one hour later for the mid-day meal, and (c) one hour later for the supper meal — thus requiring colored soldiers to get up on^ hour earlier in the morning for their breakfast and to wait until after the ivhite officers had eaten at the other two meals. Before pub- lishing the order, I took up the matter with my Colonel, stated the injustice of the proposed arrangement, and he approved of my taking the matter up with the Company Headquarters, at which point I had the order revoked. Thus it was that the order indicating separate hours for Negro officers and white officers to eat, was never published to our command, though a number of the colored officers had positive knowledge of its existence. Like- wise, in the case of the Order directing all troops, except colored troops, to appear in General Pershing's review 'under arms' — that order, like other attempted discriminations, was only revoked after an earnest protest had been made by colored officers. Also at Brest, France, an order was issued, directing that all Negro orderlies from colored units, who were stationed at Headquarters, should use the open latrines which were unsheltered and which made it very disagreeable during rainy weather, while orderlies from white units, also stationed at Headquarters, were permitted to use the sheltered latrines. When this matter was taken up and 442 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY properly protested against, the order was revoked as being a 'mistake.' ''The revocation of these orders did much toward keeping down friction between the races in the American army overseas, and I attribute their cancellation not to any particular ability on my part as a Negro Eegimental Adjutant, but to the fact that my position put me in close contact with the white officers conmianding troops and I was familiar with and could clearly represent to them the feelings and requirements of colored officers and colored men. This only emphasises in my mind the wisdom and justice of appointing Negro Regimental Adjutants and Negro officers for all Negro troops, for they and they alone, can properly interpret the sentiments and needs of Negro soldiers and help maintain the highest possible morale among them." The humiliation of the Negro in France, however, was not restricted to army circles. Military staff officers seemed to be firm in the conviction that it was necessary to prejudice the minds of the French people against the Negroes in order that they might be held down to the same status they had in the United States. General Ervin, who succeeded General Ballou in the command of the 92nd Division — complying with the wishes of his co-workers — issued among other regulations, Order No. 40 — a proclamation that Negroes should not speak with or to French women. Carrying out this order the Military Police overseas undertook to arrest Negroes found talking to French women while the white privates and officers were not m.olested. This led to a serious misunder- standing between the French and the Americans and to a number of brawls in which the white and black soldiers participated. In addition to orders issued designed to prevent Negro soldiers over- seas from coming into social contact with French civilians, French officers were also advised not to present any semblance of mixing socially with Negro officers, especially not to eat with them, and also not to praise the NegTo in the presence of white Americans for any military action in which he participated. For instance, — in order to make such a program as that of General Ervin's more successful, biased Americans succeeded in having issued, on August 7, 1918, from General Pershing's head- quarters, through the military mission stationed with the Amer- DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 443 ican army, certain secret information concerning black American troops. This document began with the observation that "it is important for French officers in command of black American troops to have an idea as to the position occupied by the race in tJie United States." The Negroes were referred to as a ** menace of degen- eracy which had to be prevented by the gulf established between the two races," and especially so ** because of the fact that they were given to the loathsome vice of criminally assaulting women, as evidenced by the record," they said, "they had already made in France." The French were, therefore, called upon "not to treat the Negroes with familiarity and indulgence which are matters of grievoiis concern to Americans and an affront to their national policy." The Americans, it continued, are afraid that the blacks might thereby be inspired writh umdesirahle aspirations. It was carefully explained that although the black man as a citizen of the United States is regarded by the whites as inferior, with whom relations of business and service only are possible, that the black is noted for his want of intelligence, lack of discretion, and lack of civic and professional conscience. The French army then was advised to prevent the rise of any pronounced degree of intimacy between French officers and black officers, not to eat tvith them, not to shake hands or seek to talk or meet with them outside of the requirements of military service. They were asked also not to commend too highly the black American troops in the presence of white Americans. Although it is all right to recognize the good qualities and services of black Americans, it must be done in moderate terms, strictly in keeping with the truth. French officers and French civilians, as a rule, could not under- stand why the black soldiers should not be treated identically as white American soldiers; when French officers were alone Arith Negro officers, the latter were treated with the utmost friendliness and consideration, and it was only when in the presence of Amer- ican officers that they reluctantly observed the official order, inspired by race prejudice, which positively forbade them from fraternizing with Negro soldiers and officers. Thus it was that race prejudice in the Army was carried overseas — to a land ivhere disc rim innt ions on account of race or color are neither practiced nor encouraged — to a land where freedom, liberty, and equality are truly exemplified. 444 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY When reports began to come back from France, in divers and sundry ways— alleging unfair treatment of colored soldiers, the Special Assistant inmiediately assembled these complaints and brought them to the attention of the proper officials in the War Department, including the Military Intelligence Bureau. The Mili- tary Intelligence officers ferreted out a number of these complaints, although some of them were contained in anonymous communica- tions. While some of them were found to be justifiable and worthy of corrections, others were found to represent only the exaggerated statement of .some individual soldier whose own indiscretion or violation of military law and regulations had brought upon him the punishment or hardships concerning which he complained. Determined to do his utmost to find out the real facts regarding conditions among Negro soldiers in France, and realizing the serious effect that a continuance of such complaints would have upon the morale of colored soldiers and colored Americans gener- ally, the author made the following recommendation to the Com- mittee on Public Information : WAH DEPARTMENT, Washington. August 10, 1918. Mr. George Creel, Chairman, Committee on Public Information, No. 10 Jackson Place, N, W,, Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. Creel : Recently in a conference with the Military Intelligence Bureau, the mat- ter was discussed of having two or three representative colored men go to France for the purpose of making an investigation of the facts with respect to several important matters indicated herein. (1) A military man who is qucUfied to make a free and fuU investigation of tJie general treaiynent being accorded colored troops on the French and, other fronts. There has been, and still continues, considerabU propaganda and rutnor to the effect that colored soldiers are being mistreated and dis- crimmated against. Letters have come to the office of the Secretary of War and to me, the same being forwarded by United States Senators in some instances to the War Department, conveying these complaints. The in- formation which wovdd be secured first-hand by the military man suggested would be (under such direction as you might approve) conveyed to the Negro DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 445 people of the United States through the Negro newspapers, public meetings, public, speakers, committee of one hundred of the Public Speaking Division, etc. (2) The other representatives, not necessarily military men, but of sound judgment, capable of studying the facts and co-operating with the military representative, above referred to, in making a full report of existing conditions abroad with respect to colored men at the front, as well as thase behind the lines (referring to service battalions, stevedore regiments, etc.). The joint testimony of these men would satisfactorily establish the facts and enable us to do a good piece of work in dispasing of these damaging rumors which are being continually circulated. * * * Tliere is more depressed moral-e among tlie colored people ilian is gen- erally supposed, due to stories of unfair treatment of colored men in various camps in America as well as abroad. Under the circumstances, I am quite seriously of the opinion that such a commission as herein suggested would accomplish very great good. An interview with you, at your convenience, would be very much appre- ciated. Will you kindly let me hear from you directly or tlirough Mr. Byoir. Sincerely yours, (Signed) Emmett J. Scott, WHD Ofaee of the Secretary of War. Conditions in the Labor Battalions In the Labor Battalions sent abroad were impressed many Negroes who went to the front vnth the hope of bearing amis, but, in conformity with the idea prevailing in some sections of making the Negro a laborer only — thousands of Negro soldiers who had been drilled for service at the front were, for various excuses, reduced and placed in these Labor Battalions. Speaking of the conditions at one camp a Negro officer reported: ''The conditions are simply awful; mud everywhere, leaky tents and barracks and lack of sufficient food and proper toilets. The men are worked hard, some at night and others in the day, rain or shine. As a consequence there are quite a number of sick men in our organization." The Fifteenth Regiment of New York, for example, w^as made to render such service for a time, but waa finally placed in a somewhat quiet sector where it was supposed they would not have to engage in hard military fighting. It turned out, however, that the Germans, in tlioir advance, attacked this point, making it necessary for the Old Fifteenth to defend ih% 446 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY line, and history shows that these blach men designed to play the inconspicuous role of laborers in the war, won for thetnselves the greatest honor of the war in that they ivere the first regiment summoned as a whole for citation hy the French Government be- cause of the valor they displayed upon the battlefield. Thus, in military as well as in civil life — out of trials and hardships there often flow counterbalancing benefits and unexpected opportunities for advancement. After the signing of the Armistice, it was repeatedly stated in the Negro press and in numerous letters from soldiers and others received at Washington, that Reserve Labor Battalions and similar military units composed of colored men were being kept in the Army out of proportion to the number of white troops that were discharged in various camps through the country. Using Newport News as a typical case, and as related by a Director of Colored Work in close touch with the situation, this officer stated: *'The causes of unrest as heard from the men themselves are : First : The unfair type of white officers. The commanding officer is very popular with the men, but I have heard no soldier speak a good word for the majority of officers on his staff. Second : They resent being kept in the Army for the purpose of doing all kinds of menial work every day of the week for the good of this section of the country, which they hate with a holy hate. They say that the war is over and why should they be kept at work on something that does not pertain to war; that they enlisted in the Army to defeat Germany and now that Germany is defeated, their job is done and they are anxious to get back to their families and their normal activities. They are the two fundamental causes of unrest. The low morale is something appalling; the men hang around in groups brooding and grumbling. They are beginning to look upon the uniforms as emblems of slavery. You can readily see where this condition of mind is leading to. It strikes me that seeds of anarchy are being planted. * * * There is but one remedy and that is to demobilize them. To keep these men here in their present state of mind means two things — it is preparing the way for serious dis- turbances at this particular point; and second, it is implanting a bitterness in the souls of these men that will stay with them as long as life lasts. They will leave here with their patriotism DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 447 destroyed, with a stronger prejudice against the white race, and contempt for the flag itself. For the sake of these men's futures, if for nothing else, they ought to be sent away. The greatest in- justice that can be done them is to continue to hold them and later send them back to their homes with an embittered spirit." Attitude Toward Colored Medical Officers Much dissatisfaction arose and was voiced in the Negro press and elsewhere concerning the seeming disinclination on the part of the Surgeon General's office to commission and utilize an adequate number of colored medical officers to minister to the physical needs of the 400,000 Negroes who seized in the Army. Still more resent- ment was felt and expressed by reason of the fact that a large number of Negro physicians, surgeons and dentists were not per- mitted to serve the Government in their professional capacities, but were drafted into service as privates, while many white physicians, surgeons, and dentists served, in many instances, in connection with Negro troops. This was considered not only a denial of their right to serve as medical officers at least in con- nection with men of their own race, but was also regarded as an unwarranted reflection upon their professional ability. Colored Medical Societies all over the country protested against the mani- fest policy of the Government not to commission an adequate num- ber of colored medical officers as well as against the idea of per- mitting white physicians to sei-ve in connection with colored units, and compelling many Negro physicians to serve as ''privates." Eepeated efforts were made by the author to bring about the in- creased utilization of colored medical officers, but the effort was persistently blocked by the Surgeon General's office, and in response to numerous Memoranda sent to that office in behalf of Ncgi*o physicians and surgeons, the Special Assistant almost invariably received the following reply: ''At the present time there are no vacancies in the Medical Corps to which colored medical officers can be assigned, and until such vacancies occur, or additional divisions of colored troops are organized, it is not the intention of the Department to recommend the appointment of additional colored medical officers." At the same time these replies were received, white medical officers were serving in connection with a number 448 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY of stevedore regiments, labor battalions and other non-combatant units composed of colored men, while competent colored physicians were serving as privates in the Army — some of them in work battalions. Was this a ''square deal" in the matter of colored medical officers? A rightful quota of them was, by no means, commissioned and utilized. Attitude Toward Colored Nurses The situation with regard to colored nurses was even more difficult of adjustment and far less satisfactorily handled. In the whole matter of trying to have colored nurses accepted in the Army for the purpose of nursing sick and wounded soldiers — especially those of their own race who uniformly preferred colored nurses — the whole situation (as will be noted in the correspondence which follows) resolved itself into a matter of ''passing the buck" from the Surgeon General's office to the American Red Cross, and from the Red Cross Society to the Surgeon General's office. There was a manifest disinclination to utilize colored nurses, and not because they were not competent. Thus racial discrimination triumphed agfain, and although a few colored nurses were assigned to half a dozen or more camps, practically none of them were sent over- seas to nurse and minister to the fighting men of their own race. "Was this a "square deal" either for the Negro soldier or for the scores of competent nurses all over the country who tendered their services to the Government? The appended correspondence re- veals the "battledore and shuttlecock" policy which was used in shifting the blame for the non-assignment of colored nurses. February 14, 1918. Referring to your memorandum of February 12th, relative to tlie appoint- ment and training of colored nurses for colored soldiers, at the present time cx)lored nurses me not being accepted for service in tlie Army Nurse Corps, as there are no separate quarters available for tJiem, and it is not deemed advisable to assign wliite and colored nurses to tlie same posts. Colored nurses who have applied for admission to the Corps are advised to apply to the American Red Cross, as should they be used later in the Army hospital of this country, tliey mil, in all probability, he selected from tJie Bed Cross li^t. (Signed) W. C. Gorgas, Surgeon General, U. S. Army. DID THE NEGRO S50LDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 449 It will be noted in the above communication that colored nurses were directed to ''apply to the American Red Cross," and in the following communication it is stated, by the Director of the Red Cross Department of Nursing, that the utilization or assign- ment of colored nurses "after all is a matter for the Surgeon General to decide rather than our office." THE AMERICAN RED CROSS National Headquarters, "Washington, D. C. January 9th, 1918. Mr. John M. Glenn, General Director, Russell Sage Foundation. New York City. My Dear Sir: The RED CROSS is entirely willing to enroll colored nurses whenever there is an opportunity for their service in military hospitals. We com- municated with the superintendents of training schools admitting colored pupils, asking them to submit the names of graduates whom they would recommend for Red Cross nurses. Several attempts have been made to organize a Base Hospital Unit com- posed of colored nurses only, and we hope to do this in connection with the Lincoln Hospital in New York and with the Freedmen's Hospital, in Wash- ington. A cantonment for colored troops was originally planned at Des Moines, and we hoped to utilize such a base hospital unit in connection with this cantonment. The colored soldiers were later distributed throughout the cantonments, and there were practical difficulties in the way of assigning the colored nurses to duty with the white nurses. The Surgeon General's office has been informed that we have such lists available, and that these nurses can be quickly enrolled, whenever there is a possibility of their assignment to duty. There has never been any question in regard to our \\nllingness to enroll jcolored nurses and the only question, is Jioic hesf to assiffn tlieni to duty, ivliich, after all is a matter for the Surgeoi} General to decide, ratlier tJwn our office. This matter was fully discussed by the National Committee on Red Cross Nursing Service in the very beginning of the war, and they unanimously agreed that whenever colored nurses could be used, they should be enrolled on exactly the same status as white nurses. It does not seem desirable, however, to enroll them without reference to their color. 450 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY I am glad of the opportunity to send you this explanation. Yours very truly, (Signed) Jane A. Delano, Director, Department of Nursing. In view of the conflicting circumstances set forth above with reference to colored nurses in the Army, the Special Assistant made an earnest effort to cure the situation, as the following Memorandum will show; February 28, 1918. MEMORANDUM FOR DEAN F. P. KEFPEL, Office of the Secretary of War, My Dear Dean Keppel : I confess my inability to altogether understand the situation with refer- ence to the utilization of colored nurses during the present war, ATTITUDE OP THE BED CROSS ORGANIZATION. Let me put it before you in this way : The Red Cross organization has been industrioiisly writing letters to the effect thai they are perfectly willing to enroll colored nurses, as will be noted in the following extract taken from a letter written by the Director of the Department of Nursing under date of January 9, 1918 : "There has never been any question in regard to our willingness to enroll colored nurses and the only question is how best to assign them to duty, which, after aUis a matter for the Surgeon General to decide rather than our o-flice. "This matter was fully discussed by the National Committee on Red Cross Nursing Service in the very beginning of the war, and they imanimously agreed that whenever colored nurses could be used, they should be enrolled on exactly the same status as white nurses. It does not seem desirable, however, to enroll them without reference to their color." This seems to pass the matter, as you will note, to the Surgeon General. ATTITUDE OP THE SURGEON GENERAL. The Surgeon OeTteraVs attitude is reflected in his letter of February 14, 1918, and is stated as follows : "Referring to your memorandum of February 12th relative to the appointment and training of colored nurses for colored soldiers, at the present time colored nurses are not hevng accepted for service in the Army Nurse Corps as there are no separate quarters available for them, and it is not deemed advisable to assign white and colored nurses to the same posts." DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 451 "Colored nurses who have applied for admission to the Corps are advised to apply to the American Red Cross for enrollment, as should they be used later in the army hospitals of this country, they will, in all probability, be selected from the Red Cross list." Prom the above, it will be seen that the whole matter of utilizing colored nurses is still very much "up in the air." The upshot of the whole matter is that, while there are thousands of colored men who have been called to the colors as soldiers, no colored nurses have been admitted to the service although quite a number have enrolled with the Red Cross organization as suggested, and they, together with many more well-trained, competent, and registered nurses are ready and willing to look after sick and wounded soldiers who are now and soon will be facing shot and shell upon battlefields abroad. I would most earnestly recommend that some satisfactory way be found ithat will offer to colored nurses in the Army Nurse Corps and in the Red Cross organization the same opportunity for serving sick and wounded soldiers as has been so wisely and timely provided for white nurses. Waiving all discussion as to the matter of assigning white and colored nurses to the same posts or quarters, it is difficult for me to understand rwhy some colored nurses have not been given an opportunity to serve. This vexing question is being put to me almost daily by colored news- paper editors, colored physicians, surgeons, etc., who are constantly bom- barding my sector of the War Department, inquiring what has been done, and urging that something should be done in the direction of utilizing pro- fessionally trained and efficient colored nurses. I recognize the "problems," but can't they be solved? (Signed) Emmett J. Scott, "WHD Special Assistant. Discriminations in the Government Service While Negro soldiers were fighting overseas in defense of their country, race prejudice was denying to many members of their families and dependents at home the chance of earning a livelihood in the Government service in Washington and else- where. Hundreds of instances can he cited where Negroes, even after qualifying as eligibles by successfully passing civil service examinations for various positions in the Government service, were absolutely "turned down" and denied appointment — in many cases after they had been definitely certified for appointment by the U. S. Civil Service Commission and had journeyed long dis- 452 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY tanoes from their home cities to Washington in response to notices by mail or telegrams announcing their appointment. This was not only a source of disappointment and chagrin, as well as finan- cial loss, to the individual Negro applicant, but the widespread prevalence of such an unjust policy constituted a serious menace to the morale of colored Americans generally, who felt and knew that in this very vital respect, namely, the opportunity to earn a living after proving one's self fully qualified, THEIE RACE WAS NOT GETTING A ''SQUARE DEAL." It placed the Government in the attitude of '^draiving the color line" in the matter of em- ployment, which was never contemplated by the enactment of the Civil Service law. The following letter received by the author from Mr. Archibald H. Grimke, a member of the Executive Com- mittee of the Washington Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, indicates the state of feeling existing among colored Americans in this respect: THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE Washington, D. C, September 17, 1918. Dr. Emmett J. Scott, Special Assistant to the Secretary of War, War Department. My dear Mr. Scott: I find in almost all Departments of the Government discriminations against colored applicants for clerkships. I will name the following where this discrimination seems to flourish, viz : The Quartermaster 's Bureau, the Ordnance Bureau, the Adjutant General's Office, the War Risk Bureau, the U. S. Shipping Board, the Civihan Personnel Division of the War De- partment, the Food and Animal Industry Bureau, the U. S. Employment Bureau. I name these merely because I have had more to do with these in behalf of colored applicants for clerkships, but these unfortunate American citi- zens are up against it hard all along the line of Government where they come into competition with white applicants for the same jobs. I hope that you with others may find some cure for this evil. Gratefully yours, (Signed) Archibald H. Grimke, President, Local Branch. DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 453 In a number of instances the Special Assistant was successful in having the rights of Negro applicants upheld, but in the large majority of cases devious ways were found to sidestep the civil service law. True it was that Negroes in considerable number were employed in various offices and branches of the government service, but even then, in most instances, they were segregated or **Jim Crow-ed" and unnecessary indignities were visited upon them. While full credit is given to the number of Negroes who were appointed to and who rightfully held Government positions during the war, the fact still remains, AND A LESSON WHICH SHOUTED BE LEAENED FROM, AND APPLIED AFTER THE WAR, that it is un-American, inconsistent, unjust, and destructive of a healthy morale for the Government, especially, to discriminate against any group of citizens simply and solely on account of their race or color. False Impressions and Evidences of Fair Play It is wrong to assume, because the Negro soldier suffered many hardships during the war, and was the victim of various forms of racial discrimination, that he was the only one who suffered and it is manifestly unfair to make a wholesale condemnation of Army and Government of&cials, many of whom sympathized with his position and were actively working for his welfare. ^Tiite soldiers and white officers suffered many of the hardships of war the same as Negroes did, and many were the complaints and grievances that were registered by them at the War Department. ^A^iile they were exempted from many of the racial discriminations hereinabove recited, nevertheless the kind of treatment they re- ceived was largely dependent upon the character and temperament of the superior officer under whom they served. It would be wholly unfair to the Secretary of War, to his Assistants, to many members of his Staff, to certain officials of the War Department and to a number of white officers in command of Negro troops, if it were not specifically stated that, on numerous occasions, impelled by a high sense of justice, they actively indi- cated their earnest desire to give the Negro soldier .*'a square deal," and it was their consistent policy to rectify, as far as pos- sible, all complaints that were in their power to remedy. It is easy to substantiate the fact that, as a rule, the "men higher up" 454 ' SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY in Army circles were disposed to be fair and just in their attitude toward the Negro soldier. The Secretary of War is to be especially commended upon his willingness at all times to listen to the pleas of the Special Assistant on behalf of Negro soldiers and to any other matter calculated to affect the morale of colored Americans generally. Not only did he sympathetically listen, but he actively sought in many ways to remedy the conditions concerning which complaints were made. Unfortunately, however, in a number of instances the Secretary of War could not give his personal attention to every complaint and had to deal with ''human instrumentalities" in bringing things to pass, and ofttimes those ''human instrumen- talities," that were expected to, and relied upon to carry out the letter and spirit of his purposes, did not synchronize with his own high ideals of justice and fair play, and, therefore, in some in- stances the desired result was not obtained. No set of men, in my opinion, could have been fairer in their general attitude toward the Negro people than were those connected with the Office of the Secretary of War. Aside from the splendid spirit of fair play shown by Secretary Baker and the Assistant Secretaries of War, his private secretaries, Mr. Ralph A. Hayes, and Mr. Stanley King, aided in many ways in securing prompt consideration and correction of numerous complaints and griev- ances. The office of Dr. F. P. Keppel, Third Assistant Secretary of War, was especially charged with the duty of looking after many complaints and matters of vital concern to colored soldiers and colored Americans generally, and not only did he manifest a keen interest in their welfare but, in many cases, was successful in translating that interest into remedial action. In all dealings with the Provost Marshal General ^s Office, looking after the interests of Negro men who were drafted into the Army, the Special Assistant found in every case a disposition to thoroughly investigate such grievances and to carefully consider such appeals as were presented. The Provost Marshal General's Office carefully investigated and furnished to him, as Special Assistant to the Secretary of War, full and complete reports in each and every complaint or case referred to it for attention, in- volving discriminations, race prejudice^ erroneous classification of DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 465 draftees, etc., and rectified such complaints wherever it was found, upon investigation, that there was just ground for the same. Especially in the matter of applying and carrying out the Selective Service Regulations, the Provost Marshal General's office kept a watchful eye upon certain local exemption boards which seemed disinclined to treat Negro draftees on the same basis as other Americans subject to the draft law. It is an actual fact that in a number of instances where flagrant violations occurred in the application of the Draft Law to Negro men in certain sections of the country, local exemption boards were removed bodily and new boards were appoint to supplant them. In several instances these new boards so appointed were ordered by the Provost Marshal General to reclassify all colored men who had been unlawfully con- scripted into the Army or who had been wrongly classified; as a result of this action, hundreds of colored men had their complaints remedied and were properly classified. Of course, there were a number of such worthy cases that were neither presented to my office, nor to the office of the Provost Marshal General. Numbers of white Commanding Officers displayed a most friendly and sympathetic attitude toward Negro soldiers and Negro officers and gave them opportunities to demonstrate their efficiency and to earn promotions. With regard to overseas complaints, as well as complaints emanating from camps at home, it seems not to have been gen- erally known that in the recent war, where millions of men were called to serve in the American Army, it was not possible for the Secretary of War or any other one official to read all of the complaints and grievances even if they had been presented. The fact that no one person could administer all of the affairs of such an immense Army was the reason why all of the camps, both home and abroad, were ''decentralized,'^ that is to say, the Camp Com- manders at home, and General Pershing abroad were practically supreme in their o^vn military bailiwick, and exercised full charge over the handling and settling of all such complaints. In previous wars, involving only a few hundred thousand men, complaints were usually appealable to, and handled by one central authority, namely the War Department at Washington. It can, therefore, be readily understood that the settlement of complaints made by 456 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY soldiers, whether black or white, depended almost wholly upon the character of officers under whom they served. Not only were about 1,200 Negroes commissioned as Army officers, and thousands of Negro soldiers furnished educational opportunities in connection with Vocational Detachments and Students' Army Training Corps located at 18 or 20 of the leading colored institutions of the country, thus showing some regard to their mental qualifications and special adaptabilities, but a number of other signal honors were conferred upon Negro soldiers and Negro officers. For instance, it is not generally known that Camp Alexander, at Newport News, Virginia, was so natned in honor of a Negro officer who has served in the Army of the United States. Following is a copy of the Official Order conferring that honor: HEADQUARTERS, PORT OF IIMBARKATION Newport News, Virginia General Orders No. 294 Au^st 15, 1918. The Stevedore Cantonment and the Labor Encampments in the vicin- ity of North Newport News will hereafter be known collectively as CAMP ALEXANDER, Newport News, Virginia. The above designation is in honor of the late Lieutenant John H. Alex- ander, 9th V. S. Cavalry, a colored graduate of the United States military academy, who served from the time of his graduation until his death as an officer of the army. A man of ability, attainments and energy, who was a credit to himself, to his race and to the service. By command of Brigadier-General Grote Hutcheson. (Signed) Daniel Van Voorhis, Official: Colonel, General Staff, C. W. Bell, Chief of Staff. Colonel, Adjutant General, Adjutant. The Chief of Staff, General Peyton C. March, the Military Intelligence Bureau, of which General Marlborough Churchill was the directing head, and the morale section of the office of the Chief of Staff, of which General E. L. Munson was in charge,— all deserve much credit for the effective manner in which they handled the numerous complaints of Negro soldiers, Negro officers, and civilians, that were referred to them for attention by my office and DID THE NEGRO SOLDIER GET A SQUARE DEAL? 457 which reached them from various other sources. Scores of such complfiinte were ferreted out by them and, while the methods employed to cure the evils complained of were necessarily secret and confidential, they were vitally helpful in remedying a number of conditions tending to depress the morale of colored soldiers and colored Americans generally. After taking definite steps to im- prove conditions among Negro soldiers at Camp Alexander, Va., the Office of the Cliief of Staff, Military Intelligence Branch, wrote : February 7, 1919. Dear Mr. Scott: Information has come to this office that the situaticm at Camp Alex- ander has greatly improved during the past few weeks. An improvement hotli in discipline and morale has been noted. TTie instituting of military drill seems to Jiave had a good effect in the labor battalions, where the men had previmisly received no military training. The men seem to feel that they are being treated as soldiers, and they begin to exhibit soldierly qualities in their deportment and appearance. Also in a Memorandum, under date of February 18, 1919, addressed to the Special Assistant by E. L. Munson, Chief of the Morale Branch, the follo\sing observation was made: **One change which proved very helpful to the morale, was the transfer of a large number of unsatisfactory non^commiss^ioned officers who were replaced by colored non-commissio7ied officers selected in their oivn organizations.^' Major J. E. Spingarn, Captain J. E. Cutler, and others con- nected with the Military Intelligence branches of the Government made diligent effort to find out the facts in every case where com- plaint was made. They, together with many officials of the TVar Department, seemed to realize the fact tJiaf, like the white man, the black man is intensely human; tJiat he thrives when his good ivorhs and worth are recognized and appreciated, and droops and units when tliey are disparaged and condemned. ThurS it appears that ivhile the Negro was, in many instanIeutenant, O. R. C. Texarkana, Texas, to Camp Funston. George W. Jackson, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Ardmore, ^lo., to Camp Grant. Joseph T. Jackson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Charleston, W. Va., to Camp Grant. T.anden Jackson, First Lieutenant, National Array, U. S. Array, to Camp Grant. Matthew Jackson, Captain, O. R. C. U. S. Array, to Carap Grant. ■ Maxey A. Jackson. Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Marian, Ky., to Camp Sherman. Joyce G. Jacobs. Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Chicago, 111., to Camp Grant. 476 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Wesley H. Jamison, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Topeka, Kansas, to Camp Funston. CMrles Jefferson, Second Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Sherman. Benjamin R. Johnson, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, New York, N. Y., to Camp Upton. Campbell C. Johnson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Dlx. Ernest C. Johnson, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Dix. Everett W. Johnson, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Philadelphia, Pa., to Camp Dix. Hanson Johnson, Captain, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Funston. HUlery W. Johnson, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Philadelphia, Pa., to Camp Dlx. Joseph L. Johnson, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Philadelphia, Pa., to Camp Dix. Merle 0. Johnson, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Grant. Robert E. Johnson, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Thomas Johnson, Captain, National Army, United States Army, to Camp Dlx. Virglnius D. Johnson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Richmond, Va., to Camp Upton. William N, Johnson, Second Lieut., National Army, Omaha, Nebraska, to Camp Dodge. William T. Johnson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. Willie Johnson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. Charles A. Jones, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, San Antonio, Texas, to Camp Funston. Clifford W. Jones, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. Dee Jones, Captain, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. Edward D. Jones, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Hartford, Conn., to Camp Upton. James W. Jones, Captain, 0. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. James O. Jones, Second Lieut., National Army, Paulding, Ohio, to Camp Sherman. Paul W. Jones, First Lieutenant, National Army, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Percy L. Jones, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Upton. Vivian L. Jones, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C., Des Moines, Iowa, to Camp Dodge. Warren F. Jones, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Funston. William Jones, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodgfe. Charles G. Kelly, Captain, National Army, Tuskegee, Alabama, to Camp Dodge. • Elliott H. Kelly, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Camden, S. C, to Camp Upton. John B. Kemp, Captain, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Grant. John M. Kenney, Captain, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Upton. Will Kemts, First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Dix. Otiji E. Kerr, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Hampton, Virginia, to Camp Upton. O^Pkus J. Kincald, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Meade. Jesse L. KImbrough, First Lieutenant, O. R. C., Los Angeles, Cal., to Camp Funston. Moses King, First Lieutenant, O. R. C., United States Army, to Camp Grant. Lawrence E. Knight, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Sherman. Edward C. Knox, First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Funston. John W. Knox, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Dix. Azzie B. Koger, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Reidsville, N C, to Camp Grant Linwood G. Koger, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Charles E. Lane, Jr., First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. David A. Lane, Jr., First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C. to Camp Dlx. Frank L. Lane, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Houston, Texas, to Camp Funston. Benton R. Latimer, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Warrenton, Georgia, to Camp Dodge. Ernest W. Latson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Jacksonville, Fla., to Camp Dix. Paige I. Lancaster, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Hampton, Va., to Camp Upton. Oscar G. Lawless, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, New Orleans, La., to Camp Grant. Samuel Lawson, Second Lieutenant, National Army, Philadelphia, Pa., to Camp Dix. Wilfred W. Lawson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Grant. George E. Lee, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. George W. Lee, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Memphis, Tenn., to Camp Meade, Lawrence A. Lee, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Hampton, Virginia, to Camp Upton. John E. Leonard, First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Meade. Garrett M. Lewis, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, San Antonio, Texas, to Camp Funston. Henry O. Lewis, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Boston, Mass., to Camp Upton. Everett B. Liggins, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Austin, Texas, to Camp Funston. Victor C. Lightfoot, Second Lieut, O. R. C, South Pittsburg, Tenn., to Camp Grant. John Q. LIndsey, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. Redden L. Linton, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Boston, Georgia, to Camp Grant. Qlenda W. Locust, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Sealy, Tenn., to Camp Funston. Aldon L. Logan, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Lawrence, Kansas, to Camp Funston. COMMISSIONED AT FORT DES MOINES 477 J^mes B. Lomack, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, National Guard, D. C, to Camp Meadr. Howard H. Long, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. James B. Lomack, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, National Guard, D. C, to Camp Meado. Victor Long, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Dodge. Lonnle W. Lott, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Austin, Texas, to Camp Funston. Charles H. Love, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Atlanta, Georgia, to Camp Grant. Edgar A. Ixjve, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Baltimore, Md., to Camp Meade. Frank W. Love, Captain, 0. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. George B. Love, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Greensboro, N. C, to Camp Grant. John W. Love, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Baltimore, Md., to Camp Dix. Joseph Lowe, Captain, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Sherman. Walter Lowe, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, St. Louis, Mo., to Camp Dlx. Charles C. Luck, Jr., Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, San Marcus, Texas, to Camp Funslon. Walter Lyons, First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Grant. Harry J. Mack, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Cheney, Pa., to Camp Dlx. Amos B. Madison, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Omaha, Nebr., to Camp Dodge. Edgar F. Malone, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dlx. Edgar O. Malone, Captain, O. R. C, U. S., Army, to Camp Sherman. Earl W. Mann, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Champaign, 111., to Camp Dodge. Vance H. Marchbanks, Captain, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Meade. Leon F. Mar.sh, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Berkeley, Cal., to Camp Grant. Alfred E. Marshall, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Greenwood, S. C, to Camp Dix. Cyrus W. Marshall, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Baltimore, Md., to Camp Meade. Cuby Martin, First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. Joseph H. Martin, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Eric P. Mason, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Glddlngs, Texas, to Camp Funston. Denis McG. Matthews. First Lieut., National Army, Los Angeles, Cal., to Camp Grant. Joseph E. Matthews, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Cleburne, Texas, to Camp Funston. Anderson N. May, Captain, O. R. C, Atlanta, Georgia, to Camp Dodge. Walter H. Mazyck, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Peter McCall, Captain, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. Milton A. McCrlmmon, Captain, 0. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Meade. Robert A. McEwen. Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, East St. Louis, 111., to Camp Dodge. Osceola E. McKalne, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Upton. James E. McKey, First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Meade. Carey McLane, First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Grant. Archie McLee. First Lieutenant, O. R. C, New York, N. Y., to Camp Upton. Leonard W. McLeod, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Hampton, Virginia, to Camp Upton. Albert McRevnolds, First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Meade. Marshall Meadows, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Array, to Camp Dodge. Louis R. Mehlinger, Captain, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Louis R. Middleton, First Lieutenant. 0. R. C, Washington, D. C. to Camp Uptn.i. Benjamin H. Mills, First Lieutenant, O. R. C. U. S. Army, to Camp Dlx. Harry W. Mills, Captain, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Grant. Warren N. Mins, First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Dlx. J Wardlaw Mitchell, Second Lieut., O. R. C, Milledgevllle, Ga.. to Camp Dod.!:;e. Pinkney L Mitchell, Second Lieutenant. O. R. C, Austin, Texas, to Camp Funston. John H. Mltcherson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dix. Ralph E Mlzell, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Champaign, Illinois, to Camp Grant. Hubert M. Moman, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Tougalo, Miss., to Cainp Funston. John M. Moore, First Lieutenant, O. R. C. Merldan, Miss., to Camp funston Loring B. Moore, Second Lieutenant. O. R. C, Brunswick, Ga., to Camp Meade. Ellas A. Morris. First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Helena, Ark., to Camp Dodge. Thomas E. Morris, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army to Camp Upton James B. Morris, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Des Moines Iowa, to Camp Dodge. Cleveland Morrow, First Lieutenant. National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Dix. Henry Morrow, First lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Dix. Abraham Mors^, First Lieutenant. National Arm.v U. S Army, to Camp Upton^ Benjamin H. Mosbv, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, St. Loul.s, Mo., to Camp Funston. Benedict Mosley, Fi'rst Lieutenant. 0. R, C.. United States Army, to Camp Gran^. Scott A. Moyer, Second Lieutenant. National Arn.y U S. 4^7> • „%a^^"P„^**- Albert C. Murdaugh, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Columbia, S. C, to Camp nix. 478 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Alonzo Myers, Captain, O. R. C, Philadelphia, Pa., to Camp Dix. Thomas J. Narclsse, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Jeanerette, Louisiana, to Camp Grant. Earl H. Nash, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Atlanta, Ga., to Camp Dodge. Homer G. Neely, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Palestine, Texas, to Camp Funston. Gurney E. Nelson, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Greensboro, N. C, to Camp Grant. "William F. Nelson, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Atlanta, Ga., to Camp Dodge. William S. Nelson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade, James P. Nobles, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Upton. Grafton S. Norman, First Lieut., National Army, Atlanta, Georgia, to Camp Dodge, Richard M. Norrls, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Array, to Camp Funston. Ambrose B. Nutt, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Cambridge, Mass., to Camp Upton. Benjamin L. Ousley, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Tougaloo, Miss., to Camp Funston. Charles W. Owens, Captain, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. Charles G. Owings, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Norfolk, Va., to Camp Upton. William W. Oxley, First Lieut., National Army, Cambridge, Mass., to Camp Upton. Wilbur E. Pannell, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Stanton, Va., to Camp Upton. Charles S. Parker, Second Lieut., National Army, Spokane, Wash., to Camp Dodge. Walter E. Parker, Second Lieutenant, National Army, Little Rock, Ark., to Camp Dix. Clemmie C. Parks, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Ft. Scott, Kans., to Camp Funston. Adam E. Patterson, Captain, National Army, Chicago, Illinois, to Camp Dodge. Himphrey C. Patton, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Dix. Clarence H. Payne, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Chicago, 111., to Camp Grant. William D. Peeks, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Dix. Robert R. Penn., First Lieutenant, O. R. C, New York, N. Y., to Camp Upton. Marlon R. Perry, Second Lieutenant, G. R. C, Pine Bluff, Ark., to Camp Funston. Hanson A. Person, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Wynne, Ark., to Camp Sherman. Harry B. Peters, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Atlanta, Georgia, to Camp Grant. James H. Peyton, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Montgomery, Alabama, to Camp Dodge. Joseph Phillips, Captain, O. R. C, Columbus, Ohio, to Camp Sherman. David A. Pierce, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C., Clarksville, Texas, to Camp Funston. Harrison J. Pinkett, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Omaha, Nebr., to Camp Dodge. James C. Pinkston, First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Funston. Percival R. Piper, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Dix. Anderson F. Pitts, First Lieutenant, O. R. C., Chicago, 111., to Camp Grant, Fisher Pride, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dix. Herman W. Porter, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Cambridge, Mass., to Camp Upton, James C. Powell, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D, C, to Camp Meade. Wade H. Powell, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Atlanta, Georgia, to Camp Dodge. William J. Powell, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Chicago, 111., to Camp Grant. Gloucester A. Price, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Ft. Meyer, Fla., to Camp Upton. John F. Pritchard, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Grant. Henry H. Proctor, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Atlanta, Georgia, to Camp Dodge. John H. Purnell, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Trappe, Md., to Camp Dix. Washington H. Racks, Second Lieut., National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Grant. Howard D. Queen, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Funston. Richard R. Queen, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Harold L. Quivers, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. John E. Raiford, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Atlanta, Ga,, to Camp Meade. Hazel L. Raine, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Sherman. Fred D. Ramsey, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Wedgefleld, S. C, to Camp Upton. James O. Redmon, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Newton, Iowa, to Camp Dodge. Charles G. Reed, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Charleston, S. C, to Camp Sherman. Rufus Reed, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Funston. Lightfoot H. Reese, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Newman, Ga., to Camp Grant. William L. Reese, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Bennetsville, S. C, to Camp Meade. Robert S. Reid, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Newman, Ga., to Camp Grant. Samuel Reld, Captain, National Army, United States Army, to Camp Funston. Adolph Reyes, Second Lieutenant, National Army, Philadelphia, Pa., to Camp Dix. Elijah Reynolds, Captain, National Army, United States Army, to Camp Meade. John F. Rice, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Chicago, Illinois, to Camp Dodge. Douglas C. Richardson, Second Lieut, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Harry D. Richardson, First Lieut., National Army, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. COM.AIISSIONED AT FORT DES MOINES 479 I.eonard H. Richardson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Oakland Cal., to Camp Funston. Maceo A. Richmond, Second Lieutenant, . R. C, Des Moines, Iowa, to Camp Dodge. Francis E. Rivers, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, New Haven, Conn., to Camp Upton. Marlon C. Rhoten, First Lieut., National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Meade. Charles E. Roberts, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Atlantic City* N. J., to Camp DIx. Clyde Roberts, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Grant. Edward Robertson, Second Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to C-amp Meade. Charles W. Robinson, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Cleveland, Ohio, to Camp Sherman. George C. Robinson First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Atlanta, Ga., to Camp Dodge. Peter L. Robinson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. William W. Robinson, First Lieut., National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Sherman. Julian P. Rodgers, First Lieut., National Army, Montgomery, Ala., to Camp Dodge. John W. Rowe, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Danville, Ky., to' Camp Grant. Thomas Rucker, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Dlx. Edward P. Rudd, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, New York City, to Camp Upton. Mallalleu W. Rush, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Atlanta, Ga., to Camp Dodge. John Russell, Captain, National Army, United States Army, to Camp Upton. Louis H. Russell, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, New York, N. Y., to Camp Upton. Earl Ryder, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Springfield, 111., to Camp Grant. Chester Sanders, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Meade. Joseph B. Sanders, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. Walter R. Sanders, Captain, 0. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Sherman. Clifford A. Sandrldge, Captain, National Army, United States Army, to Camp Dlx. Lorin O. Sanford, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Upton. Elliott D. Saunders, Second Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Array, to Camp Dodge. Walker L. Savoy, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Elmer P. Sawyer, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Providence, R. I., to Camp Upton. George S. Schuyler, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Dix. James E. Scott, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. James E. Scott, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Hampton, Va., to Camp Upton. Joseph H. Scott, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Darlington, S. C, to Camp Dix. Walter W. Scott, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Brooksville, Miss., to Camp Funston. William F. Scott, Captain, 0. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Upton. Fletcher Sewell, Captain, National Army, United States Army, to Camp Meade. Shermont R. Sewell, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Charles A. Shaw, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Atlanta, Ga., to Camp Dodge. Warren B. Shelton, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Hot Springs, Ark., to Camp Sherman. Robert T, Shobe, First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Funston. Hal Short, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Iowa City, Iowa, to Camp Dodge. Harry W. Short, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Iowa City, Iowa, to Camp Dodge. Ogbon N. Simmons, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Waldo, Fla., to Camp Dix. Richard Simmons, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Dlx. William E. Simmons, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Burlington, Vt., to Camp Upton. Austin Simras, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Dearien, Ga., to Camp Dodge. John H. Slrams, Jr., First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Jacksonville, Fla., to Camp Dix. -Abraham L. Simpson, Captain, O. R. C, Louisville, Ky., to Camp Funston. I,awrence Simpson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Chicago, 111., to Camp Grant. William R. Smalls, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Manassas, Va., to Camp Dlx. Daniel Smith, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Dlx. Enos B. Smith, Second Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Meade. Ernest Smith, Second Lieutenant, National Army, Philadelphia, Pa., to Camp Dlx. Fairel N. Smith, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Orangeburg, S. C, to Camp Upton. Joseph W. Smith, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C. Concord, S. C. to Camp Meade. Oscar H. Smith, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Meade. Pitman E. Smith, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Columbus, Ohio, to Camp Sherman. Russell Smith, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Dix. Walter H. Smith, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Chattanooga, Tenn., to Camp Grant. Levi E. Southe, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Chicago, 111., to Camp Grant Carlos Sowards, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Upton. Edward W. Spearman, Captain, O. R. C. United States Army to Camp Upton. Walter R St Clair, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Philadelphia. Pa., to Camp Dix. Llovd A Stafford, Captain, 0. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Dix. 480 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY Moody Staten, Captain, O. R. C, United Slates Arin-y, to Camp Upton. Percy H. Steele, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Waddell C. Steele, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Grant. Grant Stewart, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Dix. Robert K. Stephens, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Sherman. Leon Stewart, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Grant. Thomas R. Stewart, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Fort Wayne, Ind., to Camp Grant. William A. Stith, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Meade. James M. Stockett, Jr., First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Providence, R. I., to Camp Upton. Wilbur F. Stonestreet, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Topeka, Kansas, to Camp Funston. Daniel T. Taylor, Second Lieut., National Army, United States Army, to Camp Grant. Hannibal B. Taylor, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Guthrie, Okla., to Camp Funston. Pearl E. Taylor, First Lieutenant, National Army, St. Louis, Mo., to Camp Dix. Benjamin F. Thomas, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Grant. Bob Thomas, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Meade. Vincent B. Thomas, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Charles M. Thompson, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Columbia, S. C, to Camp Dix. Joseph Thompson, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Grant. Pierce McN. Thompson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Albany, Ga., to Camp Dodge. Richard C. Thompson, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Harrisburg, Pa., to Camp Dix. Roliver T. Thompson, First Lieut., National Army, Houston, Texas, to Camp Funston. William H. Thompson, First Lieut., National Army, Jacksonville, Fla., to Camp Dix. William H, Thompson, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Sherman. James W. Thorton, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, West Raleigh, N. C, to Camp Grant. Leslie J. Thurman, Captain, O. R. C, United States Array, to Camp Upton. Samuel J. Tipton, Captain, National Army, United States Army, to Camp Dodge. Frederick H. Townsend, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Newport, R. I., to Camp Upton. Anderson Trapp, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Dodge. Charles A. Trlbbett, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, New Haven, Conn., to Camp Upton. Joseph B. Trigg, Captain, O. R. C, Syracuse, N. Y., to Camp Dix. Archibald R. Tuck, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Oberlln, Ohio, to Camp Sherman. Victor J. Tulane, First Lieutenant, Montgomery, Ala., to Camp Dodge. William J. Trunbow, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Upton. Allen Turner, First Lieutenant, National Army, United States Army, to Camp Dix. Edward Turner, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Omaha, Nebr., to Camp Dodge. Samuel Turner, Second Lieut., National Army, United States Army, to Camp Upton. Shadrach W. Upshaw, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Austin, Texas, to Camp Funston. Ferdinand S. Upshur, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Philadelphia, Pa., to Camp Dix. George L. Vaughn, First Lieutenant, National Army, St. Louis, Mo., to Camp Dix. Austin T. Walden, Captain, 0. R. C, Macon, Ga., to Camp Dix. John P. Walker, First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. Lewis W. Wallace, Captain, 0. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Funston. Thomas H. Walters, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, New York, N. Y., to Camp Upton. Robert L. Ward, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Detroit, Mich., to Camp Sherman. James H. N, Waring, Jr., First Lieut., 0. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. Genoa S. Washington, Captain, 0. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Upton. George G. Washington, Second Lieut., National Army, U. S. Army to Camp Funston. Bolivar E. Watkins, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, St. Louis, Mo., to Camp Funston. Alstyne M. Watson, Second Lieut., O, R. C, Tallapoosa, Ga., to Camp Grant. Baxter W. Watson, Second Lt., National Army, United States Army, to Camp Funston. I,ouis L. Watson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Dix. William H. Weare, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Funston. Walter T. Webb, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Baltimore, Md., to Camp Meade. Carter W. Wesley, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C., Houston, Tex., to Camp Funston. Harry Wheeler, First Lieut., National Army, United States Army, to Camp Meade. Chauncey D. White, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C., Mathews, Va., to Camp Upton. Emmett White, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Grant. Journee W. White, Second Lieut., National Army, Los Angeles, Cal., to Camp Dix. Lorenzo C. White, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Hampton, Va., to Camp Upton. Johnson C. Whittaker, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Lawrence, Kans., to Camp Funston. Horace G. Wilder Second Lieutenant, National Army, United States, to Camp Dix. Arthur R. Williams, Second Lieut, O. R. C, Edwards, Miss., to Camp Funston. COMMISSIONED AT FORT DES MOINES 481 Everett B. Williams, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Syracuse, N. Y., to Camp Dlx. Gus Williams, First Lieutenant, National Army, United States Army, to Camp Upton. James B. Williams, First Lieut., National Army, Baltimore, Md., to Camp Meade. John Williams, Second Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Arm v. to Camp Grant. Oscar H. Williams, Second Lieut., National Armv, New York.N. Y., to Camp Upton Richard A, Williams, Captain, O. R. C, Lawnside, N. J., to Camp Dii. Robert G. Williams, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Sherman. Seymour E. Williams, Second Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Muakogee.Okla., to Camp Funston. Major Williams, Second Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. Walter B. Williams, Captain, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Upton. WiUlara H. Williams, Captain, O. R. C, United States Armv, to Camp Grant. Elmore S. Willie, First Lieut., O. R. C, U. S. Army, to Camp Sherman. Harry E. Wilson, First Lieutenant, O. R. C, Des Moines, Iowa, to Camp Dodge. John E. Wilson, First Lieut, National Army, Leavenworth, Kans., to Camp Funston. William H. Wilson, Second Lieut., O. R. C, Greensboro, N. C, to Camp Grant. Meredith B. Wily, First IJeut., 0. R. C, El Paso, Texas, to Camp Funston. Christopher C. Wimbish, First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Atlanta, Ga. to Camp Dodge. Hugh H. Wimbish, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Atlanta, Ga., to Camp Meade. Rolland T. Wlnstead, Second Lieut., 0. R. C, Rocky Mount, N. C, to Camp Grant. George W. Wln.ston, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Dodge. Ernest M. Wood, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Mebane, N. C, to Camp Grant. Benjamin F. Wright, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, New York, N. Y., to Camp Upton- Elbert S. Wright, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Baldwin, Kansas, to Camp Funston. John Wynn, Second Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Funston. Edward York, Captain, O. R. C, United States Army, to Camp Upton. Charles Young First Lieutenant, National Army, U. S. Army, to Camp Dodge. William A. Young, Second Lieutenant, O. R. C, Sumter, S. C, to Camp Dlx. Charles G. Young First Lieutenant, 0. R. C, Washington, D. C, to Camp Meade. The above officers do not represent the full number of Colored men who were commissioned In the United States Army, however. In the series of Officers' Training Camps which were conducted after the draftees were called to service, 107 were commissioned in Infantry from various camps, and 33 In Artillery from Camp Zach- ary Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky. 482 SCOTT'S OFFICIAL HISTORY (B) Colored Chaplains in the United States Army When the Armistice was Signed, November 11, 1918 Name. Denomination. Assigned tr — Ixjuls A. Carter, O. J. W. Scott, Alexander W. Thomas, George W. Prioleau, WllUam S. Braddon, John S. Hawkins, Arrington S. Helm, Charles FL Winthrop, Uriah J. Robinson, Allen O. Newman, George S. Starlc, Edgar A. Love A- E. Rankin, Cornelius G. Parks, R O. Woolfolk, George A. Singleton, Henry M. ColUns, Lincoln C. Jenkins, Julian L. Brown, Hugh A. Rogers, Elbert S. M. Dinsmore, K M. M. Wright, Clifford L. Miller, John T. demons, Matthew M. Jefferson, John W. Oveltrea, Benjamin C. Robeson, Jaxnes T. Simpson, Thomas W. Wallace, Charles T. Isom, Mqnroe S. Caver, George A. Thomas, Richard A. Greene, William T. Amlger, Alfred G. Casper, John A. HiU, Blair T. Hunt, Noah W. WilUams, Frank C. Shirley, George A. Rosedom, Thomas E. Davis, Matthew W. Clair, Jr., Ijewis A. McGee, John W. E. Bowen, Jr., Ftank W. Brown, EUis A. Christian, Eugene H. Hamilton, Prederlck D. L. McDonald, A. Huntington Hatwoood, Max Yergan, Charles Y. Trigg, Needham M. Means, James B. Adams, Robert G. Morris, Robert W. Jefferson, George G. Parker, Isaac C Snowden, Frank R. Arnold, William Y. Bell, Berryman H. Johnson, Baptist, Methodist, Methodist, Methodist, Baptist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Methodist, Methodist, Methodist, Baptist, Baptist, Baptist, Methodist, EJpiscopal, Congregational, Congregational, Methodist, Methodist, Methodist, Methodist, Zion Methodist^ Methodist, Baptist, Methodist, Methodist, Baptist, Methodist, Methodist, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Methodist, Methodist, Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, Congregational, Methodist, Methodist, Congregational, Methodist, Methodist, Baptist, Methodist, Baptist, Methodist, Methodist, Methodist, Methodist, Baptist, 9th U. S. Cavalry. 10th U. S. Cavalry. 24th Infantry. 25th Infantry. (Former Nat'l Guard) 370th Inf., A. E. F. (Former Nafl Guard) 151st Inf., A. E. F. (Former Nat'l Guard) Camp Upton, N. Y. (Former Nat'l Guard) 372nd Inf., A. E. P. 365 Infantry, A. E. F. 366th Infantry, A. E. F. 367th Infantry, A. E. F. 367th Infantry. A. E. P. 349th Field Artillery, A E. F. 350th Field Artillery. 317th Engineers, A. E. F. 309th Labor Battalion. 310th Labor Battalion. 302nd Stevedore Regiment. 314th Labor Battalion. Engineei' Service Battalion, A. E. F. 506th Service BattaUon, Engrs., A. E. F. 370th Infantry, A. E. F. American Expeditionary Forces. American Expeditionary Forces. American Expeditionary Forces. American Expeditionary Forces. American Expeditionary Forces. 157th Depot Brigade, Camp Gordon, Ga. Camp Taylor, Kentucky. Camp Hill, Newport News, Virginia. Camp Taylor, Kentucky. Camp Hill, Virginia. Camp Stuart, Virginia. Camp Stuart, Virginia. Camp Stuart, Virginia. Camp Meade, Maryland, 11th Division. Camp Meade, Maryland. American Expeditionary Forces. Camp Lee, Virginia, Camp Travis, Texas. Camp Taylor, Kentucky. Camp Lee, Virginia. Camp Alexander, Virginia, Camp Travis, Texas. Camp Lee, Virginia. Camp Meade, Maryland. Camp Sevier, South Carolina. Camp Jackson, South Carolina. 25th Infantry, Nogales, Arizona. Camp Sherman, Ohio. Port Newark, New Jersey. Camp Lee, Virginia. THE TREATY OP PEACE Official Summary of the Covenant of the League of Nations and Terms Imposed Upon Germany as Decided by the Peace Conference The official summary of the treaty of peace, given to the public on May 7, 1919, at the time the text of the treaty was handed to the German peace delegates, was as follows: The preamble names as parties of the one part the United States, the British empire, France, Italy, and Japan, described as the five allied and associated powers, and Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, the Hedjaz, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, Serbia, Siam, Czecho-Slovakia, and Uruguay, who with the five above are described as the allied and associated powers, and on the other part Germany. It states that: Bearing in mind that on the request of the then imperial German government an armistice was granted on November 11, 1918, by the five allied and associated powers in order that a treaty of peace might be concluded with her, and whereas the allied and associated powers being equally desirous that the war in which they were successfully involved, directly or indirectly, and which originated in the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary on July 28, 1914, against Serbia, the declara- tion of war by Germany against Russia on August 1, 1914, and against France on August 3, 1914, and in the invasion of Belgium, should be replaced by a firm, just, and durable peace, the plenipotentiaries having communicated their full powers found in good and due form have agreed as follows: From the coming into force of the present treaty, the state of war will terminate. From the moment and subject to the provisions of this treaty official relatione with Germany, and with each of the German states, will be resumed by the allied and associated pQwers. The League of Nations SECTION I The covenant of the league of nations constitutes section 1 of the peace treaty, which places upon the league many specific duties in addition to its general duties. It may question Germany at any time for a violation of the neutralized zone east of the Ehine as a threat against the world's peace. It will appoint three of the five members of the Saar commission, oversee its regime, and carry out the plebiscite. It will appoint the high commissioner of Danzig, guarantee the independence of the free city, and arrange for treaties betwen Danzig and Germany and Poland. It will work out the mandatory system to be applied to the former German colonies, and act as a final court in part of the plebiscites of the Belgian-German frontier and in disputes as to the Kiel canal, and decide certain of the economic and financial problems. An international conference on labor is to be held in October under its direction, and another on the international control of ports, waterways, and railways is fore- shadowed. The members of the league will be the signatories of the covenant and other states invited to accede, who must lodge a declaration of accession without reservation within two months. A new state, dominion, or colony may be admitted provided its admission is agreed to by two-thirds of the assembly. A state may withdraw upon giving two years' notice, if it has fulfilled all its international obligations. 483 THE TREATY OF PEACE SECTION 11 A permanent secretariat will be established at the seat of the league, which will be at Geneva. Assembly — The assembly will consist of representatives of the members of the league, and will meet at stated intervals. Voting will be by states. Each member will have one vote and not more than three representatives. Council — iThe council will consist of representatives of the five great allied powers, together with representatives of four members selected by the assembly from time to time; it may co-operate with additional states and will meet at least once a year. Members not represented will be invited to send a representative when questions affecting their interests are discussed. Voting will be by states. Each state will have one vote and not more than one representative. Decisions taken by the assembly and council must be unanimous, except in regard to procedure and in certain cases specified in the covenant and in the treaty, where decisions will be by a majority. Armaments — The council will formulate plans for a reduction of armaments for consideration and adoption. These plans will be revised every ten years. Once they are adopted, no member must exceed the armaments text without the concurrence of the council. All members will exchange full information as to armaments and programs, and a permanent commission will advise the council on military and naval questions. Preventing of war — Upon any war or threat of war the council will meet to consider what common action shall be taken. Members are pledged to submit matters of dispute to arbitration or inquiry and not to resort to war until three months after the award. Members agree to carry out an arbitral award and not to go to war with any party to the dispute which complies with it; if a member fails to carry out the award the council will propose the necessary measures. The council will formulate plans for the establishment of a permanent court of international justice to determine international disputes or to give advisoiy opinions. Members who do not submit their cases to arbitration must accept the jurisdiction of the assembly. If the council, less the parties to the dispute, is unanimously agreed upon the rights of it, the members agree that they will not go to war with any party to the dispute which complies with its recommendations. In this case a recom- mendation by the assembly, concurred in by all its members represented, less the parties to the dispute will have the force of a unanimous recommendation by the council. In either case if the necessary agreement cannot be secured the members reserve the right to take such action as may be necessary for the maintenance of right and justice. Members resorting to war in disregard of the covenant will immediately be debarred from all intercourse with other members. The council will in such cases consider what military or naval action can be taken by the league collectively for the protection of the covenants and will afford facilities to members co-operating in this enterprise. Validity of Treaties — All treaties or international engagements concluded after the institution of the league will be registered with the secretariat and published. The assembly may from time to time advise members to reconsider treaties which have become inapplicable or involve danger of peace. The covenant abrogates all obligations between members inconsistent with its terms, but nothing in it shall affect the validity of international engagements, such as treaties of arbitration or regional understandings, like the Monroe doctrine, for securing the maintenance of peace. The Mandatory System — The tutelage of nations not yet able to stand by themselves Trill be intrusted to advanced nations who are best fitted to undertake it. The covenant recognizes three different stages of development, requiring different kinds of mandatories: Communities like those belonging to the Turkish empire, which can be provisionally recognized as independent, subject to advice and assistance from a mandatory in whose selection they would be alloweKi a voice. 484 THE TREATY OF PEACE Communities like those of Central Africa, to be administered by the mandatory, under conditions generally approved by the members of the league, where equal oppor- tunities for trade will be allowed to all members; certain abuses, such as trade in slaves, arms, and liquor, will be prohibited, and the construction of military and naval bases and the introduction of compulsory military training will be disallowed. Other communities, such as Southwest Africa and the south Pacific islands, but administered under the laws of the mandatory as integral portions of ita territory. In every case the mandatory will render an annual report, and the degree of its authority will be defined. Conditions of World Labor Subject to and in accordance vi-ith the provisions of international conventions existing, or hereafter to be agreed upon, the members of the league will, in general, endeavor through the international organization established by the labor convention to secure and maintain fair conditions of labor for men, women, and children in their own countries, and other countries, and undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under their control; they will intrust the league with the general supervision over the execution of agreements for the suppression of traflBc in women and children, etc.; and the control of the trade in arms and ammunition with countries in which control is necessary; they will make provision for freedom of com- munications and transit and equitable treatment for commerce of all members of the league, with special reference to the necessities of regions devastated during the war; and they will endeavor to take steps for international prevention and control of disease. International bureaus and commissions already established will be placed under the league, as well as those to be established in the future. Amendments to the covenant will take effect when ratified by the council and by a majority of the assembly. New Limits for Oermany Boundarlee of Germany — Germany cedes to France Alsace-Lorraine, 5,600 square miles, it to be southwest, and to Belgium two small districts between Luxemburg and Holland totaling 382 square mUes. She also cedes to Poland the southeastern tip of SUesia, beyond and including Oppeln, most of Posen, and West Prussia, 27,686 square miles, East Prussia being isolated from the main body by a part of Poland. She loses sovereignty over the northeasternmost tip of East Prussia, forty square miles north of the river Memel, and the internationalized areas about Danzig, 729 square miles, and the basin of the Saar, 738 square miles, between the western border of the Ehenish Palatinate of Bavaria and the southeast corner of Luxemburg. The Danzig area consists of the V between the Nogat and Vistula rivers made a W by the addition of a similar V on the west, including the city of Danzig. The southeastern third of East Prussia and the area between East Prussia and the Vistula north of latitude 53 degrees 3 minutes is to have its nationality determined by popular vote, 5,785 square miles, as is to be the case in part of Schleswig, 2,787 square miles. Recovered Lands SECTION III Belgium — Germany is to consent to the abrogation of the treaties of 1839, by which Belgium was established as a neutral state, and to agree in advance to any convention with which the allied and associated powers may determine to replace them. Germany is to recognize the full sovereignty of Belgium over the contested territory of Moronet and over part of Prussian Morenet, and to renounce in favor of Belgium all rights of the circles of Eupen and Malmedy, the inhabitants of which are to be entitled, within six months, to protest against this change of sovereignty, either in whole or in part, the final decision to be reserved to the league of nations. A commission is to settle the details of the frontier, and various regulations for change of nationality are laid down. 485 TEE TREATY OF PEACE liuxemlourg — Germany renounces her various treaties and conventions with the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, recognizes that it ceased to be a part of the German ZoUverein from January 1, last, renounces all right of exploitation of the railroads, adheres to the abrogation of its neutrality, and accepts in advance any international agreement as to it, reached by the allied and associated powers. Left Bank of the Rhine — As provided in the military (armistice) clauses, Germany will not maintain any fortifications or armed forces less than fifty kilometers to the east of the Rhine, hold any maneuvers, nor maintain any works to facilitate mobilization. In case of violation, ' ' she shall be regarded as committing a hostile act against the powers who sign the present treaty and as intending to disturb the peace of the world. ' ' By virtue of the present treaty, Germany shall be bound to respond to any request for an explanation which the council of the league of nations may think it necessary to address to her. Alsace-Lorraine — After recognition of the moral obligation to repair the wrong done in 1871 by Germany to France and the people of Alsace-Lorraine, the territories ceded to Germany by the treaty of Frankfort are restored to France with their frontiers as before 1871, to date from the signing of the armistice, and to be free of all public debts. Citizenship is regulated by detailed provisions distinguishing those who are imme- diately restored to full French citizenship, those who have to make formal applications therefor, and those for whom naturalization is open after three years. The last named class includes German residents in Alsace-Lorraine, as distinguished from those who acquire the position of Alsace-Lorrainers as defined in the treaty. All public property and all private property of German ex-sovereigns passes to France without payment or credit, France is substituted for Germany as regards owner- ship of the railroads and rights over concessions of tramways. The Rhine bridges pass to France with the obligation for their upkeep. For five years manufactured products of Alsace-Lorraine will be admitted to Germany free of duty to a total amount not exceeding in any year the average of the three years preceding the war, and textile materials may be imported from Germany to Alsace-Lorraine and re-exported free of duty. Contracts for electric power from the right bank must be continued for ten years. For seven years, with possible extension to ten, the ports of Kehae and Strasbourg shall be administered as a single unit by a French administrator appointed and supervised by the Central Rhine commission. Property rights will be safeguarded in both ports and equality of treatment as respects traffic assured the nationals, vessels, and goods of every country. Contracts between Alsace-Lorrainers and Germans are maintained, except for France's right to annul on grounds of public interest judgments of courts held in certain classes of eases, while in others a judicial exequatur is first required. Political condemnations during the war are null and void and the obligation to repay war fines is established as in other parts of allied territory. Various clauses adjust the general provisions of the treaty to the special conditions of Alsace-Lorraine, certain matters of execution being left to conventions to be made between France and Germany. Tlie Saax Valley Question The Saar — ^In compensation for the destruction of coal mines for northern France and as payment on account of reparation, Germany cedes to France full ownership of the coal mines of the Saar basin with their subsidiaries, accessories, and facilities. Their value will be estimated by the reparation commission and credited against that account. The French rights will be governed by German law in force at the armistice excepting war legislation, France replacing the present owners whom Germany under- takes to indemnify. France will continue to furnish the present proportion of coal for loeal needs and contribute in just proportion to local taxes. 486 THE TREATY OF PEACE The basin extends from the frontier of Lorraine as reannexed to France north aa far aa St. Wendel, including on the west the valley of the Saar as far as Saarkolzbach and on the east the town of Uomburg. In order to secure the rights and welfare of the population and to guarantee to France entire freedom in working the mines, the territory will be governed by a commission appointed by the league of nations and consisting of five members, one French, one a native inhabitant of the Saar and three representing three different coun- tries other than France and Germany. The league will appoint a member of the commission as chairman to act as executive of the commission. The commission will have all powers of government formerly belonging to the German empire. Prussia and Bavaria will administer the railroads and other public services and have full power to interpret the treaty clauses. The local courts will continue, but subject to the commission. Existing German legislation will remain the basis of the law, but the commission may make modification after consulting a local representative assembly which it will organize. It will have the taxing power, but for local purposes only. New taxes must be approved by thia assembly. Labor legislation will consider the wishes of the local labor organizations and the labor program of the league. French and other labor may be freely utilized, the former being free to belong to French unions. All rights acquired as to pensions and social insurance will be maintained by Germany and the Saar commission. There will be no military service, but only a local gendarmerie to preserve order. The people will preserve their local assemblies, religious liberties, schools, and language, but may vote only for local assemblies. They will keep their present nationality except so far as individuals may change it. Those wishing to leave will have every facility with respect to their property. The territory will form part of the French customs system, with no export tax on coal and metallurgical products going to Germany nor on German products enter- ing the basin, and for five years no import duties on products of the basin going to Germany or German products coming into the basin for local consumption. French money may circulate without restriction. After fifteen years a plebiscite will be held by communes to ascertain the desires of the population as to continuance of the existing regpime under the league of nations, union with France, or union with Germany. The right to vote will belong to all inhabitants over 20 resident therein at the signature. Taking into account the opinions thus expressed, the league will decide the ultimate sovereignty. In any portion restored to Germany the German government must buy out the French mines at an appraised valuation. If the price is not paid within six months thereafter this portion passes finally to France. If Germany buys back the mines, the league will determine how much of the coal shall be annually sold to France. New Nations Recognized SECTION IV German AuBtrla.— .Germany recognizes the total independence of German-Austria in the boundaries traced. Czecho-Slovakia.. — Germany recognizes the entire independence of the Czecho- slovak state, including the autonomous territory of the Ruthenians south of the Carpathians and accepts the frontiers of this state as to be determined, which in the case of the German frontier shall follow the frontier of Bohemia in 1914. The usual stipu- lations as to acquisition and change of nationality follow, Poland— Germany cedes to Poland the greater part of upper Silesia, Posen and the province of West Prussia on the left bank of the Vistula. A field boundary commission of seven— five representing the allied and associated powers and one each representing Poland and Germany-shall be constituted within fifteen days of the peace to deimit this boundary. Such special provisions as are neoessary to protect racial, lingniatie, 487 THE TREATY OF PEACE or religious minority and to protect freedom of transit and equitable treatment oi commerce of other nations shall be laid down in a subsequent treaty between the five allied and associated powers and Poland. East Prussia. — The southern and eastern frontier of East Prussia as sucing (word obscure) Poland is to be fixed by plebiscite, the first in the regency of Allenstein between the southern frontier of East Prussia and the northern frontier of Regierungsbesirk Allenstein, from where it meets the boundary between East and West Prussia to its junction with the boundary between the circles of Oletsko and Augersburg, thence the northern boundary of Oletsko to its junction with the present frontier, and the second in the area comprising the circles of Stuhm and Rosenburg 'and the parts of the circles of Marienburg and Marienwerder east of the Vistula. In each case German troops and authorities will move out within fifteen days of the peace and the territories be placed under an international commiesion of five members appointed by the five allied and associated powers, with the particular duty of arranging for a free, fair, and secret vote. The commission will report the results of the plebiscites to the five powers with a recommendation for the boundary, and will terminate its work as soon as the boundary has been laid down and now authorities set up. The five allied and associated powers will draw up regulations assuring East Prussia full and equitable access to and use of the Vistula. A subsequent convention, of which the terms will be fixed by the five allied and associated powers, will be entered into between Poland,. Germany and Danzig, to assure suitable railroad oommuniea- tion across German territory on the right bank of the Vistula between Poland and Danzig while Poland shall grant free passage from East Prussia to Germany. The northeastern corner of East Prussia, about Memel, is to be ceded by Ger- many to the associated powers, the former agreeing to accept the settlement made, especially as regards the nationality of the inhabitants. Danzig a Free Oity Danzig. — Danzig and the District immediately about it is to be constituted into the "free city of Danzig," under the guarantee of the league of nations. A high commissioner, appointed by the league and president at Danzig shall draw up a oon- Btitution in agreement with the duly appointed representatives of the city, and shall deal in the first instance with all differences arising between the city and Poland. The actual boundaries of the city shall be delimited by a commission appointed within six months from the peace and to include three representatives chosen by the allied and associated powers and one each by Germany and Poland. A convention, the terms of which shall be fixed by the five allied and associated powers, shall be concluded between Poland and Danzig, which shall include Danzig within the Polish custom frontiers, though a free area in the port; insure to Poland the free use of all the city's waterways, docks, and other port facilities, the contro?. and administration of the Vistula and the whole through railway systems within the city and postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communication between Poland and Danzig; provide against discrimination against Poles within the city and place its foreign relations and the diplomatic protection of its citizens abroad in charge of Poland. Denmark. — The frontier between Germany and Denmark will be fixed by the self-determination of the population. Ten days from the peace German troops and authorities shall evacuate the region north of the line running from the mouth of the Schlei south of Kappel, Schleswig, and Friedrichstadt, along the Eider to the North sea, south of Tonning; the workmen and soldiers' councils shall be dissolved; and the territory administered by an international commission of five, of whom Norway and Sweden shall be invited to name two. The commission shall insure a free and secret vote in three zones. That between the German-Danish frontier and line running south of the Island of Aleen, north of Flensburg and south of Tondern to the North sea, north of the Island of Sylt, will vote as 488 THE TREATY OF PEACE a xxnit within three weeks after the evacuation. Within five weeks after this vote tho aeeond zone, whose eouthern boundary runs from the North sea south of the Island of Fohr to the Baltic, south of Sygum, will vote by communes. Two weeks after that vote the third zone, running to tho limit of evacuation, al»o will vote by eommunee. The international commission will then draw a new frontier on the baais of these plebiscites and with due regard for geographical and economic conditions. Germany will renounce all sovereignty over tho territories north of thia line in favor of the associate governments, who will hand them over to Denmark. Helgoland — The fortifications, military establishments, and harbors of the islands of Helgoland and Dune are to be destroyed under the supervision of tho allioe by German labor and at Germany's expense. They may not be reconstructed or any similar fortification built in the future. Bnssla — Germany agrees to respect as permanent and inalienable the indepen- dency of all territories which were part of the former Russian empire, to accept the abrogation of the Brest-Litovsk and other treaties entered into with tho Maximalist government of Russia, to recognize the full force of all treaties entered into by the allied and associated powers with states which were a part of the former Russian empire, and to recognize the frontiers as determined thereon. The allied and associated |)owers formally reserve the right of Russia to obtain restitution and reparation on the principles of the present treaty. Colonies and Overseas Possessions SECTION V Outside Europe, Germany renounces all rights, titles, and privileges as to her own or her allies' territories to all the allied and associated powers and undertakes to accept whatever measures are taken by the five allied powers in relation thereto. Colonies and overseas possessions — Germany renounces in favor of the allied and associated powers her overseas possessions, with all rights and titles therein. All movable and immovable property belonging to the German empire or to any German state shall pass to the government exercising authority therein. These governments may make whatever provisions seem suitable for the repatria- tion of German nationals and as to tho conditions on which German subjects of European origin shall reside, hold property, or carry on business. Germany undertakes to pay reparation for damage suffered by French nationals la the Cameroons or its frontier zone through the acts of German civil and military authorities and of individual Germans from Jan. 1, 1900, to Aug. 1, 1914. Germany renounces all rights under the convention of Nov. 4, 1911, and Sept. 29, 1912, and undertakes to pay to France in accordance with an estimate presented and approved by the repatriation commission all deposits, credits, advances, etc., thereby secured. Germany undertakes to accept and observe any provisions by the allied and associated powers as to the trade in arms and spirits in Africa, as well as to the general act of Berlin of 1885 and tho general act of Brussels of 1890. Diplomatic protection to inhabitants of former German colonies is to be given by the govern- ments exercising authority. China — Germany renounces in favor of China all privileges and indemnities resnlt- ing from the Boxer protocol of 1901, and all buildings, wharves, barracks, forts, munitions of warships, wireless plants, and other public property except diplomatic or consular establishments in the German concessions of Tientsin and Hankow and in other Chinese territory except Kiau-Chau, and agrees to return to China, at its own expense, all the astronomical instruments seized in 1901. China will, however, take no measures for disposal of German property in tho legation quarter at Peking without tho consent of the powers signatory to the Boxer protoctl. 489 THE TREATY OF PEACE Germany accepts all abrogation of the concessions at Hankow and Tientsin, China agreeing to open them to international use. Germany renounces all claims against China or any allied and associated govern- ment for the internment or repatriation of her citizens in China and for the seizure or liquidation of German interests there since Aug. 1917. She renounces in favor of Great Britain her state property in the British con- cession at Canton and of France and China jointly of the property of the German school in the French concession at Shanghai. Slam — Germany recognizes that all agreements between herself and Siam, includ- ing the right of extra-territoriality ceased July 22, 1917. All German public property except consular and diplomatic premises passes without compensation to Siam, Ger- man private property to be dealt with in accordance with the economic clauses. Ger- many waives all claims against Siam for the seizure and condemnation of her ships, liquidation of her property, or internment of her nationals. Liberia — Germany renounces all rights under the international arrangements of 1911 and 1912 regarding Liberia, more particularly the right to nominate a receiver of the customs, and disinterests herself in any further negotiations for the rehabilita- tion of Liberia. She regards as abrogated all commercial treaties and agreements between her- self and Liberia, and recognizes Liberia's right to determine the status and condi- tion of the re-establishment of Germans in Liberia. Morocco — Germany renounces all her rights, titles and privileges under the act of Algeciras and the Franco-German agreements of 1909 and 1911, and under all treaties and arrangements with the Sherifian empire. She undertakes not to intervene in any negotiations as to Morocco between France and other powers, accepts all the consequences of the French protectorate and renounces the capitulations. The Sherifian government shall have complete liberty of action in regard to German nationals, and all German protected persons shall be subject to the common law. All movable and immovable German property, including mining rights may be sold at public auction, the proceeds to be paid to the Sherifian government and deducted from the reparation account. Germany is also required to reliquish her interests in the state bank of Morocco. All Moroccan goods entering Germany shall have the same privilege as French goods. Egypt — Germany recognizes the British protectorate over Egypt declared on Dec. 18, 1914, and renounces as from Aug. 4, 1914, the capitulation and all the treaties, agree- ments, etc., concluded by her with Egypt. She undertakes not to intervene in any negotiations^ about Egypt between Great Britain and other powers. There are pro- visions for jurisdiction over German nationals and property, and for German consent to any changes which may be made in relation to the commission of public debt. Germany consents to the transfer to Great Britain of the powers given to the late sultan of Turkey for securing the free navigation of the Suez canal. Arrangements for property belonging to German nationals in Egypt are made similar to those in the case of Morocco and other countries. Anglo-Egyptian goods entering Germany shall enjoy the same treatment as British goods. Turkey and Bulgaria — Germany accepts all arrangements which the allied and associated^ powers make with Turkey and Bulgaria with reference to any right, privi- leges, or interests claimed in those countries by Germany or her nationals and not dealt with elsewhere. Shantung — ^Germany cedes to Japan all rights, titles and privileges, notably as to Kiau-Chau and the railroads, mines and cables acquired by her treaty with China of March 6, 1897, and other agreements as to Shantung. All German rights to the railroad from Tsingtao to Tsinaufu, including all facili- ties and mining rights and rights of exploitation, pass equally to Japan and the cables from Tsingtao to Shanghai and Chefoo, the cables free of all charges. All German state property, movable or immovable, in EUau-Chau is acquired by Japan free of all charges. 490 THE TREATY OF PEACE Military and Naval Forcea SECTION VI m«nfl° ^J^^l *° Z.^^^^r POBsible the initiation of a general limitation of the arma- aTd airllausesThJrh^ £0170^^ '^°'"*^'" '''''''' *° °^--« *^« ""^^-y- -->> Military forces-The demobilization of the German army must take place within two months of the peace. Its strength may not exceed 100,000, includrng 4 000 officers r^ lo^V""" '"''^5 divisions of infantry, and three of cavalry, to be devoted exclusively to maintenance of internal order and control of frontiers! Divisions may not be grouped under more than two army corps headquarters staffs The great German general staff is abolished. The army administrative service, consisting of civilian personnel not included in the number of effectives ia reduced to one-tenth the total in the 1913 budget. enecuves, is reduced Employes of the German states such as customs officers, first guards and coast guards may not exceed the number in 1913. Gendarmes and local police mav be increased only in accordance with the growth of population. None of these may "be assembled for military training. "^ Armaments — All establishments for the manufacturing, preparation, storage, or design of arms and munitions of war, except those specifically excepted, must be closed within three months of the peace and their personnel dismissed. The exact amount of armament and munitions allowed Germany is laid down in detail tables, all in excess to be surrendered or rendered useless. The manufacture or importation of asphyxiating, poisonous, or other gases and all analogous liquids is forbidden as well as the importation of arms, munitions, and war materials. Germany may not manufacture such materials for foreign governments. Conscription — Conscription is abolished in Germany. The enlisted personnel must be maintained by voluntary enlistments for terms of twelve consecutive years, the number of discharges before the expiration of that term not in any years to exceed 5 per cent of the total effectives. Officers remaining in the service must agree to serve to the age of 45 years and newly appointed officers must agree to serve actively for twenty-five years. No military schools, except those absolutely indispensable for the units allowed shall exist in Germany two months after the peace. No associations, such as societies of discharged soldiers, shooting or touring clubs, educational establishments or uni- versities, may occupy themselves with military matters. All measures of mobiliza- tion are forbidden. Fortresses — All fortified works, fortresses, and field works situated in German territory within a zone fifty kilometers east of the Rhine will be dismantled within three months. The construction of any new fortifications there is forbidden. The fortified works on the southern and eastern frontiers, however, may remain. Control — Interallied commissions of control will see to the execution of the provisions for which a time limit is set, the maximum named being three months. They may establish headquarters at the German seat of government and go to any part of Germany desired. Germany must give them complete facilities, pay their expenses, and also the expenses of execution of the treaty, including the labor and material necessary in demolition, destruction, or surrender of war equipment. Naval — The German navy must be demobilized within a period of two months »fter the peace. She will be allowed six small battleships, six light cruisers, twelve destroyers, twelve torpedo boats, and no submarines, either military or commercial, with a personnel of 15,000 men, including officers, and no reserve force of any character. Conscription is abolished, only voluntary service being permitted, with a mini- mum period of twenty-five years' service for officers and twelve for men. No member of the German mercantile marine will be permitted any naval training. 491 THE TREATY OF PEACE All German vessels of war in foreign ports and the German high sea fleet interned at Scapa Flow, will be surrendered, the final disposition of these ships to be decided npon by the allied and associated powers. Germany must surrender forty-two modern destroyers, fifty modern torpedo boats and all submarines, with their salvage vessels and all war vessels under construction, including submarines, must be broken up. War vessels not otherwise provided for are to be plaoed in reserve or used for commercial purposes. Replacement of ships, except those lost, can take place only at the end of twenty years for battleships and fifteen years for destroyers. The largest armored ship Germany will be permitted will be 10,000 tons. Germany is required to sweep np the mines in the North sea and the Baltic sea, as decided upon by the allies. All German fortifications in the Baltic defending the passages through the Delta must be demolished. Other coast defenses are per- mitted, but the num>er and caliber of the guns must not be increased. During a period of three months after the peace, German high power wireless stations at Nauen, Hanover, and Berlin will not be permitted to send any messages except for commercial purposes and under supervision of the allied and associated governments, nor may any more be constructed. Germany will be allowed to repair German submarine cables which have been cut but are not being utilized by the allied powers, and also portions of cables which after having been cut have been removed or at any rate not being utOized by any one of the allied and associated powers. In such cases the cables or portions of cables removed or utilized remain the property of allied and associated powers, and accord- ingly fourteen cables or parts of cables are specified, which will not be restored to Germany. Air — The armed forces of Germany must not include any military or naval air forces except for not over 100 unarmed seaplanes to be retained till Oct. 1 to search for submarine mines. No dirigible shall be kept. The entire air personnel is to be demobilized within two months, except for 1,000 officers and men retained till October. No aviation grounds or dirigible sheds are to be allowed within 150 kilometers of the Rhine or the eastern or southern frontiers, existing installations within these limits to be destroyed. The manufacture of aircraft and parts of aircraft is forbidden for six months. All military and naval aeronautical material under a most exhaustive definition must be surrendered within three months, except for the 100 seaplanes already specified. Prisoners of War — The repatriation of German prisoners and interned civilians is to be carried out without delay and at Germany's expense by a commission com- posed of representatives of the allies in Germany. Those under sentence for offenses against discipline are to be repatriated without regard to the completion of their sentence. Until Germany has surrendered persons guilty of offenses against the laws and customs of war, the allies have the right to retain selected German officers. The allies may deal at their own discretion with German nationals who do not desire to be repatriated, all repatriation being conditional on the immediate release of any allied subjects still in Germany. Germany is to accord facilities to commission of inquiry in collecting information in regard to missing prisoners of war and of imposing penalties on. German officials who have concealed allied nationals. Germany is to restore all property belonging to allied prisoners. There is to be a reciprocal exchange of information as to dead prisoners and their graves. Graves — Both parties will respect and maintain the graves of soldiers and sailors . buried on their territories, agree to recognize and assist any commission charged by any allied or associate government with identifying, registering, maintaining, or erecting suitable monuments over the graves, and to afford to each other all facilities for the repatriation of the remains of their soldiers. 492 TEE TREATY OF PEACE Trial of Wllhelm Besponsibllities — The allied and associated powers publicly arraign William Sec- ond of Hohonzollern, formerly German emporer, not for an offense against criminal law, but for a supreme offense against international morality and the sanctity of treaties. The ex-emperor's surrender is to be requested of Holland and a special tribunal set up composed of one judge from each of the five great powors. With full guarantees of the right of defense, it is to be guided by the highest of international policy with a view of vindicating the solemn obligations of international undertakings and the validity of international morality, and will fix the punishment it feels should be imposed. Persons accused of having committed acts in violation of the laws and customs of war are to be tried and punished by military tribunals under military law. If the charges affect nationals of only one state they will be tried before the tribunal of that state; if they affect nationals of several states, they will be tried before joint tribunals of the states concerned. Germany shall hand over to the associated governments, either jointly or severally, nil persons so accused and all documents and information necessary to insure full knowledge of the incriminating acts, the discovery of the offenders, and the just appreciation of the responsibility. The judge (probably error for accused) will be entitled to name his own counaeL Eepaxations SECTION vn Beparations — The allied and associated goverments affirm, and Germany accepts, the responsibility of herself and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the allied and associated governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies. While the allied and associated governments recognize that the resources of Germany are not adequate after taking into account permanent diminutions of such resources which will result from other treaty claims, to make complete reparation for all such loss and damage, they require her to make compensation for all damages caused to civilians under seven main categories: A — Damages by personal injury to civilians caused by acts of war, directly or indi- rectly, including bombardments from the air. B — ^Damages caused to civilians, including exposure at sea, resulting from acts of cruelty ordered by the enemy and to civilians in the occupiffd territories. — Damages caused by maltreatment of prisoners, D Damages to the allied peoples represented by pensions and separation aDcwances, capitalized at the signature* of this treaty. E — Damages to property other than naval or military materials. r — Damages to civilians by being forced to labor. G — Damages in the form of levies or fines imposed by the enemy. Germany further binds herself to repay all sums borrowed by Belgium from her allies as a result of Germany's violation of the treaty of 1839 up to Nov. 11, 1918, and for this purpose will issue at once and hand over to the reparation commission 5 per cent gold bonds falling due in 1926. The total obligation of Germany to pay as defined in the category of damages is to be determined and notified to her after a fair hearing and not later than May 1, 1921, by an interallied reparation commission. At the same time a schedule of payments to discharge the obligation within thirty years shall be presented. These payments are subject to postponement in certain con- tingencies. Germany irrevocably recognizes the full authority of this commisBion, agrees to supply it with all the necessary information and to pass legislation to effecrtuate ^a findings* She further agrees tb resttire to the allies Casli ajia c'ertioia articles whicb cfcn be identified* 493 THE TREATY OF PEACE As an immediate step toward restoration Germany shall pay within two years one thousand million pounds sterling ($5,000,000,000), in either gold, goods, ships, or other specific forms of payment, this sum being included in and not additional to first thousand million bond issue referred to below, with the understanding that certain expenses, such as those of the armies of occupation and payments for food and raw materials, may be deducted at the discretion of the allies. In periodically estimating Germany's capacity to pay, the reparation commission shall examine the German system of taxation, to the end that the sums for reparation which Germany is required to pay shall become a charge upon all her revenues, prior to that for the service or discharge of any domestic loan, and secondly, so as to satisfy itself that, in general, the German scheme of taxation is fully as heavy proportionately as that of any of the powers represented on the commission. The measures which the allied and associated powers shall have the right to take, in case of voluntary default by Germany and which Germany agrees not to regard as acts of war, may include economic and financial prohibitions and reprisals and in general such other measures as the respective governments may determine to be neces- sary in the circumstances. The commission shall consist of one representative each of the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy and Belgium, a representative of Serbia or Japan taking the place of the Belgian representative when the interests of either country are particularly affected, with all other allied powers entitled when their claims are under considera- tion to the right of representation without voting power. It shall permit Germany to give evidence regarding her capacity to pay and shall assure a just opportunity to be heard. It shall make its headquarters at Paris, establish its own procedure and i>er8onnel, have general control of the whole reparation problem, and become the exclusive agency of the allies for receiving, holding, selling, and distributing reparation paym_ents. Majority vote shall prevail except that unanimity is required on questions involv- ing the sovereignty of any of the allies, the cancellation of all or part of Germany '3 obligations, the time and manner of selling, distributing, and negotiating bonds issued by Germany, any postponement between 1921 and 1926 of annual payments beyond 1930, and any postponment after 1926 for a period of more than three years of the application of a different method of measuring damage than in a similar form or case and the interpretation of provisions. Withdrawal from representation on the commission is permitted upon twelve months * notice. The commission may require Germany to give from time to time, by way of guarantee, issues of bonds or other obligations to cover such claims as are not other- wise satisfied. In this connection and on account of the total amount of claims, bond issues are presently to be required of Germany in acknowledgment of its debt as follows: One thousand million pounds sterling ($5,000,000,000) payable not later than May 1, 1921, without interest; $10,000,000,000, bearing 2% per cent interest between 1921 and 1926, and thereafter 5 per cent, with a 1 per cent sinking fund payment beginning in 1926, and an undertaking to deliver bonds to an additional amount of $10,000,000,000, bearing interest at 5 per cent. Under terms to be fixed by the commission, interest on Germany 's debt will be 5 per cent, unless otherwise determined by the commission in the future, and pay- ments that are not made in gold may be accepted by the commission in the form of properties, commodities, businesses, rights, concessions, etc. Certificates of beneficial interest, representing either bonds or goods delivered by Germany may be issued by the commission to the interested powers. As bonds are distributed and pass from the control of the commission an amount of Germany 's debt equivalent to their par value is to be considered as liquidated. 494 THE TREATY OF PEACE Shipping — The German government recognizes the right of the allies to the replace- ment, ton for ton and class for class, of all merchant ships and fishing boats lost or damaged otring to the war, and agrees to cede to the allies all German merchant ships of 1,600 tons gross and upwards, one-half of her ships between 1,000 and 1,600 tons gross, and one-quarter of her steam trawlers and other fishing boats. These ships are to be delivered within two months to the reparation commission, together with documents of title evidencing the transfer of the ships free from incumbrance. "As an additional part of reparation'' the German government further agrees to build merchant ships for the account of the allies to the amount of not exceeding 200,000 tons gross annually during the next five years. All ships used for inland navigation taken by Germany from the allies are to be restored within two months, the amount of loss not covered by such restitution to be made up by the cession of the German river fleet up to 20 per cent thereof. Devastated Areas SECTION VIII Devastated areas — Germany undertakes to devote her economic resources directly to the physical restoration of the invaded areas. The reparation commission is authorized to require Germany to replace the destroyed articles by the delivery of animals, machinery, etc., existing in Germany and to manufacture materials required for recon- struction purposes, with due consideration for Germany's essential domestic require- ments. Ooal, etc. — ^Germany is to deliver annually for ten years to France coal equivalent to the difference between annual pre-war output of Nord and Pas de Calais mines and annual production during above ten years. Germany, further, gives options over ten years for delivery of 7,000,000 tons coal per year to France, in addition to the above; of 8,000,000 tons to Belgium, and of an amount rising from 4,500,000 tons in 1919 to 1920 to 8,500,000 tons in 1923 to 1924 to Italy at prices to be fixed as prescribed in the treaty. Coke may be taken in place of coal in ratio of three tons to four. Pro- vision is also made for delivery to France over three years of benzol, coal tar, and sulphate of ammonia. The commission has powers to postpone or annul the above deliveries should they interfere unduly with industrial requirements of Germany. Dyestoffs — Germany accords option to the commission on dyestuffg and chemical drugs, including quinine, up to 50 per cent of total stock in Germany at the time the treaty comes in force and similar options during each six months to end of 1924 up to 25 per cent of previous six months ' output. Cables — Germany renounces all title to specified cables, value of such as were privately owned being credited to her against reparation indebtedness. Special provisions — As reparation for the destruction of the library of Louvain, Germany is to hand over manuscripts, early printed books, prints, etc., to be equivalent to those destroyed. In addition to the above, Germany is to hand over to Belgium wings now at Berlin belonging to the altar piece of the "Adoration of the Lamb," by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, the center of which is now in the church of St. Bavo at Ghent, and the wings now at Berlin and Munich, of the altar piece of "Last Supper," by Dirk Bouts, the center of which belongs to the church of St. Peter at Louvain. Germany is to restore within six months the koran of the Caliph Ottman, formerly at Medina to the king of the Hedjaz, and the skull of the Sultan 2£kwawa, formerly in German East Africa, to His Britannic Majesty's government. Pre- War Debts SECTION IX Finance — Powers to which German territory is ceded will assume a certain por- tion of the German pre-war debt, the amount to be fixed by the reparations commission on the basis of the ratio between the revenue of the ceded territory and Germany's total revenues for the three years preceding the war. 495 THE TREATY OF PEACE In view, however, of the special circumstances under which Alsace-Lorraine was separated from France in 1871, when Germany refused to accept any part of the French public debt, France will not assume any part of Germany 's pre-war debt there, nor will Poland share in certain German debts incurred for the oppression of Poland. If the value of the German public property in ceded territory exceeds the amount of debt assumed, the states to which property is ceded give credit on reparation for the excess, with the exception of Alsace-Lorraine. _ Mandatory powers will not assume any German debts or give any credit for Ger- man government property. Germany renounces all right of representation on, or control of, state banks, com- missions, or other similar international financial and economic organizations. Must Pay For Occupation Germany is required to pay for the t, are (Bee corretponding figuret and .lettort inthe mapj? *' f Alsace-Lorraine, the territories which were i q Poaen must be ceded to Poland ^ ' wrenched from France in 1871, are restored 1 0. to the republic The French in the lost prov- , . The greater part of Ui)p«r Silesia ia to inces now regained are repatriated, and the lyf. go to Poland "f*^^ ououa » » Oermans there may become French citizens, if -•' mv *uj»..._ « '^^ they so desire, by naturalization after three 15. ^he present border between Qemany aad years. The pubUc debt is canceUed. -^ Bohemia is to remain unchanged The Saar valley will pass into the hands of 1 6. ^^^^^ °^"^ recogni^j the independtfflca - - - V »- *'-'• of the new nation of Czecho-Slovaldd.- Access to the sea must be provifled by railroads to the Adriatic at Fiume and Trieet, and in the north Germany must lease spaces in Hamburg and Stettin. Germany must recognize t^e independeilce of German Austria. The Ruthenians in Hungary are to be recognized as independent The entire Russian boundary taust be restored to the lines of the old Russian empire. The treaties of Brest-Litovsk and other treaties with the Russian soviet government are- abrogated. 9 ^' the French, together with the output of the mines. After fifteen years the people of the districJt will rote whether they shall remaiil under French control, under the guidance of the league of nations, or return to Germany. This voting will be open to all inhabitants over 20 years of age. O ■ Germany must renounce all treaties with ^' Luxembourg and must give up the German control of the railways and other facilities in the grand duchy. The duchy is considered to have ceased to have been part of the German ZoUverein from Jan. 1, 1919. A Germany must' recognize the sovereignty of 17. 18. 19. Belgium over the contested teirritory of Morenet, and must cede all rights to the districts cf ilalmedy and Eupen. The people in six months may protest, if they wish to, this change. The districts affected comprise 382 square miles. 5(Jermanj' must create a neutral zone thirty • miles in depth east of the Rhine. The bridgeheads will be occupied fifteen 'years. r> Helgoland, the island fortress, is to be dis- ^* mantled at German rapense and by German' labor. 7 The frontier between Germany and Den- • mark will be decided by a plebiscite. The people of Schleswig-Holstein will decide under the right of self-determination. 8 Danzig and the immediate vicinity will be a • free port, giving Poland an outlet to the •ea. It will be protected by the league of nations. Q The territory around Memel must be given *'• up to the allies, who will decide on its destination. The boundaries of southern and eastern Prussia will be decided by a vote of the people. The German troops must move out within fifteen days after peace is signed. 1 1 Germany must recognize the independence * * * of the new Poland. 1 o The portion of West Prussia on the left *^' bank of the Vistula must be ceded to Poland. nr\ Germany must accept any arrangement ^^' the allies make with Bulgaria. 21 The Germans must accept any arrange- ment the allies make with Turkey. A. B. C. 10. The rivers running through the old Germany and Austria-Hungary are to be internationalized and largely controll^l by representatives of tho allies : The Rhine will be internationalized on the whole of its navigable course. The Kiel canal, base of the German fleet, is to be opened to the ships of the world. The Elbe river from the juncture of tho Vltava to its mouth is to be intcnjation- .alized. ■p\ The Vltava as far up as Prague is to be ■'-'• internationalized, giving the city an outlet to the sea. EThe internationalization of the Oder will • be between Oppa and the mouth of the stream. FThe Niemen river must be opened to the • vessels of the world as far up as Grodno. The entire course of the Danube from Ulm to the Black sea is internationalized. The Moselle river is placed under the same international river (a)ntrol comnus- mn a8 the Rhine. G. H CHANGES IN THE PEACE TREATY The changes in the treaty of peace agreed upon by the Allies and promulgated June 16, 1919, when the revised treaty was handed to the Germans, included the following: 1. A plebiscite for Upper Silesia, with guarantees of coal from that territory. 2. Frontier rectifications In West Prussia. 8. Omission of the third zone in the Schleswig plebiscite. 4. Temporary increase of the German army from 100,000 to 200,000 men, 5. Declaration of the intention to submit within a month of signature a list of those accused of violation of the laws and customs of war. 6. Offer to co-operate with a German commission on reparations, and to receive suggestions for discharging the obligation. 7. Certain detailed modifications In the finance, economic, and ports and waterways clauses, including abolition of the proposed Kiel canal commission. 8. Assurance of membership in the League of Nations In the early future. If Germany fulfills her obligations. After the German national assembly at Weimar had voted in favor of signing the treaty of peace, Sunday, June 22, 1919, and the Scheidemann government had been replaced by a cabinet headed by Herr Bauer, a new set of plenipotentiaries was named to sign on behalf of Germany, and the treaty was finally signed by the representatives of the Allied powers and Germany, at Versailles, Saturday, June 28, 1919. The Germans delegated by the Bauer government t^ sign the treaty were : Dr. Herman Mueller, foreign minister ; Dr. Bell, min- ister of colonies ; Herr Leinert, and Herr Giesberts. With their sig- natures came the conclusion of peace — ^the official end of the great World War, 504 CHRONOLOaY OF THE WORLD WAR Dates of Important BattUs, Naval Engagements, and Principal Events of the War from 1914 to the Signing of the Peace Treatu »n Jun4, 1919. 1914 June 28 — Archduke Ferdinand and wife assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, July 28 — Austria-Hongary declares war on Serbia. August 1 — Germany declares war on Eussia and general mobilization is under way in France and Austria-Hungary. Aug. 2 — German troops enter France at Cirey; Eussian troops enter Germany at Sohwidden; German army enters Laxemburg over protest, and Germany asks Belgium for free passage of her troopa. Aug. 3 — British fleet mobilizes; Bel^um appeals to Great Britain for diplomatic aid and German ambassador quits Paris. Aug. 4 — France declares war on Germany; Germany declares war on Bel- gium; Great Britain sends Belgium neutrality ultimatum to Germany; British army mobilized and state of war between Great Britain and Germany is declared. President Wilson issues ueotraJlty proclamation. Aug. 5 — Germans begin fighting on Belgium frontier; Qemaany asks for Italy's help. Aug. 6 — Austria declares war on Eussia. Aug. 7 — Germans defeatCKi by French at Altkireh. Aug. 9 — German* capture Liege. Portugal announces it will support Great Britain; British land troops in France. Aug. 10 — France declares war on Austria-Hungary. Aug. 12 — Great Britain declares war on Austria-Hungary; Montenegro declares war on Germany. Aug. 15 — Japan sends iiltimatum to Germany to withdraw from Japanese and Chinese waters and evacuate Kiao-chow; Eussia offers autonomy to Poland. Aug. 20— German army enters Brussels. Aug. 23 — Japan declares war on Germany; Eussia victorious in battles in East Prussia. Aug. 24 — Japanese warships bombard Tsingtao. Aug. 25 — Japan and Austria break off diplomatio relations. Aug. 28 — English win naval battle over German fid«t near Helgoland. Aug. 29 — Germans defeat Eussians at Allenstein; occupy Amiens; advance to La Fere, sixty-five miles from Paris. September 1 — Germans cross Mame; bombs dropped on Paris; Turkish army mobilized; Zeppelins drop bombs on Antwerp. Sept. 2 — Government of Prance transferred to Bordeaux: Eussians capture Lemberg. Sept. 4 — Germans cross the Marne. Sept. 5 — England, France, and Eussia sign pact to make no separate peace. 8^t. 6 — French win battle of Marne; British cruiser Path- floder sunk in North sea by a German submarine. Sept. 7 — Germans retreat from the Mame. Sept. 14 — Battle of Aisne starts; German retreat halted. Sept. 16 — First battle of Soissons fought. Sept. 20 — Eussians capture Jaroslau and begin siege of PrzemysL October 9-10 — Germans capture Antwerp. Oct. 12 — Germans take Ghent. Oct. 20 — Fighting along Yser river begins. Oct. 29 — Turkey begins war on Bussia. November 7 — Tsingtro falls before Japanese troops. Nov. 9 — German erniser Bmden destroyed. December 11 — German advance on Warsaw checked. Dec 14 — Belgrade recaptured by Serbians. Dec. 16 — German cruisers bombard Scarborough, HartlepooL, and Whitby, on English coast, killing fifty or more persons; Aus trians said to have lost upwards of 100,000 men in Serbian defeat. Dec. 26 — Italy occupies Avlona, Albania. 505 CERONOLOGY OF TEE WORLD WAR 1915 January 1 — British battleship Formidable sunk. Jan. 8 — Roumania mobi- lizes 750,000 men; violent fighting in the Argonne. Jan. 11 — Germans crosa the Rawka, thirty miles from "Warsaw. Jan. 24 — British win naval battle in North sea. Jan. 29 — Eussian army invades Hungary; German efforts to cros* Aisne repulsed. Pebruary 1 — British repel strong German attack near La Bassee. Feb. 2 ' — Turks are defeated in attack on Suez canal. Feb. 4 — Russians capture Tarnow in Galicia. Feb. 8 — Turks along Suez canal in full retreat; Turkish land defenses at the Dardanelles shelled by British torpedo boats. Feb. 11 — Germans evacuate Lodz. Feb. 12 — Germans drive Russians from positions in East Prussia, taking 26,000 prisoners. Feb. 14:— Russians report capture of fortifications at Smolnik. Feb. 16 — Germans capture Plock and Bielsk in Poland; French capture two miles of German trenches in Champagne district. February 17 — Germans report they have taken 50,000 Russian prisoners in Mazurian lake district. Feb. 18 — German blockade of English and French coasts put into effect, Feb. 19-20 — ^British and French fleets bombard Dar-. danelles forts. Feb. 21 — American steamer Evelyn sunk by mine in North sea. Feb. 22 — German war office announces capture of 100,000 Russian prisoners in engagements in Mazurian lake region; American steamer Carib sunk by mine in North sea. Feb. 28 — Dardanelles entrance forts capitulate to English and French. March 4 — Landing of allied troops on both sides of Dardanelles straits reported; German U-4 sunk by French destroyers. March 10 — Battle of Neuve Chapelle begins. March 14 — Oerman cruiser Dresden sunk in Pacific by English. March 18 — ^British battleships Irresistible and Ocean and French battleship Bouvet sunk in Dardanelles strait. March 22 — Fort of Przemysl surrenders to Russians. March 23 — Allies land troops on Gallipoli peninsula. March 25— Russians victorious over Austrians in Carpathians. April 8 — German auxiliary cruiser, Prinz Eitel Friedrich, interned at Newport News, Va. April 16 — ^Italy has 1,200,000 men mobilized under arms; Austrians report complete defeat of Russians in Carpathian campaign. April 23 — Germans force way across Ypres canal and take 1,600 prisoners. April 25 — Allies stop German drive on Ypres line in Belgium. April 29 — ^British report legaining of two-thirds of lost ground in Ypres battle. May 7 — Liner Lusitania torpedoed and sunk by German submarine off the coast of Ireland with the loss of more than 1,000 lives, 102 Americans. May 9 — French advance two and one-half miles against German forces north of Arras, taking 2,000 prisoners. May 23 — ^Italy declares war on Austria. June 3 — Germans recapture Przemysl with Austrian help. June 18—* British suffer defeat north of La Bassee canal. June 28 — ^Italians enter Aus- trian territory south of Riva on western shore of Lake Garda. July 3 — Tolmino falls into Italian hands. July 9 — ^British make gains north of Ypres and French retake trenches in the Vosges. July 13 — Germans defeated in the Argonne. July 29 — Warsaw evacuated; Lublin captured by Austrians. August 4 — Germans occupy Warsaw. Aug. 14i — ^Austrians and Germans concentrate 400,000 soldiers on Serbian frontier. Aug. 21 — ^Italy declares war on Turkey. September 1 — Ambassador Bernstorff announces Germans will sink no more liners without warning. Sept. 4 — German submarine torpedoes liner Hes- perian. Sept. 9 — Germans make air raid on London, killing twenty persons and wounding 100 others; United States asks Austria to recall Ambassador 506 CHRONOLOGY OF TEE WORLD WAR Dumba. Sept 20 — Germans begin drive on Serbia to open rout© to Turkey Bept. 22— Russian army retreating from Vilna, escapes German encircling move- ment. Sept. 25-30 — Battle of Champagne, resulting in great advance for allied armies and causing Kaiser Wilhelm to rush to the west front: German counter Attacks repulsed. October 5— Eussia and Bulgaria sever diplomatic relations; Bussian, French, British, Italian, and Serbian diplomatic representatives ask for pass- ports in Sofia. Oct. 10 — Gen. Mackensen's forces take Belgrade. Oct. 12 — Edith Cavell executed by Germans. Oct. 13 — Bulgaria declares war on Serbia. Oct. 15 — Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. Oct. 16 — France declares trar on Bulgaria. Oct. 19 — Eussia and Italy declare war on Bulgaria. Oct. 27 —Germans join Bulgarians in northeastern Serbia and open way to Con- ftantinople. Oct. 30 — Germans defeated at Mitau. November 9 — Italian liner Ancona torpedoed. December 1 — ^British retreat from near Bagdad. Dec. 4 — ^Ford "peae* party" sails for Europe. Dec. 8-9 — Allies defeated in Macedonia. Dec. 16— ? Sir John Douglas Haig succeeds Sir John French as chief of English Mrmieg «n west front. 1916 January 8 — ^British troops at Kut-el-Amara surrounded. Jan. 9 — British evacuate Gallipoli peninsula. Jan. 13 — Austrians capture Cetinje, capital of Montenegro. Jan. 23 — Scutari, capital of Albania, captured by Austrians. Pebruary 22 — Crown prince's army begins attack on Verdun. March 8 — Germany declares war on Portugal. March 15 — Austria-Hungary — Turkey severs diplomatic relations with the U. 6. April 28 — Congress passes selectiva service act for raising of army of 500,000; Guatemala severs diplomatic rela- tions with Germany. May 7 — War department orders raising of nine volunteer regiments of engineers to go to France. May 14: — Espionage act becomes law by passing senate. May 18 — President Wilson signs selective service act. Also directs expeditionary force of regulars under Gen. Pershing to go to France. May 19 — Congress passes war appropriation bill of $3,000,000,000. June 5 — Nearly 10,000,000 men in U. S. register for military service. June 12 — King Constantino of Greece abdicates. June IS— Gen. Pershing and staff arrive in Paris. June 15 — First Liberty loan closes with large over- subscription. June 26 — First contingent American troops under Gen. Sibert arrives in France. June 29— Greece severs diplomatic relations with Teutonio allies. July 9 — President Wilson drafts state militia into federal service. Also places food and fuel under federal control. July 13 — War department order drafts 678,000 men into military service. July 14— Aircraft appropriation bill of $640,000,000 passes house; Chancellor yon Bethmann-Hollweg's resignation loiced by German political crisis. July 18 — United States government orders censorship of telegrams and cablegrams crossing frontiers. July 19 — New German Chancellor Michaelia declares Germany will not war for conquest; radicals and Catholic party ask peace without forced acquisitions of territory. July 22— Siam declares war on Germany. July 23 — Premier Kerensky given unlimited powers in Russia. July 28 — United States war industries board created to supervise expenditures. August 26 — Italian Second army breaks through Austrian line on Isonio front. Aug. 28— President Wilson rejects Pope Benedict 's peace plea. 509 CBBONOLOGY OF THE WORLD WAR September 10 — ^^Gen. KornilofE demands control of Eussian government. Sept. 11 — Eussian deputies vote to support Kerensky. Korniloff'a generals ordered arrested. Sept. 16 — Eussia proclaims new republic by order of Pre- mier Kerensky. Sept. 20 — Gen. Haig advances mile through German lines at Tpres. Sept. 21 — Gen. Tasker E. Bliss named chief of staff, U. S. army. October 16 — Germans occupy islands of Euno and Adro in the Gulf of Bdga. Oct. 25 — ^French under Gen. Petain advance and take 12,000 prisoners on Aisne front. Oct. 27 — Formal announcement made that American troops in France had fired their first shots in the war. Oct. 29 — ^Italian Isonzo front collapses and Austro-German army reaches outposts of Udine. November 1 — Secretary Lansing makes public the Luxburg "spurlos versenkt" note. Nov. 7 — Austro-German troops capture? Nov. 9 — ^Permanent interallied military commission created. Nov. 24 — Navy department announces capture of first German submarine by American destroyer. Nov. 28 — ^Bolsheviki get absolute control of Eussian assembly in Eussian elections. December 6 — Submarine sinks the Jacob Jones, first regular warship of American navy destroyed. Dec 7 — Congress declares war on Austria-Hungary. Dec. 8— Jerusalem surrenders to Qen. AUenby'a forces. 1918 January 6 — ^President Wilson delivers speech to congress giving "fourteen points" necessary to peace. Jan. 20 — ^British monitors win seafight with cruisers Goeben and Breslau, sinking latter. Jan. 28 — Eussia and Eoumania sever diplomatic relations. February 2 — ^United States troops take over their first sector, near Toul. Teb. 6 — ^United States troopship Tuscania sunk by submarine, 126 lost. Feb. 11 — President Wilson, in address to congress, gives four additional peace principles, including self-determination of nations; Bolsheviki declare war with Germany over, but refuse to sign peace treaty. Feb. 13 — ^Bolo Pasha sentenced to death in France for treason. Feb. 25 — Germans take Eeval, Eussian naval base, and Pskov; Chancellor von Hertling agrees "in principle" with President Wilson's peace principles, in address to reichstag, Marcbi 1 — ^Americans repulse German attack on Toul sector. Msirch 2 — Treaty of peace with Germany signed by Bolsheviki at Brest-Litovsk. March, 1 — Germany and Eoumania sign armistice on German terms. March 13 — Ger- man troops occupy Odessa. March 14 — ^AU Eussian congress of Soviets ratifies peace treaty. March 21 — German spring offensive starts on fifty mile front. March 22 — Germans take 16,000 British prisoners and 200 guns. March 23 — German drive gains nine miles. "Mystery gun" shells Pariff. March 24 — ^Germans reach the Somme, gaining fifteen miles. American engi- neers rushed to aid British. March 25— Germans take Bapaume. March 27 — Germans take Albert. March 28 — British counter attack and gain; French taka three towns; Germans advance toward Amiens. March 29 — "Mystery gun" kills seventy-five churchgoers in Paris on Good Friday. April 4 — Germans start second phase of their spring drive on the Somme. April 10— Germans take 10,000 British prisoners in Flanders. April 16 — Ger- mans capture Messines ridge, near Ypres; Bolo Pasha executed. April 23 — British and French navies ' * bottle up ' ' Zeebrugge. April 26 — Germans capture Mount Kemmel, taking 6,500 prisoners. May 5 — Austria starts drive on Italy. May 10 — ^British navy bottles up Ostend. May 24 — British ship Moldavia, carrying American troops, torpedoed; 56 lost. May 27 — Germans begin third phase of drive on west front; gain five miles. May 28— Germans take 15,000 prisoners in drive. May 29-— Germans take Soissons and menace Beims. American troops capture Cantigny. May 510 CHRONOLOGY OF THE WORLD WAR 30— Germans reach the Marne, fifty-five milea from Paris. May 31 — Qermant take 45,000 prisoners in drive. June 1 — Germans advance nine miles; are forty-six miles from Parit. June 3— Five German submarines attack U, S. coast and sink eleven shipi. June 5 — U. S. marines fight on the Marne near Chateau Thierry. June 9 Germans start fourth phase of their drive by advancing toward Noyon. June 10— Germans gain two miles. TJ. S. marines capture south end of Belleau wood. June 12 — ^French and Americans start counter attack. June 15 — Austrians begin another drive on Italy and take 10,000 prisoners. June 17 — Italians check Austrians on Piave river. June 19 — Austrians cross the Piave. June 22 — Italians defeat Austrians on the Piave. June 23 — ^Austrians begin great Tetreat across the Piave. July 18 — Gen. Foch launches allied offensive, -with French, American, British, Italian and Belgian troops. July 21 — Americans and French capture Chateau Thierry. July 30 — German crown prince flees from the Marne and withdraws army. August 2 — Soissons recaptured by Foch. Aug. 4 — Americans take Fismes. Aug. 6 — American troops landed at Archangel. Aug. 7 — Americans cross the Vesle. Aug. 16 — Bapaume recaptured. Aug. 28 — French recross the Somme. September 1 — Foch retakes Peronne. Sept. 12 — Americans launch sueeess- fnl attack in St. Mihiel salient. Sept. 28— Allies win on 250 mile line, from North sea to Verdun. Sept. 29 — Allies cross Hindenburg line. Sept. 30 — Bulgaria surrenders, after successful allied campaign in Balkans. October 1 — French take St. Quentin. Oct. 4 — Austria asks Holland to mediate with allies for peace. Oct. 5 — Germans start abandonment of Lille and burn Douai. Oct. 6— Germany asks President Wilson for armistice. Oct. 7 — Americans capture hills around Argonne. Oct. 8 — President Wilson refuses armistice. Oct. 9 — Allies capture Cambrai. Oct. 10 — Allies capture Le Cateau. Oct. 11 — American transport Otranto torpedoed and sunk; 500 lost. Oct. 13 — ^Foch's troops take Laon and La Fere. October 14 — ^British and Belgians take Roulers; President Wilson demand! ■urrender by Germany. Oct. 15— British and Belgians cross Lys river, take 12,000 prisoners and 100 guns. Oct. 16 — Allies enter Lille outskirts. Oct. 17 — Allies capture LUle, Bruges, Zeebrugge, Ostend, and Douai. Oct 18 — Czecho- Slovaks issue declaration of independence; Czechs rebel and seize Prague, eaptial of Bohemia; French take Thielt. October 19 — President Wilson refuses Austrian peace plea and says Czecho- slovak state must be considered. Oct. 21 — Allies cross the Oise and threaten Valenciennes. Oct. 22 — Haig's forces cross the Scheldt. Oct. 23— President Wilson refuses latest German peace plea. Oct. 27 — German government aska President Wilson to state terms. Oct. 28 — Austria begs for separate peace. October 29 — Austria opens direct negotiations with Secretary Lansing. Oct. 30 — Italians inflict great defeat on Austria; capture 33,000 Austrians evaa- uating Italian territory. Oct. 31 — Turkey surrenders; Austrians utterly routed by Italians; lose 50,000; Austrian envoys, under white flag, enter Italian lines. November 1 — Italians pursue beaten Austrians across Tagliamento river; allied conference at Versailles fixes peace terms for Germany. Nov. 3 — Austria signs armistice amounting virtually to unconditional surrender. Nov. 4r---Allied terms are sent to Germany. Nov. 7 — Germany's envoys enter allied lines by arrangement, November 9 — Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates and crown prince renounces throne. Kov. 10 — Former Kaiser Wilhelm and his eldest son, Friedrick Wilhelm, flee to Holland to escape widespread revolution throughout Germany. 511 CHRONOLOGY OF THE WORLD WAR Novemljer 9 — Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates and crown prince renounoeB throne. British battleship Britannia torpedoed and sunk bj German submarlnefl oft entrance to Straits of Gibraltar. November 10 — Former Kaiser Wilhelm and his eldest son, Frederick Wil- helm, flee to Holland to escape widespread revolution throughout Germanj. King of Bavaria abdicates. November 11 — Armistice in effect at 11- o'clock a. m., Paris time. Firing ceased on all fronts. An American battery from Providence, Ehode Island, fired last shot at exactly 11 o'clock on the front northwest of Verdun. Ger- mans began evacuation of Belgium and Alsace-Lorraine. November 12 — German republic proclaimed at Berlin. Emperor Oharles of Austria abdicates. Belgium demands complete independence instead of guaranteed neutrality. To secure status as a belligerent at the peace council, Roumania again declares war on Germany. United States stops draft boards and lifts war restrictions of industries. November 13 — American troops cross the German former frontier and enter Alsace-Lorraine. November 15 — Distinguished Service Medal conferred on General Pershing at his headquarters in France by General Tasker H, Bliss. United States Postoffice department takes control of all ocean cable lines, consent of other governments having been obtained. Prof. Thomas G. Masaryk proclaimed President of the new Czecho-Slav republic. November 16 — Copenhagen reported many German ships due for surrender under armistice conditions. Demobilization of United States troops ordered by the government, beginning with those in army camps at home. United States takes over express service. Belgian troops enter Brussels. German cruiser Wiesbaden torpedoed, by German revolutionary sailors, with loss of 330 lives. November 17 — Two hundred and fifty thousand American troops advance nine miles in French territory evacuated by Germans. French armies advance across the west boundary of Alsace-Lorraine and occupy many towns. People of Luxemburg demand abdication of Grand Duchess. November 29 — The President announced names of commissioners to rep- resent the United States at peace conference. They were Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States; Robert Lansing, Secretary of State; Col. Edward M. House; Henry White, former ambassador to Italy and to France, and Gen. Tasker H. BUss, American adviser of the supreme war council. December 4, 1918 — President Wilson and a numerous staff sailed for Europe from New York aboard the George Washington, escorted by warships under command of Admiral Mayo, to attend the Peace Conference at Paris, France. May 7, 1919 — Treaty of peace handed to German peace delegates at Ver- sailles by Premier Clemenceau of France. June 28, 1919 — Treaty of peace signed by Allied and German plenipoten- tiaries at Versailles. .1, b 608* *The total number of pages in this book la 608, Includlner 96 pagrea of Illustrations, which are not marked by folio numbers, and 512 pages of. numbered text. BD T-? ^ ^OVC,'' o ^'^x-V V"^' '^'^r .. »* <0^ o V '^0^ -^o^ 0- f o. 'o> ° " " * "^^ nI^ A^ ' Deacidified using the Bookkeeper pre 'tf"^ ^ Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide ^•^^ o Treatment Date: JUM 2Q , --^w'^^ ^ <^ " PreservationTechnoloi "^ r^ u»» "^ A WORLD LEADER IN PAPEHPReSEBVi 111 ■Riomson Pa* Drive Cranberry Townsllip, PA 1606( (724) 779-2111 ^* \ '-^^S J'\ °'y^%K- '^/ -A-. "^-^^* • ^^': "--/ ■'-^^"' LIBRARY OF CONGRESS II! IIII1 1 009 232 244