The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1918-11-08
GAIT. DINKlNS TELLS OF AR
CONNIE FOREST BATTLE
Base Hospital No. 3, France.
October 10. 1918.
Mrs l.. /. Scrug%s,

October 10. 1918.
Mrs l.. l. Sc1uggs,
Grenada, Miss.
Ny dear Aunt Lucy:
Bv the time you receive Jnis you
will have received notice that ! am III
the hospital wounded, and IS the
wound is fast healing ] feel well
enough to have a board propped
against my knees and write you let
ter.
wrote you tie last letter wrote
before we advanced on September
26th. and little did think that the
next day | would be wounded We
opene ed our barrage at 200 a. m. and
free continually 5 rounds per gun
per minute for three hours, when the
infantry went over the top. We ad-
vanced 5 kilometers (3 miles, before
we we're temporarily halted. | had
,ord..,s TO take my battery up TO the
previously occupied German ilrsr lil.e
trenches, and had brought them up to
shell some German machine gun nests
when the Germans started shelling us.
Nv God, I'll never forget the scene
shells bursting all around US, horses
rearing up. men struggling to control
them, carriages and guns jammed to-
gether. Well the third shell bursted
and fragment struck me in the back,
knocked me over, temporarily stun
ned. killed four other men, wounded
six and killed and wounded five horses
AS | was in command of the battery,
a strange God-given thought came to
me and as | regained conclousness
and got up, | gave orders right and
left and in a few minutes got my
battery out of that position and
moved 200 meters to the left where
we were safe. From the loss OF
blood was so weak by this time that
| must have tainted for the next |
knew was six hours afterwards.
was in the hospital, been operated on
and a piece Of she'll removed from my
insides and was fairly comfortable.
The ether didn't bother me and L
smoked a cigarette or two and drank
a cup of coffee shortly afterwards.
am now feeling fine, out of danger
and while | will have an open wound,
vet for month, the doctor says |
will be able to get back to my battery
in two months. The doctors were
afraid the wound had affected some
nerves that would paralize my left
arm and leg and while my left leg
hurts nae fearfully day and night, l
can move it all right and hope no per-
manent results will set in.
The fight in which l was wounded
was truly wonderful. The Ailies
gave the Americans the hardest nut
to crack that they had. The famous
Argonne Forest and believe me we
sure did clean it up. There was a
hill and a ridge named "Vanguols
on which the Germans had fortified
themselves most strongly and for four
wears the French had tried to take 1t.
Estimates say they have lost thirty
thousand men on this hill and yet we
took it in three hours fighting and
what is more wonderful, my battery
did one-third of the artillery work.
Yes, our losses were large, we proba-
bly, lost as many dead and wounded as
the Huns but we captured four thous-
and prisoners and that helps. MY di-
vision was up against three German
divisions, the third and fifth Prusslan
Guard and the sixth Baravian and De-
lieve me they are some fighters. They
rant stop our boys though, and a ma
iority of the prisoners were glad that
it was over with.
The hospital service is truly won
derful, Red Cross throughout and the