The sun., 1919-03-09

enemy's machine gun fire. Men fell
there in the open, but the advance
kept steadily on 20 the woods
1t was then that discipline and
training counted. Their minds were
concentrated not on the enemy's
fire but on the thing they had
to do and the necessity for doing it
right. They were listening for orders
and obeying them In this frame Of
mind the soldier can perhaps walk
with even more GOODNESS and deter
mlnation than he can run. In any
case it was an admirable exhibition Of
military precision and it gladdened
their Colonels heart.
The marines have n war cry that
they can use to advantage when there
is need OF Il. 1t is a blood curdling
yell calculated 10 carry terror to the
heart of the waiting Hun. l am told
that there were wild yells in the woods
that night when the marines charged
the machine gun nests, but there was
no yelling when they went in. Some
one has reported that they advanced
on those woods crying, Remember
the Lusitania!" II they did so l failed
to hear 1t. Somehow that doesn't
sound like the sort of thing the ma
rine says under the conditions. So far
as | could observe not sound was
uttered throughout the length OF those
four lines. The men were saving their
breath for what was to follow.
am afraid have given but poor
picture of that splendid advance. There
was nothing dashing about it like
cavalry charge, but 1t was one of the
finest things I have ever seen men do.
They were men who had newer before
been called upon to attack a. strongly
held enemy position. Before them were
the dense woods effectively sheltering
armed and highly trained opponents of
unknown strength. Within its depths
the machine guns snarled and ratified
and spat forth a leaden death. 1t was
like some mythical monster belching
smoke and fire from its lair. And
straight against 1t marched the Unit d
States Marines. with heads up and the
light of battle in their eyes.
Well, they made it. They reached
the woods without breaking. They had
the advantage OF slightly better cover
than Berry's men and the defensive
positions at the lower end of the
woods had not been SO well organized
by the Germans as those on the west
ern side. The first wave reached the
loR.sss with at the edge o. the woods
and plunged in. Then the second
wave followed, and the third and the
fourth, and disappeared from view
Watching the Advance.
had no field telephone and felt
obliged to see what was going on. I
took my stand on a little rise of
ground protected by a low line of
bushes about 300 yards from the woods.
It was near a road where Holcomb's
left had been in contact with Berry's
right The shelter trenches did not
cross the road From this point OF
vantage l watched the advance
through my glasses.
Bullets ralned all around me, the
machine gun crews near me forming a
target for the Germans. There was a
great racket of rife and machine gun
fire and bursting shrapnel and high
explosives, like the continuous roll of
some demoniacal drum, with the bass
note of the heavy guns that were
Smelling Lucy.
saw a number OF our brave lads
fall in that advance. The German
machine gunners aimed low to sweep
the ground, catching most of the men
in the legs. And those who fell lay
right in the line of fire and many of
them were killed there on the ground.
Those who were able to stand and
keen going had the best chance. Some
OF them went through the whole fight
with leg wounds received during the
hrst ten minutes,
am able to tell something OF what
went on in the woods that night, but
my own participation in the conflict