New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-12
Invaders Who Fell Before
Guns of the British
Litter Ground.
PEOPLE. RETURNING
TO THEIR HOMES
Pursuing Troops Lie on the
Ground and Sleep at
First Chance.

T
| patch from Lagny on the Marine says:
4 "A trip along the valley OF the
! Marine brings gratifying evidence OF
the reality Of the German retreat. On
Sunday the British and Germans were
I at grips east Of this place. Shattered
] shop fronts and empty houses stu
! testify to the Germai menace.
! "Sincc then the TcutOn has been
! driven steadily back beyond the Trll-
| port and Crecy-cn- line, where
/ the hardest fighting occurred beyond
! Mcaux, where the Teuton now is. In
! this strategic movement Of General
Won Kluk's army rcarward along the
! Marine valley the British army has
| played leading role.
General French's army advanced &c
! meet the German Emperor's hosts with
what must have been forced marches
/ from their temporary base to the
/ southeast Of Paris. The whole British
| army, except cavalry, passed through
/ Lagny, and the incoming troops were
so wearied that many of them 1T the
/ first opportunity lay down in the dust
and slept where they were. Bat few
! hours rest worked great change, and
a few days later the British troops
we're following the slow German re-
treat up the valley with bulldog te-
nacity.
British Artillery's Work.
"The British artillery did notable
work in those days, according to the
| French military surgeons who were sta
toned at Lagny. At points near here
/ the bodies of slain Germans who fell
I before the British gunners still litter
the ground, and the grim crop must be
| still heavier on the sol, further up the
valley, where the fighting was more
| desperate.
Gas far as possible, the bodies are
/ buried at night, each side attending tc
! its own fallen. The horses are left to
decay where they fall, at least for the
| present.
"Sanguinary incidents were plentiful
! in the week of fighting to the south OF
/ the Marine. In an engagement not iar
| from here our men captured thirty
| Germans who had given up their arms
| and were standing under guard, when,
! encouraged by sudden forward chort
Of the German front. they made
dash for their rifles. They were mown
down by vOlley from the British
Guards before they could reach their
weapons.
at Lagny one Of the sights of the
town is a shattered bridge which was
I blown up by General French week
| AGO as soon as lie got his army across
| il
"At that time British infantry and
artillery had poured through the town
! and over the bridge for several days.
/ Exactly why the bridge was blown up
I is not clear, as the British army was
| full of confidence and advancing
against an enemy who had been brought
to halt. Possibly General French's
| idea was TO keep raiding attachments
If German cavalry from incursions into
he villas and gardens Of the western
suburbs.
Too Late TO Save Bridge.
At Lagny one is told that fifteen
minutes after the bridge had been re-
duced to a twisted mass of steel and
broken masonry a belatPd order came
to save it; but the British engineers
who had received the order to destroy
il had done their work well. The in
habitants were cleared out of all the
! neighboring houses, which were shaken
by the terrific explosion when the
| charge was set off. Every window IN
the nearby houses was shattered and
much damage was done to ceilings and
| pictures.
"The people of Lagny, who now have
to use a makeshift ferry to cross the
river, take the destruction of their
beautiful bridge in good part. They
are too grateful for their deliverancc
from the Germans to grumble about
the wrecked bridge.
"Close to MeauX the Germans seem
to have stayed their retreat last night
and even to have made slight ad-
vance. 1t was apparently merely
rear guard covering movement.
"All along the valley the confidence
of the people has been restored and the
populace is returning to their aban-
doned homes.
"The British army no longer forms
the left wing of the allies. On its lett
is French armyone of seven which
are now in the field"
Lanterns Betray Germans.
A graphic picture Of the fighting in
Crecy wood il given in "The Daily
News" The French and English in
Overwhelming numbers had poured in
from Lagny toward the river Marine
to reinforce the hanking skirmishers.
One of the smaller woods southeast of
Crecy furnished cover for the enemy
for a time, but led to their undoing.
The patrols discovered them in the
night as the Germans were moving
about with lanterns.
Suddenly the invaders found their
twinkling glow worms the mark for a
foe of whom they had been unaware.
Without warning a midnight hailstorm
from Maxims screamed through the
arees. The next morning scores OF
Y 10 an IN n tt,nnI
with their glasses shattered. \ cav
airy charge finally cleared the tragic
wood Of the Germans.
The correspondent also describes
walking wood at Crecy. The French and
British cut down trees and armed them
selves with the branches. Line after
! line Of infantry, each man bearing a
branch, then moved forward unobserved
toward the enemy. Behind them, amid
I the Topped tree trunks, the artillery
men fixed themselves and placed thir-
/ teen Founders to cover the moving
wood. The attack which followed upon
/ it won success.
/ 1t almost went wrong however, for
the French cavalry which was follow
| ing detour TO pass the wood, dashed
J INTO view near the ammunition reserve
of the allies. German shells began fall
! ing Whereabouts, but British soldiers
went up the hill and pulled the boxes
! Of ammunition out Of the way of the
I German shells. Ammunition and men
came through unscathed. By evening
the enemy had been cleared from the
Marine district
AUSTRIA DOUBTS
SLAVS' DEVOTION