CHAPTER I.

BOXFORD, AND THE REORGANIZATION OF THE BATTERY

ON July 25, 1917, under summons of President Wilson, Battery A assembled at the Com­ monwealth Armory in Boston. There were hardly more than twenty-five men who had been in the organization more than four or Ave months. The personnel had changed almost completely during the winter and spring of 1917. Most of the old members, benefiting by their previous training and experience, were discharged to try for commissions at Officers' Training Camps, or else to help organize the new artillery units that were springing up. March, April, May and June saw nearly one hundred and sixty new men join the Battery; all very green in military knowledge, but all very keen to learn.

Everyone had caught the war enthusiasm. Almost every night drills were held in the armory, and on each Saturday, two or three sections would hike out to Belmont or Lexington for a week-end "turnout". These "turnouts" probably did more than any­ thing else to teach men the fundamentals of the artillery game. With the Battery's sixty horses and its old three-inch guns, a great deal could be accomplished. A large percentage of the men had never ridden a horse before in their lives, far less ever harnessed or groomed one. Forty-eight hours in camp, however, brought out tremendous changes. They

CONTENTS
INDEX