nd on the morning of the
seventh he again began a terrific artillery preparation. As stated
elsewhere on these pages, our guns did not have sufficient range to
reach the enemy guns even had we been successful in locating them, so
all we could do was to lie shivering in the snow behind logs, snow
trenches and barbed wire, hoping against hope that the artillery would
not annihilate us.

The artillery bombardment continued for two days, continuing up to noon
of March 9th, when the enemy again launched another attack. This time we
were better prepared and, having gotten wind of the plan of attack, we
again caught a great body of the infantry in a ravine waist deep in
snow. We could plainly see and hear the Bolo commissars urging and
driving their men forward to the attack, but there is a limit to all
endurance and once again one or two men bolted and ran, and it was but a
matter of minutes until all were fleeing in wild disorder.

Space does not permit the enumeration of the splendid individual feats
of valor performed by such men as Lieuts. McPhail of Company "A", and
Burns of the Engineers, with their handful of men--nor the grim tenacity
and devotion to duty of Sgts. Yarger, Rapp, Garbinski, Moore and Kenny,
the last two of whom gave up their lives during the last days of their
attacks. Even the cooks were called upon to do double duty and, led by
"Red" Swadener, they would work all night long trying to prepare at
least one warm meal for the exhausted men, the next day taking their
places in the snow trenches with their rifles on their shoulders
fighting bravely to the end. Then, too, there were the countless numbers
of such men as Richey, Hutchinson, Kurowski, Retherford, Peyton, Russel,
De Amicis, Cheney, and others who laid down their lives in this hopeless
cause.

The attack was not alone directed against the position of Vistavka, for
on the opposite bank of the river the garrison at Maximovskaya was
subjected to an attack of almost equal ferocity. The position there was
surrounded by forests and the enemy could advance within several hundred
yards without being observed. The defenders here, comprising Companies
"F" and "A", bravely held on and inflicted terrific losses upon the
enemy.

It was during these terrible days that Lt. Dan Steel of Company "F"
executed a daring and important patrol maneuver. This officer, who had
long held the staff position of battalion adjutant, feeling that he
could render more effe