The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1918-08-08

offered IN previous encounters. In
h!ch they took no French wounded
hien prisoners.
LNenlnS came on and with il for.
rental rain. We lay IN the fields
weary and chilled through, vet no one
OF our unit moved, for we were ut.
Iefiy overcome by exhaustion. Artfl-
,efs attachments now began to arrive,
but few of them had their required
NUMBER of six guns. Many had only
three, Others two, and few proceeded
with only one fieldpiece. At one time
whole row of about fifty gun car
riages passed without any guns mount
ed upon them whatever. These bat
tefies had managed to save their
horses, but were compelled to abandon
their guns to the French. Some car
riages were drawn by only two to four
horses instead of the required six.
There now passed before us some
nfteen magnificent automobiles, the ap-
pearance of which won the admiration
OF everybody.
"Ah," exclaimed many of the SOL
'iers, the general staff-Duke AL
brecht of Wurtemberg and his friends"
discomfort and murmurs of rebel
non went through our ranks. Every
body was mad and the accursed tor
rental rain had no tendency to tighten
our spirits. "They have directed the
slaughter of thousands and now they
motor away" said one man, while we
lay here in a morass in the rain. I'VE
are not considered"
What We We're to be assigned to do
had not yet been told us. We were left
lying in our swamp until ten o'clock
that night. The troops continued to
flow back in great disorganized con-
tingents. Machine gun companies
passed with empty wagons, having lost
their guns. The laundering of the
cannon gradually came nearer from the
west. The noise along the highways
became greater and a panic spread,
adding to the horrors of the night. Flu
gitives wandered around in the dark
ness through the streaming rain, trying
to lead their wives and children to
safety, only to find death under the
wheels of the wagons. The wounded
were also mangled by scores; piteous
cries for help were heard everywhere.
Under the strain Of the traffic the
roads became badly broken up and all
ing their sides abandoned vehicles of
every description lay.
We started forward at about three
o'clock in the morning and soon we
were with the rear guard. Infantry
regiments, now merely fragments of
their former strength. arrived in a
fearful condition. The soldiers had
thrown away their knapsacks and ev-
cry unnecessary article which might
be an impeachment to speed
Before long the first enemy shrap-
mel burst over our heads. which re-
suited in an even faster marching.
The road used during the first march
contained deep shell holes, which were
filled with water. In the heavy dark
ness men fell into these water holes.
Thoroughly drenched, we continued
our march. No attention was paid to
obstacles in the way over which we
We're constantly stumbling. Speed was
the only aim. Dead men and horses
lay in the middle of the road, but no
one took pains to remove them.
At dawn we arrived at little vii
lage. where we halted We took pos
session and established as strong a
temporary defense as possible in the
time permitted. Our position was es-
tablished behind cemetery wall. New
troops continued to arrive, but all were
badly disorganized. Cavalry, mounted
artillery and machine-gun detachments
followed. These had some sort of
formation and while there was some
disorder the panic. which character
ized the other units, was missing here.
They also showed evidences of having
suffered losses, but nothing In COM
parisOE to ours.