Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1918-04-16
PERSHING'S MEN
DEFEAT GERMANS
Continued From Page ~
pulsed the Germans. The enemy SUI
fered heavy casualties and left behind
twenty-four prisoners.
TWO DAYS OF FIGHTING

twenty-four prisoners.
TWO DAYS OF FIGHTING
With the American Army in France
April 13.-(Delayed)- artillery
exchanges tonight closed the second
day of steady fighting between Amer
can forces and German shock troops
in the burnt forest of Agreement
flour miles east Of st. MihieD, on tbs
American sector northwest of Toul.
1t was the toughest and biggest
battle yet fought by our men, and
they won 1t.
FIVE GET 10 cAPTIVEs
| An American lieutenant and -four
men captured nineteen Germans. Two
machine guns and large quantities OF
German equipment also were cap
tured.
The German casualties, according
to the latest estimate, are: One hun
dred dead, 800 wounded
Incidents of bravery and self-sacri.
fee shown by our officers and men in
this large scale action rival the feats
of fiction.
FEW AMERICAN CASUALTIES
| During the fierce fighting the Ger.
mans tried to trap twenty-five Amer;.
cans in trench. But the lieutenant
commanding these Americans seeing
the danger led a dashing charge and
rescued his comrades.
The American casualties were small
In comparison with the losses inflicted
upon the enemy.
The bravery Of their men brought
tears to the eyes Of some of the
American commanders.
Twelve of the thirty-six Germans
taken died Of wounds.
ENEMY ON HEIGHTS.
The Americans were handicapped
geographically, fighting In a level
country in the face of the German bat
teries emplaced on heights held by the
enemy.
One thousand German shock troops
have been engaged in this battle. To-
night there was no prospect of letup
in the fighting.
The prisoners taken are from
the sixteenth pioneer regiment, sap
pers from the twenty-fifth and sixty
fifth landwehr regiments, and some Of
them are uhlans of the cavalry units
so frequently mentioned in the first
part of the war.
FORMER CLERK is HERO
These prisoners admit that they be-
long to reserve forces, and that they
thought they could scare" the Ameri-
cans and take the third line and hold It
with ease. They we're stunned by the
smashing repulse administered to their
assault.
One of the heroes Of the battle is an
American lieutenant, whose home is
near Boston, and who formerly was a
grocery clerk. He commanded a ma
chine gun unit and, accompanied by a
sergeant and three privates, stumbled
on nineteen Germans In the enemy's
first line.
The Germans demanded. "surren-
der!" -
r.tlIpthing doing" shouted the Amer.
lean Iieutenant in plain United States,
and added: "Al1 together, fellows!"
Whereupon he shot the German lieu
tenant through the head with his pis-
toll. The other Germans threw up their
hands and surrendered. The liedten.
ant Ordersd the captives on a truck
and personally took them to headquar.
tiers.
Invited by his superior officer to ex7
plain the capture, the lieutenant said:
"Pd like to report the details later,
sir. There's lots Of work back there,
and I'm anxious to get back"
BAND MEN CARRY LiTTERs
The members Of the regimental
band volunteered for litter service In
the front lines. They worked under
the whitening artillery and machine
gun fire until they were exhausted.
A courier ran through rain OF
shells, message in his left hand, an
automatic in his right. He was froth.
ing at the mouth and had just strength
enough to gasp:
Our fellows are driving 'em; they
1.-THE Germans) didn't get through"
He fell unconscious.
Here's the way one American pri-
vate, formerly plumber, describes
the fray: :.
There was no time to be scared
after 1t warmed up, fellows. We won
dered how we'd come out and If we'd
stand the gaff like Americans should
be expected to stand 1t.
"The night before, when heard the
German barrage, my knees shivered;
L
rifle harder and faced about.
Then somebody started to sing
Hail, hail, the gangs all here and l
started to join in. The first words
didn't come. Then, all at once, every.
body was singing and me as loud as
the rest.
HATED TO QUIT
~ could hardly wait for the word to
20 forward. I didn't think Of what
might happen, but only Of what could
do. Our guns banged away and the
Germans came stumbling through.
1--WE went at them, singing 'The
Yankees Are Coming You ought to
have seen our gang mix it up and
Jump into the midst of the Germans.
Some German clipped one Of our
gang. He'll never clip another, you
betcha Our eyes popped and our
threats were dry and our faces felt
like clustered with chalk. But we
were all sorry when we were ordered
to quit.
1--WE rounded up gang Of Germans.
They were a sorry lot. Back of our
1iuos fhov qavo 'an, swell feed in the