Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1870-12-07
Tragic Incident of the War.


a surgeon who was present at the burning
of Bazeilles tells of what he saw, as follows /:
| was one of the first to come upon the
scene after the full tide of the fight had ia
ken the combatants up towards the further
end of the village, leaving the lower part of
it comparatively quiet Here the dead, lay
! pillowed upon the wounded and there, the
wounded upon the dead. Hundreds of fast
| glazing eyes were strained appealingly upon
me as passed | shivered all over, and
moved forward, hardly knowing what did,
not knowing whom | ought first to succor.
| Suddenly, from house on my right, gun
was fired. and the shot whizzed past me and
struck carrier of the wounded. who was
bearing in his arms dying man. He stag
| gered and fell into the dust with his helpless
burden. Three or four Bavarian soldiers
who CHANGED to pass just then broke open
with the butts of their rifles, the door of the
house from which the shot had been fred.
! As it fell they found themselves fronted by
tall handsome woman of about fifty, with
noble. grief stricken features, and with her
I lovely grey hair falling about her face. In
! her hands she had double barreled rife,
| still smoking from the recent discharge, aud
as she met our gaze she broke into horri-
ble laugh. As soon as / heard it recogni-
zed in her maniac.
Monster!' exclaimed one ofthe soldiers
Her laughter ceased as suddenly as it had
begun, and she replied calmly and sadly,
while the tears rolled over her cheeks
mo, Messieurs! | am only an unfortu-
nate woman | was a wife and mother
but you have killed my husband and two
SOUS And now kill me, too !" she said in
a choking voice, or aud here all her for
III er fury seemed to return, Il shall kill
you" And leveling her gun she was just
about to fire the remaining barrel into the
eroup, but the soldiers-who had not Who'll
ly understood her words, which were spoken
in French-were too quick for her, and two
bullets entered her body almost instanta-
neously.
Let her die in peace" said to them
sadly. Poor thing, she has lost her hus-
band and two sons to day" The soldiers
now comprohendiug the whole, turned ST.
lently away. l remained and bent over her.
The wounds were mortal She stared wild
ly around | took her hand in NINE, and
looking into her fast filming eye, said in
voluntarily, Poor woman -
The accents OF kindness AMI pity were
grateful to her even then. She grasped my
hand convulsively, then change passed
over face AMI her eyes became serene and
full of peace. as the last sigh struggled from
her bleeding bosom.
As l arose from my knees,a wild unearth
ly yell, like that of horror stricken animal,
burst upon my ears, and looking up saw
French peasant dragging a wounded Bava-
rian soldier into burning pile In this he
was assisted by a woman, probably his wife,
who unreentingly kicked the resisting vic
tim with her sharp pointed wooden shoes.
But the unearthly cries of the German at
tracted the attention of the retreating SOL
dicrs and we'll directed bullet caused one
prosecutor to roll over into the fire which
he had designed for his victim. The woman
wa, also wounded, but she did not fall, and
before the soldiers could prevent her, she
had stamped with savage fury upon the face
of the prostrate wounded man. Into the
fire with the wild beastI' cry the enraged
soldiers-for she had quite killed their poor
comrade He was handsome young iel-
low-but ah ! it was we'll that neither his
mother nor his sweetheart could hear that
awful cry of terror which broke from him as
he was dragged into the fire. 1t will haunt
me to my dying day.