Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1919-01-29


/, column of the retreating enemy.
This is the sport of war-if there
is any. We could see runaways
caiSsons and guns thrown into the
ditch-pieces of wagons were flying
through the air. Wood and steel
seemed to be defying the laws of
gravity. Horses and men were OBJ
scured from our view by the flash
Of an exploding shell. Then when
the smoke was cleared away that
portion of the parade would be ly
ing in the ditch twenty or thirty feet
away. Even the well trained Hun
breaks his column when a fire like
this one strikes him. Men were run
ming everywhere trying to get be-
hind the scenes of the stage which
had so suddenly changed it's heroes
and leading roles. We could see men,
some dead some wounded, being
trampled under foot by the excited
| horses. Human bodies seemed to
have taken wings. Death was
an officer in the German army. "He"
had taken command of this Inflated
retreating battery A graveyard lay
along the road. We could see shells
dropping into it. Graves were being
dug up and remains that had rested
for over a hundred years were being
brought to light. Tombstones hun
dreds of years old were being blown
to powder. Even the occupants of
new graves with their little wooden
crosses a couple of days old were be-
ing turned over. 1t seemed that hui
mainly had even called the dead back
into the ranks to take part in the free
ing of the world from hell on earth
No, there wasn't any pleasure to
be found in this picture, but what
was that indefinable quality of salts
faction that rushed through our
veins and cooled our blood, which
at another time would be at the
boiling point. We may have seemed
happy, but we wern't
Anxiety and expectation had given
way to satisfaction, confidence and
a feeling that victory was at last ours
These beasts were being driven out
with the same punishment that they
had inflicted on these people whose
country they had intended to rule
We hated it, but still we seemed to
really love it as we punished these
cruel invaders of 1914. Where could
man find a more terrible yet more
wonderful work?
1t was but moment that we spent
watching this picture Git didn't
seem reaD. Our undivided attention
was needed almost two kilometers
from this scene, on little hill where
four little ''liberators" were in one of
the most active actions that took
place on the battlefelds of the world.
| stocked one shell after another
into the breech of that 75-even the
steel in that little machine
seemed to have confidence in us, the
breech seemed to almost open by
itself; the recoil seemed to hurry
back and then forward; the powder
seemed to have lost it's sharp, loud
blast, yet it seemed even more pow
erful. The projectile seemed to an
| ticipate its mission of death and the
long black fuses seemed to take
more readily to the threads in the
end of that iron liberator. Never did
machine respond more accurately
or willingly to its master hand than
did this destroyer of autocracy.
Shells were bursting around us but
we never heard them. Our ears
were deafened even to the loud, sharp
reports of our own guns. Our phys
zeal energies were almost at an end
but we little realized 1.-THE mind
| Cor rather super-mind) would be SUI
preme until the body dropped me
cessity knows no alternatives
But Fritz's retreating columns
soon brought us out Of range-it was
move again 1t was then. when the
mind was restored to its normal
standing, that we realized the extent
of our fatigue. The first Is shell
only weighs Is pounds, but the last
one weighs 1900 pounds
The horses were brought forward,
the guns and caissons were restored
to march order; they were limbered
up again and we were on the muddy
road.
1t was only with exertion that one
muddy foot moved slowly and reluc-
family ahead of its mate That little
column, as it moved forward follow
j ing Fritz, didn't look much like the
outfit of red legs" that put on those
perfect parades at Camp Macarthur
Bodies moved forward, yet they
seemed lifeless We discovered joints
and bones that no doctor ever heard
Of Heavy invisible weights seemed
( W udnS liOM 0HG-lluS WHOSE eyes
were nearly blind from lack of sleep.
Heads that hung forward, which had
lost their covering, were crowned
with a matted mussed crop of uncut
hair These men didn't present that
soldierly appearance that the maya
zine cover portrays of the advancing
Yanks. Shoulders were stopped,
backs were bent, belts were pulled
up to the last hole over empty stom-
achs, knees remained very much at
the six-o'clock position, and feet, wet
and heavy with erra-firma," were
only lifted high enough to pass over
the next pile of mud. If we halted
for minute. it was only that invis-
ible spirit that kept US from lying
down in the mud and water to sleep
and rest our almost exhausted bodies
| But on we went to a new position.
Destruction was everywhere The
road was blocked with wagons and
dead horses. We passed the scene
which only short time before had
been our objective There were
shell holes everywhere. We pulled
4 rff fI,o roo n +iarn.,Ot 6oId ord ~,