Four Weeks in the Trenches | Page 4

midst of the
forest which only a few hours before had been deserted.
It made a weird and impressive picture in the wonderful starlight night,
these soldiers sitting around the camp fires softly singing in chorus; the
fantastic outlines of the monastery half hidden in the woods; the dark
figures of the monks moving silently back and forth amongst the
shadows of the trees as they brought refreshments to the troops; the red
glow of the camp fires illuminating the eager and enthusiastic faces of
the young officers grouped around the colonel; the snorting and
stamping of the horses nearby; an occasional melodic outcry of a
sentinel out in the night; all these things merging into an unforgettable
scene of great romanticism and beauty. That night I lay for a long while
stretched near the smoldering ashes of the camp fire, with my cape as a
blanket, in a state of lassitude and somnolence, my soul filled with
exaltation and happiness over the beauty around me.
The rest, however, was of very short duration, for at six o'clock in the
morning we were aroused, camp was broken up and soon afterwards
we started on a forced march of twenty-two miles without a halt, during
which we twice had to wade knee-deep through rivers. By midday most
of the men were so exhausted that they could hardly crawl along. It was
remarkable that the comparatively weaker and more refined city-bred
people who had done little physical work in their lives, most of them

being professional men, withstood hardships better than the sturdy and,
to all appearances, stronger peasants; the only explanation for it being
perhaps that the. city-bred people, in consequence of their better
surroundings and by reason of their education, had more will power
and nervous strength than the peasants.
At half-past two we reached a clearing in the midst of a wood through
which a river flowed. Here camp was again established and a half hour
later all the hardships of the march were once more forgotten in the
bustle of camp life. This time we had a full rest until the next morning
at four o'clock, when suddenly orders for marching were given. After
we had been under way for about three hours we heard far-away,
repeated rumbling which sounded like distant thunder. Not for a
moment did we associate it with cannonading, being, as we supposed,
hundreds of miles away from the nearest place where Russians could
possibly be. Suddenly a mounted ordnance officer came rushing with a
message to our colonel. We came to a halt and all officers were
summoned to the colonel who, addressing us in his usual quiet, almost
businesslike way, said: "Gentlemen, accept my congratulations, I have
good news for you, we may meet the enemy to-day and I sincerely
hope to lead you to the fight before evening." We were thunderstruck at
the sudden realization that the Russians had penetrated so deeply into
Galicia. The despondency which followed this startling revelation,
however, was quickly replaced by the intense excitement of meeting
the enemy so soon. We hurried back to our companies, imparting the
news to the men, who broke forth into shouts of enthusiasm. All the
fatigue so plainly noticeable only a few minutes before, suddenly
vanished as if by magic, and every one seemed alert, springy, and full
of spirit. We energetically resumed the march in the direction of the
distant rumbling, which indicated that the artillery of our advance
guard had engaged the enemy. My regiment then was part of the main
body of a division. A second division advanced on the road parallel to
ours, about a mile and a quarter to our left. Both columns belonged to
the Third Army Corps and kept up constant communication with each
other through mounted dispatch bearers and motor cycles.
The cannonading had meanwhile come perceptibly nearer, and in the
midst of the dense forest we again came to a short halt. Orders were
given to load rifles, and upon emerging from the woods we fell into

open formation, the men marching abreast, the companies at a distance
of three hundred yards, with the battalions at a distance of about a
thousand yards. We were slowly entering the range of the Russian
artillery. About a mile ahead we could see numbers of harmless looking
round clouds, looking like ringlets of smoke from a huge cigar,
indicating the places where shrapnel had exploded in mid-air. Our men,
not being familiar with the spectacle, took no notice of it, but we
officers knew its significance, and I daresay many a heart beat as wildly
as mine did.
We marched on until the command was given for us to deploy, and
soon afterwards the first shrapnel whizzed over our heads. It did no
harm, nor did