The original order was for the detail from Battery D to remain at the remount over Friday and start with the horses for the Belgian border on Saturday morning. Arriving at the remount the battery detail was housed in a sheet-iron barrack with corrugated sheet-iron bunks. And everything was covered with mud. Thursday night, while the detail lingered at the remount, official orders came changing the plan for the convoy party. Instead of taking horses to Longwy the detail was ordered to start the following morning to return to the 311th Regiment with several hundred mules. Friday morning, December 20th, reveille was held in the rain at 5:45 o'clock. Immediately after mess the auto trucks were loaded and made ready for the trip. The detail, in charge of Capt. Smith, and accompanied by Lieutenants Yeager and Bennett, ploughed through the mud to the section of the remount that housed the horses the convoy was to escort. Each member of the convoy selected a horse to saddle. The animals were of various spirits. Many of the battery detail were recruits who did not have the lessons in equitation at Camp Meade that the older members of the battery experienced. After considerable difficulty the horses were saddled and the convoy assembled in a large field to receive the consignment of mules. Many of the horses had never been ridden in the saddle before, with the result that a regular wild-west exhibition transpired on the field. Riders were thrown from the saddle into the mud, but all the boys had their nerve with them and stuck to the horses, bringing them under control. Lieut. Yeager was induced by the remount officers to saddle a large and fiery stallion, but after a brave attempt on the part of Lieut. Yeager to break and ride the stallion, during which the rider was precipitated into a large, muddy pool and covered with mud from head to foot, change had to be made for another animal, the stallion being left behind when the convoy started. When all was set with the detail mounted, the remount attaches trotted out 237 mules, tied in series of three. The mules were divided among the mounted men, each man getting three mules to lead, besides having to manage the horse he was riding. All the mules were frisky, having remained unworked for a considerable period. There was great prancing around as the convoy assembled. The mules, in many cases, started to pull one way and the horse pulled the opposite. Many of the mules were tied up in various speed combinations. Ones that were always on the run were coupled with ones that did not know how to step lively, or else the horse of the mounted party was either too fast or too slow for the trio of mules the driver had to lead along.