Oh, How the Horses Laughed!

Fort D. A. Russell, Texas December 2’ lg30 SUELJECT: Report on Transportation of the 2d to Fort during the month of November.

2. On the night of 7 November 1930, six Class B Horse trucks, two Class B baggage trucks and one Class B tanker were spotted in the rear of the 6 7 3 7 9 T barracks. All the trucks were running well and were expected to get an early start and make a short run to Sanderson, our prospective first camp. During the night, alight rain fell, but it was thought that this would cause no trouble and the next morning at 6 a.m., we started to load. Due to the fact that the ’latoon, Troop “E’’ lst Clark, Texas and Return.

Russell, Texas.

TO: The Commanding Officer, Fort D. A.

1. Following is a detailed account of the trip from Fort

D. A. Russell to Fort Clark and return which was made 11 horses were unaccustomed to being loaded in trucks, a great deal of difficulty was encountered, but after an hour and a half, everything was in readiness and we started. From that minute until we arrived at Fort Clark, five days later, our lives were just one trouble after another.

Before the last truck had cleared the post, one truck had locked in gear, necessitating a halt of 20 minutes to make repairs. This being repaired, we set forth once more only to find the two ieading trucks stuck in the mud not more than 200 yards from the gate. Twenty minutes more were consumed in getting them out and on the way again.

From there on, everything went well until we were six miles west of Marathon where it was necessary to gas the trucks and eat. Forty-five minutes were consumed doing this, but 1 o’clock saw us on our way and only 70 miles from our campsite.

But trouble was close upon our heels, and we had not covered ten miles when the rear end went out on one of the trucks, rendering it helpless and necessitating using a good truck to tow it. Another five miles and the carburetor and intake manifold dropped off a truck. We stripped the necessary parts from the crippled truck and once more continued, this time to the end of the pavement 13 miles east of Marathon. By this time, I had decided that it would be impossible to reach Sanderson, so Lieutenant Berry went ahead to pick out a campsite nearer to us. He took the G. M. C. truck with the rations and cook ahead with him.

We progressed about 5 miles into the mud east of the end of the pavement without mishap. Then the truck which was being towed went into the ditch and became stuck, stuck so fast that it was impossible to get it out without endangering the other trucks. As night was fast approaching and we were still 16 miles from our camp, I gave orders to leave the truck and continue the march. At this point, an epidemic of stopped gas lines struck the train and at least six halts had to be made to repair these troubles. But we kept on moving in low and second gear, some hours making 2 miles and some only one, until

930. Then two more trucks went dead and the mud was so deep that the live ones could not tow the dead ones. I decided we must halt even though we were still 8 miles from camp. We stretched two chains between the trucks for a picket line, unloaded the horses, fed them, and, since the only water available was in the mud holes, we watered them there. In the meantime, I went into camp and sent the G. M. C. out with food for the men. This done at 11:30, the men camped beside the road and I took two men back to the abandoned truck to ride the horses from it in bareback. After this, Lieutenant Berry and I had a brief council of war and reached the conclusion that we could not go farther without aid from Marfa, so he went for help and I went back to camp to get more food ready for morning. Before daylight, I brought this food out to the men and at once we started moving the trucks and horses the remaining 8 miles to camp. This consumed all the morning.

Since we had contemplated only a one-day trip, we had but two and one-half days rations and forage, and this was already low. Also the trucks were all in bad shape; consequently, I decided to stay here and get ready to move on as soon as the help came from Marfa. The relief expedition also encountered difficulties and did not arrive until well after dark. We then exchanged two dead trucks for their live ones, changed a horse body from one of our trucks to one of theirs, reloaded our baggage, rations and forage, took over the supplies brought from Marfa and tried to sleep. But it was raining so much that there wasn’t a dry spot and sleeping was out of the question. The result was several small fires with groups of shivering men huddled around them discussing the possiblities of ever getting back to Marfa again.

We were all ready to go the next morning at daylight and go we did, about one mile. At this point, we struck ten miles of road which I’m sure will always cause a shudder in every man who crossedit that day as long as he lives to remember it. It was a newly built road with a bottom of sand and a 10-inch surface of the slipperiest mud I have ever seen. It took us 10 hours to cross that 10 miles and we had to shovel, pick and pull every inch of it. In some places where the trucks would sink in to the. body, it was necessary to dig all around them, jack them up and build a road of stones, brush and boards underneath. This same process had to be repeated for nearly every truck that crossed each hole, for the roads we built, though better than the ones we were traveling on, were none too substantial. Finally, at 7:30, we reached the pavement 11 miles west of Sanderson and from there to Dryden, we traveled with but one breakdown. One of the trucks blew out a cylinder head 4 miles west of Dryden and it had to be towed in. At this point, Sergeant Stutz came to me with the news that we were out of gasoline. This seemed impossible for we had left Marfa with 980 gallons, but a check soon proved that we wereindeed out. But Dryden has an airdrome and airdromes always have gasoline, so we soon had three drums. Camp this night was quite comfortable because we were permitted to sleep in the hangar, out of the rain and wind. Tuesday, the fourth day out, we proceeded on slowly but steadily with only an occasional breakdown and without getting stuck until 8:30 p.m. when we encountered a treacherous detour 6 miles west of Shumola. Lieutenant Berry had gone on to Fort Clark for more gas and rations, I had sent the G. M. C. to Shumola to make camp and there was no possible chance to camp near this detour, so we had to try to cross it, even though I felt certain that it could not be accomplished. At this time, we were towing two dead trucks which proved a great hindrance. However, we tried it and the first two trucks got through. Then came two live trucks towing a dead one and down they went into the mud, stuck hard and fast in the bottom of a gully where the sides were too steep to go forward or backward. After working for two hours, it became apparent that we never would get out of this hole under our own power. It also became necessary that we get out somehow because cars were filling the ’ 12