Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-10-25

effect that he would lose both legs
as a result of machine gun wounds
are set at rest in an Interesting let
ter to the home folks by Captain
Edward ]. Stackpole, Jr., of Har-
risburg, commanding Company M
I110th u. S. Infantry, who is in a
| base hospital in France. He tells
of the attack upon strong German
positions and how he was compelled
/ to lie where he fell from ten o'clock
| in the morning until nine o'clock at
night, and sets down what he calls
some impressions" of his latest en-
counter with the Huns, as follows:
| "Once more the Boche had taken
up his bed and walked and again
we were called upon to accelerate
his withdrawal and establish new
lines beyond the river toward which
he was drawing his men and sup
plies. The regiment had been rudely
awakened on it's first night of rest
after two months of hard fighting
land partaking of a hurried break
| fast the column was soon under
way. A few hours later positions
were taken to follow up the enemy's
retreat. His usual method of hold
| ing up our advance by machine gun
| Infantry was again employed against
us.
Thoroughly familiar with every
/ foot of the ground we had to cover
the Germans could place their guns
to the best advantage and did SO,
with the result that we walked dl-
rectly into heavy fire as soon as our
advancing waves presented sur
ficiently favorable target for the en-
envy. He proceeded at once to DEM
onstrate the expressed German in
tention to kill as many Allied officers
and men as possible now that VIC
tory for him is impossible.
Advance Without Artillery
"A daylight advance over level
ground, without artillery support,
against frontal and flanking ma
| chine gun fire is not calculated to
succeed without great loss. We kept
going. however, until within two
hundred yards of the enemy wire,
and there dug in for the time being.
! At this point | was struck by two
! machine gun bullets and, pitching
! forward, lost interest in the pro-
ceedings. One bullet cut through
the left thigh, barely missing the te-
moral artery and a bunch of nerves,
the other splitting the bone in the
lower right leg. The idea of death
occurred to me because for me day
| light had become night. Up to TINS
point the proceedings had been more
or less matter of fact. One becomes
accustomed to the usual scenes OF
the battlefield after he has wit
messed two or three engagements,
and he can endure sounds and
sights that under other circum-
stances would shatter the nerves OF
| the most phlegmatic. Now, how
ever. l became a bit worried. We
couldn't move either direction in
daylight. 1t meant sure death at the
hands of some German sniper. L
| had lost much blood and 1T was only
l1O.3O in the morning. There was
nothing for us but to make the
most of my shellhole and wait for
darkness to come.
During the ten hours of tortur-
Gus heat that followed the water IN
our canteens was quickly exhausted.
Every second was marked by the
labored breathing and groans of one
of my men who had been shot
through the lungs, and l discovered
about 430 in the afternoon that L
had been using the leg of one of my
runners who had been killed as a
pillow. l continued to do so. one
of my sergeants constructed sun
shade for me by sticking four bayo-
nets into the earth and stretching
his shelter-half over them. 1t was
a great relief and his kindness shall
never be forgotten.
Carried Back
mo stretchers were at hand, so
when darkness fell | was placed on
a blanket and four sturdy stretcher-
bearers hiked off, each bearing alott
one corner of the blanket. The
Journey to the dressing station Ill
not soon forget. 1t would have been
I,oJ II NOT haaO Sn nginful. A
goodly part of the time my head
was lower than my feet and ever
and anon my weight caused a bump
ing along our pathway that took
account of all obstacles.
I'VE entered a shell-torn town
after an hours slow progress - or
perhaps it was five hours; L had
lost account of time-in time to
strike two of Jerry's periodic she'll
ings. one was particularly intense
ON the road which we were travel
ing. We paused until it was over.
The second strafe' caught us a
quarter of a mile farther on the
way. This time L was shunted into
a dugout until it again was safe to
proceed.
''They took me to my own bat
talion's dressing station and admin
istered first treatment. l was among
tention, and learned to appreciate
doctors and their men as l hadn't
appreciated them before. They gave
me coffee and l found myself rest
ing comfortably on bedspring
waiting for morning and the ambu-
lance to come. Gas shells were
dropping just outside, but the doors
were closed and they gave us no
trouble.
"Dawn came, and with it the am
bulance. A Ford! l blessed Henry!
NV tin hat and gas mask were taken
from me and we bumped away to-
wards the evacuation hospital, ar
riving there about ten o'clock in the
morning. An immediate examina-
tion was made and cheerful
American nurse cut away my blood
soaked garments to which l per-
force said good-by forever. My
personal belongings were stuffed into
a bag which they provided. Now in
truth was l stripped to- bare neces-
stiles. The upper part of pair OF
pajamas was all that now could
claim as. my own, by the courtesy
of the American Red Cross
THE next step was visit to the
X-ray room, where further Curl
osity on the part of the medical de-
partment resulted in my assignment
to the operating room. =.
At Chateau Thierry
I'VE were in Chateau Thierry and
outside could be heard an occas-
ional roar, which meant the razing