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It was about this time that we were informed that we were no longer a part of the 76th Division, but were to be a Brigade of Corps Artillery. It did not cause many tears as the 76th was already doing duty as a replacement division with no chance of going to the front as a unit. Our tables of organization were changed accordingly and we were rapidly equipped for duty in our new capacity. The 303rd regiment was issued G. P. F.s, the famous French 155 m. m. long rifle with a range of about 17,000 metres. The 301st got the world renowned French 75, the best known gun of the war, and the 302nd got American 4.7 rifles about which nothing was known.

While in Gradignan and vicinity our days consisted largely in getting acquainted with our new guns. We also learnt French and paraded. Some of our number were detailed to join the Advanced Schools Detachment at Camp de Souge, August 14th.

On August 25th the London Evening Mail published the news of General NcNair's promotion. We were of course glad of the obviously merited reward, but selfishly would rather have had it otherwise, for of course he would cease to be our Brigade commander. However, at the time we consoled ourselves with the thought that he might command the Corps artillery of which we would be a part. That night there was a dinner and celebration at Brigade Headquarters. The scene was picturesque and one to be remembered. The French Mayors of the villages where our troops were billeted were invited and came. The meal was served on the lawn under a huge tree in those beautiful gardens. A hundred yards down the lawn through the trees we could see the 301st band, conducted by Lieutenant Keller. They played as even they had never played before. The villagers, hearing the music, flocked to the gates and the General sent word to the guard that the sentries were to let them in. In they came and went straight to the music. Sitting on the lawn they made a huge circle around the band, and gave our Headquarters a very festive appearance. It was a rare occasion for them. Lovers of music that they were, it was seldom that they had an opportunity to hear it. Their own bands had long been busy nearer the front.

On September 5th and 8th the two regiments, 302nd and 301st respectively, moved to Souge for the final six weeks firing before going to the front. We made the trip, some twenty miles, with our own transportation. Brigade Headquarters was established at the camp on September 8th and the Ammunition Train moved in the same day.

Souge is located in the middle of a sand desert at the end of the world. As far as you can see there is not a landmark to relieve the monotony. It is as flat as a table all the way to the sea, some twenty-five miles distant. As Major Hadley of the 301st remarked: "It is a nice beach but where is the water?" Souge may best be described as follows,--a camp some two miles long of ramshackle, broken down, foul smelling barracks in the middle of the desert which was to be our range. Flies, sand, dust and heat were in abundance, as were dysentery and the "Flu" at times. The flies were like ours except larger, more abundant and infinitely more obnoxious. As one of our men wrote home, he was in the hospital as a result of having been kicked by a fly.

But there we were. We ate the dust, we killed flies and we sweat in the sweltering heat, as we pulled guns, trucks and tractors through that damnable sand.

On September 21st the long dreaded orders for Major-General McNair arrived and with them Secretary of War Baker, General Tasker Bliss and a flock of Major Generals and Brigadiers. That same day he relinquished the command to Brigadier-General Richmond P. Davis and left camp to take command of the Artillery of the First Army.

The finishing touches were applied. We were inspected. We passed our examinations and were ready for the front. When would the orders come? There were already rumors of peace,--were we to miss the party after a year and a half of preparation? The thought was nauseating, but we stuck to our work. We knew our Brigade Commander was a hustler. We could see it, and General McNair had said so. Confidence ran high.

We had an abundance of ammunition and General Davis ordered a problem to cover three days. The guns were to go into position at night and without lights; they did. We established communication by telephone, radio and projector, and maintained it. Conversation was in code and cypher. We were to fire an offensive barrage over the infantry; it was done. The infantry called for a defensive barrage at 11.40 at night; it was layed before the rocket burst.

Altogether in this problem of four regiments the 75s fired about 6,000 rounds and the 4.7s about 600.

In the meantime it rained, or rather poured. The heavens were trying to make good for the past six months of inaction,--they did. Or perhaps it was the 302nd weeping for the now certain loss of Colonel Craig. He had received his promotion and it was only a question of time before his orders would arrive. Loved and respected by all who knew him, he was to leave a vacancy hard to fill. His officers gave him a dinner in Bordeaux on October 7th.

It was while our problem was in progress that General Davis and part of his staff left for the front, October 11th. A few days later, on October 17th, he was followed by the rest of his staff. So the regiments polished and oiled their materiel and entrained at the camp for God-knows-where. One thing was certain and that was we were going forward and not back, for from Bordeaux it takes a boat to go in the latter direction. It was at this time that we knew definitely that the 301st was to leave the Brigade. It was to be army artillery and received different orders, confirming our fears when it was detached by telegraphic order of October 2nd.

Hardly had the General with a few members of his staff arrived at the front when a stray shell killed his aide, Lieutenant W. B. Dixon, Jr., October 19th, 1918. He was buried with military honors where he fell near Bouillonville. He had been with us but a few days, but such was his personality and charm that he had become as closely identified with the Brigade as the oldest member of the staff. His death was a personal loss to every one of us.

Brigade Headquarters was established at St. Mihiel, Meuse, October 19th, 1918, and the entries in the official War Diary begin. I have the diary before me as I write, and I feel that I cannot do better than take the information therein practically word for word as it was recorded each day from October 19th to November 11th.

The famous salient of St. Mihiel had been wiped out a month before. Having held it successfully for four long years, the Germans considered their lines there impenetrable; but it took the Yankees just two short days, September 12th and 13th to reduce that four years' work to nothing, and on our side of the balance sheet now stood several thousand prisoners and a few hundred guns. It had happened a month before, but the battle fields were still fresh with Hun relics and ruins, and one had but to see to know that Heine and Fritz had lost no time in their departure. Everywhere ammunition dumps and other stores were left untouched by the fleeing foe.

October 19th the 151st Field Artillery Brigade, less one regiment was attached to the 2nd Colonial Corps of the Second Army, A. E. F., as corps artillery, with its rail head at Sorcy and its Refilling Point at Woinville. The zones and mission of the Brigade were assigned. In a general way our sector extended from Bonzee to Vigneulles. The line in this sector ran roughly northwest to southeast, the Germans holding the villages of Ville en Woevre, Pintheville, Riaville, Marcheville, St. Hilaire, Doncourt and Woel.

October 21st was devoted to reconnaissance. The commanding officer, Colonel Conklin of the 303rd F. A. and staff arrived. An air raid by the enemy occurred at 7.00 p. m. They are all alike. This is what happens. Delicate instruments more sensitive than the human ear detect the sound of the aeroplane's engines at a great distance. These instruments are placed at intervals along the lines at what are known as listening posts or stations. Directly an enemy plane is detected, its whereabouts and direction are telephoned to the areas behind. There, the fact is announced by a bugle call, followed by rattles, sirens and every other variety of music. This is the first you know of the "ships that pass in the night." There is a scramble for the nearest abri, otherwise known as bomb-proof or dug-out. You stumble and fall down a flight of steps and find yourself from twenty to forty feet below ground. It is dark, and the air is damp and smells vilely. There are from fifty to a hundred other humans in this subterranean tomb, some lie down, prepared to spend the night, others, half-clad, shiver and wait. Then out of the distance you hear a faint humming as of insects in summer. It grows louder. It is the engines of the enemy's planes. Suddenly Hell is torn loose. The anti-aircraft guns or Archies, as the British call them, have opened fire from the ground. The planes return the compliment with bombs and machine guns. A boiler factory in your head would not be nearly so bad for your ears as the cracking and shrieking that takes place. As suddenly as it started it ceases. All is quiet. We go about our duties or sleep, as the case may be, until the next raid occurs. If it is a clear night and the planes are likely to return, there are many who prefer to stay in the dug-out and make a night of it there rather than spend the time until morning running back and forth.

October 22nd the work of reconnaissance for battery positions and P. C.s continued. More enemy planes were seen over St. Mihiel. But this time it was broad daylight; they reconnoitered and took photographs, but there was no battle royal to disturb the peace. Suddenly little balls of cotton appeared about the plane. They were the bursts of some distant anti-aircraft battery trying to annoy the aviator.

October 23rd the commanding officer of the 302nd F. A. and staff arrived. In the afternoon enemy airplanes made a reconnaissance. The regimental advanced parties arrived.

Reconnaissance was the chief work of the next few days. Lieutenant Colonel McCabe of the 302nd taking the area to the north of Bonzee. The Germans must have had the same idea, for enemy aircraft continued to pass over Headquarters.

On October 28th the 33rd Division relieved the 79th Division in this sector, the 55th Field Artillery Brigade remaining in place, with its Headquarters at Troyon .

Colonel Conklin in selecting his P. C. showed better taste. He found an old German Headquarters, built like a Swiss chalet in the heart of the woods and far away from harm. Here he settled comfortably, two kilometres to the northeast of Deuxnouds and just South of the Grande Tranchee de Calonne. He had but two battalions. The first he placed to the east of his P. C., the second about four kilometres to the north.

This same day liaison was established with S. R. S. No. 3 American, and on November 2nd with S. R. O. T. Nos. 58 and 67.

November 3rd the Brigade Headquarters detachment arrived and was billeted in St. Mihiel, and information was received that the 302nd F. A. had detrained at Dugny and was moving into Rupt en Woevre.

November 4th information was received that the 303rd F. A. had detrained at Dugny and was moving into Creue. The 3rd Battalion of the 303rd was assigned to the Fourth Army Corps.

November 5th the Second Battalion of the 302nd reported its guns in position and ready to open fire. Hardly was this accomplished when the Huns began to give them a taste of gas, over 3,000 rounds being reported. One gun of Battery B, 303 F. A. was reported to be in position. The Brigade was detached from the 2nd C. A. C. , and was put under the command of the 17th C. A. .

November 6th one gun of the 303rd F. A. was ready to fire at midnight and the other guns were being moved up as fast as the positions were constructed.

From 10.00 p. m. November 6th to 2.00 p. m. November 7th, about 3,000 gas shells, mostly mustard, fell near B and F Batteries of the 302nd F. A., but though other artillery units nearby had a number of men gassed, the 302nd F. A. had no casualties, thanks to strict and effectual gas discipline.

In the vicinity of P. C. Gross, Second Battalion of the 303d, about two hundred gas and high explosive shells fell, also without casualties.

In the afternoon Field Order No. 1 was issued directing the 302nd to deliver harassing fire during the night on Ville en Woevre and on the roads from that place to Braquis and Hennemont. The 303rd F. A. was to fire on Hennemont, Pareid, Maizeray and Moulotte. At 6.10 the orders were changed by telephone on account of later information, with the result that the 302nd F. A. took under fire two additional targets, which were identified only by their coordinates. The 303rd fired at Pareid and Moulotte and on a battery in the Bois de Harville.

On the night of November 6th and 7th, in a two company infantry raid with artillery support against the Chateau d'Ardnois, one German officer and twenty-two men were captured and from ten to fourteen killed. Our own casualties were slight. There was very little enemy artillery fire during the day. At 9.15 however, on the night of November 7th, the operations officer of the 55th Field Artillery Brigade at P. C. Kilbreith reported heavy shelling by the enemy of Fresnes en Woevre. This village was now strongly held by our troops, and it was thought that the German fire was in retaliation for the raid. Our Sound Ranging Section S. R. S. No. 3 had located the enemy batteries that were executing the fire and we were asked for neutralization at the earliest possible moment. This order was sent to the 303rd F. A. by courier and telephone. At 11.00 a. m. the enemy having ceased his fire, the 303rd F. A. was ordered to discontinue firing. Field Order No. 2 was then issued authorizing the 303rd F. A. to fire at once for neutralization upon any enemy battery reported in action beyond Maizeray. In the meantime Major Hadley's Battalion of the 302nd F. A. was fired upon by the enemy with gas shells. Captain Lefferts was the only casualty.

On November 8th two strong patrols of our infantry, sent early in the morning to the Bois de Harville and St. Hilaire, brought back three prisoners. The 33rd Division reported considerable harassing fire about Les Eparges and Saulx en Woevre, with some interdiction fire on the villages at the base of the hills. The total was about 3,000 rounds. This was the first day that the air was clear enough for the G. P. F.s to register, and Colonel Conklin registered on Joinville. Shortly after 4.00 o'clock, Balloon No. 22 reported two batteries firing. They were given to the 303rd F. A. for immediate neutralization. In the meantime, orders had been sent out for the night's firing, the targets assigned to the 303rd F. A. being two batteries of 105 howitzers in the Bois de Harville and the towns Maizeray and Butgneville. The 302nd F. A. was given the Pintheville-Maizeray road, the Pintheville-Pareid road, Maizeray, Butgneville and St. Hilaire, the latter being the most important. The fire was to stop at 3.00 a. m. to permit an infantry raid to go into St. Hilaire and the vicinity. These orders, sent by telephone and courier, were in response to a request for help from the Divisional Artillery. They were followed by a Memorandum to the regiments designating the zones in which, after the start of the infantry raid on November 9th, it would not be safe for them to fire without express authority.

On November 9th a change of organization occurred as a result of the removal of a large part of the French Artillery from the sector. The two batteries which were left,--one of 120 long and one of 155 long,--were taken over by General Davis and assigned to the command of Colonel Platt of the 302nd F. A. in what then became known as the Groupment Platt. General Davis thus became Commander of the Corps Artillery of the sector.

Early in the morning of this same day, a request was received from the infantry through the Operations Officer of the 55th Field Artillery Brigade for help in a raid. It appeared that lack of ammunition for the Divisional artillery threatened to deprive the infantry of much needed artillery assistance. Orders were issued for concentration fire between 2.00 and 5.00 a. m. on Maizeray, Butgneville and St. Hilaire and between 5.00 and 6.45 a. m. on Maizeray and Butgneville. With the approval of Corps Artillery Headquarters the regiments were permitted to use ammunition beyond that authorized for daily expenditure.

The strong reconnoitering patrols sent out by the 33rd Division executed the raid on Marcheville. It was completely successful and resulted in the capture of eighty prisoners including three officers. Patrols near Pintheville and Riaville met strong resistance. At 3.50 p. m. an enemy barrage of about 4,000 shells was laid down between Fresnes and Wadonville, probably in retaliation for the raid of the previous night. Orders were issued that the regiments should fire at once on any batteries reported in action by the Sound Ranging Section and that every clear day should be utilized for registration. During the afternoon the 303rd F. A. was directed to fire on two batteries of 210 howitzers,--one near Labouville and the others northeast of Joinville,--and on a battery of medium calibre, just south of Moulotte.

Late in the afternoon we were informed that an infantry raid would take place at H hour next morning on our front. The Groupment Platt were ordered to fire on Maizeray and on the road between Pintheville and Maizeray. The 303rd was to fire on Maizeray, Harville and the same stretch of road and on batteries reported firing from points back of Maizeray. The fire of both groups was to last for 105 minutes after H hour and at 2.20 in the morning, notification was sent by courier to the commanding officers of the two regiments that H hour would be 5.45 a. m.

At 8.30 in the evening the General ordered a concentration by the 302nd F. A. on Riaville, Pintheville and the road connecting them, to be fired between midnight and 3 a. m. At 8.45, the 303rd F. A. was given counter-battery work in answer to a call from the Divisional Artillery Headquarters.

Upon the change in organization mentioned above, the advanced location for our Brigade P. C. was fixed at Creue. The regiments were ordered to reconnoitre to find locations for at least some of their guns out on the Plain of Woevre where they would be able to reach some of the German long range artillery which had been bothering us, and also follow up the advance of our infantry for a long distance without changing position for a second time.

On November 10th a general advance was ordered to begin at 7.00 a. m. but the order did not reach our Brigade. However, this information was obtained incidentally by the Brigade Commander, and at 10.40 a. m. orders were issued for the regiments to provide advance telephone lines, with a view to establishing forward P. C.s. At the same time the Brigade P. C. was opened at Creue. A series of orders were issued over the telephone with reference to a change of positions by the 302nd F. A. and the 303rd F. A. and at 11.48 we received orders from the corps that the 4.7 regiment must advance as soon as possible. Orders were sent to them to complete all reconnaissance and prepare to move immediately. At 1.25 orders were received from the corps to move two batteries of the 303rd F. A. with 400 rounds of ammunition at the tail of the main body of the 33rd Division in advance. It was thought that this was based on the supposition that the enemy was going to retire, which he had no intention of doing, as later developments showed.

At 4.00 o'clock in the afternoon, word having been received that the country to the north and east of Bonzee was occupied by the enemy, an officer was sent to the 33rd Division occupying our sector and another to the 81st Division on our left to find out the true state of affairs. There proved to be no basis whatever for this report, as the 33rd Division was holding its forward line in great strength with a view to attacking on the morning of the 11th, and the 81st Division was also reinforced for a continuation of their attack, begun on the 10th.

General Bailey, commanding the 81st Division and Colonel Roberts, Chief of Staff, urgently requested artillery help in their attack on Ville en Woevre, Hennemont and other points. The Brigade supported these attacks between 5.00 and 7.00.

The commanding General of the 33rd Division, having received orders to advance, called for support from the Corps Artillery on Pintheville, Harville, Moulotte, Maizeray, Pareid and batteries in the Bois de Harville and elsewhere. This support was given between 9.25 p. m. November 10th and 5.00 a. m. November 11th.

At 7.30 p. m. the 302nd F. A. was ordered to move one battalion into the advanced positions in the Plain of the Woevre and to have another battalion in motion so as to reach its advanced position on the 11th while the guns held in reserve were to continue the firing. One battalion, in accordance with these instructions, took position on the Plain of the Woevre near Tresauvaux, well in advance of the main body of the infantry and of the resistance line. It remained there overnight and until ordered to withdraw on the morning of the 11th, when news was received that the armistice had been signed.

In the meantime, three guns of the 303rd F. A. were successfully moved into similar forward positions from which, if fighting had continued, they might have done highly effective work against some of the distance long range German guns, especially those that had been bothering St. Maurice, Thillot and other towns along the base of the hills. The Brigade fired 736 rounds in the course of the day, against a number of different targets assigned from time to time by Brigade Headquarters, or reported direct to the regiments by the S. R. S.

At about ten o'clock on the night of the 10th the French corps commander under whom we were serving, said he expected important news from the Eiffel Tower wireless station before morning. He asked Brigade Headquarters to notify him should our wireless pick up anything of interest. Taking the daily communiques from the Eiffel Tower had been part of our routine work, so the operators knew her voice intimately. Accordingly they were not unduly surprised when she started her familiar squeak early on that historic morning. Received at 5.45 a. m. November 11th, the message that the armistice had been signed and that hostilities were to cease at 11.00 a. m. was reported at the Brigade P. C., Creue, by telephone from the St. Mihiel Headquarters. To the credit of the Brigade let it be known that it was from our station that the news was given to the entire sector.

The 33rd Division attacked at 5.00 a. m. Strong patrols sent out along the front captured three officers and eighty-three men. Infantry lines were established at the close of hostilities as follows: Chateau d'Aulnois, Riaville, Marcheville, St. Hilaire, south of Butgneville, Bois de Harville thence southward to Ferma d'Hautes Journeux. These towns were taken on the morning of the 11th. It was a glorious piece of work but hardly worth the price in American life it involved. The Germans, pushed to the limit, made a last stubborn resistance and from behind their fortifications and barbed wire delivered a murderous fire on our troops with rear guard machine gun action from hidden nests. The battlefield as I saw it that afternoon, I shall not soon forget. There lay an American sergeant, where he had fallen, and behind him lay his men, not twenty yards from the German machine gun they were attacking. My thoughts were first of sorrow that these men should have made the supreme sacrifice in those last minutes of the great war. In those fine young faces still shone the joy of life, theirs but yesterday, when they had thought of home and all it held in store. But I read another story, that of peace, such as is only experienced after a hard struggle won and as I looked at the scene I felt a thrill of pride. What a sacrifice! but God, how gloriously made!

The plans for the early morning attack contemplated prearranged firing by the Corps Artillery until 7.00 a. m. Information that the Armistice had been signed having arrived at 5.45 a. m., the Heavy Artillery Commander at that hour ordered no more firing, unless urgently called for by some infantry unit which was in need of help or was being effectively shelled. The advance Brigade P. C. at Creue was closed at 11.00 a. m. Ammunition had been brought up during the night and the corps artillery stood ready with some of its guns advanced beyond the main line of resistance, to support fully a further general infantry attack.

At 10.55 on the morning of the Armistice, the 303rd Band at Creue played taps, then the Marseillaise, then the Star Spangled Banner and then Reveille. All that morning the artillery thundered and was still thundering when the music started. When it stopped, all was still.

On the afternoon of November 12th I walked along our front between the lines. The stillness of peace was upon the earth where but yesterday the din of bloody battle reigned. Our lines were held by a series of sentries walking their posts as if on parade. Over yonder the Germans were doing likewise. The sun shone in gladness upon the scene. The air was crisp and the reliefs were gathering wood for their fires. As the shadows grew longer and the sun set in a blaze of glory, the figures of the sentries grew dim, but their positions became identified by the bonfires they had kindled which now alone marked the lines. As I turned to go, rockets once used to call for a barrage or as a warning of gas lit the sky. Thus ended the war.

SUMMARY

A resume of the history of the 151st Field Artillery Brigade during its short term at the front shows a great variety of services and connections.

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