The following farewell address speaks for itself with regard to splendid achievements of the 370th Infantry, and the high esteem in which they were held:
Officers and Soldiers of the 370th R. I. U. S.:
“You are leaving us. The impossibility at this time that the German Army can recover from its defeat—the necessity which is imposed upon the peoples of the Entente of taking up again the normal life—leads the United States to diminish its effectiveness in France. You are chosen among the first to return to America. In the name of your comrades of the 59th Division, I say to you, Au revoir—in the name of France, thank you.
“The hard and brilliant battles of Chavigny, Leury, and the Bois de Beaumont, having reduced the effectiveness of the Division, the American Government generously put your regiment at the disposition of the French High Command to re-enforce us. You arrived from the trenches of the Argonne.
“We at first in September, at Mareuil-sur-Ourq, admired your fine appearance under arms, the precision of your review, the suppleness of your evolutions that presented to the eye, the appearance of silk unrolling its wavy folds.
“We advanced to the line. Fate placed you on the banks of the Ailette, in front of the Bois de Mortier. October 12th you occupied the enemy trenches Acier and Brouze. On the 13th, we reached the railroad of Laon-La-Fere—the Forest of St. Gobain, principal center of resistance of the Hindenburg Line, was ours.
“November 5th, the Sierre was at last crossed, the pursuit became active. Prout’s Battalion distinguished itself at Sal St. Pierre, where it captured a German battery. Patton’s Battalion crossed, the first, the Hirson Railroad at the Heights of Aubenton, where the Germans tried to resist. Duncan’s Battalion took Lorgny, and carried away with their ardor, could not be stopped short of Gue d’Hossus, on November 11th, after the Armistice.
“We have hardly had time to appreciate you, and already you depart.
“As Lieutenant Colonel Duncan said, November 28th, in offering to me your regimental colors as proof of your love for France, as an expression of your loyalty to the 59th Division of our Army, you have given us your best, and you have given out of the fulness of your hearts.
“The blood of your comrades who fell on the soil of France mixed with the blood of our soldiers, renders indissoluble the bonds of affection that unite us. We have besides, the pride of having worked together at a magnificent task, the pride of bearing on our foreheads the ray of common grandeur.