River Falls SC 409
Leseman, Floyd R.: diary, written August
1917-December 1918
The following are excerpts from a diary kept during World War I by Floyd R. Leseman, a Wisconsin soldier who received the Croix de Guerre
for courageous action in France. Apparently serving in the artillery, Leseman’s brief daily entries describe camp life, German
shelling and use of mustard gas, camp and battle duties, homesickness, and his
hospitalized injuries and illnesses including a bout with spinal meningitis.
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We left Fort Snelling September
4. Arrived at Camp Mills September 9. At Camp Mills six
weeks. Left October 18 and arrive at St. Nazzaire
October 31. Stayed at camp No. 1 for two weeks and left there November 18
and arrived at Camp Coetquidan September 18, 1917.
Tuesday, January 1, 1918
Got up at the usual six bells and was feeling good. Hope things go as
good this year as they did last. Had swell dinner. Wish I was home
for the day.
Wed. Jan. 2, 1918
Same old game “Gun Drill.” On guard to-night. Got paid at
six-o’clock. Many games of cards going on.
Thurs. Jan. 3, 1918
Still on guard. Mail, got two letters. One from Mildred, one from
the folks. Sure did enjoy them. Writing letters tonight.
Jan. 6, 1918
Made stables this morning, on mounded pass this afternoon. Took a little
ride out to the range. Dead Sunday as usual.
Mon. 7, 1918
Went to the range at six bells this morning but did not fire. It is
raining hard. Sure is muddy.
Wed. 9, 1918
Went to the range this morning at six bells. Sure is cold. We fired
at a deserted village.
Tues. 15
We lost one of our fellows this noon. He died of spinal meningitis.
Sure hard.
Wed. 16
Stables this morning. A rainy day. This noon six of us went out to
dig Patterson’s grave. We didn’t feel like digging a pal’s grave but we
did it anyway. The funeral was at 2:30. Sure is hard to lose a
fellow.
Thurs. 17
Stables this morning. The fellows all got mail but me. Sure was
disappointed. Haven’t had any mail for a month.
Fri. 18
Put on detail this morning. Putting up wire for the big battle to-morrow.
All in.
Sun. 20
On guard for Osborne. He went to Rennes.
Wrote to Mildred and the folks. Osborne brings me cigars. Sure is a good
scout.
Mon. 21
Up this morning at the usual time. A very bad smell meets us. We
sure need gas masks if it keeps up. The Regiment was out to-day.
Got back late and all in.
Thurs. 24
Up at the usual time. Due for a hike today. Left gun park at
10. Drove to Biegon and wnet
[sic] into action. Fired a barrage. E Battery has more hard luck, a
gun blew up and two men killed, two hurt. Some swell night, got eight
letters. Mildred, folks, Sister, Marlon, Ruth, Grandma, Merrill and Aunt
Annie and two packages from Mrs. Buschman and
folks. Harry got cigars and I got smoking tobacco so we are fixed again
for awhile. We divided our last can of smoking tobacco this morning.
Tues. 19
On guard till 1:30, read till 2 then we left for the stables. We left gun
park at 4 a.m., left Gary at 9:30. We were loaded into box cars.
They are marked on the outside, 8 horses or 40 men. We are only 14.
We got away with lots of jam and bread so we were jake
for awhile. I was elected Q. M. We even had cigars. Went through Rennes and a few other pretty good sized towns. Had
only two meals. We ate supper at Daval.
The boys are pretty well loaded tonight. Went to bed at 6. No
chance for sleep on these cars. I guess they have a flat wheels [sic].
The French Red Cross fed us coffee at some little town.
Thurs. 21
Got up feeling pretty good now. Saw a bunch of houses that were all shot
up, bridges that had been blown up. We got off at Rembervilier.
Some pretty nice town. We heard we were about 30 K. M. from the
front. We had to travel across country at about 18 K. M. Oh but she
was cold. Lots of snow. We went up through the hills. I
thought we were up in the mountains. I pretty near froze. We saw some
bunch of graves coming up the hills. We are beginning to realize what
this old war is. We got to this place at 9p. m. All in and nothing
to eat since this morning. Had to take care of the horses. Got done
at 10:30. Then we didn’t have any place to sleep. We finally got a
place in a barn. It sure is swell to see a soft bunk. There is 10
of us in this barn. [sic] It sure is swell to lay on a soft bunk.
Cold. All in so we got a cup of coffee and went to bed.
Fri. 8
Washington’s birthday. This day is nothing like last year. We
didn’t have to get up till 8 this morning, had some coffee and hard tack for
breakfast. This is some town, our battery has the whole town. This town
is La Chapelle. Trenches all over here.
Our old barn is cold. The only warm place in France is in bed so we spend
12 hours out of 14 in there. It is 6 now and we don’t have to get up at
6. Pretty soft, eh!
Sat. 23
Up at 6:00. I sweep out Hotel de Goat that is our [billets] name because
we share our quarters with the goats and chicken. Harry’s birthday.
Not much doing. We heard that we would leave for the front tomorrow night
at 6 p.m. Washed my feet tonight first time
for two months I guess.
Sund. 24
Made stables this morning. Then they gave us a talk on how to care for
our feet. Had gas mask drill at noon. We’re only getting two meals
per day and I sure am hungry. Just heard we are going to have turkey for
supper. Something wrong. Ordered to leave at dark. No wonder they
feed us. On the road till 10:30. I gun to go into position tonight
and it is the bloody first. We can hear the shells singing all around us
now. We have been walking all night. At 12 we got back to a nearby
town and went to bed in the attic of an old court house. Sergt. Birthday.
Mon. 25
Got to sleep at 1, up at 5. Walked back out to our position. It
sure is a fine position. Capt. Fired first shot of Reg. at 7:45 this
morning. We are busy now digging our dugouts. Some job. At 9
am I was sent with a message back to our wagon line at 8 kilos. Got back
here o.k. but all in. No place to sleep. Finally gave us a
hut. We packed in so tight that we couldn’t sleep and pretty near froze.
Tues. 26
Up at 4 am to put the rest of the guns in position. At 7 I was sent out
to find the Capt. Had a hard time. Finally found him at
11:30. The old shells are coming thicker every day. Gas attacks
this afternoon. Saw some Huns airplanes. Got our first meal since
last Sunday. Sure am hungry. Segt., Pat and I
picked our tents. I was put on guard. Fine night.
Thurs. 28
Woke up around 6:30. It was still raining. Our tent is just about fooded. Our clothes are all wet. I was sent to H. Q.
at 6:45 with a report. Madded made Corp.
Sure am glad of that. Hope he goes farther. Our dugout is coming
fine. We have ruinning water in it.
Ordered to wash our feet and oil them. That done, I am ready for
bed. It is now 5 o’clock. Still raining. Pat left
yesterday. Don’t know where. Hope he returns soon. Signed pay
rolls.
Fri. Mar. 1
Woke up and found about 2 inches of snow. Worked in our dugout all
day. We sure are wet tonight and no place to sleep. Sergt. Decides to sleep in dugout. We built a fire
and Sergt. got a box with some cake. Sure
enjoyed it. Got to bed and then had to get up and unload 500 rounds of
shells. Got to bed at 11:30. Been six months since I left home.
Mar. 5
Up at 4:30 to fire barrage 6. Some battle. We fired 31
rounds. At 5:30 four airplanes were over us. At 10:15 shells started
to sing over our heads. Something doing now. At 12 Pat and I were
left at the guns while the other fellows ate. Then the battle
started. Two or three shells landed near our kitchen wounding 5 men, 1 luiet. [sic], 1 cook and 3 privates. Our Luit. [sic] got a leg off and one of the privates lost an
eye. The rest of them got slight wounds. One man from our section,
a hospital man, was shot through the stomach. We have been under fire all
afternoon. More detail for the night. Sergt.
just told us that we could get up at 4:30 and go to work. So we could get
something done before day light. Ready for bed now. Don’t know how long I
will sleep but hope it is all night.
Mar. 6
A bad day. Worked hrd [sic] from 4:30 till
noon. I was put on guard. The shells were hitting right in front of
me. At 2:30 I was called to the dugout. The shells were coming
thicker. At 3:10 our dugout was hit. When I came to I was laying on
the floor with a lot of logs. I tried to get up and couldn’t at first but
tried again and made it. When I got up I could hear a man breathing
hard. I pulled the logs back and found Wenell
and McDonough. Mack [Mark?] was dead and Winnie pretty near. My
back and shoulder just ached. The second man came down and kicked me out.
I found McPeak with a broken leg. Helped him to
Cap. dugout. At the same bench that Mark and Winnie were sitting I was
sitting with them right beside Mack. [Mark?] Sergt.
was sitting on Winnie lap. Sergt. has a bad
knee. McGehm has a bad ankle. Bedner was just shell shocked. The rest of the men
are all fine. I had my first ride in an ambulance. Got to the
hospital, found I had a renched [sic] back and
shoulder. Went to bed at 8.
Mar. 7
Got up feeling pretty stiff. Sure a fine bunch of fellows in this place. Doughboys praise our work. Winnie dies at 1 am. Not much doing today. At a French hospital they fed soup and wine every meal.
Mar. 9
No better. The big battle started at 1. Some firing. Airplanes all over today. A fine summer day.
Mar. 10
Real homesick today. Sure wish I could see Pat and Harry. Wrote to Mildred and the folks. Feeling a little better. My back sure is sore. Think I will get out tomorrow.
Mar. 12
My back still sore. At noon they started to shell us. We are quartered in a building in Fenneville. A fine day. Not many airplanes out today. At 7:10 we were gased. They used mustard gas on us. It sure burns a fellows eyes. I got mail from Mildred, folks, Kinky, Mr. Wolf, Myrtle and Uncle Bill and a box of candy from Mildred. She sure is a fine girl.
Mar. 13
Got up at 6. Not much doing this morning. Didn’t sleep any. My back and shoulder is still pretty sore. Worked a little this afternoon. Lots of airplanes above us. Some good fighting going on. Mail from Dad, Sis, Aunt Annie, Prof, Grandma, Ruth and Marion, Mr. and Mrs. Buchman, Doville and Boots, a package of paper and some writing tablets from Mildred. She sure is some girl. Always asked me to write long letters and I can’t do it. I was a little disappointed because I didn’t hear from her. Wrote to folks, and Mildred.
Mar. 15
Got up at 6:30. Billet orderly. Not much to do. Back and shoulder still sore. Fine day. Got the spring fever. Wrote Uncle Bill, Miss Klinghammer, Myrtle, Uncle George, Prof, Ruth, Marion, and Boots. We moved up to our dugout tonight. Fired a few rounds just to let them know we’re here.
Mar. 17
Got up at 5 bells but didn’t fire. On guard from 12 to 3 am. All in now. They started shelling us early this morning and I guess they are going to keep it up all day. 11:30 I wrote to folks and Mildred. I had to write in between shots. Got orders to fire a barrage at 4:30. I fell asleep this afternoon and didn’t get up until 5 minutes to six. We fired at 6:30. 84 rounds. Some fun coming back at old John Hun. I received a swell long letter from Mil. Wrote on her birthday. Feb. 6. Went to bed at 10 feeling fine. We were ordered to be ready to fire at 4 or 5. Don’t know what will be doing.
Mar. 18
Got up at 4:00 but didn’t fire. Started to shell us early this morning. Sure some day. They are using Vinch on us now. We just got orders to look out for a heavy shelling tonight. Something to sleep on. Harry is made Color Sergt. Sure glad to see him go up.
Mar. 19
Up at 4. I guess that is our usual getting up time. We were called for a barrage but didn’t fire. I guess old John Hun didn’t want to go over the top. Some day. I have got a good cold and feel rotten. They have been shelling us all day. 350 shells in about 2 hours and a half. I wrote to Geo. and Doville. They are still shelling us but not so bad. One doughboys [sic] took first line trench so we have to be on the job day and night. Harry left today. Sorry to see him go. Just got orders to look out for big attack tonight.
Mar. 20
Got up at 4:00 but didn’t fire, as usual. Feeling worse today. Still shelling us. Chase us down in the dugout at 12 o’clock last night. They are giving us surprise attacks now. They come all at once. At 4:30 we had to go to the dugout then our piece got it. She is out of order now.