on our mess to pack up. Our route, through
Chery-Chartreuse, was so congested that progress was slow. Supply trains
were doing their utmost to execute their mission, difficult because the
line was pushing forward so rapidly, and leaving railroad heads so far
behind. At one point it was necessary to halt for several hours because
the road ahead was being constantly shelled, making passage impossible.
It was daybreak when we pulled up a long steep hill, passing through
muddy fields to avoid danger on the shelled roads. The horses, already
worn out by continued labor, little food and scarcity of water, could
hardly make the ascent even with cannoneers pushing, shouting and urging
them on by every means possible.

Our position here was on the forward slope of a bowl-shaped valley. At
the bottom, in the shelter of a line of bushes, were the guns of the
First Battalion. To our left were woods, in which the horses and limbers
took cover. At the right was a large farm house that housed the B. C.
detail and some other men. Far down, in the depths of the basin were two
roads that drew much fire. In front along the crest ran another, also a
frequent target. Artillery, infantry and supplies were coming up all the
time in preparation for an attack to push across the Vesle river.

The men had traveled all night in the rain and cold. But before there
could be any rest, trail pits must be dug, in order that we might be
able to fire if called upon at any time to do so. With increasing
experience of hunger and consequently keener eye to the emergencies
ahead, the men had levied upon a pile of rations lying where they had
been abandoned by some cart whose load was too great to make progress
along the miry road. They had, therefore, for breakfast--ere the battery
kitchen had time to get its fire going--some of that canned commodity
labelled by the packers "canned roast beef" but more generally termed,
by the consumers, "monkey meat." Canned sweet potatoes heated in a
mess-kit over a can of solidified alcohol was an excellent dish, the
more appreciated because they had never been issued to the battery. The
infantry were favored in this regard, it seems. The discovery that
elderberries grew in the woods near by furnished dessert, for sugar was
supplied from some one's store, acquired, no doubt, from some other
abandoned rations. But the dessert was, for most, a mistake, as they
realized when they began to feel sensations like those of years