The 372nd arrived in France on April 14 and went into training with the French eleven days later.  On May 29 the regiment took over a sector in the Argonne and on June 20 was sent to the trenches just west of Verdun, occupying the famous battle-swept Hill 304, and sections at Four de Paris and Vauquois.  On Hill 304 thousands of French and Germans had fallen as the battle line swung back and forward.  That this hill was given to the Negroes to hold demonstrated that as soldiers they had already won the confidence of the French.

The regiment’s first engagement was in the Champagne sector with Monthois as an objective.  Here came the real test.  The Negroes were eager to get into the fight.  They cheered and sang when the announcement came that their opportunity had arrived—­but the question was; back of their enthusiasm had they the staying qualities drilled into European troops through centuries of training in the science of warfare.

The answer was that some of the heaviest and most effective fighting of the day was done by the Negro regiment.  From June 6th to September 10th, the 372nd was stationed in the bloody Argonne forest or in the vicinity of Verdun.  On the night of September 25th they were summoned to take part in the Argonne offensive and were in that terrific drive, one of the decisive engagements of the war, from September 28th to October 7th.

In the nine days’ battle the Negroes not only proved their fighting qualities in an ordeal such as men rarely have been called upon to face, but these qualities in deadly striking power and stubborn resistance in crises, stood out with such distinction that the coveted Croix de Guerre was bestowed upon the regiment.

The casualty list of the 372nd in this and previous fighting carried 500 names of men killed, wounded and gassed.  For their achievements they were at once cited for bravery and efficiency in General Orders from the corps commander transmitted through their French divisional chief.  It was dated October 8th and read as follows: 

In transmitting you with legitimate pride the thanks and congratulations of General Garnier Duplessis, allow me, my dear friends of all ranks, American and French, to address you from the bottom of the heart of a chief and soldier, the expression of gratitude for the glory you have lent to our good 157th Division.  During these nine days of hard fighting you have progressed eight kilometers (4.8 miles) through powerfully organized defenses, taken 600 prisoners, captured 15 heavy guns, 20 minenwerfers and nearly 150 machine guns, secured an enormous amount of engineering material and important supplies of artillery ammunition, and brought down by your fire three enemy aeroplanes.  The “Red Hand” sign of the division, has, thanks to you, become a bloody hand which took the Boche by the throat and made him cry for mercy.  You have well avenged our glorious dead.  Goybet.

In a communication delivered to the colonel of the regiment on October 1st, General Goybet said: