The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-21
A[SAT|AN SUMMIT TAKEN BY ASSAULT Moved Slowly Up Mountain Under Terrible Fire TITRNED HEAD AWAY Troops Unable to Look as Line of Comrades Moved Forward to
 Wilter Away Under Hail
 of Bullets

Paris, February 1.-A French Alpine | chasseur tells in letter how the Alsatian summit known as the Tete de Faux was taken by assault.
 At 10 in the morning." he writes "a common shot gave the signal to attack. The fight began all along the line. One | by one the 75mm. guns, the somm., the l 105mm. and the 65mm. began to belch | forth. The noise was terrifice. We kept | on advancing. All at once 8 shell burst l on our right; frs dropped with a crack ling of branches and amidst whirlwind of snow. We reached our point. Then again there was silence, the guns ceas- ing fire one after the other sI | "The roll was called by squads, the men taking up their place as called. , Quickly and without disorder each man took a roll of barbed wire, which mule had just dropped by the roadside. The pioneers went ahead, some with shields, others with bags of earth, making for the trenches in order to cut the paroed wire defenses under the terrible fire which was about to be poured into them. We looked at them and turned heads away.
 Take Cover Behind Wall Suddenly the cracking of rifles be- gins. There was shouts of "A mol! (help), and a wounded man with shattered arm goes by. He had been picked up by an enemy patrol. My squad formed into skir mishing order and fixed bayonets. With a rush we reached the outskirt, and dropped behind an 1S-inch stone wall. The Bavarian patrols and main guard fell back rapidly. In front of us, snow and stunted frs. We waited. up above, amid the rattle of machine guns, rifles, bombs, we heard the bugles wildly sounding the immortal notes. We heard the roar of the Hairy men, i. e., the chasseurs as they climbed up the crest. "The captain sends the word Forward With a bound we out of the forest, lying down, almost buried in the snow, behind the little frs, trying to see ahead. Bullets whistle over our heads One ploughs through the snow four inches from my cap. At that moment as l was awaiting the order to make fresh rush I moved couple of yards in order to get under little fir tree whehe there was hardly any snow. S. joined me, and quietly observed: It's destiny. Only those will pass who are fated to pass
 "Our position became terrible. There was a gash--it was K, shot through the heart, who turned, tried to say some- thing to Sergeant G., and fell to rise again no more. The hail of bullets grew thicker far from the trench.
 Above the din I heard Sergeant P, on my left, cry: Pass word along to the captain that we are caught in the rear, and cannot advance any further and this from Sergeant G.: Pass the word; are we to advance or retire?
 Chasseurs at Work
 "Above us the bugles were silent. The roar of voices had diminished. The hairy men had reached the trench on the summit and were at work with the bayonet. fs0l-
 "A heartrendering cry. It's D.. who is lying by the side of F., "a moi! Don't leave me C.. And then G-'s voice:
 Pass word to captain; D. is killed. B. is wounded; we can't see anything ahead. We can't hold our ground any longer Let us advance or retreat. Is there a trench to be carried ahead of us?"
 "'The reply came: Take cover behind the wall.' G. repeated the order. With a bound some rose, S-- and myself among them. Avoiding the holes full of snow and the branches and roots we got back to the edge of the forest, with the bullets whistlng faster than ever
 "Others of our fellows, like hunted hares, ran in zig-zags; others again crawled along, and every time they shook a fir as they passed a fresh hail of bull lets was rained upon them.
 Then another cry Sergeant G. is wounded A few seconds fater-they seemed like agesI saw him coming along, crawling like a snake Whats the matter? What are you hurt? But he picked himself up and got over the wall He had waited moment, just then all rose, to retreat, crawling along. Then D., livid in the face, came and dropped dead two yards from me. With . last effort he had freed himself from bis knapsack and equipment
 Tt was all over. Each company, each eouad was in possession of the position it had been ordered to carry, and, put ting down their rifles, the men seized their knives and other tools and began to unroll the mile of wire they had brought with them, waiting until the trench had been deepened sufficiently to make it possible to set to work with picks and shovel The tricolor flag which hairy man has brought along at the end of his rifle was flYiug from the summit.