New-York tribune., 1918-05-20
Two N. Y. Negroes
Whip "a Germans;
Win War Crosses
City's Colored Men, in First
Fight, Decorated for
Callantry
Aid French Soldiers
Troops Are Commanded by
Former Public Ser
vice Official

"The World" to-day prints the fol-
lowing copyrighted cable dispatch by
Lincoln Eyre:
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN
FRANCE. May 19.-Our own "cullud
folks"-negro infantrymen mainly from
the State and City of New York--have
met the Germans and worsted them.
Recent military developments enable
the censor to pass the story of the
achievements of the first coored Amer
lean army unit holding a sector on the
French front, whose arrival at Arma-
geddon sought to describe in a much
deleted dispatch May ~.
Since writing that dispatch ! have
paid the dusky warriors a second visit
in their trenches north of Saint Meme
hould, west of Verdun, and have
learned of the glorious exploit of Pri-
Yates Henry johnson and Needham
Roberts.
Battling in the blackness of night
with rifles, hand grenades and "bolo
knife,' wholly deprived of the assist
ance of their comrades, they put TO
flight an enemy assaulting party at
least twenty-four men strong Rob-
erts, wounded in three places, stretched
out helplessly in the mud, hurled
grenades, even while the hands of
muscular German were about his
throat
Johnson did even more. Having shot
one of his foemen down and clubbed
another with the butt of his rifle. he
sprang to the aid of Roberts and with
his bolo knife Glove open the skull
of one German and disembowelled an
other AS the enemy fell into disor-
derly retreat Johnson, three times
wounded, sank to the ground, seized
and literally blew one of the fleeing
Germans in fragments
In belief of their white commander.
former Public Service Comm ssioner
of New York City, the two negroes by
their valor and intelligence frustrated
we'll developed plan to assail one of
our most important points of resist
ance
The privates have been awarded the
Crolx de Guerre by the French general
of the division under whom the unit is
receive the much coveted gold palm
OF the French army commander as
we'll.
Johnson's citation in the division
order of the day follows:
Private Henry Johnson, finding
himself on night sentry duty and
being attacked by a group of more
than dozen Germans, put one horse
de combat with rifle shots and two
others with knife cuts. Although
wounded thrice by revolver bullets
at bn -,
he went 20 the help of his wounded
comrade as the latter was about to be
carried off by the enemy and continued
the struggle until the Germans we're
forced to fee"
Being incased in the French army to
greater degree than any other Amer
lean contingent-they are the only
,doughboys supported by French artil-
lery-these chocolate soldiers are tenn
porarlly in state of splendid isolation
so Tar as the remainder of the Amer
lean expeditionary force is concerned.
They are to all intents and purposes
part of the French army.
Here are a few facts about them
that make the story of how our ne
groes entered the war one Of the most
remarkable that I have encountered
during many months with General
Pershing's forces:
fEey were recruited voluntarily a
year before we declared war, yet they
ldeleted) so into action. They went
into the trenches with less training on
French soil than any of our other
troops have had. They were in line
more than month without suffering
a single casualty, and still the only
wounds reported from enemy fire are
those received by Johnson and Rob
erts, although the French on either
side of them had lcsses usual in ouiet
sectors; they have aided the French
to bring back prisoners in n raid to
the enemy second line and lost nary
one themselves. J