Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-11-10
IMPRESSIONS Of
WAR BY PRINCE
.
Wounded in Early Engage
.rnent, He Gives Story of
! His View of Fighting.

:
Berlin, Nov. lO.-Prince Francis Of
Bavaria a young colonel Of h Ger
man infantry who was wounded early
in October in the fighting in France,
has given to a newspaper correspond
ent some Of his impressions and
"reminiscences Of the war. HIS recos.
nttion of the Valor Of the enemy, his
readiness to admit that cases of firing
1pon the Red Cross flags may have
been without intent, and his statement
that he q found no evidence OF use
by the French of. dumdum bullets, sets
q high standard of tolerance in weigh
ing the conduct Of a foe.
An analysis OF the ingredients that
enter into the making OF an e1ectiNe
army was given by the prince, who
rated highest he possession OF plenty
Of officers who were not afraid to go
in front. Courage, of coursc.- must al
ways be present, he said. but bravery
alone does not suffce. -'r[&
What is needed Is bravery based
upon discipline" Muchsof the activity
Of the princes regiment was in con-
nection with the occupation Of. towns
previously taken and the clearing
away OF the enemy that remained in
trenched. He described the fights
within towns as something frlghtfnl
due to the fact that the French usual
" adopted a fortress OF defence.
Hence the infantry attack must be
prepared before hand by artillery. 1t
is this that causes SO man. scenes OF
destruction in these regions"
"The very first battles proved onc
thing to methat the, decisive factor
u to have many good officers. With
our troops we can do anything, even
accomplish the most difficult and ap-
harently superhuman results. but the
Sincers must keep in front: Our sol
Siers will 90 through thick and thin
With their officers unterrif1ed and
showing a death defying courage. But
there was q second lesson from these
drst battles-the importance Of an
iron-like discipline"
j.. Prince Francis was in the battle of
3oarburg. following iong marches late
in August. Regarding this conflict he
said:
n THAT was a murderOus affair Be
fore us and behind, to left and to
right, houses and factory buildings
were burning, and there was an inces-
SAINT thunder from heavy artillery on
both sidea. We took part in the pur-
suit Of the following days and had en-
xagements with weak troops OF the
enemy.
Do Not See Flag.
ION August 80 we witnessed the
shelling OF a temporary hospital r
tho enemy's heavy siege guns. This
day. with it's fdghtful Genes of war. !
shall never forget in my life. In the
morning We came near. 2 chateau.
from which tho Red Cross flag was
ing q few French. were being cared
for in It Already on the day before
the eDemy's fire had been raging
around this chateau, but On the 29th
tho French no longer respected the
Red Cross nag. Perhaps they did not
see it, but then 1t is not easy to explain
why they spared the chateau on the
ruth, however, I must say here that
the Red Cross flag often Is not seen;
and thus it to pass on both
sides that mistakes occur.
"a quarter Of an hour before the
0emy opened fire / had been sum
haoned to the commander Of my brig
xde. When I came back the chateau
and its surrounding buildings had
been shot 20 pieces. ] rode up to it.
Groups Of wounded passed ME without
ceasing. There were Genes Of horror
and human misery there. I saw men
with leg wounds holding fast to one
another in groups Of three or four
supporting each other as they tried
with all their remaining strength to
move along. Many literally crept
$long on all tours.
) Carried AL Out. y#
ITO the lasting honor of the medi-
cal oficens I must mention that they
had taken all the wounded, including
the Frenchmen out of the burning
ruins of the chateau despite the heavy
drftIvorv fra "rho, rn6n ia fhA
French wounded I found them
vhelmed with gratitude for the help
1iven them by the German sanitary
oorpS. A wounded French lieutenant
wrote out of his own accord a certih-
cate to the effect that the French
army had shot to pieces this chateau
IN defiance Of the Geneva Red Cross
convention. -.,
s"Of snipers we saw non When
ever We came the French population
Il must admit it-behave decently.
I saw nothing of dunn dunn bullets.
Our men I want to repeat, are un-
conquerable when they have good OF.
fcers and the strictest discipline. So
far as our enemies are concerned,
they defend themselves bravely and
are by no means towards. Only once,
It was on September "a. a hundred
Frenchmen, after a heavy lombard
nnent by u artillery, suddenly sig
nailed to Ut from their rifle pit and
came out and surrendered.
I'm the first days Of the war the
troops opposed to us apparently were
not first class. The hotter the battles
grew, however. the further We ad-
vanred into France, the more desper-
ate was the resistance we had to
break down. The shooting of the
French IL by no ean mad, and they
3 defending themselves az. we'll az
they can, for they nave everything at
sake. I believe that the French. in
the long run, will not prove able to
fpetst q troops.
The day will come when Frances
Military strength will break down
sonAer or later. I hope to see it my.
self, for I start for the front again
IN about 2 week"