Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-13
NEGRO REGIMENT WINS
PRAISE FROM FRENCH
Entire Unit Worthy of War Cross
is Estimate of the Courage
in First Battle.

| With the American Armies in France
| One regiment of Negroes IN the Aperlcan
| Army (No. deleted by CENSOR has had ITS
| baptism of fire on the fighting fields OF
| France and acquitted itself SO well that
| the French commander of the sector has
| citcd the whole regiment as worthy ol
receiving the war cross. THIS regiment
repulse of the enemy attack on the early
morning of June II possibly at Belleau
| Wood or Bouresches) was briefly referred
| to in the official communique.
| 4 later and official report OF the engage
ment brings out interesting details ana
| gives credit TO the officers and men Tor
| fine fighting qualities displayed IN their
! initial experience under shell and machine
| gun fire. The French commander of that
sector has given the regiment the highest.
| possible commcndatlOn Tor the results
| accomplished and the splendid fighting
| spirit shown by the American Negroes.
MANY DAYS OF SUSPENSE.
For several days preceding the attack
there were evidences that the enemy was
| preparing To strike n blow. Two days
before one of the main points held by the
regiment had been subjected TO a strong
bombardmcnt of nearly 100 shells. gas
and shrapncl. Prior to the heavy enemy
! artillery barrage occurring on the morning
of the 18th. our advance groups heard
movements apparently of narrow gauge
track trains IN the wood back ot the enemy
lines, indicating they were getting ready
for an attack
Every preparation had been made for
meeting the move ii 1t came, Besides the
usual combat groups ut the main posts of
the line, special machine gun section
occupied a specially chosen position on
small salient projecting into the enemy
line. 1t was accompanied by combat
group detailed from reserve company and
CARRYING rifles and hand grenades.
1t was 2.l5 on the morning OF the 18th
that the order to stand IS was given
and all combat groups and the machine
gun section took their fighting position.
The enomy artillery now opened a vlo-
lent bomhardment, engaging IN box
barrage" five Of our main groupes and the
special machine gun position. The lines OF
this box barTage are we'll defined on the
ground. showing Its outer circuit, with
considerable scattering OF HITS INSIDE.
The shells were mostly rs, with some l53s
gas, shrapnc and high explosives. One
Of our points received particular attention
probably by mines wartcr, the cratcrs Of
which were two wards in depth and five
wards in diameter The artillery lombard
mcnt was extremely violent at the start
and tapered of gradually until II stopped
after 80 minutes
ENEMY MOVES Up UNDER FIRE.
Meantime under cover Of the artillery,
the enemy infantry began us operations.
adopting the lnhltering process by which
detached groups are thrust forward at a
number of points instead of moving In
mass formation. One group came on with
two light machine guns. firing q rather
intense fire into one of our positions. An
other group was estimated 10 he about 25
or so. AT another point on our front
stationary enemy patrol took position, tir-
ing with two small machinc-guns Now
and then squads would dart forward from
their gun positions Eight Germans got
up to the wire in front Of one OF our
positions, and four others approached at
another point. Besides these assault
groups which reach our line, there were
undoubtedly additional enemy forces in
assaulting columns and supporting col
umns which were unable 10 enter the field.
The special-machlne-gu group under
command of Lieutenant l.. +. Shaw was
IN one OF the most exposed centers Of the
fighting, being under terrific artillery fire
and the FIRE of two German machine guns.
Lieutenant Shaw handled this very diff
cult situation with cool bravery. The enc
my barrage was so close that il was i'm
possible to stand up and Lieutenant Shaw
controlled his guns by rolling from one to
the other His two guns fired ) 900 rounds.
BRAVE, sKILLFUL AND COOL
Under this violent onslaught the men
stuck to their posts. carried out every
order without hesitation, often under
calling fire. and showed a high degree Of
skill with their weapons and cooIness and
courage Each machine gun jammed three
times. was partly disassembled and clean
ed under fire. continuing in action through
out the engagement.
One team fired IA clips when the gun
jammed Reporting this to Lieutenant