After the Champagne offensive the regiment was withdrawn and sent to a quiet sector in the Vosges Mountains, the Bonhomme sub-sector in Alsace. It remained there from October 16 until after the Armistice, with the assistance of one battalion of Chasseurs holding over eight kilometers of front. There were no important operations here and for the first time the reserve battalions were given intensive training. During the service with the French there were always the most cordial relations. General Goybet had sincere affection for these Negro troops and took personal pride in what they did. Other generals and the French soldiers also learned to respect and admire them for their soldierly qualities and their bravery; and so did the Moroccan division. General Garnier Duplessis, commander of the 9th Army Corps of France, after watching the deeds of the 371st and 372nd in the Champagne offensive, said, “I salute the brave American regiments who have equalled in intrepidity their French comrades.” Colonel Quillet, who commanded the regiment in the decisive battle that brought victory, said: “In sectors they have shown endurance, a vigilance, a spirit of devotion, and a remarkable discipline. In battle they have taken by storm with a magnificent animation very strong positions doggedly defended by the enemy.” On October 11, when the regiment came out of battle, the commander of the 157th Division wrote Colonel Miles, saying, “Your troops have been admirable in their attack”; and when the famous 157th “Red Hand Division” was broken up, General Goybet commended the American Negro soldiers for the part they had taken in the great struggle as follows: “During seven months we have lived as brothers in arms, sharing the same works, the same fatigues, the same dangers; side by side we have participated in the great Champagne battle, which was crowned with a prodigious victory. The 157th Division will never forget the irresistible dash, the heroic push of the colored American troops.... The most formidable defenses, the best organized machine-gun nests, the most smashing artillery barrage could not stop them. These élite regiments crossed all of it with a superb disdain of death and, thanks to their courageous devotion, the Red Hand Division during nine days of hard struggle always held the lead in the historic advance of the Fourth Army.” For its splendid fighting in the Champagne battles the regiment was commended by the French high command and the regimental colors were decorated by Vice-Admiral Moreau in Brest January 27, 1919. The citation reads as follows: The 371st R. I. U. S. has shown, during its first engagement, the very best qualities of bravery and audacity which are characteristic of shock troops.