ard,
took over the defense of the village in order to relieve a detachment of
Royal Scots who were occupying the town. All that day we saw and heard
the dull roar of the artillery further up the river, where the Royal
Scots, accompanied by a gunboat, were attempting to drive the enemy
before them. Meeting with considerable opposition in the vicinity of
Chamova, a village about fifty versts from Beresnik, a rush call was
sent in for American reinforcements.

The first battalion of the 339th Infantry left Beresnik about September
15th under command of Major Corbley, and started up the Dvina. The first
incident worthy of record occurred at Chamova. As advance company we
arrived about 1:00 a. m. at Chamova, which was garrisoned by a small
force of Scots. We put out our outposts in the brush which surrounded
the town, and shortly afterward, about 5:00 a. m., we were alarmed by
the sound of musketry near the river bank. We deployed and advanced to
what seemed to be a small party from a gunboat. They had killed two
Scots who had mistaken them for a supply boat from Beresnik and gone to
meet them empty-handed. The Bolo had regained his boat after a little
firing between him and the second platoon which was at the upper end of
the village. We were trying to locate oars for the clumsy Russian
barzhaks on the bank, intending to cross to the island where the gunboat
was moored and do a little navy work, when the British monitor hove into
sight around a bend about three miles down stream, and opened fire on
the gunboat. The first shot was a little long, the second a little
short, and the third was a clean hit amid ship which set the gunboat on
fire. John Bolo in the meantime took a hasty departure by way of the
island. We were immensely disappointed by the advent of the monitor, as
the gunboat would have been very handy in navigating the Russian roads.

This Monitor, by the way, was much feared by the Russians, but was very
temperamental, and if it was sadly needed, as it was later at Toulgas
when we were badly outranged, it reposed calmly at Beresnik. When the
Monitor first made its advent on the Dvina she steamed into Beresnik,
and her commander inquired loftily, "Where are the bloody Bolsheviks,
and which is the way to Kotlas?" Upon being informed she steamed boldly
up the Dvina on the road to Kotlas, found the Bolo, who promptly slapped
a shell into their internal workings, killing several men and putting
the Monitor temporaril