About 2 o'clock two platoons of our company were 

 sent out to take a position on their flank back of the 

 town. My platoon was on the right with two Lewis 

 guns and after advancing under scattered fire we fin- 

 ally engaged their position. We were in a tight fix 

 for two hours, outnumbered, and on unfavorable 

 ground. After a couple of hours we were ordered to 

 withdraw. Both my guns were out of action and I had 

 lost two men. The other platoon had one dead and 

 five wounded. At 5 o'clock our Russian artillery came 

 up and started them on the run. We re-organized, 

 joined two other companies and went at their positions 

 again but met no opposition. 



We found a number of dead and a store of equip- 

 ment, and the natives informed us the bolsheviki had 

 dumped four wagonloads of dead and wounded in the 

 river. One of their gunboats surrendered, and was dis- 

 covered to be loaded with ammunition, food and cloth- 

 ing, a godsend to us with our limited transport facili- 

 ties. We have had a fairly easy time since then, with 

 no fighting, principally marching in mud, the most 

 dirty, tenacious variety 1 have ever known. For some 

 reason we were put aboard our barge last night and 

 today we feel like new after access to our clean clothes 

 and bedding rolls, and a night on cots. This time I 

 think we are bound for winter billets after a bit more 

 skirmishing, as the autumn can last only a few weeks 

 at best. 



This is surely a strange expedition, forces of nearly 

 all the allies attempting to stamp out the German in- 

 fluence in Russia. The red guard is formed about a 

 nucleus of criminals and bandits, led by German offi- 



11 



