The Morgan County press. (Wartburg, Tenn.) 1916-1926, 1918-08-16
CHAPTER l-continued.

But there was no time to be spent
in SPECULATION. With fixed bayonets
we went from house to house, door 10
door, and while the results were nesli-
sible because we found no soldiers we
did not come out quite empty-hanueu.
We made the inhabitants deliver an
guns and munitions and so forth IN
their possession. The mayor, accom-
panying the soldiers, explained 10
eyery citizen that all found with arms
after the search would be punished
according to the rules OF war an"
German rules of war In Belgium
meant execution.
An hour might have passed when
we were again aroused by the souno
of artillery and gunfire. A new battle
, had begun. Whether the artillery was
busy on both sides could not be judged
from our village. The bombardmeht
was tremendous. The ground shooK
from the growing and moaning that
roIled backward and forward, always
seeming to become stronger.
The ambulance columns now
brought in the first wounded. Cour-
lers sped by us. War had set In IN
all it's phases.
Darkness came over us before we
had finished our house-to-house search.
We dragged all the mattresses, straw
sacks and feather beds that we could
day our hands on, to- the community
school and church to care for the
wounded. They were made as com
Portable as possible. From other sur
rounding villages now came the first
fugitives. They may have been march-
ing, for they looked tired and utterly
exhausted.
Women, old men and children were
huddled together in one mass. Iney
had saved nothing except their pare
lives. In baby buggies or on wheei-
barrows these unfortunates carried
whatever the rude force of war nad
left them. In contrast to the fugitives'
whom we had met before, these were
extremely frightened, appearing to be
in mortal terror of their enemy. Wnen'
ever they looked upon one of us Ger
man soldiers they cringed in terror.
How different these were from the
inhabitants of the village where we
had first stopped. who had met us In
a friendly, even polite manner. we
tried TO learn the cause of this fright
md discovered that the fugitives had
witnessed in their village bitter street
fighting. They had become acquainted
with war-had seen their houses
burning, had seen their little property
DESTROYED and could not forget the
sight of their streets filled with corpSes
and wounded.
If dawned upon us that not merely
fear gave these people the appearance
of hunted animals; there was also
hatred toward the invaders VINO hau
fallen upon them and driven them
from their homes by night.
In the evening we departed and
fried TO reach our own regiment. Inc
RelpIans had concentrated somewhere
70 the rear under cover of darkness.
We were quite near the neighborhood
of the fortified city of Liege. Many
settlements through which we passed
stood in flames the inhabitants driven
out. passed us in droves. Women,
children and old men were bufteted
about and seemed to be everywhere In
fine way. without aims or plans, with
out place on which to lay their heads
these poor people dragged themselves
by.
Again we reached village, which
20 oil anpearances had been inhabited
nv contented people. Now indeed
nothing but ruins could be seen.
Wrecked houses and farms, dead SOL
diers. German and Belgian, and among
chem many civilians, who had been
shot by military order.
Toward midnight we reached the
German lines. The Germans had
tried TO take a village which lay with
IN the fortified belt of Liege and was
defended tenacicusly by the Belgians.
Here all forces had to be used in or
der TO drive the enemy out house by
house and street by street. II was not
terv dark yet. so that we had to wit
49, with all Of our senses the terrible
erhts which developed here. 1t was a
'nan-to-naE hght. With the butts OF