The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1914-10-21
Fight FOR FRANCE
TWO HUNDRED AMERICANS Are
In FOREIGN Legion.
SOLDIERS eF FORTUNE

Regiment Made Famous on Fields of
Algiers and Morocco Now Has
Among Its Number 200 Americans
Regiment Has Never Yet Re
treated.
Six weeks ago about 200 American
residents Of Paris offered their ser
vices as fighting men to the French
government. The offer was accepted,
but since then the Americans have
dropped out of the sight of the public.
The following account of the move
ments of the movements of the de-
tachment has been sent from Chalons
by one of the volunteers:
At last We are on our way toward
the fighting district, and you can eL-
pect to get word Of lots Of action
when we finally come up with the
Germans.
eve are now part of the Foreign
Legion, possibly the most famous
French fighting regiment; we are
proud of the regiment, and I think
that the others are proud Of US. And
there is still room on our famous
standard for the names of few more
battles, and If we don't get into them
pretty soon France will have more
troubles on her hands than Germany
and Austria are causing her.
ITO go back to the beginning, we
left Rouen for Toulouse, along with
about 1000 volunteers of various
nationalities, on September /. We
! felt pretty bad when we heard we
| were going to be sent in an opposite
| direction to the fighting, but they
| told us it would only be for short
| time.
''They shipped us to Toulouse in
| box cars. ItaEasn't SO bad, because
they allowed us plenty of hay and
straw to sleep, and that made it nice
and snug. The trip took three days,
and We Americans had lots of fun.
At every stop the French, men and
women, gathered around our cars,
loaded US down with fruit, food Of
all sorts, and great deal Of wine,
and we had a lot of fun cracking
jokes with the girls along the road.
They regarded us as the seviors OF
France.
1--WE got to Toulouse on September
4 and were marched to the new
| Perignon barracks. The next morn
| ing We were surprised to see regi-
| tment of travel stained soldiers march
ing into our barracks.
cat first we thought they were
French regulars, as their uniforms
were of the usual type, but then We
noticed that they Wore huge sashes
| around their waists, and We recogniz-
| ed them as that magnificent regiment
Of hardened veterans, the Foreign
Legion. They were headed by their
famous band and followed by their
train of mules. They had come from
Saida, Algiers.
'tAnd let me tell you that there Is
no better fighting regiment than this
same Foreign Legion. It has upheld
| tie honor of France in Algeria and
Morocco and has won its reputation
| in scores of desperate battles.
.'It wages guerilla style of war;
fare that has made it the most feared
| regiment in Africa; it has never re-'
treated in its history. France may
well be proud of it, as we are who
serve with it.
at accepts any one who wants to:
| join it, and asks no questions.
have no doubt that there are some
expert safe-crackers in the regiment,
although it would be hard to pick
them out, and for that matter. there
are many who are undoubtedly aris-
tocrats, and it would be hard to Pick
them out.
''It never asks questions concern
ing a mans past; doubtless many of
the men are enrolled under names
which are not their own. There are
princes, cab drivers, barons, walters,
ex-priests, burglars, lawyers and day
laborers. One private, named Deco
catrix Cor using that name), receives
one franc day allowance by COM
mand of the Pope, and that is all
that We have been able to learn about
him.
1.-The day after the Foreign Legion
arrived about thirty non-commission-
ed officers took all oS us who had
come from Rouen and began to teach
us the French drill, which, by the
way, is much the same as that used
by the American army. Out Of the
1000 volunteers at Toulouse it was
decided to pick about 500 and put
them into the Foreign Legion.
Imagine our JOY when we learned
that all the Americans would be pick
ed for this honor We couldn't have
hoped for better luck, for with the,
Foreign Legion We get all the fighting
any one regiment can get-the regi-
ment's reputation for fighting is so
good that they couldn't keep US from
the front.
There is much less formality with
this regiment than with any other.
If a private is lying on the ground
and an officer saunters along the pri-
vate doesn't have to jump up and give
a stiff salute. He stays on the ground.
smoking his cigarette, and the two
men nod, or smile, and 'bonjour' each
other like equals.
The only thing that counts is
hShtlnS aDlllty, ana the only lnlnS
impressed upon a newcomer is the
tradition of the regim ent that man
must never surrender or retreat-he
must fight until ne is killed, no mat
ter what the odds against him are.
In spite of the lack of formality
there is no lack of discipline. Officers
address men familiarly, but when an
-
man obey it except with all the alac-
rity possible.
We've been kept busy ever since
We were put into the Legion. We
drill from a. m. until p. m,
marching and shooting without a
stop. Many of us have grown boards,
and you would have hard time pick
ing the Americans out from the vet
erans, except that We are taller than
oF .othorc Ruf what thpy