St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1918-07-20
cipated in the Ravaging and Pillaging Of Belgium.

offered in previous encounters, IL
which they took no French wounded
men prisoners.
Evening came on and with 1t tor
rental rain. We lay in the fields
weary and chilled through, yet no one
Of our unit moved, for we were ut
terly overcome by exhaustion. Artil
lery detachments now began to arrive
but few Of them had their required
number of six guns. Many had only
three, others two, and a few proceeded
with only n fieldpiece. At one time
a whole row of about fifty gun car
riages passed without any guns mount
ed upon them whatever. These bat
teries had managed to save their
horses, but were compelled TO abandon
their guns to the French. Some car
riages We're drawn by only two to four
horses instead of the required six.
There nov passed before us some
fifteen magnificent automobiles, the ap-
pearance of which won the admiration
Of everybody.
All" exclaimed many Of the sol
diers, THE general staf-Duke Al
brecht of Wurtemberg and his friends
Discomfort and murmurs Of rebel
lion went through our ranks. Every
body "a mad and the accursed tor
rental rain had no tendency to tighten
III 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. ave
are not considered"
What We were 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 disorganfzed 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. Fu-
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
along their sides abandoned vehicles of
every description lay.
We started forward at about three
o'clock in the morning and soon we
yer with the rear guard. Infantry
regiments. now merely fragments of
their former strength, arrived in a
fearful condition. The soldiers had
thrown away their k~napsacks and ev-
cry unnecessary article which might
be IN impeachment to speed.
Before long the first enemy shrap-l
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 yer which we
were constantly stumbling. Speed was
the only aim. Dead men and horses
lay in the middle OF the road, but no
one took pains to remoye them.
At dawn we arrived at a little vii
lage, where we halted. We took pos
session and established as strong q
temporary defense as possible In the
time permitted. Our position IA es-
tablfshed behind a cemetery wall. New
troops continued to arrive, but all were
badly disorganized. Cavalry, mounted
artillery and m~achine-gun detachments
followed. These had some sort of
formation and while there was some
disorder the panic. which character
lied the other units. was missing here.
They also showed evidences of having
suffered losses, but nothing In com
parisen to ours.