Grand Forks daily herald., 1914-11-05
HOW THE GERMANS
OCCUPY A CITY
Story of Entrance to Peace
full French Town Applies
to Many Others.

Bavarian soldier with fixed bayonet,
Monsieur Bertrand, round shoulder
er, whtte-haired veteran Of the war Of
1870. and deputy mayor of Pont-a-
Mousson was carried from the city as
chief hostage Of the Germans, in the
procession which marked the end OF
the occupation by three Bavarian reg
iments Pont.a-Mousson 10 q quiet
town of twelve thousand inhabitants,
the possession of which was valuable
to the Germans only because of it's
bridge which furnishes a convenient
crossing Of the Moselle on the road
from Metz to Toul. 1t was attacked
early In the war, partly for this rea-
son and partly as the result Of the de-
fective vision Of captive balloon OBJ
servers, who mistook for fortifcations
the antique ruins of a castle at the
cillage OF Mousson on a hill to the
east of the bridge.
The first bombardment of the town
early IN August was not followed up
until the first days of September. when
a captive balloon appeared in the air
across the river and German aero
planes commenced manoeuvring over
the town. They dropped 200 bombs,
killing six and wounding great num-
ber of civilians. but 1t was not until
the fifth that the ringing Of the tocsin
announced to the citizens that the
Germans had appeared on the other
side of the river in force. The solemn
tones Of the believer still heard when
a terrific dull explosion shook the
windows of every house; the bridge
from which the town derives it's name
was no more, and Immediately after
blowing 1t up the French troops, in too
small number to cope with the enemy,
quit the town.
The captive balloon was seen again
to rise i'll the distance and soon after
the German heavy artillery began to
play on the dilapidated antique pro-
jectiles on that spot, literally pulver-
izing what remained of the walls. oc-
casionally diverting a shell to the town
after which they crossed the Moselle
on an improvised bridge and rushed
up to the assaultlpf the supposed fort
ress, which they found as quiet as the
occupied eit, and what the Germans
took for. guns from their captive bal
loon were simply cleverly disposed
tree trunks. and the fire which re-
piled occasionally to their guns to
complete the eiflusion came from be-
hind the hill.
The story. of the occupation Of this
town is quite the same as has been SO
often told of other towns; hostages,
I
did not last long. The morning of the
sixth the impressive music Of the
French 3-inch guns was heard in the
town; at the same time q French aero
plane was seenato dart through the
sky in the directiQa of the captive bal
loon, which h4lstAned to descend.
atts atsss of eEs Sfci'RsS,Ss %SIss Of ds the
patches have referred by name. but
which was one Of the bloodiest in the
action Of General Castelnau's army
defending Nancy,
A continual procession Of improvis-
ed ambulances passed through the
town toward the bridge that night. and
other wagons with a more grewsome
mission turned to. the railroad station.
where inhabitants, retired to their
houses by order. saw loaded into all
kinds Of nat cars. horse cars, cattle
cars the bodies Of those that fell that
day at Dieulouard. They were piled as
high as they could be packed and in
the early morning these wheeled char
mel houses were hauled across the
frontier toward Metz
AS for the 9th Bavarian infantry,
not one OF this regiment was ever seen
again in the streets Of Pont-a-Mous-
troops of occupation left the town.
September 20 the Germans made
their last attempt to re-capture Pont-
a-Mousson. ending in a charge on the
Hill Of Saint Genevieve. The French
position at the summit had been bonn
barded during the morning, and by 8
o'clock the fire of the French seemed
to have been definitely silenced. The
order for the assault was given and
to the music Of the fife and drum, the
Bavarians started up the slope. meet
ing no resistance. until they arrived
within a hundred yards of the first
line of trenches. Almost to a man the
first line went down under the first
volley that received them there. 9th:
ers rushing on to take their places fell
over their comrades. Tho ranks came
on as IL those In the rear had seen
nothing of this slaughter and the ma
chine guns and rifles swept them down.
In some places 1t was impossible to
close the ranks because the piles Of
| bodies separated them, and finally
these heaps Of dead and dying became
the rampant behind which some Of the
assailants sheltered themselves to pro-
! tect the retreat Of those that were left
The Saint Genevfeve hill was strewn
with bodies and the soil saturated
with the blood of the Bavarians, and
all efforts to reach Nancy from that
point were definitely abandoned.
| The total losses Of that bloody en-
gagement are not known because no
! one on this side Of the frontier can
tell how many Bavarians went to the
assault, but it ID certain that few got
back to their camp at Pagny, and OF
the three Bavarian regiments that oc-
cupied Pont-a- Mousson 1t IL probable
that not a hundred Of them returned
to German soil. go