Page:The history and achievements of the Fort Sheridan officers' training camps.djvu/352

 ��THE FORT SHERIDAN ASSOCIATION

���PROTECTION AGAINST TIN CAN GRENADES

there was to be four times the digging. The gully was to be crossed. The trenches were to extend out into the w^oods and w^hen completed w^ere to include the entire category of field fortifications, dugouts, latrines, machine- gun placements, observation points, first aid stations and ambulance depots. The system was to be large enough to accommodate an entire regiment of infantry.

In the digging of trenches there had to be developed a technique not to be found in military w^ork before this w^ar. It was fortunate that at this time there came to Fort Sheridan a man w^ho w^on a big place in the hearts of all the men and w^ho w^as greatly admired both for his spirit and ability. This man was Captain Georges Etienne Bertrand of the Sixth Battalion, Alpine Chasseurs.

He had taken part in the great battles of the w^ar. He had been wounded four times and had received the Cross of the Legion of Honor. His arrival brought a new air of reality as w^ell as a more technically perfect plan of operation.

Early on Monday morning the companies marched out to the job, armed

w^ith picks and shovels each company assigned to a specific job. The earth

began to fly — trees w^ere cut dow^n, old trenches w^ere drained. The rain came down to complicate the job. Wherever men could get high rubber boots it helped, but sometimes you w^ould see a man almost up to his w^aist in mud going to it, as though his life depended on it.

At night the Illinois regiment that had been working through the day slept in the trenches. Somewhere off there in the woods Michigan and Wis- consin men had been making ready to act. Diplomacy had failed. Since the Michigan-Wisconsin men had lived in style over in the brick barracks, a fight

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