The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-08-12

only TO have. to fall back In the face
of a deadly machine gun snd stick
grenade fire. II was work Of he most
reckless courage against heavy odds
and they took toll OF us for every gun
captured or disable on the 9Th
Siblew was withdrawn to a point from
which the artillery could hammer
away at the machine gun nests. which
had been thoroughly located. For an
hour American and French batteries
of ISIS and 1858 threw everything
they had into those woods.
Hughes went in on the tenth and
his FIRST message was that the artillery
| had hammered the Bots de Belieau into
mincemeat Overton charged the old
rock plateau in brilliant fashion, kill
IN or capturing every gunner and cap
turing all the guns. and with few cas-
ualties. TIE got his later when the
4 boches sheilea him In his hastily dug
1 in position for forty-eight hours.
! Hughes captured six mtnnenwerfers.
about thirty guns light and heavy.
/ Goes to Certaia Death.
Young Robinson charged into GER
tain death to take one nestAan string
| Of bullets caught him full in the
breast. There was not an officer in
the Eighty second company and Sib-
| ley and his adjutant, Bellamy, reor-
gsntzed them under close fire and led
| them in a charge which pat that par
ticular nest out OF business a the most
criticaltime In all the lighting.
Il heard later that a that stage
some one said: Major Sihley ordered.
when another man said. Where in
| is Sibley?'
| "Sibley was twenty yards away at
| the time and a hush went down the
| line when they saw him step out to
/ lead the charge. And when the word
! .s,,1 hat tEr1I nr;n
pied outfit that the old man was on
the line, all--couldnr have stopped
| that rush.
! Il wonder If over an outfit went up
against more desperate Job, stuck
| to ii SO gamely without sleep, at
times on short rations with men and
| officers going off like flies and
wonder If in ali our long list of gal
| liant deeds there ever were two bet
ter stunts than the work of Sibiey and
Hoicomb.
| Since the tenth while the fighting
has not been OF the savage hand to
hand. we have been in there, the two
regiments. always advancing, never
giving an inch. attacking and smash
ling eounter-attacks BY the literal
score. They have had 1--WE divisions
and a part OF sixth against our
brigade and half the time three dfvi-
sions at once. One of them the TWEEN
ty-eighth Is one of their finest.
Hold beyond the Limit.
| There were times when II seemed
to me that our men must have reached
their limit and could not hold But
| they held like grim death without a
whimper and got away with it.
The Germans have had the fight
| knocked out OF them and admit it. Our
lartiliery has done wonderful work at
all times. The last big draft of pris-
toner's had been cut off from supplies
for three days by our, gun fire.
Zone man in the Sixteenth company,
Leonard. captured and held In the front
fines. brought in unarmed captain
four lieutenants and seventy-three Ger
tmans unarmed. We have found lots OF
iletters and diaries and the latter are
I interesting They start Oft with Gott
init uns' and boast of what they will
do to the. big Americans, Then they
tell of lying in the woods under a ter
rife fire and about the big Americans
who seem to know no fear"
| Speaking OF the relations between Of
fcers and men the writer said:
The men have learned that the Of
ncers will lead them anywhere and
the men worship them, don't be-
lieve there ever were battalions where
officers and men had such a common
feeling of strong love and affection and
| yuuft.a1 admiration fnr each ofheY"