The Savannah morning news., 1903-01-25

ike madman-like savage.
when l Shed Blood for Poland.
Poor little Pole. he had died for
France l myself. at the age of four
teen, had shed some blood for Poland
Yes, at fourteen.
But listen. In 1868. the Poles tried to
shake off the yoke of Russia by force
of arms. All young France got excited
over the struggle, and subscriptions in
aid of the insurgents We're started in
all the French schools and colleges
1 remember collecting a good deal of
money in my school, and l found all
the boys cheerfully ready to do with
out sweets or chocolate for a week or
so in order to be able to give franc
ftfty centimeS, or whatever they could
afford, out of their little pocket allow
ance. for a cause that all considered a
righteous one. In the eyes of French
school boy an Instruction is always
righteous cause.
However, there was a tall, big boy
who not only refused to give or prom
Use me any money, but who declared
that he hoped the Russians would soon
exterminate all the Poles That was
more than | could stand. In moment
l had taken off my coat, and adVanc-
ing toward him with my clenched fists
l gave him determined Come on"
He was older and much stronger
than l was, and. after a few rounds,
l got the worst of it. During the
struggle he managed to catch hold of
my head under his left arm and tore
piece of flesh off my face. l have
still little scar under my left eye
which reminds me shat, at fourteen, |
shed my blood for the holy cause of
freedom.
My adversary, however, was not al
lowed to rest on his laurels very long.
Every boy who felt strong enough to
meet him sent him a challenge, and
life was made so miserable for him
that, at the end of the quarter, his
parents withdrew him from the school,
A Prisoner of War.
1 was taken prisoner at the battle of
Sedan, and, after spending five months
of captivity in the fortress of Vessel,
on the Rhine, 1 returned to France,
and one morning surprised my mother
at home. For five months and a half
she had had no news, and did not
know whether l was a prisoner of war
or whether l had been killed. That
meeting can better be imagined than
described. l could only spend two
days at home, as my regiment was be-
ing reorganized in Paris, and / had to
join it.
On March Is, 1871, the people of
Paris, in possession of all the arma-
ment which had been placed in their
hands to defend the capital of France
against the Germans, decided to make
a strange use of their guns. They
proclaimed the Commune with the
view of killing somebody, their com
patriots rather than nothing, and the
French army, not yet reorganized, and
also probably out of habit just lately
contracted. retreated to Versailles.
leaving Paris at the mercy of the revo-
lutionsts.
Humorous Incident of the Com
mune.
disaster at war Is not always
without its humorous side, and the
French army, having enough reputa-
ton for bravery to stand a little joke
at its own expense, l will here, in a
few words, tell the story of the capture
of the Chateau de Becon, of which
magma pars fui. We were some fif-
teen hundred braves who took part
in it.
On April TO-. 1871, we received from
Marshal MacMahon the order to attack
and capture the Chateau de Becon,
on the banks of the Seine, which castle
was occupied by the Communists, who
had placed on it's terrace two batteries
that swept everything on the road
from Courbevoie to Paris. The attack
was to take place during the night.
Now, everybody knows that a night
attack has absolutely no chance of
success unless it is made by old
troops, by soldiers known every one to
their officers. The French army was
just being organized after the disas-
tiers of the Franco-G erman War, and
the regiments were quickly reorgan-
lied with soldiers just returned from
captivity and with young recruits. We
did not know the men now under us,
and the men had little confidence in
officers who had never led them under
fire before. We all felt how risky the
whole thing was: still We had orders,
and ours was not to discuss but to go.
We started at / o'clock in the morn
ing, having to march about five miles
to reach the chateau. We had no
maps, and the rumor spread among the
troops that the engineers, who were
in front, did not even know where the
entrance to the castle was, and that
while they would look for it in the
pitch dark Of the night. the Com
munists would probably have time to
annihilate our force on the road which
their cannons commanded. There was
no confidence in the ranks. The en-
gineers. marched in front, followed by
the infantry. In the rear we were
with the artillery.
We advanced with great caution. the
soldiers with guns ready to fire, the
officers with swords in their right
hands, and revolvers in their right.
After marching at very slow pace
for two hours and a half. we heard a
great yell from the front. following
shots fired from the castle windows
1 will not attempt to describe the scene
of confusion that ensued. a panic of
the worst destruction. At the rear,
we shouted halt" But to stop in the
middle of the night panic-stricken sol
diers running away, why, you might
as well try to stop with your umbrella
an express when running at the rate
of sixty miles and hour. We had to
retreat and return to the spot we had
left two hours and a half before Four
men We're killed and a dozen or so
recruits was Sure he had bullet some
where.
He knew what kind of troops we had
under us. and did not utter one angry
word, but ordered US to be ready to
resume the attack at daybreak. We
bivouacked on the spot. took coffee
and nap, and at six in the morning
ordered our men to march. deter
mined now to return dead or victori-
Gus.
We told the men, although we knew
nothing about il, that the engineers
now had the plan of the castle, and
that the capture of the place would
be affected without any difficulty and