A general outline of the service of the Illinois men after coming out of the trenches, as well as an illustration of the affection and high appreciation in which they were held by the French, is contained in the following order issued by General Vincendon in December: 

     Officers and soldiers of the 370th R.I.U.S.: 

You are leaving us.  The impossibility at this time that the German Army can recover from its defeat, the necessity which is imposed on the people of the Entente of taking up again a normal life, leads the United States to diminish its effectiveness in France.  You are chosen to be among the first to return to America.  In the name of your comrades of the 59th Division I say to you, au revoir.  In the name of France, I thank you.

The hard and brilliant battles of Chavigny, Leury and the Bois de Beaumont having reduced the effectiveness of the division, the American government generously put your regiment at the disposition of the French High Command.  In order to reinforce us, you arrived from the trenches of the Argonne.

We at first, at Mareuil Sur Ourcq, in September, admired your fine appearance under arms, the precision of your review and the suppleness of your evolutions that presented to the eye the appearance of silk unrolling in wavy folds.  We advanced to the line.  Fate placed you on the banks of the Ailette in front of the Bois Mortier.  October 12 you occupied the enemy trenches at Acier and Brouze.  On the 13th we reached the railroad of Laon le Fere; the forest of Saint Gobain, the principal center of resistance of the Hindenburg line was ours.

November 5th the Serre was at last crossed and the pursuit became active.  Major Prout’s battalion distinguished Itself at the Val St. Pierre, where it captured a German battery.  Major Patton’s battalion was first to cross the Hirson railroad at the heights of Aubenton, where the Germans tried to resist.  Duncan’s battalion took Logny and, carried away by their ardor, could not be stopped short of Gue d’ Hossus on November 11th, after the armistice.  We have hardly time to appreciate you and already you depart.

As Lieut.  Colonel Duncan said November 28, in offering to me your regimental colors as proof of your love for France and as an expression of your loyalty to the 59th Division and our Army, you have given us of your best and you have given it out of the fullness of your hearts.

The blood of your comrades who fell on the soil of France mixed with the blood of our soldiers, renders indissoluble the bonds of affection that unite us.  We have, besides, the pride of having worked together at a magnificent task, and the pride of bearing on our foreheads the ray of a common grandeur.

     Vincendon.

[Illustration:  This is a facsimile reproduction of the original, printed hurriedly near the field of battle and also translated hurriedly without eliminating errors.  Corrected on page 155.]