Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-08-30
Iy Herbert Corey.

ing in B"llcau Wood:
E'irs, Is the extraordinary courage
and endurance Of the young Aherl-
r;,u soldiers who won that fight. Only
. small number was engaged. as num-
t.rs go in this war. but 1t may bc
doubted ii any body OF troops on
either side have been subjected to IL
heavier or more concentrated sh"ilihS
ar have. met with II more stubborn
rsSiStauCc.
second is the conviction of every
man who took part in that tight that
we have Fritzic's number" He has
definitely proved that hc Is the Ger
mans superior in fighting quality.
That personal superiority Is so marked
tina, every man will tell you that the
I.uchrs are towards" But the Ger
mains fought very well. The American
officers cOnccde this.
Third ~ the quality Of the l'russian
discipline. which held men who indi-
ypdu,Ily had had more than enough
firm in line. When cOrncrcd every
German surrendered. if he had TN"
chance. But he did not surrender un-
nj hr MAS corncrrd. His officers stood
behind with pistols ready. II was Il
choice. of deaths that was presented 10
him.
lis il true" | asked tn" colonel oil
these. rcmarkablr fighting men, that
you found Germans chained to their
guns"
1T is :: lir." he answered without
hesitation. "ISut their officers held
them at the guns by force They killed
those that ran
Durln@ tn" first three days oi the
fgating which lasted from June l to
June Is. the GcrmInS had no artillery.
Their surprise had been an effective
one. and they had advanced so rapidly
that their guns had not been able to
keep ZIP with them. During this time
the famous American unit which
fought in the BOiS de Bcllcau mad
succeeded in establishing themselves
i'm the wood and 4 brief period OF
hand to- hand lighting followed. The
lines were stabilized. to use the pet
phrase OF militariStS. Then each side
brought up its artillery.
No Retreat for Them.
The wood OF Bclleau is IN irregu-
larly shaped patch OF thickcts, per-
haps three times longer than it Is
1. wide The part in which the fighting
took place covers about TOO acres. 1t
had been kept as Il hunting preserve
for wears, and in the northern tip is
u pretty little hunting lodge, we'll FUR
nishcd in true woodland fashion. y
stuffed deer confronted the first
Americans from the hall, and boars
heads and antlcrS hung upon the wall.
II is around this tip that the Ger
mans still hold Il nest OF machine guns
at u cost they only knew. But while
that nest is held the movement for
ward ON the village of Bclleau Is
rhcckcd. The town Of Bcllcau il not
wanted just now. When il is ii will
br taken.
We advanced toward the wood
across an open field" said the colonel
or the unit. Our designated path
WAS perhaps half Il kilomctrc long,
and there WEN. Il dozen or more ma
chine guns cached i'll the edge of the
wood"
This fact WAS not known when the
advance was ordered. The Americans
had no chance To take cover. The one
al l., t,N fnI
ward No one seems even To have
thoaght of retreat. When one asks
ihrm from time To time why in this
moment or another, they did not fall
back. they bcCumr humorists:
I'VE didn't know the country" they
say. I'VE didn't know where to re-
treat to"
The machine guns swept the field
over which the Americans moved with
a fan shaped flare of bullets. Here
and there II concentrated on group.
In one OF these concentrations the
stream of halls cut an officers head
completely of. When his jerking trunk
struck the ground the head was only
attached to it 10y II string OF flesh. But
his men moved on:
Il don't know how YOU did it," l
said TO the colonel.
"Nor do L." said he. I'VE had To-"
When Boehes Play Dead.
Once the machine guns were reach
cd that particular obstacle was de-
tinitcly put an end To. The gunners
were killed at their pieces. save those
who ran away. The Americans took
shelter at the edge of the wood and
got back their breath. No one knows
how many were killed i'll that rush,
hut the path was strewn with bodies.
The wood on ahead was full of Ger
mans. 1T seemed packed with ma
chime guns" states an official report.
1t seemed as though there We're n
machine gun to every fifteen men,"
Not more than 200 Americans took
raIt in the fighting in the wood. II
is estimated that 1000 Germans held
the place. Almost 500 were taken pris-
oncrs and dead Germans lie every
where. In the underground. There are
few trees in the BoiS. Now and then
one finds open spaces and there are
heaps of rocks and small boulder
scrcwn cminenCcs. II was place
made to order for guerilla defense.
and infinitely hard to take by guerilla
attack. Each open space and each
path between trees offered an oppor-
tunity for machine gun play.
When they got their toe hold in the
wood the Americans began to move
forward tree at time. This was
time OF desperate hand to- hand fight
ing. There the Germans displayed the
first of the bag of tricks with which
the marines eventually became famil-
lar
They played dead in the open
spaces. so that the Americans passed
by. Then they were fired on from be-
hind. The invaders Of the wood learn
eS that not even n wounded German