MEMORIES OF BATTERY "B"
 
     September 18th there came to Camp Lee, Virginia, a number of 
sturdy mountaineers from the State of West Virginia, to form the 
nucleus of "B" Battery of the 314th Field Artillery. We were 
organized as a Battery of Artillery September 20th, 1917, with the 
following officers in command:
     Captain D. S. Beebe, 1st Lieut. S. M. Milliner, 2d Lieut. O. E. 
Griner, 2d Lieut. John B. Freemand and 2d Lieut. William Clark.
     Transfers were made in the ranks and among the officers and to 
bring the Battery to fighting strength, men from the States of 
Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania were chosen.
     During our eight months of training we received the reputation 
of being the toughest Battery in the Regiment; our representation in 
the Guard House was not to be excelled by any organization and 
although we were sometimes ordered off the field on preliminaries we 
were always in the lead when the big things came off. We trained on 
the dummy guns until our three-inch guns arrived, after which we 
spent ten days at Dutch Gap learning to fire. Our scouts did well in 
locating a barrel of wine for the boys, whose daily visits may 
account for our excellent work there. When we returned to camp we 
found that many Virginians had been added to our Battery and that the 
pet coon of Butch Clark had suffered a noble death from some 
mysterious cause.
     On the morning of May 23d at 3.00 P. M. the Battery was formed 
and marched to the Camp Lee depot and entrained for the Port of 
Embarkation at Lamberts Point, Norfolk, Va., where we loaded on the 
Italian boat (America). At 12.00 Sunday, May 26th, the boat showed 
signs of life and a little after sunset land was no longer in view. 
There being so many men on the boat, the hull was the sleeping 
quarters for our Battery. The bunks were three deep and completely 
filled. The food, rough seas and sea sickness were the bad features 
of what might have been a pleasant journey under different 
circumstances.
     Battery "B" boys were not to be outwitted by such mere trifles. 
The many ways by which we had to overcome such obstacles and to make 
our journey a pleasant one were boxing bouts, mixed harmony 
quartette, led by Grover Cleveland Kyte; poker games, run by Walter 
Payne and Slim Mann; band concerts and lifeboat drills. Here we must 
thank Private Clark, who appropriated chickens, turkeys, apples and 
other goodies intended for the officers and sold them to us.
     After fourteen clays of sailing we landed on June the 8th in the 
beautiful harbor of Brest. A few hours of preparation found us ready 
to set foot on French soil. About 2.15 P. M. the Battery was formed 
and marched to Pontanezen barracks three kilos on the outskirts of 
Brest. These barracks were supposed to be our rest camp, but during 
our short stay there we were undecided as to the word rest.
     Upon the morning of June the 12th we made up our rolls, marched 
to Brest, en-trained for an unknown destination. Upon the morning of 
June 13th at 1.00 A. M. the train stopped and the familiar voice of 
Lieut Clark was heard commanding, OUTSIDE-OUTSIDE. In a few minutes 
we were standing in a strange town, rolls unrolled, shoes off, and 
equipment woefully mixed. We were put in a field to pitch our tents 
and there to sleep for the night.  The following morning the Regiment 
billeted in and around Redon, our Battery being stationed at Chateau 
Le Bonde and Chateau Buart.
     Here is where our work and real experience began. Our past 
experience as artillerymen had been on the American three-inch piece.  
On June 24th we received our guns, the famous French 75 mm. From then 
on our days in Redon was spent in mastering gun drill. Our evenings 
were spent at Mother Light Foots and the Vin Sisters. We left Redon 
August the 8th, traveling by road through Beganne, Maziallac, Thiex 
and arrived at Camp de Meucon August 11th, 1918, the total distance 
covered being approximately 72 kilos.
     Camp de Meucon was a large training camp for field artillery 
brigades before they were considered fit to go into actual service at 
the front. The Battery was well housed in five wooden barracks with a 
separate wooden mesa hall. The stables were excellent and, as a 
whole, the camp afforded very good facilities for artillery training. 
There were specialist schools daily for officers and men, but the 
most valuable training was the practical experience on the range. We 
fired at least every day and at times every other day. The guns were 
put into position, laid on the base line w h the goniometer, then 
quite a novel instrument, and fired on various types of targets, 
using H. E. Normal, reduced charges and shrapnel.
     September the 5th, 6th and 7th were occupied on the Brigade 
problem which completed our training at Camp de Meucon. On battalion 
and regimental competition Battery "B" won every contest and was 
accredited as the most efficient organization in the Brigade. The 
period between September 8th and 13th was spent in getting equipment 
in shape for entraining.
     Leaving Camp de Meucon we entrained at Vannes at 11.00 P. M., 
Friday, September 13, 1918. This was our last train journey and it 
took us through Rennes, Versailles, Chartres, St. Florentine, Bar-le-
Duc to Longville, where we detrained and took shelter in the wood 
surrounding the bivouac chateau, just outside of the town, where, in 
the creek running through the gardens of this estate, we took our 
last bath and disposed of surplus equipment, and this included our 
much admired Army and Navy graphophone, which would be of no service 
to us in the days that we were to move on our own motive power into 
the unknown. The march from Longville taught us that artillerymen did 
not always ride, for from that time on we most invariably walked. And 
it also proved to be the march that took us out of civilization into 
a country where our life became one continuous game of "hide and 
seek." We stopped for a day's rest at Bois Chapitre and therefrom 
resumed a march at night until we reached Camp Calliene. Here the 
boys recuperated a little in the nearby French Canteens, as money 
hereafter had no value to us, we thought. After leaving Camp Calliene 
we headed for our ultimate destination. Upon a narrow, congested 
road, through strange country, we advanced slowly under cover of 
darkness. Enemy shells whistled above our heads and burst right and 
left of us, this being the first real intimation of our proximity to 
the danger zone. September 24th found us on the reverse slope of 
"Dead Man's Hill" and at eleven o'clock that evening the hungry bores 
of our guns were pointing toward the enemy lines. Daybreak brought us 
face to face with a sight never to be forgotten. The dome and the 
slopes of the hill vividly portrayed to us the history of four years 
of modern warfare. There was not a spot of soil left unturned by the 
millions of shells with which the Hun vainly tried to batter his way 
to Verdun. Upon this spot, where hundred of thousands of our Allied 
comrades in arms so heroically and gallantly either died or were 
mutilated, our guns at 5.30 A. M., September 26, 1918, fired their 
first shot and with the thousands of other guns helped to start the 
enemy in the direction of his Fatherland. "Dead Man's Hill" was left 
as soon as the good news that the Hun was "homeward bound" reached us 
and the following night found us at Hill 281, where the enemy for the 
last four years and until some twenty-four hours ago felt so secure 
and safe. The first onslaught was a terrific one and the feeling it 
created in us was one of a definite confidence in our arms. When 
orders came to move forward our horses did not arrive on time and the 
men, realizing that there was no time to lose, hitched themselves to 
two guns and moved them over shell-torn roads until "C," "D" and "F" 
Batteries came to our assistance with their horses.  At Hill 281 the 
gun crews were sheltered in a deep, filthy German dugout.  Private 
Kennedy and Private Seachrist came in contact with some enemy hand 
grenades while looking for shelter and an explosion of one of these 
wounded both of them. And after their wounds were attended to at the 
First Aid Station, Private Kennedy was taken to the hospital, 
although Seachrist, not being seriously wounded, remained with the 
Battery. Constant gas alarm kept us awake during the night and the 
following night was spent in pumping the guns and throwing a deadly 
sheaf of fire across the Meuse. By September 28th our guns were in 
position in the Bois de Dela. The road to this position led us to 
Cuisey. Heavy rain all night added much to the suffering of the men 
and there was no protection of any kind to be found. The men with 
iron patience awaited daybreak when they could look for shelter of 
some nature. During the day enemy air scouts circled and buzzed 
around and discovering our position the Battery was subjected to a 
continuous fire. A large Boche shell (nickname G. I. Can), hit within 
two meters of our third piece, killing Private Tittle and severely 
wounding Privates Fritz, Chappin and Reynolds. Private Tittle's death 
was the first casualty in the Regiment. He was buried in the nearby 
woods, Lieut. Ober conducting the services. And so it went on day 
after day and night after night. There was hardly a day without rain 
and the men, with every particle of their clothes soaked, with no 
means of getting dry, with no dry place to sit or lay down and rest, 
sustained their fine spirit and their desire to go forward. Many 
times hunger and thirst added to their suffering. Water was always 
very scarce and when found one had to think twice before drinking it. 
Pulling into Septsarges, we located our kitchen, limbers and horses 
in an edge of a wood some 800 meters from the firing battery, which 
wood was later subjected to a severe enemy artillery fire. After the 
fire subsided we found eleven of our horses dead and many wounded 
ones. It was just by a miracle that no one of the Battery was 
injured. We also lost our Battery Commander, Captain Lovejoy, in this 
position, as he was evacuated to the hospital with influenza.  Lieut. 
Ober took command of the Battery and upon orders moved same to 
Nantilicis where, having just pulled into position, the Battery was 
subjected to a rain of high explosive shells that resulted in the 
wounding of Sergeant Seeley and Private Mulvaney. The latter was 
evacuated to the hospital. It became necessary to move the Battery 
from its exposed position to a road north of Nantillois and, during 
the four-hour barrage on the following day, one of our guns exploded, 
killing Private Leonard and wounding Corporal Dotson and Private 
Schutte.  Private Leonard was buried near the road and the wounded 
men were sent to the hospital. At this time occurred the death of 
Private Burroughs, who was killed by shell fire at the echelon at 
Hill 281, where he had gone to rest up. Fragments of the same shell 
that killed Private Burroughs severely wounded Private Payne, who was 
sent to the hospital after his wounds were dressed at the First Aid 
Station. The echelon moved to Nantillois, where hostile aeroplanes 
engaged in battles with ours caused Private Emmons Barnette to be hit 
by one of the stray machine gun bullets and his wound, being serious, 
was evacuated to the hospital. On October 13th, while firing a 
barrage to repel an enemy counter-attack, our position was again 
subjected to a terrific enemy fire which resulted in the killing of 
Captain Ober and the wounding of Sergeant Goldsmith, Privates 
Smith,,J. C., Wincer, Hook, Ferguson, Adams and Fortney. Practically 
the whole one-gun crew who, after passing the night in a First Aid 
Station, was taken to a hospital. The bravery of the men is worthy of 
note at such death-dealing moments. It was a severe test but by this 
time we were hardened and with devotion to our fallen comrades and 
our duty we carried them through shell fire to the First Aid Station 
and in thirty minutes the Battery was reorganized and in action, 
avenging the death of its executive and the wounded ones. At this 
time Captain Lovejoy was already back from the hospital and at his 
post in the P. C. and Lieut. Griner acted as executive of the 
Battery. Our still exposed position had to be changed in order to 
fool the Hun and this time we placed our two remaining guns to the 
opposite side of the road and to the left of Battery "A." The days 
that followed were days of continuous activity and firing was 
continued day and night. More than once the gun crews were washed out 
of their holes in the ground by persistent rains and many a night was 
spent in mud and water around the guns. Due to the credit of Private 
Patton who secured a square sheet of iron, Cook Craig indulged 
himself in making hot cakes daily, many times under fire, and the 
boys will always be grateful to him for such a rare treatment in the 
front lines.
     Then on October 25th we again received a command to move forward 
and take up a new position. Our Battery led the Battalion and upon 
reaching Romagne it was reported from the front that the Germans had 
broken through our infantry lines about 400 meters off the road. So 
the Battery pulled to one side and prepared for action, awaiting the 
command to fire point-blank at the supposedly on-rushing hordes of 
Huns. Machine gunners were called forward and placed in position and 
the gun crews were ordered to load their side arms.  Later reports 
brought us the good news that the first report was either a false one 
or that the enemy changed his mind and the fact is that they were 
definitely checked by our infantry. Resuming our march toward our 
already selected position, Private Swick attempted to move a dead 
horse from the narrow road but found the odor a bit too strong and 
from the effects we observed on Private Swick we decided to pull off 
the road and pass the obstacle undisturbed. In our new position we 
were often shelled with high explosives and gas shells, but 
fortunately no one was hurt and until November 1st we were sending 
ten shells to Jerry's one toward his already tottering lines of 
defense. After the big push on November 1st there was rejoicing among 
our men. "The Hun is on the run" reports came from every direction 
and we followed closely on his heels, however, not closely enough to 
get another crack at him. We occupied two different positions without 
firing a single shot and not until we reached Bois de Mont, right 
above the town of Mont, could we make our range effective. From this 
position we were able to see the fertile, beautiful plains of the 
Meuse. After a complete clean-up of the Meuse Valley we descended to 
the town of Mont and, passing through Sassey, we crossed the Meuse 
River on the morning of November 10th and marched on the Verdun-Sedan 
National Highway toward Mouzay. After passing Mouzay, where the enemy 
lines were reported to be only several hundred meters from the 
outskirts of the village, on the Mouzay-Chammois Road, our column was 
caught in a thick rain of bursting shells which became very dangerous 
on account of the congestion on the road.  The column halted, and 
that made matters still worse. After a long wait, or at least it 
seemed to be a very long one, we began to move and, pulling our guns 
to one side of the road, we placed them in position in 4 young pine 
grove. The hostile fire became even more intense and it was only by 
extreme good luck that no one got hurt. We fired most of the day and 
the Hun was beating it while his shoes were good and had no idea of 
the good news we were to receive the following day, November 11, 
1918, "Cease firing."
     The three weeks we spent at Chateau la Chammois were devoted to 
cleaning up of the personnel and material; reading the news of how 
the folks back home celebrated while we, belonging to a lost brigade, 
did not know where our next meal would come from. During our career 
on the front we supported about seven distinct divisions and after it 
was all over no one seemed to claim us for a while.
     After disposing ourselves of our worn-out, muddy clothes and 
most of the cooties" we went back to our then almost forgotten 
"squads right and left," like the camp life. During all this time we 
were under the impression that our next move would be Germany, but it 
turned out to be different. We did, however, transfer forty-five men 
and one officer who were later assigned to the 67th Artillery Brigade 
which was ordered to go to the Rhine.
     When we left Mouzay we were told that we were going to the 
Fifteenth Training Area, which at that time most of us thought was an 
embarkation center. As we traveled along in our "side door Pullmans" 
there was much discussion as to whether we were on our way to 
Marseilles or Bordeaux. Two or three worn-out maps found in the 
possession of some of the men were consulted frequently and we were 
sadly disappointed when we found that the train was carrying us 
toward the central part of France. At Nuits-sous-Raviers (Yonne) we 
detrained and, after unloading the material, prepared for a seven-
kilometer hike with full packs on our backs. We started with good 
spirits, but before we reached our destination at Vireaux we became 
very much down-hearted, for we covered twenty-three or four kilos of 
hard road and at least one-third of the Battery was missing.
     During the night and on the day following everybody arrived and 
we settled down once more to an intensive training. Foot drills, 
hikes and inspections were our foremost kinds of amusements. Of the 
three it is safe to say that inspections held the most important 
part, for they came almost as regular as reveilles. Private Allgood 
once reminded us that the Regimental Sergeant-Major was the only man 
in the Brigade that hadn't inspected us. Drills and hikes were on the 
daily program, regardless of weather conditions, and although it 
rained almost continually we did our part as cheerfully as was 
possible. We had one consolation, and that was that we got rid of our 
horses, and there were no guns to take care of either, but it was not 
long, however, until we had both horses and guns, and to make life 
still more Pleasant, there was quite a number of gentle mules.
     We were practically a remount station, for our main duty was 
taking care of the animals. At first it was rather hard on everyone 
because we were a little shorthanded, but it was not long until we 
received one detachment of men from a casual camp and another from 
the 80th Division Infantry and things became much easier.
     We found time to organize a "Literary Club," which entertained 
us after the hours of duty. There always was quite a large attendance 
of the natives of our new town in whose home we were billeted. Once 
or twice a week we had the pleasure of listening to Corporal Kyte as 
a song bird and Private Allgood as a black-face comedian. There also 
were some fine exhibitions in both boxing and wrestling. The Club's 
feature was its weekly paper published now and then for the men of 
the Battery only. There were some among us that found time to attend 
the dances at Sambourg and Lezinnes, but most of us found time to 
test the quality, and on pay days the quantity, of the many varieties 
of wines and beers in either "Joe's" or "Red's" Cafe.
     In addition to exercising and taking care of our animals we 
occasionally practised artillery manoeuvres and made one trip to 
target range with very satisfactory results. Shortly after our return 
from the range our Battery was selected to assist the 36th Division 
in their manoeuvres of infantry skirmishes and in which they had a 
need of an artillery battery.
     We left Vireaux about eight o'clock one morning and in two days 
we reached the town of Varennes, where our Battery was to be billeted 
during those manoeuvres. Our work with the Thirty-sixth Division 
consisted of three of our guns serving as infantry support battery 
and one gun accompanied the infantry for the purpose of destroying 
machine gun nests and other strong obstacles that may be in the way 
of the advancing infantry. The problems proved to be very interesting 
and our part in them brought comments of praise from those witnessing 
the procedure.
     After three weeks of manoeuvres at Varennes we returned to 
Vireaux by way of Tonnerre only to find that the Battery was to be 
packed and turned in as soon as possible. This accomplished, we 
marched to the Division Rail-Head at Pacy and entrained for the Le 
Mans Embarkation Center, preparatory to returning to America. The 
trip required one day and one night. We detrained at Chateau-du-Loir, 
Sarthe, where our Regiment was billeted until the time to embark on a 
steamer.

                       Headquarters 36th Division
                        A. E. F.-A. P. 0. 796

March 20, 1919.
FROM: The Commanding General.
TO: The Commanding General, 80th Division, A. E. F.
SUBJECT: Battery "B," 314th F. A.
     1. The participation of your Battery "B," 314th F. A., in the 
training exercises of units of this Division for the past ten days 
has been of great assistance and I desire to express my appreciation 
to you, your officers and men for their untiring effort and efficient 
aid.
     2.  It gives me pleasure to state that the work of the entire 
organization has been of the highest order and the cheerful manner in 
which all calls upon this organization were responded to tends to co-
ordinate the work of infantry and artillery, which can but mean 
success in action.
                                        WM. R. SMITH,
                               Major-General, U. S. A.,
                                         Commanding.

                                  1st Ind.

Hdqts. 80th Div., A. E. F., France, 23 March, 1919 - To Commanding 
Officer, 314th 
     Field Artillery (through channels).
     1.  The Division Commander notes with pleasure the consistent 
performance and repeated commendations of this regiment.
                       By Command of Major-General Sturgis
                             W. H. WALDRON
                             Colonel, General Staff,
                                 Chief of Staff.

                                   2d Ind.

     Hdqts. 155th F. A. Brig., E. F. France, 25 March, 1919.  To 
Commanding Officer, 314th Field Artillery, for his information.  The 
Brigade Commander wishes to add his commendations to the remark of 
the Division Commander.
                      By command of Brigadier-General Bryson,
                               GEORGE P. HAWES, Jr.,
                               Lieutenant-Colonel, F. A.,
                                     Adjutant. 

 (Typed by LINDA FLUHARTY.)