7/62 It was to be patterned after the 8th Illinois where colored men of means sufficient to support commissions, were the officers. The regiment was started in June 1916 and by October had 1,000 in the ranks. Colonel Hayward was the only white officer, the Negro commission-holders at that time being Captain Marshall, Captain Fillmore, Lieutenant Lacey, Lieutenant Reed and Lieutenant Europe. The latter was attached to the Machine Gun section but became later the famous musician of the outfit. He was the only Negro officer who remained with the regiment throughout, the others being superseded or transferred after several months service in France. |