 North of the 9th Infantry sector of the 2nd Infantry Division front along the <unk> , the US 23rd Infantry Regiment on August 29 had just relieved the 3rd Battalion of the US 38th Infantry Regiment , which in turn had only a few days before relieved the US 21st Infantry Regiment of the US 24th Infantry Division . On August 1 , the 23rd Regiment was in a new sector of which it had only a limited knowledge . It took over a 16 @,@ 000 yards ( 15 @,@ 000 m ) <unk> River front without its 3rd Battalion which had been attached to the US 1st Cavalry Division to the north . Colonel Paul L. Freeman , the regimental commander , deployed the 1st Battalion on the high ground along the river with the three companies abreast . The 1st Battalion , under US Lieutenant Colonel Claire E. <unk> , Jr . , <unk> the hills with platoons and squads . He placed the 2nd Battalion in a reserve position 8 miles ( 13 km ) behind the 1st Battalion and in a position where it commanded the road net in the regimental sector . On August <unk> the 2nd Division moved E Company south to a reserve position in the 9th Infantry sector . 
