Port  Wright,  N.Y 
Dec.  29  1918.  . 
My  dear  Mr.  Dean; 
Your  Christmas  note  and  card  came  to  me  yesterday  and  were 
most  welcome.  I  did  not  realize  that  it  is  almost  a  year  since 
I  last  wrote.  How  the  time  does  fly  in  these  stirring  days.  They 
have  been  exceedingly  busy  days  for  me  as  you  will  see  from  the 
following  account  rendered. 
As  I  wrote  you  last  from  Port  Monroe,  I  probably  told  you 
something  about  thau  place  so  I  wont  spend  much  time  upon  it  now. 
At  least  no  more  than  to  say  that  it  was  the  most  unpleasant 
experience  I  have  had.  Poor  food,  crowded  barracks  and  a  course 
of  study  aparrently  designed  to  flunk  all  the  National  Guard 
officers  who  took  it.  However  that  is  past .and  gone  and  the  less 
said  about  it  the  pleasanter. 
After  Monroe,  I  came  back  to  Port  Terry  wnion  m  m  these 
coast  defenses,  and  in  April  Madeleine  and  the  children  came  up 
there  with  me.  We  got  a  tidy  little  house  and  had  a  very  pleasa.nt 
summer  of  it,  baring  the  usual  inconveniences  of  army  life. 
Most  of  the  time  I  was  making  soldiers  out  of  new  draftees. 
Drilling  and  drilling  and  in  August  was  made  fiMine  commander". 
This  involved  the  loading  and  laying  of  mines  in  the  channels 
and  afterwards  blowing  them  up  for  practice.  It  was  very 
congenial  work  but  like  everything  else,  was  hard. 
When  thao  was  finished  it  was  September  and  I  was  transfered 
to  Port  Admas,  R.I.  and  assigned  to  the  59jsh.  Ammunition  Train 
for  over  seas  service.  I  though  then  that  I  was  at  last  going 
to  have  a  part  in  the  real  operations  but  again  Pate  fooled  me. 
After  joining  the  train  which  was  then  forming  I  moved  the  family 
back  to  Stamford  and  prepared  to  go  to  France.  We  were  all  "set" 
so  far  as  the  fmily  was  concerned  and  it  was  a  nice  berth  for 
ammunition  t&ainswere  highly  desired  assignments. 
Then  somebody  in  Washington  deceided  to  have  me  to  go  another 
"school".  This  time  it  was  a  school  for  "personnel"  officers 
at  Camp  Meigs,  Washington,  D.C.  So  down  there  I  went  and  in  a 
weeks  time  they  put  me  through  and  then  told  me  that  I  could 
request  a  transfer  to  the  Adjutant  General* s  Dept,  for  personnel 
work,  That  it  did  not  make  much  difference  whether  I  requested 
a  transfer  hr  not,  as  the  coast  artillery  was  short  of  officers 
for  this  work  and  I  would  probauly  be  assigned  to  it  anyhow.  So 
I  took  the  hint  and  asked  to  be  transfered.  I  knew  that  if  theyddd. 
want  me  for  personnel  work  add.  used  me  for  it  as  a  coast  artillery 
officer  I  was  also  libale  to  have  a  lot  of  other  jobs  hung 
up  on  me  as  well  and  at  the  same  time,  while  the  the  A.G.D.  I 
would  only  be  used  for  that  work  alone  and  probably  would  be  able 
to  make  better  progress. 
