eached Antwerp on October 3, 1914. This buoyed up the spirits of the
Belgian soldiers and redoubled their efforts. Under cover of the
continuous fire of their guns, the Germans made determined efforts to
cross the river Nethe at Waelhem. Desperate fighting, which lasted all
night and until early in the morning of October 4, took place. This
attempt, however, failed. Later in the day the Germans succeeded in
putting a pontoon bridge in place. Troops in solid masses hurried
across; but as they reached the other side some well-directed shots from
the Belgian guns blew the pontoon bridge to pieces, killing many.

Throughout the night of October 4, 1914, and the day and night of
October 5, the battle raged about Lierre with savage ferocity. The
British marines had by this time relieved the Belgians. The German fire,
however, compelled the defenders to draw back a considerable distance.

At four o'clock in the morning of October 6, 1914, the Germans succeeded
in crossing the river in force, and now the defenders were obliged to
give way, as the outer forts had ceased to afford them any protection.
Late in the afternoon the members of the Belgian Cabinet and their
official families went aboard one steamer, while the French and British
Legations boarded another, both sailing early on October 7.

The Belgian troops had begun to withdraw the evening before. All the
defending forces now hastened their retreat. The actual evacuation had
indeed begun. Time was taken, however, to put out of commission some
thirty steamships lying at their docks and to set afire all the large
oil tanks on the west side of the river Scheldt. The streets in Antwerp
presented scenes of almost indescribable confusion. Even before the
bombardment had been long in operation almost the entire civil
population became panic-stricken. Hither and thither, wherever the crowd
drifted, explosions obstructed their paths; fronts of buildings bent
over and fell into the streets, in many cases crushing their occupants.
Although the burgomaster had issued a proclamation advising the people
to remain calm--indoors, if possible--nothing could stop the stampede.

The defending troops withdrawing through the city from the firing line
destroyed everything that might possibly be of use to the enemy. The
suburbs of Antwerp seemed to be ablaze in every direction; the village
of Waerloos had been burning for some days; Contich, Duffel, and Lierre
also, and Have, Linth, and Vie