Colonel MacDonald and Colonel Cross were the
Americans in charge, and the high reputation of the school bore testimony
to their efficiency. It was the intention of headquarters gradually to
replace all the French instructors with Americans, but when I was there
the former predominated. It was of course necessary to wait until our
officers had learned by actual experience the use of the French guns with
which our army was supplied. When men are being taught what to do in
combat conditions they apply themselves more attentively and absorb far
more when they feel that the officer teaching them has had to test, under
enemy fire, the theories he is expounding. The school was for both
officers and candidates. The latter were generally chosen from among the
non-commissioned officers serving at the front; I afterward sent men down
from my battery. The first part of the course was difficult for those who
had either never had much mathematical training or had had it so long ago
that they were hopelessly out of practice. A number of excellent sergeants
and corporals did not have the necessary grounding to enable them to pass
the examinations. They should never have been sent, for it merely put them
in an awkward and humiliating position--although no stigma could possibly
be attached to them for having failed.
The French officer commanding the field work was Major de Caraman. His
long and distinguished service in the front lines, combined with his
initiative and ever-ready tact, made him an invaluable agent in welding
the ideas and methods of France and America.
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