Captain John H. Patton, regimental adjutant of the 370th, who commanded the second battalion through most of its service, presents a summary of the operations of the regiment from the first call to the mustering out. Being in charge of the organization's records, his account is detailed, authentic and highly valuable as supplementing the data of the previous chapter; gleaned from departmental records and other sources. It carries additional interest as being the testimony of an eye-witness, one who participated in the stirring events in a marked and valorous degree. The recital in Captain Patton's own words, the phrase of a highly trained and efficient military man, follows:
Pursuant to the call of the President, under date of July 3, 1917, the 8th Illinois Infantry reported at the various rendezvous on July 25, 1917, as follows: At Chicago, Illinois regimental headquarters; Headquarters company, Machine Gun company, Supply company, Detachment Medical Department, and Companies A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H; at Springfield, Illinois, Company I; at Peoria, Illinois, Company K; at Danville, Illinois, Company L; at Metropolis, Illinois, Company M.
On the date the regiment responded to the call Colonel Franklin A. Denison commanded the regiment, the other Field Officers being Lieutenant Colonel James H. Johnson, Major Rufus M. Stokes, Major Charles L. Hunt, Major Otis B. Duncan and Captain John H. Patton, regimental adjutant.
The strength of the regiment a short time before responding to the call was approximately one thousand officers and enlisted men, and orders having been received to recruit to maximum strength, 3604 enlisted men, an active recruiting campaign was begun. On July 25, 1917, the strength was approximately 2,500. Soon afterwards orders were received that the regiment would be organized according to Minimum Strength Tables of Organization, which gave it an authorized strength of 2,138 enlisted men. After reporting that the regiment already had several hundred men in excess of that strength, authority was granted to retain the excess men. From this time until demobilized at Camp Grant in March, 1919, the regiment had from 600 to 1,300 men in excess of its authorized strength, and upon arrival in France in April, 1918, the entire personnel consisted of men who had voluntarily enlisted.
Intensive training was begun immediately after the regiment reported at the various armories and the public streets in the vicinity were utilized for this purpose until October 12, 1917, on which date the various organizations entrained for Camp Logan, Houston, Texas, arriving a few days later.
While stationed at Camp Logan, the regiment was engaged in intensive training. Officers and enlisted men attended the various schools established by the 33rd Division to which the regiment had been attached and acquitted themselves with credit.
At the end of October, 1917, on the date of the closing of the Second Liberty Loan Campaign, out of a total of 2,166 officers and enlisted men belonging to the regiment at that time, 1,482 officers and men subscribed $151,400.00.
While at Camp Logan, approximately 96 percent of the regiment took out $10,000.00 War Risk Insurance per man.
On December 1, 1917, the official designation of the regiment was changed from the 8th Illinois Infantry to the 370th Infantry.
On March 6, 1918, the regiment left Camp Logan enroute to Camp Stuart, Newport News, Va., arriving on March 10, 1918, and immediately taking up its interrupted intensive training.