Vosges and the Lorraine—June 11th to August 7th
Two days by rail, via Amiens, Versailles, Bar-le-Duc, and Nancy, and we detrained on June 11th at Thaon, in the Vosges. Then an intermittent hike, with stops at Longchamps, Destord, and Menil, passing thru Rambervillers and Baccarat, to Vacqueville, in the Lorraine.
A stirring incident occurred en route when we passed the boys of the old Sixty-Ninth New York Regiment. Brooklyn hailed Brooklyn; Harlem called to Harlem; Bronx met Bronx. It was a breath of home to the already veteran Sixty-Ninth and more than a cheering welcome to us.
We shared Vacqueville with a battalion of the Alabama regiment of the 42d "Rainbow" Division. Advance parties were sent into the lines to acquaint themselves with the position which we were to take over. And in the dead of night, on June 20th-21st, Company B took over that part of the line between Ancerviller and Badonviller designated as P. C. (post commandant) Hameau and P. C. Montreux.
The first and second platoons of our Company held a position in the Grand Bois (Big Woods), a section of forest southeast of Ancerviller. The second and third platoons and Company headquarters occupied the ruined village of St. Maurice. St. Maurice was a part of the line at this point and had been subjected at different times to severe shelling. Only bare skeletons of the buildings remained and any nook or cranny between sections of walls and under a bit of roof was used as shelter. Deserted cellars had been bolstered, reinforced, and barricaded so that they would serve as shell-proof protection in the event of attack.