The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1918-05-01

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mepy q battle had started. We were
ordered to take a part Of the north
west section of the city. 1t was al
ready dark and once more we halted.
The fields all around us were covered
with dead. In the middle Of the streets
were French batteries and munitiOn
columns. Horses and drivers had been
killed.
After a ten-minute rest we started
again and in double-Quick step ap-
preached little forest. in which dis
mounted cavalry and infantry were
engaged with the enemy in desperate
hund-tO-hand fight.
AS subterfuge we threw ourselves
into the place with blood-curdling yells.
We succeeded in the darkness liz reach
ing the enemies rear. The surprise
attack was q success and the French,
startled by our yells and by the at
tack, threw up their hands and sur
rendered. Mercy was not shown them
by the Infatuated cavalrymen.
Whenever there appeared to be any
letup Of the slaughter Of the disarmed
soldiers by our men new horrors were
enacted under the commands of the
officers. who kept shouting, mo quar-
ter. slaughter everybody" Such were
the orders of our distinguished Off
GERS. We pioneers also had to take
part in this cOld-blooded murder of I'M
armed men. who had thrown down
their arms when they realized the flu
ti!ity Of further resistance. Our Off
GERS took care this time, as in many
earlier and later instances, that there
should not he many prisoners taken.
The pioneer has a sdearn whic.l,
according to the law Of nations, must
not be used because the back of this
Sidearm consists Of three-millimeter
sharp steel saw. In peace times the
pioneers are not drilled with the bayo-
net because this Sidearm should be
used only for the special duties which
the pioneers perform-but the law OF
nations is not the law of Prussian mill
tariSm.
We We're obliged to use the saw from
the beginning of the war 1t was in
opposition to all the laws of humanity
When an enemy had this saw in his
breast and the victim had long since
stopped every effort Of resistance and
an effort was made to try and remove
the deadly steel from the wound an in
slant and horrible death resulted.
Oftentimes this horrible weapon be-
tim so firmly that the attacker. who |
had to have back his sidearm again |
would be obliged to place his foot upon |
the breast Of his victim and use all his |
force to recover the murderous instru-
ment.
The dead and wounded in horrible !
condition lay all around us. The means |
Of the wounded men would have soft
ened a stone but not the heart Of a
Prussian soldier.
Not all the soldiers approved this |
senseless. wanton murder. Some of /
those officers who had ordered us to
kill the French were themselves killed i
by mistake in the darkness Of the night |
still being repeated almost daily and !
could cite many names and places to
bear out this testimony.
On this particular night a captain
and first lieutenant met their fate. A
secOnd-year infantryman stabbed the
captain in the abdomen and the first
lieutenant received stab in the back.
Both died in few minutes. Neither
Of their slayers felt any remorse and
none of us felt inclined to reprOach /.
them. We all knew that two murder
ers had received their just deserts.
Another instance requires me to run
ahead of the sequence of
events. AS l talked to q cOmrade Of
my company the next day l asked him
for a pOcketknife and in reaching into
his pocket he pulled out three car
tridges. was surprised that he should
carry cartridges in his trousers pocket
and asked him II he had no room in
his belt.
II have" he said. "but these three
have special mission. There are
names Of the intended victims on these
bullets"
Some time later after we had be-
come good friends I asked him again
about the three cartridges. He had
only one left. ! thought about 1t
great deal and in my mind went over
the noncommissioned officers. who, be-
fore war was declared had treated us
like animals and whom we had hated
as only human fiends can be hated.
Two of these had found their grave in
France.
The murder Of Frenchmen who had
continued as long as an
enemy was alive. Then we received
orders to determine II the enemies
lying on the ground were all dead and
unable to fight. II anyone was found
death 1t was ordered that
he be killed. But the soldiers had lost
some of the fever which had seized
them during the battle and refused to
obey this order. How they felt about
Il was illustrated nv the remark of a