The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1918-05-03
caPyHst 3na0e Ees RsII
Continued from Yesterday

of corpses of German soldiers indi.
Gated at what enormous cost the Ger
mans had brought up all available re-
serves The French did everything
they could to prevent the Germans
from getting the reserves into action
and increased the artillery fire to un.
heard-of violence. II seemed lmpos-
sible for us to be able to break through
this barrage. We saw hundreds Of
shells exploding every minute We
We're ordered to run the gauntlet OF
this hell In single file.
Lying prone upon the ground, we
saw how the first of our men at
tempted to pass. They ran, unmindful
of the shells bursting around them like
madmen; others we're buried under
ground thrown up by the high-power
explosives or torn by shrapnel or gren-
AIDES. Two men had scarcely reached
the line when well-directed shot from
q gun of large caliber burst directly
at their feet. When the smoke cleared,
there was no trace of the men.
You can imagine the feelings Of
those who lay on the ground not 100
feet away witnessing this spectacle,
and waiting their turn.
An officer cried. Next" It was
my turn. AS If aroused from a night.
mare. | sprang up, my gun in my right
hand, sidearm In my left, and ran
ahead. ] lodged two shells just as
they burst and ran close to several
others, bursting the same instant. A
number of times sprang back, then
ahead again, running to and fro like a
madman. seeking loOphole. But every
where there was iron and fire. ran
like hunted animal seeking a way to
pass to save myself, with a hell in
front Of me, and an officers revolver
always ready behind.
Throwing caution to the winds,
prepared to meet death and the devil
himself, | at last ran blindly ahead:
ran, ran, ran, until someone seized my
coat tail and shouted In my ear:
Here we are Are you wounded2
You had better look. Perhaps you are
wounded and don't know it,"
| was among those Of my comrades
who had gotten through. Trembling
all over, | stopped and looked around.
"Sit down and you will feel better"
said one of the men. I'VE also have
trembled."
Presently some wounded were
brought up. There were about 4S men
and sergeant took command. Moth
Ing more was seen of our officers.
: We continued to advance and passed
several German batteries. Many had
suffered heavily In deNd and wounded,
which lay around their guns destroyed
by enemy fire. Other batteries still
manned were useless because 40 more
ammunition could be gotten through.
We paused to rest. Several artil-
ierymen approached us, and noncom-
missianed officer asked them why they
did not fire.
Because we have used up all our
ammunition" was the answer Of one Of
the battery men.
lis II impossible to bring ammunl-
fIon through this barrager
"No," replied the artilleryman, "but
there Is no more ammunition. That Is
why we cannot get any. AT Neufcha-
teau we started like wild men after the
enemy. Man and beast died from the
heat. railroads and other mediums or
transportation were left in their dam
aged condition in the wild excitement
OF victory as we dashed into the heart
of France. We raced on, blindly and
th0ughtlessly, thereby interruptlng
communication with our bases, ran
directly into the trap set for us by the
French. Before the first ammunition
and other relief supplies reach us we
win all be killed"
Up to this time we had trusted
blindly In the invincible strategy of our
great general staff. Now It was brought
home to US on all sides that The
French were fighting at home, close
10 their greatest source Of supply, and
had excellent railroad connections at
titelr disposal. Further than that the
French maintained terrible artillery
fire from guns Of far greater caliber
than we believed they owned. This led
as to the conclusion that they were oc-
cunying positions which had been pre-
pared for long time. Yet we believed
that the picture painted by the artil-
leryman had been too black. We were
soon TO know better.
IS we approached the enemy's
trenches, we were met with a heavy
machine gun FIRE, and in double-quick
step hurried to the temporary protec.
ton Of hastily thrown up dugouts. A
bard rain had set in. The held around
Is was covered with dead and wound.
ed. Even our trench was flled with
wounded. which made its occupation
81 the defenders difficult. Many Of
he wounded men were paralyzed from
lying on the shiny ground All were
without bandages. They begged for
bread and water. but we had none for
ourselves They pleaded plteously, just
feza scrap Of bread Many Of them