ey since call "Easter Hill," where some French batteries had
their horse-lines. There the battery had its evening mess--stew--and
while waiting for orders to move on, the men slept wherever there was
shelter and dryness--on sacks full of harness, in caisson boxes, under
tarpaulins stretched over the pieces. At 1 a. m. the guns pulled out,
arriving in position as day was breaking.

Sergeant Bolte had gone to officers' school at Saumur from Remenoville,
and Sergeant Landrus took charge of the First Section in his place. At
Fontenoy, Sergeant Newell was sent to the hospital with acute
bronchitis; so Sergeant Wright went to the front in charge of the Third
Section. Sergeant Newell did not return to the battery, but went from
the hospital to Saumur, returning later to the regiment as a second
lieutenant in Battery F, after serving a while in the 32d Division.

The new positions were near Montigny, the first platoon to the left of
the town, the second platoon just in back of it. Both were abandoned
French positions, but much different in construction; 163, the first
platoon's position, was constructed well underground. Only the
embrasures through which the guns fired were exposed to the enemy's
fire. On the other hand, 162, the position of the second platoon, was
covered only by camouflage, with the exception of the abris, of course.
An 8-foot trench, instead of a tunnel, connected the abris and gun
emplacements, and the position was much lighter and dryer than 163. But
the solid construction of the latter was of fortunate advantage when the
enemy directed its fire on it for several hours continuously on two
occasions.

After one night on "Easter Hill," the horse-lines moved, with a stop
next night at Azerailles, to the Ferme de Grammont, between Merviller
and Baccarat. The Second Battalion occupied old French stables, which
long use had made veritable mudholes. Piles of ooze and "gumbo" had been
dug out and these were constantly added to, but still the mire was so
bad that it was fatal to loose rubber boots. Grooming seemed a hopeless
task, so far as looks were concerned.

This was the first time a divisional sector was taken over completely by
American forces. The French were sending all their available troops to
the northern part of the front, where one big enemy offensive followed
another. So, as a matter of fact, this section of the front was very
lightly defended. But the spirit of the American soldiers, who took thi