ACROSS DIVIDING SEAS.
BLACK THOUSANDS ASSEMBLE--SOLDIERS OF LIBERTY--SEVERING HOME TIES--MAN'S
WORK MUST BE DONE--FIRST NEGROES IN FRANCE--MEETING WITH FRENCH
COLONIALS--EARLY HISTORY OF 15TH NEW YORK--THEY SAIL AWAY--BECOME FRENCH
FIGHTING MEN--HOLD 20% OF AMERICAN LINES--TERROR TO GERMANS--ONLY
BARRIER BETWEEN BOCHE AND PARIS--IMPERISHABLE RECORD OF NEW
YORKERS--TURNING POINT OF WAR.
"Doan you see the black clouds ris'n ober yondah Like as tho we's
gwan ter hab a storm?
No, you's mistaken, dem's "Loyal BLACK FOLKS Sailing off ter fight
fer Uncle Sam."
From the plantations of the South, from the mines, the workshops and
factories; from the levees of the Mississippi, the cities, villages,
farms of the North, the East, the South, the West; from the store, the
counting house, the office and the institution of learning they
came--the black thousands to strike for their altars and their homes; to
fight for Uncle Sam. How splendid was the spectacle of their response!
"Their's not to ask the WHY; their's but to do and die."
Bearing the burden placed upon them by white men as they have for
centuries, nevertheless, in this supreme moment of their country's life;
"a day that shall live in story"; many of them did not know what it all
was about; where Germany was located, nor the significance attaching to
the word Hun. In a vague way they understood that across the sea an
armed and powerful nation was threatening the happiness of mankind; the
freedom of the world.
In the presence of this contemplated crime, they were wide-eyed,
open-souled, awake! Their sires had known bondage, and they, their
children, had felt and knew the effects of it. America which for
centuries had oppressed their forefathers had finally through the
arbitrament of war, freed them. White men and black men; in the dark
days of '61-'65, numbering many thousands, had lain down their lives to
save the Union, and in doing so had brought them freedom.
They had been told that America was threatened; that was enough. It was
to them a summons; sharp, quick, incisive to duty. It was, although one
hundred and forty years after, the voice of Washington at Valley Forge;
the call of Perry to their fathers, needing soldiers at the battle of
Lake Erie; of Jackson at New Orleans. It was to their listening ears the
echo of Bull Run, of Santiago, of Manila, and later of Carrizal; Uncle
Sam needed them! That was enough; what more was to be said?
Denied the opportunity to enlist, the Negro's patriotic, patient soul
asserted itself; if he must go as a drafted soldier, it would be in the
same fine spirit that would have inspired him as a loyal enlisted man.
Life, as to all men, was sweet to them. They had mothers, fathers,
sisters and brothers, wives and sweethearts; the ties of association; of
home, from all of which they would be separated and for all of which
they cherished that love, which alone of human fires: "Burns and burns,
forever the same, for nature feeds the pyre."
Above and over all these things, tending to augment the seriousness of
the sacrifice he was to be called upon to make, was the spirit, the
optimism, the joy of life that attends vigorous youth and young manhood.
Nature in all of its enticing charm and beauty, was smiling in the home
places these men were leaving; flowers bloomed; birds sang; insects
buzzed cheerily. There were green fields and babbling brooks; the
stately beauty of trees, and the delights of lake, river and vale. The
cities from which they came, were many of them, splendid monuments of
the work of man. The sun clothed in glory the days, moon and stars gave
a loveliness to the nights. Leaving these things to face suffering and
hardship; possible death in strange lands, caused many a pang; but a
man's work had to be done, and they were there to do it.
Well they knew there would be no chance in France to follow the wild bee
to its tree; to track the fox or hunt the 'possum or the coon. The hum
they would hear would be that of machine gun bullets; their sting, death
or serious wounding. For game they would hunt the Hun; would kill or be
by him killed.
There were busy times in thousands of homes when the young Negroes of
the land; from East, West, North and South went forth to war.
Bright faces hiding the pangs of parting; happy, singing lads left their
homes to enter a new life on earth or, the tragedy of it; also the
glory; a new life in the great Beyond; beyond the stars and flaming
suns. The training camp was their first destination and was to be their
home for months.
Correspondents in France wrote of Negro soldiers being among the first
expeditionary force to set foot upon the soil of the battle torn
Republic. This force arrived there in June, 1917, and was composed of
marines and infantry from the Regular army. Floyd Gibbons, the intrepid
representative of the Chicago Tribune, speaking of the first Negro
contingents in his remarkable book entitled, "And They Thought We
Wouldn't Fight", said:
"There was to be seen on the streets of St. Nazaire that day some
representative black Americans, who had also landed in that
historical first contingent. There was a strange thing about these
Negroes. It will be remembered that in the early stages of our
participation in the war it had been found that there was hardly
sufficient khaki cloth to provide uniforms for all of our soldiers.
That had been the case with these American negro soldiers.
"But somewhere down in Washington, somehow or other, someone
resurrected an old, large heavy iron key and this, inserted into an
ancient rusty lock, had opened some long forgotten door in one of
the Government arsenals. There were revealed old dust-covered
bundles wrapped up in newspapers, yellow with age, and when these
wrappings of the past were removed, there were seen the uniforms of
old Union blue that had been laid away back in '65--uniforms that
had been worn by men who fought and bled and died to save the
Union, and ultimately free those early 'Black Americans'.
"And here on this foreign shore, on this day in June more than
half a century later, the sons and grandsons of those same freed
slaves wore those same uniforms of Union blue as they landed in
France to fight for a newer freedom; freedom for the white man no
less than themselves, throughout all the earth.
"Some of these Negroes were stevedores from the lower Mississippi
levees; who sang as they worked in their white army undershirts,
across the chest of which were penciled in blue and red, strange
mystic devices, religious phrases and other signs, calculated to
contribute the charm of safety to the running of the submarine
blockade.
"Two of these American Negroes, walking up the main street of St.
Nazaire, saw on the other side of the thoroughfare a brother of
color wearing the lighter blue uniform of a French soldier. This
French Negro was a colonial black from the north of Africa and of
course had spoken nothing but French from the day he was born. One
of the American Negroes crossed the street and accosted him.
"'Looka here, boy', he inquired good-naturedly, 'what can you all
tell me about this here wah?'
"'Comment, monsieur?' responded the non-understanding French black,
and followed the rejoinder with a torrent of excited French.
"The American Negro's mouth fell open. For a minute he looked
startled, and then he bulged one large round eye suspiciously at
the French black while he inwardly debated on the possibility that
he had become color-blind. Having reassured himself, however, that
his vision was not at fault, he made a sudden decision and started
on a new tack.
"'Now, never mind that high-faluting language' he said, 'you all
just tell me what you know about this here wah and quit you'
putting on aihs.'
"The puzzled French Negro could only reply with another explosion
of French interrogations, coupled with vigorous gesticulations. The
American Negro tried to talk at the same time and both of them
endeavoring to make the other understand, increased the volumes of
their tones until they were standing there waving their arms and
shouting into one another's faces. The American gave it up.
"'My Gawd', he said shaking his head as he recrossed the street and
joined his comrades, 'this is sure some funny country. They got the
ignorantest colored people here I ever saw.'"
It has been noted that the first Negro combatant regiment to reach
France was the celebrated National Guard organization known as the 15th
New York Infantry, rechristened the 369th when made a part of the 93rd
division of the United States army. This was such a well drilled and
equipped regiment that early in the war it was permitted to go across
with the first 100,000; all of which was due to the aggressiveness and
insistence of its white commander, Colonel William Hayward. He simply
gave the war department no rest, stating that he was willing his men
should unload ships, fell trees and build docks or cantonments so long
as they were permitted to sail.
The regiment had been organized by Colonel Hayward at the suggestion of
Governor Whitman of New York. It was to be patterned after the 8th
Illinois where colored men of means sufficient to support commissions,
were the officers. The regiment was started in June 1916 and by October
had 1,000 in the ranks. Colonel Hayward was the only white officer, the
Negro commission-holders at that time being Captain Marshall, Captain
Fillmore, Lieutenant Lacey, Lieutenant Reed and Lieutenant Europe. The
latter was attached to the Machine Gun section but became later the
famous musician of the outfit. He was the only Negro officer who
remained with the regiment throughout, the others being superseded or
transferred after several months service in France.
Early in 1917, the Federal government said it would recognize the
regiment if it could muster fifty-one officers. As recruiting had been
slow and a Negro regiment in New York was looked upon as an experiment,
Colonel Hayward was obliged to secure the needed officers from among his
friends in the 7th New York, the Motor Battery, Squadron A and other
organizations. By this time the enlisted strength had grown to 1,200. On
April 8, 1917, two days after the United States entered the war, the
regiment was inspected by Federal officers and a week later was
recognized as a regular unit of the Federal Guard.
But, as the Colonel expressed it, they were a "street urchin of a
regiment." They had no armory, no place to drill except in the open and
no place where more than a single company at a time could meet. In his
post-war observations, the Colonel has noted that when the regiment
returned to these shores and was feasted and entertained by the people
of New York in the 71st regiment armory, it was the first occasion on
which the old 15th was ever assembled under one roof.
After its Federal recognition the regiment was sent to the Peekskill
rifle range to learn to shoot, a valuable experience as developed later.
Many of the boys became expert marksmen, a skill that became of precious
value to them and their comrades.
In June, 1917, they went to a war strength of 2,000 men and 56
officers. One battalion did pioneer work at Camp Upton, another at Camp
Dix. A third guarded 600 miles of railroads in New York, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania. The Machine Gun company guarded 2,000 interned spies and
pro-German prisoners at Ellis Island. Colonel Hayward has pointed with
pride to the fact that in all their territory there was not a wreck, an
explosion, an escaped prisoner or any other trouble. Two battalions
later went to Spartanburg for training, but remained there only a couple
of weeks.
"I wonder what got those colored boys to volunteer" someone asked
their colonel as they were embarking for France. He replied: "I
have often thought of that. With many the cause was sheer
patriotism. Others said they had gone into the 15th for social
reasons, to meet with their friends. One--this seemed to me a most
pathetic touch--said: 'I j'ined up because when Colonel Hayward
asked me it was the first time anyone had ever asked me to j'ine up
with anything in my whole lifetime.'"
If any great amount of superstition had existed among the men or
officers of the New York regiment, they would have been greatly
depressed over the series of incidents that preceded their arrival in
France. In the first place they had been assigned to police and pioneer
duty at camps near New York, a duty which no fighting man relishes. They
embarked on the transport Pocahontas November 12, 1917. Two hundred
miles at sea a piston rod was bent and the vessel put back to port. They
got away again December 3, were out a day and had to return on account
of fire in the coal bunkers. A third attempt on December 12, in a
blizzard, was frustrated by a collision with a tanker in New York
harbor.
After this series of bad starts, anyone inclined to indulge in
forebodings would have predicted the certainty of their becoming prey
for the submarines on the way over. But the fourth attempt proved
successful and they landed in France on December 27, 1917. They had
hoped to celebrate Christmas day on French soil, but were forced by the
elements and the precautions of convoys and sailing master to observe
the anniversary on board the ship.
The Colonel undoubtedly thought that those first in France would be the
first to get a chance at the Boche, but the department took him at his
word, and for over two months his men were kept busy in the vicinity of
St. Nazaire, largely as laborers and builders. Early in 1918 they went
into training quarters near St. Nazaire. The 371st, another Negro
regiment, made up of draft selectives principally from South Carolina,
was later given quarters nearby.
The black soldiers of the 369th were brigaded as a part of the 16th
division of the 8th Corps of the 4th French Army. From St. Nazaire they
went to Givrey-En-Argonne, and there in three weeks the French turned
them into a regulation French regiment. They had Lebel rifles, French
packs and French gas masks. For 191 days they were in the trenches or on
the field of battle. In April, 1918, the regiment held 20 percent of all
the territory held by American troops, though it comprised less than one
percent of all the American soldiers in France.
Officers of the 369th reported for an entire year only six cases of
drunkenness, and twenty-four of serious disease. The regiment fought in
the Champagne, in the Vosges mountains, on the Aisne, at Main de
Massiges, Butte de Mesnil, Dormouse, Sechault, the Argonne, Ripont,
Kuppinase, Tourbe, and Bellevue Ridge. It was the first unit of any of
the Allied armies to reach the left bank of the Rhine following the
signing of the armistice, moving from Thann on November 17th and
reaching Blodesheim the next day.
Negro soldiers were a source of terror to the Germany throughout the
war, and objects of great curiosity to the German people afterwards.
Wherever they appeared in the area occupied by the Americans they
attracted great attention among the civilians. In Treves, Coblenz and
other places during the early days of the occupation, crowds assembled
whenever Negro soldiers stopped in the streets and it became necessary
for the military police to enforce the orders prohibiting gatherings in
the public thoroughfares.
Returning soldiers have told how they were followed in the German towns
by great troops of stolid, wide-eyed German children who could not seem
to decide in their minds just what sort of being these Negro fighters
were. The curiosity of the children no doubt was inspired by stories
told among their elders of the ferocity of these men.
The Associated Press has related a conversation with a discharged German
soldier in Rengsdorf, in which it is stated that the German army early
in the war offered a reward for the capture alive of each Negro. The
soldier said that throughout the war the Germans lived in great terror
of the Negroes, and it was to overcome this fear that rewards were
offered.
One evening on the front a scouting party composed of ten Germans
including the discharged soldier, encountered two French Negroes. In the
fight which followed two of the scouting party were killed. One of the
Negroes escaped the other being taken prisoner. During the fight two of
the Germans left their comrades and ran to the protection of their own
trenches, but these it was explained, were young soldiers and untrained.
The reward of 400 marks subsequently was divided among the remaining six
Germans for capturing the one French Negro.
The 93rd division, which was made up of the 369th, 370th, 371st and the
372nd regiments of infantry, was put into service green, so green they
did not know the use of rockets and thought a gas alarm and the tooting
of sirens meant that the Germans were coming in automobiles. The New
York regiment came largely from Brooklyn and the district around West
59th street in New York City, called San Juan Hill in reference to
certain notable achievements of Negro troops at a place of that name in
the Spanish-American war.
They learned the game of war rapidly. The testimony of their officers
was to the effect that it was not hard to send them into danger--the
hard part being to keep them from going into it of their own accord. It
was necessary to watch them like hawks to keep them from slipping off on
independent raiding parties.
The New York regiment had a band of 40 pieces, second to none in the
American army. It is stated that the officers and men in authority in
the French billeting places had difficulty in keeping the villagers from
following the band away when it played plantation airs and syncopations
as only Negroes can play them.
On April 12, 1918, the 369th took over a sector of 5-1/2 kilometers in
the Bois de Hauzy on the left of a fringe of the Argonne Forest. There
they stayed until July 1st. There was no violent fighting in the sector,
but many raids back and forth by the Negroes and the Germans, rifle
exchanges and occasionally some artillery action.
One important engagement occurred June 12th, which the soldiers called
the million dollar raid, because they thought the preparatory barrage of
the Germans must have cost all of that. The Germans came over, probably
believing they would find the Negro outfit scared stiff. But the Negro
lads let them have grenades, accurate rifle fire and a hail from some
concealed machine gun nests. Sergt. Bob Collins was later given the
Croix de Guerre for his disposition of the machine guns on that
occasion.
While holding the sector of Hauzy Wood, the 369th was the only barrier
between the German army and Paris. However, had there been an attempt to
break through, General Gouraud, the French army commander, would have
had strength enough there at once to stop it. About this time everyone
in the Allied armies knew that the supreme German effort was about to
come. It was felt as a surety that the brunt of the drive would fall
upon the 4th French Army, of which the 369th regiment and other portions
of the American 93rd Division were a part. This army was holding a line
50 kilometers long, stretching between Rheims and the Argonne Forest. It
was the intention of the Germans to capture Chalons and then proceed
down the Marne Valley to Paris. It was expected that the big German
drive would begin on July 4th, but as it turned out it did not begin
until the night of the 14th--the French national holiday.
On July 1st, the 369th had been moved from its sector further toward the
east where the center of the attack was expected. Upon the 14th of July
the French made a raid for the purpose of getting prisoners and
information. This had a tremendous effect upon the whole course of the
war, for through it General Gouraud's staff learned that at midnight the
Boche artillery preparation was to begin, and at 5:25 o'clock on the
morning of the 15th the Germans were coming over the top.
This phase of the operation is described by Col. Hayward as follows:
"This is what Gen. Gouraud--Pa Gouraud we called him--did: He knew
the Boche artillery would at the appointed hour start firing on our
front lines, believing as was natural, that they would be strongly
held. So he withdrew all his forces including the old 15th, to the
intermediate positions, which were at a safe distance back of the
front lines. Then, at the point where he expected would be the apex
of the drive he sent out two patrols, totalling sixteen men.
"These sixteen had certain camouflage to perform. They were to set
going a certain type of French machine gun which would fire of its
own accord for awhile after being started off. They were to run
from one of these guns to the other and start them. Also the
sixteen were to send up rockets, giving signals, which the Germans
of course knew as well as we. Then again they were to place gas
shells--with the gas flowing out of them--in all the dugouts of the
first line. Meanwhile the French artillery had registered directly
on our own front trenches, so that it could slaughter the Germans
when they came across, believing those trenches to be occupied as
usual.
"Everything worked out as expected, and as luck had it, most of
those gallant sixteen Frenchmen got back safely.
"Five minutes before the Germans started their artillery
preparation for the drive Gen. Gouraud started his cannon going and
there was a slaughter in the German lines. Then when the German
infantry crossed to our front line trenches (now entirely vacant)
they were smashed up because the French guns were firing directly
upon these positions, which they knew mathematically. And those of
the Boche who went down in the dugouts for safety were killed by
the gas which the Frenchmen had left there for them.
"This battle--the supreme German drive--raged over eighty-five
kilometers (51 miles). West of Rheims the enemy broke through the
line, but they did not break through anywhere in Gen. Gouraud's
sector. Stonewall Gouraud stopped them. The American units which
took in the defense that was so successful were the 42nd Division,
including the gallant 69th of New York, who were to the west of us,
our own little regiment, and the American Railroad Artillery.
"That was the turning point of the war, because soon thereafter
began Marshal Foch's great counter thrust, in which the 1st and 2nd
American Divisions participated so wonderfully about Belleau Wood,
Chateau-Thierry and that district. Gouraud in my belief, turned the
tide of the war, and I am proud that the New York City colored boys
had a share of that vital fight.
"Right here I may say that this orphan, urchin regiment of ours
placed in the pathway of the Boche in the most significant battle
the world has ever known, had only thirty-seven commissioned
officers, and four of those wounded, had to be carried in
stretchers to their positions in the trenches in order to direct
the fighting."
Colonel Hayward was himself in the hospital with a broken leg.
Disregarding the orders of the surgeons he went to the front line on
crutches and personally directed his men in the fight. In all of his
written and quoted utterances since the war, he has refrained from
mentioning this fact, but it is embodied in the regimental records.
Shortly after the French national holiday, the 369th was sent about 15
kilometers west to a position in front of the Butte de Mesnil, a high
hill near Maison en Champagne, occupied by the Germans. Around that
district they held half a dozen sectors at different times with only one
week of rest until September 26th.
Artillery duels were constant. It is related that near the Butte de
Mesnil the regiment lost a man an hour and an officer a day from the
shell fire of the Boche. So accurate were the gunners handling the
German 77s that frequently a solitary soldier who exposed himself would
actually be "sniped" off by a cannoneer.
In the September fighting the 369th saw the toughest period of its
entire service. In company with a Moroccan Negro unit and others, the
regiment participated in the attack on the Butte de Mesnil. The New
Yorkers took the important town of Sechault and it was for that exploit
that their flag was decorated with the Croix de Guerre.
Throughout the western Argonne fighting and the various sectors of the
Champagne in which the 369th operated, especially during the months of
July, August and September, their service was typical of that of other
units of the 93rd Division. The going was tough for all of them and each
contributed everlasting fame to American arms and undying renown to the
Negro race.
Heroes of the Old 15th Infantry.
Officers and men of the 369th New York colored regiment awarded the
Croix de Guerre for gallantry in Action:
Sergt. A.A. Adams
Corp. John Allen
Lieut. R.R. DeArmond
Lieut. G.A. Arnston
Corp. Farrandus Baker
Sergt. E.W. Barrington
Sergt M.W. Barron
Sergt. William D. Bartow
Capt. Aaron T. Bates
Corp. Fletcher Battle
Corp. R. Bean
Corp. J.S. Beckton
Pvt. Myril Billings
Sergt. Ed. Bingham
Lieut. J.C. Bradner
Pvt. Arthur Brokaw
Pvt. H.D. Brown
Pvt. T.W. Brown
Lieut. Elmer C. Bucher
Pvt. Wm. H. Bunn
Sergt. Wm. Butler
Pvt. J.L. Bush
Sergt. Joseph Carmen
Corp. T. Catto
Corp. G.H. Chapman
Sergt. Major Benedict W. Cheesman
Capt. John H. Clarke, Jr.
Lieut. P.M. Clendenin
Capt. Frederick W. Cobb
Sergt. Robert Collins
Lieut. J.H. Connor
Sergt. Wm. H. Cox
Sergt C.D. Davis
Lieut. Charles Dean
Pvt. P. Demps
Wagoner Martin Dunbar
Corp. Elmer Earl
Pvt. Frank Ellis
Sergt. Sam Fannell
Capt. Robt. F. Ferguson, Jr.
Capt. Charles W. Fillmore
Capt. Edward J. Farrell
Capt. Hamilton Fish, Jr.
Capt Edwin R.D. Fox
Lieut. Conrad Fox
Sergt. Richard W. Fowler
Pvt. Roland Francis
Pvt. B. Freeman
Pvt. I. Freeman
Sergt Wm. A. Gains
Wagoner Richard O. Goins
Pvt. J.J. Gordon
Lieut. R.C. Grams
Pvt. Stillman Hanna
Pvt. Hugh Hamilton
Pvt. G.E. Hannibal
Pvt. Frank Harden
Pvt. Frank Hatchett
Corp. Ralph Hawkins
Colonel Wm. Hayward
Lieut. E.H. Holden
Sergt. Wm. H. Holliday
Corp. Earl Horton
Pvt. G. Howard
Lieut. Stephen H. Howey
Sergt. Major Clarence C. Hudson
Pvt. Ernest Hunter
Sergt. S. Jackson
Corp. Clarence Johnson
Sergt. D.F. Johnson
Pvt. Gilbert Johnson
Sergt. George Jones
Lieut. Gorman R. Jones
Sergt. James H. Jones
Pvt. Smithfield Jones
Pvt. J.C. Joynes
Lieut. W.H. Keenan
Lieut. Elwin C. King
Lieut. Harold M. Landon
Lieut. Nils H. Larsen
Major David A. L'Esperance
Lieut. W.F. Leland
Pvt. D.W. Lewis
Pvt. W.D. Link
Major Arthur W. Little
Lieut. Walter R. Lockhart
Sergt. B. Lucas
Pvt. Lester A. Marshall
Pvt. Lewis Martin
Sergt. A.J. McArthur
Capt. Seth B. MacClinton
Pvt. Elmer McGowan
Pvt. Herbert McGirt
Capt. Comerford McLoughlin
Pvt. L. McVea
Sergt. H. Matthews
Sergt. Jesse A. Miller
Sergt Wm. H. Miller
Sergt. E. Mitchell
Pvt. Herbert Mills
Corp. M. Molson
Lieut. E.D. Morey
Sergt. W. Morris
Sergt. G.A. Morton
Lieut. E.A. Nostrand
Sergt. Samuel Nowlin
Capt. John O. Outwater
Lieut. Hugh A. Page
Lieut. Oliver H. Parish
Sergt. C.L. Pawpaw
Pvt. Harvey Perry
Sergt. Clinton Peterson
Lieut. Col. W.A. Pickering
Lieut. Richardson Pratt
Sergt. John Pratt
Sergt. H.D. Primas
Pvt. Jeremiah Reed
Lieut. Durant Rice
Pvt. John Rice
Sergt. Samuel Richardson
Sergt Charles Risk
Pvt. F. Ritchie
Lieut. G.S. Robb
Corp. Fred Rogers
Pvt. Lionel Rogers
Pvt. George Rose
Lieut. R.M. Rowland
Sergt. Percy Russell
Sergt. L. Sanders
Pvt. William Sanford
Lieut. H.J. Argent
Pvt. Marshall Scott
Capt. Lewis E. Shaw
Capt. Samuel Shethar
Lieut. Hoyt Sherman
Major G. Franklin Shiels
Pvt. A. Simpson
Sergt. Bertrand U. Smith
Pvt. Daniel Smith
Sergt. Herman Smith
Corp. R.W. Smith
Major Lorillard Spencer
Sergt. J.T. Stevens
Corp. Dan Storms
Lieut. George F. Stowell
Corp. T.W. Taylor
Lieut. Frank B. Thompson
Sergt. Lloyd Thompson
Sergt. A.L. Tucker
Sergt. George Valaska
Lieut. D.H. Vaughan
Capt. Edward A. Walton
Capt Charles Warren
Sergt. Leon Washington
Pvt. Casper White
Capt. James D. White
Sergt. Jay White
Sergt. Jesse J. White
Sergt. C.E. Williams
Pvt. Robert Williams
Sergt. Reaves Willis
Pvt. H. Wiggington
Sergt. L. Wilson
Pvt. Tim Winston
Sergt. E. Woods
Pvt. George Wood
Lieut. A.D. Worsham
Sergt. E.C. Wright
Sergt. Henry Johnson
Pvt. Needham Roberts