You
have well avenged our glorious dead. GOYBET.

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

Your troops have been admirable in their attack. You must be proud
of the courage of your officers and men, and I consider it an honor
to have them under my command. The bravery and dash of your
regiment won the admiration of the Moroccan Division, who are
themselves versed in warfare. Thanks to you, during these hard
days, the division was at all times in advance of all other
divisions of the Army Corps. I am sending you all my thanks and beg
you to transmit them to your subordinates. I call on your wounded.
Their morale is higher than any praise.

The high honor of having its flag decorated with the Croix de Guerre was
bestowed upon the regiment in the city of Brest just a few days before
it embarked for the return to America. Vice Admiral Moreau, the French
commander of the port of Brest, officially represented his government
in, the ceremony. It was intended as France's appreciation of the
services of these Negro fighters.

The decoration took place at one of the most prominent points in the
city and was witnessed by thousands of French soldiers and civilians, as
well as by sailors and soldiers of several nations.

One of the conspicuous components of the 372nd was the battalion, formed
from what formerly was known as the 1st Separate Battalion of the
District of Columbia National Guard. This famous old Washington
organization has a long, proud history. Many of the members were
veterans of the Spanish-American war. At the close of the European war,
the organization numbered 480 men from the city of Washington, twenty of
whom had been decorated one or more times for individual bravery under
fire.

The battalion was first assembled at Potomac Park on the Speedway in
Washington, shortly after the declaration of war. The men spent almost
half a year at the camp, during which time they had the important
assignment of guarding railway and highway bridges and adjacent points
around the National Capitol. They also had the proud distinction of
guarding the secret archives and departments at Washington, a duty which
required unquestioned loyalty and for which the Negroes were well
selected.

It seemed at the time an inconspicuous bit of war time soldiering, and
they were long trying days to the men. But it was a service wh