r 12
and led it to the objectives assigned by the crossing of the Ailette
canal."

American historians may not give the Negro fighters the place to which
their records entitle them; that remains to be seen. From the testimony
of French commanders, however, it is evident that the pages of French
history will not be printed unless they contain the valiant, patriotic,
heroic deeds of the Illinois and New York regiments with their comrades
of the 93rd and 92nd Divisions.

In the various sectors to which they were assigned, they were in
virtually every important fight. They met the flower of the Kaiser's
forces, held them and on more than one occasion made them retreat. The
Hun had misjudged them and it was fortunate that he had. They endured
their share of hardship, marching many weary miles, day after day,
without sufficient food. Nothing could affect their spirit and dash.
When the call came, they went over the top, that the world might be made
safe for democracy.

Among the officers and men of the 370th were represented about every
calling in which the Negro of this day engages. There were men of
professional pursuits; lawyers, doctors and teachers; students,
mechanics, business men, farmers and laborers. The poet of the regiment
was Lieutenant Blaine G. Alston. The following little poem, if properly
digested and understood, tells volumes within itself:

"OVER THERE"

Did you ever hear a bullet whiz,
Or dodge a hand grenade?
Have you watched long lines of trenches dug
By doughboys with a spade?
Have you seen the landscape lighted up
At midnight by a shell?
Have you seen a hillside blazing forth
Like a furnace room in hell?

Have you stayed all night in a ruined town
With a rafter for a bed?
With horses stamping underneath
In the morning when they are fed?
Have you heard the crump-crump whistle?
Do you know the dud shell's grunt?
Have you played rat in a dugout?--
Then you have surely seen the front.

--Lieut. Blaine G. Alston, 370th U.8. Troops.

CHAPTER XVII

NARRATIVE OF AN OFFICER

Special Article by Captain John H. Patton, Adjutant of 8th
Illinois--Summarizes Operations of the Regiment--From First Call to
Mustering Out--An Eye Witness Account--In Training Camps, at Sea, in
France--Service in Argonne Forest--Many Other Engagements--A Thrilling
Record--Battalion Operations in