The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-08-10
One New England Dough-
boy Fired 100 Rounds
Most Shots Found Mark
TWO THOUSAND
WHIPPED BY 400
Lieutenant Morris Clark, Formerly of
the Seventh New York Regiment,
Tells of valor of Americans on the
French Battlefields

NEW YORK, Aug 10.-How the
New England division met the Kaiser's
crack shock battalions and literally s
got tired of Kidding the approaching
massed formations is told by Lieuten-
ant Morris Clark in letter just re-
eeived in this city. Lieutenant Clark
was formerly member of Company L
G., 18th New York Infantry and his let
ter was printed in the current issue of
The Seventh Regiment Gazette. 1t fol-
lows in part:
81 have learned that war is hell,
rs | have seen it in all of its horrors
and phases | have been under bonn
bardment by German artillery, in gas
and finally in a real battle inj
which our regiment figured most prom
inentIv All through this / have not
had a sick day or received a scratch,
although l have had some narrow es
capcs. 1t would take too long to cover
all Of my experiences, so | will have to
be brief.
q We had been expecting an attack
by the Germans for some time, and one
morning Mt about 3 o clock they start
I'd the attack and the battle lasted until |
clock. Fortunately for our company, |
we were relieved from the extreme |
front line, which is only about 200
yards from the Germans, and took our
position in support several hundred |
yards back.
'Thc company that relieved MS had |
number of casualties. Just before
the attack and while it was going on
YOU never heard such bomhardment
in your life IT sounded rs if all Ger
many had turned loose on MS. There
was a very heavy dew, and you could
see nothing except the flashes from the
big guns.
fiWhile, the battle was going on, the
suspense was awful. as we did not
know what minute the Germans might
reach our line. However. we were all
prepared for the worst, but they did
not get that far. They penetrated
| our. front line on the left. and occupied
/ for few minutes small town where
our battalion made headquarters. Then
they met their surprise. They thought
| from the heavy bombardment that our
| troops had evacuated the town; on the
| contrary, they stayed in the dugouts
until the Smelling had subsidized, and
then came out.
"Thc Germans were in the town, but
there was no giving in or going back
for our troops. They were down for a
fight to a finish and could not be scared
away. They were formed in a skirmish
line and the boches began to fall from
the accurate aim of the Americans. 1t
was not long before they evacuated the
town and realized that when they
tackled the Yankees they had some Job
ON their hands, We had number of
casualties, mostly from shells, but our
infantry, machine guns, and artillery
piled the German dead in heaps Our
barhed wire was completely Uttered
| with German dead
we found out after the battle from
prisoners that the enemy had sent over
specially trained shock troops for the
purpose of making raids on a large
! scale. Twelve hundred of them came
in advance, while the balance, 500
acted in reserve. They attacked part
of our front held by two companies OF
about 400 Americans
"Of course, we suffered considerable
loss, but our casualties were nothing
compared to those of the Germans
They were up to their usual game OF
coming over in massed formation, and
one of the boys who had been in the
midst of it all said: "Never be afraid
Of German; they are cinch; | got
| tired of killing them.
''TIe happened to be well hidden from
view and fred 100 rounds, most of the
shots finding their raark The French
say they have not witnessed such c
, bombardment since the days of Yer.
! dun, and that the heroism of the Amer
| leans was beyond praise
J cit is hard and nerve-racking wort
in the trenches. When holding the front
: | line heutenants are required to stand
! lin the trenches with their men, will
water sometimes up to their knees, al
: night and then get what sleep we car
q in filthy, damp dugout, where thu
Z coolies are as thick as an ant pile, ant
/. | the rats and mice nearly as bad
o 'tThere is no chance to take on
g clothes off while in the trenches, and ;
good part of the time we cannot ever
: change our shoes We had rubbe
I boots issued to us, but these are ba,
II on the feet
II The lieutenant and his comrades af
II ter their vacation in the trenches
II are not by any means favorably dis
Il posed toward the much-sung Normandy
II One of the officers wrote poem on tn
II country, which is as follows:
II OH Normandy, where are thy charms
II Your poets and bards l dispute,
II Your Lorraine Chemin des Danes
II Are not fit for the beast or the brute
II Between the rats, the mice, and the lice
II The rain and the mud and the cold,
II The Shrapnel, the gas, and the bocht
III You are sure one He'll of holei
y Speaking of the men in his regiment