The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-03-28
THAT CAUSE PANIC
Some Queer Circumstances That Have
Turned the Tide of Battles.


(From London Iid-Bits.)
1t 10 peculiar Circumstance that
hardened and trained tyoops Will go
through q long fight surrounded by all
the horrors that are lnssparabIe from war
without tilnehine. and with the utmost
apparent oailousness: and the same men
will be struck terrified by . single
tritiine incident.
Every war Of any importance. parsioa :
larly wsrs between eiviiizsd nations, is
prolific In incidents OF trivial character
In themselves, but so unusual and unnst.
urai that they appeal to the natural in
stins tive horror of men more suddenly
and intensely than perhaps the main ter
rors Of days Of carnage and surrounding
scenes Of suffering. such an incident is
the one. for example, which occurred at
the battle OF Worth. In the early days Of
the Franco Prussian war.
In the heat OF the great battle q wing
Of the Prussian army was charged BY the
regiments OF French ouirtssisrs, In the
hope Of turning the wing and faoilitating
the falling back to the Brenon infantry.
oub tub uuAIabAAcAH WoAU t0n bnuA W
the unfiinohing Prusssans. Again the
OURS iisrs charged, aud again they were
driven back ty the whitening fire Of shot
and she'll.
For third time they came down
again, and as the enemy waited for them
TO draw nearer q horrible, blood freezing
terror ssized the Prusslans, and for the
..o..aus a. look 40 aa ~ ahav -ouId kurn
and fly. or be.cut down without defending
themselves. But In a moment they had
pulled themselves together and beaten
back for the third and last time the gal
liant cuiraEsiers.
The sight that terri fled ths Prusslsns
appears nothing very much iu black and
white. 1t Was a regiment OF ouirassieTs
led at . dashipg rate toward them by a
headlesl officer sitting upright In the sad
die and apparently encouraging on his
men. It was no less rsrson than Fuz-
tun de Lascarre of the Third Regiment
of Cuirassiers, whose head had been oar
ried completely OF his shoulders as tire
troop brnke into the third desperate
charge BY q cannon bail, which took of
another officers HAND and cut the bugl:r
In two.
II lie remarkable and singular that at
the bs tile OF Forbach, which took place
the same day as Worth, q very similar In
cident occurred, ami did more to shake
the nerves Of the Germans than hours Of
roaring cannon ard 1ghrrg had done,
While a regiment of Prugsian infantry
vera sanding In reserve, watching the
fight as well as they could from ths'r po-
sltion of shelter, charger belonging to
q French dragon regiment tons wD1ch
was practically destroyed In the battle)
galIoped right into the midst of the men,
q N.zu. H.
ly fell back in alarm; for swinging TO the
bride was the whole left arm Of the
che rger's rider. the fingers OF the hand
firmly graspilg tie reins, The arm ap-
peared to have teen severed few inches
below the shoulder and WAS certainly
that of an officer, but who the cfiioer was
has never Teen established.
So moved were the hardened men Of
battle at the horrible sight that no one
would touch the horfe, and the animal
was allowed to eallop off, to be killed q
few minutes later In CROSSING before some
Prusslan gurs Triil,ng as the incident
wss many CT the brave fellows who wit
mel I'd 1t declared that their frs. almost
| Irresistible, Impulse was TO throw down
their arms and holt. Yet 1t WIS With
the help Of just such men that Gen. Won
Gobsn routed the French that memorable
| day In August, 1870.
1t is o well nkown fact that the fnest
and brayest troops the world can produce
lin which GLASS We believe our own Tom
my occuisl have no immunity from that
strange and my stel ious madness known
| TO military history as "war panic" A
heavy war, frequent sanguinary engage
meuts, night marches and surprifeS
sometimes play havoc with soldiers nsF-
yous systems and render them more like
high spirited colts than men who have
taken the field prepared to suffer immeas-
urable horrors and take death oheertuily.
Those who have read deeply about the
Psninsular War will perhaps re,ollect
that one or two British regiments, the
very pick Of our army, engaged In the
war, were 30 terrified that they were alb.
| aolusely routed during one nights march
BY nothing more tangible than false
rumor.
The troops were marching along In
good order, cheerily chatting as IL they
were on the way to manoeuvre ON AL
dershCt Plains when rumor ran down
the lines that the enemy was at hand.
The uext moment the line Of orderly
soldiers was changed into an elongated
mob II armed men throwing away arms,
baggage and all they carried, running
away in every direction, blind terror in
their hearts, their faces hlanched and
their ears deaf to the Numbered com.
mands Of their officers.
For the moment they knew but one
sentiment one emotion; q sudden, pas
sionate, blind terror, and they fed with
out thinkinRiwhethsr they were running
Into the arms of that thing they dreaded
or not. Il was q terror that was madness,
and only lite madness redeems 1t from
dishouor. If ything were necessary to
demon4trate the unhatufalpess OF the
panic 1t would be done BY the grand fact
that the moment 1t became known that
the snsmy was really at hand the men
instantly fell 10 and showed the utmost
eaasrueas to Attack. The Rum0r when
false set the men flying like . horde Of
nervous wopeh; the rpmor being trus,
uhquesliopably, made the women men OF
steel agaiA
Such 'swAr papicsn ara msyteftss, even
che in9st expsrfshcsh military oficer CAD
not enthusiastically explain them, There 10
sQpsthing % upHetnrsiiy-aiposs qn S,ss