New-York tribune., 1917-07-15
Wounded American Con-
firms Assertions of Trib-
une Correspondent
Regiments Wiped Out
Only 5000 of 10000 Enlisted
in Foreign Legion Still
Survive

A view from the French trenches a.
20 the terrific losses which the army
has suffered was given to The Tribune
Yesterday by a "blessee"-an Ameri'
can who has served over two years IN
the Foreign Legion, and is now conva'
lescing here from a dangerous wound
This Legionnaire fully indorses the as
sertions Of Mr.. Fred B. Pitney, The
Tribune's correspondent, thaI riah'e
has been bled white. ~,
He served with the Legion in the
eth Company of the 1st Regiment, sa"
service in the sectors directly nortn OF
Compiegne. in the vicinity OF Elain-
court and Ressons-sur-jiatz, and TOOK
mart in the attack on the Somme. lie
had many opportunities Of gaining IN
formation at first hand, and while IN
the hospitals had many talks with OFF,
GERS and men. 80,
"Since the French do not publish
casualty lists, the t,sk of proving eX-
actly what the losses Of the French
army have been is difficult" he said,
"but have seen enough TO know that
the French army is withering.
america, as a whole, seems TO be OF
the opinion that Germany is doomed to
destruction within the next year; that
all the United States has 10 do Is TO
send a few hundred thousand men TO
France, and after ordering Forward
march drive through TO Berlin. Amer
ica is wrong
A Whole Regiment Lost
I enlisted in the Legion In Paris.
When reported for duty az Lyons |
was given the number 38,606. There
was a second regiment as large as the
first before the battle in Champagne
on September q, 1915, but when the
entire Legion marched from Elaincourt
10 the Somme in July, 1915, there were
fewer than 1000 men in It. The two
regiments had been reorganized into
one.
Taking into confederation the fact
that many Italians and Greeks were
withdrawn and sent to the armies Of
their own country, | cannot believe
there were more than 10000 released
in this way. | am of the opinion that
10000 men have enlisted in the Legion.
To-day there are less than 5000.
Where are the rest?
"Whle in the hospital at Val de
Grace. in Paris, met an adjutant from
a regiment of infantry. He had gone
through two attacks at Verdun and was
wounded at Belloy-en-Santerre, on the
Somme. in July, 1915. He told me that
his regiment had lost more than two
thirds of its men during the first at
tack; and more than half in the second:
that the regiment was recruited by
men from the class of 1916 and 1917 be-
fore the second attack, and that they
had not been within a mile of the
Boche during either attack, yet they
had lost more than 1000 men in each
engagement, and had only been under
fire for six days the first time and ten
the second. acting as reinfcrcements.
Joffre Calls OF Attack
"The day following my release from
the Foreign Legion had dinner with
a general of the French army. | lis
tened 10 his conversation with three
other officers. The general told of the
attack on the Somme and the Cham
pagne. He said that Jofrre, after
visiting the front in the beginning Of
July and learning at what cost a few
square kilometres nad Deen taken, nur-
ried back to Paris and proposed that
the attack be called Off.
"He had calculated that after the
first two lines Of trenches had been
taken, il would be possible 10 continue
to attack without advancing his ar
tillery and making a four-day prepara-
ton By tearing down bsrbed wire en-
tanglements and breaking up trenches
and caves with artillery fire. In this
he made a mistake. For as soon as the
first two lines had been taken il was
necessary to wait. four or five days
while adequate artillery preparation
was made before advancing on the next
lines.
What the French army has done has
been glorious. But, viewed from the
point of expediency and common sense.
believe that almost TO a man the en-
tire French army will agree that there
have been hundreds OF thousands of
lives needlessly wasted in attacks
made without adequate artillery prep
aration and in retaking territory that
was not worth its cost to human life
Use Of Russian Troops
"Ihe most powerful argument that
can be used 10 substantiate the con-
tention of Mr.. Pitney and myself IL
the use of Russian troops on the West