WATCHFUL WAITING
Though we came to the Andelot district with the idea that we were to remain only a short
while to be fully equipped, weeks wore on and we were still waiting for horses. In the meantime
the schedule of training was resumed and field maneuvers were conducted. One especially, that
no member of the regiment will forget, is the Battle of Vignes over Cemetery Hill advancing
finally to Morteau.
THE CURTAIN FALLS
During these days a map on the wall at Regimental Headquarters recorded the steady
recession of the war front westward, Several of our officers and men visited units in the Meuse-
Argonne, but none seemed to realize that the end was so near, Early November came with its
rumors of an Armistice and Peace, but still it was hard to believe. However, November 11th
found us celebrating, with the French, the dawn of Peace. American and French flags came out
of nowhere, as if by magic, and soon the villages were bedecked in gala attire. At Andelot our
band played American and French patriotic airs until late that night. “Vin Blanc”, “Vin Rouge”,
and others joined in the celebration.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE
Immediately after November 11th, the all important question was – “Where do we go
from here”, or rather – “When do we go home”. Some light on this subject was soon given when
Colonel Faulkner, upon returning from a trip to Chaumont stated that it seemed very probable
that the Ninetieth Division would be picked as one of the divisions in the Army of Occupation,
and that the 165th Field Artillery Brigade would rejoin it in Germany. When this became a fact
it engendered no little satisfaction in the command, for we were very proud of our “Dough-
boys”, who, in their short activities at the front had acquitted themselves so well that they had
earned a place in the Army of Occupation. This was a doubly reassuring fact to the regiment for
it was felt that we consisted of the same stuff as the infantry regiments and we could have
acquitted ourselves equally as well.
VERDUN - THE VALLEY OF THE MEUSE
On November 20th, the regiment began entraining, this time in four sections. The
weather was very cold and the trip proved to be very unpleasant. The trains were routed through
Verdun and up the River Meuse. The impression gained from the desolate sight of Verdun and
the villages along the Meuse will be among the most definite carried back to the States by
members of this organization. Here were the barbed-wire entanglements, the dug-outs and
desolate fields that we had known before only in newspaper writeups. At every stop of the
trains, at which they were given permission, the men piled out to gratify their curiosity and to
make sure that they were really seeing places which will occupy so conspicuous a place in
history. At Dun-sur-Meuse the organizations were detrained. The artillery carriages were
parked at Dun to be drawn to Stenay at a later date by trucks. The organizations proceeded by
marching on foot from Dun to Stenay where we were destined to spend the next three weeks.
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