rwhelming and
enveloping Red line, and gave the Bolshevik soldiers a sample of the
fighting spirit of the Americans. And the Reds broke and ran. Also our
little graveyard of brave American soldiers at Obozerskaya began to
grow.

It was the evening before when the Bolo airman, who had dropped two
small bombs at the Americans at Obozerskaya, was obliged to volplane to
earth on the railroad near the 464 outguard. Major Young was there at
the time. He declared the approaching bomb-plane by its markings was
certainly an Allied plane, ordered the men not to discharge their Lewis
gun which they had trained upon it, and as the Bolos hit the dirt two
hundred yards away, he rushed out shouting his command, which afterwards
became famous, "Don't fire! We are Americans." But the Bolo did not
"pahneemahya" and answered with his own Lewis gun sending the impetuous
American officer to cover where he lay even after the Bolo had darted
into the woods and the doughboys ran up and pulled the moss off their
battalion commander whom they thought had been killed by the short burst
of the Bolo's automatic fire, as the major had not arisen to reply with
his trusty six shooter.

Meanwhile "K" Company had met the enemy on the Seletskoe-Kodish front as
will be related later, and plans were being laid for a converging attack
by the Kodish, Onega and Railroad columns upon Plesetskaya. "L" Company
was sent to support "K" Company and the Railroad Force marked time till
the other two columns could get into position for the joint drive.
Machine gun men and medical men coming to us from Archangel brought
unverified stories of fighting far up the Dvina and Onega Rivers where
the Bolshevik was gathering forces for a determined stand and had caused
the digging of American graves and the sending back to Archangel of
wounded men. This is told elsewhere. Our patrols daily kept in contact
with Red Guard outposts on the railroad, occasionally bringing in
wounded Bolos or deserters, who informed us of intrenchments and armored
trains and augmenting Bolshevik regiments.

Our Allied force of Cossacks proved unreliable and officer's patrols of
Americans served better but owing to lack of maps or guides were able to
gain but little information of the forest trails of the area. British
intelligence officers depending on old forester's maps and on deserters
and prisoners and neutral natives allowed the time for "Pat Rooney's
work," personal reconnaissance, to go by