The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-07-04

~ Sacct- Niose Dy iuy "A man OF un-
certain years before an empty house.
Both his legs were burned TO the
knees. His wife lay ON hIs breast and
sobbed 40 pitifuily that her grief could
not be endured. Most II the dead
were entirely or partly burned The
cries Of agony OF the animals fighting
inc1peration were mixed with the
groaDs and sobbiug OF the wounded.
But NO one had time to bother with
them The French were mskins an
other stand outside the city In an open
Held. As the enemy vacated the town
the Germans made an error which cost
them hundreds OF lives. They had oc-
cupied the entire town so quickly that
the German artillery which <aeiied a
part Of the city did not know Of the
change In the situation and threw
shells into the ranks of the infantry
Finally our soldiers were compelled tu
give mp some OF their gains by the
pressure OF our own as well ms the
French nre. but regained this ground
afterwards Strangely enough. the
residence section previously mentioned
had NOT suffered seriously All the
houses s1ew the Red Cross and were
used ne temporary hospitals-
Here II was reported that Beigians
musiiated German soldiers. Whether
this were tyur. Or only a ruinor. similar
to others being constantly started by
German soldiers. ! cannot say, but L
do knov that on Angus, "a. after the
French bad retired. u was made
known through an srinx order thss
German soldiers had been murdered
there. and thst the German army could
not leave the scene Of these outrnEes
without FIRST avcngins the victims
II was ordered by the commander
OF the army TO leve, the remainder Of
the city and 10 show no mercy. An we
the enemy and locked backward clouds
VI szBose 10 the eastward showed that
the order had been exeeuted. A re-
naming battery of artillery had re
duced the city 20 sshes.
The Preach bad rnads . stand out
side the city snd resisted 20 the ut
most. but they were outnumbered- u
Was simply impossible TO resist the
pressure of the German ~sr machine.
When the German columns. with fired
bayoncis. attacked to the ,aceompanI-
mrnf OF their biood-curtiling yeils
which. like their steel, penetrated to
this bone. they r~semb,ed In every re
spcct American Indians going into ae-
tion. fiingins themselves with blood
curdlinE y.lis upon their enemies.
After ,hr~e-hour fight many French
men gave themselves up as prisoners.
With upiif;ed hands they sought
merry.
Al last. ON the night of August .
and "a. the eneny's ranks were thrown
into confusion and they retired slowly.
I was In the FIRST detachment which
pursued them To the right and left
of the road. In the ieid and bitches,
were dead and wounded
The red pantaiocns Of the French
showed brightly ON the ground. The
field gray Of the Gernans could hardly
be disccrned.
The distance between NJ and The re-
treating French became greater. Our
soldiers became happier over the out
come of the battle and seemed TO for
get their past hardships. The corpses
which filled the roads md bitches were
forgotten amid the jokes and songs
On every side. The men were already
accustomed tn the horrors Of war to
such an extent that they uneoucerned-
~ walked over the corpses. not even
considering Il necessary to make q
aljvht dctour.
At noon We matted and were served
with dinner from the field Kitchens.
We were surely hungry enough and
our canned soup was eaten with the
utmost relish. Many soldiers set their
dishes on the bodies Of dead horses
lying about and ate as gnyiy AZ if
they were at home at their own tables.
The few human corpses near our camp
si1ed to disturb Us. Only water Was
lacking. and after the dinner our thirst
became very acute. even torturous.
We soon marched on. under burn
ing mid-dsv sun, the dust Of the high
way lying thick on our uniforms and
skin. Now. no more cheerfulness was
evident anywhere. Our thirst became
more unbearsbte aud VIC grew weaker
from minute to minute. Many In our
runks fell, unable to 70 further. Moth
Ing. remained for our commander ex-
sept to halt. sx !,s did net wish to ex-
hsust us alt. As result Of this halt
We were left considerably In the rear
and lost our place among those pursu-
ing the French.
About four o'clock We nnally saw
before NJ village. In the certain ex-
pectatfcn OF setting water' there We
Quickcned our paec. Fugitives and
esnpty munition columns passed N.
Among them there was Z farm wagon
upon which were scveral civilian pris-