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.

[Illustration: WOUNDED NEGRO SOLDIERS CONVALESCING IN BASE HOSPITAL. IN THE PICTURE ARE TWO COLORED WOMEN AMBULANCE DRIVERS.]

[Illustration: 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.]

[Illustration: 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.]

[Illustration: 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.]

[Illustration: 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.]

[Illustration: 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.]

[Illustration: 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."]

[Illustration: 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.]

[Illustration: MISS VIVIAN HARSH, MEMBER CHICAGO CHAPTER OF CANTEEN WORKERS, PASSING OUT SMOKES TO RETURNED SOLDIERS OF 8TH ILLINOIS (370TH INFANTRY).]

[Illustration: 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.