Detail--Special Mention of Companies and
Individuals.

Captain John H. Patton, regimental adjutant of the 370th, who commanded
the second battalion through most of its service, presents a summary of
the operations of the regiment from the first call to the mustering out.
Being in charge of the organization's records, his account is detailed,
authentic and highly valuable as supplementing the data of the previous
chapter; gleaned from departmental records and other sources. It carries
additional interest as being the testimony of an eye-witness, one who
participated in the stirring events in a marked and valorous degree. The
recital in Captain Patton's own words, the phrase of a highly trained
and efficient military man, follows:

Pursuant to the call of the President, under date of July 3, 1917, the
8th Illinois Infantry reported at the various rendezvous on July 25,
1917, as follows: At Chicago, Illinois regimental headquarters;
Headquarters company, Machine Gun company, Supply company, Detachment
Medical Department, and Companies A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H; at
Springfield, Illinois, Company I; at Peoria, Illinois, Company K; at
Danville, Illinois, Company L; at Metropolis, Illinois, Company M.

On the date the regiment responded to the call Colonel Franklin A.
Denison commanded the regiment, the other Field Officers being
Lieutenant Colonel James H. Johnson, Major Rufus M. Stokes, Major
Charles L. Hunt, Major Otis B. Duncan and Captain John H. Patton,
regimental adjutant.

The strength of the regiment a short time before responding to the call
was approximately one thousand officers and enlisted men, and orders
having been received to recruit to maximum strength, 3604 enlisted men,
an active recruiting campaign was begun. On July 25, 1917, the strength
was approximately 2,500. Soon afterwards orders were received that the
regiment would be organized according to Minimum Strength Tables of
Organization, which gave it an authorized strength of 2,138 enlisted
men. After reporting that the regiment already had several hundred men
in excess of that strength, authority was granted to retain the excess
men. From this time until demobilized at Camp Grant in March, 1919, the
regiment had from 600 to 1,300 men in excess of its authorized strength,
and upon arrival in France in April, 1918, the entire personnel
consisted of men who had voluntarily enlisted.

Intensive training was begun immediately after the regiment repor