Chapter VIII: Flavigny-Sur-Ozerain

It might be interesting to insert here a brief description of Flavigny, taken from a letter written home by one of the men:

“To say the least, Flavigny is a town that is somewhat interesting. There is a bit of history attached to the place in that we are told that Caesar fought a battle against the Germanic people in this neighborhood about 55 B. C., using the plateau across the valley as his base for operations against a town a few miles from here.

“Flavigny was then standing on its present site, although, perhaps, much smaller than it is today, and there are no evidences that any of the buildings then existing are now standing. It would hardly seem possible that they could be. Today, the village stands on the top of a high plateau, which is reached by a road winding around the mountain. Although it was a cold dismal day when we came here, we were dripping with perspiration by the time we reached the top.

“It is a walled village--part of the wall being formed by some of the buildings--having three entrances large enough for vehicles and a fourth one large enough for only persons or animals in single file. The main entrance, ‘La Porte du Bourg,’ opening to the road up which we came and which seems to have its ending in the centre of the town. About a quarter of a mile before reaching the town this road branches off to the left, winding around some farm buildings, and running along the outside of the wall overlooking the valley, and as it passes the rear of the village making a steep descent into the valley again.

“Opening into this road at about the centre of the village is the second entrance, ‘La Porte du Val.’ While this entrance seems to be of less importance than the others, as it is reached from the inside by a narrow alley, yet it is well protected, or was considered so as regards weapons of mediaeval warfare. There are two towers built of heavy stone, one on either side of the gate, each with peep-holes at the height of a man’s head. Between the towers and over the gate the wall is about twelve feet high, so built that soldiers standing on a ledge running behind the wall and over the gate from tower to tower could fire down on anyone along the road, or who might be trying to approach the town up the side of the mountain.

“Everything here is built of stone, of course, but with the exception of the more modern buildings there is decay everywhere. In many places the wall is crumbling and the houses are patched and crumbling and the thatched roofs are covered with moss, mould and dirt collected for ages. At ‘La Porte du Val,’ one of the gates which is still hanging being made of wood, worm-eaten and decayed, looks as if a slight puff of wind would blow it to dust.

“There are a very few new buildings. Some of these are stucco and seem to be quite modern.

“A large church stands near the centre of the town in whose tower is a clock which rings out the time every fifteen minutes.

“There is only one or possibly two streets in the town large enough to be called streets, but there is a great maze of little narrow alleys running everywhere and crossing, turning sharply around corners, sometimes leading into a barnyard, and again plumb into the side of a building and others seem to lead nowhere. Sometimes you will start for a store just a block down the alley, when suddenly you find you have chased yourself right back to where you started from, having reached nowhere, not even the end of the alley. It is one of these that begins in the centre of the town where the street through ‘La Porte du Bourg’ stops, and after winding and twisting around a bit leads you to the little entrance at the rear of the village from which a steep, narrow path leads to the Valley of the Ozerain.

“The village is electrically lighted, gets its current from a little power-house down by the Ozerain River.

“A convent building and grounds occupies a large portion of the village extending from near ‘La Porte du Val’ to the extreme lower corner of the town.

“About half way between ‘La Porte du Bourg’ and ‘La Porte du Val’ is another entrance, just inside of which is a large and very old abbaye. Both this and the convent are now used for the accommodation of tourists and travelers.

“Just outside this entrance the Y. M. C. A. building stands. The road going from this entrance leads to the inevitable wash-house where on wash-days congregate a large number of women with large bundles of clothes and plenty of gossip.

“There is a Post and Telegraph Office combined, as is usual in France, a butcher shop, several grocery stores, a bake shop, drug store, barber, tailor, milliner, wooden shoe maker, barrel maker, rope maker, numberless cafes and little shops.

“Inside the majority of homes are neat and well-kept even where one room has to serve as kitchen, dining room, living room and bed room, often serving all purposes at one time. There are, of course, more prosperous homes that are as pleasant and comfortable as those we have in America.”

This was our home for over five months. That time will be merely sketched, as it was a monotonous existence punctuated by flurries of excitement caused by rumors of westward bound ships with which we never connected. Imaginary Bolsheviki were driven from every hillside; the Campe de Cesare was the slaughter house for thousands of imaginary machine gunners; and drills and manuevres of every sort made up the schedule. Mr. McNab tried (and failed) to get us excited about the gentle art of rifle shooting. French weather was at its abominable worst. But through it all, if the writer may insert a personal tribute into an impersonal history, through it all there was in Company “B” a bunch of boys whom it was both a pleasure and an inspiration to be with. Joking at discomforts, chafing, but bearing with as much courage as it took to face the Hun, the seemingly interminable wait and showing a spirit, a snap, and a dash which overcame everything, you formed a body of men which was a privilege to command and a pleasure to serve.

The month of March arrived, bringing with it the news that the 78th Division would return to the United States in May. The weather was still unchanged, but notwithstanding that they were slopping around in the mud and wet from the continual rains, and every “good rumor” that came floating around was eventually salvaged, the men were still in fine spirits.

Towards the end of the month it was officially announced that the Division would begin to move towards a port April 16th, and on April 6th it passed into the command of the S. O. S., but also came the rather disheartening news that our movement had been postponed for ten days, and by the time the 26th rolled around it had been further postponed until May 2nd, causing a downcast of spirits that had not obtained since our arrival in France. However it was quite evident that our time of departure was drawing near by the various preparations that were taking place, and when it finally became definitely known that we were to go direct to Bordeaux instead of having to pass through Le Mans, the spirit of the men took a remarkable jump and then, when it was announced that the movement from Flavigny would begin with Headquarters company’s departure on Sunday, May 4th, their joy was unbounded, and this was not noticeably marred by the last days of April being the bearer of the heaviest and longest snow storm that we had experienced. Saturday night, May 4th, Taps was blown by a quartette of cornets from the Regimental Band, and farewell parties were held in nearly every home in Flavigny.