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: