till one day, September 28th,
General Finlayson arrived at Obozerskaya in person at noon and
peremptorily ordered an advance to be started that afternoon on the
enemy's works at Versts 458 and 455. Col. Sutherland was caught
unprepared but had to obey.

Calling up one company of the resting French troops under the veteran
African fighter, Captain Alliez, for support, Col. Sutherland asked
Major Young to divide his two American companies into two detachments
for making the flank marches and attacks upon the Red positions. The
marches to be made to position in the afternoon and night and the
attacks to were be put on at dawn. The armored train and other guns
manned by the Poles were to give a barrage on the frontal positions as
soon as the American soldiers had opened their surprise flank and rear
attacks. Then the Bolos were supposed to run away and a French company
supported by a section of American machine guns and a "Hq." section that
had been trained hastily into a Stokes mortar section, were to rush in
and assist in consolidating the positions gained.

But this hurriedly contrived advance was doomed to failure before it
started. There had not been proper preparations. The main force
consisting of "M" Company and two platoons of "I" Company and a small
detachment of Engineers to blow the track in rear of the Bolo position
at 455 was to march many miles by the flank in the afternoon and night
but were not provided with even a map that showed anything but the
merest outlines. The other detachment consisting of two remaining
platoons of "I" Company were little better off only they had no such
great distance to go. Both detachments after long hours were unable to
reach the objective.

This was so memorable a night march and so typical of the fall
operations everywhere that space has been allowed to describe it. No one
had been over the proposed route of march ordered by Col. Sutherland. No
Russian guide could be provided. We must follow the blazed trail of an
east-and-west forest line till we came to a certain broad
north-and-south cutting laid out in the days of Peter the Great. Down
this cutting we were to march so many versts, told by the decaying old
notched posts, till we passed the enemy's flank at 455, then turn in
toward the railroad, camp for the night in the woods and attack him in
the rear at 6:00 a. m.

At five o'clock in the afternoon the detachment struck into the woods.
Lieut. Chantrill, the pleasant