eir first
voyage under American colors; it was a double blow that these German
boats should not only be employed in the service of the United States,
but even be used to carry troops and supplies to defeat Germany herself.
Again, these seven vessels transported an entire division at once, the
first to be sent across the Atlantic as a unit, a division which had
received much attention because of its composition, an amalgamation of
National Guard organizations from twenty-six states.

Battery E mounted guard on the "President Lincoln" on the evening of the
day the regiment embarked, October 18, and so a good many of the boys
were on deck to see the lights of the Statue of Liberty fade behind as
the fleet stood out to sea during the dark. About midnight the gongs
sounded an alarm, and everyone was awakened for the first fire-drill.
But the blue lights at the stairways that were the sole illumination,
refused to work, and since no one could tell in the pitch blackness
where to turn or whom to follow, the men were sent back to their bunks.

The next day Battery E went on "K. P." Since more than 2.500 men were
served in the forward mess hall in approximately two hours, the force of
"kitchen police" required was large. The cooking was done by the regular
ship's cooks in their kitchen with huge caldrons and immense kettles.
Only the serving was done by the troops. It was a particularly hard job
that day, for the roughness of the open sea had begun to unsteady the
boys, and the sight of food, let alone serving it for two hours, was
enough to incapacitate them as kitchen hands.

After they had gained their sea-legs, however, mess time was the
important hour of the day, and the chief occupation of everybody was
waiting for the next meal. The occasional fire-drills were brief.
Calisthenics were necessarily light and not long in duration, on account
of the lack of space on deck. Reading matter was greatly in demand, and
much time was spent on deck merely in contemplation of the sad sea
waves, the flying fish, and now and then a school of porpoise. On the
fifth day out, target practice by the ship's gun crews furnished great
excitement, and gave us greater sense of security when we had seen how
accurate marksmen the gun-pointers were.

As a rule, the meals on ship-board were worth anticipating. Sunday
dinners included chicken, for the last times that delicacy appeared on
our menu, unless one includes the Thanksgiving and Christmas