Milford chronicle., 1919-03-07
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NeNON%HF~~~~N-
at one trip. and of that number 81,
thousand were negro troops whit
fought in France not only gallanti!
and effectively, but showed that thei
Americanism is the equal to that O
their white soldier brethren and tina
they are entitled to the honor and re
spect of the people of the world. The
New York Times, Democratic paper
in commenting editorially upon the
negro troops Of the United States
army, this week said:
In the Revolutionary War, in the
War of 1912, in the Mexican and civil
wars, and in the war with Spain, the
American negro soldier always dis
tinguished himself by bravery, forti-
tude, and loyalty, and. properly led,
he has compared well with the white
soldier. When more than 1000 negro
soldiers who had fought in France
returned to the United States on Sun
day the story of their gallantry in
Flanders, in Champagne and in the
Argonne forest was an old story retold.
II would not be fair. of course, to
compare the performance of the 92nd
Division with that of the 1st and End
Regular Divisions, the nth, the 9th,
the SOth, or the 2Sth. These divisions,
including National Guardsmen and
National Army troops, saw more in
tense and more critical fighting, and
their losses were in consequence great
er; but in what the negro soldiers
were called upon to do, whether in
diViduals or units be considered, there
was the same valOr and invincible
spirit. In the Champagne the 969th
Regiment, attached to the 161st Di-
vision of the French Army, command
ed by the Lion of the Argonne. one
armed General Gouraud, showed its
mettle in 191 days of campaigning.
Says Major L'Esperance:
"The heaviest fighting was on Sep
tember &c, when we went into &C
ton with twenty officers and 700
men in our battalion in the morning,
and at the close we had seven Off
GERS and $50 men left. Our boys ad-
vanced steadily like seasoned yeter-
ans, and never lost a foot of ground
they had taken or let a prisoner
escape"
These negro soldiers had gone
straight from a training camp near
St. Naziare to the battlefield. They
bad never been under fire before, and
General Gouraud was not the man to
spare them. The honor fell to the
369th to be the first American con-
tingent to reach the Rhine, at Blovels-
helm, on Nov. IS, after forced march
from Thann, in Alsace. This "black |
regiment" a description that George |
II. Boxer immortalized in the most |
stirring of civil war verse, was iden- !
tical with the old 18th New York, a |
regiment organized in the fact of op-
position that now seems puerile not |
long before the great war. 1t is wor-
thy of note that most of the regimental |
officers of the 969th werei einegroes, al
though it used to be said that negroes
must be led by white men to stand |
the ordeal of fire and to advance
steadily. - But the S69th stopped the
Germans who learned by bitter exper-
Ience to class them with the dreaded
French Colonials from Africa.
The old 18th should not, however, be
singled out as meritoriOus beyond
other negro regiments. The 37Oth, of
whose 1913 officers only three were
white, and which was commanded by
Colonel T. A. Roberts, a cavalryman of
he regular army. also made fine rec
)rd. Il have been commended" says
Colonel Roberts, for the fighting
Qualities and general bearing of the
nen, who were actually over the Bel
sian border when the armistice was
dgned. One of my battalions was the
most advanced unit of the French
Army, with which we were co-operat-
ng at the time"
The negro soldiers who returned
lome the other day have a great many
decorations, French as well as Amer
can, to prove their title to the desig-
lation of first-class fighting men. The
st Battalion of the S67th Infantry,
Buffaloes," enjoys the distinction of
lsying won the Croix de Guerre for
Ieroism in the drive on Metz, in
which it received its baptism of fire.
to their opportunities, the 9
american negro troops in France
ever failed to share the glory of bat
le with the French, or with their
Ehite American comrades. In all that
iakes the soldier, bravery, intelh- +
ence. endurance. and particularly
ood nature under hardship and pri-
alton. the negro soldier excels. He is
ever downhea) ed, and usually he is a
~ and full NOR. No American
= em