History of the 305th Field Artillery

History of the 305th Field Artillery (1919)
by Charles Wadsworth Camp
3698208History of the 305th Field Artillery1919Charles Wadsworth Camp

HISTORY OF 305th FIELD ARTILLERY

Drawn by Corporal Roos, Battery D

"Rocket Guards Had to Stand Their Ground and Take Whatever Came"

(See page 243)

History of the
305th Field Artillery

THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS
Garden City New York

COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY
CHARLES WADSWORTH CAMP
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF
TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES,
INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN

TO
THE MEMORY OF
THOSE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE 305th F. A.
WHO REST IN FRANCE

PREFACE

When the Colonel assigned to me the task of writing a history of the regiment we were billeted at Arc-en-Barrois in the Haute Marne. Most of the work, therefore, was done at Arc and Malicorne, or, practically, under field conditions. One must admire all the more, then, the success of the artists, which overcame a lack of proper tools and working space. To Corporal Roos, Private Enroth, Corporal Schmidt, Musician Boyle, Corporal Tucker, Captain Dana, Captain Starbuck, and Private Everts the regiment is indebted for the majority of these lively souvenirs of campaigns and billets.

Tremearne of B and Downs of A were particularly useful in gathering statistics and material. Where statistics lack, or are not complete, it must be assumed that names and figures were either not furnished or could not be obtained.

The historian has thought it of interest to follow his own narrative with an appendix containing contributions by individual officers and men.

The whole, he ventures to hope, will constitute a pleasant record-necessarily imperfect, because of its brevity—of a very memorable experience.

Charles Wadsworth Camp.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Regiment Is Born 3
II. It Has Growing Pains 13
III. And Becomes Acquainted With Paper Work 26
IV. On the Range 37
V. Holidays and Rumors 47
VI. The Ages of Getting Ready 56
VII. Good-byes and the Submarine Zone 71
VIII. Brest, Pontanezin, and the Chemin de Fer 85
IX. Sourge and First Casualties 94
X. Hustled to the Front 104
XI. Making the Hun Dance 120
XII. Consolidating in Lorraine 135
XIII. Barrages and Raids 147
XIV. The Fires Beyond Château-Thierry 165
XV. Across the Marne to Nesles Woods 174
XVI. Reconnoitering in Front of Fismes 199
XVII. Les Près Farm and Much Shell Fire 210
XVIII. The Cost of Battle 223
XIX. Spies and the Advance 240
XX. The Argonne 259
XXI. Always Through the Forest 272
XXII. The Last Phase 280

APPENDIX

I. ROLL OF HONOR 293
II. ATHLETICS 297
III. WHERE WING WAS HURT 302
IV. THE RESPONSE 303
V. A TRIP TO GERMANY 304
VI. OBSERVATION. 306
VII. A MEMORABLE FORTY-EIGHT HOURS. 325
VIII. THE ACCOMPANYING GUN 329
IX. GASSED CAVE AT LA PETITES LOGETTE NEAR BLANZY 385
X. THE DUD 338
XI. THE DUD AGAIN 339
XII. PRAISE AND ADVICE 343
XIII. DOING SCOUT DUTY FOR THE ARTILLERY. 346
XIV. RUSTLING SUPPLIES 349
XV. A GOOD DINNER SHOT TO H 353
XVI. THE FIRST AND LAST SHor's 355
XVII. CHANGES OF STATION OF REGIMENTAL P. C. 357
XVIII. ROSTER OF THE OFFICERS. 350

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Halftone Illustrations

"Rocket guards had to stand their ground and take whatever came” Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

Early and imperfect days on the range at Souge 102
“The battle roar would die before a threatening silence" 104
A train bivouaced 170
"Fourgons lurched dangerously 186
"We curved up the hill past the half destroyed Romanesque church” 202
Colonel, afterwards Brigadier General, Manus McCloskey, the Brigade Commander. 208
A neighbor at work in gas masks 214
“O.K.—O.K." 216
A kitchen near a battery position 222
Barbed wire. 232
A tank 232
“The artillery would follow in support" 244
Resting on the march 260
A well shelled road 262
Off duty for a moment 262
A portion of the regiment concealed in the Argonne 266
The officers of the regiment at Arc-en-Barrois 286
Malicorne from the Sarthe 288
305th Field Artillery, 77th Division 290

TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
Upton-France. 3
Headquarters Hill, Camp Upton 11
PAGE
When the recruits began to arrive at Camp Upton 17
How you felt the first time the medical officer used your arm for a pin cushion 23
Reflections on liberty were alike at Upton and in France 29
A quiet game in a mess hall at Upton 37
The first time you found a cootie . 49
This map illustrates the travels of the regiment from its landing at Brest to its final billets at Malicortie . 74
The coolies hard at work at Camp de Sougo 92
“The horses never got to like the 'hommes' and 'chevaux' 111
“A group of gaunt walls suggested a devastating fire" 115
The picket line. 117
"Something dead and corrupt 121
The water cart. 125
An observatory. 133
The regiment's home in Lorraine 136
The rolling kitchen 144
The mess line 153
A three-cornered fight 160
On the march 179
“The shelter of broken walls" 191
The Vesle and Aisne campaigns 201
Mess-hour at the Fismes front. 215
A Battery D piece at Chery 224
Carrying in ammunition. 227
“The telephone details were at it day and night 234
The jumping-off place 264
The vicinity of La Harazée 269
Lançon and Grand Ham 273
Grand-Pre 275
The dug-out near which Lieutenant Hoadley was killed 277
Forcing forward 278
Binarville and its surroundings. 282
Refugees flowing out, the artillery going in 284
The church at Arc-en-Barrois 286