Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-12-29
FRENCH ARMY SCHOOL
PRODUCER OF HEROES
Saint Cyr Made Heavy sacri-
fees In First Year of
European War.

ST. Cyr. France, (by m~ail).-St. Cyr,
the west point of France, made heavy
sacrifices to the country I'm the first
year of the war. Nearly 1000 of its
graduates were killed, including 2S7 of
the 1000 cadets of 1914 and 1915. Thir-
ty-one of these young officers were
decorated with the cross of the Legion
OF Honor, nearly 200 of them were cited
In orders of the day, and more than
500 were wounded. Altogether. more
st. Cyr men persisted on the battle
fields of Morhange. Charleroi. the
Marine, the Aisne and in the Nosges
than were killed in the battles of Aus
%terlitz. TIylau. Jena, Wagram. Moskva,
Montmirail and Waterloo. Nearly as
many died on the field of honor from
August i. 1914. to August l. 1915. rs
had previously fallen from the date of
the birth of the academy in 1902.
On July 20. 1914. the officer COM
manding st. Cyr notified the cadets OF
the class Of 1918 that the customary
fete, called the "Trionlphe." that takes
place each year Incidental 10 the cere-
tnony Of the promotion of the Junior
class and its christening, would not be
hello. Each class AT ST. Cyr. at the
time OF its PROMOTION. receives a dis
lnci1ve name . Sorf of "nom-de-
guerre-' which its members carry
through their career: il is conferred
upon the juniors by the graduating
class. The suppression of the fete was
. nlomentous revelation TO the young
oHicers-the first official confirmation
they had received of the impression
that wal was Imminent. The ~rejoic-
Ing was. by official orders. TO be re-
placed by military honor that gave TO
the occasion an pnwonted solenlnity
and a sort of grave enthusiasm. Drawn
up IN the spacious court OF Louis XIV.
the "Montrnirails"-the class of 1914
pAid the honors 10 their juniors. Only
q nartl1 nSflnnNS u aQ ,nfoir, ava N lev,
tenant of the guard were the privileged
spectators of an impressive scene tina
VIII be recorded in history. A few So
Der words of presentation, pronounced
by the major of the "Montmirails," and
the new class entered upon its military
career under the significant name of
the NCroix du D~rapeau" (the cross of
the flag).
Jean Anard Meeus. the poet of the
class. recited u patriotic poem, his only
contribution TO literature. but one that
VIII make his name enduring. When
he had finished reading his inspiring
lines. a voice cried out from among the
LOCO exalted young patriots:
SW,ea all OF us that when we go
u action il will be in full uniform,
with white gloves n plumes flying in
our shakos."
A thousand voices blended in ono
reply:
We swear it"
Some war correspondents have
thought to have discovered some OAR
taEnans among the French soldiers at
the front With the cadets OF ST. Cyl
the spirit OF Cyrano de Bergerac and
the cadets of Gascogne may surely be
said to live again.
h soldier poet. Jean AIlard Meeus.
kept the oath that he had taken. He
went n action in full uniform, the
most conspicuous target Of all, leading
HE nArpkfnw ~ 49, 1900 -
OF the first to fall. On August %. at
CharlerOi, Second Lieutenant de Fay-
ole. OF the class Of .Croix de D~rapeau."
received his baptism Of fire. Under a
furious Smelling of the German artil-
lery his men hesitated. Lieutenant de
Fayoile turned to encourage them, but
perceived that though he had kept his
vow to go into the fight with his white
gloves. he had forgotten his red and
white plume. Immediately drawing IL
out Of his ~knapsack. he stuck 1t into
MS shake and h section, electrified.
by his example. rushed forward.
You are going to get yourself killed.
lieutenant" cried a corporal.
Forward! Forward" was the young
soldiers reply as he bounded forward
ct theh head Of his men. A few minutes
later he lay tnanimate on the Charlie
roi battle field with a bullet hole in
his forehead directly underneath the
red II white plume.
Lieutenant de Castelnau was q mem
ben Of the .Montmirail' class. He. with
his section, held the enemy in check
a day and at the very moment
when he had succeeded In throwing
tnem back received his death wound.
He had q noble end" was the COM
ment made by his father. Gen. Curieres
- Castelnau, on being informed Of his
Second Lieutenant Lanquetot, aged