After a cold, fitful night, the 3rd Battalion pushed forward on the morning of October 25th to the northeastern edge of the woods and seized the high ground looking east over St. Diè.[1]

Phil and his A&P Platoon remained at a spiderweb junction of primitive roads just behind the front lines with their mules.

Supplies had been trucked in on a paved mountain road from the regimental command post, established in Bout du Milieu, only three miles to the rear.

From there, the mules made resupplying the three battalions a daunting but accomplishable goal.

The hills were steep and muddy, but the mules made the job much more manageable since it would have been nearly impossible to transport ammo without them.

In the Vosges Mountains, Phil decided the mules deserved the designation “warhorses” every bit as much as his men.[1]

~~~~~

[1] Larimore, At First Light, 158.

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