Two days by rail, _via_ Amiens, Versailles, Bar-le-Duc, and Nancy, and
we detrained on June 11th at Thaon, in the Vosges. Then an intermittent
hike, with stops at Longchamps, Destord, and Menil, passing thru
Rambervillers and Baccarat, to Vacqueville, in the Lorraine.
A stirring incident occurred _en route_ when we passed the boys of the
old Sixty-Ninth New York Regiment. Brooklyn hailed Brooklyn; Harlem
called to Harlem; Bronx met Bronx. It was a breath of home to the
already veteran Sixty-Ninth and more than a cheering welcome to us.
We shared Vacqueville with a battalion of the Alabama regiment of the
42d "Rainbow" Division. Advance parties were sent into the lines to
acquaint themselves with the position which we were to take over. And in
the dead of night, on June 20th-21st, Company B took over that part of
the line between Ancerviller and Badonviller designated as P. C. (post
commandant) Hameau and P. C. Montreux.
The first and second platoons of our Company held a position in the
Grand Bois (Big Woods), a section of forest southeast of Ancerviller.
The second and third platoons and Company headquarters occupied the
ruined village of St. Maurice. St. Maurice was a part of the line at
this point and had been subjected at different times to severe shelling.
Only bare skeletons of the buildings remained and any nook or cranny
between sections of walls and under a bit of roof was used as shelter.
Deserted cellars had been bolstered, reinforced, and barricaded so that
they would serve as shell-proof protection in the event of attack.