Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1896-07-09
THE PUSH CART MAN.
He TELLS HOW HE WON AND RE-
CElveD THE MEDAL OF 1871.
II Was Unser Fritz Who Pinned II ON His
Breast After weisscnburg-C apture Of the
Death Dealing Castie ON Gsisberg After
Terrible Slaughter.

Terrible Slaughter.
Down in the busy center OF New York's
| shipping trade where Trinity place and
Greenwich street meet at the intersection
Of Morris street there stood one Gay by the
side of his fruit laden little push cart a one
legged man past middle age, Albert Franz
W. II, who wore "A tiny ribbon In the but
tonhole OF his threadbare coat. 1t was a
black and white band of the medal of 1871
did you fight In the Franco German
war;" was asked
II did and left my leg at Weissenburg,"
he answered.
Then you served in the army command
ed by the late Emperor Frederick"
"Unser Fritz''-the mans eyes bright
ened-"Unser Fritz himself pinned the
medal to my breast For a week our bat
TALON had been quartered near the little
fortress of Landau impatiently awaiting
marching orders to cross the frontier.
Finally the word was given on Aug ut
about O'Clock in the evening OFF we
went, and the lively songs of the men tes-
titled abundantly to their feeling and con-
dition.
"Night had fallen by the time we reach
ed and went into biyouac on the damp
meadows of Billigheim. But we were not
destined To find much rest, for regiment
after regiment arrived and concentrated
roundabout When at last, wrapped in our
greatcoats, we stretched our tired bones on
the damp green turf, using our tornisters'
as pillows, artillery began to cross our
path, and the darkness being intense we
ran the risk of being run over by the heavy
wheels of the gun carriages. Repeatedly i
heard our colonel exclaim In an angry tone,
'Donnerwetter, have care, you fellows,
and do not take your feet off.
1--WE remained in camp allnext day, and
it was IA pleasant enough bivouac life. Our
men cooked, joked, sang or lay about with
their short pipes between their lips, and
the suffers tent resembled beehive. The
regimental bands played, and TO crown our
| JOY who should suddenly appear but Unser
Fritz.
Rapidly the regiments and squadrons
drew up In parade The Observation-Disclosures
march, played simultaneously by all the
bands present, stirred the hearts Of the
| boys, who sent up a thousand voiced hur-
rah rs our beloved commander rode up to
us on his fiery stallion Dueppel. AS usual
! he was all smiles and affability, but in a
! few well chosen words he prepared us for
the earnest days in store for us in the near
future.
con the next day the roar of cannon was
| plainly heard from the Nosges and we
knew the time had come. We broke camp
and marched toward the boundary, cross
| ing IL near Altenstcdt. We were in the
vanguard, and rs soon as we had touched
French soil the bugle signaled for us To
| hasten onward on a run until near the
hamlet Of Rechtcnbach the chain of hills
was reached that is commanded by the
! small fortress of Weissenburg. While rest
| ing nero for n moment To catch our breath
peasant women appeared at their house
doors carrying big bowls of steaming hot
| potatoes. How fortunate the men who
were lucky enough to obtain some!
"Thc fight centered on the castle crown
| cd Gaisberg, which was furiously attacked
Ly us We were all Prussians, stocky, well
knit figures with the daredevil courage Of
the men of Blucher Ziethen and the 'Alte
| Fritz. There were the kings grenadiers,
| the Forty seventh Of the line, and our bat
TALON, the Fifth rife Again the bugle
sounded, anu slowly but none the less stead
| ily and surelT, We assembled the mountain
| side in the facc Of the well intrenched enc
my's murdelous fire.
"The deaf h deal ng little castle, our OBJ
| jective point was two stories high ard sur
rounded on three sides by massive stone
| structures, barracks arsenal and so forth
| The whole was encircled by strong wall
of twice "A mans height. The French In
their fury did not seem satisfied with shoot
ing us down from behind their almost i'm
pregnable ramparts. The Seventy fourth
infantry, like the courageous boys they
also were, took the offensive. They left
the castle and tried to hinder our quick
step and rapid firing onslaught with the
| L.. A.
But we crossed the little stream and
made the first prisoners, among them
Turkos of Algeria, whose blood bespatter-
ed white burnooses and flowing cloaks i'm
pressed me with the horrors of war.
Now, boys, ready for the last attack
commanded Lieutenant General Won Kirch-
bach. Think Of Frederick the Great, of
the Alte Dessauer, who more than 100
years ago led this regiment TO immortal
| glory. OF with you, men! OF with you
| And may a holy kreutz Schock- Bonner
wetter annihilate the one who is today a
| coward All, that was glorious mo-
ment, the old veteran here interrupted
himself, his eyes shining, carried away by
the recollection of that supreme moment in
| his life.
1--WE did go-nay, we flew up that hill
| side like whirlwind Potztausend Ele-
| mentl But fate was against me, and
was not destined To see much more OF that
attack. To the right and left the men fell
but nothing could stopus. We reached the
bastion. We breasted il, the Faehndrich
ahead OF all, waving high the famous flag
| Of the Fifth rifles. Poor fellow He made
a splendid target as he stood there In clear
cut relief ON top of the wall, and a moment
later his body rolled down to my feet, shot
through his young heart l grasped the
beloved flag from his lifeless hands, and
mounting on the shoulders of two com
rades held IL up high, while the grena-
diers poured in upon the enemy The day
was ours. The historic battle Of Weissen-
burg was won. That was all could un-
dorstand, for soon / lay alongside of my
dead brethren, my leg shattered by piece
of exploding shell
when all was over and l regained con
seriousness, the doctors told me they had
to do It..
Five weeks later as was reclining on
my couch In the Field Lazareth Unser Fritz
decorated me, and ! was pensioned of as
an invalid for life. That is all .
The veteran looked down upon his wood
ON leg New York Sun