The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1916-03-04

the circumstances. rlndly TIC ionee
was shortened and the shells began
dropping in the first trench, where l
was. | saw a dozen men mangleu ny
one about fifty feet from me and
was stunned myself. Right then the
Germans stopped their artillery nre
and charged.
"Our regiment was commended al
terward for the fight we put up In the
next twenty-four hours. We drove
back the Germans in hand to hano
fighting three times, and when the
dawn of the third day came | looked
about me and it seemed that everyone
| knew lay dead or wounded. VI
battalion of 1900 men just 100 re-
| NAMED. had not been wounded, al
though | had bayonet thrusts in my
clothes and a neat round hole through
my ping pong hat, which is a mighty
fat built creation.
81 afterward learned a great many
of our men we're killed by our own
artillery. our observers having made
mistake in distance, with the result
| that scores of our own lyddite shells
| were thrown into the trenches from
the rear. II the men had known that
there would have been all kinds OF con-
fusion, but as it was we were IN
frenzy of excitement and viciousness
and where shells came from or where
they went was the least of our trou'
bles. We were busy killing Germans
individually.
piled High With Dead.
"Well, we were told to retire, but
the trenches were piled so high Win
the dead and badly wounded that We
could not make our way through the
intersectional trenches. | footed my
way among the bodies of some of the
finest boys | will ever know, and saw
others gasping their last breath. There
was nothing to do for them.
Even after the engagement two OF
three lyddite shells from our own ar
tillery dropped into the outer end OF
the trench, and Captain Joe Davis, who
later died next to me in action, sa"
them. He jumped up and tried to get
into communication with the artillery
but finding the wires ineffective dashed
back, deliberately exposing himself tc
the Germans, and told the artillery
chief that his range was short.
THAT is the kind of men we had II
the Rifles. When there was something
to be done | never saw a man shiri
, for an instant.
well we were ordered, what wa
left of us, back to Richebourg, and tina
, was another trick of fate which hell
us from death. Two days later we re
turned to the identical spot to find tina
/, two companies of men who had beer
there had been annihilated, with thu
exception of one man, Rodney McDer
, mott. The Prussian guard had swep
: over in the night, and there were NJ
re-enforcements to back the boys UP
knew how they must have waited 10
them, for We were always hearing o
r relief and it always seemed hour
+ before it came.
8 1--WE would be crouching in trench
I knowing from the observers report
y that we were outnumbered twenty t
n one, and we would be told that the re
e lief was coming up within an houl
y Two hours would pass and we all tn
q time waiting for the creeping figure
y of the men of the re-enforcements t
X come into the dim light Of the nigh
s And then when they did come sneal
y ing along in single file through the IL
d tersectional trenches it would b
n mighty good to hear the first one sa,
E. Northumberland Fusileers; have yo
T. been waiting long? Just silhouette
e but the most welcome shadows in tn
world.
IN Sent on a Scouting Trip.
Is 81 had an interesting experience &
b. Neuve Chapelle on October 29. Yo
,r have no idea how little man in tn
ly ranks knows about what is going Q
ht around him or whether his army is d
70 ing we'll or ILL., was sent with thre
H. other men into Neuve Chapelle to sc
1t II the Germans held it or what ii
W. situation was. The town was afr
n We passed through the stretch whel
n, the big Jack Johnsons' were sendiT
Is, shells at a mistaken range and hurrie
he along down into the outskirts of Il