The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1908-12-03
SOLDIERS IN BATTLE
How Men Feel and Act With
Death All About Them.
THE STORY OF A PRIVATE.

THE STORY OF A PRIVATE.
With the Beginning of the Fight
Comes Fear, but That Soon Passes
Away In the E%aserness For Killing.
Varying Effects Of Wounds.
A narrative of the battle of Solferi.
no as told by a veteran survivor to
Robert %shackleton appears in Har.
pers. It is. word for word, a chapter
OF history as seen by a man in the
ranks. Incidents which impressed him
are curious:
I'VE halted, and a Tyrolese lying on
the ground cried out: 4 am dying.
Give me to drink Whereat my com
panion stopped to offer him a flask,
and as he stopped the Tyrolese struck
savagely at him with his bayonet, but
my companion jumped back, and 1t
missed him, and he said, You Tyro.
lese, you said you wanted a drink be-
fore you died, and now you shall die
without the drink And he stuck his
bayonet through him as a boy would
stick a pin through a fly.
'The fighting soon began again.. and
It was very fierce. It was soon that
we came to know that we were to cap
ture a little village and the hills about
the village. The village was named
San Maritime, and there were walled
barns and gardens, and, the Austrians
were very strong there.
1.-THE bursting Of the shells was very
bad. Sometimes all of us close by
would be thrown down and be COW
cred with mud and earth, but most of
us would jump up again, not wounded,
but always there were some who
would not jump up again, because they
were wounded or dead.
AT the beginning Of a battle a sol.
der feels afraid. At the beginning OF
this battle I felt afraid. and I know
that other men felt afraid, though II
was not our first battle, and we knew
what it was to be under fire.
$50 it was that at the beginning
we commended ourselves; we felt like
death, but soon that passed away, and
we thought no more of death, but only
Of the killing Of the Austrians.
Gall around mi men were killed
There were heads and arms blown of
and men flew into pieces like the
smashing Of a jug. But we did moi
care. We thought nothing of it. ]
do not know that we even knew we
saw such things, but some Of them
come to me as I sit with you and talk
Of that long day. We did not notice
and we did not think that at any nc.
ment we too might have our heads
blown of Or be smashed into little
pieces like the breaking Of a jug.
"Once, when we rushed over the big
guns and killed the men who still
fought with US, we turned the guns
to fire On the Austrians as they few
away, but they had driven bits of stee
into the touchholes, and so we could
not fire them. They were of a cour
age, those Austrians.
"Only once in all that battle did
think much of what I saw or heard
and that was when there was the
terrible screaming Of a captain who
had his foot shot of. He twisted and
turned as he cried out, and it was
very bad sound. But it is just as II
chances. Isaw many men who were
hurst worse than that captain and
many who were blown into little bits
but I did not trouble about them. Il
is just If it chances so.
1T is very often that a man does
not know that he is hurt. I remember
that one there was a man near me
with a great hole in his forehead, bu,
he ran right on with US with his bay
onet, and I thought, He will fall dead.
But after that I saw him no more. fol
there was always the fighting.
1.-THE storm and the blackness, they
made of us a great mixing. Yes; 1
was a very great tangling, for all lines
were lost, and l know that sometimes
Austrians struck at Austrians anG
sometimes Italians struck at italians
for we were In a very great mixing
and very fierce in the blackness Of tina
storm.
"We were told to lie down and sleep
So we lay down where we were, anon,
the dead and the wounded, among tn
Italians and the Austrians.
"And we slept. Yes; we were tired
for we had fought hard for all tina
long, long day, and on that hill that a
last we had gained we slept, and w
gave no heed to the dead men or tn
wounded.
1.-THE wounded they made very grea
cries, and there were men sent to g
among them with lights. Some wer'
surgeons, and some were men to carr!
them to the field hospitals. But tn
most of us we lay there and slept, ant
~ Liz