Page:History of the 305th field artillery (IA historyof305thfi01camp).pdf/84

66 Headquarters stole out of camp one early April night.

Not long after we were awakened by the shouts of many men and the wanton splintering of barrack window glass. The sky reflected many bonfires. Next morning the area of one of the infantry regiments was empty. Machinegun battalions followed. Another infantry regiment. Each day we expected our orders. During this period of suspense several changes occurred. A special order from the War Department arrived giving Captain Untermyer an extended leave of absence. In his place arrived Captain Henry Reed. He had received his commission at the First Niagara Training Camp, had instructed at the Second Camp, and during the winter and early spring had been just across the hill instructing at the Third Camp. He was assigned to the regiment as adjutant of the first battalion. Major Wanvig returned from Fort Sill. Lt. John W. Schelpert of the Dental Corps came to us on March 24th, and remained with the regiment until August 19th where he was transferred to the Ammunition Train.

Then the blow fell. A very high officer indeed was heard to say with a laugh at the Officer's House:

"The artillery? They won't get to France before apples are ripe.”

And on top of that came the order that seemed to confirm him. An infantry regiment that was moving at once was short of men. The artillery brigade would fill it up.

By that time we had developed that organization spirit that is just as essential as it is delicate to breed. To take fifty or sixty men from each battery seemed a destruction of the greater part of all that we had worked to achieve. Men who had trained during seven months in the ways of artillery as a rule resented being transplanted all at once into a branch of the service to which they were strangers. Nor did their officer's care to see them go.

"Good men! Good men!" was the cry.