The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-09-12

and rest. Father Goulden, dressed
in his best coat and a clean shirt, is
thinking of me. Catherine is sitting
OF the bed and weeping. Aunt Greth-
ell has taken her prayer book and is
going to mass" AS l pictured to my.
self that quiet, happy life, l could
| have burst into tears.
But the drums began to beat and
the trumpets sounded.
The first movement was when our
four divisions were ordered to ad
vance. We were about twenty thous-
and men, marching in two lines, and
sinking up to our knees at every step
in the soft mud. Nobody spoke a
word
Face to face with us were the En-
gllsh, in perfect order, their cannon
GERS with lighted matches in their
hands
On all sides, as far a seye could
reach, nothing was to be seen but
cuirasses, helmets, swords, lances and
rows of bayonets.
! What a battle!" cried Buche. my
comradeeaI-arms. Woe to the Eng
lish!"
And thought as he did I believed
that not a single Englishman would
escape, But bad luck pursued us that
day: though, ad it not been for the
| Prussians. l think we would have
eXterminated them all.
! Down into the little valley we pour
ed, right in the face of the English
fire, and shouting all the time, Give
them the bayonet!"
The batteries hurled their grape
! shot point blank at US. 1t was then,
! for the first time, I saw the English
close at hand. They had fair skins
and were clean-shayen like respectable
| citizens. They can fight we'll, too
but we are as good as they Every
shot of the English told; and this
| forced US to break ranks, for men are
not mere palisades.
! And almost at the same moment
we saw a mass of red dragons, on
gray horses, sweeping along like the
wind and sabering our stragglers with
! out mercy. 1t was one of the most
| terrible moments of my life as we
were driven back.
What fearful thing is a battle.
Then out came Marshal Ney waving
his sword in the air. Older, thinner
and more bony than | saw him last
but still the same brave soldier with
IilC SlCel4 OS t14dI SCSIuSu " tdht
US all in.
Forward" he cried, Il shall lead
you myself" And we rushed ahead
one after the other like a pack OF
wolves, until we gained the principal
outpost of the British.
But suddenly the rumor spread that
the Prussians were coming. l felt
myself grow pale.
At that moment cries of "Vive I'm
pereur." rose from thousands of
threats behind us, and looking back
| saw all our cavalry of the right
wing advancing to attack the solid
squares of the English. 1t WITS an
awesome sight. With waving sabres
they rused pell-mell again and again
upon the red-coats. Twenty such
charges they made, until the horses OF
our cuirassiers, exhausted. could no
longer even walk-and here still
firmly stood the great red lines, stead.
fast as walls.
Now all that remained for attack
was the Old Guard-those wonderful
Veterans who had fought in Ger
many, in Egypt, in Spain and in Rus
STA, of whom the Emperor took special
care and who no longer knew parents
or relations. They only knew the EN-
Iperor who was their god When it was
said in the ranks The Guard is going
to charge" it was the same as say.
ing, The battle is won!"
AID New commended them.
Upon the Guard fell the concentrat
ed hail of bullets In twenty minutes
every officer had dismounted. and the
Guard reduced from three thousand
men to twelve hundred, slowly gave
way.
Now the entire English army fell up
on us. And. as the remnant of the
Old Guard fell backward, across the
field fled hussars, cuirassiers, artillery
and infantry like an army OF savages