Page:Emile Vandervelde - Three Aspects of the Russian Revolution - tr. Jean Elmslie Henderson Findlay (1918).djvu/164

 of a mounted artillery brigade: "Our cannons will thunder for Liberty." Nothing could be more picturesque than the sight of these troops covered with the dust of their march, accompanied by horse transport columns which seemed to date from the First Empire, and singing the "Marseillaise" in that slow, modulated manner that the Russians affect. The artillery especially, which formed the largest part of these caravans, was very characteristic. For instance, the sight of two officers seated in an ancient coach, dusty and dirty, drawn by a tired horse, while two other officers, who evidently took turns with those in the conveyance, were walking on the dusty road, holding to the vehicle with one hand, was like a picture from Meissonnier.

These columns that we saw marching towards the trenches were the loyal troops of the 7th Siberian Army, part of which had just mutinied.

This corps, which formed part of the 7th Army, was resting during several weeks, after a long spell in the trenches. The Bolcheviki propaganda, helped, as we were informed from reliable sources, by