The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-12-06
THE BELLS OF LOIGNY.
War-Swept Village Restored by a
Devoted Priest.

A few weeks ago at Batilly, at Mars
laTour and at Sougy, monuments were
erected to the memory of our soldiers
who fell for independence and honor
Now it is Loigny which in it's turn
awakes the sad echoes of the past by
calling all faithful hearts to a truly
national solemnity, the conservation Of
! its church at last reconstructed, with
its belfry once more raised up into the
air, and those bells which, after
silence of twenty-three years, recover
ing the tones that were hushed by the
cannon, will now send forth through
the immense plain of la Beance their ap-
peals TO memory, to prayer and to hope.
Our readers know of the church of
Loigny. They have heard of the pro-
digious efforts of charity, of persever-
ance, and OF ingenuity which were made
by the worthy Able Thoure, the cure
of the parish, to lift 1t from its ruins
Almost all the houses of the village had
been destroyed by shells The ancient
church, perforated by projectiles
tumbled down amid the flames. Not a
greenary remained standing; not a single
portion of a wall remained intact. The
cemetery itself, the bloody theater Of a
desperate combat that lasted until night,
was completely wrecked and it's monu-
ments tossed in confusion. All was to
be reconstructed. Everywhere life was
to be brought out of the debris. 1t was
to this arduous task that the humble
priest, who during the war had proved
himself hero, admired and respected
even by the Germans themselves, de-
voted himself with Incompatible zeal.
He conceived the idea of exhuming the
bones that lay buried on the battlefield,
and OF gathering them under a splendid
monument. He started a subscription,
and as soon as he had collected 100. 900
francs, he began work About four
thousand Frenchmen, and at least as
ms 1oxr 6aod he HaIA
on that. cold day of Dec. 2, 1870. But
the enemy, to conceal his losses, con-
sumed with petroleum during the night
the bodies of his dead. II saw" writes
the Able Theure, "the bodies OF the
Prussians blocking up the streets to
such an extent that, in order to make
room for the passage Of their cavalry,
the enemy were obliged TO pile up their
dead by the side of the houses and
along the fences. 1 believe that l do
not eXaggerate when 1 say that the
number of dead Germans in the village
alone was between one thousand and
twelve hundred, figures which prove
sufficiently that the chassepot and the
bayonet had done their work. During
the night the petroleum also performed
its part, for in the morning all that re-
NAMED was about twenty dead Prus-
slams, left there purposely beyond
doubt to create the belief that that was
the extent of theiI loss They were
buried with our soldiers, and their re-
mains are now in the ossuary with l 200
Frenchmen, all mingled in the Christian
equality of death"
The good cure continued his work until
the village and the new church were
restored completely. Indeed il may be
said that this church is in reality a vast
mausoleum, an enormous ossuary, the
| most monumental and beautiful of all
Europe, even in the judgment of the
Germans themselves
On entering the village of Loigny you
read upon a house of the main street
the following inscription:
FRENCHMEN, STOP!
Think Of your brothers who fell here re-
| sisting the Prussan invasion on the I'd Of
| December 1870.
And in front stands the old inn of St
| Jacques, where the Thirty-seventh in
| fantry held out stubbornly until the
night. 1t was here and in the neighbor-
ing cemetery that the battle ragged in
all its fury. Old NJ. de Fouchier, who
commanded that regiment, has at last
after twenty-three years. broken his ST.
| lence, and is now publishing a pamphlet
entitled zone Hundred and Fifty Days
with the Army Of the Loire; Recollec-
lions of the Thirty-seventh Regiment of
Infantry, 1S70-1S71." The writer modest
| " holds himself I'm the shade, but IL was
impossible for him to emit his famous
answer to the Prussian general. The
latter, moved by admiration and pity
at the sight of our last remaining SOL
diers struggling like lions against ter
tifc odds, and constantly diminishing
In number under the hail of bullets
could not help crying out, Resistance
is useless! Cease firing!'
Sir" replied the commander with
calm pride, lit is not my business to
stop the fire of my soldiers; il is yours"
And the struggle continued furiously
and without mercy until the greater
number of the French officers were
killed and wounded, and the commander
himself, struck by a ball, fell amid the
debris of his command.
The ceremonies were splendid. The
old bells rang out in triumph, and the
pope sent his benediction to Loigny to
the ossuary, and to all present at the
CONGRATULATIONS Figaro.