Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1918-11-17
BATTLE FIELD;
Of ST. M|H|EL
SCENE Of RUIN


MOBILE, Ala, Sow. 16.--Our bat
terry drew into position some 1000 me-
tiers back of the front line just be-
hind little ridge" writes Homer
Riyou of Mobile, Ala, in his descrip-
ton of the battle of ST. Mihiel. The
next night at about midnight the great
barrage began. At daylight the in
fantry went over the top, followed by
the tanks, of which there were a
great number. Thirty minutes later
our battery moved forward, following
in the tracks Of the tanks, which
started from near our position. AS
we came to the top of the ridge the
whole battlefield lay spread out in the
valley before us, just like picture.
The first wave of the infantry was ad-
vancing across "No Mans Land" and
shells seemed to be falling every
where, throwing great columns of
smoke and earth in the air. They
were darting here and there wherever
machine gun nests or any marked re-
sistance was encountered. Tracer
shells and rockets of every descrip-
ton were flying through the air. The
weather was drizzly and very muddy,
and the ground was covered with shell
holes, hence the battery moved very
slowly at first. Moving the guns
mainly by hand, we finally got over the
crest of the hill and down in the val
ley to the front line trenches. AL
ready the prisoners had begun coming
in in groups of from five to five hun
dred. They were carrying back our
wounded boys on stretchers..
The tanks had broken down the
barber wire and we followed in their
tracks and finally got across 'fNo
Mans Land and here we saw the re-
suits of our artillery fire The ma
chine gun nests blown up, dugouts and
trenches shattered and general de-
struotiOn everywhere. After crossing
No Mans Land we came to good Ger
man roads and progressed much fas-
Ter, Going about a Eilometer we came
to the first village tehind the German
lines, but there was not a wall left
standi.ats.4--Itr mad been practically OBJ
liberated by four years c. shell fire.
A few kilometers further on we came
to a large village that had been occu-
ped by the Germans soon after the
war began. Here also signs of de-
struction were evident. Overthrow
German caissons, dead horses and ev-
erything Uttered the streets. The
Germans had left so hurriedly that
they didn't take any of their stores
with them. Here-we found (deleted)
several barrels of real German beer,
large quantities of stationery. perfum-
cry and some provis ions In the next
town we came to. were several fami-
lies Of French people who had been
captured by the Germans in - 914.
They had tears in their eyes, and
could scarcely believe that they were
certainly what you might call re-
patriated people.
About two kilometers further on
we caught up with our infantry at
about o'clock in the afternoon, and
it was here that saw the most thrill
ing sight that I ever witnessed. Our
infantry was advancing across the
crest of a ridge and our battery was
moving forward along the road and
aeroplanes were everywhere. 1t had
stopped raining a few minutes before
and there appeard across the sky in
front of us-one of the most perfect
rainbows | have ever seen. The sig
nifcance seemed to strike Doughboys
and artillerymen simultaneously for
this division threw up their helmets
into the air and sent up a shout that
surely must have been heard in Ber-
lin. It certainly was a wonderful
sight, and l shall never forget it as
long as live"
,.