ROLL OF HONOR
Heroes of Old 8th Illinois
Negro National Guardsmen known in France as the 370th Infantry, who were decorated with the Croix de Guerre. The exploits of some of these men and also of some of those in the appended list decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross, are mentioned in the chapters devoted to the regiment.
Col. T.A. Roberts (white)
Lieut. Col. Otis B. Duncan
Major James R. White
Capt. John H. Patton
Capt. Chester Sanders
Capt. John T. Prout
Capt. Samuel R. Gwynne
Capt. Devere J. Warner
Capt. Wm. B. Crawford
Capt. George M. Allen
Capt. James C. Hall
Capt. Stuart Alexander
Capt. Mathew Jackson
Capt. James H. Smith
Lieut. Park Tancil
Lieut. Osceola A. Browning
Lieut. George C. Lacey
Lieut. Frank Robinson
Lieut. Claudius Ballard
Lieut. Charles C. Jackson
Lieut. William J. Warfield
Lieut. Samuel S. Gordon
Lieut. Robert P. Hurd
Lieut. Henry N. Shelton
Lieut. Henry P. Cheatham
Lieut. Stanley B. Norvell
Lieut. Roy B. Tisdell
Lieut. Thomas A. Painter
Lieut. Lawson Price
Lieut. Lincoln D. Reid
Lieut. Elmer J. Myers
Sergt. Norman Henry
Sergt. Clarence T. Gibson
Sergt. Matthew Jenkins
Sergt. Cecil Nelson
Sergt. Howard Templeton
Sergt. Chas. T. Monroe
Sergt. Derry Brown
Corp. James R. Brown
Corp. Lewis Warner
Corp. Joseph Henderson
Corp. Maceo A. Tervalon
Corp. William Stevenson
Corp. Emil Laurent
Corp. Charles T. Brock
Pvt. Nathaniel C. White (deceased)
Pvt. Robert Pride
Pvt. George B. White
Pvt. Howard Sheffield
Pvt. Cornelius Robinson
Pvt. Ulysses Sayles
Pvt. William Cuff (deceased)
Pvt. Hugh Givens
Pvt. Arthur Johnson
Pvt. Rufus Pitts
Pvt. Olbert Dorsey
Pvt. William Hurdle
Pvt. Bee McKissic
Pvt. Jonas Paxton
Pvt. Harry Pearson
Pvt. Paul Turlington
Pvt. Reed J. Brown
Pvt. Paul Johnson
Pvt. Reedy Jones
Pvt. Alonzo Keller
Pvt. Leroy Lindsay
Pvt. Lavern Massey
Pvt. Josiah Nevees
Pvt. Ira Taylor
Pvt. Jesse Ferguson
Pvt. William M. Robinson
Awarded Distinguished Service Crosses by General Pershing:
Capt. William B. Crawford
Lieut. William J. Warfield
Sergt. Norman Henry
Sergt. Ralph Gibson
Sergt. Robert Barnes
Sergt. Charles T. Monroe
Sergt. Emmett Thompson
Sergt. Lester Fossie
Sergt. Matthew Jenkins
Pvt. Tom Powell (deceased)
Pvt. Andrew McCall
Pvt. Wm. Cuff (deceased)
Pvt. Spirley Irby
Pvt. Alfred Williamson
Pvt. William G. Hurdle
Pvt. Harry Pearson
Pvt. Alonzo Walton
Pvt. Leroy Davis
Pvt. James Fuquay
Pvt. Nathaniel C. White (deceased)
Pvt. Arthur Johnson
CHAPTER XVIII.
BLOOD OF THE BLACK AND WHITE IN ONE RIVULET OF DEPARTING LIFE.
LINCOLN'S PROPHETIC WORDS—NEGROES ALONGSIDE BEST SOLDIERS IN THE WORLD—HOLD THEIR OWN—THE 372ND REGIMENT—BRIGADED WITH VETERANS OF THE MARNE—FAMOUS "RED HAND" DIVISION—OCCUPY HILL 304 AT VERDUN—NINE DAYS BATTLE IN "BLOODY ARGONNE"—ADMIRATION OF THE FRENCH—CONSPICUOUS COMPONENTS OF 372ND—CHRONOLOGY OF SERVICE.
They will probably help in some trying time to keep the jewel of
liberty in the family of freedom.—Abraham Lincoln.
Prophetic words uttered by the Great Emancipator concerning the Negroes of America. The Negroes helped. They would have helped in much greater measure had they been given the opportunity.
Fighting for the first time on the soil of the world's most famous battleground—Europe—and for the first time brought into direct comparison with the best soldiers of the world, they proved themselves able to hold their own where tests of courage, endurance and aggressiveness were most severe.
They fought valiantly in the vicinity of Chateau Thierry, on the Vesle, on the Aillette, in the Argonne, and various other sectors; and in the final drive at Metz. They vanquished the Germans who opposed them; the heaviest fire of the enemy failing to stop their advance.
No part of the 93rd Division made a more gallant record than the 372nd regiment. Throughout its service in France it was a part of the famous French 157th Division known as the "Red Hand" division, under the command of General Goybet. It was this division which first opposed the Huns at the Marne in 1914. To brigade the Negro soldiers with such famous veterans was a rare mark of distinction and placed the black men on their mettle at all times.
The 372nd arrived in France on April 14 and went into training with the French eleven days later. On May 29 the regiment took over a sector in the Argonne and on June 20 was sent to the trenches just west of Verdun, occupying the famous battle-swept Hill 304, and sections at Four de Paris and Vauquois. On Hill 304 thousands of French and Germans had fallen as the battle line swung back and forward. That this hill was given to the Negroes to hold demonstrated that as soldiers they had already won the confidence of the French.
The regiment's first engagement was in the Champagne sector with Monthois as an objective. Here came the real test. The Negroes were eager to get into the fight. They cheered and sang when the announcement came that their opportunity had arrived—but the question was; back of their enthusiasm had they the staying qualities drilled into European troops through centuries of training in the science of warfare.
The answer was that some of the heaviest and most effective fighting of the day was done by the Negro regiment. From June 6th to September 10th, the 372nd was stationed in the bloody Argonne forest or in the vicinity of Verdun. On the night of September 25th they were summoned to take part in the Argonne offensive and were in that terrific drive, one of the decisive engagements of the war, from September 28th to October 7th.
In the nine days' battle the Negroes not only proved their fighting qualities in an ordeal such as men rarely have been called upon to face, but these qualities in deadly striking power and stubborn resistance in crises, stood out with such distinction that the coveted Croix de Guerre was bestowed upon the regiment.
The casualty list of the 372nd in this and previous fighting carried 500 names of men killed, wounded and gassed. For their achievements they were at once cited for bravery and efficiency in General Orders from the corps commander transmitted through their French divisional chief. It was dated October 8th and read as follows:
In transmitting you with legitimate pride the thanks and congratulations of General Garnier Duplessis, allow me, my dear friends of all ranks, American and French, to address you from the bottom of the heart of a chief and soldier, the expression of gratitude for the glory you have lent to our good 157th Division. During these nine days of hard fighting you have progressed eight kilometers (4.8 miles) through powerfully organized defenses, taken 600 prisoners, captured 15 heavy guns, 20 minenwerfers and nearly 150 machine guns, secured an enormous amount of engineering material and important supplies of artillery ammunition, and brought down by your fire three enemy aeroplanes. The "Red Hand" sign of the division, has, thanks to you, become a bloody hand which took the Boche by the throat and made him cry for mercy. You have well avenged our glorious dead. GOYBET.
In a communication delivered to the colonel of the regiment on October 1st, General Goybet said:
Your troops have been admirable in their attack. You must be proud of the courage of your officers and men, and I consider it an honor to have them under my command. The bravery and dash of your regiment won the admiration of the Moroccan Division, who are themselves versed in warfare. Thanks to you, during these hard days, the division was at all times in advance of all other divisions of the Army Corps. I am sending you all my thanks and beg you to transmit them to your subordinates. I call on your wounded. Their morale is higher than any praise.
The high honor of having its flag decorated with the Croix de Guerre was bestowed upon the regiment in the city of Brest just a few days before it embarked for the return to America. Vice Admiral Moreau, the French commander of the port of Brest, officially represented his government in, the ceremony. It was intended as France's appreciation of the services of these Negro fighters.
The decoration took place at one of the most prominent points in the city and was witnessed by thousands of French soldiers and civilians, as well as by sailors and soldiers of several nations.
One of the conspicuous components of the 372nd was the battalion, formed from what formerly was known as the 1st Separate Battalion of the District of Columbia National Guard. This famous old Washington organization has a long, proud history. Many of the members were veterans of the Spanish-American war. At the close of the European war, the organization numbered 480 men from the city of Washington, twenty of whom had been decorated one or more times for individual bravery under fire.
The battalion was first assembled at Potomac Park on the Speedway in Washington, shortly after the declaration of war. The men spent almost half a year at the camp, during which time they had the important assignment of guarding railway and highway bridges and adjacent points around the National Capitol. They also had the proud distinction of guarding the secret archives and departments at Washington, a duty which required unquestioned loyalty and for which the Negroes were well selected.
It seemed at the time an inconspicuous bit of war time soldiering, and they were long trying days to the men. But it was a service which required intelligence and nerve, as the likelihood was great that the enemy's agents in this country would strike in the vicinity of the seat of government. That such responsible duty was delegated to the Negroes was a high compliment from the military authorities. The manner in which they discharged the duty is shown in the fact that no enemy depredations of any consequence occurred in the vicinity of Washington.
After a period of training at Camp Stewart, Newport News, Va., the battalion was sent to France. Its colored commander was dead. Other colored officers were soon superseded, leaving the chaplain, Lieutenant Arrington Helm, the only colored officer attached to the organization.
Arriving at St. Nazaire, France, April 14, 1918, the battalion was soon sent to Conde en Barrois, where it underwent a period of intensive training with special preparation for sector warfare. The instructors were French. Lessons were hard and severe, but the instructors afterwards had much cause for pride in their pupils.
From the training camp the battalion and regiment proceeded to the Argonne front, at first settling in the vicinity of La Chalade. It was there the soldiers received their first taste of warfare, and it was there their first casualties occurred.
September 13th the outfit withdrew and retired to the rear for a special training prior to participation in the general attack from Verdun to the sea. On the morning of September 28th the District of Columbia battalion was sent to the front to relieve a regiment of famous Moroccan shock troops. It was at this time that the Champagne offensive took such a decided turn and the Washington men from that time on were taking a most active and important part in the general fighting. They distinguished themselves at Ripont just north of St. Menehold. They suffered greatly during their valiant support of an advanced position in that sector. Despite its losses the battalion fought courageously ahead. Prior to that it had occupied Hill 304 at Verdun. It had the distinction of being the first American outfit to take over that sector. The battalion fought doggedly and bravely at Ripont and succeeded in gaining much valuable territory, as well as enemy machine guns and supplies and ninety Hun prisoners.
Later the battalion held a front line position at Monthois, and it finally formed a salient in the line of the 9th French Army Corps. It was subjected to a long period of gruelling fire from the Boches' famous Austrian 88s and machine guns, and an incessant barrage from German weapons of high caliber.
The regiment moved south to the Vosges, where the battalion took up a position in sub-sector B, in front of St. Marie Aux Mines, where it was situated when word of the armistice came.
The record of the Negro warriors from the District of Columbia is very succinctly contained in a diary kept by Chaplain Lieutenant Arrington Helm. It relates the activities of the unit from the time they sailed from Newport News, March 30, 1917, until the end of the war. It is also a condensed account of the major operations of the 372nd regiment. The diary follows:
March 30—Embarked from Newport News, Va., for overseas duty on the U.S.S. Susquehanna.
April 17—Disembarked at St. Nazaire and marched to rest camp.
April 21—Left rest camp. Base section No. 1 and entrained for Vaubecourt.
April 23—Arrived at Vaubecourt at 7 p.m. Left Vaubecourt at 8:30 p.m. and hiked in a heavy rainstorm to Conde en Barrois.
April 25—Assigned to school under French officers.
May 26—Left Conde en Barrois at 8 a.m. in French motor trucks for Les Senades.
May 29—Our regiment today took over the sector designated as Argonne West.
May 31—In front line trenches.
June 20—Changed sectors, being assigned to the Vauquois sector, a sub-sector of the Verdun front. The 157th Division is stationed in reserve. The enemy is expected to attack.
July 13—Left for Hill 304 on the Verdun sector. Colonel Young has been relieved from command and Colonel Herschell Tupes has assumed command.
July 25—Left Sivry la Perche to take over Hill 304. Arrived at Hill 304 at 9 p.m.
August 16—Heavily shelled by regiment of Austrians opposing us. Two Americans and one Frenchman in the regiment killed.
August 20—Lieutenant James Sanford, Company A, captured by the Germans.
August 21—Fight by French and German planes over our lines. Very exciting.
September 8—Left Hill 304. Relieved by 129th infantry of the 33rd Division. Hiked in rain and mud for Brocourt.
September 14—Arrived at Juvigny at noon.
September 17—Left Juvigny for Brienne la Chateau at 8 p.m. Passed through Brienne la Chateau and reached Vitray la Francois this afternoon. The city is near the Marne.
September 18—Hiked to Jessecourt. All colored officers left the regiment today.
September 28—Arrived at Hans. The regiment was in action in the vicinity of Ripont. The third battalion took up a battle position near Ripont.
September 29—The third battalion went over the top. The Germans are in retreat. Our positions are being bombarded. The machine gun fire is terrific and 88 millimeter shells are falling as thick and fast as hailstones. We are unable to keep up with the enemy. This afternoon it is raining. This makes it bad for the wounded of whom there are many.
September 30—The first battalion is now on our right and advancing fast despite the rain and mud. The machine gun opposition is strenuous. Our casualties are small. We have captured a large number of prisoners.
October 1—Our advance is meeting with increased opposition. The enemy has fortified himself on a hill just ahead. The ground prevents active support by the French artillery. Still we are giving the Germans no rest. They are now retreating across the valley to one of their supply bases. The enemy is burning his supplies. We have taken the village at Ardeuil. Our losses have been heavy but the Germans have lost more in killed, wounded and taken prisoner than have our forces. On our right the first battalion has entered the village of Sechault, after some hard fighting by Company A.
October 4—The Second battalion is going in this morning. We are resting at Vieux three kilometers from Monthois, one of the enemy's railroad centers and base hospitals. The enemy is destroying supplies and moving wounded. We can see trains moving out of Monthois. Our artillery is bombarding all roads and railroads in the vicinity. The enemy's fire is intense. We expect a counterattack.
October 5—The enemy's artillery has opened up. We are on the alert. They have attacked and a good stiff hand to hand combat ensued. The Germans were driven back with heavy losses. We have taken many prisoners from about twelve different German regiments. We continued our advance and now are on the outskirts of Monthois.
October 6—The enemy is throwing a stiff barrage on the lines to our left where the 333rd French Infantry is attacking. We can see the Huns on the run. The liaison work of the 157th Division is wonderful; not the slightest gap has been left open. Our patrols entered Monthois early this morning and were driven out by machine gun fire, but returned with a machine gun and its crew. We will be relieved by the 76th infantry regiment at 8 p.m. We hiked over the ground we had fought so hard to take to Minnecourt, where the regiment proceeded to reorganize.
October 12—Left Valmy today and continued to Vignemont.
October 13—Arrived at Vignemont. Hiked fifteen kilometers to St. Leonard.
October 15—Left St. Leonard for Van de Laveline in the Vosges. We arrived at Van de Laveline at 10:15 p.m. and took over a sector.
November 11—A patrol of Company A took several prisoners from a German patrol. Received word of the signing of the armistice at 11 a.m. today. Martial music was played. The colors of the regiment are displayed in front of the post command.
It is related that the Washington fighters, as well as the other members of the 372nd regiment, received the news of the armistice with more of disappointment than joy, for they had made all preparations to advance with the French through Lorraine.
CHAPTER XIX.
COMRADES ON THE MARCH. BROTHERS IN THE SLEEP OF DEATH.
POLICY OF SUBSTITUTING WHITE OFFICERS—INJUSTICE TO CAPABLE NEGROES—DISAPPOINTMENT BUT NO OPEN RESENTMENT—SHOWED THEMSELVES SOLDIERS—INTENSER FIGHTING SPIRIT AROUSED—RACE FORGOTTEN IN PERILS OF WAR—BOTH WHITES AND BLACKS GENEROUS—AFFECTION BETWEEN OFFICERS AND MEN—NEGROES PREFERRED DEATH TO CAPTIVITY—OUTSTANDING HEROES OF 371ST AND 372ND—WINNERS OF CROSSES
Changing from Negro to white officers was in accordance with the military policy of the American Government; the generic inspiration and root being found in national prejudice, incident to the institution of slavery and the spirit of racial caste and narrowness, that still disgraces it. Doubt was pretended to be entertained of the ability of the colored man to command, and although there were not lacking champions for the policy of placing capable Negroes in command of Negro units, the weight of opinion; superinduced and fostered by racial prejudice, inclined to the opposite course.
In the light of the fine record made by such Negro officers as were given responsible commands, let us hope for the future honor of the nation; preening herself as being in the vanguard of the progressive commonwealths of the age, that a policy so unjust, narrow and unworthy will; as quickly as feasible be abandoned. In favor of Negro commanders is the additional testimony of high French generals, who knew no color distinction and could see no reason why a Negro should not command his own race troops if he had intelligence, courage and military skill. Indeed there are not wanting in the annals of French warfare brilliant examples where men of African blood commanded not only mulattoes and blacks, but heroic whites as well. It is not of record that those white Frenchmen showed any reluctance to follow such leaders or viewed them with less affection than they did their white officers.
One should not say that the Negro troops would have fought any better under the men of their own race. They achieved all possible glory as it was. They simply did their duty whether their officers were white or black. But that they did not fight any the less valiantly or efficiently under men of their own race is abundantly proven by the record of the 370th, or the 8th Illinois as the soldiers and their people still prefer to call it; and other units which had Negroes in responsible positions.
That there was disappointment, chagrin and anger in the rank and file of the Negro soldiers when their own officers were taken from them and white men substituted was natural and quite to be expected.
However, there was little open murmuring. While the Negro regarded the removal of the officers who had trained him and were, in a sense, his comrades, unfair and uncalled for, his fighting spirit, seemed to burn with an intenser heat; a determination to do his best to show and shame the spirit that robbed him of his own race leaders, and at the same time convince his white commanders of the stuff he was made of.
There was much disappointment in the ranks of the District of Columbia battalion, when the place of its old leader was taken by Major Clark L. Dickson, twenty-seven years of age, one of the youngest—if not the youngest—of battalion commanders in the American army. But their disappointment was soon allayed, for Major Dickson made an enviable record. He received the Croix de Guerre with this citation:
"Most efficient officer, valorous and intrepid, acting in dual capacity as regimental adjutant and operation officer. Displayed the utmost energy in issuing operation orders during the period between September 26th and October 6th, 1918, and especially distinguished himself in crossing a roadway under violent artillery fire to give assistance to a wounded brother officer. His clear view of the situation at all times and the accuracy with which he issued the necessary orders required of him, contributed largely to the success of the regiment."
Many of his men have stated that the citation only hinted at the real accomplishments of Major Dickson.
In the rigors of war and the perils of battle, men serving side by side, forget race. They simply realize that they are sharing hardships in common; are beset by a common foe and are the subjects of common dangers. Under such circumstances they become comrades. They learn to admire each other and willingly give to each other a full measure of praise and appreciation. The Negro soldiers generally, have expressed unstintedly, approbation and praise of their white officers; and the officers have been equally generous. Here is an appreciation by one of the officers of the 372nd regiment, Lieutenant Jerome Meyer of Washington, concerning the men of that organization:
"Casualties were heavy because the colored lads fought to the last, cheerfully accepting death in preference to captivity. Their adeptness in mastering the throwing of hand grenades and in operating the machine guns quickly won them the esteem of the French. Remember, that the colored lads were quite new to warfare. But in the Champagne they fought with a persistence and courage that enabled them to hold permanently the ground they gained and won for many of them their decorations. Not a few of the prisoners taken by the regiment declared that the Germans were in positive fear of the Negroes, who, they complained, would never quit even under terrible fire."
One of the outstanding heroes of the 372nd regiment was Sergeant Ira Payne, of 325 Fifteenth Street, Washington, D.C. He won the Croix de Guerre and the Distinguished Service Cross, and according to his comrades, "was not afraid of the devil himself." His story as related by himself on his return home, follows:
"During the fighting at Sechault the Germans were picking off the men of my platoon from behind a bush. They had several machine guns and kept up a deadly fire in spite of our rifle fire directed at the bush. We did our best to stop those machine guns, but the German aim became so accurate that they were picking off five of my men every minute. We couldn't stand for that.
"Well, I decided that I would get that little machine gun nest myself, and I went after it. I left our company, detoured, and, by a piece of luck got behind the bush. I got my rifle into action and 'knocked off' two of those German machine gunners. That ended it. The other Germans couldn't stand so much excitement. The Boches surrendered and I took them into our trenches as prisoners."
Not a long story for such an able and courageous exploit, yet it contains the germ for an epic recital on bravery.
First Sergeant John A. Johnson a colored member of Company B, was decorated with the Croix de Guerre with palm for exceptional bravery during a charge over the top, and for capturing single-handed, two Hun soldiers who later proved valuable as sources of information. Sergeant Johnson's home was at 1117 New Jersey Avenue, Washington, D.C. He was equally reticent about boasting of his deeds.
"Near Sechault during the time the District men were making a big effort to capture the town," said Johnson, "I was put in the front lines not fifty feet away from the enemy. A greater part of the time I was exposed to machine gun fire. I suppose I got my medal because I stuck to my men in the trenches and going over the top. Quite a few of the boys were bumped off at that point."
Another hero was Benjamin Butler, a private. The citation with his Croix de Guerre read: "For displaying gallantry and bravery and distinguishing himself in carrying out orders during the attack on Sechault, September 29, 1918, under heavy bombardment and machine gun fire."
"I did very little," Butler said. "During this fight with several others, I carried dispatches to the front line trenches from headquarters. They decorated me, I suppose, because I was the only one lucky enough to escape being knocked off."
Private Charles E. Cross of 1157 Twenty-first street, Washington, D.C. was awarded the Croix de Guerre, his citation reading: "For his speed and reliability in carrying orders to platoons in the first line under the enemy's bombardment on September 29, 1918." In some cases he had to creep across No Man's Land and a greater part of the time was directly exposed to the enemy's fire.
Private William H. Braxton, a member of the machine gun company of the regiment, whose residence was at 2106 Ward Place, Washington D.C., received the Croix de Guerre for "displaying zealous bravery."
"An enemy party," reads his citation, "having filtered through his platoon and attacked same in the rear. Private Braxton displayed marked gallantry in opening fire on the enemy and killing one and wounding several others, finally dispersing the entire party."
"The men who stuck by me when death stared them in their faces," said Braxton, "deserve just as much credit as I do. I was only the temporary leader of the men."
Corporal Depew Pryor, of Detroit, Michigan, was awarded the Medal Militaire, one of the most coveted honors within the gift of the French army, as well as the American Distinguished Service Cross. Pryor saw Germans capture a Frenchman. Grabbing an armful of grenades, he dashed upon the Germans killing, wounding or routing a party of ten and liberating the Frenchman.
Sergeant Bruce Meddows, 285 Erskine street, Detroit, Michigan, brought home the Croix de Guerre with silver star, which he won for bringing down an aeroplane with an automatic rifle.
To have forty-six horses which he drove in carting ammunition up to the front lines, killed in five months was the experience of Arthur B. Hayes, 174 Pacific Avenue, Detroit, Michigan. He returned home sick, with practically no wounds after risking his life daily for months.
Sergeant George H. Jordan of Company L, whose home was in Boston, Mass., won the Croix de Guerre and palm for taking charge of an ammunition train at Verdun, when the commanding officer had been killed by a shell. He saved and brought through eight of the seventeen wagons.
Lieutenant James E. Sanford of Washington, D.C., one of the early Negro officers of the 372nd, was captured in Avocourt Woods near Verdun, August 19 , 918. He was endeavoring to gain a strategic position with his men when he was met by an overpowering force concealed behind camouflaged outposts, he was taken to Karlsruhe and transferred to three other German prison camps, in all of which he suffered from bad and insufficient food and the brutality of the German guards.
| U.S. FLAG AND 369TH REGIMENT FLAG, DECORATED WITH CROIX DE GUERRE AT UNGERSHEIM, ALSACE, FRANCE. |
| THE 369TH INFANTRY IN REST BILLETS AT MAFFRECOURT, FRANCE. HENRY JOHNSON. ONE OF FOREMOST HEROES OF THE WAR. WITH HIS FAMOUS SMILE. IN RIGHT FOREGROUND. |
| THE JOKE SEEMS TO BE ON THE LAD AT THE LEFT. |
| A FEW OF THE MANY GUNS CAPTURED FROM THE GERMANS. |
| AMERICANS IN PRISON CAMP. PRISONERS ARE AMUSED LISTENERS WHILE JOVIAL NEGRO FIGHTER RELATES AN EPISODE OF WAR LIFE TO A GERMAN OFFICER. |
| ARTHUR JOHNSON, A DOUGHBOY OF THE 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY), WINNER OF CROIX DE GUERRE AND THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS. |
| GAME PROBABLY IS STRIP POKER AS TWO MEN HAVE ALREADY DISCARDED THEIR SHIRTS. ONE HAS A LARGE SAFETY PIN FOR INSTANT USE. BUT THEN, NOTE THE HORSESHOE ON HIS SHOE. |
| KITCHEN POLICE ON BOARD THE CELTIC. THERE IS ALWAYS SOME DUTY FOR UNCLE SAM'S MEN ON LAND OR SEA. |
| MINSTRELS ON BOARD THE "SAXONIA." TYPICAL GROUP ORGANIZED ON THE TRANSPORTS TO ENTERTAIN WOUNDED BOYS RETURNING FROM FRANCE. |
| FOUR CAVERNS, STUDDED WITH IVORY, FURNISH HARMONY IN THE TRAINING CAMP. |
| LIEUT. MAXOM AND HIS BAND, WHO SAW DISTINGUISHED SERVICE IN FRANCE. |
| GROUP ON EDGE OF PIER WAITING TO ENTRAIN FOR DEMOBILIZATION CAMP. PART OF THE 351ST ARTILLERY UNIT SPECIALLY MENTIONED BY GENERAL PERSHING. |
| SALVATION ARMY LASSIES HANDING OUT CHOCOLATE TO TWO SOLDIERS OF 351ST ARTILLERY. . |
| HEROES OF 351ST ARTILLERY GREETING FRIENDS AFTER DEBARKING FROM THE TRANSPORT LOUISVILLE. |
Major Johnson led his battalion of the 372nd in an attack in the Champagne which resulted in the capture of a German trench, 100 prisoners, an ammunition dump, thirty machine guns and two howitzers. He received the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor decoration from the French, as well as the Distinguished Service Cross from General Pershing.
Company B of the 372nd, took at Sechault in a raid, seventy-five prisoners and four machine guns.
One of the distinguished units of the 372nd, was the old and famous Company L of the Massachusetts National Guard. This unit was assembled at Camp Devens and left soon after the declaration of war for the south. It was stationed for a time at Newport News, and was then incorporated with the 372nd, went to France with that organization and saw its share of service throughout the campaign. Other distinguished units were the well known Ninth Ohio Battalion National Guard, and National Guard companies from Connecticut, Maryland and Tennessee.
Brigaded with the 372nd in the French "Red Hand" division, was another Negro regiment, the 371st, made up principally of selectives from South Carolina. It was commanded by Colonel P.L. Miles. Among the officers were Major Thomas Moffatt and Captain William R. Richey from Charleston.
The regiment saw practically the same service as the 372nd under General Goybet, was mentioned in divisional and special orders, was decorated by Vice Admiral Moreau, Maritime Prefect of Brest, at the same time the honor was conferred on the 372nd. The two regiments were together for seven months. The men of the 371st especially distinguished themselves at Crete des Observatories, Ardeuil and in the plains of Monthois. Seventy-one individual members received the Croix de Guerre and some the Distinguished Service Cross. Among the latter were the following:
Sergeant Lee R. McClelland, Medical Detachment, home address, Boston, Mass., for extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 30, 1918.
Corporal Sandy E. Jones, Company C, home address Sumter, S.C.; for extraordinary heroism in action in the Champagne, September 28 and 29, 1918.
Private Bruce Stoney, Medical Detachment, home address, Allendale, S.C.; for extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 29, 1918.
Private Charlie Butler, Machine Gun Company, home address, McComb, Miss.; for extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 29, 1918.
Private Willie Boston, Machine Gun Company, home address, Roopville, Ga.; for extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 29, 1918.
Private Tillman Webster, Machine Gun Company, home address, Alexandria, La.; for extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 29, 1918.
Private Ellison Moses, Company C, home address, Mayesville, S.C.; for extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 30, 1918.
Private Hunius Diggs, Company G, home address, Lilesville, N.C.; for extraordinary heroism in action near Ardeuil, September 30, 1918.
The two regiments, besides the regimental Croix de Guerre, awarded for gallantry in the Champagne, won individual decorations amounting in the aggregate to 168 Croix de Guerre, 38 Distinguished Service Crosses, four Medal Militaire and two crosses of the Legion of Honor.
An incident of the service of the 371st and particularly emphasizing the honesty and faithfulness of the Negro Y.M.C.A. and the regiment's medical detachment, was the case of Prof. H.O. Cook, a teacher in the Lincoln High School at Kansas City, Mo. Professor Cook, a Y.M.C.A. man attached to the sector which the 371st was holding during the great offensive in September, went with the men to the front line trenches and rendered valuable aid among the wounded until he was gassed. Owing to the fact that there were no facilities at that particular time, for the safe keeping of money and valuables, he carried on his person more than 150,000 francs (in normal times $30,000) which boys in the regiment had given him to keep when they went over the top.
After being gassed he was walked over for an hour before being discovered. The money was found and sent by Sergeant Major White also colored, to general headquarters at Chaumont. When Prof. Cook was discharged from the hospital and made inquiry about the money, it was returned to him. Not a cent was missing. Colonel Miles recommended that General Pershing award Prof. Cook a Distinguished Service Cross.
The men of the 93rd Division and other Negro divisions and organizations will never forget their French comrades and friends. It was a lad of the 371st regiment who wrote the following to his mother. The censor allowed the original to proceed but copied the extract as a document of human interest; in that it was a boyish and unconscious arraignment of his own country—for which he with many thousands of others, were risking their lives.
"Mammy,
these French people don't bother with no color line business. They
treat us so good that the only time I ever know I'm colored is when
I look in the glass."
The 371st regiment had 123 men killed in action and about 600 wounded or gassed. The casualties of the 372nd consisted of 91 killed in action and between 600 and 700 wounded or gassed. Like the other Negro regiments of the 93rd Division, there was comparatively little sickness among the men, outside of that induced by hard service conditions.
HEROES OF THE 371ST AND 372ND.
The names listed below are cross and medal winners. The exploits of some are told in detail in the chapters devoted to their regiments. There are many known to have received decorations whose names are not yet on the records.
Cross of the Legion of Honor
372ND REGIMENT.
Major Johnson
Medal Militaire
372ND REGIMENT.
Corp. Depew Pryor Corp. Clifton Morrison
Pvt. Clarence Van Allen
Distinguished Service Cross
371ST REGIMENT.
Sergt Lee R. McClelland Pvt. Willie Boston
Corp. Sandy E. Jones Pvt. Tillman Webster
Pvt. Bruce Stoney Pvt. Ellison Moses
Pvt. Charlie Butler Pvt. Hunius Diggs
372ND REGIMENT.
Major Johnson Sergt. Ira M. Payne
Corp. Depew Pryor
Croix de Guerre
372ND REGIMENT.
Col. Herschell Tupes Sergt. Homer Crabtree
Major Johnson Sergt. Norman Winsmore
Major Clark L. Dickson Sergt. William A. Carter
Lieut. Jerome Meyer Sergt. George H. Jordan
Sergt. Major Samuel B. Webster Sergt. Bruce Meddows
Sergt. John A. Johnson Sergt. Harry Gibson
Sergt. Ira M. Payne Corp. John R. White
Sergt James A. Marshall Corp. Benjamin Butler
Sergt. Norman Jones Corp. March Graham
Pvt. Warwick Alexander Pvt. Joseph McKamey
Pvt. George H. Budd Pvt. William Dickerson
Pvt. Thomas A. Frederick Pvt. William Johnson
Pvt. John S. Parks Pvt. Walter Dennis
Pvt. Charles H. Murphy Pvt. Charles E. Cross
Pvt. William N. Mathew Pvt. William H. Braxton
Pvt. Ernest Payne Pvt. Nunley Matthews
CHAPTER XX.
MID SHOT AND SHELL.
IN TRENCH AND VALLEY—THE OPEN PLAIN—ON MOUNTAIN TOP—IN NO MAN'S LAND—TWO CLASSES OF NEGRO SOLDIERS CONSIDERED—TRAINED GUARDSMEN AND SELECTIVES—GALLANT 92ND DIVISION—RACE CAN BE PROUD OF IT—HAD SIX HUNDRED NEGRO OFFICERS—SETS AT REST ALL DOUBTS—OPERATIONS OF THE DIVISION—AT PONT A MOUSSON—GREAT BATTLE OF METZ—SOME REFLECTIONS—CASUALTIES CONSIDERED
History, as made in France by the Negro soldier, falls naturally into two divisions; that which was made by the bodies of troops which had an organization prior to the war, and whether trained or not, could lay claim to an understanding of the first principles of military science; and that made by the raw selectives—the draft soldiers—to whom the art of war was a closed book, something never considered as likely to affect their scheme of life and never given more than a passing thought.
We have followed the first phase of it in the wonderful combat-records of the colored National Guard, its volunteers and recruits. We have seen them like a stone wall bearing the brunt of attack from the finest shock troops of the Kaiser's Army. We have seen them undaunted by shot and shell, advancing through the most terrific artillery fire up to that time ever concentrated; rout those same troops, hold their ground and even advance under the most powerful counter attack which the enemy could deliver. We have followed them from trench to plain, to valley and into the mountains and read the story of their battles under all those varying conditions. We have pitied them in their trials, sympathized with their wounded and ill, been saddened by their lists of dead and finally have seen the survivors come home; have seen them cheered and feted as no men of their race ever were cheered and feted before.
Much of the nation's pride in them was due to the fact that it knew them as fighting men; at least as men who were organized for fighting purposes before the war. When they marched away and sailed we had confidence in them; were proud of their appearance, their spirit, their willingness to serve. The country felt they would not fail to clothe with luster their race and maintain the expectations of them. That they fulfilled every expectation and more; had come back loaded with honors; finer, manlier men than ever, increased the nation's pride in them.
Now we come to a contemplation of the other class; the men who knew nothing of military life or military matters; who, most of them, wished to serve but never dreamed of getting the opportunity. Many of them employed in the cotton fields or residing in the remote corners of the country, hardly knew there was a war in progress. Some of them realized that events out of the ordinary were transpiring through the suddenly increased demand for their labor and the higher wages offered them. But that Uncle Sam would ever call them to serve in his army and even to go far across seas to a shadowy—to them, far off land, among a strange people; speaking a strange language, had never occurred to most of them even in dreams.
Then all of a sudden came the draft summons. The call soon penetrated to the farthest nooks of our great land; surprised, bewildered but happy, the black legions began to form.
It already has been noted that with the exception of the 371st regiment, which went to the 93rd Division, the selectives who saw service in the fighting areas, were all in the 92nd Division. This was a complete American division, brigaded with its own army, commanded through the greater part of its service by Major General Ballou and towards the end by Major General Martin.
While the 92nd Division as a whole, did not get into the heavy fighting until the last two weeks of the war, individual units had a taste of it earlier. Service which the division as a whole did see, was some of the most severe of the war. The Negroes of the country may well be proud of the organization, for its record was good all the way through and in the heavy fighting was characterized by great gallantry and efficiency.
One of the outstanding features of the division was the fact that it had about six hundred Negro commissioned officers. Its rank and file of course, was composed exclusively of Negro soldiers. The fine record of the division must forever set at rest any doubts concerning the ability of Negro officers, and any questions about Negro soldiers following and fighting under them. It was a splendid record all the way through, and Negro officers rendered excellent service at all times and under the most trying circumstances. Many of these officers, be it understood, were entirely new to military life. Some had seen service in the National Guard and some had come up from the ranks of the Regular Army, but the majority of them were men taken from civilian life and trained and graduated from the officer's training camps at Fort Des Moines, Camp Taylor, Camp Hancock and Camp Pike. A few received commissions from the officers' training schools in France.
The 92nd Division was composed of the 183rd Infantry Brigade, consisting of the 365th and 366th Infantry Regiments and the 350th Machine Gun Battalion; the 184th Infantry Brigade, composed of the 367th and 368th Infantry Regiments and the 351st Machine Gun Battalion; the 167th Artillery Brigade consisting of the 349th, 350th and 351st Artillery Regiments; and the 349th Machine Gun Battalion, the 317th Trench Mortar Battalion, the 317th Engineers' Regiment, the 317th Engineers' Train, the 317th Ammunition Train, the 317th Supply Train, the 317th Train Headquarters, the 92nd Military Police Company; and the Sanitary Train, comprising the 365th, 366th 367th and 368th Field Hospital and Ambulance Companies.
Briefly summarized, the operations of the 92nd Division may be stated as follows: Arrived in France the summer of 1918. After the usual period of intensive training in the back areas it was divided into several groups for training alongside the French in front line trenches.
In August they took over a sector in the St. Die region near the Lorraine border. September 2nd they repulsed an enemy raid at LaFontenelle. On September 26th the division was a reserve of the First Army Corps in the first phase of the Meuse-Argonne offensive.
On October 10th they moved to the Marbache sector in the vicinity of Pont a Mousson. November 10th they advanced, reaching Bois Frehaut and Bois Cheminot, capturing 710 prisoners. These positions were being consolidated on November 11th when the armistice put an end to the fighting. Of course there was fighting by some units of the division from the time early in the summer when they went into the trenches.
When the Marbache sector was taken over by the 92nd Division, "No Man's Land" was owned by the Germans and they were aggressively on the offensive. They held Belie Farm, Bois de Tete D'Or, Bois Frehaut, Voivrotte Farm, Voivrotte Woods, Bois Cheminot and Moulin Brook. Raids and the aggressiveness of the patrols of the 92nd Division changed the complexion of things speedily. They inflicted many casualties on the Germans and took many prisoners.
Each of the places named above was raided by the doughty black men as was also Epley, while their patrols penetrated north nearly to the east and west line through Pagny. The Germans were driven north beyond Frehaut and Voivrotte to Cheminot bridge. In their desperation they tried to check the Americans by an attempt to destroy the bridge over the Seille river. They succeeded in flooding a portion of the adjacent country; these tactics demonstrating that they could not withstand the Negro soldiers. West of the Seille river excellent results followed the energetic offensive, the Germans losing heavily in killed, wounded and prisoners. In nearly every instance the raids were conducted by Negro line officers.
Up to this time the division as a whole, had never been in a major battle. The only regiment in it that had seen a big engagement was the 368th infantry, which took part in the action in the Argonne Forest in September.
The division's chance came in the great drive on Metz, just before the end of the war. They were notified at 4 o'clock Sunday morning, November 10th. The motto "See it through" of the 367th infantry, known as the "Buffaloes," echoed through the whole division.
They began their advance at 7 o'clock from Pont a Mousson. Before them was a valley commanded by the heavy guns of Metz and by innumerable nests of German machine guns. The Negroes seemed to realize that here for the first time was the opportunity to show their mettle—that for the first time they were going to battle as a division. A sense of race pride seemed to stir and actuate every man. Here was a chance to show what this great body, composed of cotton-field Negroes, of stevedores, mechanics, general laborers, trades, professional men and those from all walks of civilian life who but recently had taken up the profession of arms, could do. An opportunity to enact a mighty role was upon them, and they played it well.
Not only were the black infantry and machine gun units up at the front; in the thickest of it, but the artillery—the 167th Brigade—was on the line behaving like veterans. They laid down a barrage for the infantry that was wonderfully effective. 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 comrades.
It was a glorious day for the division. The casualty roll was heavy for the sector was strongly fortified and the enemy made a most determined resistance. Metz is considered by experts to be the strongest fortified inland city in the world.
Indeed it is almost as strong, if not quite so, as Gibraltar or the Dardanelles. But from the way the Americans hammered at it, military authorities say that only the signing of the armistice prevented the taking of it by assault. As it was, the close of fighting saw Negro troops on German soil.
The fortitude and valor of the Negroes, especially in the action against Metz, won them high praise from their commanding officers. Entire units were decorated by the French with the Croix de Guerre. Fourteen Negro officers and forty-three enlisted men were cited for bravery in action and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by General Pershing. This is a splendid showing considering that up to November 10th, 1918, the greater portion of the division had to content itself with making daily and nightly raids on the German front line trenches to harass the foe and capture prisoners. This, however, required daring and courage and, in some ways, was more trying and dangerous than being in a big engagement. A total of 57 citations by the American military authorities, besides honors bestowed by the French, is a splendid showing for a division which won most of its honors during its first great baptism of fire.
The casualties of the 92nd Division amounted to an aggregate of 1,511 of all kinds. Six officers were killed in action and one died from wounds. Among the non-commissioned officers and privates 103 were killed in action, 50 died from wounds, 47 were missing in action and five were taken prisoner. Forty enlisted men died from disease. Sixteen officers and 543 enlisted men were wounded; thirty-nine officers and 661 enlisted men were gassed. The number of gassed was unusually large, a reason being, perhaps, that the men in the front line trenches were exceptionally daring in making raids into the enemy's territory. One of the main reliances of the Germans against these raids was poison gas, a plentiful supply of which they kept on hand at all times, and which they could utilize quickly and with great facility.
The small number in this division who were taken prisoner by the enemy verifies the assertion made before that the Negro would sacrifice his life or submit to deadly wounds rather than be captured. When only five out of a total of about 30,000 fell into the Germans' hands alive, it gives some idea of the desperate resistance they put up. Perhaps the stories they had heard about the wanton slaughter of prisoners by the Hun or the brutalities practiced on those who were permitted to live, had something to do with the attitude of the Negroes against being captured; but a more likely solution is that their very spirit to advance and win and to accept death in preference to being conquered, caused the small number in the prisoner list, and the large number in the lists of other casualties.
Considering the desperate advance made by the 92nd Division from Pont a Mousson the morning of November 10th, through a valley swept by the tremendous guns of Metz and thousands of machine guns, the casualty list really is slight.
Advancing over such dangerous ground to gain their objective, it appears miraculous that the division was not wiped out, or at least did not suffer more heavily than it did. An explanation of this seeming miracle has been offered in the rapidity of the advance.
No two battles are ever fought alike. Offensives and defensives will be planned along certain lines. Then will suddenly obtrude the element of surprise or something that could not be foreseen or guarded against, which will overturn the most carefully prepared plans.
No soldiers in the world were ever trained to a higher degree of efficiency than the Germans. Mathematical precision ruled everywhere; the ultimate detail had been considered; and all students of military matters were forced to admit that they had reduced warfare seemingly, to an exact science. But it was a mistake. The Germans were the victims of surprise times innumerable. Some of the greatest events of the war, notably the first defeat at the Marne in its strategic features, was a complete surprise to them.
Everything about war, can, it seems, be reduced to a science except strategy. Certain rules can be laid down governing strategy, but they do not always work. Generally speaking, it is psychology; something which exists in the other man's mind. To read the other man's mind or make a good guess at it, defeats the most scientifically conceived strategy. Napoleon outwitted the best military brains and was himself the greatest strategist of his time, because he invariably departed from fixed military customs and kept his opponent entirely at sea regarding what he was doing or intended to do. Very seldom did he do the thing which his enemy thought he would do; which seemed most likely and proper according to military science. He thought and acted quickly in crises, relied constantly on the element of surprise and invented new strategy on the spur of the moment.
It was the big new strategy, the big new surprises, with which the Germans found themselves unable to cope. The strategy of Foch which developed in the offensive shortly after the battle of Chateau Thierry in July and was well under way in the early part of August, was a surprise to the Germans. Pershing surprised them in his St. Mihiel and following operations, especially the battles of Argonne Forest, and had a greater surprise in store for them in the Lorraine campaign had the war continued.
Perhaps the Germans figured at Metz, that owing to the extreme difficulty of the ground to be covered, their strong fortifications and great gun power, any advance, especially of Negro troops, would be slow. They accordingly timed their artillery action and their defensive measures for a slow assault.
But they were surprised again. Officers could not hold back the Negro fighters and German guns and soldiers could not stop them. They plunged on to Preny and Pagny, and they rushed into the Bois Frehaut, and held for thirty-six hours, this place from which picked Moroccan and Senegalese troops were forced to retreat in ten minutes after they had entered it. The Bois Frehaut was an inferno under the murderous fire of the Germans. Holding it for thirty-six hours and remaining there until hostilities ceased, it is surprising that the casualty list of the 92nd Division did not amount to many times 1,511.
It is not intended to convey the impression that the Negroes were entirely responsible for the victory before Metz. Many thousands of white troops participated and fought just as valiantly. But this History concerns itself with the operations of Negro soldiers and with bringing out as many of the details of those operations as the records at this time will supply.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE LONG, LONG TRAIL.
OPERATIONS OF 368TH INFANTRY—NEGROES FROM PENNSYLVANIA, MARYLAND AND SOUTH—IN ARGONNE HELL—DEFEAT IRON CROSS VETERANS—VALIANT PERSONAL EXPLOITS—LIEUTENANT ROBERT CAMPBELL—PRIVATE JOHN BAKER—OPERATIONS OF 367TH INFANTRY—"MOSS'S BUFFALOES"—365TH AND 366TH REGIMENTS—THE GREAT DIVIDE—THEIR SOULS ARE MARCHING ON—PRAISED BY PERSHING—SOME CITATIONS.
When the history of the 92nd Division is written in detail, much prominence will necessarily be given to the operations of the 368th Infantry. This unit was composed of Negroes mostly from Pennsylvania, Maryland and the Southern states. They went abroad happy, light-hearted boys to whom any enterprise outside of their regular routine was an adventure. They received adventure a plenty; enough to last most of them for their natural lives. They returned matured, grim-visaged men who had formed a companionship and a comradeship with death. For months they were accustomed to look daily down the long, long trail leading to the Great Divide. They left behind many who traveled the trail and went over the Divide. Peril was their constant attendant, danger so familiar that they greeted it with a smile.
It has been noted that this unit of the division saw real service prior to the campaign leading from Pont Mousson to Metz. Their first action was in August in the Vosges sector. This was largely day and night raiding from front line trenches. A month later they were in that bit of hell known as the Argonne Forest, where on September 26th, they covered themselves with glory.
They were excellent soldiers with a large number of Negro officers, principally men who had been promoted from the ranks of non-commissioned officers in the Regular Army.
Their commander during the last six weeks of the war, the time when they saw most of their hard service, was Lieutenant Colonel T.A. Rothwell, a Regular Army officer. He went abroad as commander of a machine gun battalion in the 80th Division, later was transferred to the 367th infantry and finally to the 368th. Many of the officers of the latter organization had served under Colonel Rothwell as non-commissioned officers of the Regular Army. He paid them a high tribute in stating that they proved themselves excellent disciplinarians and leaders. He was also very proud of the enlisted men of the regiment.
"The Negroes proved themselves especially good soldiers during gas attacks," said Colonel Rothwell, "which were numerous and of a very treacherous nature. During the wet weather the gas would remain close to the ground and settle, where it was comparatively harmless, but with the breaking out of the sun it would rise in clouds suddenly and play havoc with the troops."
Green troops as they were, it is related that there was a little confusion on the occasion of their first battle, when the regiment encountered barbed wire entanglements for the first time at a place in the woods where the Germans had brought their crack gunners to keep the line. But there was no cowardice and the confusion soon subsided. They quickly got used to the wire, cut their way through and cleaned out the gunners in record time.
Every one of the enemy picked up in that section of the woods was wearing an iron cross; the equivalent of the French Croix de Guerre or the American Distinguished Service Cross. It showed that they belonged to the flower of the Kaiser's forces. But they were no match for the "Black Devils," a favorite name of the Germans for all Negro troops, and applied by them with particular emphasis to these troops and others of the 92nd Division.
On October 10th, the regiment went to Metz and took part in all the operations leading up to that campaign and the close of the war. In the Argonne, before Metz and elsewhere, they were subjected constantly to gas warfare. They behaved remarkably well under those attacks.
Major Benjamin P. Morris, who commanded the Third Battalion, has stated that in the drive which started September 26th, he lost nearly 25 per cent of his men through wounding or gassing. The battalion won eight Distinguished Service Crosses in that attack and the Major was recommended for one of the coveted decorations.
The regiment lost forty-four men killed in action, thirteen died from wounds and eight were missing in action. The list of wounded and gassed ran over three hundred.
Individual exploits were quite numerous and were valiant in the extreme. Here is an instance:
It became necessary to send a runner with a message to the left flank of the American firing line. The way was across an open field offering no covering or protection of any kind, and swept by heavy enemy machine gun fire.
Volunteers were called for. A volunteer under such circumstances must be absolutely fearless. The slightest streak of timidity or cowardice would keep a man from offering his services. Private Edward Saunders of Company I, responded for the duty. Before he had gone far a shell cut him down. As he fell he cried to his comrades:
"Someone come and get this message. I am wounded."
Lieutenant Robert L. Campbell, a Negro officer of the same company sprang to the rescue. He dashed across the shell-swept space, picked up the wounded private, and, with the Germans fairly hailing bullets around him, carried his man back to the lines. There was the case of an officer who considered it more important to save the life of a heroic, valuable soldier than to speed a message. Besides the wounded man could proceed no farther and there were other ways of getting the message through and it was sent.
| WOUNDED NEGRO SOLDIERS CONVALESCING IN BASE HOSPITAL. IN THE PICTURE ARE TWO COLORED WOMEN AMBULANCE DRIVERS. |
| SAMPLE OF IDENTITY CARD CARRIED BY SOLDIERS OF THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES. EACH IDENTIFICATION WAS PRINTED IN ENGLISH AND FRENCH AND INCLUDED A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE OWNER. THE NUMBER ON THE CARD CORRESPONDING WITH A METAL TAG ON THE MAN'S ARM. |
| NEGRO OFFICERS OF 366TH INFANTRY WHO ACHIEVED DISTINCTION IN FRANCE. LEFT TO RIGHT. LIEUT C.L. ABBOTT, CAPT. JOS. L. LOWE, LIEUT. A.R. FISHER, CAPT. E. WHITE. |
| DISTINGUISHED OFFICERS OF THE 6TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY). FIRST ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT, CAPT. D.J. WARNER, A.H. JONES. LIEUT. E.G. WHITE, LIEUT. J.D. RAINEY, LIEUT. BERNARD McGWIN. SECOND ROW—LIEUT. LUTHER J. HARRIS, LIEUT. ALVIN M. JORDAN, LIEUT. E.L. GOODLETT, LIEUT. J.T. BAKER. THIRD ROW, LIEUT. F.J. JOHNSON, LIEUT. JEROME L. HUBERT. |
| DISTINGUISHED OFFICERS OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY). LEFT TO RIGHT, LIEUT. LAWSON PRICE, LIEUT. O.A. BROWNING, LIEUT. W. STEARLES, CAPT. LEWIS E. JOHNSON, LIEUT. EDMOND G. WHITE, LIEUT. F.W. BATES, LIEUT. E.F.E. WILLIAMS, LIEUT. BINGA DISMOND. |
| COLONEL CHARLES YOUNG, RANKING NEGRO OFFICER OF THE REGULAR ARMY. ONE OF THREE WHO HAVE BEEN COMMISSIONED FROM THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY AT WEST POINT. A VETERAN OFFICER OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR AND WESTERN CAMPAIGNS. DETAILED TO ACTIVE SERVICE, CAMP GRANT, ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS. DURING THE WORLD WAR. |
| TWO NOTED PARTISANS OF THE ALLIES IN THE GREAT WORLD WAR: MRS. J.H.H. SENGSTACKE, AND HER FAMOUS SON, ROBERT SENGSTACKE ABBOTT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF THE CHICAGO DEFENDER. IT WAS MRS. SENGSTACKE WHO, WHEN THE DEFENDER HAD REACHED THE ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MARK OF ITS CIRCULATION, STARTED THE PRESS THAT RAN OFF THE EDITION, FLAMING WITH CHEER AN INSPIRATION FOR "OUR BOYS" IN THE TRENCHES "OVER THERE." |
| REUNITED AND HAPPY. LIEUT. COLONEL OTIS B. DUNCAN OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY), WHO CAME OUT OF THE WAR THE RANKING NEGRO IN THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES; HIS FATHER AND MOTHER. |
| MISS VIVIAN HARSH, MEMBER CHICAGO CHAPTER OF CANTEEN WORKERS, PASSING OUT SMOKES TO RETURNED SOLDIERS OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY). |
| OFFICERS OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY). DECORATED BY FRENCH FOR GALLANTRY IN ACTION. LEFT TO RIGHT. LIEUT. THOMAS A. PAINTER, CAPT. STEWART ALEXANDER, LIEUT. FRANK ROBINSON. |
For the valor shown both were cited for the Distinguished Service Cross. Lieutenant Campbell's superiors also took the view that in that particular instance the life of a brave soldier was of more importance than the dispatch of a message, for as a result, he was recommended for a captaincy.
Another single detail taken from the same Company I:
John Baker, having volunteered, was taking a message through heavy shell fire to another part of the line. A shell struck his hand, tearing away part of it, but the Negro unfalteringly went through with the message.
He was asked why he did not seek aid for his wounds before completing the journey. His reply was:
"I thought that the message might contain information that would save lives."
Has anything more heroic and unselfish than that ever been recorded? Nature may have, in the opinions of some, been unkind to that man when she gave him a dark skin, but he bore within it a soul, than which there are none whiter; reflecting the spirit of his Creator, that should prove a beacon light to all men on earth, and which will shine forever as a "gem of purest ray serene" in the Unmeasurable and great Beyond.
Under the same Lieut. Robert Campbell, a few colored soldiers armed only with their rifles, trench knives, and hand grenades, picked up from shell holes along the way, were moving over a road in the Chateau Thierry sector. Suddenly their course was crossed by the firing of a German machine gun. They tried to locate it by the sound and direction of the bullets, but could not. To their right a little ahead, lay a space covered with thick underbrush; just back of it was an open field. Lieutenant Campbell who knew by the direction of the bullets that his party had not been seen by the Germans, ordered one of his men with a rope which they happened to have, to crawl to the thick underbrush and tie the rope to several stems of the brush; then to withdraw as fast as possible and pull the rope making the brush shake as though men were crawling through it. The purpose was to draw direct fire from the machine gun, and by watching, locate its position.
The ruse worked. Lieutenant Campbell then ordered three of his men to steal out and flank the machine gun on one side, while he and two others moved up and flanked it on the other side.
The brush was shaken more violently by the concealed rope. The Germans, their eyes focused on the brush, poured a hail of bullets into it. Lieutenant Campbell gave the signal and the flanking party dashed up; with their hand grenades they killed four of the Boches and captured the remaining three—also the machine gun. There was an officer who could think and plan in an emergency, and evolve strategy like a Napoleon.
First Lieutenant Edward Jones, of the Medical Corps of the regiment, was cited for heroism at Binarville. On September 27th 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 man, a machine gun bullet passed between his arms and body and a man was killed within a few yards of him.
In a General Order issued by the commander of the division, General Martin, Second Lieutenant Nathan O. Goodloe, one of the Negro officers of the regimental Machine Gun Company, was commended for excellent work and meritorious conduct. During the operations in the Argonne forest, Lieutenant Goodloe was attached to the Third Battalion. In the course of action it became necessary to reorganize the battalion and withdraw part of it to a secondary position. He carried out the movement under a continual machine gun fire from the enemy. General Martin said: "Lieutenant Goodloe's calm courage set an example that inspired confidence in his men."
General Martin also cited for meritorious conduct near Vienne le Chateau, Tom Brown, a wagoner, who as driver of an ammunition wagon, displayed remarkable courage, coolness and devotion to duty under fire. Brown's horses had been hurled into a ditch by shells and he was injured. In spite of his painful wounds he worked until he had extricated his horses from the ditch, refusing to quit until he had completed the work even though covered with blood from his hurts.
Private Joseph James of the 368th, received the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in action, September 27th, in the Argonne forest.
A regiment of the 92nd Division which gained distinction, received its share of decorations and was mentioned several times in General Orders from the high officers, was the 367th Infantry, "Moss's Buffaloes." This title was attached to them while they were undergoing training at Yaphank, N.Y., under Colonel James A. Moss of the Regular Army. It stuck to the outfit all through the war and became a proud title, a synonym of courage and fighting strength.
The 367th went to France in June 1918 and spent two months training back of the lines. It was sent to supporting trenches August 20th and finally to the front line at St. Die, near Lorraine border. It remained there until September 21st and was then transferred to the St. Mihiel salient where Pershing delivered his famous blow, the one that is said to have broken the German heart. It was at any rate, a blow that demonstrated the effectiveness of the American fighting forces. In a few days the overseas commander of the Yankee troops conquered a salient which the enemy had held for three years and which was one of the most menacing positions of the entire line.
On October 9th, the regiment was sent to the left bank of the Moselle, where it remained until the signing of the armistice.
Colonel Moss was taken from combatant duty early in October to become an instructor at the training school at Gondrecourt, the regiment passing under the command of Colonel W.J. Doane.
Composed of selectives mostly from the state of New York, the regiment was trained with a view to developing good assault and shock troops, which they were.
Casualties of all descriptions in the 367th, amounted to about ten per cent of the regimental strength. A number of decorations for personal bravery were bestowed, and the regiment as a whole was cited and praised by General Pershing in his review of the 92nd Division at Le Mans.
The entire First Battalion of the 367th, was cited for bravery and awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French. The citation was made by the French Commission because of the splendid service and bravery shown by the regiment in the last engagement of the war, Sunday and Monday, November 10th and 11th in the drive to Metz. The men went into action through the bloody valley commanded by the heavy guns of Metz, and held the Germans at bay until the 56th regiment could retreat, but not until it had suffered a heavy loss. The First Battalion was commanded by Major Charles L. Appleton of New York, with company commanders and lieutenants, Negroes.
Another distinguished component of the 92nd Division was the 365th Infantry made up of selectives principally from Chicago and other parts of Illinois. This regiment saw about the same service as the 367th, perhaps a little more severe, as the casualties were greater. In the action at Bois Frehaut in the drive on Metz, the 365th lost forty-three men killed in action and dead from wounds. In addition there were thirty-two missing in action, most of whom were killed or succumbed to wounds. About 200 were wounded or gassed.
In General Orders, issued by the commander of the division, a number of Negro officers, non-commissioned officers and privates of the 365th were commended for meritorious conduct in the actions of November 10th and 11th. Those named were; Captain John H. Allen, First Lieutenants Leon F. Stewart, Frank L. Drye, Walter Lyons, David W. Harris, and Benjamin F. Ford; Second Lieutenants George L. Games and Russell C. Atkins; Sergeants Richard W. White John Simpson, Robert Townsend, Solomon D. Colson, Ransom Elliott and Charles Jackson; Corporals Thomas B. Coleman, Albert Taylor, Charles Reed and James Conley, and Privates Earl Swanson, Jesse Cole, James Hill, Charles White and George Chaney.
Captain Allen of the Machine Gun Company of the 365th, died in France of pneumonia. Only a short time before his death he had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by General Pershing, for exceptional gallantry before Metz.
Private Robert M. Breckenridge of Company B, 365th regiment, also gave his life in France, but had received the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in action at Ferme de Belwir, October 29th, 1918.
Corporal Russell Pollard of Company H received his Distinguished Service Cross shortly before his return home. He was cited for extraordinary heroism in action in the first days battle at Metz.
The remaining infantry regiment of the Division not heretofore specially mentioned, was the 366th, a highly efficient organization of selectives assembled from the mobilization and training camps of various sections of the country. Like the other regiments of the division, the greater number of these men were assembled in the autumn of 1917, trained continuously in this country until the early part of the summer of 1918, sent to France and given at least two months' intensive training there. During the training periods their instructors were mostly officers from the Regular Army or the military instruction schools of this country and France. Some English officers also assisted in the training. That they possessed the requisite intelligence for absorbing the instruction they received is evidenced by the high type of soldier into which they developed, their records in battle, and the unstinted praise which they received from their superior officers, the French commanders and others who witnessed or were familiar with their service.
The 366th went through the campaign in the Marbache sector and suffered all its rigors and perils. In the final two days of fighting they were right at the front and achieved distinction to the extent that in the review at Le Mans they also were singled out by General Pershing for special commendation. During the campaign the regiment had a loss of forty-three men killed in action or died of wounds. Seven men were missing in action. The wounded and gassed were upwards of 200.
In General Orders issued by the commander of the division, First Lieutenant John Q. Lindsey was cited for bravery displayed at Lesseux; Sergeant Isaac Hill for bravery displayed at Frapelle and Sergeant Walter L. Gross for distinguished service near Hominville. These men were all colored and all of the 366th regiment.
Wherever men were cited in General Orders or otherwise, it generally followed that they received the Distinguished Service Cross or some other coveted honor.
CHAPTER XXII.
GLORY THAT WONT COME OFF.
167TH FIRST NEGRO ARTILLERY BRIGADE—"LIKE VETERANS" SAID PERSHING—FIRST ARTILLERY TO BE MOTORIZED—RECORD BY DATES—SELECTED FOR LORRAINE CAMPAIGN—BEST EDUCATED NEGROES IN AMERICAN FORCES—ALWAYS STOOD BY THEIR GUNS—CHAPLAIN'S ESTIMATE—LEFT SPLENDID IMPRESSION—TESTIMONY OF FRENCH MAYORS—CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR—SOLDIERLY QUALITIES.
To the 92nd Division belonged the distinction of having the first artillery brigade composed entirely of Negroes, with the exception of a few commissioned officers, ever organized in this country. In fact, the regiments composing the brigade, the 349th, the 350th and 351st were the first complete artillery regiments of Negroes and the only important Negro organizations in the artillery branch of the service, ever formed in this country.
Their record was remarkable considering the brief time in which they had to distinguish themselves, and had the war continued, they would surely have gained added glory; General Pershing in the review at Le Mans complimenting them particularly, stating that when the armistice came he was planning important work for them. Following are the general's words which brought much pride to the organization:
"Permit me to extend to the officers and men of the 167th Field Artillery Brigade, especially the 351st regiment, my congratulations for the excellent manner in which they conducted themselves during the twelve days they were on the front. The work of the unit was so meritorious that after the accomplishments of the brigade were brought to my attention I was preparing to assign the unit to very important work in the second offensive. You men acted like veterans, never failing to reach your objective, once orders had been given you. I wish to thank you for your work."
The unit was organized largely from men of Western Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Camp Meade, near Washington, D.C., was their principal training point from the fall of 1917 until June, 1918, when they went abroad.
To the brigade belongs the additional distinction of being the first in the service to be motorized. Tractors hauled the big guns along the front at a rate of twelve miles an hour, much better than could have been done with horses or mules.
Brigadier General W.E. Cole commanded the unit until about the middle of September, 1918, when he was elevated to a major generalship and the command of the 167th passed to Brigadier General John H. Sherburne. In a General Order issued by the latter shortly before he left the unit, he said:
"I will ever cherish the words of the Commander in Chief, the compliment he paid, in all sincerity to this brigade, when he watched it pass in review. I wish the brigade to understand that those words of appreciation were evoked only because each man had worked conscientiously and unflaggingly to make the organization a success. The men went into the line in a manner to win the praise of all."
The history of the brigade from the time it left Camp Meade until the end of the war may be summarized as follows:
June 27—Disembarked from ship at Brest, France.
July 2—Started for the training area, reaching there July 4.
July 5—Began a period of six weeks training at Lathus in the Montmorillion section.
August 20—Went to La Courtine and remained until September 16th, practicing at target range. Its gun squads excelled in target work and the brigade, especially the 351st regiment, won distinction there. October 4—Finished training at La Courtine and moved into a sector directly in front of Metz, where about three weeks were spent in obtaining the tractors and motor vehicles necessary for a completely motorized artillery outfit.
October 25—Preparing for action. The enemy had noted the great movement of troops in the vicinity and German planes constantly hovered over the unit dropping missiles of death upon it.
The brigade supported the infantry of the division in its attacks on Eply, Cheminot, Bouxieres, Bois Frehaut, Bois La Cote, Champey, Vandieres, Pagny and Moulin Farm. Attacks of more than mediocre importance were: Pagny, November 4 and 5; Cheminot, November 6, Epley, November 7; Bois Frehaut, November 10; Bois La Cote and Champey, November 11.
In addition to those attacks certain machine gun nests of the enemy were destroyed and strategic points were bombarded. During the entire advance the batteries of the brigade were in front positions and very active. The attack on Bois La Cote and Champey began at 4:30 in the morning and ended just fifteen minutes before the beginning of the armistice. During the engagement the batteries kept up such a constant fire that the guns were almost white with heat.
Private Carl E. Southall of 2538 Elba street, Pittsburgh, Pa., claims to have fired the brigade's last shot. He was a member of Battery D, 351st regiment. When the watch showed the last minute of the war, he jumped forward, got to the gun ahead of his comrades and fired.
Had the war continued the artillery brigade would have taken part in the offensive which was to have begun after November 11 with twenty French and six American divisions investing Metz and pushing east through Lorraine.
The history of one regiment in the artillery outfit is practically the same as another, with the exception that the 351st seems to have had the most conspicuous service. This unit of the brigade was commanded by Colonel Wade H. Carpenter, a West Pointer.
Owing to the technical requirements, a thorough knowledge of mathematics especially being necessary before one can become a good non-commissioned or commissioned officer of artillery, this branch of the service appeals to men of schooling. It has been claimed that the 351st regiment contained the best educated group of Negroes in the American forces; most of them being college or high school men. They were praised highly by their officers, especially by Colonel Carpenter:
"When the regiment trained at Camp Meade," he said, "the men showed the best desire, to make good soldiers. In France they outdid their own expectations and shed glory for all.
"We didn't get into action until October 28th, but after that we kept at the Germans until the last day.
"The men of the 351st were so anxious to get into service that before they were ordered to the front they found it difficult to restrain their impatience at being held back. However, their long training in France did them a lot of good, the experience of being taught by veteran Americans and Frenchmen proving of great value when it came to actual battle.
"They never flinched under fire, always stood by their guns and made the famous 155 millimeter French guns, with which we were equipped, fairly smoke.
"I have been a regular army man for many years, and have always been in command of white troops. Let me say to you that never have I commanded a more capable, courageous and intelligent regiment than this. It would give me the greatest pleasure to continue my army career in command of this regiment of Negroes.
"Not only was their morale splendid but they were especially ready to accept discipline. They idolized their officers and would have followed them through hell if necessary.
"Fortunately, though many were wounded by shrapnel and a number made ill by gas fumes, we suffered no casualties in the slain column. About twenty-five died of sickness and accidents, but we lost none in action.
"When the armistice came our hits were making such tremendous scores against the enemy that prisoners taken by the Americans declared the destruction wrought by the guns was terrific. On the last day and in the last hour of the war our guns fairly beat a rat-a-tat on the enemy positions. We let them have it while we could."
Lieutenant E.A. Wolfolk, of Washington, D.C., chaplain of the regiment, aid:
"The morale and morals of the men were splendid. Disease of the serious type was unknown. The men were careful to keep within bounds. They gave their officers no trouble, and each man strove to keep up the high standard expected of him. From the time we reached France in June, 1918, until the time we quit that country we worked hard to maintain a clean record and we certainly succeeded."
At the Moselle river, Pont a Mousson and Madieres, the regiment first saw action. The first and second battalions went into action immediately in the vicinity of St. Genevieve and Alton. The third battalion crossed the river and went into action in the vicinity of Pont a Mousson. That was on October 31st. The balance of the regiment's service corresponds to that of the brigade, already mentioned.
As already gleaned from the reports of generals, regimental officers and the testimony of the chaplain of the 351st, the artillery boys created a good impression and left behind them a clean record everywhere. It has remained for the officers of the 349th regiment to preserve this in additional documentary form in the shape of regimental orders and letters from the mayors of French towns in which the regiment stopped or was billeted. The following are some of the bulletins and letters:
Headquarters 349th Field
Artillery, American Expeditionary
Forces, France, A.P.O. 722,
September 6, 1918.
The following letter having been received, is published
for the information of the regiment, and will be read at retreat
Saturday, September 7, 1918. By order of
COLONEL MOORE.
JOSEPH H. McNALLY, Captain and Adjutant.
FRENCH REPUBLIC
Town Hall of Montmorillion
(Vienne)
Montmorillion, August 12, 1918.
Dear Colonel:
At the occasion of your departure permit me to express
to you my regrets and those of the whole population.
From the very day of its arrival your regiment, by its
behavior and its military appearance, it excited the
admiration of all of us.
Of the sojourn of yourself and your colored soldiers
among us we will keep the best memory and remember your
regiment as a picked one.
From the beginning a real brotherhood was established
between your soldiers and our people, who were glad to
welcome the gallant allies of France.
Having learned to know them, the whole population
holds them in great esteem, and we all join in saying the
best of them.
I hope that the white troops replacing your regiment
will give us equal satisfaction; but whatever their attitude
may be, they cannot surpass your 349th Field Artillery.
Please accept the assurance of my best and most
distinguished feelings.
G. DE FONT-REAULX,
Assistant Mayor.
Headquarters 349th Field
Artillery, American Expeditionary
Forces, France, A.P.O. 766,
January 25, 1919.
The following letter having been received is published
for the information of the regiment. By order of
COLONEL O'NEIL.
GEORGE B. COMPTON, Captain and Adjutant.
MAIRIE DE DOMFRONT
(Orne)
Domfront, January 22, 1919.
The mayor of the town of Domfront has the very great
pleasure to state and declare that the 349th regiment of
the 167th Field Artillery Brigade, has been billeted at
Domfront from the 28th of December, 1918, to the 22nd of
January, 1919, and that during this period the officers
as well as the men have won the esteem and sympathy of all
the population.
The black officers as well as the white officers have
made here many friends, and go away leaving behind them the
best remembrances. As to the private soldiers, their behavior
during the whole time has been above all praise.
It is the duty of the mayor of Domfront to bid the
general, officers and men a last farewell, and to express to
all his thanks and gratitude for their friendly intercourse
with the civilian population.
F. BERLIN, Mayor.
After such testimony who can doubt the Christianlike behavior and soldierly qualities of the black man? It has been noted that the artillerymen were in education considerably above the average of the Negro force abroad, but no severe criticism has been heard concerning the conduct of any of the Negro troops in any part of France. The attitude of the French people had much to do with this. The unfailing courtesy and consideration with which they treated the Negroes awoke an answering sentiment in the natures of the latter. To be treated as Men, in the highest sense of the term, argued that they must return that treatment, and it is not of record that they failed to give adequate return. Indeed the record tends to show that they added a little for good measure, although it is hard to outdo a Frenchman in courtesy and the common amenities of life.
This showing of Negro conduct in France takes on increased merit when it is considered that the bulk of their forces over there were selectives; men of all kinds and conditions; many of them from an environment not likely to breed gentleness, self restraint or any of the finer virtues. But the leaders and the best element seem to have had no difficulty in impressing upon the others that the occasion was a sort of a trial of their race; that they were up for view and being scrutinized very carefully. They made remarkably few false steps.
CHAPTER XXIII.
NOR STORIED URN, NOR MOUNTING SHAFT.
GLORY NOT ALL SPECTACULAR—BRAVE FORCES BEHIND THE LINES—325TH FIELD SIGNAL BATTALION—COMPOSED OF YOUNG NEGROES—SEE REAL FIGHTING—SUFFER CASUALTIES—AN EXCITING INCIDENT—COLORED SIGNAL BATTALION A SUCCESS—RALPH TYLER'S STORIES—BURIAL OF NEGRO SOLDIER AT SEA—MORE INCIDENTS OF NEGRO VALOR—A WORD FROM CHARLES M. SCHWAB.
Out of the glamor and spectacular settings of combat comes most of the glory of war. The raids, the forays, the charges; the pitting of cold steel against cold steel, the hand to hand encounters in trenches, the steadfast manning of machine guns and field pieces against deadly assault, these and kindred phases of battle are what find themselves into print. Because they lend themselves so readily to the word painter or to the artist's brush, these lurid features are played to the almost complete exclusion of others, only slightly less important.
There are brave forces behind the lines, sometimes in front of the lines, about which little is written or pictured. Of these the most efficient and indispensable is the Signal Corps. While this branch of the service was not obliged to occupy front line trenches; make raids for prisoners, or march in battle formation into big engagements, it must not be supposed that it did not have a very dangerous duty to perform.
One of the colored units that made good most decisively was the 325th Field Signal Battalion of the 92nd Division. The men of this battalion had to string the wires for telegraphic and telephonic connections at times when the enemy guns were trained upon them. Therefore, in many respects, their duty took them into situations fully as dangerous as those of the combatant units.
This battalion was composed entirely of young Negroes excepting the Lieutenant Colonel, Major and two or three white line officers. With few exceptions, they were all college or high school boys, quite a number of them experts in radio or electric engineering. Those who were not experts when the battalion was formed, became so through the training which they received.
Major Spencer, who was responsible for the formation of the battalion, the only Negro signal unit in the American Army, was firm in the belief that Negroes could make good, and he remained with it long enough to see his belief become a realization.
After arriving at Brest, June 19, 1918, the battalion proceeded to Vitrey, and from that town began a four-day hike to Bourbonne les Baines. From that point it proceeded after a few days to Visey, where the boys got their first taste of what was to be, later, their daily duties. Here the radio (wireless telegraphy) company received its quota of the latest type of French instruments, a battery plant was established and a full supply of wire and other equipment issued to Companies B and C. Here, too, the Infantry Signal platoons of the battalion joined the outfit and shared in the training.
A courage test and their first introduction into real fighting in addition to stringing wires and sending and receiving radio messages, came on the afternoon of September 27th. A party including the Colonel, Lieutenant Herbert, the latter a Negro, and some French liaison officers, advanced beyond the battalion post and soon found themselves outside the lines and directly in front of a German machine gun nest.
The colonel divided his men into small groups and advanced on the enemy's position. The sortie resulted in the Signal boys capturing eight prisoners and two machine guns, but it cost the loss of Corporal Charles E. Boykin, who did not return. Two days later during a general advance, Sergeant Henry E. Moody was mortally wounded while at his post. Boykin was killed outright, while Sergeant Moody died in the hospital, these being the first two of the Signal Battalion to make the supreme sacrifice.
On the 10th of October the 92nd Division, having taken over the Marbache sector and relieved the 167th French Division, the 325th Field Signal Battalion took over all existing lines of communication. In the days following they installed new lines and made connections between the various units of the division. This was no small duty, when it is remembered that an army sector extends over a wide area of many square miles, including in it from 50 to 100 cities and towns.
The Marbache sector was an active front and time and time again the boys went ahead repairing lines and establishing new communications under shell fire, with no heed to personal danger—inspired only by that ideal of the Signal Corps man—get communication through at any cost, but get it through.
On the morning of November 10th, when the Second Army launched its attack on the famous Hindenburg line before Metz, the 92nd Division held the line of Vandieres—St. Michel, Xon and Norry. The engagement lasted for twenty-eight hours continuously, during which time the Signal Corps functioned splendidly and as one man, keeping up communications, installing new lines and repairing those shelled out.
One of the most exciting incidents was that participated in by the First Platoon of the Signal Battalion on the first day of the Metz battle. Shortly after the lighter artillery barrage was lifted, the big guns of the enemy began shelling Pont a Mousson. The first shells hit on the edge of the city and then they began peppering the Signal Battalion's station.
Sergeant Rufus B. Atwood of the First Platoon was seated in the cellar near the switchboard; Private Edgar White was operating the switchboard, and Private Clark the buzzerphone. Several officers and men were standing in the "dugout" cellar. Suddenly a shell struck the top, passed through the ceiling and wall and exploded, making havoc of the cellar.
| OFFICERS OF THE 15TH NEW YORK (369TH INFANTRY), MARCHING IN PARADE PRIOR TO THE WAR. LEFT TO RIGHT—COL. WM. HAYWARD, BERT WILLIAMS. FAMOUS COMEDIAN AND DR. G. McSWEENEY. |
| AFTER THE WAR. ONE OF THE NUMBER OF AUTOMOBILES BEARING WOUNDED OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS OF THE 15TH NEW YORK (369TH INFANTRY). MAJOR DAVID L. 'ESPERANCE (WITH HELMET) AND MAJOR LORRILARD SPENCER. |
| A REPRESENTATIVE GROUP OF NEGRO OFFICERS OF "MOSS'S BUFFALOES" (167TH INFANTRY). THE LITTLE LADY WITH THE BOUQUET IS ONE OF THEIR FRENCH ACQUAINTANCES. |
| CAPTAIN JOHN H. PATTON, REGIMENTAL ADJUTANT, 8TH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. FROM JUNE 26, 1916, TO SEPTEMBER 11, 1918. COMMANDING 2ND BATTALION, 370TH INFANTRY, FROM SEPTEMBER 11, 1918, TO DECEMBER 25, 1918. SAINT MIHIEL SECTOR FROM JUNE 21, 1918, TO JULY 3, 1918. ARGONNE FOREST FROM JULY 6, 1916, TO AUGUST 15, 1918. BATTLES FOR MONT DES SIGNES, FROM SEPTEMBER 16 TO 30, 1918. OISE-AISNE OFFENSIVE, FROM SEPTEMBER 30, 1918. TO NOVEMBER 11, 1918. AWARDED THE FRENCH CROIX DE GUERRE FOR MERITORIOUS SERVICE COVERING PERIOD FROM SEPTEMBER 11 TO NOVEMBER 11, 1918. |
| EMIL LAURENT, NEGRO CORPORAL OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY), A CROIX DE GUERRE WINNER, ENGAGED IN FIELD TELEPHONE SERVICE IN A FRENCH WOOD. |
| GROUP OF "HELL FIGHTERS' (369TH INFANTRY) WITH THEIR JEWELRY (CROIX DE GUERRE). FRONT ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT, "EAGLE EYE" EDWARD WILLIAMS, "LAMP LIGHT" HERB TAYLOR, LEON TRAINOR, "KID HAWK" RALPH HAWKINS, BACK ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT, SERGT. M.D. PRIMUS, SERGT. DANIEL STORMS, "KID WONEY" JOE WILLIAMS, "KID BUCK" ALFRED HANLY AND CORP. T.W. TAYLOR. |
| DR. JOSEPH H. WARD ON TRANSPORT FRANCE. THE ONLY NEGRO ATTAINING THE RANK OF MAJOR IN THE MEDICAL CORPS OF THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES. |
| CAPTAIN NAPOLEON B. MARSHALL, FAMOUS HARVARD ATHLETE, WHO HELPED ORGANIZE 15TH NEW YORK AND WAS ONE OF ITS ORIGINAL NEGRO OFFICERS. HE WAS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED AT METZ. |
| BRAVE NEGROES HOMEWARD BOUND FROM WAR. FIRST CALL FOR DINNER. |
| "MOSS'S BUFFALOES" (367TH INFANTRY), REVIEWED BY GOVERNOR WHITMAN AFTER FLAG PRESENTATION IN FRONT OF UNION LEAGUE CLUB, NEW YORK. |
| THE "BUFFALOES" (367TH INFANTRY), RETURNING TO NEW YORK AFTER VALIANT SERVICE IN FRANCE. THEIR COLORS STILL FLYING. |
| SOLDIERS WHO DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES AT THE FORTRESS OF METZ. GROUP BELONGING TO 365TH INFANTRY ARRIVING AT CHICAGO STATION. |
| HOMEWARD BOUND IN A PULLMAN CAR. NO "JIM CROWING THERE." THE NEGRO BEARS ON HIS SHOULDER THE CITATION CORD AND EMBLEM DENOTING VALOROUS SERVICE. |
Lieutenant Walker, who arrived just at this time, took hold of matters with admirable coolness and presence of mind. Sergeant Atwood tried out the switchboard and found all lines broken. He also found on trying it the buzzerphone out. Lieutenant Walker gave orders to Private White to stay on the switchboard and Corporal Adolphus Johnson to stay on the buzzerphone. The twelve-cord monocord board was nailed up by White and then began the connecting up of the lines from outside to the monocord board. All this time the shelling by the Germans was fierce and deadly. Shells struck all around the boys and one struck a nearby ammunition dump, causing the explosion of thousands of rounds of ammunition, which created a terrific shock and extinguished all the lights.
But still the men worked on and would not leave the dangerous post, a veritable target for the enemy's big guns, until the lieutenant of the Military Police arrived and ordered them out.
The 325th Field Signal Battalion was a great success. What the boys did not learn about radio, telephonic and telegraphic work would be of little advantage to anyone. It will be of great advantage to many of them in the way of making a living in times of peace.
By the time the armistice stopped the fighting the different units of the 92nd Division had taken many prisoners and gained many objectives. They finally retired to the vicinity of Pont a Mousson, where time was spent salvaging material and cleaning equipment, while the men, knowing there was to be no more fighting, anxiously awaited the time until they were ordered to an embarkation point and thence home.
The trip home in February, 1919, was about as perilous to some of them as the war had been. It was a period of unusually rough weather. The north Atlantic, never very smooth during the winter months, put on some extra touches for the returning Negro soldiers. An experience common to many on several different transports has been described by Mechanic Charles E. Bryan of Battery B, 351st Artillery upon his return to his home, 5658 Frankstown Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. Asked about his impressions of the war, he said that which impressed him the most was the storm at sea on the way home.
"That storm beat the war all hollow," he said. "Me and my buddies were messing when the ship turned about eighteen somersaults, and we all pitched on the floor, spilling soup and beans and things all over the ship.
"The lights went out and somehow the automatic bell which means 'abandon ship' was rung by accident. We didn't know it was an accident, and from the way the ship pitched we thought she was on her way down to look up one Mr. Davy Jones. So we made a break for the decks, and believe me, some of those lads who had come through battles and all sorts of dangers were about to take a dive over the side if our officers had not started explaining in time."
Stories of varying degrees of interest, some thrilling, some humorous and some pathetic to the last degree, have been brought back.
Ralph Tyler, the Negro newspaper man, who was sent to France as the official representative of the Afro-American press by the Committee on Public Information, has written many of the incidents, and told others from the rostrum. He has told how the small insignificant, crowded freight cars in which the soldiers traveled looked like Pullman parlor coaches to the Negro soldiers.
"To many of our people back in the 'States,'" wrote Mr. Tyler from France, "who saw our boys embark on fine American railroad coaches and Pullman sleepers to cover the first lap of their hoped-for pilgrimage to Berlin, the coaches they must ride in over here would arouse a mild protest. I stood at Vierzon, one of France's many quaint old towns recently, and saw a long train of freight cars roll in, en route to some point further distant. In these cars with but a limited number of boxes to sit upon, and just the floors to stand upon, were crowded some 1,000 of our own colored soldiers from the States. But a jollier crowd never rode through American cities in Pullman sleepers and diners than those 1,000 colored troopers. They accepted passage on these rude box freight cars cheerfully, for they knew they were now in war, and palace cars, downy coaches and the usual American railroad conveniences were neither available nor desirable.
"The point I wish to convey to the people back home is that did they but know how cheerfully, even eagerly our boys over here accept war time conveniences, they would not worry quite so much about how the boys are faring. They are being wholesomely and plenteously fed; they are warmly clothed, they are cheerful and uncomplaining as they know this is war and for that reason know exactly what they must expect. To the soldier who must at times sleep with but the canopy of heaven as a covering, and the earth as a mattress, a box freight car that shields him from the rain and wind is a real luxury, and he accepts it as such.
"There need not be any worry back home as to the maintenance of our colored soldiers over here. They receive the same substantial fare the white soldier receives, and the white soldier travels from point to point in the same box freight cars as afford means of passage for colored soldiers. In short, when it comes to maintenance and equipment, and consideration for the comfort of the American soldier, to use a trite saying, 'the folks are as good as the people.' There is absolutely no discrimination, and the cheerfulness of those 1,000 boys whose freight cars became, in imagination, Pullman palace cars, was the proof to me that the colored boys in the ranks are getting a fifty-fifty break."
"Two more stories have come to me," continues Mr. Tyler, "to prove that our colored soldiers preserve and radiate their humor even where shells and shrapnel fly thickest. A colored soldier slightly wounded in the Argonne fighting—and let me assure you there was 'some' fighting there—sat down beside the road to wait for a chance to ride to the field hospital. A comrade hastening forward to his place in the line, and anxious for the latest news of the progressing battle, asked the wounded brother if he had been in the fight; did he know all about it, and how were things going at the front. 'I sure does know all about it,' the wounded man replied. 'Well, what's happened to them?' quickly asked the trooper on his way to the front. 'Well, it was this way,' replied the wounded one, 'I was climbin' over some barbed wire tryin' to get to those d—n Boches, and they shot me; that's what I know about it.'
"A company water cart was following the advancing troops when a German shell burst in the ditch almost beside the cart. The horse on the shell side was killed, and the driver was wounded in the head. While the blood from his wound ran freely down his face, the driver took one look at the wreckage, then started stumbling back along the road. A white lieutenant who had seen it all stopped the driver of the cart and said:
"The dressing station is—"
"Before he could finish his sentence, the wounded driver, with the blood flowing in rivulets down his face, said: 'Dressing station hell; I'm looking for another horse to hitch to that cart and take the place of the one the shell put out of commission.'
"That was a bit of nerve, grim humor and evidence of fidelity to duty. A mere wound in the head could not stop that driver from keeping up with the troops with a needed supply of water."
Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones, who went to France under the auspices of the Y.M.C.A., sent back the following account of the burial of a Negro soldier at sea:
"A colored soldier was buried at sea today. The flags on all the ships of the fleet have been at half-mast all day. It mattered not that the soldier came from a lowly cabin. It mattered not that his skin was black. He was a soldier in the army of the United States, and was on his way to fight for Democracy and Civilization.
"The announcement of his death was signalled to every commander and every ship prepared to do honor to the colored soldier. As the sun was setting the guard of honor, including all the officers from commander down, came to attention. The body of the Negro trooper wrapped in the American flag, was tenderly carried to the stern of the ship. The chaplain read the solemn burial service. The engines of the fleet were checked. The troop ship was stopped for the only time in the long trip from America to Europe. The bugle sounded Taps and the body of the American soldier was committed to the great ocean and to God.
"The comradeship of the solemn occasion was the comradeship of real Democracy. There was neither black nor white, North nor South, rich nor poor. All united in rendering honor to the Negro soldier who died in the service of humanity."
First Lieutenant George S. Robb of the 369th Infantry was cited for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty" in action with the enemy near Sechault, September 29 and 30, 1918.
While leading his platoon in the assault at Sechault, Lieutenant Robb was severely wounded by machine gun fire, but rather than go to the rear for proper treatment, he remained with his platoon until ordered to the dressing station by his commanding officer. Returning within forty-five minutes, he remained on duty throughout the entire night, inspecting his lines and establishing outposts. Early the next morning he was again wounded, once again displaying remarkable devotion to duty by remaining in command of his platoon.
Later the same day a bursting shell added two more wounds, the same shell killing the captain and two other officers of his company. He then assumed command of the company and organized its position in the trenches. Displaying wonderful courage and tenacity at the critical times, he was the only officer of his battalion who advanced beyond the town and, by clearing machine gun and sniping posts, contributed largely to the aid of his battalion in holding its objective. His example of bravery and fortitude and his eagerness to continue with his mission despite the several wounds, set before the enlisted men of his command a most wonderful standard of morale and self-sacrifice. Lieutenant Robb lived at 308 S. 12th Street, Salina, Kansas.
Second Lieutenant Harry C. Sessions, Company I, 372nd Infantry, was cited for extraordinary heroism in action near Bussy Farm, September 29, 1918.
Although he was on duty in the rear, Lieutenant Sessions joined his battalion and was directed by his battalion commander to locate openings through the enemy's wire and attack positions. He hastened to the front and cut a large opening through the wire in the face of terrific machine gun fire. Just as his task was completed, he was so severely wounded that he had to be carried from the field. His gallant act cleared the way for the rush that captured enemy positions.
In August, 1918, back in the Champagne, a German raiding party captured a lieutenant and four privates belonging to the 369th Infantry, and was carrying them off when a lone Negro, Sergeant William Butler, a former elevator operator, made his presence known from a shell hole. He communicated with the lieutenant without the knowledge of the Germans and motioned to him to flee. The Lieutenant signalled to the four privates to make a run from the Germans. As they started Butler yelled, "Look out, you Bush Germans! Here we come," and he let go with his pistol. He killed one Boche officer and four privates, and his own men made good their escape. Later the German officer who had been in charge of this raiding party was captured and his written report was obtained. In it he said that he had been obliged to let his prisoners go because he was attacked by an "overwhelming number of blutlustige schwartzemaenner." The overwhelming number consisted of Elevator Operator Bill Butler alone.
September 30th the 3rd Battalion, of the 370th Infantry, composed of down-state Illinois boys from Springfield, Peoria, Danville and Metropolis, achieved a notable victory at Ferme de la Riviere. This battalion, under the brilliant leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Otis B. Duncan, made an advance of one kilometer against enemy machine gun nests and succeeded in silencing them, thereby allowing the line to advance. This battalion of the Illinois down-state boys succeeded in doing what, after three similar attempts by their French comrades in arms, had proven futile. During this engagement many were killed and wounded and many officers and men were cited and given decorations.
Company C, of the 370th, under the command of Captain James H. Smith, a Chicago letter-carrier, signally distinguished itself by storming and taking the town of Baume and capturing three pieces of field artillery. For this the whole company was cited and the captain was decorated with the Croix de Guerre and Palm.
Lieutenant Colonel Duncan, who has been attached to the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Illinois for over twenty years, is one of the greatest heroes the Negroes of America have produced. He returned as the ranking colored officer in the American Expeditionary Forces. Instead of being merely an assistant Colonel, he was actively in command of one of the hardest fighting battalions in the regiment. He has been pronounced a man of native ability, an able tactician and of natural military genius.
Sergt. Norman Henry, 5127 Dearborn St., Chicago, attached to the 3d Machine Gun Company, 370th Infantry, won the Croix de Guerre and Distinguished Service Cross. It was in the Soissons sector September 30 in the first rush on the Hindenburg line.
All of the officers and men fell under a heavy machine gun barrage except two squads of which Sergeant Henry was left in command. They took two German dugouts and were cut off from their own line without food. They held the Germans off with one machine gun for three days. Often the gun became jammed, but they would take it apart and fix it before the enemy could get to them.
Lieut. Samuel S. Gordon, 3934 Indiana Avenue, Chicago, of the 370th Infantry, exposed himself to open machine gun fire for six hours and effected the rescue of two platoons which had been cut off by the barrage.
Company H had been badly cut up in a sudden burst of machine gun fire. Lieutenant Gordon with some men were rushed up to relieve what was left of the company, and while reconnoitering were cut off by the same fire. A stream of water four feet deep lay between them and their trenches. By standing in the stream, Lieutenant Gordon let the men crawl to the edge of the bank, where he lifted them across without their having to stand up and become targets.
Corporal Emile Laurent, 5302 So. Dearborn Street, Chicago, a member of the 370th Infantry, had a busy time dodging machine gun bullets one night near Soissons. Volunteering as a wire cutter, he crawled out with his lieutenant's automatic in one hand and the wire clippers in the other. Half a dozen machine guns were opened upon him as he sneaked along the terrain. "Never touched me," he would yell every time a chunk of steel parted his hair. He was out for three hours and cut a broad line through the charged wire. Then he crawled back without a mark on him.
Private Leroy Davis of the same regiment, won a decoration at the Aillette Canal for bringing a comrade back under machine gun fire. When he got back to his own lines he would not trust him with the ambulance outfit, but carried him three miles to the emergency dressing station and then he ran back to the canal to get even. This little stunt saved his comrade's life.
Praise for the American soldier comes from Charles M. Schwab, the eminent steel manufacturer, who was chosen by President Wilson to head the Emergency Fleet Cororation, and rendered such conspicuous service in that position. Returning in February, 1919, from a trip to Europe, Mr. Schwab said in an interview:
"I have come back with ten times the good opinion I had of our soldiers for the work they did. Everywhere I went I found that the American soldiers had left a good impression behind and there was nothing but the greatest praise for them.
"During the present voyage I have been among the colored troops on board and talked with them and learned what American soldiering has done for them. They are better men than they were when they went away."
CHAPTER XXIV.
THOSE WHO NEVER WILL RETURN.
A STUDY OF WAR—ITS COMPENSATIONS AND BENEFITS—ITS RAVAGES AND DEBASEMENTS—BURDENS FALL UPON THE WEAK—TOLL OF DISEASE—NEGROES SINGULARLY HEALTHY—NEGROES KILLED IN BATTLE—DEATHS FROM WOUNDS AND OTHER CAUSES—REMARKABLE PHYSICAL STAMINA OF RACE—HOUSEKEEPING IN KHAKI—HEALTHIEST WAR IN HISTORY—INCREASED REGARD FOR MOTHERS—AN IDEAL FOR CHILD MINDS—MORALE AND PROPAGANDA.
It has been said that war has its compensations no less than peace. This saying must have had reference largely to the material benefits accruing to the victors—the wealth gained from sacked cities, the territorial acquisitions and the increased prestige and prosperity of the winners. There is also an indirect compensation which can hardly be measured, but which is known to exist, in the increased courage inculcated, the banishment of fear, the strengthened sense of devotion, heroism and self-sacrifice, and all those principles of manliness and unselfishness which are inspired through war and react so beneficially on the morals of a race. There are some, however, who contend that these compensations do not overbalance the pain, the heart-rending, the horrors, brutalities and debasements which come from war. Viewed in the most favorable light, with all its glories, benefits and compensations, war is still far removed from an agreeable enterprise.
Like so many of the other material compensations of life, its benefits accrue to the strong while its burdens fall upon the weak. A contemplation of the maimed, the crippled and those stricken with disease, fails to engender anything but somber reflections.
Owing to the advancement of science, the triumph of knowledge over darkness, the late war through the unusual attention given to the physical fitness of the soldiers, probably conferred a boon in sending back a greater percentage of men physically improved than the toll of destroyed or deteriorated would show. Yet with all the improvement in medical and sanitary science, the fact remains that disease claimed more lives than bullets, bayonets, shrapnel or gas.
Negro soldiers in the war were singularly free from disease. Deaths from this cause were surprisingly few, the mortality being much lower than it would have been among the same men had there been no war. This was due to the general good behavior of the troops as testified to by so many commanding officers and others. The men observed discipline, kept within bounds and listened to the advice of those competent to give it.
Out of a total of between 40,000 and 45,000 Negro soldiers who went into battle or were exposed to the enemy's attack at some time, about 500 were killed in action. Between 150 and 200 died of wounds. Deaths from disease did not exceed 200 and from accident not over fifty. Those who were wounded and gassed amounted to about 4,000.
It speaks very highly for the medical and sanitary science of the army as well as for the physical stamina of a race, when less than 200 died out of a total of 4,000 wounded and gassed. The bulk of the battle casualties were in the 93rd Division.
The figures as given do not seem very large, yet it is a fact that the battle casualties of the American Negro forces engaged in the late war were not very far short of the entire battle casualties of the Spanish-American war. In that conflict the United States lost less than 1,000 men in battle.
While battle havoc and ravages from disease were terrible enough, and brought sadness to many firesides, and while thousands of survivors are doomed to go through life maimed, suffering or weakened, there is a brighter side to the picture. Evidences are plentiful that "housekeeping in khaki" was not unsuccessful.
According to a statement issued by the War Department early in 1919, the entire overseas army was coming back 18,000 tons heavier and huskier than when it went abroad. Many of the returning soldiers found that they literally burst through the clothing which they had left at home. Compared with the records taken at time of enlistment or induction into the draft forces, it is shown that the average increase in weight was twelve pounds to a man.
Improvement of course was due to the healthful physical development aided by the seemingly ceaseless flow of wholesome food directed into the training camps and to France. Secretary Baker was very proud of the result and stated that the late war had been the healthiest in history. The test he applied was in the number of deaths from disease. The best previous record, 25 per 1,000 per year was attained by the Germans in the Franco-Prussian war. Our record in the late war was only eight per 1,000 per year. The Medical Corps did heroic service in keeping germs away, but cooks, clothing designers and other agencies contributed largely in the making of bodies too healthy to permit germ lodgments.
The hell of war brought countless soldiers to the realization that no matter how much they believed they had loved their mothers, they had never fully appreciated how much she meant to them.
"I know, mother," cried one youth broken on the field, whose mother found him in a hospital, "that I began to see over there how thoughtless, indeed, almost brutal, I had always been. Somehow, in spite of my loving you, I just couldn't talk to you. Why, when I think how I used to close up like a clam every time you asked me anything about myself——" He broke off and with fervent humility kissed the hand in his own. "Please forget it all, mother," he whispered. "It's never going to be that way again. I found out over there—I knew what it was not to have anyone to tell things to—and now, why you've got to listen to me all the rest of your life, mother."
Angelo Patri, the new York schoolmaster who has been so successful in instilling ideals into the child mind has addressed himself to the children of today, they who will be the parents of tomorrow. His words are:
"Man has labored through the ages that you might be born free. Man has fought that you might live in peace. He has studied that you might have learning. He has left you the heritage of the ages that you might carry on.
"Ahead are the children of the next generation. It's on, on, you must be going. You, too, are torch-bearers of liberty. You, too, must take your place in the search for freedom, the quest for the Holy Grail. 'Twas for this you, the children of America were born, were educated. Fulfill your destiny."
Morale and propaganda received more attention in the late war than they ever did in any previous conflict. Before the end of the struggle the subject of morale was taken up and set apart as one of the highly specialized branches of the service. The specialists were designated as morale officers. They had many problems to meet and much smoothing over to do. In the army, an Americanism very soon attached to them and they became known as "fixers."
With respect to the Negro, the section of the War Department presided over by Emmett J. Scott was organized and conducted largely for purposes of morale and propaganda. Much of the work was connected with good American propaganda to counteract dangerous German propaganda.
It is now a known fact that the foe tried to lure the Negro from his allegiance by lies and false promises even after he had gone into the trenches. This has been attested to publicly by Dr. Robert R. Moton, the head of Tuskegee Institute, who went abroad at the invitation of President Wilson and Secretary Baker to ascertain the spirit of the Negro soldiers there.
Dr. Moton was told of the German propaganda and the brazen attempts made on members of the 92nd Division near Metz. He gave the following as a sample:
"To the colored soldiers of the United States Army.
"Hello, boys, what are you doing over there? Fighting the Germans? Why? Have they ever done you any harm?
"Do you enjoy the same rights as the white people do in America, the land of freedom and democracy, or are you not rather treated over there as second class citizens? And how about the law? Are lynchings and the most horrible crimes connected therewith a lawful proceeding in a democratic country?
"Now, all this is entirely different in Germany, where they do like colored people; where they treat them as gentlemen and not as second class citizens. They enjoy exactly the same privileges as white men, 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 the English, French and Italians?
"You have never seen Germany, so you are fools if you allow yourselves to hate us. Come over and see for yourselves. To carry a gun in this service is not an honor but a shame. Throw it away and come over to the German lines. You will find friends who will help you along."
Negro officers of the division told Dr. Moton this propaganda had no effect. He said the Negroes, especially those from the South, were anxious to return home, most of them imbued with the ambition to become useful, law-abiding citizens. Some, however, were apprehensive that they might not be received in a spirit of co-operation and racial good will. This anxiety arose mainly from accounts of increased lynchings and persistent rumors that the Ku Klux Clan was being revived in order, so the rumor ran, "to keep the Negro soldier in his place."
After voicing his disbelief in these rumors, Dr. Moton said:
"The result of this working together in these war activities brought the whites and Negroes into a more helpful relationship. It is the earnest desire of all Negroes that these helpful cooperating relationships shall continue."
In conversation with a morale officer the writer was told that the principal problem with the Negroes, especially after the selective draft, was in classifying them fairly and properly. Some were in every way healthy but unfit for soldiers. Others were of splendid intelligence and manifestly it was unjust to condemn them to the ranks when so many had excellent qualities for non-commissioned and commissioned grades. The Service of Supply solved the problem so far as the ignorant were concerned; all could serve in that branch.
The officer stated that the trouble with the War Department and with too many other people, is the tendency to treat Negroes as a homogeneous whole, which cannot be done. Some are densely ignorant and some are highly intelligent and well educated. In this officer's opinion, there is as much difference between different types of Negroes as there is between the educated white people and the uneducated mountaineers and poor whites of the South; or between the best whites of this and other countries and the totally ignorant peasants from the most oppressed nations of Europe.
In the early stages of the war, there was a great scarcity of non-commissioned officers—sergeants and corporals, those generals in embryo, upon whom so much depends in waging successful war. It was a great mistake in the opinion of this informant, and he stated that the view was shared by many other officers, to take men from white units to act as non-commissioned officers in Negro regiments, when there were available so many intelligent, capable Negroes serving in the ranks, who understood their people and would have delighted in filling the non-commissioned grades. He also thought the same criticism applied to selections for commissioned grades.
It is agreeable to note that such views rapidly gained ground. The excellent service of the old 8th Illinois demonstrated that colored officers are capable and trustworthy. An action and expression that will go far in furthering the view is that of Colonel William Hayward of the old 15th New York, who resigned command of the regiment which he organized and led to victory, soon after his return from the war. Like the great magnanimous, fair-minded man which he is and which helped to make him such a successful officer, he said that he could not remain at the head of the organization when there were so many capable Negroes who could and were entitled to fill its personnel of officers from colonel down. Colonel Hayward has been laboring to have the organization made a permanent one composed entirely of men of the Negro race. A portion of his expression on the subject follows:
"I earnestly hope that the state and city will not allow this splendid organization to pass entirely out of existence, but will rebuild around the nucleus of these men and their flags from which hang the Croix de Guerre, a 15th New York to which their children and grandchildren will belong; an organization with a home of its own in a big, modern armory. This should be a social center for the colored citizens of New York, and the regiment should be an inspiration to them. It should be officered throughout by colored men, though I and every other white officer who fought with the old 15th will be glad and proud to act in an honorary or advisory capacity. Let the old 15th 'carry on' as our British comrades phrase it."
It is to be hoped that we never have another war. Nevertheless these Negro military organizations should be kept up for their effect upon the spirit of the race. If they are ever needed again, let us hope that by that time, the confidence of the military authorities in Negro ability, will have so gained that they will coincide with Colonel Hayward's view regarding Negro officers for Negro units.
CHAPTER XXV.
QUIET HEROES OF THE BRAWNY ARM.
NEGRO STEVEDORE, PIONEER AND LABOR UNITS—SWUNG THE AXE AND TURNED THE WHEEL—THEY WERE INDISPENSABLE—EVERYWHERE IN FRANCE—HEWERS OF WOOD, DRAWERS OF WATER—NUMBERS AND DESIGNATIONS OF UNITS—ACQUIRED SPLENDID REPUTATION—CONTESTS AND AWARDS—PRIDE IN THEIR SERVICE—MEASURED UP TO MILITARY STANDARDS—LESTER WALTONS APPRECIATION—ELLA WHEELER WILCOX'S POETIC TRIBUTE.
Some went forth to fight, to win deathless fame or the heroes' crown of death in battle. There were some who remained to be hewers of wood and drawers of water. Which performed the greater service?
For the direct uplift and advancement of his race; for the improved standing gained for it in the eyes of other races, the heroism, and steadfastness and the splendid soldierly qualities exhibited by the Negro fighting man, were of immeasurable benefit. Those were the things which the world heard about, the exemplifications of the great modern forces and factors of publicity and advertising. In the doing of their "bit" so faithfully and capably, the Negro combatant forces won just title to all the praise and renown which they have received. Their contribution to the cause of liberty and democracy, cannot be discounted; will shine through the ages, and through the ages grow brighter.
But their contribution as fighting men to the cause of Justice and Humanity was no greater, in a sense than that of their brethren: "Unwept, unhonored and unsung," who toiled back of the lines that those at the front might have subsistence and the sinews of conflict.
The most indispensable cog in the great machine which existed behind the lines, was the stevedore regiments, the butcher companies, the engineer, labor and Pioneer battalions, nearly all incorporated in that department of the army technically designated as the S.O.S. (Service of Supply). In the main these were blacks. Every Negro who served in the combatant forces could have been dispensed with. They would have been missed, truly; but there were enough white men to take their places if necessary. But how seriously handicapped would the Expeditionary forces have been without the great army of Negroes, numbering over 100,000 in France, with thousands more in this country designed for the same service; who unloaded the ships, felled the trees, built the railroad grades and laid the tracks; erected the warehouses, fed the fires which turned the wheels; cared for the horses and mules and did the million and one things, which Negro brawn and Negro willingness does so acceptably.
Theirs not to seek "the bubble reputation at the cannon's mouth," that great composed, uncomplaining body of men; content simply to wear the uniform and to know that their toil was contributing to a result just as important as the work of anyone in the army. Did they wish to fight? They did; just as ardently as any man who carried a rifle, served a machine gun or a field piece. But some must cut wood and eat of humble bread, and there came in those great qualities of patience and resignation which makes of the Negro so dependable an asset in all such emergencies.
How shall we describe their chronology or write their log? They were everywhere in France where they were needed. As one officer expressed it, at one time it looked as though they would chop down all the trees in that country. Their units and designations were changed. They were shifted from place to place so often and given such a variety of duties it would take a most active historian to follow them. In the maze of data in the War Department at Washington, it would take months to separate and give an adequate account of their operations.
| BACK WITH THE HEROIC 15TH (369TH INFANTRY). LIEUT. JAMES REESE EUROPE'S FAMOUS BAND PARADING UP LENOX AVENUE, HARLEM, NEW YORK CITY. LIEUT. EUROPE SPECIALLY ENLARGED IN LEFT FOREGROUND. |
| SERGEANT HENRY JOHNSON (STANDING WITH FLOWERS), NEGRO HERO OF 369TH INFANTRY. IN NEW YORK PARADE. HE WAS THE FIRST SOLDIER OF ANY RACE IN THE AMERICAN ARMY TO RECEIVE THE CROIX DE GUERRE WITH PALM. NEEDHAM ROBERTS, HIS FIGHTING COMPANION, IN INSET. |
| RETURNING FROM THE WAR. MUSICIANS OF 365TH INFANTRY LEADING PARADE OF THE REGIMENT IN MICHIGAN BOULEVARD. CHICAGO. |
| SOLDIERS OF 365TH INFANTRY MARCHING DOWN MICHIGAN BOULEVARD. CHICAGO. THIS REGIMENT WAS PART OF THE CELEBRATED 92ND DIVISION OF SELECTIVE DRAFT MEN. |
| THE SEVEN AGES OF MEN. CURBSTONE GROUPS IN NEW YORK LINED UP TO GIVE THE HEROES WELCOME. THE SCENES WERE TYPICAL OF MANY IN CITIES AND TOWNS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. |
| COLONEL FRANKLIN A. DENISON, FORMER COMMANDER OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY), INVALIDED HOME FROM FRANCE JULY 12, 1918. |
| FIRST COMMANDER OF THE 8TH ILLINOIS INFANTRY, COLONEL JOHN R. MARSHALL, WHO INCREASED THE ORGANIZATION FROM A BATTALION TO A REGIMENT, EVERY OFFICER AND MAN A NEGRO. UNDER COL. MARSHALL THE REGIMENT SAW DISTINGUISHED SERVICE IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. |
| FORMER OFFICERS OF 370TH INFANTRY (OLD 8TH). LEFT, COLONEL FRANKLIN A. DENISON, COMMANDER UNTIL JULY, 1918; CENTER, COLONEL T.A. ROBERTS (WHITE). SUCCEEDING COMMANDER; RIGHT, LIEUT. COLONEL OTIS B. DUNCAN. APPOINTED COLONEL TO SUCCEED COLONEL T.A. ROBERTS. |
| CROWD ON THE LAKE FRONT IN CHICAGO ALMOST SMOTHERS RETURNING SOLDIERS OF "FIGHTING 8TH" (370TH INFANTRY). |
It is known that a contingent of them accompanied the very first forces that went abroad from this country. In fact, it may be said, that the feet of American Negroes were among the first in our forces to touch the soil of France. It is known that they numbered at least 136 different companies, battalions and regiments in France. If there were more, the records at Washington had not sufficiently catalogued them up to the early part of 1919 to say who they were.
In the desire to get soldiers abroad in 1918, the policy of the administration and the Department seems to have been to make details and bookkeeping a secondary consideration. The names of all, their organizations and officers were faithfully kept, but distinctions between whites and blacks were very obscure. Until the complete historical records of the Government are compiled, it will be impossible to separate them with accuracy.
Negro non-combatant forces in France at the end of the war included the 301st, 302nd and 303rd Stevedore Regiments and the 701st and 702nd Stevedore Battalions; the 322nd and 363rd Butchery Companies; Engineer Service battalions numbered from 505 to 550, inclusive; Labor battalions numbered from 304 to 348, inclusive, also Labor battalion 357; Labor companies numbered from 301 to 324, inclusive; Pioneer Infantry regiments numbered 801, 809, 811, 813, 815 and 816, inclusive. These organizations known as Pioneers, had some of the functions of infantry, some of those of engineers and some of those of labor units. They were prepared to exercise all three, but in France they were called upon to act principally as modified engineering and labor outfits. They also furnished replacement troops for some of the combatant units.
Service was of the dull routine void of the spectacular, and has never been sufficiently appreciated. In our enthusiasm over their fighting brothers we should not overlook nor underestimate these. There were many thousands of white engineers and Service of Supply men in general, but their operations were mostly removed from the base ports.
Necessity for the work was imperative. Owing to the requirements of the British army, the Americans could not use the English Channel ports. They were obliged to land on the west and south coasts of France, where dock facilities were pitifully inadequate. Railway facilities from the ports to the interior were also inadequate. The American Expeditionary Forces not only enlarged every dock and increased the facilities of every harbor, but they built railways and equipped them with American locomotives and cars and manned them with American crews.
Great warehouses were built as well as barracks, cantonments and hospitals. Without these facilities the army would have been utterly useless. Negroes did the bulk of the work. They were an indispensable wheel in the machinery, without which all would have been chaos or inaction.
Headquarters of the Service of Supply was at Tours. It was the great assembling and distributing point. At that point and at the base ports of Brest, Bordeaux, St. Nazaire and La Pallice most of the Negro Service of Supply organizations were located. The French railroads and the specially constructed American lines ran from the base ports and centered at Tours.
This great industrial army was under strict military regulations. Every man was a soldier, wore the uniform and was under commissioned and non-commissioned officers the same as any combatant branch of the service.
The Negro Service of Supply men acquired a great reputation in the various activities to which they were assigned, especially for efficiency and celerity in unloading ships and handling the vast cargoes of materials and supplies of every sort at the base ports. They were a marvel to the French and astonished not a few of the officers of our own army. They sang and joked at their work. The military authorities had bands to entertain them and stimulate them to greater efforts when some particularly urgent task was to be done. Contests and friendly rivalries were also introduced to speed up the work.
The contests were grouped under the general heading of "A Race to Berlin" and were conducted principally among the stevedores. Prizes, decorations and banners were offered as an incentive to effort in the contests. The name, however, was more productive of results than anything else. The men felt that it really was a race to Berlin and that they were the runners up of the boys at the front.
Ceremonies accompanying the awards were quite elaborate and impressive. The victors were feasted and serenaded. Many a stevedore is wearing a medal won in one of these conquests of which he is as proud, and justly so, as though it were a Croix de Guerre or a Distinguished Service Cross. Many a unit is as proud of its banner as though it were won in battle.
Thousands of Service of Supply men remained with the American Army of Occupation after the war; that is, they occupied the same relative position as during hostilities—behind the lines. The Army of Occupation required food and supplies, and the duty of getting them into Germany devolved largely upon the American Negro.
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.
| 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.
The Fourth of July was celebrated in England, France and Italy as well as in the United States. On that day Americans assisted the Australians in taking the town of Hamel and many prisoners. On the 8th and 9th the French advanced in the region of Longpont and northwest of Compiegne. On the 12th they took Castel and other strong points near the west bank of the Avre river. July 14, the French national holiday was observed in America, and by the American soldiers in France.
The fifth and last phase of the great offensive which the Germans had started in March, began July 15, in an attack from Chateau Thierry to Massignes, along a sixty-five mile front and crossing the Marne at several places. At Chateau Thierry the Americans put up a strong resistance but the enemy by persistent efforts finally succeeded in getting a footing on the south bank. The battle continued east and west of Rheims with the Allies holding strongly and the Germans meeting heavy losses.
While the Germans were trying to force their way regardless of cost, in the direction of Chalons and Epernay, General Foch was preparing a surprise in the Villers-Cotterets forest on the German right flank. In the large force collected for the surprise were some of the best French regiments together with the famed Foreign Legion, the Moroccan regiment and other crack troops including Americans. On the morning of July 18, a heavy blow was launched at the Germans all along the line from Chateau Thierry on the Marne to the Aisne northwest of Soissons.
The foe was taken completely by surprise and town after town fell with very little resistance. Later the resistance stiffened but the Allies continued to advance. Cavalrymen assisted the infantry and tanks in large numbers, helped to clean out the machine gun nests. The Americans who fought side by side with the French won the unbounded admiration of their comrades. Thousands of prisoners were taken with large numbers of heavy cannon, great quantities of ammunition and thousands of machine guns. By the 20th Soissons was threatened. The Germans finding themselves caught in a dangerous salient and attacked fiercely on both flanks, retreated hurriedly to the north bank of the Marne and still farther.
Meanwhile things were going badly for the Austrians. After its retreat in 1917 to the line of the Piave river, the Italian army had been reorganized and strengthened under General Diaz, who had succeeded General Cadorna in command. French and British regiments had been sent to assist in holding the line, and later some American forces.
The Austrians began an offensive June 15 along a 100-mile front, crossing the Piave in several places. For three days they made violent attacks on the Montello plateau, and along the Piave from St. Andrea to San Dona and at Capo Sile, twenty miles from Venice. Then the Italians, British, French and Americans counter-attacked and within three days had turned the great Austrian offensive into a rout, killing thousands, taking thousands of prisoners, and capturing an immense amount of war material including the Austrian's heavy caliber guns. The whole Austrian scheme to advance into the fertile Italian plains where they hoped to find food for their hungry soldiers, failed completely. It was practically the end of Austria and the beginning of the end for Germany. Bulgaria gave up September 26, due to heavy operations by the French, Italians and Serbians during July, August and September, in Albania, Macedonia and along the Vardar river to the boundaries of Bulgaria. They signed an armistice September 29 and the king of Bulgaria abdicated October 3. Turkey being in a hopeless position through the surrender of Bulgaria, and the success of the British forces under General Allenby, kept up a feeble resistance until the end of October when she too surrendered. The collapse of Austria-Hungary followed closely on that of Turkey. They kept up a show of resistance and suffered a number of disastrous defeats until the end of October when they raised the white flag. An armistice was signed by the Austrian representatives and General Diaz for the Italians, November 3.
On the anniversary of Britain's entry into the war, August 4, Field Marshall Haig, commander-in-chief of the British forces issued a special order of the day, the opening paragraph of which was:
"The conclusion of the fourth year of the war marks the passing of the period of crisis. We can now with added confidence, look forward to the future."
On August 4, General Pershing reported:
"The full fruits of victory in the counter offensive begun so gloriously by Franco-American troops on July 18, were reaped today, when the enemy who met his second great defeat on the Marne, was driven in confusion beyond the line of the Vesle. The enemy, in spite of suffering the severest losses, has proved incapable of stemming the onslaught of our troops, fighting for liberty side by side with French, British and Italian veterans. In the course of the operations, 8,400 prisoners and 133 guns have been captured by our men alone. Our troops have taken Fismes by assault and hold the south bank of the Vesle in this section."
On August 8, the British and French launched an offensive in Picardy, pressed forward about seven miles on a front of 20 miles, astride the river Somme and captured several towns and 10,000 prisoners. It was in this engagement that the hard fighting at Chipilly Ridge occurred, in which the Americans so ably assisted, notably former National Guardsmen from Chicago and vicinity. Montdidier was taken by the French August 10. The British also continued to advance and by the 11th the Allies had captured 36,000 prisoners and more than 500 guns. A French attack August 19-20 on the Oise-Aisne front, netted 8,000 prisoners and liberated many towns. On the 21st Lassigny was taken by the French. This was the cornerstone of the German position south of the Avre river. On August 29 the Americans won the important battle of Guvigny. By September 2 the Germans were retreating on a front of 130 miles, from Ypres south to Noyon. By the 9th the Germans had been driven back to the original Hindenburg line, where their resistance began to strengthen.
On September 12 the American army, led by General Pershing, won a great battle in the attack on and wiping out of the famous St. Mihiel salient. This victory forced the enemy back upon the Wotan-Hindenburg line, with the French paralleling him from Verdun to the Moselle. Pershing's forces continued fighting steadily, wearing out the Germans by steady pressure. On September 26 the Americans began another offensive along a front of 20 miles from the Meuse river westward through the Argonne forest. This developed into one of the bloodiest battles of the war for the Americans. On September 29 American and British troops smashed through the Hindenburg line at its strongest point between Cambrai and St. Quentin. British troops entered the suburbs of Cambrai and outflanked St. Quentin. Twenty-two thousand prisoners and more than 300 guns were captured. Meanwhile the Belgians tore a great hole in the German line, ten miles from the North sea, running from Dixmude southward.
On October 3 the French launched three drives, one north of St. Quentin, another north of Rheims, and a third to the east in Champagne. All were successful, resulting in the freeing of much territory and the capture of many prisoners. On October 4 the Americans resumed the attack west of the Meuse. In the face of heavy artillery and machine gun fire, troops from Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, forced the Germans back to the so-called Kriemhilde line. In the Champagne, American and French troops were moving successfully. On the 6th the Americans captured St. Etienne; on the 9th they reached the southern outskirts of Xivry and entered Chaune wood. On the same day the armies of Field Marshall Haig made a clean break through the Hindenburg system on the west. Through a twenty-mile gap, they advanced from nine to twelve miles, penetrating almost to the Le Selle and Sambre rivers.
On October 12 the British General Rawlinson, with whom an American division had been operating, sent a telegram of congratulation to the commander of the division, which comprised troops from Tennessee, in which he highly praised the gallantry of all the American troops. French troops on October 13 captured the fortress of La Fere, the strongest point on the south end of the old Hindenburg line. They also entered Laon and occupied the forest of St. Gobain. On October 15 the Americans took and passed St. Juvin after desperate fighting. On October 16 they occupied the town of Grandpre, a place of great strategic importance, being the junction of railways feeding a large part of the German armies. The Germans now began a retreat on an enormous scale in Belgium. So fast did they move that the British, French and Belgians could not keep in touch with them. The North sea ports of Belgium were speedily evacuated. Northwest of Grandpre the Americans captured Talma farm October 23, after a stiff machine gun resistance. Victories continued to be announced from day to day from all portions of the front.
On November 1 the Americans participated in a heavy battle, taking Champaigneulle and Landres et St. George, which enabled them to threaten the enemy's most important line of communication. On November 4 the Americans reached Stenay and on the 6th they crossed the Meuse. By the 7th they had entered Sedan, the place made famous by the downfall of Napoleon III in the war of 1870. On other parts of the American front the enemy retreated so fast that the infantry had to resort to motor cars to keep in touch with him. It was the same on other fronts. The Germans put up a resistance at the strong fortress of Metz, which the Americans were attacking November 10 and 11.
Armistice negotiations had been started as early as October, 5, and were concluded November 11th. This date saw the complete collapse of the German military machine and will be one of the most momentous days in history, as it marked the passing of an old order and the inauguration of a new era for the world. In the armistice terms every point which the Americans and Allies stipulated was agreed to by the Germans. The last shot in the war is thus described in an Associated Press dispatch of November 11:
"Thousands of American heavy guns fired the parting shot to the Germans at exactly 11 o'clock this morning. The line reached by the American forces was staked out this afternoon. The Germans hurled a few shells into Verdun just before 11 o'clock.
"On the entire American front from the Moselle to the region of Sedan, there was artillery activity in the morning, all the batteries preparing for the final salvos.
"At many batteries the artillerists joined hands, forming a long line as the lanyard of the final shot. There were a few seconds of silence as the shells shot through the heavy mist. Then the gunners cheered. American flags were raised by the soldiers over their dugouts and guns and at the various headquarters. Soon afterward the boys were preparing for luncheon. All were hungry as they had breakfasted early in anticipation of what they considered the greatest day in American history."
The celebration, which occurred November 11, upon announcement of the news, has never been equalled in America. It spontaneously became a holiday and business suspended voluntarily. Self-restraint was thrown to the winds for nearly twenty-four hours in every city, town and hamlet in the country. There was more enthusiasm, noise and processions than ever marked any occasion in this country and probably eclipsed anything in the history of the world.
| RETURN OF THE 15TH NEW YORK, 369TH INFANTRY. SHOWN SWINGING UP LENOX AVENUE. NEW YORK CITY WHERE THEY RECEIVED A ROYAL WELCOME. |
CHAPTER XXIX.
HOMECOMING HEROES.
NEW YORK GREETS HER OWN—ECSTATIC DAY FOR OLD 15TH—WHITES AND BLACKS DO HONORS—A MONSTER DEMONSTRATION—MANY DIGNITARIES REVIEW TROOPS—PARADE OF MARTIAL POMP—CHEERS, MUSIC, FLOWERS AND FEASTING—"HAYWARD'S SCRAPPING BABIES"—OFFICERS SHARE GLORY—THEN CAME HENRY JOHNSON—SIMILAR SCENES ELSEWHERE.
No band of heroes returning from war ever were accorded such a welcome as that tendered to the homecoming 369th by the residents of New York, Manhattan Island and vicinity, irrespective of race. Being one of the picturesque incidents of the war, the like of which probably will not be repeated for many generations, if ever, it well deserves commemoration within the pages of this book.
Inasmuch as no more graphic, detailed and colorful account of the day's doings has been printed anywhere, we cannot do better than quote in its entirety the story which appeared in the great newspaper, The World of New York, on February 18, 1919. The parade and reception, during which the Negro troops practically owned the city, occurred the preceeding day. The World account follows:
"The town that's always ready to take off its hat and give a whoop for a man who's done something—'no matter who or what he was before,' as the old Tommy Atkins song has it—turned itself loose yesterday in welcoming home a regiment of its own fighting sons that not only did something, but did a whole lot in winning democracy's war.
"In official records, and in the histories that youngsters will study in generations to come, this regiment will probably always be known as the 369th Infantry, U.S.A.
"But in the hearts of a quarter million or more who lined the streets yesterday to greet it, it was no such thing. It was the old 15th New York. And so it will be in this city's memory, archives and in the folk lore of the descendants of the men who made up its straight, smartly stepping ranks.
"New York is not race-proud nor race-prejudiced. That this 369th Regiment, with the exception of its eighty-nine white officers, was composed entirely of Negroes, made no difference in the shouts and flagwaving and handshakes that were bestowed upon it. New York gave its Old 15th the fullest welcome of its heart.
"Through scores of thousands of cheering white citizens, and then through a greater multitude of its own color, the regiment, the first actual fighting unit to parade as a unit here, marched in midday up Fifth Avenue and through Harlem, there to be almost assailed by the colored folks left behind when it went away to glory.
"Later it was feasted and entertained, and this time very nearly smothered with hugs and kisses by kin and friends, at the 71st Regiment Armory. Still later, perfectly behaved and perfectly ecstatic over its reception, the regiment returned to Camp Upton to await its mustering out.
"You knew these dark lads a year and a half ago, maybe, as persons to be slipped a dime as a tip and scarcely glanced it. They were your elevator boys, your waiters, the Pullman porters who made up your berths (though of course you'd never dare to slip a Pullman porter a dime). But, if you were like many a prosperous white citizen yesterday you were mighty proud to grasp Jim or Henry or Sam by the hand and then boast among your friends that you possessed his acquaintance.
"When a regiment has the medal honors of France upon its flags and it has put the fear of God into Germany time after time, and its members wear two gold stripes, signifying a year's fighting service, on one arm, and other stripes, signifying wounds, on the other, it's a whole lot different outfit from what it was when it went away. And that's the old 15th N.Y. And the men are different—and that's Jim and Henry and Sam.
"Col. William Hayward, the distinguished white lawyer and one time Public Service Commissioner, who is proud to head these fighters, was watching them line up for their departure shortly after 6 o'clock last evening, when someone asked him what he thought of the day.
"'It has been wonderful!' he said, and he gazed with unconcealed tenderness at his men. 'It's been far beyond my expectations. But these boys deserve it. There's only one thing missing. I wish some of Gen. Gouraud's French boys, whom we fought beside, could be here to see it.'
"The Colonel slapped his hand affectionately upon the shoulder of his dark-skinned orderly.
"'How about that, Hamilton, old boy?' he inquired.
"'That's right, Colonel, sir; Gen. Gonraud's boys sure would have enjoyed this day!' the orderly responded as he looked proudly at the Colonel.
"There's that sort of paternal feeling of the white officers toward their men, and that filial devotion of the men to their officers, such as exists in the French Army.
"Much as the white population of the town demonstrated their welcome to the Regiment, it was, after all, those of their own color to whom the occasion belonged. And they did themselves proud In making it an occasion to recall for years in Harlem, San Juan Hill and Brooklyn, where most of the fighters were recruited.
"At the official reviewing stand at 60th street, the kinsfolk and admirers of the regimental lads began to arrive as beforehandedly as 9 o'clock. They had tickets, and their seats were reserved for them. The official committee had seen to that—and nine-tenths of the yellow wooden benches were properly held for those good Americans of New York whom birth by chance had made dark-skinned instead of fair. BUT this was their Day of Days, and they had determined (using their own accentuation) to BE there and to be there EARLY.
"The first-comers plodded across 59th Street from the San Juan Hill district, and it was fine to see them. There seemed to be a little military swank even to the youngsters, as platoons of them stepped along with faces that had been scrubbed until they shone. Had a woman a bit of fur, she wore it. Had a man a top hat—origin or vintage-date immaterial—he displayed that. All heads were up, high; eyes alight. Beaming smiles everywhere. No not quite everywhere. Occasionally there was to be seen on a left sleeve a black band with a gold star, which told the world that one of the Old 15th would never see the region west of Columbus Circle, because he had closed his eyes in France. And the faces of the wearers of these were unlaughing, but they held themselves just as proudly as the rest.
"Few of the welcomers went flagless. No matter whether a man or woman wore a jewel or a pair of patent leather boots as a sign of "class," or tramped afoot to the stand or arrived in a limousine, nearly every dark hand held the nation's emblem.
"Nearly every one wore white badges bearing the letters: "Welcome, Fighting 15th," or had pennants upon which stood out the regimental insignia—a coiled rattlesnake of white on a black field.
"Those colored folk who could afford it journeyed to the stand in closed automobiles. Gorgeously gowned women alighted with great dignity beneath the admiring gaze of their humbler brethren. Taxies brought up those whose fortunes, perhaps, were not of such amplitude. Hansoms and hacks conveyed still others, and one party came in a plumber's wagon, its women members all bundled up in shawls and blankets against the cold, but grinning delightedly as the whole stand applauded.
"Children by the thousands lined the east side of the avenue—Boy Scouts and uniformed kids and little girls with their school books under their arms, and they sang to the great delight of the crowd.
"Just why it was that when Governor Smith and former Governor Whitman and Acting Mayor Moran and the other reviewers appeared behind a cavalcade of mounted policemen, the youngsters struck up that army classic, "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," no one could tell, but it gave the reviewers and the crowd a laugh.
"With the state and city officials were the members of the Board of Aldermen, the Board of Estimate, Major Gen. Thomas J. Barry, Vice Admiral Albert Gleaves, Secretary of State, Francis Hugo; Rodman Wannamaker and—in a green hat and big fur coat—William Randolph Hearst. Secretary Baker of the War Department was unable to attend, but he did the next best thing and sent his colored assistant, Emmett J. Scott.
"The reviewers arrived at 11:30 and had a good long wait, for at that time the paraders had not yet left 23rd Street. But what with the singing, and the general atmosphere of joyousness about the stand, there was enough to occupy everyone's time.
"There was one feature which took the eye pleasingly—the number of babies which proud mothers held aloft, fat pickaninnies, mostly in white, and surrounded by adoring relatives. These were to see (and be seen by) their daddies for the first time. Laughingly, the other day, Col. Bill Hayward spoke of 'our boys' posthumous children,' and said he thought there were quite a few of them.
"'Some of our boys had to go away pretty quickly,' he reminisced. 'Some of them were only married about twenty minutes or so.'
"'O Colonel!' said the modest Major Little on that occasion.
"'Well, maybe it was a trifle longer than twenty minutes,' admitted Bill. But anyhow, there was the regiment's posthumous children in the stand.
"It was 11:26 when the old 15th stepped away from 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue. They looked the part of the fighting men they were. At an exact angle over their right shoulders were their long-bayonetted rifles. Around their waists were belts of cartridges. On their heads were their 'tin hats,' the steel helmets that saved many a life, as was attested by the dents and scars in some of them. Their eyes were straight forward and their chins, held high naturally, seemed higher than ever because of the leather straps that circled them. The fighters wore spiral puttees and their heavy hobbed hiking shoes, which caused a metallic clash as they scraped over the asphalt.
"At the head of the line rode four platoons of mounted police, twelve abreast, and then, afoot and alone, Col. Hayward, who organized the 15th, drilled them when they had nothing but broomsticks to drill with, fathered them and loved them, and turned them into the fightingest military organization any man's army could want.
"The French called them 'Hell Fighters.' The Germans after a few mix-ups named them 'Blutlustige Schwartzmanner' (blood-thirsty black men.) But Col. Bill, when he speaks of them uses the words 'those scrapping babies of mine,' and they like that best of all. Incidentally (when out of his hearing) they refer tenderly to him as 'Old Bill, that fightin' white man.' So it's fifty-fifty.
"The Colonel had broken a leg in the war, so there were those who looked for him to limp as he strode out to face the hedge of spectators that must have numbered a quarter of a million. But nary a limp. With his full six feet drawn up erectly and his strong face smiling under his tin hat, he looked every bit the fighting man as he marched up the centre of the avenue, hailed every few feet by enthusiasts who knew him socially or in the law courts or in the business of the Public Service Commission.
"'Didn't your leg hurt you, Bill?' his friends asked him later.
"'Sure it hurt me; he said, 'but I wasn't going to peg along on the proudest day of my life!' Which this day was.
"Behind the Colonel marched his staff, Lieut. Col. W.A. Pickering, Capt. Adjutant Robert Ferguson, Major E.A. Whittemore, Regimental Sergt. Majors C.A. Connick and B.W. Cheeseman, Regimental Sergts. L.S. Payne, H.W. Dickerson and W.W. Chisum, and Sergts. R.C. Craig, D.E. Norman and Kenneth Bellups.
"The Police Band was at the front of the line of march, but it was a more famous band that provided the music to which the Black Buddies stepped northward and under the Arch of Victory—the wonderful jazz organization of Lieut. Jimmie Europe, the one colored commissioned officer of the regiment. But it wasn't jazz that started them off. It was the historic Marche du Regiment de Sambre et Meuse, which has been France's most popular parade piece since Napoleon's day. As rendered now it had all the crash of bugle fanfares which is its dominant feature, but an additional undercurrent of saxaphones and basses that put a new and more peppery tang into it.
"One hundred strong, and the proudest band of blowers and pounders that ever reeled off marching melody—Lieut. Jimmie's boys lived fully up to their reputation. Their music was as sparkling as the sun that tempered the chill day.
"Four of their drums were instruments which they had captured from the enemy in Alsace, and ma-an, what a beating was imposed upon those sheepskins! 'I'd very much admire to have them bush Germans a-watchin' me today!' said the drummer before the march started. The Old 15th doesn't say 'Boche' when it refers to the foe it beat. 'Bush' is the word it uses, and it throws in 'German' for good measure.
"Twenty abreast the heroes marched through a din that never ceased. They were as soldierly a lot as this town, now used to soldierly outfits, has ever seen. They had that peculiar sort of half careless, yet wholly perfect, step that the French display. Their lines were straight, their rifles at an even angle, and they moved along with the jaunty ease and lack of stiffness which comes only to men who have hiked far and frequently.
"The colored folks on the official stand cut loose with a wild, swelling shriek of joy as the Police Band fell out at 60th Street and remained there to play the lads along when necessary and when—now entirely itself—the khaki-clad regiment filling the street from curb to curb, stepped by.
"Colonel Hayward, with his hand at salute, turned and smiled happily as he saw his best friend, former Governor Whitman, standing with his other good friend, Governor Al Smith, with their silk tiles raised high over their heads. It was the Governor's first review in New York and the first time he and Mr. Whitman had got together since Inauguration Day. They were of different parties, but they were united in greeting Colonel Bill and his Babies.
"From the stand, from the Knickerbocker Club across the street, from the nearby residences and from the curbing sounded shouts of individual greetings for the commander and his staff. But these were quickly drowned as a roar went up for Lieutenant Europe's band, with its commander at the head—not swinging a baton like a common ordinary drum-major, but walking along with the uniform and side-arms of an officer.
"'The Salute to the 85th,' which they learned from their comrade regiment of the French Army of General Gouraud, was what they were playing, a stirring thing full of bugle calls and drum rolls, which Europe says is the best march he ever heard.
"So swiftly did the platoons sweep by that it took a quick eye to recognize a brother or a son or a lover or a husband; but the eyes in the stand were quick, and there were shouts of 'Oh, Bill!' 'Hey, boy, here's your mammy!' 'Oliver, look at your baby!' (It wasn't learned whether this referred to a feminine person or one of those posthumous children Colonel Hayward spoke about.) 'Hallelujah, Sam! There you are, back home again!'
"Half way down the ranks of the 2,992 paraders appeared the colors, and all hats came off with double reverence, for the Stars and Stripes and the blue regimental standard that two husky ebony lads held proudly aloft had been carried from here to France, from France to Germany and back again, and each bore the bronze token with its green and red ribbon that is called the Croix de Guerre. Keen eyes could see these little medals swinging from the silk of the flags, high toward the top of the poles.
"At the end of the lines which filled the avenue came a single automobile, first, with a round-faced smiling white officer sitting in it and gazing happily from side to side. This was Major Lorillard Spencer, who was so badly wounded that he came back in advance of the outfit some weeks ago. There was a special racket of cheers for him, and then another for Major David L. 'Esperance, also wounded and riding.
"Then a far different figure, but one of the most famous of the whole war. Henry Johnson! That Henry, once a mild-mannered chauffeur, who to protect his comrade, Needham Roberts, waded into a whole patrol of 'bush Germans' with a lot of hand grenades, his rifle and his trusty 'steel' in the shape of a bolo knife, and waded into them so energetically that when the casualties were counted there were four dead foemen in front of him, thirty-four others done up so badly they couldn't even crawl away, and heaven knows how many more had been put to flight.
"And now Henry, in commemoration of this exploit, was riding alone in an open machine. In his left hand he held his tin hat. In his right he held high over his head a bunch of red and white lilies which some admirer had pressed upon him. And from side to side Henry—about as black as any man in the outfit if not a trifle blacker—bowed from the waist down with all the grace of a French dancing master. Yes, he bowed, and he grinned from ear to ear and he waved his lilies, and he didn't overlook a bet in the way of taking (and liking) all the tributes that were offered to him.
"A fleet of motor ambulances, back of Henry, carried the wounded men who were unable to walk, nearly 200 of them. But though they couldn't walk, they could laugh and wave and shout thanks for the cheers, all of which they did.
"Almost before the happy colored folk could realize at the official stand that here were their lads back home again, the last of the parade rolled along and it was over. With that formation and the step that was inspired by Lieutenant Europe's band—and by the Police Band which stood at 60th Street and kept playing after the music of the other died away—it required only seventeen minutes for the regiment to pass.
"From this point north the welcome heightened in intensity. Along the park wall the colored people were banked deeply, everyone giving them the first ranks nearest the curb. Wives, sweethearts and mothers began to dash into the ranks and press flowers upon their men and march alongside with them, arm-in-arm. But this couldn't be, and Colonel Hayward had to stop the procession for a time and order the police to put the relatives back on the sidewalks. But that couldn't stop their noise.
"The residents of the avenue paid fine tribute to the dusky marchers. It seemed inspiring, at 65th Street, to see Mrs. Vincent Astor standing in a window of her home, a great flag about her shoulders and a smaller one in her left hand, waving salutes. And Henry Frick, at an open window of his home at 73d Street, waving a flag and cheering at the top of his voice.
"At the corner of 86th street was a wounded colored soldier wearing the Croix de Guerre and the Victoria Cross as well. Colonel Hayward pressed to his side with a hearty handshake, exclaiming: 'Why, I thought you were dead!' It was one of his boys long ago invalided home.
"No, sir, Colonel, not me. I ain't dead by a long ways yet, Colonel, sir,' said the lad.
"'How's it going, Colonel?' asked a spectator.
"'Fine,' said the Commander. 'All I'm worrying about is whether my boys are keeping step.' He needn't have worried.
"The real height of the enthusiasm was reached when, after passing through 110th street and northward along Lenox Avenue, the heroes arrived in the real Black Belt of Harlem. This was the Home, Sweet Home for hundreds of them, the neighborhood they'd been born in and had grown up in, and from 129th Street north the windows and roofs and fireescapes of the five and six story apartment houses were filled to overflowing with their nearest and dearest.
"The noise drowned the melody of Lieut. Europe's band. Flowers fell in showers from above. Men, women and children from the sidewalks overran the police and threw their arms about the paraders. There was a swirling maelstrom of dark humanity in the avenue. In the midst of all the racket there could be caught the personal salutations: 'Oh, honey!' 'Oh, Jim!' 'Oh, you Charlie!' 'There's my boy!' 'There's daddie!' 'How soon you coming home, son?' It took all the ability of scores of reserve policemen between 129th Street and 135th Street, where the uptown reviewing stand was, to pry those colored enthusiasts away from their soldiermen.
"There was one particular cry which was taken up for blocks along this district: 'O-oh, you wick-ed Hen-nery Johnson! You wick-ed ma-an!' and Henry the Boche Killer still bowed and grinned more widely than ever, if possible.
"'Looks like a funeral, Henry, them lilies!' called one admirer.
'"Funeral for them bush Germans, boy! Sure a funeral for them bushes.' shouted Henry.
"The official reviewing party, after the parade had passed 60th street, had hurried uptown, and so had the Police Band, and so there were some doings as the old 15th breezed past 135th Street. But no one up there cared for Governors or ex-Governors or dignitaries. Every eye was on the Black Buddies and every throat was opened wide for them.
"At 145th Street the halt was called. Again there was a tremendous rush of men and women with outstretched arms; the military discipline had to prevail, and the soldiers were not allowed to break ranks, nor were the civilians (save the quickest of them) able to give the hugs and kisses they were overflowing with.
"As rapidly as possible the fighters were sent down into the subway station and loaded aboard trains which took them down to the 71st Regiment Armory at 34th Street and Fourth Avenue. Here the galleries were filled with as many dusky citizens as could find places (maybe 2,500 or 3,000) and so great was the crowd in the neighborhood that the police had to block off 34th Street almost to Fifth Avenue on the west and Third on the east.
"As each company came up from the subway the friends and relatives were allowed to go through the lines, and, while the boys stood still in ranks, but at ease, their kinsfolk were allowed to take them in their arms and tell them really and truly, in close-up fashion, what they thought about having them back.
"When the entire regiment was in the Armory, the civilians in the gallery broke all bounds. They weren't going to stay up there while their heroes were down below on the drill-floor! Not they! They swarmed past the police and depot battalion and so jammed the floor that it was impossible for the tired Black Buddy even to sit down. Most of the boys had to take their chicken dinner—served by colored girls, and the chow, incidentally, from Delmonico's—standing up with arms about them and kisses punctuating assaults upon the plates.
"'Some chow, hey Buddy?' would be heard.
"'Pretty bon.' You'd get the answer. 'I'd like to have beaucoup more of this chicken.' There was noticeable a sprinkling of French words in the conversation of the Old 15th, and, indeed, some of them spoke it fluently.
"'Sam told me,' one girl was heard to say, 'that he killed nineteen of them Germans all his own self, but nobody saw him and so he didn't get that Cross doo Gare.'"
Mustering out commenced at Camp Upton the following day. Thus ended the service of the 369th. Their deeds are emblazoned on the roll of honor. Sons and grandsons of slaves, welcomed by the plaudits of the second largest city in the world. What a record of progress in a trifle over half a century of freedom. What an augury of promise for the future of the colored race, and what an augury for the world freedom which they helped to create, and, overshadowing all else, WHAT an object lesson it should be to our country at large: east, west, north, south, that, "One touch of nature makes 'all men' kin." That in her opinion and treatment of her faithful, loyal black citizens; niggardly, parsimonious, grudging and half-heartedly, how shameful she has been, how great has been her sin; forgetting; or uncaring, even as Pharoh of old, that: "God omnipotent liveth," and that "He is a JUST and a vengeful God!"
New York's welcome to her returning Negro boys was fairly typical of similar scenes all over the country. Chicago gave a tremendous ovation to the heroes of the old 8th Infantry. In Washington, Cleveland, and many other cities were great parades and receptions when theirs came home. In hundreds of smaller towns and hamlets the demonstrations were repeated in miniature.
CHAPTER XXX.
RECONSTRUCTION AND THE NEGRO.
BY JULIUS ROSENWALD, PRESIDENT SEARS, ROEBUCK & CO, AND TRUSTEE OF TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE—A PLEA FOR INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR THE NEGRO—TRIBUTE TO NEGRO AS SOLDIER AND CIVILIAN—DUTY OF WHITES POINTED OUT—BUSINESS LEADER AND PHILANTHROPIST SOUNDS KEYNOTE.
Although American sacrifices in the European War have been great, we find compensation for them in many directions. Not the least of these is the vastly increased number of opportunities the reconstruction period will offer to many of our citizens.
Today the United States is the leading nation of the world in virtually every line of activity. We have been thrust into a new world leadership by the war. It behooves us to make the most of our new opportunities. To equip ourselves creditably we must utilize the best there is in the manhood and womanhood of our nation, drawing upon the intellect and ability of every person who has either to give.
Approximately ten percent of our present population is colored. Every man, woman and child of this ten percent should be given the opportunity to utilize whatever ability he has in the struggle for the maintenance of world leadership which we now face. Just insofar as we refuse to give this part of our population an opportunity to lend its strength to helping us set a pace for the rest of the world, as best it can, so do we weaken the total strength of our nation. In other words, we can either give our colored population the right and the opportunity to do the best work of which it is capable and increase our efficiency, or we can deny them their rights and opportunities, as we have done in many instances, and decrease our efficiency proportionately.
Of course, the question naturally arises as to how efficient the colored man and the colored woman are when given the opportunity to demonstrate their ability. No better answer can be found than that given by the splendid work of the majority of our colored people during the war. On the firing line, in the camps behind the line, and in civil life our colored population has done well indeed. Four hundred thousand Negroes offered their lives for their country. Many more made noble sacrifices in civilian life.
It was my privilege not only to observe the work done in civil life by colored persons in this country during the war, but to visit colored troops in France during hostilities.
There is no question that the Negro has given a splendid account of himself both as an exceptionally fearless fighting man and as a member of non-combatant troops. I made diligent effort to ascertain the manner in which the Negro troops conducted themselves behind the lines. It is much easier for a man to become lax in his conduct there than in actual fighting. Without exception every officer I questioned stated he could not ask for more obedient, willing, harder working or more patriotic troops than the Negro regiments had proven themselves to be. Every account I have read regarding the engagement of colored men in fighting units and every case in which I had the opportunity to inquire personally regarding the bravery of colored troops has led me to believe our colored men were as good soldiers as could be found in either our own army or the armies of our allies, regardless of color.
One needs only to scan the records of the War Department and the official reports of General Pershing to find positive proof of the valor, endurance and patriotism of the colored troops who battled for liberty and democracy for all the world. The entire nation notes with pride the splendid service of the 365th to the 372nd Infantry units, inclusive. When historians tell the story of the sanguinary conflicts at Chateau Thierry, in the Forest of Argonne, in the Champagne sector, Belleau Wood and at Metz, the record will give reason to believe that the victories achieved on those memorable fields might have shown a different result had it not been for the remarkable staying and fighting abilities of the colored troops. French, English and American commanding officers unite in singing the praises of these gallant warriors and agree that in the entire Allied Army no element contributed more signally than did they to the final downfall of the German Military Machine in proportion to their numbers.
Not only did the combatant units of the colored troops win laurels across the sea, but the 301st Stevedore Regiment was cited for exceptionally efficient work, having broken all records by unloading and coaling the giant steamer "Leviathan" in fifty-six hours, competing successfully with the best stevedore detachments on the western front of France. Everywhere, behind the lines as well as when facing shot, shell and gas, the colored soldiers have given a most creditable account of themselves and are entitled to the product of their patriotism and loyalty.
Those who remained at home during the war realize fully that the patriotic service rendered by colored persons in civil life, both in doing war work and in the purchase of Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps is to be commended.
Surely after the many demonstrations of patriotism both on the battlefield and at home the white people of this country will be willing to accord the colored people a square deal by at least giving them a fair opportunity to earn a livelihood in accordance with their ability.
We have been asking the impossible of the colored man and the colored woman. We have demanded that they be honest, self-respecting citizens, and at the same time we have forced them into surroundings which almost make this result impossible. In many places they are deprived of a fair opportunity to obtain education or amusement in a decent environment. Only the most menial positions are offered them. An educated girl particularly has practically no opportunity to earn a livelihood in the manner for which her education fits her.
We whites of America must begin to realize that Booker T. Washington was right when he said it was impossible to hold a man in the gutter without staying there with him, because "if you get up, he will get up." We do not want to remain in the gutter. We, therefore, must help the
Negro to rise
.
If we are to obtain the best results from colored labor, unions should admit it to their membership. It is not the universal practice to admit colored persons to unions. The result, of course, is that even if a colored man has the opportunity to learn a trade, knowing he will not be permitted to enjoy the benefits of a union, he does not have the highest incentive for learning it. The north is especially neglectful in not providing openings for the colored men in trades. In the south it is not unusual to see a colored brick-mason working alongside a white brick-mason. But in the north the best a colored man can hope for on a building job now is a position as a hod-carrier or mortar-mixer.
When the alien arrives in this country, he is given opportunity for virtually every kind of employment. But the colored man who is born in the United States, and, therefore,
should share in its opportunities
, is not given as fair a chance as the alien worker.
Naturally, we cannot hope that these conditions will be remedied in a day or a month nor can the colored man expect that the millennium will come to him through the action of white people alone. He can improve his chances of securing greater rights and opportunities in the United States, if he will make the most of the limited opportunities now afforded him. He who does the best he can with the tools he has at hand is bound in time to demand by his good work better tools for the performance of more important and profitable duties. The conviction is general that "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much."
The late Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, who was a good friend of the black man as well as the white, struck the right note in his introduction to the biography of Booker T. Washington when he said:
"If there is any lesson more essential than any other for this country to learn, it is the lesson that the enjoyment of rights should be made conditional upon the performance of duty."
There exist certain rights which every colored man and woman may enjoy regardless of laws and prejudice. For instance, nothing can prevent a colored person from practicing industry, honesty, saving and decency, if he or she desires to practice them.
The helpfulness of the colored race to the Government need not be confined to fighting in the army nor to service in the manifold domestic callings. It is the duty of the colored citizens, as it is their right, to have a part in the substantial development of the nation and to assist in financing its operations for war or peace. The colored people, as a rule, are industrious and thrifty and have come to appreciate their importance as a factor in the economic and financial world, as indicated by their prosperous business enterprises, their large holdings in real estate, their management of banks, and their scrupulous handling of the millions of deposits entrusted to their care. This capital, saved through sacrifice, has been placed in a most generous manner at the disposal of the Government throughout its period of need, and the list of corporations, fraternities and individuals who have aided in bringing success to American arms by the purchase of Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps and by contributions to other war relief agencies, is indeed a long one.
Opportunities of the colored people to make safe investment of their savings never were so great as they are today. The financial program the Government has entered upon and is continuing to carry out to meet the expense of the war gives a chance to save in sums as small as twenty-five cents and makes an investment upon which return of both principal and interest is absolutely guaranteed. Too often colored people have entrusted their savings to wholly irresponsible persons, lost them through the dishonesty of these persons, and in discouragement abandoned all attempts at saving. Today, however, there is no excuse for any man not saving a certain amount of his earnings no matter how small it may be. It is a poor person, indeed, who cannot invest twenty-five cents at stated intervals in a Thrift Stamp. Many are able also to buy small Liberty Bonds. It is a duty and a privilege for colored persons to help the Government finance the war, which was for both whites and blacks.
It is the particular duty of white persons, in cooperation with the most influential members of their own race, to explain these Government financial plans to the colored men and women that they may make safe investments, acquire a competence, and thus become better citizens.
It is my belief that the Negro soldier returning from France will be a better citizen than when he left. He will be benefited mentally and physically by his military training and experience. He will have a broader vision. He will appreciate American citizenship. He will know, I believe, that freedom, for which he risked his life and all, is not license. He will find his brothers at home who did not go overseas better for their war sacrifices. Both the soldier and the civilian have proved their devoted loyalty. Justice demands that they now be rewarded with an equal chance with the white man to climb as high in the industrial and professional world as their individual capacity warrants.
| HOMECOMING HEROES OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY). FAMOUS NEGRO FIGHTERS MARCHING IN MICHIGAN BOULEVARD, CHICAGO. |
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE OTHER FELLOW'S BURDEN.
An Emancipation Day Appeal for Justice.
By W. Allison Sweeney.
Publisher's Note: At our request, Mr. Sweeney consented to the reproduction of this poem, which with the accompanying letter from the late Dr. Booker T. Washington, and the comment by the Chicago Daily News, appeared in that newspaper just prior to New Years Day, 1914. We regard it as a powerful argument, affecting the Negro's past condition and his interests.
"President Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation Sept. 22, 1862. It went into effect at the beginning of January, 1863. New Year's day has thus become 'Emancipation day' to the colored people of the United States and to all members of the white race who realize the great significance of Lincoln's act of striking off the shackles of an enslaved race. Services on that day combine honor to Lincoln with appeals to the people of Lincoln's nation to grant justice to the Negro. A remarkable appeal of this sort is embodied in the poem here presented.
"W. Allison Sweeney, author of "The Other Fellow's Burden" is well known among his people as writer, editor and lecturer. His poem, which sketches with powerful strokes the lamentable history of the colored race in America and tells of their worthy achievements in the face of discouragements, deserves a thoughtful reading by all persons. Of this poem and its author Dr. Booker T. Washington writes as follows:
"TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE, ALA., Dec. 24, 1913.—To the Editor of the Chicago Daily News: I have read with sincere interest and appreciation W. Allison Sweeney's poem, 'The Other Fellow's Burden.' All through Mr. Sweeney's poem there is an invitation put in rather a delicate and persuasive way, but nevertheless it is there, for the white man to put himself in the negro's place and then to lay his hand upon his heart and ask how he would like for the other fellow to treat him. If every man who reads this poem will try sincerely to answer this question I believe that Mr. Sweeney's poem will go a long way toward bringing about better and more helpful conditions.
"Mr. Sweeney is, of course, a member of the Negro race and writes from what might be called the inside. He knows of Negro aspirations, of Negro strivings and of Negro accomplishments. He has had an experience of many years as writer and lecturer for and to Negroes and he knows probably as well as anyone wherein the Negro feels that 'the shoe is made to pinch.' The poem, it seems to me, possesses intrinsic merit and I feel quite sure that Mr. Sweeney's appeal to the great American people, for fair play will not fall upon deaf ears. Booker T. Washington."
The "white man's burden" has been
told the world,
But what of the other fellow's—
The "lion's whelp"?
Lest you forget,
May he not lisp his?
Not in arrogance,
Not in resentment,
But that truth
May stand foursquare?
This then,
Is the Other Fellow's Burden.
* * * * *
Brought into existence
Through the enforced connivance
Of a helpless motherhood
Misused through generations—
America's darkest sin!—
There courses through his veins
In calm insistence—incriminating irony
Of the secrecy of blighting lust!
The best and the vilest blood
Of the South's variegated strain;
Her statesmen and her loafers,
Her chivalry and her ruffians.
Thus bred,
His impulses twisted
At the starting point
By brutality and sensuous savagery,
Should he be crucified?
Is it a cause for wonder
If beneath his skin of many hues—
Black, brown, yellow, white—
Flows the sullen flood
Of resentment for prenatal wrong
And forced humility?
Should it be a wonder
That the muddy life current
Eddying through his arteries,
Crossed with the good and the bad,
Poisoned with conflicting emotions,
Proclaims at times,
Through no fault of his,
That for a surety the sins of fathers
Become the heritage of sons
Even to the fourth generation?
Or that murdered chastity,
That ravished motherhood—
So pitiful, so helpless,
Before the white hot,
Lust-fever of the "master"—
Has borne its sure fruit?
You mutter, "There should be no wonder."
Well, somehow, Sir Caucasian,
Perhaps southern gentleman,
I, marked a "whelp," am moved
To prize that muttered admission.
* * * * *
But listen, please:
The wonder is—the greater one—
That from Lexington to San Juan hill
Disloyalty never smirched
His garments, nor civic wrangle
Nor revolutionary ebullition
Marked him its follower.
A "striker"? Yes!
But he struck the insurgent
And raised the flag.
An ingrate?
Treacherous?
A violator?
When—oh, spectacle that moved the world!
For five bloody years
Of fratricidal strife—
Red days when brothers warred—
He fed the babe,
Shielded the mother.
Guarded the doorsill
Of a million southern homes?
Penniless when freedom came? Most true;
But his accumulations of fifty years
Could finance a group of principalities.
Homeless? Yes; but the cabin and the hut
Of Lincoln's day—uncover at that name!—
Are memories; the mansion of today,
Dowered with culture and refinement,
Sweetened by clean lives,
Is a fact.
Unlettered? Yes;
But the alumni of his schools,
Triumphant over the handicap
Of "previous condition,"
Are to be found the world over
In every assemblage inspired
By the democracy of letters.
In the casting up what appears?
The progeny of lust and helplessness,
He inherited a mottled soul—
"Damned spots" that biased the looker on.
Clothed a freeman,
Turned loose in the land
Creditless, without experience,
He often stumbled, the way being strange,
Sometimes fell.
Mocked, sneered at from every angle,
spurned, hindered in every section,
North, south, east, west,
Refused the most primitive rights,
His slightest mistakes
Made mountains of,
Hunted, burned, hanged,
The death rattle in his throat
Drowned by shouts and laughter
And—think of it!—
The glee of little children.
Still he pressed on, wrought,
Sowed, reaped, builded.
His smile ever ready,
His perplexed soul lighted
With the radiance
Of an unquenchable optimism,
God's presence visualized,
He has risen, step by step.
To the majesty of the home builder,
Useful citizen,
Student, teacher,
Unwavering patriot.
This of the Other Fellow.
What of you, his judges and his patrons?
If it has been your wont
In your treatment of him
Not to reflect,
Or to stand by in idle unconcern
While, panting on his belly,
Ambushed by booted ruffianism,
He lapped in sublime resignation
The bitter waters
Of unreasoning intolerance,
Has not the hour of his deliverance,
Of your escape from your "other selves"
Struck?
If you have erred,
Will you refuse to know it?
Has not the time arrived
To discriminate between
Those who lower
Those who raise him?
You are shamed by your abortions,
Your moral half growths
Who flee God's eye
And stain his green earth,
But you are not judged by yours;
Should he be judged by his?
In his special case—if so, why?
Is manhood a myth,
Womanhood a toy,
Integrity unbelievable,
Honor a chimera?
Should not his boys and girls,
Mastering the curriculum of the schools,
Pricked on to attainment by the lure
Of honorable achievement,
Be given bread and not a stone
When seeking employment
In the labor mart,
At the factory gate
Or the office door?
Broadened by the spirit of the golden rule,
Will you not grant these children of Hagar
An even break?
Is the day not here, O judges,
When the Other Fellow
May be measured in fairness,
Just fairness?
* * * * *
It is written men may rise
"On their dead selves to higher things;"
But can it be that this clear note of cheer
To sodden men and smitten races
Was meant for all save him?
Chants an immortal:
"He prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all."
CHAPTER XXXII.
AN INTERPOLATION.
HELD BY DISTINGUISHED THINKERS AND WRITERS, THAT THE NEGRO SOLDIER SHOULD BE GIVEN A CHANCE FOR PROMOTION AS WELL AS A CHANCE TO DIE—WHY WHITE OFFICERS OVER NEGRO SOLDIERS?
Ever since the conclusion of the conflict of '61-'65, in which Negro troops numbered by thousands, took an active part upon behalf of the Union, there has been a growing and insistent wonder in the minds of many, why, given a chance to die in the military service of the nation, they should not also at the same time be given a chance for promotion.
Subsequent affairs engaged in by the government requiring the intervention of its military arm, the Spanish-American war, the Philippines investiture incident thereto, the Mexican disagreement, the whole crowned by the stupendous World War; its frightful devastation and din yet fresh to our sight, still filling our ears, as it will for years; in all of which they have contributed their share of loyalty and blood—of LIVES!—have but added to, strengthened the wonder mentioned.
Up to the beginning of the European muddle it was discussed if at all, not so much as a condition demanding uncensored condemnation, as one to continue to be patient with, trusting to time and an awakened sense of fair play upon the part of the nation at large to note the custom complained of, and banish the irritation by abolishing the cause.
However, there has not been lacking those who have spoken out, who have raised their voices in protest against what they deemed an injustice to the loyal "fighting men" of their race, and so feeling, have not hesitated to make their plea to those above empowered to listen, regardless of the mood in which they did so.
As long ago as the summer of 1915, or to be exact, August 26th of that year, Capt. R.P. Roots of Seattle, Washington, addressed a letter to the Hon. Lindley M. Garrison at Washington, at the time Secretary of War, directing his attention to the discrepancy of assignment complained of, accompanied with certain suggestions; having to do with a condition that the government must eventually face; that will not down, and must sooner or later be abrogated. Captain Roots' communication to the Secretary of War, also one addressed to the Hon. Joseph Tumulty, private secretary to President Wilson, follows:
"Seattle, Wash., August 26, 1915.
"Hon. Lindley M. Garrison, Secretary of War,
Dear Sir: As an ex-officer of the Spanish-American war, having served as
Captain of Company "E" of the Eighth Illinois Volunteers, I am taking
the liberty to ask that, if you should recommend any increase in the
Army you give the Negro a chance in the manner, and for reasons I shall
further explain.
You will notice by my service with the 8th Illinois that I am a
colored man, and as such am offering these suggestions, which, in the
main, are just.
If the increase is sufficient, we should have:
TWO COAST ARTILLERY COMPANIES.
ONE REGIMENT OF FIELD ARTILLERY (In these branches we are not
represented at all).
ONE REGIMENT OF CAVALRY.
The above to be embodied in the Regular Army and to be officered as
you think fit.
But my main object is: Three Regiments of Infantry officered from
COLONEL DOWN WITH COLORED MEN. I should not have these Infantry
Regiments of the regular service for the reason that to appoint officers
to the rank of Colonel, Majors, etc., would not be fair to the regular
service officers, and would interfere with the promotion of the same,
but I would have them rank as volunteers. Give them the name of
"IMMUNES," "FOREIGN SERVICE REGIMENTS," or any other name that you
choose.
My further reasons are as to officering these regiments, that there
would be many misfits in such organizations and I would leave it so that
you or the President could remove them without prejudice from the
service, but to fill by OTHER COLORED MEN the vacancies that might
occur. I should officer these regiments with Spanish War veterans,
non-commissioned officers of the retired and regulars, but should
appoint all 2d Lieutenants from the schools of the country giving
military training.
The 2d Lieutenants upon passing the regular army examination could be
placed in the eligible list of the regular army, but NOT until at least
two years' service with these regiments. You could set a time limit on
these regiments if you so desire, say ten or twelve years duration;
either mustered out or in the regular service.
"Now Mr. Secretary, I have striven to meet any objections which might be
made by the Army on account of social prejudice, etc. With this thought
I should send these regiments to some foreign post to serve where there
are dark races; to the Philippines, Mexico, or Haiti. The object lesson
would be marked politically, both at home and abroad.
"The 48th and 49th Regiments organized in 1899 and sent to Philippines
were unsatisfactory because of there being three social lines of
separation in those organizations—THE FIELD AND STAFF of these
regiments WERE WHITE, and the LINE OFFICERS WERE COLORED. In a social
way the line officers WERE ENTIRELY IGNORED, and even officially were
treated very little better than enlisted men or with no more courtesy,
to such an extent as to cause comment by both soldiers and natives.
"Now as to the colored citizen of this country coming to its defense
there is no question, as he has always done so But, to use a late
phrase, he is beginning to want HIS "PLACE IN THE SUN"—he wants a
chance to rise on his merits AND TO KNOW WHEN HE SHOULDERS A GUN, THAT
IF HE IS DESERVING OF IT, HE WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO RISE. He can fight
and will, but will fight better with an incentive than without one. He
is a, citizen regardless of all laws to the contrary; also he is the NEW
Negro, and NOT of the "Uncle Tom" class, the passing of whom so many
white citizens regret.
"He reads your literature, attends your theaters, goes to your schools,
observes you in his capacity as a waiter or porter, and is absorbing the
best you have in the ways of civilization, and in fact, in every walk of
life, he is a factor; and when he is asked to defend his country should
he not be given THE SAME CHANCE AS THE WHITE MAN?
"You will say that he should go to West Point. Well and good; but who is
to send him? Next, who will defend him while there against the
"Unwritten Law" of the white students not to allow him to matriculate?
"The first officers of such regiments could be easily picked, made from
Spanish War veterans and non-commissioned officers of the regular army,
and second lieutenants from graduates from colleges giving military
training. Such an organization officered in this manner would be ideal,
speaking from my experience as a veteran of the Spanish War.
"One thing you may have overlooked: We are twelve million in this
country, WITH AN ESTIMATE OF A MILLION MEN FIT FOR SERVICE.
"Suppose at such a crisis as is now transpiring in Europe, this country,
with its millions of foreign citizens, should suddenly find itself face
to face with a revolution. The presence and loyalty of these MILLION
NEGROES might mean much for the stability of this government.
"I have spoken plainly because I am a citizen; this is my country. I was
born here, and shall at all times be found with the flag; hence I ask,
that in your recommendations, looking to the betterment and enlargement
of the army, you give THE BLACK PATRIOT such consideration, as I cannot
but feel is due him, the thousands of young colored men who have passed
through colleges and schools in an effort to prepare themselves for
filling a place in the world.
"I am opposed to segregation, but as it seems, under the present
conditions of the races socially to be the ONLY way to a square deal, I
accept it. There are Irish regiments, German regiments, etc., let us
then have Negro regiments. The coming generations will look after the
rest. I am, very respectfully,
R.P. ROOTS
400 26th Ave., North, Late Capt. 8th Ill. Vol. Infantry."
"Seattle, Wash., Nov. 9, 1915.
"Hon Joseph Tumulty, Secretary to the President, Washington, D.C.
Dear Sir:—I am enclosing a copy of a letter sent to the Secretary of
War, which I would be very much pleased to have you call the President's
attention to, and ask if he can approve of it.
"I was not fully informed as to the President's policy in regard to
Haiti at the time of writing, and am not now, except through such
information as received by the daily press. Taking that, in the main as
authentic, I wish to add that I think a Brigade of Colored Troops, such
as recommended in my letter to the Secretary for foreign service, would
be the proper thing for Haiti.
"It being a Negro Republic, the racial feeling as to the Negro's
treatment in this country, which I need not mention, has been enlarged
upon and not understood by the Negroes of other parts of the world, so
that as it seems to me, to organize a constabulary officered by white
Americans, would be inviting murder; for agitators from other
governments, if they so desired, would soon cause a rebellion, and then
you would have it all to do over again.
"Colored troops from this country, I mean officers as well, would tend
to cause a good feeling among the natives, not at first but later on as
each became used to the other. THE WHITE MAN THINKS HE IS SUPERIOR TO
ANY NEGRO, AND WOULD SHOW IT EVEN THOUGH HE TRIED NOT TO, and the
Haitian would be going around with a chip on his shoulder looking for
someone to knock it off.
"You have three men in the regular army who could supervise the
organization of these troops, and one who is already a Colonel of the
Eighth Illinois National Guard, also several others if you wished to
consider them.
"Hoping that you will see the advisability of such an organization for
diplomatic reasons and for JUSTICE TO THE AMERICAN NEGRO—who has been
loyal—and served from Bunker Hill until now, I am,
Very respectfully,
R.P. ROOTS,
400 26th St. N. Seattle, Wash., Late Capt. Eighth Illinois Volunteer
Infantry during Spanish War."
As touching upon the above, Editor E.S. Abbott of THE CHICAGO DEFENDER, made the following comment:
"There may be reasons deemed good and sufficient upon the part of
President Wilson and Secretary Garrison for not having replied to
the very courteous and finely conceived letters of appeal and
suggestion, having to do with a new deal—with justice and fair
play in the future towards the Negro soldiery of our country,
written them some weeks ago by CAPT. R.P. ROOTS of Seattle.
"It is not always meet, especially in times like these, of war and
stress, of worries and apprehension, reaching across the world, for
our rulers and servants facing great responsibilities and
perplexing situations, to respond to every query and satisfy all
curiosities. Much reticence must be permitted them. Much accepted,
as a matter of course, without pursuing curiosity to the limit.
"There may be ideas conveyed by Captain Roots to the president,
through his communications to Secretaries Garrison and Tumulty that
some people may not agree with, but there can be no disagreement
over the proposition that the lot of colored soldiers in the armies
of the United States—in the past, and at the present, is much
different than that accorded to white soldiers; very little to
really be proud of; very, very much to be ashamed of—much that is
humiliating and depressing.
"Because the present administration may be powerless in the matter,
afraid to touch it, fearing a live wire or something of that kind,
should OUR duty in the premises, TOWARD OUR OWN, be influenced
thereby?
"I wonder—is the time not NOW—right now, to commence an attack
upon this intrenched scandal—this dirty, HUMILIATING AMERICANISM?
"No other nation on earth, Christian or pagan, treats its
defenders, its soldiery, so meanly, so shabbily, as does this, her
black defenders; but whether the nation is more to blame, than we,
who so long have submitted without a murmur, is a question. 'The
trouble' shouted Cassius to Brutus, 'is not in our stars, that we
are Underlings, BUT IN OURSELVES.'
"Shall we, responding to the initiative furnished by CAPTAIN ROOTS,
commence an organized assault upon this national vice against the
soldiers of our race? Is this the time, readers of The Defender? Is
this the time, brothers and editors of the contemporary press?
R.S. ABBOTT."
Following in the footsteps of Captain Roots; apparently obsessed by the same vision and spirit, Mr. Willis O. Tyler, eminent Los Angeles race representative, attorney and Harvard graduate, also makes a plea for justice for Negro troops in the regular army, also for Negro officers, and proposes reforms and legislation for utilizing the present force of Negro officers, and creating enlarged opportunities for others. Says Mr. Tyler:
"Officers in the regular army for the most part, are graduates of
West Point. They are commissioned second lieutenants at graduation.
No Negro has graduated from West Point in the past twenty-nine
years, and none has entered there in 32 years. Col. Charles Young
graduated in 1889, twenty-nine years ago,—he entered in 1884.
Henry W. Holloway entered in 1886, but attended only that year. In
all, only twelve Negroes have ever attended West Point and only
three have graduated. Of the three graduates, the first, Henry O.
Flipper (1877) was afterwards discharged.
"The second, John H. Alexander (1887) died in 1894. The third and
last graduate, Charles Young (1889) has but recently been returned
to active duty. We understand he has attained the rank of Colonel.
The Negroes of the United States, to the number of twelve millions,
have only one West Point graduate in the regular army. There are
however four regiments of Colored troops, two of infantry, and two
of cavalry, and these have been maintained for 52 years, (since
1866), and more than two hundred officers find places in the four
Colored regiments. These two hundred officers, with about three
exceptions are white officers. In all, only twelve Negroes have
held commissions in the regular army. Of this number seven were
Chaplains and two were paymasters.
"In 1917 there were two first lieutenants; and (then) Major Charles
Young in the regular army. Hence only two officers of the line and
only one of the staff (other than Chaplains), out of more than two
hundred who found places with the four colored regiments.
"We need not stop for the reasons why Negroes have not been
attending West Point, nor even admitted there for the past 32
years. Certain it is they have not been attending the nation's
great military school, and certain it is that in law, good
conscience and right, one cadet at West Point in every twelve
should be a Negro.
"The future lies before us. The four regiments of Colored Troops
have vindicated their right to be maintained as such by having made
for the army some of its finest traditions. Why not have the four
colored regiments officered by colored men from the Colonel down to
the second lieutenants?
"The United States is just making an end to a glorious
participation in the great world's war. In this war the Negro
soldiers played well their part. They laughed in the face of death
on the firing line; they have been awarded the 'Ribbon' and the
Croix de Guerre—with palms. Who were their officers?
"From the officers training camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, 639
colored men were commissioned. Since then 267 more have been
commissioned, not counting those in Medical Reserve Corps, nor the
41 Chaplains. Colored Captains and Lieutenants led colored soldiers
"Over the Top" and commanded them on march and in trench. Many
officers were given but three months in the officer's Training
camp; many of them had served as non-commissioned officers in one
of the four colored regiments. But not one word of criticism or
complaint of them has reached us. Their adaptability to their new
duties is beyond cavil. Their efficiency, bravery—leadership, are
all unquestioned and permanently established.
"The future lies before us. What will our country do? Surely it
will not retire all of these fine young colored officers, who
responded so nobly to the call of their country, to private life
and continue the discrimination which in the past deprived them of
admission to West Point and of commissions in the regular army. I
do not believe it. I believe that the sense of justice and fair
play is deeply rooted in the American people. I believe that our
four colored regiments in the regular army will in the future be
officered by colored men. That the doors of West Point will be
opened in accordance with justice and fair play to a proper number
and proportion of colored Cadets. But this is not all nor is it
enough.
"We believe that at present the nation owes the Colored people
certain legislation and that the nation being solvent and loud in
its protestations of kindness toward the Colored people for their
loyal and patriotic participation in the war both at home and on
the battlefield, should now pay its debt toward the colored people
and reward them to the extent that the best of the nearly one
thousand officers now serving in the National Army be transferred
to the Regular army, and assigned to duty in the four Colored
regiments, and that these be from colonel down to second
lieutenants. We also believe that in the future West Point and
Annapolis should 'lend a little colour' to their graduation
exercises in the presence of Colored graduates.
"No doubt legislation will be needed to this end. At present
commissions are granted first to the graduates of West Point, and
even a fair and more liberal policy in this regard in the future
will not meet present needs. What is needed now is legislation
providing for the transfer (or at least the opportunity to enter)
into the regular army of a sufficient number of our Colored
Officers now with commissions to officer in toto the four Colored
regiments we now have.
"Commissions are also granted at present to a limited number of
enlisted men who are recommended for these examinations, and who
succeed in passing. The candidates must be under 27 years of age
and unmarried. They must have had a certain amount of secondary
school, or college education which few privates or non com's
(colored) have had. This is the case because few young Colored men
with the necessary growth 'single blessedness,' and college
training, feel, or have heretofore felt that the door of 'equal
opportunity' announced by Mr. Roosevelt stands open to them in the
regular army. To trust the officering of four Colored Regiments to
this second mode of selecting and commissioning officers, would
prove fatal to our hopes and fail of accomplishment.
"The third method of selecting officers at present is by
examinations of civilians, certain college presidents and other
civilians being permitted to recommend certain civilians, (students
and others) for examination for second lieutenants.
"In this regard Negroes have met the same difficulties that they
have encountered in the past 32 years in their efforts to gain
admission to West Point. At best only a small percent of each
year's graduating class from West Point can get commissions in this
manner. Those selected have been white men, what we are after now
is a present day, practical way of utilizing the best material we
now have, holding commissions and making secure the opportunity for
other Colored men to enter the army as second lieutenants and by
dint of industry, close application, obedience, brains and time
gain their promotion step by step, just as white men have been
doing and can do now. This is the American—democratic, fair play,
reward and justice we seek for the twelve million Negro citizens of
our great republic. Congress could if it would, provide for the
present by an appropriate measure giving the right and opportunity
to our returning officers to stand examination for commissions in
the Regular army; Military experience and knowledge, and general
and special educational qualifications to determine the rank or
grade received.
"In this way our four colored regiments could be officered by
colored men. Otherwise, the fine talents and desire for service to
the country held by the one thousand intelligent and courageous
young Negroes who are officers, will be lost and rejected by the
country, and the 12 million Negroes in the United States will
continue, notwithstanding their patriotism and devotion, to be
denied of their just representation in commissions in the regular
army.
"We believe that once this is done the sense of fairness and
justice that, after all is said and done is so firmly imbedded in
the American people, will see to it that our proper and
proportionate number of young Colored men are admitted to West
Point and Annapolis annually and that the other avenues for gaining
admission in the army and navy will not be blocked, closed and
denied Negroes by the unreasonable race prejudice which has
heretofore done so.
"Our country is either a country of 'equal opportunity' or it is
not. It is either a democracy or it is not.
"Certainly the Negroes have failed to realize this 'equal
opportunity' in the matter of training at West Point and Annapolis,
and is gaining commissions in the Regular army.
"The great war in Europe is closed or soon will be. We have again
shown our country that 'our hearts are on the right side.' What
will our country do for us? We ask only that the door of 'equal
opportunity' be unbarred—that we may enter."
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE NEW NEGRO AND THE NEW AMERICA.
"THE OLD ORDER
Changeth, yielding place to new."
THROUGH THE
Arbitrament of war, behold a new and better America!
a new and girded Negro!
"The watches
Of the night have PASSED!
"The watches
Of the day BEGIN!"
Out of war's crucible new nations emerge. New ideas seize mankind and if the conflict has been a just one, waged for exalted ideals and imperishable principles and not alone for mere national security and integrity, a new character, a broader national vision is formed.
Such was the result of the early wars for democracy. The seeds of universal freedom once sown, finally ripened not alone to the unshackling of a race, but to the fecundity and birth of a spirit that moved all nations and peoples to seek an enlarged liberty. The finger of disintegration and change is never still; is always on the move; always the old order is passing; always the new, although unseen of man, is coming on. And so it is, that nations are still in the throes of reconstruction after the great war. That it was the greatest and most terrible of all wars, increases the difficulties incident to the establishment of the new order, precedent to a restoration of tranquil conditions.
So radical were some of the results of the conflict, such as the overthrow of despotism in Russia, and a swinging completely to the other extreme of the pendulum; similar happenings in Germany and Austria transpiring, that subject peoples in general, finding themselves in possession of a liberty which they did not expect and were not prepared for, are in a sense bewildered; put to it, as to just what steps to take; the wisest course to pursue.
At home we have a nearer view and can begin to see emerging a new America. The men who fought abroad will be the dominant factor in national affairs for many years. These men have returned, and will return with a broadened vision and with new and enlarged ideas regarding themselves and, quite to be expected, of progress and human rights.
With the leaven of thought which has been working at home, added to the new and illuminating; more liberal viewpoint regarding the Negro attained by the American whites who served with him in France, will come; is already born, a new national judgment and charity of opinion and treatment, that will not abate; will grow and flourish through the coming years, a belated sense of justice and restitution due the Negro; a most wholesome sign of shame and repentance upon the part of the nation. The old order based on slavery and environment; the handicap of "previous condition" has passed. Will never return! THAT, or the "Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man" is, and always was, an iridescent dream; a barren ideality!
The new America owes much of its life to the Negro; guaranteed through centuries of a devotion, than which, there has been nothing like it; you seek in vain for a counterpart; a patriotism and suffering and shed blood; the splendor and unselfishness of which will germinate and flower through the ages; as long as history shall be read; to the last moment of recorded time.
In days to come, now on the way, men will say, one to another: "How could it have been that those faithful Blacks; those loyal citizens; whose toil enriched; whose blood guaranteed the perpetuity of our institutions; were discriminated against—WRONGED?"
In a country based and governed on the principle that all men are free and equal, discrimination or special privilege will eat at the heart of national life. Capital must not have special advantages over labor; neither labor over capital. Jew and Gentile, protestant and catholic, Negro and White men, must be equal; not alone in the spirit of the law but in the application of it. Not alone in the spirit of industrialism, commerce and ordinary affairs of life, but in their interpretation and application as well.
Social discriminations and distinctions may prevail with no great danger to the body politic, so long as people do not take them too seriously—do not mistake the shadow for the substance, and regard them the paramount things of life.
Obviously the Negro no less than the Caucasian, has a right, and no government may challenge it, to say who his associates shall be, who he shall invite into his house, but such rights are misconstrued and exceeded when carried to the point of proscribing, oppressing or hampering the development of other men, regardless of the nationality of their competitors.
The logical growth of achievement for the Negro is first within the lines of his own race, but, all things being equal; genius being the handmaiden of no particular race or clime, he is not to be hindered by the law of the land, the prejudice of sections or individuals, from seeking to climb to any height.
The bugbear and slander, raised and kept alive by that section of the land south of the imaginary line, to wit: that the Negro was ambitious for "racial equality," only is entitled to reference in these pages for the purpose of according it the contempt due it. That the whites of the country have not a complete monopoly of those unpleasing creatures known as "tuft hunters" and "social climbers," is no doubt true, but that the Negro, as represented by intelligence and race pride, ever worries over it; cares a rap for it, is not true.
Humanity's great benefit coming from the war, which cannot be changed or abridged, will consist of a newer, broader sense of manhood; a demand for the inherent opportunities and rights belonging to it; for all men of all colors, of all climes; and beyond that; of more significance; as marking the dawn indeed of a NEW AND BETTER DAY, will be a larger, juster sense; springing up in the nation's heart; watered by her tears, of repentance of past wrongs inflicted on the Negro. The Negro will become the architect of his own growth and development. The South will not be permitted; through the force of national opinion, to continue to oppress him.
The talk of the revival of KuKlux societies to intimidate the Negro; "to keep him in his place," is the graveyard yawp of a dying monster. Are the thousands of Negroes who faced bullets in the most disastrous war of history, and several hundred thousand more who were ready and willing to undergo the same perils, likely to be frightened by such a threat, such an antiquated, silly, short-sighted piece of injustice and terrorism?
Men's necessities force a resort to common sense. Racial prejudice and ignorant, contemptible intolerance, must disappear under, and before the presence of the renewal of business activity in the South, and the necessity for Negro labor. Each soldier returning from Europe is a more enlightened man than when he went away. He has had the broadening effect of travel, the chance to mingle with other races and acquire the views born of a greater degree of equality and more generous treatment.
These men desire to remain in their southern homes. Climatically they are suited and the country offers them employment to which they are accustomed; but more than all, it is home, and they are bound to it by ties of association and affection.
With a mutual desire of whites and blacks to achieve an end, common sense will find a basis of agreement. The Negro will get better pay and better treatment. His status accordingly will be improved. His employer will get better service, he also will be broadened and improved by a new spirit of tolerance and charity.
Cooperation among the white and black races received a decided impetus during the war. A movement so strongly started is sure to gather force until it attains the objects more desirious of accomplishment. Some of these objects undoubtedly are far in the distance, but will be achieved in time. When they are, the Negro will be far advanced on the road of racial development. The day has dawned and the start has been made. Before the noontime, America will be prouder of her Negro citizens and will be a happier, a more inspired and inspiring nation; a better home for all her people.
One of the results of the war will be an improvement in the government and condition of Negroes in Africa. Exploitation of the race for European aggrandisement is sure to be lessened. No such misgoverned colonies as those of Germany will be tolerated under the new rule and the new spirit actuating the victorious Allies. Evils in other sections of that continent will disappear or receive positive amelioration.
The most hopeful sign in America is the tendency in some sections where trouble has been prevalent in the past, to meet and discuss grievances. In some sections of the South, men of prominence are exhibiting a willingness to meet and talk over matters with representatives of the race. Such a spirit of tolerance will grow and eventually lead to a better understanding; perhaps a general reconciling of differences.
Many concessions will be required before complete justice prevails and the Negro comes into his own; before the soil can be prepared for the complete flowering of his spirit.
Primarily, before attaining to the full growth and usefulness of the citizen under the rights guaranteed to him by the Constitution, the Negro, especially in the South, will require better educational facilities. If he is to become a better citizen, he must have the education and training necessary to know the full duties of citizenship. He pays his share of the school taxes and it is manifestly unjust to deny him the accruing benefits.
He is ambitious too, and should be encouraged to own land, and to that end should have the assistance without prejudice or discrimination, of national and state farm loan bureaus.
Unjust suffrage restrictions must and shall be removed, giving to the Negro the full rights of other citizens in this respect. With better educational facilities and the ownership of real estate, he will vote more intelligently, and there will be no danger that his vote will be against the interests of the country at large or the section in which he resides.
The withering taint of "Jim Crow"-ism, must be obliterated; wiped out—will be. Railroads will be compelled to extend the same accommodations to white and colored passengers. The traveller; whatever his color, who pays the price for a ticket, must and shall in this land of Equality and Justice, be accorded the same accommodations.
Peonage, so-called, will end. It cannot endure under an awakened, enlightened public opinion. Negroes, all other things equal, will be admitted to labor unions, or labor unions will lose the potentiality and force they should wield in labor and industrial affairs.
The Negro's contribution to the recent war and to previous conflicts, has earned him beyond question or challenge, a right to just consideration in the military and naval establishment of the nation. America, grudging as she has been in the past to enlarge his rights, or even to guarantee those which she has granted, has grown too great indeed. Her discipline has been too real to deny him this fair consideration. There will be more Negro units in the Regular Army and National Guard organizations; untrammelled facilities for training, in government, state and college institutions.
Selective draft figures having revealed the Negro as a better; if not the best, physical risk, will make it easier for him to secure life insurance, which; after all is a plain business proposition. Insurance companies are after business and are not concerned with racial distinctions where the risk is good. The draft has furnished figures regarding the Negro's health and longevity which hitherto were not available to insurance actuaries. Now that they have them, no reason exists for denying insurance facilities to the race.
With a growing, every minute, of a better understanding between the races; with the Negro learning thrift through Liberty Bonds, Savings Stamps and the lessons of the war; with an encouragement to own property and take out insurance; being vastly enlightened through his military service, and with improved industrial conditions about to appear, he is started on a better road, to end only when he shall have reached the full attainment belonging to the majesty of AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP.
With this start, lynchings, the law's delays, the denial of full educational advantages; segregation, insanitary conditions, unjust treatment in reform and penal institutions, will vanish from before him; will be conditions that were, but are no more.
There is a predominance of Anglo-Saxon heritage in the white blood of America. The Anglo-Saxon was the first to establish fair play and make it his shibboleth. Should he deny it to the Negro; his proudest and most vaunted principle would prove to be a doddering lie; a shimmering evanescence.
HE WILL NOT DENY IT!
NOTE—UP TO THIS POINT THE TEXT FACES ONLY HAVE BEEN NUMBERED. THE 64 FULL PAGES OF HALF-TONE PHOTOGRAPHS (OVER 100 SEPARATE PICTURES) AND THE PLATES, TINTED IN MANY COLORS (NOT PRINTED ON BACK) BRING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES TO OVER FOUR HUNDRED.
THE PEACE TREATY
The treaty of peace was drawn by the allied and associated powers at Versailles, and was there delivered to the German Government's delegation on May 5, 1919—the fourth anniversary of the Lusitania sinking.
It stipulates in the preamble that war will have ceased when all powers have signed and the treaty shall have come into force by ratification of the signatures.
It names as party of the one part the United States, The British Empire, France, Italy, Japan, described as the five allied and associated powers, and Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Equador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, the Hedjaz, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Roumania, Serbia, Siam, Czecho-Slovakia and Uruguay; and on the other side Germany.
The treaty contains agreements in substance as follows:
Section 1.
The League of Nations
—The league of nations may question Germany at any time for a violation of the neutralized zone east of the Rhine as a threat against the world's peace. It will work out the mandatory system to be applied to the former German colonies and act as a final court in the Belgian-German frontier and in disputes as to the Kiel canal, and decide certain economic and financial problems.
Membership
—The members of the league will be the signatories of the covenant, and other states invited to accede. A state may withdraw upon giving two years' notice, if it has fulfilled all its international obligations.
Section 2. A permanent secretariat will be established at Geneva. The league will meet at stated intervals. Each state will have one vote and not more than three representatives.
The council will consist of representatives of the five great allied powers, with representatives of four members selected by the assembly from time to time. It will meet at least once a year. Voting will be by states. Each state will have one vote and not more than one representative.
The council will formulate plans for a reduction of armaments for consideration and adoption. These plans will be revised every ten years.
Preventing 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. If a member fails to carry out the award, the council will propose the necessary measures. The council will establish a permanent court of international justice to determine international disputes or to give advisory opinions. If 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.
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
—Nations not yet able to stand by themselves will be intrusted to advanced nations who are best fitted to guide them. In every case the mandatory will render an annual report, and the degree of its authority will be defined.
International Provisions
—The members of the league will in general, 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 undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under their control; they will intrust the league with general supervision over the execution of agreements for the suppression of traffic 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 communications 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.
Boundaries of Germany
—Germany cedes to France Alsace-Lorraine 5,600 square miles to the southwest, and to Belgium two small districts between Luxemburg and Holland, totaling 989 square miles. She also cedes to Poland the southeastern tip of Silesia, 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 northeastern 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 Rhenish Palatinate of Bavaria and the southeast corner of Luxemburg; and Schleswig, 2,767 square miles.
Section 3.
Belgium
—Germany consents to the abrogation of the treaties of 1839 by which Belgium was established as a neutral state, and agrees to any convention with which the allied and associated powers may determine to replace them.
Luxemburg
—Germany renounces her various treaties and conventions with the grand duchy of Luxemburg, and recognizes that it ceased to be a part of the German zolverein from January 1, 1919, and renounces all right of exploitation of the railroads.
Left Bank of the Rhine
—Germany will not maintain any fortifications or armed forces less than fifty kilometers to the east of the Rhine, hold any maneuvers, nor within that limit 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.
Alsace and 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.
All public property and private property of German ex-sovereigns passes to France without payment or credit. France is substituted for Germany as regards ownership of the railroads and rights over concessions of tramways. The Rhine bridges pass to France, with the obligation for the upkeep.
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.
The Saar
—In compensation for the destruction of coal mines in northern France and as payment on account of reparation, Germany cedes to France full ownership of the coal mines of the Saar basin with the subsidiaries, accessories and facilities.
After fifteen years a plebiscite will be held by communes to ascertain the desires of the population as to continuance of the existing regime under the league of nations, union with France or union with Germany. The right to vote will belong to all inhabitants of over 20 years resident therein at the time of the signature.
Section 4.
German Austria
—Germany recognizes the total independence of German Austria in the boundaries traced.
Germany recognizes the entire independence of the Czecho-Slovak state. The five allied and associated powers will draw up regulations assuring East Prussia full and equitable access to and use of the Vistula.
Danzig
—Danzig and the district immediately about it is to be constituted into the free city of Danzig under the guaranty of the league of nations.
Denmark
—The frontier between Germany and Denmark will be fixed by the self-determination of the population.
The fortifications, military establishments and harbors of the islands of Helgoland and Dune are to be destroyed under the supervision of the allies by German labor and at Germany's expense. They may not be reconstructed, nor any similar fortifications built in the future.
Russia
—Germany agrees to respect as permanent and inalienable the independence of all territories which were part of the former Russian empire, to accept abrogation of the Brest-Litovsk and other treaties entered into with the 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 therein. The allied and associated powers formally reserve the right of Russia to obtain restitution and reparation of the principles of the present treaty.
SECTION 5.
German Rights Outside of Europe
—Outside Europe, Germany renounces all rights, title and privileges as to her own or her allied territories, to all the allied and associated powers.
German Colonies
—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. Germany undertakes to pay reparation for damage suffered by French nationals in the Kameruns or its frontier zone through the acts of German civil and military authorities and of individual Germans from January 1, 1900, to August 1, 1914.
China
—Germany renounces in favor of China all privileges and indemnities resulting from the Boxer protocol of 1901, and all buildings, wharves, barracks, forts, munitions or warships, wireless plants, and other property (except diplomatic) in the German concessions of Tientsin and Hankow and in other Chinese territory except Kiaochow, and agrees to return to China at her own expense all the astronomical instruments seized in 1901. Germany accepts the abrogation of the concessions of Hankow and Tientsin, China agreeing to open them to international use.
Siam
—Germany recognizes that all agreements between herself and Siam, including the right of extra territory, ceased July 22, 1917. All German public property except consular and diplomatic premises passes, without compensation, to Siam.
Liberia
—Germany renounces all rights under the international arrangements of 1911 and 1912 regarding 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 sheriffian empire. All movable and immovable German property may be sold at public auction, the proceeds to be paid to the sheriffian government and deducted from the reparation account.
Egypt
—Germany recognizes the British protectorate over Egypt declared on December 19, 1914, and transfers to Great Britain the powers given to the late sultan of Turkey for securing the free navigation of the Suez canal.
Turkey and Bulgaria
—Germany accepts all arrangements which the allied and associated powers make with Turkey and Bulgaria with reference to any right, privileges 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 acquired by her treaty with China of March 6, 1897, and other agreements, as to Shantung. All German state property in Kiaochow is acquired by Japan free of all charges.
SECTION 6. The demobilization of the German army must take place within two months. Its strength may not exceed 100,000, including 4,000 officers, with not over seven divisions of infantry, also three of cavalry, and to be devoted exclusively to maintenance of internal order and control of frontiers. The German general staff is abolished. The army administrative service, consisting of civilian personnel, not included in the number of effectives, is reduced to one-tenth the total in the 1913 budget. 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 may 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 or storage of arms and munitions of war, must be closed, and their personnel dismissed. The manufacture or importation of poisonous gases is forbidden as well as the importation of arms, munitions and war material.
Conscription
—Conscription is abolished in Germany. The personnel must be maintained by voluntary enlistment for terms of twelve consecutive years, the number of discharges before the expiration of that term not in any year 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. All measures of mobilization are forbidden.
All fortified and field works within fifty kilometers (thirty miles) east of the Rhine will be dismantled. The construction of any new fortifications there is forbidden.
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. Germany must give them complete facilities, and pay for 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. 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 upon by the allied and associated powers. Germany must surrender forty-five modern destroyers, fifty modern torpedo boats, and all submarines, with their salvage vessels; all war vessels under construction, including submarines, must be broken up.
Germany is required to sweep up the mines in the North sea and the Baltic. German fortifications in the Baltic must be demolished.
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.
Air
—The armed forces of Germany must not include any military or naval air forces except one hundred unarmed seaplanes. No aviation grounds or dirigible sheds are to be allowed within 150 kilometers of the Rhine or the eastern or southern frontiers. The manufacture of aircraft and parts of aircraft is forbidden. All military and aeronautical material must be surrendered.
The repatriation of German prisoners and interned civilians is to be carried out without delay and at Germany's expense.
Both parties will respect and maintain the graves of soldiers and sailors buried on their territories.
Responsibility and Reparation
—The allied and associated powers will publicly arraign William II of Hohenzollern, formerly German emperor, before a special tribunal composed of one judge from each of the five great powers, with full right of defense.
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.
SECTION 7.
Reparation
—Germany accepts responsibility for all loss and damages to which civilians of the allies have been subjected by the war, and agrees to compensate them. Germany binds herself to repay all sums borrowed by Belgium from the Allies. Germany irrevocably recognizes the authority of a reparation commission named by the Allies to enforce and supervise these payments. She further agrees to restore to the Allies cash and certain articles which can be identified. As an immediate step toward restoration, Germany shall pay within two years $5,000,000,000 in either gold, goods, ships or other specific forms of payment.
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 necessary in the circumstances.
The commission may require Germany to give from time to time, by way of guaranty, issues of bonds or other obligations to cover such claims as are not otherwise satisfied.
The German government recognizes the right of the Allies to the replacement, ton for ton and class for class, of all merchant ships and fishing boats lost or damaged owing to the war, and agrees to cede to the Allies all German merchant ships of sixteen hundred tons gross and upward.
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.
SECTION 8.
Devastated Areas
—Germany undertakes to devote her economic resources directly to the physical restoration of the invaded areas.
Coal
—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 year period. 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. Coke may be taken in place of coal in ratio of three tons to four.
Dyestuffs and Drugs
—Germany accords option to the commission on dyestuffs and chemical drugs, including quinine, up to 50 per cent of total stock to Germany at the time the treaty comes into force, and similar option during each six months to end of 1924 up to 25 per cent of previous six months' output.
Cables
—Germany renounces all title to specific cables, value of such as were privately owned being credited to her against reparation indebtedness.
Restitution
—As reparation for the destruction of the library of Louvain, Germany is to hand over manuscripts, early printed books, prints, etc., to the equivalent of those destroyed, and all works of art taken from Belgium and France.
SECTION 9.
Finances
—Germany is required to pay the total cost of the armies of occupation from the date of the armistice as long as they are maintained in German territory.
Germany is to deliver all sums deposited in Germany by Turkey and Austria-Hungary in connection with the financial support extended by her to them during the war and to transfer to the Allies all claims against Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey in connection with agreements made during the war.
Germany guarantees to repay to Brazil the fund arising from the sale of Sao Paulo coffee which she refused to allow Brazil to withdraw from Germany.
Contracts
—Pre-war contracts between allied and associated nations, excepting the United States, Japan and Brazil, and German nationals, are canceled except for debts for accounts already performed.
Opium
—The contracting powers agree, whether or not they have signed and ratified the opium convention of January 23, 1912, or signed the special protocol opened at The Hague in accordance with resolutions adopted by the third opium conference in 1914, to bring the said convention into force by enacting within twelve months of the time of peace the necessary legislation.
Missions
—The allied and associated powers agree that the properties of religious missions in territories belonging or ceded to them shall continue in their work under the control of the powers, Germany renouncing all claims in their behalf.
SECTION 11.
Air Navigation
—Aircraft of the allied and associated powers shall have full liberty of passage and landing over and in German territory; equal treatment with German planes as to use of German airdromes, and with most favored nation planes as to internal commercial traffic in Germany.
SECTION 13.—
Freedom of Transit
—Germany must grant freedom of transit through her territories by rail or water to persons, goods, ships, carriages and mail from or to any of the allied or associated powers, without customs or transit duties, undue delays, restrictions and discriminations based on nationality, means of transport or place of entry or departure. Goods in transit shall be assured all possible speed of journey, especially perishable goods.
(The remainder of Section 12 concerns the use of European waterways and railroads.)
SECTION 13.
International Labor Organizations
—Members of the league of nations agree to establish a permanent organization to promote international adjustment of labor conditions, to consist of an annual international labor conference and an international labor office.
The former is composed of four representatives of each state, two from the government and one each from the employers and the employed; each of them may vote individually. It will be a deliberative legislative body, its measures taking the form of draft conventions or recommendations for legislation, which if passed by two-thirds vote must be submitted to the lawmaking authority in every state participating. Each government may either enact the terms into law; approve the principles, but modify them to local needs; leave the actual legislation in case of a federal state to local legislatures; or reject the convention altogether without further obligation.
The international labor office is established at the seat of the league of nations as part of its organization. It is to collect and distribute information on labor through the world and prepare agents for the conference. It will publish a periodical in French and English and possibly other languages. Each state agrees to make to it, for presentation to the conference, an annual report of measures taken to execute accepted conventions. The governing body is its executive. It consists of twenty-four members, twelve representing the government, six the employers and six the employes, to serve for three years.
On complaint that any government has failed to carry out a convention to which it is a party the governing body may make inquiries directly to that government and in case the reply is unsatisfactory may publish the complaint with comment. A complaint by one government against another may be referred by the governing body to a commission of inquiry nominated by the secretary-general of the league. If the commission report fails to bring satisfactory action, the matter may be taken to a permanent court of international justice for final decision. The chief reliance for securing enforcement of the law will be publicity with a possibility of economic action in the background.
The first meeting of the conference will take place in October, 1919, at Washington, to discuss the eight-hour day or forty-eight hour week; prevention of unemployment; extension and application of the international conventions adopted at Bern in 1906 prohibiting night work for women and the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches; and employment of women and children at night or in unhealthful work, of women before and after childbirth, including maternity benefit, and of children as regards minimum age.
Nine principles of labor conditions are recognized on the ground that the well-being, physical and moral, of the industrial wage earners is of supreme international importance. With exceptions necessitated by differences of climate, habits and economic developments, they include: The guiding principle that labor should not be regarded merely as a commodity or article of commerce; right of association of employers and employes is granted; and a wage adequate to maintain a reasonable standard of life; the eight-hour day or forty-eight hour week; a weekly rest of at least twenty-four hours, which should include Sunday wherever practicable; abolition of child labor and assurance of the continuation of the education and proper physical development of children; equal pay for equal work as between men and women; equitable treatment of all workers lawfully resident therein, including foreigners, and a system of inspection in which women shall take part.
SECTION 14.
Guaranties
—As a guaranty for the execution of the treaty, German territory west of the Rhine, together with bridgeheads, will be occupied by allied and associated troops for fifteen years. If before the expiration of the fifteen years Germany complies with all the treaty undertakings, the occupying forces will be withdrawn.
Eastern Europe
—All German troops at present in territories to the east of the new frontier shall return as soon as the allied and associated governments deem wise.
SECTION 15. Germany agrees to recognize the full validity of the treaties of peace and additional conventions to be concluded by the allied and associated powers with the powers allied with Germany; to agree to the decisions to be taken as to the territories of Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, and to recognize the new states in the frontiers to be fixed for them.
Germany agrees not to put forward any pecuniary claim against any allied or associated power signing the present treaty, based on events previous to the coming into force of the treaty.
Germany accepts all decrees as to German ships and goods made by any allied or associated prize court. The Allies reserve the right to examine all decisions of German prize courts.
The treaty is to become effective in all respects for each power on the date of deposition of its ratification.