Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-10-22

thunder caps of cannon, the bursting OF
Shells the whistlng of balls resound in ter
ribe confusion. The cloud, or rather clouds
of combat, because they assume every shade
and form-envclop the plain. Their vapors
break, turn and blend; they constantly dis
sipatc, chased 10y the wind and 9th rs riso rs
constantly TO replace them. The atmosphere
is sitting. Acrid fumes of powder sting the
throat and nostris, the eyes are irritated and
the mouth is dry, the rifle barrels burn the
hands
Now the fire is exchanged at less than 800
meters The enemy does not recoil and under
his rapid and deadly fire it seems impossible
to abandon this last position and advance
| further. At several points in the counter at
| tack our troops recoil before demonstrations
of the cavalry. An eccentric turning move
ment menaces our flank Our tactics are un-
| equal to all these combinations. There is
nothing now TO count on but the undaunted
spirit OF our soldiers
Now, for a moment the fire of our artillery
is preciptated. The batteries fire at will.
/ Reports succeed each other without appre
ciablc interruption in one continuous roar.
Then falls great silence, broken only by u
. few discharges from the enemy. A trcmor
/ runs through every rank. Each man feels
that the decisive moment has arrived And
without knowing who has given the ORDER
nor how it has been transmitted, "the charge
suddenly sounds at "a point on the field, slowly
/ given 10y few bugles, and faint in distance.
The sound is accelerated, it approaches, it
widenS it is echoed from drums and trumpets
all along the line of battle.
The charger cry chiefs of lines and col
umns TO their buglers And they command:
Fix bayonets! Forward"
Fix bayoncts Forward!' repeat the
officers
"Forward Forward shout the soldiers
And on all sides rings the charge, brisk and
sonorous, sounded by hundred clarions,
beaten by Il hundred drums.
The soldiers rush forward with agile steps,
head advanced, bayonct fixed, lnapsack
swinging on the back, scabburd heating the
thigh, cartridge box, haversack and canteen
Tapping against the sides Following the ad-
vance up the field to the assault, re-enforced
by all the reserves of the first line come other
troops depoyed in line of battle or serried
into columns AS far as the view extends
there is "a succession of long ranges and deep
masses of foot soldiers, who rush forward
with great velocity. Each presses forward rs
if eager for his part Of the drop to drink"
And the charge continues more ardent
and more rapid, at each repetition aCCelerat-
ing the measure. And ClambCrng over the
escarpmentS, traversing the underground,
crossing the rice fields, scaling the ranlparts
of the trenches, the soldiers sweep along under
the shells, the shrapnel, the grape and i'll the
fearful storm Of bullets.
And the buglcs and the drums, those sound
ing the chant and those making the bass, re
peat the two unique phrases of the charge,
the one lifting as by an effort, the other ex-
ulting as in triumph.
That demOniac air begins to rouse the COM
batants, and they strain forward under its
movement. This approaches Il macte amino!
a sursum cordal
After some repetitlons the effect on the
soldiers becomes purely physical They adj
vance to that sound automatically. Fatigue
disappears, obstacles are eifaced, the idea of
dcath-possibe, nay probable-vanishes. 1t
seems rs if they had neither reason nor sensa-
ton. They dream of nothing, they see moth
ing, but they run, moved by an irresistible
impulsion. They are drunk, drunk to mad
ness, without motive with only confusion for
thought. Rifles are lowered, bayonets gilt
ter ball, whistle, and, striking their mark,
men ial with hideou, wounds N their heads
they run on, they run to meet the bullets,
they run against the bayonets. They are like
the Whiring dcrvishes OF Scutari. The charge,
which gives 10 the corps an impctuous elan,
at the same time throws the spirit into ihat
sort %. tUlpor that may bo llhcncG to the
oriental melopu'ia produced hy the cultural
chants and exciting mOnOtOhcS OF the rebeC
and dcbourka.
And the charge swells, increasing the
rhythm more and more, Braacn uumpets
that are no longer blown rattle in the onset
the druumcra, hampercd by their instru-
ments, beat them, as they run, with single
hand. And the roughcr grows the sound the
more il augments the spirit.
They are nearly man to man. separated
only 10y some Golens of meters. he soldiers
grasp their weapons in both HANDS, prepared
for body shock. The fire of the defense is
feeble; it ceases. There is IA vGvcring of the
cnemy's lines his hesitation increases. De
moraization sets III and panic cA,ucs. Tho
spirit is still up and there is one more onward
rush The last breath OF the charge is
sounded We are in position. The victory
l. ours,
NJ, Ernest Renan said that year. before the
assembled French Academy, that the worth
OF IA work was to be measured by It's effect
What septuor, what symphony, what opera
the charge What long poein what fault
less sonnet vies with the refrain:
IL Y a Ia goutte u bolrc,
La bas.
II va la goutte Il boir.
Henry lIoussaye.