It was the first time that a majority of the boys of the regiment ever came in contact with a 75. During the period of training at Camp Meade, Md., U. S. A., the old members of Battery D spent eight months in learning the 3-inch American field gun. It was an entirely new proposition when equipped with 75's and ordered to range practice.
Instruction was also started in equitation and harnessing. French artillery harness presented many new problems to the Americans. Many a soldier became highly exasperated in a vain attempt to untangle a set of French harness.
About twenty horses were furnished the regiment at La Courtine. Several motor trucks were also supplied, whereby sufficient traction was secured to drag the guns out among the surrounding hills for actual firing practice.
Battery D was not long in getting acquainted with the French 75's. On September 16th, just a brief span after the first instruction on the mechanism of the gun, the boys fired the first salvos on the range at La Courtine.
September 19th was the beginning of what was almost incessant work on the range. Rolling out at 5 a. m., the boys toiled on the range through the rain and mud, returning to barracks at 6:30 p. m.
Training continued in intensity. September 30th was one of the days reveille sounded at 4:30 a. m. The weather was miserable--rainy, windy, dreary. The battery left the barracks at day-break and hiked to the range with field-packs, to sleep in pup tents on range grounds, to be on hand early the following morning.
Gas masks and steel helmets were additional implements of war issued to the soldiers at La Courtine. Then followed hour after hour of gas instruction. Gas masks were carried by the battery on all hikes and drill formations. Besides adjusting the mask a countless number of times a day, a regimental order made it mandatory that the masks be worn for at least one-half hour continuously each day.
Influenza struck the regiment while encamped at La Courtine early in October. On October 5th, the camp Y. M. C. A. was closed under quarantine. The quarantine in the regiment was accompanied by strict daily inspections. The barrack squad rooms were thoroughly cleaned and disinfected each day and all blankets were taken out for a daily airing.