The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1916-03-08
DEAD SOLDIERS
STOOD UPRIGHT
Not Having Any Room To
Fall.
4 SCENE Of AWFUL CARNAGE
The Deafening Roar Of Artillery
Drowned Out All Other
Noises.
OF TWO SOLDIERS

EXPERIENCE OF TWO SOLDIERS
Paris, Feb. 29.-Military critic.
here express the opinion that the
German forces, which at the begin
ming of the battle around Verdur
numbered probably half a million
now exceed 100000. THE situation
is now decidedly better" is the
phrase commonly used this morning
in the Paris press, regarding the
struggle for the great French strong
hold. The French are beginning to
reach vigorously against the German
"bludgeon strokes" which are hav-
ing less and less effect, and are be-
ing delivered with diminished ener-
gy. 1t is expected, however, that
they will be renewed again to-day,
but at new points. The fact that
the battle is now shifting is taken as
a sign that the German general staff
has begun to despair of making a
real impression on the French de-
Tense.
II fought since the beginning of
the war;" says a soldier who has re-
turned to Paris, and who was Pres
ent at the fighting at Ornes. 81 saw
the shambles at Suippes and Houain.
70 uyh VII
last week. The enemy advanced,
and we retired under orders, but we
killed them by the dozen. 1t was so
terrible that /, who have watched
my comrades fall around me almost
with Indifference. shudder as my
memory recalls those scenes.
"As their battalions advanced
upon us they were in serried masses,
by files of twenty. The shrapnel
from our 75-millimetre guns and the
projectiles from our heavy artillery
fell among them, and you could see
the great gaps, as if a mower had
passed with a scythe. Then high
explosive shells which burst on con-
tact fell, and limbs shot into the air.
We were so close that pieces of their
torn flesh fell among us. Eventual
ly we reached Moncourt and took
shelter for a time in a wood. AL
though it was o'clock in the morn
ing, the bursting shells made it as
clear as day, giving the battlefield
the aspect of a fairy scene.
From behind us the French ar
tillery fired into the German masses,
the German shells flying over our
heads toward the Douaumont sec
ton. Then our machine guns, plac-
ed in batteries every five yards, be-
gan to play, and We saw the dead in
groups upright, where there was
not room to fall. From Moncourt 1
followed the supply road to Fleury, |
where l took the light railway to-
ward Verdun. The heavy guns near
Oouaumont and Damloup were fir
ng as fast as they could be loaded.
When We passed the two points, the
lir pressure, produced by the con-
inuous discharges, was so terrific
hat blood gushed from our ears,
md our lungs almost ceased work.
n.y."
A combatant who was in one of
he most advanced trenches early in
he battle of Verdun and who has
to Paris wounded gives his
Experiences as follows:
"At dawn We received orders to
cave the trench and to retire to a
trong position in the Vaux woods in
ront of Douaumont. Bending low
re retired the four or FIVE kilome-
res through the snow without much
)ss. Once in the new trenches we
ould not hear one another speak, SO
reat was the noise of the cannon
ding, and when We looked through
ne periscopes We could only see
eavy clouds of smoke spouting out
the sky. with jets of fire flashing !
trough the snow flakes. There
ere about dozen of us in the
'enches and We felt the suppressed
motion SO much that at last we all
urst out singing. and yet none of [
5 could hear word spoken, even
Y himself. 4,
Then We saw the Germans COM
lg on. They were in such masses
lat they looked like a flock of
leep. When our guns began to
leak. white empty spaces showed
nong the gray of the advancing
asses; but they were soon filled byl
esh patches of gray. As they near
our barbed wire our machine
ms opened fire and we had to COW
our ears with anything that came
INDY. the noise WAS now an trama,