Pioneer Infantries
STEVEDORES, engineers, and labor battalions had been rushed to France to blaze the trail for the American forces. Already the 15th New York, the 8th Illinois, 371st and 372nd Regiments had worked and fought their way to the thickest of the carnage. The 92nd Division was waiting for the final word that would carry them across. And yet the twelve million colored people of the United States had not fully answered the call. None, however, were more willing to serve the country in its hour of peril. Therefore there was a ready response, when late in May of 1918, President Wilson called for the organization of colored infantries.
The early history of these pioneer regiments was very similar. They were formed for the most part, out of provisional troops, a few men drawn from the regular army, and specialists from the various schools of Training Detachments. For instance, the 805th Pioneer Infantry Regiment was formed at Camp Funston, of provisional brigades; twenty-five men of the 25th Infantry, brought over from Hawaii; thirty-eight mechanics from Prairie View Normal School; twenty horseshoers and men skilled in the care of horses from Tuskegee Institute, and eight carpenters from Howard University. The best evidence of the high character of the service in France rendered by this regiment is the following:
HEADQUARTERS 805th PIONEER INFANTRY
American Expeditionary Forces
France.
January 16, 1919.
From: Commanding Officer, 805th Pioneer Infantry.
To: The Adjutant General, G. H. Q., A. E. F.
Subject: Commendation of Regiment.
1. I feel it a duty which I owe the officers and enlisted men of this regiment which the War Department has given me the honor of commanding, to place on record at General Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces, the enclosed papers commending their conscientious and intelligent work.
2. The first is a letter from the Chief Engineer, First Army, regarding the services rendered by the 805th Pioneer Infantry in the Argonne-Meuse Campaign, which began September 26, 1918, in which this organization participated from October 3rd to the conclusion of the Armistice. The second is a letter from the Chief Salvage Officer, First Army, stating that the regiment “by its intelligent co-operation and initiative” was of great assistance to him.
3. I claim no credit for myself, but only for the officers and men to whose energy, judgment, tact and force of the highest grade, must be attributed any success this regiment may have attained.
2 Encl.
C. B. Humphrey,
Colonel Infantry, U. S. A., Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS, FIRST ARMY.
Office of Chief Engineer.
November 24, 1918.
From: Chief Engineer, First Army.
To: The Commanding Officer, 805th Pioneer Infantry.
Subject: Services rendered during offensive.
1. The Chief Engineer desires to express his highest appreciation to you and to your regiment for the services rendered to the First Army in the Offensive between the Meuse and the Argonne, starting September 26th, and the continuation of that Offensive on November 1st and concluding with the Armistice of November 11th.
2. The success of the operations of the Army Engineer Troops toward constructing and maintaining supply lines, both roads and railway, of the Army, was in no small measure made possible by the excellent work performed by your troops.
3. It is desired that the terms of this letter be published to all the officers and enlisted men of your command at the earliest opportunity.
4. A copy of this letter has been sent to the Chief of Staff, First Army.
George R. Spalding, Col. Engrs.,
Chief Engineer, First Army,
American E. F.
AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES
Headquarters, First Army,
Office of the Chief Salvage Officer.
December 17, 1918.
From: Chief Salvage Officer, First Army.
To: Colonel C. B. Humphrey, Commanding Officer, 805th Pioneer Infantry.
Subject: Commendation.
1. I wish to express my appreciation of the very excellent work done by you and your command, while I had charge of the Salvage Operations in the Battle Area, First Army.
2. Your regiment by its intelligent co-operation and initiative has been of the greatest assistance in carrying on operations, conducted under very trying conditions.
Jeremiah Beall,
Lieutenant Colonel, Ord. Dept.,
Chief Salvage Officer.
HEADQUARTERS, 805th PIONEER INFANTRY,
AMERICAN E. F.
January 17, 1919.
1. It is with pleasure that I publish herewith true copies of the foregoing letters for the information of this command.
C. B. Humphrey,
Colonel Infantry, U. S. A.,
Commanding.
Official:
Paul S. Bliss,
Capt. Inf., U. S. A., Adjutant.
The 805th had three men at the University of London during the educational period, Sergeant Major Marriott, and Sergeants Walter Powers and Leonard Barnett. This was another testimony to the worth of its personnel.
The 806th formed at Camp Funston at about the same time as the 805th, and the 815th and 816th, formed there later, were made up in much the same way. Twelve hundred enlisted men of 158th Depot Brigade made the foundation of the 802nd Pioneer Infantry, formed at Camp Sherman, while other groups from the regular army were distributed through the regiment.
The outstanding characteristic of these regiments was their rapid mobilization and departure for France. Very brief, at best, was the training they received in the American camps. In some instances it was as highly intensive and thorough as time allowed. The great mass of these men had known absolutely nothing of military life six weeks, and, in some cases, three weeks, before taking transport for France. But they went as others had gone, resolute and firm in faith. As they sailed away, their folk knew that they had given the residue of their strong young manhood. The last hope of the colored Americans had been cheerfully placed upon the altar as their gift. It was their last grim insistence on the triumph of the Great Cause for which the race stood so desperately in need.