e time chosen by Trotsky for his counter-offensive against the Allied
forces in the North. Of that winter campaign we shall tell in later
chapters. We leave the Americans now on the railroad associated with
their French comrades and 310th Engineers building blockhouses for
defense and quarters to keep warm.

III

RIVER PUSH FOR KOTLAS

First Battalion Hurries Up The River--We Take Chamova--The Lay Of The
River Land--Battling For Seltso--Retire To Yakovlevskoe--That Most
Wonderful Smoke--Incidents Of The March--Sudden Shift To Shenkursk
Area--The Battalion Splits--Again At Seltso--Bolos Attack--Edvyinson A
Hero.

That dismal, gloomy day--September 6, 1915--the first battalion, under
Lt.-Col. James Corbley, spent on board transport, watching the third
battalion disembark and getting on board the freight cars that were to
carry them down to the Railroad Front. Each man on board was aching to
set foot on dry land once more and would gladly have marched to any
front in order to avoid the dull monotony aboard ship, with nothing of
interest to view but the gleaming spires of the cathedrals or the cold,
gray northern sky, but there is an end to all such trials, and late that
evening we received word that our battalion was to embark on several
river barges to proceed up the Dvina River.

The following day all hands turned to bright and early and from early
dawn until late that afternoon every man that was able to stand, and
some that were not, were busily engaged in making up packs, issuing
ammunition and loading up the barges. By six o'clock that evening they
had marched on board the barges--some of the men in the first stages of
"flu" had to be assisted on board with their packs. These barges, as we
afterward learned, were a good example of the Russian idea of sanitation
and cleanliness. They had been previously used for hauling coal, cattle,
produce, flax, and a thousand-and-one other things, and in their years
of usage had accumulated an unbelievable amount of filth and dirt. In
addition to all this, they were leaky, and the lower holds, where
hundreds of men had to sleep that week, were cold, dismal and damp.
Small wonder that our little force was daily decreased by sickness and
death. After five days of this slow, monotonous means of travel, we
finally arrived at the town of Beresnik, which afterward became the base
for the river column troops.

The following day "A" Company, 339th Infantry, under Capt. Otto Odj