An incident of the valor of the 93rd division was in the fight at Butte de Mesnil, as tough a spot as any in the line between the sea and Switzerland. The ground had been fought over back and forth, neither side holding it for long. The French said it was the burying place of 200,000 of their troops and Germans, and that it could not be held permanently. The Negro boys tackled the job. In four days they had advanced fourteen kilometers (8.4 miles) and they NEVER retreated.


The Negro troops to a great extent went into action with little training, but they learned quickly in the hard school of experience. They excelled in grenade throwing and machine gun work. Grenade throwing is very ticklish business. Releasing the pin lights the fuse. Five seconds after the fuse is lighted the grenade explodes. It must be timed exactly. If thrown too quickly the enemy is liable to pick it up and hurl it back in time to create the explosion in one's own lines. No one cares to hold a grenade long after the fuse is lighted so the boys sometimes threw them ahead of the signal.


"Shorty" Childress of B company, 371st Infantry, had been drilled with dummy grenades. When given the real thing he released the pin and immediately heard the fulminating fuse working its way down into the charge. It was too much for his nerves. He threw the grenade as far as he could send it. The lieutenant reprimanded him severely.


"What do you mean," he said, "by hurling that explosive ahead of the proper time. Do you want the Boches to pick it up, fire it back here and blow us all to smithereens?"


"Shorty" was properly abashed. He hung his head and responded: "Lieutenant, I begs your pardon, I didn't mean to heave it so soon, but I could actually feel that thing a swellin' in my hand."


But they soon acquired the idea, and after a short time very few of the grenades reached the enemy either ahead of or behind time.


Here is the valiant and humorous story of Elmer McCowin, 669 Lenox Avenue, New York City, a private in Company K, 369th infantry, and how he won the Distinguished Service Cross. He said:
"On September 26th, the captain asked me to carry dispatches. The Germans pumped machine gun bullets at me all the way, but I made the trip and got back safely. Then I was sent out again. As I started the captain hollered to bring him back a can of coffee. He was joking but I didn't know it.

"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 any of them, so I kept on traveling on high gear. None touched my skin, though some skinned pretty close.

"On the way back it seemed the whole war was turned on me. One bullet passed through my trousers and it made me hop, skip and jump. I saw a shell hole six feet deep. Take it from me I dented it another six feet when I plunged into it. In my fist I held the captain's can of coffee.

"When I climbed out of the hole and started running again a bullet clipped a hole in the can and the coffee started to run out. 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 stopper. I pulled out an old rabbit's foot that my girl had given me and rubbed it so hard the hair almost came off.

"It must have been the good luck thing that saved my life because the bullets were picking at my clothes and so many hit the can that at the end all my fingers were in use to keep the coffee in. I jumped into shell holes and 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 Lieutenant George Miller, battalion adjutant, confirm the story, but he added:
"When that boy came back with the coffee his clothes were riddled with bullets. Yet half an hour later he went out 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 in Middletown, N.Y., won the D.S.C. He explained:
"We had taken a hill Sept. 26 in the Argonne. We came to the edge of a swamp when the enemy machine guns opened fire. It was so bad that of the 58 of us who went into a particular strip, only 8 came out without being killed or wounded. I made a number of trips out there and brought back about a dozen wounded men."
The proudest recollection which Negro officers and privates will carry through life is that of the whole-hearted recognition given them in the matter of decorations by the French army authorities. Four colored regiments of the 93rd division attained the highest record in these awards. These regiments being brigaded with the French, their conduct in action was thus under their observation. Not only was each of these regiments cited as a unit for the Croix de Guerre, but 365 individual soldiers received the coveted decoration. A large number of Distinguished Service Crosses were also distributed to the 93rd division by General Pershing. The verdict pronounced by critical French commanders may be considered as an unquestionable confirmation that the Negro troops were under all conditions brave fighters. This fact and the improved status of the Negro as a result of it was pointed to by the New York Tribune, in a leading editorial in its issue of February 14, 1919. It said:
"The bas-relief of the Shaw Memorial became a living thing as the dusky heroes of the 15th cheered the Liberty statue and happily swarmed down the gangplank. Appropriately the arrival was on the birthday of the "revered Lincoln," and never was the young and martyred idealist of Massachusetts filled with greater pride than swelled in Colonel Hayward as he talked of his men the best regiment, he said, with pardonable emphasis, 'of all engaged in the great war.'

"These were men of the Champagne and the Argonne whose step was always forward; who held a trench ninety days without relief, with every night a raid night; who won 171 medals for conspicuous bravery; who saw the war expire under their pressure in a discouraged German cannonade. First class fighting men! Hats off to them! The tribunal of grace does not regard skin color when assessing souls.

"The boys cheered the Bartholdi statue. It makes some whites uncomfortable. It converts into strange reading glib eulogies of democratic principles.

"A large faith possesses the Negro. He has such confidence in justice,—the flow—of which he believes will yet soften hard hearts. We have a wonderful example of a patience that defies discouragement; the "Souls of Black Folk"! When values are truly measured, some things will be different in this country."

CHAPTER XVI.


THROUGH HELL AND SUFFERING.


Negro Officers Make Good—Wonderful Record of the 8th Illinois—"Black Devils" Win Decorations Galore—Tribute of French Commander—His Farewell to Prairie Fighters—They Fought After War Was Over—Hard to Stop Them—Individual Deeds of Heroism—Their Dead, Their Wounded and Suffering—A Poem.



In the past when the subject of the Negro's fighting ability was under discussion, there were always found those whose grudging assent to his merits as a soldier was modified by the assertion that he had to be properly commanded; in other words must have white officers. Never having been given a conspicuous opportunity to demonstrate his capacity for leadership in battle, until the formation of the 8th Illinois infantry in the Spanish-American war, the Negro was forced to rest under the imputation that as a follower he did fairly well, but as a leader he was a failure.


Let anyone who still holds that view study the record of the 8th Illinois, or the 370th, as it was rechristened when entering the service of the general government in the recent war. Seventy-one War Crosses with special citations for valor and merit, and twenty-one Distinguished Service Crosses were awarded officers and men of the regiment. Many men in the 370th were veterans of the Spanish-American war as well as the campaign of 1916 on the Mexican border, which, while not an actual war, was for some months a locality of service and hard service at that; the regiment passing through it with great credit.


It was organized as a single battalion in 1891, increased to a regiment and sent to Cuba in 1898, every officer and man in the regiment being a Negro. Upon its return, over half of the city of Chicago turned out in greeting. Until July 12th, 1918, the regiment had never had a white officer. Then its Colonel, F.A. Denison, was relieved on account of illness and a white officer in the person of Colonel Thomas A. Roberts for the first time was placed in command. Shortly before the armistice two other white officers were attached to the regiment, in the persons of Major William H. Roberts, a brother of the colonel, and Captain John F. Prout; Second Lieutenant M.F. Stapleton, white, also served as adjutant of the First battalion.


The 370th received brief training at Camp Logan, Houston, Texas, and landed in France April 22, 1918; going within a few weeks into actual service. Like nearly all of the new regiments arriving at that time its operations were confined mainly to trench warfare.


Trench warfare continued until July 6, when the men got their real baptism of fire in a section of the Argonne and were in all the important engagements of their portion of the Champagne and other fronts, fighting almost continuously from the middle of July until the close of the war, covering themselves with a distinction and glory, as Knights in the warfare for Mankind, that will endure as long as the story of valorous deeds are recorded.


Like the other regiments of the 93rd Division, the 370th was brigaded with the French; first with the 73rd French Division and later under direct command of General Vincendon of the 59th Division, a part of the famous 10th French army under General Mangin. Shortly after the signing of the armistice, the division commander sent the regiment the following communication:
Officers, non-commissioned officers and men:

Your efforts have been rewarded. The armistice is signed. The troops of the Entente to whom the armies of the American Republic have nobly come to join themselves, have vanquished the most powerful instrument of conquest that a nation could forge—the haughty German Army acknowledges itself conquered. However hard our conditions are, the enemy government has accepted them all.

The 370th R.I.U.S. has contributed largely to the success of the 59th Division, and has taken in bitter strife both cannon and machine guns. Its units, fired by a noble ardor, got at times even beyond the objectives given them by the higher command; they have always wished to be in the front line, for the place of honor is the leading rank.

They have shown in our advance that they are worthy of being there.

VINCENDON.
"Black Devils" was the name the Prussian Guard who faced them gave to the men of the 370th. Their French comrades called them "The Partridges," probably on account of their cockiness in action (a cock partridge is very game), and their smart, prideful appearance on parade.


A general outline of the service of the Illinois men after coming out of the trenches, as well as an illustration of the affection and high appreciation in which they were held by the French, is contained in the following order issued by General Vincendon in December:
Officers and soldiers of the 370th R.I.U.S.:

You are leaving us. The impossibility at this time that the German Army can recover from its defeat, the necessity which is imposed on the people of the Entente of taking up again a normal life, leads the United States to diminish its effectiveness in France. You are chosen to be among the first to return to America. In the name of your comrades of the 59th Division I say to you, au revoir. In the name of France, I thank you.

The hard and brilliant battles of Chavigny, Leury and the Bois de Beaumont having reduced the effectiveness of the division, the American government generously put your regiment at the disposition of the French High Command. In order to reinforce us, you arrived from the trenches of the Argonne.

We at first, at Mareuil Sur Ourcq, in September, admired your fine appearance under arms, the precision of your review and the suppleness of your evolutions that presented to the eye the appearance of silk unrolling in wavy folds. We advanced to the line. Fate placed you on the banks of the Ailette in front of the Bois Mortier. October 12 you occupied the enemy trenches at Acier and Brouze. On the 13th we reached the railroad of Laon le Fere; the forest of Saint Gobain, the principal center of resistance of the Hindenburg line was ours.

November 5th the Serre was at last crossed and the pursuit became active. Major Prout's battalion distinguished Itself at the Val St. Pierre, where it captured a German battery. Major Patton's battalion was first to cross the Hirson railroad at the heights of Aubenton, where the Germans tried to resist. Duncan's battalion took Logny and, carried away by their ardor, could not be stopped short of Gue d' Hossus on November 11th, after the armistice. We have hardly time to appreciate you and already you depart.

As Lieut. Colonel Duncan said November 28, in offering to me your regimental colors as proof of your love for France and as an expression of your loyalty to the 59th Division and our Army, you have given us of your best and you have given it out of the fullness of your hearts.

The blood of your comrades who fell on the soil of France mixed with the blood of our soldiers, renders indissoluble the bonds of affection that unite us. We have, besides, the pride of having worked together at a magnificent task, and the pride of bearing on our foreheads the ray of a common grandeur.

VINCENDON.
sweeney_054bs
This is a facsimile reproduction of the original, printed hurriedly near the field of battle and also translated hurriedly without eliminating errors. Corrected on page 155.


To the 370th belongs the honor of the absolutely last engagement of the war. An objective had been set for the regiment on the morning of November 11th. General Vincendon heard of the hour at which hostilities were to end and sent an order to the regiment to shorten its objective. The order failed to arrive in time and ten minutes after the fighting was over Lieut. Colonel Duncan led the third battalion over the German line and captured a train of fifty wagons. General Vincendon said:


"Colonel Duncan is the hardest man to stop fighting I ever saw. He doesn't know when to quit."


One of the most daring exploits by a member of the regiment was that performed by Sergeant Matthew Jenkins, a Chicago boy and member of Company F. On September 20, at Mont des Singes, he went ahead of his comrades and captured from the Boche a fortified tunnel which by aid of his platoon was held for thirty-six hours without food or ammunition, making use of the enemy machine gun and munitions until relieved. This gained for Sergeant Jenkins the Croix de Guerre with Palm and the Distinguished Service Cross.


A deed of remarkable bravery accompanied by clever strategy was performed by Captain Chester Sanders and twenty men mostly of Company F. It won decorations for three and the unbounded admiration of the French. Captain Sanders and his men offered themselves as sacrifices in an effort to draw the fire of about a dozen German machine guns which had been working havoc among the Americans and French. The Illinois men ran into the middle of a road knowing they were under German observation. Instantly the Germans, suspecting a raid on their lines, opened fire on the underbrush by the roadside, figuring the Americans would take refuge there. Instead they kept right in the center of the road and few were wounded. The ruse had revealed the whereabouts of the German guns, and a short time later they were wiped out by French artillery.


Another hero of Company F was Lieutenant Harvey J. Taylor, who found himself in a nest of machine guns on July 16 in the western part of the Argonne forest. He received wounds in both legs, a bullet through one arm, a bullet in his side, had a front tooth knocked out by a bullet and received a ruptured ear drum by another. After all this he was back in the lines October 24th at Soissons. The Germans were making a counter attack that day and when the battling colored men needed supplies, Lieutenant Taylor, who was regimental signal officer, proceeded to get the supplies to them, though he had to pass through a German barrage. He was badly gassed. He received the Croix de Guerre with a special citation.


Lieutenant Elmer D. Maxwell won his Cross in the Champagne, six miles northwest of Laon. He led a platoon of men against a nest of machine guns, taking four guns and eighteen prisoners, not to speak of leaving behind a number of Germans who were not in a condition to be taken prisoner.


Many of the officers of the regiment were wounded. The escape of many from death, considering the continuous fighting and unusual perils through which they passed, was miraculous. The only officer who made the supreme sacrifice was Lieutenant George L. Giles of 3833 Calumet Avenue, Chicago. He was the victim of a direct hit by a shell at Grandlut on November 1 while he was heroically getting his men into shelter. Lieut. Giles was very popular with the men and with his brother officers. He was popular among the members of the race section in which he lived in Chicago, and was regarded as a young man of great promise.


One of the engagements of the first battalion that received more than honorable mention was on the morning of November 6th, when the battalion crossed the Hindenburg line and after extremely hard fighting captured on St. Pierre Mont, three 77 guns and two machine guns. Captain James H. Smith of 3267 Vernon Avenue, Chicago, commanded the company, and Lieutenant Samuel S. Gordon of 3842 Prairie Avenue, Chicago, the assault forces making the capture. The battalion continued across the Serre river and when the armistice was signed was at a small place in Belgium.


Several of the officers passed through practically all of the fighting with hardly a scratch, only to be taken ill at the finish and invalided home. These men would have been greatly disappointed had the war continued after they were put out of action. Conspicuous among them was Lieutenant Robert A. Ward of 3728 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago, of the Trench Mortar platoon; Lieutenant Benjamin A. Browning of 4438 Prairie Avenue, Chicago, and Lieutenant Joseph R. Wheeler, 3013 Prairie Avenue, Chicago.


Major Rufus Stokes led the first battalion on the initial raid at Vauquois. They fired 300 shells from six trench mortars and scored a notable success. In that raid Private William Morris of Chicago, the only man in the regiment who was captured by the Germans, was taken. He was reported missing at the time, but weeks later his picture was found among a group of prisoners portrayed in a German illustrated newspaper found in a captured dugout.


Three men were killed and a large number of others had a miraculous escape while entering Laon a few days prior to November 1st. A German time mine exploded tearing up a section of railroad track, hurling the heavy rails into the air, where they spun around or flew like so many arrows.


First Lieutenant William J. Warfield, regimental supply officer, a Chicago man, won the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in action near Ferme de la Riviere, September 28th.


Sergeant Norman Henry of the Machine Gun company, whose home is in Chicago, won the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in action near Ferme de la Riviere, September 30th.


Other members of the regiment upon whom the D.S.C. was conferred by General Pershing were:


Captain William B. Crawford, home address, Denison, Texas; for extraordinary heroism in action at Ferme de la Riviere, September 30th.


Sergeant Ralph Gibson, Company H, a Chicago man; for extraordinary heroism at Beaume, November 8th.


Sergeant Charles T. Monroe, Headquarters Company; for extraordinary heroism in action at Mont de Singes, September 24th. His home is at Senrog, Va.


Sergeant Emmett Thompson, Company L, home in Quincy, Illinois; for extraordinary heroism at Mont de Singes, September 20th.


Supply Sergeant Lester Fossie, Company M, home at Metropolis, Illinois; for extraordinary heroism at Ferme de la Riviere, October 5th.


Private Tom Powell, deceased, Company H; for extraordinary heroism near Beaume, November 8th.


Private Spirley Irby, Company H, home at Blackstone, Va.; for extraordinary heroism in action at Beaume, November 8th.


Private Alfred Williamson, medical detachment, home at San Diego, California; for extraordinary heroism in action near Beaume, November 8th.


Private William G. Hurdle, Machine Gun Company No. 3, home at Drivers, Va.; for extraordinary heroism in action at Ferme la Folie, September 30th.


Private Harry Pearson, Machine Gun company No. 3, home at Portland, Oregon; for extraordinary heroism in action near Ferme la Folie, September 30th.


Private Alonzo Walton, Machine Gun Company No. 3, home at Normal, Illinois; for extraordinary heroism in action at Rue Lamcher and Pont D'Amy, November 7th and 9th.


Private Leroy Davis, Company L, home at Huntsville, Missouri; for extraordinary heroism in action at Mont de Singes, September 18th.
sweeney_055s
NEGRO WARRIORS ADMINISTERING COLD STEEL. GERMANS UNABLE TO STAND THE ATTACK. SURRENDERING. IN THE ARGONNE FOREST FRANCE.


About fifty percent of the 370th met casualties of some sort during their service in France. Like the New York regiment heretofore mentioned, they were singularly free from disease. Only 65 men and one officer were killed in action and about thirty died from wounds. The total number wounded and missing was 483. Probably 1,000 men were gassed and incapacitated at times, as the regiment had three replacements, necessary to make up its losses. The regiment went to France with approximately 2,500 men from Chicago and Illinois, and came back with 1,260. Of course, many of the wounded, sick and severely gassed were invalided home or came back as parts of casual companies formed at hospital bases. The replacement troops which went into the regiment were mostly from the Southern states. A few of the colored officers assigned to the regiment after its arrival in France, were men from the officers training camps in this country and France.


The 370th boasted of the only race court martial in the army. There were thirteen members, Lieutenant Colonel Duncan presiding. Captain Louis E. Johnson was the judge advocate, and Lieutenant Washington was his assistant. It is not of record that the findings of the court martial were criticized. At least there was no scandal as there was concerning court martial proceedings in other divisions of the army. The fact is that there was very little occasion for court martialing among the men of the 370th. The behavior of the men was uniformly good, as is attested by the fact that every town mayor in France where the men passed through or were billeted, complimented the officers on the splendid discipline and good behavior shown.


Colonel Roberts, a veteran cavalryman, was very fond of his men. He has repeatedly paid them the highest compliments, not only for their valor and soldierly qualities, but for their quick intelligence, amenity to discipline, and for the clean living which made them so remarkably free from disease. He has stated that he would not know where to select a better group of men for everything that goes to make up efficient, dependable soldiers. Colonel Roberts received the Croix de Guerre, with the following citation:


"A commander entirely devoted to duty, he succeeded by dint of working day and night in holding with his regiment a difficult sector, though the officers and men were without experience, under heavy shelling. He personally took charge of a battalion on the front line on October 12 and led it to the objectives assigned by the crossing of the Ailette canal."


American historians may not give the Negro fighters the place to which their records entitle them; that remains to be seen. From the testimony of French commanders, however, it is evident that the pages of French history will not be printed unless they contain the valiant, patriotic, heroic deeds of the Illinois and New York regiments with their comrades of the 93rd and 92nd Divisions.


In the various sectors to which they were assigned, they were in virtually every important fight. They met the flower of the Kaiser's forces, held them and on more than one occasion made them retreat. The Hun had misjudged them and it was fortunate that he had. They endured their share of hardship, marching many weary miles, day after day, without sufficient food. Nothing could affect their spirit and dash. When the call came, they went over the top, that the world might be made safe for democracy.


Among the officers and men of the 370th were represented about every calling in which the Negro of this day engages. There were men of professional pursuits; lawyers, doctors and teachers; students, mechanics, business men, farmers and laborers. The poet of the regiment was Lieutenant Blaine G. Alston. The following little poem, if properly digested and understood, tells volumes within itself:
           "OVER THERE"
Did you ever hear a bullet whiz,
  Or dodge a hand grenade?
Have you watched long lines of trenches dug
  By doughboys with a spade?
Have you seen the landscape lighted up
  At midnight by a shell?
Have you seen a hillside blazing forth
  Like a furnace room in hell?
Have you stayed all night in a ruined town
  With a rafter for a bed?
With horses stamping underneath
  In the morning when they are fed?
Have you heard the crump-crump whistle?
  Do you know the dud shell's grunt?
Have you played rat in a dugout?—
  Then you have surely seen the front.
         —Lieut. Blaine G. Alston, 370th U.S. Troops.

CHAPTER XVII.


NARRATIVE OF AN OFFICER.


Special Article by Captain John H. Patton, Adjutant of 8th Illinois—Summarizes Operations of the Regiment—From First Call to Mustering Out—An Eye Witness Account—In Training Camps, at Sea, in France—Service in Argonne Forest—Many Other Engagements—A Thrilling Record—Battalion Operations in Detail—Special Mention of Companies and Individuals.



Captain John H. Patton, regimental adjutant of the 370th, who commanded the second battalion through most of its service, presents a summary of the operations of the regiment from the first call to the mustering out. Being in charge of the organization's records, his account is detailed, authentic and highly valuable as supplementing the data of the previous chapter; gleaned from departmental records and other sources. It carries additional interest as being the testimony of an eye-witness, one who participated in the stirring events in a marked and valorous degree. The recital in Captain Patton's own words, the phrase of a highly trained and efficient military man, follows:


Pursuant to the call of the President, under date of July 3, 1917, the 8th Illinois Infantry reported at the various rendezvous on July 25, 1917, as follows: At Chicago, Illinois regimental 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.


On the date the regiment responded to the call Colonel Franklin A. Denison commanded the regiment, the other Field Officers being Lieutenant Colonel James H. Johnson, Major Rufus M. Stokes, Major Charles L. Hunt, Major Otis B. Duncan and Captain John H. Patton, regimental adjutant.


The strength of the regiment a short time before responding to the call was approximately one thousand officers and enlisted men, and orders having been received to recruit to maximum strength, 3604 enlisted men, an active recruiting campaign was begun. On July 25, 1917, the strength was approximately 2,500. Soon afterwards orders were received that the regiment would be organized according to Minimum Strength Tables of Organization, which gave it an authorized strength of 2,138 enlisted men. After reporting that the regiment already had several hundred men in excess of that strength, authority was granted to retain the excess men. From this time until demobilized at Camp Grant in March, 1919, the regiment had from 600 to 1,300 men in excess of its authorized strength, and upon arrival in France in April, 1918, the entire personnel consisted of men who had voluntarily enlisted.


Intensive training was begun immediately after the regiment reported at the various armories and the public streets in the vicinity were utilized for this purpose until October 12, 1917, on which date the various organizations entrained for Camp Logan, Houston, Texas, arriving a few days later.


While stationed at Camp Logan, the regiment was engaged in intensive training. Officers and enlisted men attended the various schools established by the 33rd Division to which the regiment had been attached and acquitted themselves with credit.


At the end of October, 1917, on the date of the closing of the Second Liberty Loan Campaign, out of a total of 2,166 officers and enlisted men belonging to the regiment at that time, 1,482 officers and men subscribed $151,400.00.


While at Camp Logan, approximately 96 percent of the regiment took out $10,000.00 War Risk Insurance per man.


On December 1, 1917, the official designation of the regiment was changed from the 8th Illinois Infantry to the 370th Infantry.


On March 6, 1918, the regiment left Camp Logan enroute to Camp Stuart, Newport News, Va., arriving on March 10, 1918, and immediately taking up its interrupted intensive training.


While at Camp Stuart, Va., Lieutenant Colonel James H. Johnson was discharged from the service, and Major Otis B. Duncan, who had commanded the 3rd battalion, was promoted to the grade of lieutenant-colonel and Captain Arthur Williams was promoted to the grade of major and placed in command of the 3rd battalion.


On April 6, 1918, the regiment embarked on the S.S. President Grant en route overseas. In attempting to get out to sea, the vessel ran aground in Hampton Roads and three days later having been refloated, the journey overseas was resumed. On account of this delay the journey was begun without convoy, the warships assigned to this duty having departed as scheduled on or about April 6, 1918. On April 20, 1918, the steamer was met by a convoy of torpedo boats which accompanied us to Brest, France, at which place the regiment arrived on April 22, 1918.


The following day, April 23, 1918, the regiment debarked and marched to camp at Pontanezen Barracks, near Brest, and two days later entrained for Grandvillers (Haut-Rhin), arriving on April 27, 1918, and taking station.


The regiment, upon arrival at Grandvillers, was attached to the 73rd Division, French Army, and orders were given for the reorganization and equipping of the regiment to conform to that of a French regiment. All American arms, ammunition and equipment were salvaged and French rifles, machine guns, ammunition, wheel transportation, packs, helmets and other necessary equipment furnished. Except for the uniform the regiment was outfitted exactly as were the French regiments of that division. French rations were issued with the exception of the wine component, for which an extra allowance of sugar was substituted.


The Division sent officers to take charge of the instruction of the regiment in every phase of the work to be later undertaken and another period of intensive training was begun. Even French cooks were present to instruct our cooks in the preparation and conservation of the French rations.


After six weeks training at this place, the regiment entrained enroute to the front, arrived at Ligny-en-Barrios (Meuse) on June 13, 1918, and moved up toward the lines by easy stages.


On June 21, 1918, the regiment began occupying positions in the Saint Mihiel Sector, completing the occupation on June 24, 1918. This being the first time the regiment had been actually in the lines, the division commander deemed it advisable to intermingle our troops with French troops in order that officers and men might observe and profit by close association with the veteran French troops. Thus the units of the 1st and 2nd battalions, which had been assigned to the front lines were intermingled with platoons and companies of the 325th regiment of infantry.


Many valuable lessons were learned while in this sector, which was exceptionally quiet at the time. Except for occasional shelling and some scattered machine gun and rifle fire, nothing of interest occurred while in the sector, and there were no casualties.


On the night of June 30-July 1, 1918, the regiment, having been relieved in the sector, began withdrawing, and on July 3, 1918, the withdrawal had been completed without any losses.