Carroll County democrat. (Huntingdon, Tenn.) 188?-1971, 1917-08-17

place Of strength. In 1913 it
had little less than $4,000 in
habitants, but in Gaulish times it was
already that Bibrax which julius
Caesar took in the year 81 B. c., and
where no doubt the Romans estab-
lished themselves and maintained the
authority of Rome among the CON
quered. Many curious Gallo-Romanic
antiquities have been collected in the
neighborhood and are now in the mu-
scum. Up to the fifth century the col
lection was known as Laudunum.
During the Merovingian, the Cape
tan, and, in fact, in all periods of
French history says Henry P. Davray
in Country Life, Laon has played an
important role. Its geographical posi-
ton caused it to be frequently be-
sieged. Situated on the road from
Paris and from the valley of the Seine
to the middle valley of the Mouse, it
Is built on an isolated mount quantity
carved out in the form of a promon-
tory which can be seen from a great
distance. This mount forms a kind
Of V of which the point Is turned to-
ward the northwest. To the northeast
the cathedral rises, and to the south
the Abbey Of st. Vincent. From a
height Of 800 feet above the valley Of
the Ardon it dominates a view which
extends far in all directions, and
there is not within a large radius
better post Of observation. Moreover,
the steep TANKS Of the hill made the
entry easily defensible against the
weapons of former times, though twice
1t has known the humiliation of capitu-
lation to German forces, in 1914 and
again on September 8, 1S70-a date
that many older inhabitants carry in
their hearts today. In this fortified
vantage point the early kings Of
France made their residence. Here,
too, the church founded a bishopric
about 800 A. D., which was steadily
maintained until the Revolution.
OF Strategic Importance.
Laon was place that all armies
fought for with bitterness. The Eng
lish during the Hundred Years war,
later the Burgundians and Charles the
Bold, in the wars Of the Reformation,
the invaders of 1914, of 1915 and 1870
all regarded the town as one Of their
great strategic points. 1t was taken,
ravaged, pillaged, burned a great num-
Der Of times after long and difficult
sieges. The garrison easily opposed
which often enough beat
he besiegers.
For example, when Henry ~ recon-
Iuered his kingdom from the duke Of
Mayenne and the Ligue, the town of
Iaon held him at bay for a long time
n 1894. He took 1t less by force of
lrms than by a diplomacy suggested
o him by his astuteness and cunning.
n 1914, during that immortal cam
,aign of France, when more than ever
he resources of his genius were dis
'layed, Napoleon tried to drive out
Slucher and the PruSsianS. For sew {
raj days he redoubled his efforts and
nally abandoned the place. These
etails, which could easily be multi t
lied, prove the strategic importance 9
Laon.
Apart from It's geographic position, 2
hitch gives it military value, 1t has r
cen the meeting place and crossing [
ONT of the means of communication b
nd transportation which existed at t
II these epochs. The great highways T
the district intersect at the foot Of v
ne mount, and when the railways b
ere built in the nineteenth century d
lie station Of Laon became the juno
on of the lines from Paris, from Terg-
Ter, from GuiSe, from HirsOn, from
helms and from Liart. s.
Where Railway Lines Meet. a
The Importance Of possessing Laon
II the Germans can easily be seen. v
here meet the railway lines coming
ON Germany by Luxembourg, Mont
edy, Sedan, Mezieres, Charleville and
irson; the lines coming from Cologne v,
Id from Aix-la- Chapelle, by the val IN
y Of the Mouse. LIege. Namur and
harlerol, and from Brussels, Mons tc