New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-03-05

had received this attention from com
rades.
Tho sounds Of the struggle came
nearer. and he could hear German
cheers. Suddenly the coat besise him
moved. and was thrown aside. and a
German soldier emerged, shouting:
This way, This wav!
Tho officer was without weapons, but
he seized the steel helmet from the
Germans head and struck him down,
splitting his head open with his own
helmet.
A csptain OF French chssseurs ha.
given an account Of the attack OF the
Germans near Douaumont on Thursday,
March 2. The various engagements Of
this day, particularly against .he vii
lage of Douaumont, resulted in heavy
losses to the German troops, the cap
tain saiu.
German forces. on Thursday, along
O. front Of three miles. delivered furi-
Gus attack with the village Of Douau-
mont as the principal objective" the
captain continued. "Detachmcnts Of
two German divisions. recently brought
INTO the zone OF fghting. threw them
selves agains. our organization This
movem ut began at O'Clock in the az
bombsrdment Of undesirable inten-
sity.
"Our antagonist showed tenacious
bravery, but. notwith standing the cour-
age Of the enemy. the French chas-
seurs once again lived I'd TO their
reputation. They went into the fight,
and veritablc slaughter Of the en-
envy was their reward. There were
stacks Of the enemy dead right up
against our barbed wire entangl dement's.
Fierce lighting at close quarters, and
i'm some places hand-to- hand engage
ments. gave us at some points .he ad-
vantage. Nevertheless the Germans
came back 70 the charge again with
fresh COMPANIES OF men.
"A little after this was Wounded
in the head BY the explosion Of shell,
but in spite Of this injury and before
bcirc carried away from the field or
battle I was able to take note OF the
good work done By my men. Their
aggression throughout the days nght-
ing hal been marvellous.
at is o fact that we sustained losses
during these actions, but our cssuaites
were very much under those OF the
enemy"
Prisoners Tell Of losses.
Paris has been specializing FOR sew
eral DAYS on the total Of the German
casualties in the region Of Nerdun. ~
has been virtually impossible TO reach
any exact conclusions in this regard
but sill the evidence points to the 1act
.hs. at certain places along the Inc OF
bst+Io the losses sustained by the Ger
man troors have been formidable. Ger
man prisoners IN the hands OF the
French give certain details OF the cas-
ualties caused By the French fre when
are Of interest as evidence or the 'o'ai
losses. 49,, c
A German soldier Of the 10th Com
many. 10Th Regiment of Infantry, no"
a prisoner behind the French lines, mas
made the following statement co"oe'"
ing his own experiences; ,.rr
Con February q, before my compan!
ba6 taken mart In any engagements IL
VA composed Of 200 men and twenty
fopr Ulcers. Then we went into oatte,
ard the organization came out REDUCED
70 ono officer and seventy men. ~ -
MIRACLE that any OF US escaped tne
"Tb. French artillery fire and the
.t'e,,snshin Of the French lnfen'r!
men made equally heavy rayages IN tne
rsnks OF almost all the other companies
Of my regiment o. .hc
io5th Regiment of German loiah't!'
Balancing TO the 30th DIVISION 'ooh up
IT, nosition for an attack. prlsonel
,,bo belonged 20 this organization mas
SUPPLIED the following account OF """'
occ,rryed oil this part Of the hne;
con February 20 three German
taNong delivered AZ assault aga
wood held by the french. ne Ia
80 10. US advance, but suddenly they
na,od nm with their machine guns
JeI;yerinc a fire so powerful eAd Wen
Xrocted that entire lines OF our men
during certain stage OF the hgnt-
To- ,ve we're effectively fiankec oy the
Ero,cb For q moment my company
l,o,nod and for US this move was fataI'
~ French fire poured IN, and the
Ill bodics of The victims covered inc
,,,a,,,,d Then the entire 18th kegimeh,
tlo.nc IA turn. The men scattered
IA made their escape as pest tn.y
I'D Our losses we're enormous. AS
~ novself | had only time 10 thro"
,,,..eIf down on the ground ana pay
the dead man.
Lost in Woods Two Days.
"Wbcn night came I started making
nav nv" carefully and quietly through
,carbv wood. but / had conplcteiy
lost nv bearings. and IT was lnp0SSsl-
80 Cor me 10 find my company. OF
- dov, was lost and wandered about
sl,olessiv. and IL was only on fenruary
70. in The morning, that frencr
rot,oi caught me. I was taken pms
a"or and conducted within the french
lines" .
A,otber German soldier, also prs
QUO, ~ the French, belonging 10 ,he
ol,b Regiment OF Infantry, describes
80 .Yncricnccs i'm very much the same
,yav On February 27, this man Is
quoted as saying. a German oat'aliQn
v,as ordered 10 occupy the wood 10 tne
GAS. Of the fort AZ Douaumont. NJ wv
Zinc this instruction was gwen ceI T.
companies Of the Sd Battalion OF 1c.
man chssscurs were being subjected 20
q French attack 81 point 10 me Ie''
Of the Gath Infantry. 80,
aye were successful, tins German
solt;e, relates. ain making our way
,,to the wood. but IL was absolutely
,,,,o,siblc 10 20 any further. for we
y,eye a, once subjected, 20 a force IRE
from The French machine guns. We
,ye,c uuder a well directed cross ire'
.be bullets singing all about u.. Inis
npt a complete stop 70 our forward
rnovement. and compelled US to retreat.
eve saved ourselves, but at "hat a
terrific cost, Two-thirds of our ei-
fectiye force bad been strucE Gown
either killed or wounded. some OF ny
comrades. who wcTc escaping shnodF
orcd "a bring ne with them. hui my
cordi.lor WIS such that J could nov
be- moved. French patrol. came J.c