Large numbers of them were stationed at Toul, Verdun, Epernay, St. Mihiel, Fismes and the Argonne, where millions of dollars worth of stores of all kinds were salvaged and guarded by them. So many were left behind and so important was their work, that the Negro Y.M.C.A. sent fifteen additional canteen workers to France weeks after the signing of the armistice, as the stay of the Service of Supply men was to be indefinitely prolonged.


The Rev. D.L. Ferguson, of Louisville, Ky., who for more than a year was stationed at St. Nazaire as a Y.M.C.A. worker, and became a great favorite with the men, says that during the war they took great pride in their companies, their camps, and all that belonged to the army; that because their work was always emphasized by the officers as being essential to the boys in the trenches, the term "stevedore" became one of dignity as representing part of a great American Army.


How splendidly the stevedores and others measured up to military standards and the great affection with which their officers regarded them, Rev. Dr. Ferguson makes apparent by quoting Colonel C.E. Goodwin, who for over a year was in charge of the largest camp of Negro Service of Supply men in France. In a letter to Rev. Dr. Ferguson he said:
"It is with many keen thrusts of sorrow that I am obliged to leave this camp and the men who have made up this organization. The men for whose uplift you are working have not only gained, but have truly earned a large place in my heart, and I will always cherish a loving memory of the men of this wonderful organization which I have had the honor and privilege to command."
Lester A. Walton, who went abroad as a correspondent for the New York Age, thus commented on the stevedores and others of the same service:
"I had the pleasure and honor to shake hands with hundreds of colored stevedores and engineers while in France. The majority were from the South, where there is a friendly, warm sun many months of the year. When I talked with them no sun of any kind had greeted them for weeks. It was the rainy season when a clear sky is a rarity and a downpour of rain is a daily occurrence. Yet, there was not one word of complaint heard, for they were 'doing their bit' as expected of real soldiers. Naturally they expressed a desire to get home soon, but this was a wish I often heard made by a doughboy.

"Members of the 'S.O.S.' will not came back to America wearing the Distinguished Service Cross or the Croix de Guerre for exceptional gallantry under fire, but the history of the great world war would be incomplete and lacking in authenticity if writers failed to tell of the bloodless deeds of heroism performed by non-combatant members of the American Expeditionary Forces."
During the summer of 1918, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, the poetess, went to France to write and also to help entertain the soldiers with talks and recitations. While at one of the large camps in Southern France, the important work of the colored stevedore came to her notice and she was moved to write a poem which follows:
                      THE STEVEDORES
We are the Army Stevedores, lusty and virile and strong.
We are given the hardest work of the war, and the hours are long.
We handle the heavy boxes and shovel the dirty coal;
While soldiers and sailors work in the light, we burrow below like a mole.
But somebody has to do this work or the soldiers could not fight!
And whatever work is given a man is good if he does it right.
We are the Army Stevedores, and we are volunteers.
We did not wait for the draft to come, and put aside our fears.
We flung them away to the winds of fate at the very first call of our land.
And each of us offered a willing heart, and the strength of a brawny hand.
We are the Army Stevedores, and work we must and may,
The cross of honor will never be ours to proudly wear and sway.
But the men at the front could not be there, and the battles could not be won.
If the stevedores stopped in their dull routine and left their work undone.
Somebody has to do this work; be glad that it isn't you.
We are the Army Stevedores—give us our due.

CHAPTER XXVI.


UNSELFISH WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD.


MITIGATED THE HORRORS OF WAR—AT THE FRONT, BEHIND THE LINES, AT HOME—CIRCLE FOR NEGRO WAR RELIEF—ADDRESSED AND PRAISED BY ROOSEVELT—A NOTABLE GATHERING—COLORED Y.M.C.A. WORK—UNSULLIED RECORD OF ACHIEVEMENT—HOW THE "Y" CONDUCTED BUSINESS—SECRETARIES ALL SPECIALISTS—NEGRO WOMEN IN "Y" WORK—VALOR OF A NON-COMBATANT.


Negroes in America are justly proud of their contributions to war relief agencies and to the financial and moral side of the war. The millions of dollars worth of Liberty Bonds and War Savings stamps which they purchased were not only a great aid to the government in prosecuting the war, but have been of distinct benefit to the race in the establishing of savings funds among many who never were thrifty before. Thousands have been started on the road to prosperity by the business ideas inculcated in that manner. Their donations to the Red Cross, the Y.M.C.A. and kindred groups were exceptionally generous.


An organization which did an immense amount of good and which was conducted almost entirely by Negro patriots, although they had a number of white people as officers and advisers, was the "Circle for Negro War Relief," which had its headquarters in New York City.


At a great meeting at Carnegie Hall, November 2, 1918, the Circle was addressed by the late Theodore Roosevelt. On the platform also as speakers were Emmett J. Scott, Irvin Cobb, Marcel Knecht, French High Commissioner to the United States; Dr. George E. Haynes, Director of Negro Economics, Department of Labor; Mrs. Adah B. Thorns, Superintendent of Nurses at Lincoln hospital, and Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, who presided.


Mr. Roosevelt reminded his hearers that when he divided the Nobel Peace Prize money among the war charities he had awarded to the Circle for Negro War Relief a sum equal to those assigned to the Y.M.C.A., the Knights of Columbus, and like organizations.
"I wish to congratulate you," Mr. Roosevelt said, "upon the dignity and self-restraint with which the Circle has stated its case in its circulars. It is put better than I could express it when your officers say: 'They, (the Negroes) like the boys at the front and in the camps to know that there is a distinctly colored organization working for them. They also like the people at home to know that such an organization, although started and maintained with a friendly cooperation from white friends, is intended to prove to the world that colored people themselves can manage war relief in an efficient, honest and dignified way, and so bring honor to their race.

"The greatest work the colored man can do to help his race upward," continued Mr. Roosevelt, "is through his or her own person to show the true dignity of service. I see in the list of your vice-presidents and also of your directors the name of Colonel Charles Young, and that reminds me that if I had been permitted to raise a brigade of troops and go to the other side, I should have raised for that brigade two colored regiments, one of which would have had all colored officers. And the colonel of that regiment was to have been Colonel Charles Young.

"One of the officers of the other regiment was to have been 'Ham' Fish. He is now an officer of the 15th, the regiment of Negroes which Mr. Cobb so justly has praised, and when 'Ham' Fish was offered a chance for promotion with a transfer to another command, I am glad to say he declined with thanks, remarking that he 'guessed he's stay with the sunburned Yankees."'
A guest of honor at the meeting was Needham Roberts, who won his Croix de Guerre in conjunction with Henry Johnson. The cheering of the audience stopped proceedings for a long time when Mr. Roosevelt arrived and shook hands with Roberts.
"Many nice things were said at the meeting," commented the New York Age, "but the nicest of all was the statement that after the war the Negro over here will get more than a sip from the cup of democracy."
One of the splendid activities of the Circle was in the providing of an emergency relief fund for men who were discharged or sent back, as in the case of Needham Roberts, on account of sickness or injuries. Many a soldier who was destitute on account of his back pay having been held up was temporarily relieved, provided with work or sent to his home through the agency of the Circle.


While the war was in progress the Circle attended to a variety of legal questions for the soldiers, distributed literature, candy and smokes to the men going to the war and those at the front; visited and ministered to those in hospitals, looked after their correspondence and did the myriad helpful things which other agencies were doing for white soldiers, including relief in the way of garments, food, medicine and money for the families and dependents of soldiers.


The organization had over three score units in different parts of the country. They engaged in the same activities which white women were following in aid to their race. Here is a sample clipped from one of the bulletins of the Circle:
"On the semi-tropical island of St. Helena, S.C., the native islanders have, in times past, been content to busy themselves in their beautiful cotton fields or in their own little palmetto-shaded houses, but the war has brought to them as to the rest of the world broader vision, and now, despite their very limited resources, 71 of them have formed Unit No. 29 of the Circle. They not only do war work, but they give whatever service is needed in the community. The members knit for the soldiers and write letters to St. Helena boys for their relatives. During the influenza epidemic the unit formed itself into a health committee in cooperation with the Red Cross and did most effective work in preventing the spread of the disease."
Similar and enlarged activities were characteristic of the units all over the nation. They made manifest to the world the Negro's generosity and his willingness in so far as lies in his power, to bear his part of the burden of helping his own race.


After the war the units of the Circle did not grow weary. Their inspiration to concentrate was for the relief of physical suffering and need; to assist existing organizations in all sorts of welfare work. As they had helped soldiers and soldiers' families, they proposed to extend a helping hand to working girls, children, invalids and all Negroes deserving aid.


To the lasting glory of the race and the efficient self-sacrificing spirit of the men engaged, was the wonderful work of the Negro Young Men's Christian Association among the soldiers of this country and overseas. Some day a book will be written dealing adequately with this phase of war activity.


The best writers of the race will find in it a theme well worthy of their finest talents. The subject can be touched upon only briefly here.


To the untiring efforts and great ability of Dr. J.E. Moorland, senior secretary of the Negro Men's Department of the International Committee, with his corps of capable assistants at Washington, belongs the great credit of having organized and directed the work throughout the war.


Not a serious complaint has come from any quarter about the work of the Y.M.C.A. workers; not a penny of money was wrongfully diverted and literally not a thing has occurred to mar the record of the organization. Nothing but praise has come to it for the noble spirit of duty, good will and aid which at all times characterized its operations. The workers sacrificed their pursuits and pleasures, their personal affairs and frequently their remuneration; times innumerable they risked their lives to minister to the comfort and well being of the soldiers. Some deeds of heroism stand forth that rank along with those of the combatants.


The splendid record achieved is all the more remarkable and gratifying when the extensive and varied personnel of the service is taken into consideration. No less than fifty-five Y.M.C.A. centers were conducted in cantonments in America, presided over by 300 Negro secretaries. Fourteen additional secretaries served with Student Army Training Corps units in our colleges. Sixty secretaries served overseas, making a grand total of 374 Y.M.C.A. secretaries doing war work.


Excellent buildings were erected in the cantonments here and the camps overseas, which served as centers for uplifting influences, meeting the deepest needs of the soldier's life. In the battle zones were the temporary huts where the workers resided, placed as near the front lines as the military authorities could permit. Many times the workers went into the most advanced trenches with the soldiers, serving them tobacco, coffee, chocolate, etc., and doing their utmost to keep up spirits and fighting morale. Much of the uniform good discipline and behavior attributed to the Negro troops undoubtedly was due to the beneficial influence of the "Y" men and women.


As an example of the way the work was conducted it is well to describe a staff organization in one of the buildings.


It was composed of a building secretary, who was the executive; a religious work secretary, who had charge of the religious activities, including personal work among the soldiers, Bible class and religious meetings; an educational secretary, who promoted lectures, educational classes and used whatever means he had at hand to encourage intellectual development, and a physical secretary, who had charge of athletics and various activities for the physical welfare of the soldiers. He worked in closest relationship with the military officers and often was made responsible for all the sports and physical activities of the camp. Then there was a social secretary, who promoted all the social diversions, including entertainments, stunts and motion pictures, and a business secretary, who looked after the sales of stamps, post cards and such supplies as were handled, and who was made responsible for the proper accounting of finances.


The secretaries were either specialists in their lines or were trained until they became such. Some idea of their tasks and problems, and of the tact and ability they had to use in meeting them, may be gained by a contemplation of the classes with which they had to deal. The selective draft assembled the most remarkable army the world has ever seen. Men of all grades from the most illiterate to the highly trained university graduate messed together and drilled side by side daily. There were men who had grown up under the best of influences and others whose environment had been 370TH or vicious, all thrown together in a common cause, wearing the same uniform and obeying the same orders.


The social diversions brought out some splendid talent. A great feature was the singing. It was essential that the secretary should be a leader in this and possessed of a good voice. These were not difficult to find, as the race is naturally musical and most of them sing well. Noted singers were sent to sing for the boys, but it is said that frequently the plan of the entertainment was reversed, as they requested the privilege of listening to the boys sing.


A wonderful work was done by "Y" secretaries among the illiterates. Its fruits are already apparent and will continue to multiply. They found men who hardly knew their right hand from their left. Others who could not write their names are said to have wept with joy when taught to master the simple accomplishment. Many a poor illiterate was given the rudiments of an education and started on the way to higher attainments.


Headquarters of the overseas work was at Paris, France, and was in charge of E.C. Carter, formerly Senior Student secretary in America, and when war was declared, held the position of National Secretary of India. Much of the credit for the splendid performance of the "Y" workers abroad belonged to him and to his able aid, Dr. John Hope, president of Morehouse college, Atlanta, Ga. The latter went over in August, 1918, as a special overseer of the Negro Y.M.C.A.


Three distinguished Negro women were sent over as "Y" hostesses, with a secretarial rating, during the war. Their work was so successful that twenty additional women to serve in the same capacities were sent over after the close of hostilities. They were to serve as hostesses, social secretaries and general welfare workers among the thousands of Negro soldiers who had been retained there with the Army of Occupation and the Service of Supply.


The first Negro woman to go abroad in the Y.M.C.A. service was Mrs. Helen Curtis of 208 134th Street, New York, in May, 1918. For a number of years she had been a member of the committee of management of the Colored Women's Branch of the Y.M.C.A., and had assisted at the Camp Upton hostess house. Her late husband, James L. Curtis, was minister resident and consul general for the United States to Liberia. Mrs. Curtis lived in Monrovia, Liberia, until her husband's death there. She had also lived in France, where she studied domestic art for two years. Being a fluent speaker of the French language, her appointment was highly appropriate.


So successful was the appointment of Mrs. Curtis that another Negro secretary in the person of Mrs. Addie Hunton of 575 Greene Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y., followed the next month. Her husband was for many years senior secretary of the International Committee of the Y.M.C.A. Negro Men's Department, and her own work had always been with the organization.


A short time later Miss Catherine Johnson of Greenville, Ohio, followed in the wake of Mrs. Curtis and Mrs. Hunton. She is a sister of Dr. Johnson of Columbus, Ohio, appointed early in 1919 minister to Liberia.


No less successful at home than abroad was the work of the Y.M.C.A. among the Negroes in cantonments and training camps. It is known that the services rendered by the Association to the officers' training camp at Fort Des Moines had much to do with making that institution such a remarkable success. From that time on comment was frequent that the best work being done by the Association in many of the camps was done by Negro secretaries.


The heroic exploit of Professor Cook, the "Y" secretary, which secured him a recommendation for the Distinguished Service Cross, is mentioned elsewhere. It was only equalled by the valiant performance of A.T. Banks of Dayton, Ohio, a Negro "Y" secretary who went over the top with the 368th Infantry. Secretary Banks, during the action, tarried to give aid to a wounded soldier. The two were forced to remain all night in a shell hole. During the hours before darkness and early the following morning they were targets for a German sniper. The secretary succeeded in getting the wounded man back to the lines, where he then proceeded to organize a party to go after the sniper. They not only silenced him, but rendered him unfit for any further action on earth. Mr. Banks returned to America with the sniper's rifle as a souvenir. His work was additionally courageous when it is considered that he was a non-combatant and not supposed to engage in hostilities. Had he been taken by the Germans he would not have been accorded the treatment of a prisoner of war, but undoubtedly would have been put to death.


Were the records sufficiently complete at the present time to divulge them, scores of examples of valorous conduct on the part of the "Y" workers, Red Cross and other non-combatants who ministered to Negro soldiers could be recounted. The work of all was of a noble character. It was accompanied by a heroic spirit and in many cases by great personal bravery and sacrifice.

CHAPTER XXVII.


NEGRO IN ARMY PERSONNEL.


HIS MECHANICAL ABILITY REQUIRED—SKILLED AT SPECIAL TRADES—VICTORY DEPENDS UPON TECHNICAL WORKERS—VAST RANGE OF OCCUPATIONS—NEGRO MAKES GOOD SHOWING—PERCENTAGES OF WHITE AND BLACK—FIGURES FOR GENERAL SERVICE.



In 1917 and 1918 our cause demanded speed. Every day that could be saved from the period of training meant a day gained in putting troops at the front.


Half of the men in the Army must be skilled at special trades in order to perform their military duties. To form the units quickly and at the same time supply them with the technical ability required, the Army had to avail itself of the trade knowledge and experience which the recruit brought with him from civil life. To discover this talent and assign it to those organizations where it was needed was the task of the Army Personnel organization.


The army could hardly have turned the tide of victory if it had been forced to train from the beginning any large proportion of the technical workers it needed. Every combat division required 64 mechanical draughtsmen, 63 electricians, 142 linemen, 10 cable splicers, 156 radio operators, 29 switchboard operators, 167 telegraphers, 360 telephone repairmen, 52 leather and canvas workers, 78 surveyors, 40 transitmen, 62 topographers, 132 auto mechanics, 128 machinists, 167 utility mechanics, 67 blacksmiths, 151 carpenters, 691 chauffeurs (auto and truck), 128 tractor operators and 122 truckmasters.


Besides these specialists each division required among its enlisted men those familiar with 68 other trades. Among the latter were dock builders, structural steel workers, bricklayers, teamsters, hostlers, wagoners, axemen, cooks, bakers, musicians, saddlers, crane operators, welders, rigging and cordage workers, stevedores and longshoremen. Add to these the specialists required in the technical units of engineers, ordnance, air service, signal corps, tanks, motor corps and all the services of supply, and the impossibility of increasing an army of 190,000 in March 1917, to an army of 3,665,000 in November, 1918, becomes apparent unless every skilled man was used where skill was demanded. To furnish tables showing the number of Negroes which the selective draft produced for the various occupations mentioned was at the compilement of this work not practicable. In many cases the figures for white and black had not been separated. The Army Personnel organization did not get into the full swing of its work until well along in 1918.


A good general idea of the percentages of white and black can be gained from the late drafts of that year. Figures for white drafts were not available with the exception of that of September 3rd. But a very fair comparison may be made from the following table showing some occupations to which both whites and blacks were called. Take any of the three general service drafts made upon Negro selectives and it makes a splendid showing alongside the whites. Out of 100,000 men used as a basis for computation, it shows that among the Negro selectives an average of slightly over 25 percent were available for technical requirements, compared with slightly over 36 percent among the whites. It reveals a high number of mechanics and craftsmen among a race which in the minds of many has been regarded as made up almost entirely of unskilled laborers:


Supply per 100,000 in late Negro drafts for general service, compared with supply of white men in same occupations for the September 3rd draft.
                                             Misc. Figures Sept. 3

                                     Sept. 1    Sept 25  Upon        Draft
Occupation—                          Draft      Draft    59,826 Men  White

Mechanical engineer                      7         30        8           25
Blacksmith                             393         334     331          733
Dock builder                           ...         ...      15          ...
Carpenter                              862         571     670        2,157
Stockkeeper                            161         176     140          562
Structural steel worker                463         326     351          334
Chauffeur                            3,561       4,003   3,300        7,191
Chauffeur, heavy truck               1,304       1,356     987        2,061
Bricklayer                             189          99     132          223
Hostler                              3,351       1,433   2,062        3,559
Teamster or wagoner                  8,678      12,660   9,534       13,691
Transit and levelman                   ...           4       2           47
Axeman logger                        1,192       1,759   1,423        1,827
Clerical worker                        603         395     324        4,159
Baker and cook                       4,129       3,157   2,974        1,077
Musician                               105          17     115          160
Alto horn                               56          47      38           46
Baritone                                21          21      15           16
Bass horn                               35          21      18           16
Clarinet                                21          64      25           66
Cornet                                  98          56      67          132
Flute                                   21         ...       5           29
Saxaphone                                7          13      10           23
Trap drum                              217         197     100           46
Trombone                                42          69      40           67
Bugler                                  14          13      12           24
Saddler                                ...          26       3           12
Crane operator, hoistman                21          39      42           44
Crane operator, pile driver            ...          13      12            7
Crane operator, shovel                 ...          13       5           30
Oxy-acetylene welder                   ...          21       8           44
Rigger and cordage worker               49          77      57           40
Stevedore, cargo handler               161          34      68           10
Longshoreman                           652         664     651           15
                                      ----        ----     ----        ----
                                    26,413      27,708  23,544        38,473

     Figures are for general service drafts and do not include the enlarged
list of occupations for which both whites and Negroes were selected.
sweeney_104s
FIVE SEA TUGS PUSHING TRANSPORT "FRANCE" INTO DOCK. SHIP LADEN WITH MEMBERS OF NEW YORK'S "FIGHTING 15TH" (369TH INFANTRY) AND CHICAGO'S "FIGHTING 8TH" (370TH INFANTRY) NEGRO HEROES FROM BATTLEFIELDS OF EUROPE.


CHAPTER XXVIII.


THE KNOCKOUT BLOW.


WOODROW WILSON, AN ESTIMATE—HIS PLACE IN HISTORY—LAST OF GREAT TRIO—WASHINGTON, LINCOLN, WILSON—UPHOLDS DECENCY, HUMANITY, LIBERTY—RECAPITULATION OF YEAR 1918—CLOSING INCIDENTS OF WAR.



When sufficient years have elapsed for the forming of a correct perspective, when the dissolving elements of time have swept away misunderstandings and the influences engendered by party belief and politically former opinions, Woodrow Wilson is destined to occupy a place in the Temple of Fame that all Americans may well be proud of. Let us analyze this and let us be fair about it, whatever may be our beliefs or affiliations.


Washington gave us our freedom as a nation and started the first great wave of democracy. Probably, had some of us lived in Washington's time, we would have been opposed to him politically. Today he is our national hero and is reverenced by all free people of the earth, even by the nation which he defeated at arms. Lincoln preserved and cemented, albeit he was compelled to do it in blood, the democracy which Washington founded. He did infinitely more; he struck the shackles from four million human beings and gave the Negro of America his first opportunity to take a legitimate place in the world. Lincoln's service in abolishing slavery was not alone to the Negro. He elevated the souls of all men, for he ended the most degrading institution that Satan ever devised—more degrading to the master who followed it, than to the poor subject he practiced it upon. Unitedly, we revere Lincoln, yet there were those who were opposed to him and in every way hampered and sneered at his sublime consecration to the service of his country. It takes time to obtain the proper estimate of men.


Enough light has already been cast on President Wilson and his life work to indicate his character and what the finished portrait of him will be.


We see him at the beginning of the European conflict, before any of us could separate the tangled threads of rumor, of propaganda, of misrepresentation, to determine what it was all about; before even he could comprehend it, a solitary and monitory figure, calling upon us to be neutral, to form no hasty judgments. We see him later in the role of peacemaker, upholding the principles of decency and honor. Eventually as the record of atrocities and crimes against innocents enlarges, we see him pleading with the guilty to return to the instincts of humanity. Finally as the ultimate aim of the Hun is revealed as an assault upon the freedom of the world; after the most painstaking and patient efforts to avoid conflict, during which he was subjected to humiliation and insult, we see him grasp the sword, calling a united nation to arms in clarion tones, like some Crusader of old; his shibboleth: DECENCY, HUMANITY, LIBERTY.


What followed? His action swept autocracy from its last great stronghold and made permanent the work which Washington began and upon which Lincoln builded so nobly. This of Woodrow Wilson; an estimate—there can be no other thought, that will endure throughout history.


In the earlier chapters are sketched the main events of the great war up to the end of the year 1917, when the history of the Negro in the conflict became the theme. It remains to give an outline review of battles and happenings from the beginning of 1917 until the end of hostilities; culminating in the most remarkable armistice on record; a complete capitulation of the Teutonic forces and their allies, and a complete surrender by them of all implements and agencies for waging war. The terms of the armistice, drastic in the extreme, were largely the work of Marshal Ferdinand Foch, commander-in-chief of the Allied armies.


Early in 1918 it became evident that England, France and Italy were rapidly approaching the limit of their man power. It became necessary for America to hasten to the rescue.


Training of men and officers in the various cantonments of America was intensified and as rapidly as they could be brought into condition they were shipped to France. The troop movement was a wonderful one and before the final closing of hostilities in November there were more than 2,000,000 American troops in Europe. The navy was largely augmented, especially in the matter of destroyers, submarine chasers and lighter craft.


Our troops saw little actual warfare during the first three months of the year. Americans took over a comparatively quiet sector of the French front near Toul, January 21. Engagements of slight importance took place on January 30 and February 4, the latter on a Lorraine sector which Americans were holding. On March 1, they repulsed a heavy German raid in the Toul sector, killing many. On March 6, the Americans were holding an eight mile front alone.


On March 21 the great German offensive between the Oise and the Scarpe, a distance of fifty miles, began. General Haig's British forces were driven back about twenty miles. The French also lost much ground including a number of important towns. The Germans drove towards Amiens in an effort to separate the British and French armies. They had some successes in Flanders and on the French front, but were finally stopped. Their greatest advance measured thirty-five miles and resulted in the retaking of most of the territory lost in the Hindenburg retreat of the previous year. The Allies lost heavily in killed, wounded and prisoners, but the Germans being the aggressors, lost more.


While the great battle was at its height, March 28, the Allies reached an agreement to place all their forces from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean, under one supreme command, the man chosen for the position being General Foch of the French. On March 29, General Pershing placed all the American forces at the disposal of General Foch.


The Germans began a new offensive against the British front April 8 and won a number of victories in the La Basse canal region and elsewhere. The battle of Seicheprey, April 20, was the Americans' first serious engagement with the Germans. The Germans captured the place but the Americans by a counter attack recovered it.


Another great offensive was started by the Germans, May 27, resulting in the taking of the Chemin des Dames from the French and crossing the river Aisne. On the following day they crossed the Vesle river at Fismes. Here the Americans won their first notable victory by capturing the village of Cantigny and taking 200 prisoners. They held this position against many subsequent counter-attacks. By the 31st the Germans had reached Chateau Thierry and other points on the Marne, where they were halted by the French. They made a few gains during the first days of June. On June 6, American marines made a gallant attack, gaining two miles on a front two and one-half miles long near Veuilly la Poterie. On the following day they assisted the French in important victories. In the second battle northwest of Chateau Thierry, the Americans advanced nearly two and one-half miles on a six mile front, taking 300 prisoners. It was in these engagements that the Americans established themselves as fighters equal to any.


On June 9, the Germans began their fourth offensive, attacking between Montdidier and the river Oise. They advanced about four miles, taking several villages. In the operations of the following day which gained them several villages, they claimed to have captured 8,000 French. This day the American marines took the greater portion of Belleau wood and completed the capture of it June 11. The French at the same time defeated the Germans between Robescourt and St. Maur. There were other battles on the 12th and 13th, but on the 14th it became evident that the German offensive was a costly failure.


The fighting from this time until the end of June was of a less serious nature, although the Americans in the Belleau and Vaux regions gave the Germans no rest, attacking them continually and taking prisoners. The Americans at this time were also engaged in an offensive in Italy. July 2, President Wilson announced there were 1,019,115 American soldiers in France.