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JHILT.EDGEVTLLE, GEORGIA.
THE MILLEDGEVILLE, NEWS.
WEDNESDAY MORNING j Uly
3.
The Co
of a Germai
Deserter
\ Written by a Prussian Officer^t^
Who_ Participatedjn k the
ling ~and_Pillaging of Belgl um '
Presently the "Jneknsses” went Into
netlon. The "Jneknsses” (ire the guns
of the French mountain artillery. They
were so named heennse they were
• drawn by mules. They nrc guns of flat
trajectory, kept from 50 to 100 meters
behind the enemy lines. The shells
from these cannon flew directly over
our hends and cut their way through
the branches at a high rate of speed
Because of the high velocity of th>
shell and the short distance It travel;
the detonation when the shot Is firec
and the noise of the explosion, smini'
almost at the snine Instant. Thest
“Jackasses" are greatly feared by thi
German soldiers because they are kepi
( working day and night,
i It was winter and Very cold. Tlu
|t?0hches had been tilled with water
and were now nothing except deej
ditches of mud. Under these coudi
tipns, through the Ice-cold nights, oui
routine consisted of 48 hours duty
and 12 hours rest. Every week a storm
lng attack was mode, the success of
which was entirely out of proportion
to the enormous losses. In all of tht
four months I was In the Argonne for
ests we gained 400 meters. The fol
lowing duta will Indicate how heavy a
price was pnld In lives for this llttl*
piece of France.
F.ach regiment had Its own ceme
tery. There was the One Hundred and
Forty-fifth Infantry regulars, the Sixty-
seventh, and One Hundred nnd Seven
ty-thlrd infantry regulars nnd the
One Hundred nnd Fifth Hlrscli
berg battalion. On the day we were re
lieved from duty In the Argonne for
ests there were more dead In these
cemeteries than there were survivors
of the several regiments. The Sixty-
seventh regiment had more thnn 2,000
dead. All the victims were members
|Of that unit except a few pioneers,
who had been assigned to duty with
It. There was never n day without
some loss of life, and on the dnys when
the storming nttneks were made, death
hud an extremely large harvest.
points were filed oil front German mus
ket shells so thnt the nickel covering
wns perforated, baring the lead filling.
The bullet flattened when It struck
Its object. If, for instance, It entered
a man's arm, the explosive charge In It
would so shatter the nrm as to blow It
entirely off and leave It banging by the
skin.
German soldiers were frequently
fhore than TO marks, which We gave
to the young woman. She refused It at
first, then looking at her husband, she
took It and tried to kiss our hands.
When we refused to let her do this
she ran to a store nearby and returned
with cigars, tobncco, matches nnd sau-
i sage, which she gave to her husbnml.
She smiled perhaps for the first time
In a long while.
The children were with their father
and they kissed him as he left. He had
one child on each arm and his wife
carried the third.
With the grentest happiness the
family walked along between the two
armed soldiers. When the moment of
parting cniue all began to cry.
This was the fate of thousands of
poor French and Iielglnn men nnd
women, quartered near their homes
yet unuble to know who was dead or
alive.
While we stood at the depot ten Ger
man soldiers arrived with fixed bayo
nets. Between them were three French
citizens In civilian clothing, whom they
escorted. All were elderly men. We
asked an old Frenchman what this was
about and he said:
“We receive our food from the Ger-
mnn military officials but It Is not suf
ficient to live on. The people have
nothing left. All stock and food hnd
been seized. These three men refused
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seen supplying themselves with dum
dum bullets In the trenches, preparing i to work any longer for the German
CHAPTER XV.
to Inflict terrible wounds.
On January 5, 1015, the Germans nt-
tacked on their entire front of the Ar
gonne forest sector nnd several hun
dred prisoners were taken. The hand-
to-hand fight continued until six o’clock
In the evening.
A fellow pioneer nnd myself found
ourselves in a bit of trench held by
eight Frenchmen. It wns Impossible to
retire so we uccepted the unequal fight.
Fortunately we were well supplied
with hand grenades.
We cut the fuses short so that they
would explode ns quickly as possible.
I threw one among the eight soldiers.
Before the men could get out of the
way of the first, the second one fol
lowed, which exploded In their midst.
We took advantage of the confusion
thus created to hurl five more. Our
enemies were now reduced to four men.
We opened fire with our muskets, clos
ing In ou the four. Their bullets
whizzed nround our heads. One man
wns shot In the mouth. That left three.
They turned and tried to flee.
In such moments as these one Is In a
great rage and forgets danger entirely.
military officials because they could
not live on what they received.
“They were arrested and are being
sent to Germany. No one knows what
their fute would be there. The men
were being taken awny by the Ger
mans and Interned In Germany."
We received orders to march to
Varennes and left the next morning.
As we reached the heights of Varennes
nbout noon we saw the wide country
before us nnd the city nestling In the
vnlley. Farther up on the heights was
Vnuquols. Nothing could be seen of
any houses but through our field glasses
we could make ?ut an enormous ash
heap. Shells fell there continuously
and we were frightened at the pros
pect of having to go to that spid.
Scarcely had we crossed the heights
when some shells burst behind us. The
French artillery ev sn singled out Indi
viduals. While Vauquois was in their
possession they could co-ordlmtte the
entire neighborhood. We understood
new why this ash heap had been con
tested for so bitterly.
We ran down hill till w* came to
Varennes. The southern section of the
We were very close to our enemies town hud been wrecked by shells and
Each dny In th* Argonne levied Its
toll of victims, sometimes mnny, some
times only a few. It Is only uuturnl
thnt the morale of the soldiers should
not be at Its best under these circum
stances. With the same Indifference
thnt the men hnd once gone to their
work to support their wives nnd chil
dren they now went Into action. This
business of killing had become dally
routine. Whenever we discussed our
situation, the crown prince nnd the
commander of the Sixteenth nrmy
corps. Lieutenant General vou Mudra,
fared worst.
The troops In the Argonne forest be
longed to the Sixteenth corps, tile Thir
ty-third atnl Thirty-fourth divisions.
Neither the crown prince nor Von .Mud
ra had ever been seen In the trenches.
One of the members on the crown
prince's staff was the old field mar
shal, Count von Haeseler, former com
mander of the Sixteenth corps, who,
before the war, was considered n hu
man fiend. These three called Clover
I.eaf by the soldiers, were far more de
spised by most of the men than were
the French cannon, which sought our
miserable lives.
The Ilohenzolleru heir did not find
life hard at his headquarters several
kilometers behind the battle front. It
was easy for him to make himself
popular with his order to go uhend at
the cost of thousands of lives. He wna
very well liked among the high officer**
with whom he sat behind a stove al
though the progress was not fast
enough for them.
He honored Von Mudra with the or
der 'Tour la Merite," but of the sol
diers he never hud u thought.
They had not seen u lied for months.
They were never given a chance to re
move their clothing.
They received only shells and steel
and were almost euten up by vermin.
They were covered with lice. There
now, right on their heels when the last
mnn stumbled and fell.
I sprang on top of him. He defend
ed himself with his fists. My comrade
went after the other two. Bleeding at
the mouth, this man fought on. After
I had knocked several of his teeth out
he raised his hands and surrendered.
I released him from my grip and
looked him over carefully. He was
about thirty-five years old. He showed
me his wedding ring and talked to me.
1 knew what he wanted, he wanted hls
life.
lie gave me hls canteen thnt I might
drink some wine nnd wept. Perhaps
he thought of hls wife nnd children. I
pressed hls hand nnd he showed me
his bleeding teeth. I called him a fool
nnd told him he was lucky to have got
ten away with the loss of only a few
molars. I was glad I had not killed
him. I took him back myself, In order
to protect him against being misused.
As I delivered him over to where the
prisoners were being assembled, he
pressed my hand nnd smiled.
CHAPTER XVI.
was scarcely enough water for drink
ing purposes, to say nothing of wuter
for washing their clothes.
Our hair and henrds were long and
twhen we were given some hours of
rest the lice would not let us sleep.
.While we were In the trenches the bul
lets did not do much damage but dally
men were killed by Indirect fire. The
thousands which whizzed through the
■Ir every minute flew over our beads.
They struck trees or branches ami
glanced off, striking the men In the
'trenches. Falling to pierce their ob
ject directly they tore terrible gaping
-wounds as they entered the men's
•bodies sideways. Whenever we heard
(charges concerning dum-dum bullets,
(We thought of these cross-shots, al
though we never doubted the existence
•of the dum-dums.
Whether or not dum-dum bullets
Were made In the tnunltlous factories
I cannot say. I suspect tpey were. How-
«ver, T did see many dum-dum bullets
♦made by the soldiers themselves. The
The '.text day we received orders to
march to an unknown destination. We
soon arrived at the depot of Apremont
where we were obliged to wait. The
depot had been destroyed. The next
station wns Chntel. Both of these
places are about five kilometers behind
the front.
The prisoners were assembled In
Apremont. Several of them had com*
from that town. Their families were
still In their homes and many prisoners
asked permission to visit them. I hnd
occasion to witness such a visit In Ap
remont. Two reserves led one of the
prisoners to the house, which he had
pointed out as hls. The prisoner’s
young wife was In the kitchen with her
three children. We followed them Into
the house.
The woman turned pnle ns she sud
denly saw her husband. They em
braced. We went outside for we felt
out of place there.
The woman had not hnd a letter
from her husband for five months be
cause the Germans were between her
and her husband's army. He hnd been
In the trenches for u month, realizing
how nearby hls wife and children were,
yet unable to reach them and with no
way of knowing whether they were
alive or dead.
How he must have felt ns the French
shells flew over his head on their way
to Apremont 1
There wns no way of knowing
whether the glow In the sky caused
by the burning of a house was fur
nished by hls home or not. Every
thing beentnc a torturing uncertainty
und nil of life wus a hell.
Home again for a few hours; then
away, a prisoner 1 At least he would
he nhle to get word to hls wife by
letter through the field posts.
Finally he said good-by. Ills wife
had uothlng to give hltu, uo laundry,
no food.
Everything hnd been lost nnd she
lived on the soldiers’ bounty. She gave
him her last money and he refused to
take It She accepted the money back.
It consisted of * few 6 and 10 pfen
nig piece* and some coppers, all she
had.
Unable to endure thl* we took a col-
lectlon_amonr ourselves. We made up
fire. Many chimneys were all that wus
left standing of whole rows of
houses. Soldiers everywhere collected
scraps of metal which were transport
ed to Germany. The church bells were
loaded on wagons and sent away. All
the copper, tin, bruss and nickel which
could be found was gathered.
The next morning we went Into the
trenches. We hud to reach our posi
tion before daybreak, for with daylight
the French kept ull the approaches un
der fire. There was not much of a
trench In Vauquois. All that could he
seen wns a single stone pile. LIternlly,
there was not, in this town, one stone
left upon another. The ruins of this
village had changed huiids mure
than fifteen times. When we arrived
one-half of Vauquois was In German
hands. The French were In possession
of the highest points from which they
could overlook the country lor many
miles.
In default of n trench we sought
cover behind the stones, for It wns im
possible to dig trenches here, ns the ar
tillery leveled everything. The soldiers
concealed themselves behind stone
walls and fired. Artillery of all cnll-
ber covered these ruins. Amid ull this
destruction lay an army of corpses,
mostly German.
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CHAPTER XVII.
We were of the opinion nt first that
this was only a temporary condition,
but after a few days we saw a
slaughter bordering on Insnnlty under
taken again and again. By night nnd
day It was always the same. Using
Verdun ns their base, the French con
stantly brought up new masses of
troops. They had marshaled their
heavy guns from the nearer Verdun
forts by the use of field railways.
In the spring of 1015 both sides be
gan an offensive of local, but of an in
comprehensible, murderous nature.
German and French artillery bombard
ed Vauquois so that not a square foot
of land could be found which hud not
been torn up by shells. Thousands and
thousands of shells, large und small,
were hurled Into the town for three
days and three nights.
Tills continued until not a slngle'sol-
dier was left In the village, for both
French and Germans had to retire
from this fire from both sides, ns It
wns absolutely Impossible to have sur
vived this hell. The entire hill and ud-
jolnlng heights were enveloped In
smoke.
On the evening of the third dny the
enemy bombardment abated somewhat
and we were once more sent Into the
pile of debris, which hnd been torn by
a hundred thousand shells. It wus not
yet dusk, nnd as the French had also
advance*! an attack developed. They
cniue Into our lines with strong reserve
units and the wildest kliyl of a hand-
to-hand encounter ensued.
Sharp daggers flew from head to
head, breast to hreust. Men stood on
corpses In order to make new corpses.
New enemies continued to nrrlve.
For each man who wus killed three
other* ap|>cared.
W* also received re-enforcement*,
thus permitting the slaughter to con
tinue.
Each roan fought frenzledly, expect
ing hls death blow momentarily,
No life wa* worth a penny,
man fought like a beast
nnd In less lime than Is required to re
late It I saw before me a giant French
man with a pioneer’s spade raised to
strike a blow. With llghtnlngllke speed
I dodged nud the spade struck a stone.
In the next moment my adversary
hnd a dagger plunged to the hilt In hls
abdomen.
He went down with a terrible cry
nnd crumpled up In agony on the
ground. I thrust the dagger Into my
boot and seized the spude. There
were new enemies all around and the
spade came in handy.
I struck an enemy between the bond
nnd shoulders. The sharp spade en
tered hls body and burled Itself half
way in. I heard the bones crack under
the force of the blow.
Another adversary was nearby nnd
I dropped the spade und seized the
dagger.
He struck me with hls fist and the
blood ran from my mouth and" nose.
We clenched. My dagger wns In my
right hand.
Ench of us held the other around the
breast. He wns not superior to pie in
strength yet he clung to me as tightly
ns I did to him.
We tried to reach ench other with
our teeth. I still held the dagger but
wns unable to strike.
Soon one of us would have to let go.
While I wns trying my best to find a
way to kill him there was u terrible
explosion nearby.
I saw my opponent fall and I my
self felt n terrible pnln In the right
side of my lower Jaw.
I ran ns quickly ns I could to the
rear nnd after a search of several
hours found a dressing stutlon, where
I wns bandaged.
My face was so swollen thnt the doc
tor could not tell whether or not my
Jaw hud been broken.
I wns placed on a train for wounded
men, bound for Germnn.v, and was
taken to a hospital In Pusseklorf.
I arrived at Dusseldorf August 28,
1015. My wound wus not dangerous
and they expected I would be cured In
14 days. Vet It required three weeks.
During this time I made up my mind
firmly that I would not murder any
more people at th* order of and to
further the Interests of Hohenzollern-
Isui, that this war would mean the end
of the Hohenzollerns und of Prussian
militarism. I decided to desert to Hol
land.
CHAPTER XVIII.
f prevailed upon the authorities to
grant me on eight-day furlough to visit
my home and I took advantage of this
to cross the Dutch border. I left my
home under a pretence of Intending to
visit relatives, wearing civilian cloth
ing. I bought a railroad ticket to Kal-
denklrchen, a medium-sited town near
the Dutch border. During my trip to
Kaldenklrchen I had plenty of time to
review all that had happened.
How different everything wo* after
the first year of the war! My home
town, once a lively country settlement,
waa now a* calm aa a graveyard. Ia
this town, which bad a population be
fore the war of 8,000 sonla, more than
Each I be * n hilled and mnny other*
I crippled. Food was very high with UP
JL Mumbled *nd f fell npoa the tone* ' v “ ,n ***“ h * rt -
ere was no enthusiasm for th* wa#
manifest anywhor*. The people were
downhearted, stunned.
It was the same In other cities. The
longing for peace waa universal yet no
one talked of peace or expressed the
desire for It
One word spoken, which displeased
the autocratic government, merited the
severest punishment Thnt Is how l^Je
to be explained that the German peo
ple cannot force the Hohenzollerns Into
peace becuuse the government, with
assistance of the military, smothered
every expression of peace with blood,
even at thnt early date.
The present Prussian government
will slaughter any German cttlzen to
further Its own Interests In the same
way thnt It attacked the Innocent pop
ulation of Belgium without regard.
With a dean conscience und cleun
hands!
"Gott strafe England. Er 1st strnfe
es!”
Going through the streets this was
heard right, und left us a comment aud
a reply.
To me, fresh from the front, thl*
kind of greeting was unknown.
Presently I lenrned the reason of
this modern form of salutation. The
hatred within the German nation wns
not so great toward France aud Rus
sia.
The people quietly accepted the enor
mous sacrifices which the war demand
ed from them In course of time.
But the government, which even
then, foresaw the unfavorable course
the war was taking, conceived the idea
of Betting England up us the arch
enemy which Intended to destroy Ger
many entirely.
The German war machine made ns»
of the blockade which England drew
around Germany to such uu extent,
playing upon child murder, so-called,
thnt the people developed an ever-in
creasing hatred toward England.
The French language was no longer
spoken anywhere. A large part of th*
German people • formerly used th*
French word "adieu," as u'farewell ex
pression but that waa stopped. Cur*
had to he token In the use of this word
to ovoid arrest on a charge of high
trenson.
I thought about these things as I
neared my temporary destination. I
wns sufficiently acquainted with th*
border so that when I arrived In Knl-
denklrchen I wu» able to reach It with
out asking any question*. The spot
which I had selected for crossing lay
In a forest. After a inarch of two
hours I arrived nenr the border. It
was soon durk and I decided to remain
In the woods over night.
The next morning at daylight I ven
tured on and without being seen by th*
guards I crossed luto Dutch territory.
With a sigh of relief I arrived ut th*
next town. Ven , in Holland.
Everywhere I was received In *
friendly manner, I observed that th*
Dutch people hated the German people
us much as I did.
After passing several month* |«
Holland, where ten* of thousands mor*
German deserters lived, I made up my
inlnd to move farther away than that
from Oeruinny for th* arm* of th* Gee-
mnn govarnwept |re Jonf find Its apt**
P*
are everywhere In most cases
scienceless crimlnnl*.
Some of my Dutch friends made mi
acquainted with sailors and these coi
sented to smuggle me to America oi
their ship. When the ship departed
was placed In the coni bunkets and ai
rived after 14 days in New York, sail
and well.
The first thing that struck me on ai
riving In the United States was thi
wide latitude permitted Germnn prop*
gnnda.
Most of tho German papers pal
llslied here were body nnd soul for thi
kaiser nnd tried dnlly to Justify thi
German fight for the German cause.
In this respect the government ll
Washington eertulnly went too far un
til It was realized that no concession!
could be made to the Prussian govern
ment nnd thnt concessions tnnde rol
Washington were nothing but deceitful
talk, sustained only by action wbeu lt|
served Its Interests of Imperialism.
The promises which the Gertnun gov-1
eminent made to Washington coniorn-
lng the Lusitania case, the U-bont war
fare nnd so forth, were nothing but de
ceit on the part of the Berlin govern
ment.
It wns the desire to preserve penra
for the American people which Im
pelled President Wilson, again and
again, not to declare war nnd If Amer
ica fights today It has only kept faith
with its democratic principles and as
sisted the world In defensive war
against the nutoerney that Is a constant
menace for the world, which prepared
for this war over several decades.
With the entrance of America into
the war the backbone of Prussian mili
tarism will be broken. The Ilinden-
burgs und the Hohenzollerns are
doomed. A victory for the allies will
he a victory for democracy nnd a v ' c '
tory of the greatest majority seeklnf
the welfuie of the human race.
(THE END.)
-Aa-
Although Wounded Once
This Devereux Man
Volunteers For Army
Here Is an example of what the
district exemption board terms as
true patriotism. It Is a letter fr< >ul
George G. Boyer, R. F. D., No. 3, Re' -
ereaux, Ga., in which he volunteer-
his services for the army. l'o.' ir
says;
“I herewith volunteer my servi' 1 -'
to the United States Infantry branch.
I have begun a crop, but as soon as
harvest It I wish to begin service u
the army.
“I have been wounded once about
the face. Otherwise I am a a° uni
man as fnr as I know."
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