The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-09-10
YANK'SBRAVERY
IN VESLE FIGHT
CAPTIVE
Lieut.. Turner's Ruse at Fis-
mette Saved His Badly
Battered Platoon.
REMAINED TO FIRE GUNS
"Surrender, Hellw He Said,
"We'll Fight 1t Out" and His
Men Stood by Him.
TO FIRE GUNS
BY RAYMOND G. CARROLL.
Special Gable Despdtch TO The Sun and ne
Public Tedoer.

Specidi Cdofc Despdtch 10 IHE Sun anu the
Public ledger.
Copyright. 1918; a.! rights reserred.
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE,
Sept 9.-Lieut. Horst Lutz is an
undersized young German who was
captured by our troops last Thursday.
aiong with another German officer and
sixty German soldiers at the little
French village of Muscourt, nesting
in q ravine which drops down from
the Soissons Plateau to the valley Of
the Aisne.
Prodded by the officers of our in
telligencc department Lutz revealed
first, that he had led one Of the en-
emy companies which made a fierce
attack on Fismette August 81, and
second. that there was an American
officer m this particular encounter
who showed bravery and resourceful-
ness equal to that displayed by Leon
idas at Thermopyle.
He is Lieut.. Benjamin e. Turner Of
Chicago. whose wife is now in Pacific
Grove. Cal. and whose mother lives At
106 Northern avenue. New York. city.
He is modest ex-sergeant of the
amy. having received his commission
lesr than a month ago. He was as
signed to duty north Of Chateau
TEierry.
Mysterious Order to Surrender.
On August % there were just six
oaa t,, ha
form of q crescent around Eismette
when at 4:35 o'clock the fury OF con-
centrated enemy barrage fell without
previous warning upon these defenders.
There were exploding shell Of shrapnel
and gas and the spray OF machine gun
bullets. while airpianes overhead dropped
their torpedoes and occasionally swooped
down to lie. go a murderous machine gun
fire against the Americans. Then came
the rush OF enemy infantry. Here I will
quote from the official report OF the
fight:
During the attack by the enemy some
one in an American uniform ran among
our troops shouting that further resist
ance was useless and that one of our
officers advised everybody to surrender.
or our troops engaged two officers and
about thirty men retreated. fighting and
firing, and finally reached the northern
bank of the river
The soldier who spread the report Is
believed to have been a German In an
American uniform. The day before the
attack a German spy named Max Kauv.
of the 463d German Infantry. was seen
and mortally wounded far inside our
lines. He was formerly q resident Of the
United States. Now II is regarded as
altogether probable that the man who
shouted Surrender" was another Ger
man spy who came over tho lines with
Kauv.
EVEN Fight II OUT" Says Turner
Surrender. hell! / should say not"
shouted Lieut.. Turner to his men. who
| held the extreme right Of the crescent
| 1--WE will fight II out" he added
! This was in the dim light OF earl,
! day, and amid the smoke OF bursting
| shells. Again and again the enemy wat
driven off. Along about 8 o'clock Turner
finding himself and his men at the peak
of n salient and almost surrounded. be
gan to drop back. fighting frop house &c
house. toward the river. At last. near
o'clock, they reached dismantled dwell
ing less than 900 feet from the shat
| tered bridge leading across the river to
| Fisnes.
From inside the dwelling. from win
dows and holes in the wall, they KEEP
| Coafinnsh on Fourth Pace