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Pioneer Infantries
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Stevedores, engineers, and labor battalions had been rushed to France
to blaze the trail for the American forces. Already the 15th New York,
the 8th Illinois, 371st and 372nd Regiments had worked and fought their
way to the thickest of the carnage. The 92nd Division was waiting for
the final word that would carry them across. And yet the twelve million
colored people of the United States had not fully answered the call.
None, however, were more willing to serve the country in its hour of
peril. Therefore there was a ready response, when late in May of 1918,
President Wilson called for the organization of colored infantries.
The early history of these pioneer regiments was very similar. They
were formed for the most part, out of provisional troops, a few
men drawn from the regular army, and specialists from the various
schools of Training Detachments. For instance, the 805th Pioneer
Infantry Regiment was formed at Camp Funston, of provisional brigades;
twenty-five men of the 25th Infantry, brought over from Hawaii;
thirty-eight mechanics from Prairie View Normal School; twenty
horseshoers and men skilled in the care of horses from Tuskegee
Institute, and eight carpenters from Howard University. The best
evidence of the high character of the service in France rendered by
this regiment is the following: