The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-12-02

CHRISTIAN HERO HoNoRED-
TRIBUTE TO SOLDIERS FAITH,

Over the tomb of the most popular
figure of the war, Colonel Driant, hero
OF the Bots des Caures, near Verdun,
General de Castelnau made an elo-
quent speech on the Faith which pro-
duces heroes. The occasion was the
unveiling of a monument to the MEM
DRY of Colonel Driant and the COM
panions in arms who fell with him
near Verdun. The monument is a
large block of stone, with large cross
towering above multitude of smaller
crosses; the sacrifices of the chief and
his soldiers commemorated by the en-
blem of the Divine sacrifice Cardinal
Gasparri sent his congratulations to
the sculptor of the monument, NJ. Cal
vet.
The Minister of War, and the Bish-
ops of Nancy, Verdun and Strasburg
were present at the unwilling. +.
After first telling how, after super
human battle lasting two days, Colonel
Driant fell, never to rise again, Cen
eral de Castelnau recalled the last cry
which escaped from his lips: mon
Dieu."
These Words General de Castel-
nau said, expressed the whole inte-
rior life or Driant. He was a believer:
He considered that religion and
patriotism. should go hand in hand. In
all the phases Of human existence
there is not one which, in order to be
nobly lived, requires more vigorous
striving for the ideal, purer spirit of
sacrifice, a more complete abandon
ment of self and, consequently, more
powerful support from above; than the
life of the soldier. No hours are more
full of anguish than those in which the
soldier casts himself into the fiery
furnace of the battle field where he
must dominate the fear which fills
man at the approach of death. The
soul of the soldier is never more per-
feet than when his love of honor and
country is supported and vivified by
a higher faith-faith in God, the
Creator and the Redeemer."
Practically every orator made some
allusion to the ardent Christian faith
of the hero of the Bots de Caures. The
Minister of War spoke of him as 'the
worthy emulatur of Roland and Bay
4 ard"
Once Forced to Leave Army.
A military writer of eminence, pro-
fessor in the School of War and COM
mander of a crack regiment, Colonel
Driant, while still young, appeared to
have a brilliant career before him, but
lduring the period of anti-Catholic per-
lsecutions,s intrigues forced him to
Ileave the army. He was subsequently
elected deputy from Nancy, and won
igreat popularity throughout the coun-
try by his famous speeches in Parlia-
ment as well as through his campaigns
in the press and his lectures in behalf
of the defense of liberty.
When war was declared in 1914 he
was over so years of age. He was
given the command of two battalions
Iof chasseurs, better known as BLUE
Devils" 1t was these two battalions,
which, first of all, withstood the shock
of the formidable attack launched
against Verdun February q, 1916.
Only 5000 men, they held the Bots des
Caures. At the beginning of the at
tack Colonel Driant had said to them
in his order of the day: 1.-THE chas-
seurs, you will remember, have never
left any other prisoners to the enemy
but the wounded. The chasseurs do
not surrender" Crushed by bonn
bardment without precedent, which
completely devastated the forest, the
two battalions nevertheless held 49,
900 men in check for two whole days.
On the evening of the second day
lscarcely more than a hundred UNI
wounded men remained, and Driant,
who had fought side by side with his
men, was forced to order the abandon
ment of the wood. When the retreat
began, he stopped to make some
recommendations to Father de Mart
imprey, the chaplain, who remained on
the terrain with the wounded. He
shook hands with his men, then stop
ped again to dress the wound of one
of his fallen comrades. A machine
gun bullet struck him in the temple.
Monument Near Where he Fell.
The monument to his memory has
been erected not far from the spot
where he fell, and the bodies of eleven
unknown chasseurs have been laid to
rest by his side.
| The Bishop of Nancy said Mass in
front of the monument; the Bishop of
Verdun blessed the tomb, and the
Bishop of Strasburg, in moving SER
mon, told Of the gratitude and prayers
of the Church of France for the son
who had so faithfully served it.
The Rosary may be called an epi-