*On this date in 1918, the 805th Pioneer Infantry was formed. During World War I, it was an all-Black segregated United States Army infantry regiment.
The 805th contained black soldiers from the state of Mississippi. The battalion landed in France in July 1918 to support the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which began on September 26, 1918. The 805th Pioneer Infantry participated for 39 days, from October 3, 1918, to November 11, 1918, when the Armistice was signed.
The regiment was nicknamed the "Bear Cats." A commander, Colonel Chauncey Benton Humphrey (1872–1958) (USMA 1898), boasted that, among other things, his Bear Cats had "the best Jazz band in France," "the best vaudeville show in the American Expeditionary Forces, and the best baseball team of any outfit in France." Moses Hardy and Billy Higgins served in the 805th.
