I hurried to the barracks, called up my Battalion[2] of about four hundred men, and started for Vise, where I arrived at seven in the morning. The whole day was taken up in organising the defence. A company was placed at each of the bridges of Vise and Argenteau, which are about two miles apart; a platoon of about thirty men were told off to guard the Lixhe ford, about six miles to the north; outposts were sent to the right bank of the river, with instructions to send out patrols and reconnaissances in the direction of the frontier. The rest of the Battalion remained in reserve at Haccourt. The soldiers were enthusiastic and had perfect confidence. Most of them looked upon the war as a kind of pleasure party, which would relieve the monotony of their barrack life, and their good humour increased, thanks to the cordial welcome they received from the population. In the evening, Captain Chaudoir arrived with about sixty men. He was in command of the Mounted Chasseurs of the Liege Civic Guard. They were all brave fellows, courageous and ready for anything, but their equipment was very defective and they were even short of rifles. I accepted their services, nevertheless, and entrusted them with the surveillance of the valleys of the Meuse and the Geer. The inhabitants of Vise also offered their help. "I am a good shot," said a lawyer, "and I want to do my share. Put me in the firing line." "No, I cannot have any civilians," I replied, categorically, and I sent them all away. On the following day, August 3rd, M. Delattre arrived. He is an engineer, a specialist in explosives, and he had been sent by the Staff to attend to the obstruction of the right bank of the river and the destruction of the bridges. Groups of workmen, under his orders, felled trees with which to bar the roads, placed mines in the piles and, in short, put everything in readiness for the blowing up of the bridges, if necessary.