The Washington herald., 1914-02-22
MAYHEM Napoleon marched into tn,
wv mountains of Galilee in the month

NITHEN Napoleon marched into the
wv mountains of Galilee in the month
of April, 1883, TO stem the tide OF
Turks pouring down upon him from
Damascus. he matched 1900 men against
3u.OO0. He dared take no larger number
from the siege of Acre. where Turkish
troops and British ships were holding the
town against him.
The first shock of battle reverberated
about the Horns Of Hattin, where Gen.
Junot. with only 800 men in a square
withstOod an advancing column of 1000
Turkish horsemcn. Next Kleber's infan-
try met and repealed a large body of
cavalry at Cuna. where A Greek priest
shows the stone jars in which the water
WAS turned into wine for the wedding
feast.
The Turks were entering the valley of
the Jordan when Napoleon himself struck
oct along the bride path that leads
from Acre up into Nazareth, where, sec
ing the smoke of battle curling about
the heights of the town. he spurred his
horse TO the scene of combat. Descending
between Mount Tabor and the Mountain
Of tie Precipitation. down the cliff Of
which the unbelieving Nazarenes threat
ened to cast the prophet who was not
without honor save among his own
people, he looked out upon the historic
Flain Of Esdraelon or Jezreel.
The Cockpit of Asin.
The young champion of the West. fresh
from his victory in the cockpit of Europe,
vas ready to enter the lists in this cock
pit of Asia. Lifting his glass, his
strategic eye swept the smoking held of
strife. In the west rose Mount Carmel
by the sea, and to the south the hills OF
Samaria. Over to the east. where the
mountains of Gilead come down to the
River Jordan. the Moslem enemy was
cncamped in black mass Of cancels hair
tents
At the foot of Tabor, Gen. Kleber, with
no hope or thought that the general-in-
chief was coming to his rescue, was stub
bornly holding back a big horde of
mounted men as they advanced from
their camp and furiously strove to crash
his little force against the base of the
mountain. The Turkish dead lay in wind
rows all about him.
But for hours Kleber had been battling
with despair. He wished only to break
through the Turkish lines or at least
see his brave but exhausted band die
like soldiers rather than be butchered
like sheep. Soon he must fire his last
cartridge.
Battle of Mount Tabor.
Napoleon. with an instant grasp of the
desperate situation. sent ihis small body
OF cavalry across the plain through fields
of wheat six feet high, which hid them
from the Turks. The cavalrymen gave
the enemy a wide berth until they were |
in his rear, when they closed in to cut |
him Off from his camp and his line Of
retreat over the Jordan. As the Nurks |
discovered these French horsemen behind |
them they turned from Kleber in their |
surprise and bewilderment.
That was the moment for Napoleon to /
deliver his second stroke Leading in per- |
son a division of infantry within a gun
shot of the Turkish line their fire sud
denly burst upon the foe from the field
of grain. At the sight of Napoleon
emerging from the wheat. KIeber's hard
pressed and despairing band made the
Galileean hills ring with cheers.
Finding the French springing upon
them from every direction as IL they
were multitude, and finding themselves
in the center of triangle, the 30.000l
Turks broke in mad disorder. They fled
TO the Jordan, scampered off toward the
Sea of GaIilee or hid in the hills. leaving
behind them 400 camels, scores of horses,
many guns, abundant ammunition and
food enough TO last the French a year.
An Historic Field.
Mount Tabor is the most historic among
all Napoleon's extraordinary battleheids.
That plain of Esdraelon has been the
prize ring OF the nations of the East
through 5000 years that are told, and we
know not how much longer through ages
untold
made my tour of the field from Jenin.
the most Moslem town visited in Pales-
tine, and where my little German hotel
was like a fortress in the land of the
enemy. 1t was a strange sensation to
stand beside the village mosque of Jenin, ,
looking at the neighboring town of
Nazareth on the height across the valley ,
rs the soft radiance of the setting sun |
streamed upon its roofs and hear the I
muzzein whining his call to evening
prayer. challenging the faith of the ,
Christians with the avowal that there Is ,
10 god but God and that Mahomet is his !
prophet. ,
AS l drove down into the valley in the )
early morning by mere track the Plain
of Esdraelon lay before me like a relief Z,
map. The smoke OF the locomotive rose /.
close beneath the hills of Nazareth as
the mJrning train moved toward Damas-
Gus, and a branch with a tri-weekly .
train service stretched its bands of steel !
across the great plain to Jenin and be- :
yond on the yet unfinished line to Jeru- c
salem. And the trains of antiquity, the q
camel trains. ignoring the new highway /
Of iron, were coursing tediously along a
the old caravan route to Damascus, by 4
which the children Of the East poured r
down upon the children OF Israel c
Where JezebeI Reigned.
A clump of trees on the right in the III
shadow Of Mount Gilboa, marked the A
IT'LL flowing fountain, where, raIlyins to s.
iideon's trumpet call, the irvincible 800, u
qualified as war dogs. by tapping up i,
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