I, with others, was billeted in a house and barn tenanted by a little French woman with a brood of several young children, whose husband was fighting for France. Others were billeted, by the town major, in warehouses, lofts, and other places.
After a few days’ rest in our billets, we were marched to the trenches.
The American front in France at this time, so far as there was any front, was in Lorraine. In reality there was no American front, because our army had not had the training to hold one. While we had received the drill of ordinary soldiering, we lacked experience in the prevailing war methods then in use.
While my regiment is marching forward to take up trench duties in front of the enemy’s lines, let us take a look at what constitutes that part of a modern army known as an infantry regiment; for infantry is the body and mainstay of an army.
The old Civil War regiments were made up of ten companies of 152 officers and men; more often less. The modern company has 256 officers and men; and the regiments made up by these twelve companies, has 103 officers and 3,652 men. The officers of the modern company, while on a war footing are: One captain, three first lieutenants, two second lieutenants, one first sergeant, one mess sergeant, one supply sergeant, twelve sergeants, thirty-three corporals, four mechanics, four cooks, two buglers, and 192 privates. One of the first lieutenants is the captain’s assistant; the others each command one of its four platoons of men.
The transportation equipment of a regiment is more elaborate than is generally known. It consists of twenty-two combat wagons, sixteen rolling kitchens for cooking food, twenty-two baggage and ration wagons, sixteen ration carts, fifteen water carts, three medical carts, twenty-four machine-gun carts, fifty-nine riding horses, eight riding mules, three hundred and thirty-two draft mules, two motorcycles with side cars, one motor car and forty-two bicycles.
Arrived at the trenches we were taught, among other things, to “camouflage” as the French call it, which means to disguise, or conceal. This has become an art in modern warfare, because cavalry is no longer the eyes of an army as in former times, and airplanes reveal what is not carefully hidden.
For illustration: an artilleryman of heavy guns now seldom sees the object he is to fire upon. The directions for firing are given by signals from air-craft. These locate the enemy’s line of battle, trenches, machine gun and artillery emplacements, magazines or the “dugout” of some general to be fired upon.
Hence, to disguise or camouflage them is important. Heavy artillery firing is not by sighting, but by directions given them by mathematical calculation. The guns, even, are streaked with paint to resemble the surrounding country, so that they may be more effectually concealed.
The concealment of artillery magazine stations, or other important stations, has been brought to great perfection. Sometimes a road leading to them is roofed by canvas and painted to resemble the surrounding scenery of rocks or foliage.