The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1918-08-15

HIS nav was designated for n
slofinlng attack and we were Obliged
10 De IN our positions at seven o'clock
IN the morning. Promptly at 8 80 regi-
ment No. 81 was ordered to attack
floneers led the way. They were sup
piled with hand grenades. These week
!! attacks were opened half an hour
Defore the infantry went over by a
storm OF artillery fire. The artillery
action required very careful calcula-
ton because the distance which sepa-
rated our position from the enemy's
was very slight. It varied from three
TO one hundred meters; never any
more. AT the point where we attacked
the distance was 20 meters.
Promptly at eight O'Clock the artil-
iery started. The first three shells
struck a ditch, but the following ones
MT fairly. that is, right in the French
trenches. Once the artillery had the
proper range whole salvos of batteries
descended upon them with admirable
rNactness. The cries of the wounded
were heard once more, sign that
MdHy Hdu Deen nit.
An artillery officer acted as observer
IN the foremost sense and directed the
nre by phone. Promptly at s 80 O'Clock
the artillery fires stopped and We at
tackled. The eleventh company of the
Sixty-seventh regiment. of which l
spoke before, came under the fire Of
the enemy's machine guns and Is of its
men were killed after they had only
proceeded few steps outside the
trench.
Dead and wounded men lay among
the branches and the trees everywhere
on the ground. Every man who was
able to run sped forward to reach the
enemy trench as quickly as possible. A
part of the enemy defended itself des-
perately in trench filled with water
and mud. A terrible hand-to-hand fight
resulted. We stood In water up to our
knees.
Men, severely wounded, lay in the
mud. holding their mouths and noses
above the water. During the fighting
they were trampled more deeply into
the dirt under our feet for we could
not see where we were going; we could
only 'roll up the entire trench.
The section won was fortified with
all possible haste. Once more we had
acquired ut heavy cost in human life
a few meters of the Argonne forest.
This trench. which we took, had
changed hands many times and even
now we were preparing for the usual
cOunter-attacks
Presently the "jackasses" went into
action. The "jackasses" are the guns
of the French mountain artillery. They
We're SO named because they were
drawn by mules. They are guns of fiat
trajectory. kept from so to 100 meters
behind the enemy lines. The shells
| from these cannon flew directly over
our heads and cut their way through
| the branches at high rate of speed.
Because of the high velocity of the
| shell and the short distance it travels
| the defamation when the shot is fired
and the noise Of the explosion, sound
almost at the same instant. These
"jackasses" are greatly feared by the
German soldiers because they are kept
working day and night.
/ 1t was winter and very cold. The
| trenches had been filled with water
| and were now nothing except deep
bitches of mud. Under these condi-
tons. through the ice-cold nights, our
/ routine consisted of 48 hours duty
and II hours rest. Every week storm
| ing attack was made, the success OF
/ which was entirely out of proportion
/ to the enormous losses. In all of the
four months | was in the Argonne for.
| ests we gained 400 meters The fol.
lowing data will indicate how heavy a
price was paid in lives for this little
piece Of France.
Each regiment had its own GENE.
terry. There was the One Hundred and
Forty-tifth infantry regulars, the Sixty
ty-third infantry regulars and the
One Hundred and Fifth Hirsch
berg battalion. On the day we were re
lieved from duty in the Argonne for
ests there were more dead in these
cemeteries than there were survivors
of the several regiments. The Sixty
seventh regiment had more than 2,OO(
dead. All the victims were member!
of that unit except few pioneers
who had been assigned to duty will
1t. There was never day withou
some loss of life, and on the days whel
the storming attacks were made, dealt
had an extremely large harvest.