55

[Illustration: Soldiers surrounding a grave in the forest.]
RED CROSS PHOTO
Last Honors to a Soldier

We continued our march up the Dvina, about two days behind the fleeing
Bolo, hoping that he would decide to make a stand. This he did at
Seltso. On the morning of September 19th, through mud and water, at
times waist deep and too precarious for hauling artillery, the advance
began on Seltso. At 1:00 p. m. the advance party, "D" Company, under
Captain Coleman, reached Yakovlevskaya, a village just north of Seltso
and separated from it by a mile of wide open marsh which is crossed by a
meandering arm of the nearby Dvina. A single road and bridge lead across
to Seltso. "D" Company gallantly deployed and wading the swamp
approached within one thousand five hundred yards of the enemy, who
suddenly opened up with machine guns, rifles, and Russian pom pom. This
latter gun is a rapid fire artillery piece, firing a clip of five shells
weighing about one pound apiece, in rapid succession. We later
discovered that they, as well as most of the flimsy rifles, were made by
several of the prominent gun manufacturers of the United States.

"D" Company found further advance impossible without support and dug in.
"C" Company under Capt. Fitz Simmons hurried up and took position in a
tongue of woods at the right of "D" and were joined after dark by "B"
Company. None of the officers in command of this movement knew anything
of the geography nor much of anything else regarding this position, so
the men were compelled to dig in as best they could in the mud and water
to await orders from Colonel Corbley, who had not come up. At eleven
o'clock that night a drizzling rain set in, and huddled and crouched
together in this vile morass, unprotected by even an overcoat, without
rations, tired and exhausted from the day's march and fighting, the
battalion bivouacked. All night the enemy kept searching the woods and
marshes with his artillery, but with little effect. During the night we
learned that the Bolo had a land battery of three-inch guns and five
gunboats in the river at their flank with six and nine-inch guns aboard
rafts. This was none too pleasing a situation for an infantry attack
with no artillery preparation, coupled with the miserable condition of
the troops.

As daylight approached the shelling became more and more violent. The
Bolo was sending over everything at his command and it was decided to
continue the attack lest