Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-05-05

campaign work was far from good.
Many of the animals had been slight
ly gassed, or were debilitated from
much night work. as it was neces-
sary to take up all supplies at night
on account of shelling of the roads.
We started our trnSFz>a~k on tho
night of September 1918 from
Porte-a- -Binsone on the south bank
of the Marne, to st. Martin Pierre
Mauson. where we stopped for the
day, started next night, proceeding
via Normee, Sommessous, Donmar-
tin, to -Coole, all in the
rain. and stopping at last named
place. The following night we leit
Fontaine- sur r-Coole-Coole, Maisons-
en-Champagne - Loisey-sur-M Marine.
and camped the trains at the latter
pace. while with Lieutenant NJ, L
billeted at Maisons- en- -Champasne,
and had a good nights rest. Dur
ing the balance of the trip we slept
and ate in the National in which we
travelled. During the day d5) we
motored to Eitry-le- Francois for dim
ner and had a very good one at
cafe. This night as the head of the
trains was leaving Loisey- y-sur- Marine,
the chief of staff Colonel b drove
up and handed me orders to make
the march forced one of nearly
forty miles before seven the follow
ing morning. We made the march
through Nitry-en-P -Perthois, Ran
court, Rivegny, Louppy, devant
Chateau, where we parked the trains
in the Bois-des- Annulles in the clear
ing inside. The last of the trains
did not arrive, however, until near
noon and the early morning rain
made the going and parking difficult
in the wet woods. They were all
slowed away from aerial observation
and l had reported at Nettancourt
division Headquarters) by one
o clock. The following night the
trains were ordered to join their
units. We did not get the orders
for this move until 20 minutes be
fore we were to start. We started
on time and l preceded the column
on the road, stopping at Triaucourt
to finish the detailed orders on my
Corona" in the car. The roads
were soft, especially in the woods,
and we lost several heavy vehicles
on account of being unable to pull
them out; these were later sent for
and brought forward. At BriZeauX
we split the trains, sending them
with marked maps to rejoin their
units, which We're all located south
of st. Menehould-Clermo road.
After splitting trains and seeing that
each unit was started right, we re-
turned in the car to Nettancourt for
breakfast and just in time.
Poor Rations
Outside of the dinner in Vitry-en-
Francois, l lived on bread and
canned sardines, and aside from the
one night at Maisons-en en-ChampaSne,
slept in the auto with cat maps dur
ing the night movements, as the
day was always fully taken up with
looking after forage and shaping
things for the night march. During
the first nights marching we COW
cred about 100 kilometers. Sixty
kilometers on the one night march
and it rained practically during the
entire trip. Shortly after our return
to Nettancourt, the Division Head
quarters was moved TO Les Islettes
tabout September 22), and our in
fantry took over the sector north
of the Clermont-Le Islettes road in
the Argonne Forest to the Aire
River. This had been quiet sector
for three years. but we had scarcely
arrived before artillery of all caliber
began TO roll up each night and to
disspp in the woods and this kept
up for days; the visibility was poor
and this helped us in getting guns
and troops forward. These guns
went right up to the infantry and
into firing position. Ammunition
continued to roll forward to advanc-
ed dumps and we surmised that this
quiet sector was soon to pass into
another class. and in the light of
what happened, our surmise was
correct. on the morning of Septem-
ber 26. the artillery along our whole
front laid down a terrific barrage
from 2:30 a. m. to $50 a. m., at
which hour our infantry went over
the top. This was the most terrific
cannonade I have ever heard. The
infantry went ahead behind the bar
rage and took the hill, lie Morte
Homme. and the celebrated Hill 204
of Nerdun fame, also Grand and
petit Boureilles, Narennes, Mont
blainville and La Forge. The Seven
.ty-Seventh Division was on our left.
the Thirty Fifth on our right and
the Ninety Second came up in our
rear. I was in Les Islettes with my
outfit and the Hun threw twenty
six 1905 into the town in the after
noon. One of them passed just clear
of my billet and entered the \. NJ.