Out from the town, among the open farm lands, a large grain field was secured as a drill field for the battery. It required a thirty-five minute hike from the battery billeting area to reach the drill field. This hike was in order every morning and afternoon. The time on the drill field was spent in learning the rudiments in much the same manner as the training was started and progressed with the first recruits at Camp Meade.
When 4 o'clock of each afternoon came, the order was established for a swim in the river as the parting day's rejuvenator. Montmorillon was the only place in France where the battery got frequent baths.
Saturday morning for the troops at Montmorillon was generally inspection time. Inspections were held on the public plaza. Showdown inspections were as exacting as Camp Meade days. Saturday afternoon and Sunday were days of rest for those who were lucky enough to escape detail.
Regimental services were held in the public square on Sunday mornings, while many of the soldiers visited the curious, two-storied chapel of octagonal form and Romanesque style, that was built in the 12th century, in which services were still conducted. The chapel is connected with the ecclesiastical seminary that occupies a building that was formerly an Augustinian convent.
The Church of the Notre Dame is another ancient landmark of Montmorillon that held interest for the Americans. It, also, is a 12th century building, built on a high slope, with its chapel undermined with a series of catacombs. Trips of inspection to these subalterean chambers, where the worship of the early ages was conducted, were numerous and interesting to the soldiers.
Various schools for instruction of the officers of the regiment were established at Montmorillon. A detachment of new officers from the Saumur school arrived in town to take charge of the training work while the regular officers attended the schools. Second Lieut. Sidney F. Bennett of Derby, Vermont, was assigned to Battery D at this time and was given plenty of work in supervising the morning drill and battery instructions. Lieut. Bennett immediately won great favor among the men. He varied his periods of drill and training with athletics. "O'Grady," "Crow and Crane," "Belt 'Round the ring," and numerous other sport contests were indulged in with great vim.
A battery kitchen, utilizing the field range, was set up in close proximity to the two battery billets. Here the boys lined up with their mess-kits three times a day. They sat out in the narrow French street as they appeased their appetites. Gone were the mess hall tables of Camp Meade days. Gone were the cots of Camp Meade memory. Cheer was added, however, when mail from the United States and home began to reach the outfit. The first despatch of mail to reach Battery D overseas was at Montmorillon on August 13th.
Then on August 14th came the first overseas payday. The battery members were paid with an addition of ten per cent for foreign service. The first pay was in French currency, the rate of exchange at the time being 5:45 francs to the American dollar.
When French peasants toiled a whole day for several francs and when the pay of the French soldier was not equalling one franc a day, the French, when the American private was paid $33 a month in 179.85 francs, gained the idea that all Americans were millionaires. The result was the establishment of two standards of price in French shops; one price for the French and a higher price for the Americans.
Souvenir postcards sold anywhere from 10 centimes to five francs apiece. In the matter of fruits, peaches commanded one franc for three during the peach season; apples sold two for one franc; while tomatoes that should have sold for one franc a basket, brought one franc for five.