Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-09-22

ternately dropping ourselves to fire.
and jumping to our feet to rush
across the open, we more and more
approached the enemy, who were as
sembling in strong forces. But so
were our troops. The earth was
shaken by the incessant cannonad-
ing. and the air torn by the continu-
Gus rattling of rifle fire. We rushed
toward, that is to say, our escoupade,
i'm order to reach a peace of ground
surrounded by low dykes. A COM
rade on my right stumbled, dropped
forward without uttering n sound,
killed by a shot in the breast. A man
in front of me threw his arms up,
fell and, struggled to his feet, fell
again, and 'C'est ca were his last
words.
Horrible Scene.
1--WE had reached the aforesaid
piece of ground. IL of us. 1 looked
around for moment. A terrible bat
tie was raging, and so utterly horrible
were the scenes around me that up
to this moment l cannot believe that
l have really lived to see that. The
widest phantasy cannot imagine
such a horror, in which absolutely
nothing human is left, and which
cannot be equaled by the most blood
stirring fancies of horde Of devils.
"A shell exploded near us, follow
ed by a terrible cry. Five Of us were
lying dead on the little square. One
man had both his legs blown off, and
was still alive and conscious, implor-
ing us to kill him. An officer ran
past, stopped, and, after short look
at the man, shot him through the
heart Ca vaut mieux, he said
'pauvre disble' He opened his
mouth to utter a command at his
men, and at the same moment got
bullet in his mouth. He turned
around twice and fell heavily on the
dyke close by me.
Red Cross Soldiers.
"At a good distance behind us,
Red Cross soldiers and Red Cross
friars, carrying the Red Cross flag,
were STOPPING over the wounded and
removing them to the ambulance
vans A shell exploded over their
heads and only a couple of the Red
Cross men were left.
More hostile troops have been ad-
vancing. They have suffered heavy
losses, but on our side also the num-
Der of casualties is very large, and
our position seems to become critical.
We have to retreat, are, in fact, re-
treating. Fresh French batteries are
put into cation. l am just looking at
a German battery which is being
turned in our direction when it is
hit by two shells simultaneously. The
German artillerymen at the guns are
swept away, two guns destroyed.
"One moment it seems as If the
enemy are hesitating, and we avail
ourselves of the opportunity to dash
forward inflicting great damage to
them.
Remarkable Self control.
"They are undoubtedly persevering
our men are, and they display re-
markable self-control. Notwithstand-
ing the appalling scenes around me,
l, too, feel perfectly calm now, and,
terrible though it may seem, 1 con-
feSS that without a moments tremble
l am at my living targets, shoot and
watch the effect of my bullet. So do
all of us. They do not waste their
cartridges. The enemy outnumbers
us. however so much that we could
not offer a longer resistance without
exposing ourselves and the main
army to an enormous danger.
The retreat is carried out splend-
idly. / have just reached the crese
of the hill when | feel slight shock
in the left shoulder, nothin else. |
do not heed it, but some moments
afterwards | feel burning pain in
the shoulder. and l perceive that
am wounded and that the weight of
my left arm seems to increase. Some
time afterwards | find myself neatly
installed in a field hospital.
Here is my nurse again with her
pleasant smile She says l have done
enough writing now, and that l had
better have my dinner. And if you
don't obey at once, you naughty boy
she adds, Il shall have to punish
YOU | wonder what the punishment
would be like. Well, fortunately. l
have ended the report so that |
can obey her. And my dinner is only
too alluring, too"