the readers:

Archangel, March 18, 1919.
My Dear Moore:
I want to thank you for all the hard work you did when in command of the
Pinega area. You had many dealings with the Russians, and organized
their defense with great care and success.

All the reports I have received from the Russian authorities express the
fact that you dealt with them sympathetically under many difficult
circumstances.

As you probably found, responsibility at such a distance from
headquarters is difficult to bear, even for an experienced soldier, and
I think you carried out your duties as Commander with great credit.

I am especially pleased with the manner in which you have looked after
your men, which is often forgotten by the non-professional soldier. In
such conditions as those prevailing in Russia, unless the greatest care
is taken of the men, they lose health and heart and are consequently no
good for the job for which they are here.
Believe me yours very sincerely,
(Signed) EDMOND IRONSIDE, Major-General.

When the Americans left the Pinega sector of defense in March, they
carried with them the good wishes of the citizens and the Russian
soldiers of that area. The writer travelled alone the full length of the
lower Pinega Valley after his troops had passed through, finding
everywhere the only word necessary to gain accommodations and service
was the simple sentence uttered in broken Russian, Yah Amerikanski
Kapitan, Kammandant Pinega. The American soldiers, hastening
Archangel-ward so as to be ready for stern service on another hard-beset
front, found themselves aided and assisted cheerfully by the Pinega
Valley peasants who were grateful for the defense of their area in the
desperate winter campaign.

During those ticklish weeks of Bolshevik pressure of greatly superior
numbers constantly threatening to besiege Pinega, and of a political
propaganda which was hard to offset, the Americans held on
optimistically. If they had made a single false step politically or if
their White Guards had lost their morale they would have had a more
exciting and desperate time than they did have in the defense of Pinega.

XIX

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

Archangel Area--Occupations Of People--Schools--Church--Dress--In
Peasant Homes--Great Masonry Stove--Best Bed In House On Stove--Washing
Clothes In River Below Zero--Steaming