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 vol