Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-10-13

hm at;;o in addition to this. blamed the
ment the battalion had to stay several
extra Extra. days In the trenches. but the
S Was mars ala not ga, care for existence
than when I'm repose." for fne t ileyed did
not have to drill. On the 18th of be-
cember we were relieved. When we
pattalion and made speech in which
he said that he hated to command
such towards. He announced that a
certain number of men from each COM
pany would be assigned to other regi-
ments. After the men retired whist
ing ana groanins he spoke to the ofii
You have heard me. gentlemen. Now
must tell you that this rxfusinE to
obey is the result of your Indulgence
them lose their heads. You treat
them as comrades and they make
sport of you and your orders;( You
should never address them kindly, but,
on the contrary. treat them harsh!y!
The dishonor which is on the Second
Battalion falls on me. hope that it
When Rogge left Harnishmacher.
~ho was an acting officer. cried out:
1T is easy for Rosge to talk that
the lines. He prefers to drink wines
in the company. Of the drunkards OF
the regiment. ! hope that l Will be
is nothing but company of talking
fighters and towards" Lindwurm lis
tened, but did not say a word
for seven days, during which tim: they
were put through prolonged drills as
punishment. Sevcrar~of them became
as long they could hold up their
heads he would not recognize them
One day man from Company, 4. who
was suffering very much, and whom
DIR. Fischer refused TO help. took a
gun and fred at him at random DR.;
Fischer tainted and fell TO the ground
man was arrested and taken TO prison
where he hung himself that night. AZ
ter that the officers we're nttie more
considerable for while.
the 2lst of December. No one had re-
placed US since the explosion of the
mine. anG only our battalio1L<pa
Christmas in the first line. On Christ
tity of cognac and rum TO the men
The result Of this generosity can De
imagined; everyone got drunk. ana II
the French had attacked us they could
have made the entire battalion prison
ers without firing shot. New year s
Day was also celebrated in the
trenches, but they did not give the SOL
diers SO much alcohol 80 there was
less drunkenness.
we were allowed TO leave the
trenches on January 4. and went into
soldiers were lectured each day OH the
duties Of IA sSldier because Of their dis
obedience on December 4. The men
had TO learn and recite the twenty
rules of war. The first rule goes lske
this: Il swear. before God Almighty
TO be always faithful to His Majesty,
William H.. King of Prussia. Emperor
of Germany, and never deny my al
legience to him. but help him and de-
,fend him in all circumstances. on land
and sea. in peace and in war
H.
on the 18th OF January. we were re.
lieved by the Eighty-frst Regiment of
the reserve OF the Eighteenth Corps,
and sent before Nerdun to participate
prince was directing against that
fortress. 1t was there that ] was
badly wounded
vEUDUN, FRANKFORT. MAYESCE
AND THE GREAT ATTACK
From January IL till February I6 we
remained at SaviSny. without going
once to the trenches They made us
without doubt. save our strength for
the great blow against Nerdun. On
the 18th Of February we left for
Thionville. where we spent the night
On the 18th we were at Stenay. where
the crown prince made his general
h, hcquarters. then to Reville. where
we rested for several hours. During the
night we went into the trenches be-
tween Brabant and Beaumont. We were
placed between the One Hundred and
eighteenth and Thirty-hfth Regiments
OF the Fifty-siXth Battalion.
On the morning of February 81, about
8 o'clock. such a thunder OF artillery
began as we had never heard before,
we received orders to attack and take
the Bras Fort, on our right. The
ldt.ne Opposed us strongly. and we
Champagne had been terrible. but it
was nothing compared to what was
going on here. where the battle field
SO huge as to be impossible to ade-
quately describe. The fire of the heavy
German artillery was marvellous. We
N were engaged engaged in no. battle in which
There was no question of giving or
receiving orders q mean to the bat
as TO go forward. We were between
two fires; the Germans fired in front
OF US and the French on the emplace
mentS that we had just left. We final
~ reached the French frst-line trench.
We thought that we could go on with
out dlitieulsg; i but we were mistaken.
there defended themselves desperately.
In several places the wounded them
selves continued to fight furiously before
had been completely crushed by the
German artillery. 1t was a shambles.
come out of the earth; these came from
the unfortunate ones still living. but
covered with the debris We had 10
install ourselves in this position and to
lie down to escape the French artil-
lery fire. The next day we hunted
through the cantesns of the dead for
food We were not exactly hungry.
but we knew we must eat, and we did
SO mechanically.
On the 23d l was ordered by Lind
wurm 10 report to him at the rear the
condition of our regiment. The SOL
der who was to accompany me and
] left the trenches. Shells were burst
ing everywhere. About sixty meters
back of the line saw my companion
suddenly throw himself fat on the
ground while l myself felt blow on
the right side. | fell and cried U re-
this afterwards) "IIelp!" like
a fool. Then lost consciousness and
did not know how long I lay there.
When I opened my eyes ] was in
bed at the company hospital in .Stenay.
That was February &c. The hospital
orderly told me that l was brought in
the night of the 25th. ] was wounded
in the right side. The doctor promised,
on my request. that ] might be sent TO
the hospital in Frankfort.
On the 2Sth ] was sent by automo-
bile to Longuyon. and from there to
Frankfort in Red Cross train which
was like a wonderful rolling hospital,
and splendidly equipped.
In my compartment was French lieu