Mud was the chief characteristic of Blancheville. It was a farming community of unusual quietude. Plenty of barns and roosts were found in which to billet the battery. The natives were very hospitable. They readily chased out the cows and the chickens to make room for the Americans. The boys lived next door to animal nature. In one billet an adjacent room housed the live stock and it was not uncommon to have slumbers awakened by the cow walking into the sleeping quarters of the troops. While in Blancheville the boys got used to the largest of the French rat species. During the hours of the night they traveled flat-footed over the faces and forms of sleeping soldiers, also played havoc with all soldier equipment stored in the billet. It may sound like myth, but it is a fact that a rat in one billet dragged an army mess kit across the floor--they were some rats. On the road opposite the church stood an old, one-story stone building that was built in its present form, eight hundred years ago. The roof was overgrown with moss and one corner had started to crumble in from old age. In this building Corporals James Cataldo and Michael A. Tito, the battery barbers, set up a barber shop. They did good business after they were able to convince the battery in general that the roof would not cave in for another hundred years. The first day in Blancheville was spent in parking the guns and caissons, digging Latrines and the usual duties attendant upon establishing a new battery home. It was also a job in itself to make some semblance at getting some of the billets cleaned up and half fit to sleep in. Reveille for the first few mornings was at 8 o'clock. Thursday, November 28th, was an off day for the outfit, except those on K. P., who got an extra job in preparing a battery Thanksgiving spread. The day was spent by the idle mostly in hiking over the roads and visiting some of the nearby villages where the other units of the regiment were quartered. Regimental Headquarters, Headquarters Company, Supply Company, Battery C, and the Medical detachment were at Andelot, about four kilos from Blancheville. The 2nd Battalion Hqrs. and E Battery were at Cirey-les-Mareilles; A Battery was at Vignes; Battery B at Montot, and F Battery at Mareilles. The town of Andelot, built in the shape of an amphitheatre on the slope which forms the base of the hill of Monteclair, is situated on the banks of the little river Rognon, 21 kilometers from Chaumont, seat of the Department of Haute Marne. On this hill of Monteclair, on which there was a strong-castle during the years 101 to 44 B. C., Caesar established a camp. Under Constantine (306 A. D.) Andelot became the seat of a province. A Court of Champagne fortified the position of Monteclair (440 A. D.). On the 28th of November, 587, the treaty of Andelot was made between Gontran, King of Burgundy, and Cnideberft, King of Austrasia, who was accompanied by his mother, Brunehaut.