closed in on him from behind. About a hundred English marines, a section
of machine gunners, a platoon of Royal Scots, and some Russian
artillery, all enroute to Archangel from their chase of the Reds up the
Dvina, were ordered off their barges at Sisskoe, were christened "D"
Force, and, under the command of Captain Scott, British officer, were
given the task of preventing the Reds from Kodish from cutting off the
river communications.

This force was also to help Col. Hazelden out. But as we have seen, his
force had been destroyed, and Americans hurriedly sent out. At
Volshenitsa Captain Donoghue received a message by aeroplane from Col.
Guard at Obozerskaya that "D" Force was held up at Tiogra by the Reds.
After patrolling the forest five days and finding the trail to Emtsa
impassable during the wet season, "K" Company received both the welcome
reinforcements of Lieut. Gardner and the twenty men who had been left at
Lewis gun School at Bakaritza, and orders to proceed on to Seletskoe.

The Red Guards hearing of the American successes on the railway and
hearing of the approach of this force from the railroad in their rear
went back to Kodish, and on the morning of September 16th "K" Company
became a full-fledged member of "D" Force to be better known the world
over in the bitterest part of this campaign as the Kodish Force.

Here the doughboys got their baptism of fire when they took over under
fire the outposts of the village of Seletskoe. For the Bolos who had
retreated the week before had told the inhabitants they would be back
and they were making their threat, or promise, as you will have it,
good. For two days and nights the Americans beat off the attacks,
principally through the good work of Sgt. Michael Kinney, the gallant
soldier who fell at Kodish on New Year's Day. Aided by the accurate fire
of the French machine gun section, the "K" men inflicted such heavy
penalties that the Reds quit in panic, assassinated their commander and
skurried south thirty miles. However, this victory was not exploited by
the Allied force. It seems that the commander of the force had sent out
a Russian patrol on the east bank of the Emtsa River which brought back
information that a heavy force of the enemy was operating in the rear of
"D" force.

Accordingly Captain Scott ordered a retreat from Seletskoe to Tiogra,
taking up a position on the north bank of the Emtsa River after burning
the bridge to prevent pursuit by the Re