but broke at the first shock of the Africans, who
came on screaming, their knives and bayonets much in evidence. A scene
of frightful carnage ensued as the rout spread along the hill. The
Turcos chased the Germans over the fields and through neighboring
woods, killing them right and left. The total casualties in the
neighborhood must have been more than three thousand, the Germans
being much the heavier losers.

I have read of such bayonet fights, but have always doubted their
possibility in modern war. I have supposed that in close-range
fighting a few men might be bayoneted, but that the majority of the
casualties would be from gunshot wounds. In this melee, however,
most of the wounds were inflicted with the bayonet, and frightful
wounds they were. Many on both sides had been pierced through the
face, neck, and skull. The head of one German officer who had not
fled with his men, but had bravely fought on single-handed, had
been completely transfixed by a bayonet, which had entered through
the eagle on the front of his helmet and passed through his skull
and out behind.

[Illustration: THE COMMON GRAVE OF NINE HUNDRED DEAD NEAR
SOIZY-AUX-BOIS]

* * * * *

After passing through many scenes of horror, we arrived at the castle
of Mondemont which is near Allemant, and caps the summit of a steep
wooded hill overlooking the marshes of St. Gond. It was a Louis XV.
chateau, but is now a mass of shattered ruins. Around it had been
elaborate gardens with many paths, alleys, carp ponds, flower-beds,
hedges, and walls. From its elevated position it commanded the valleys
beneath. It had without much difficulty been captured by the Germans
as they advanced southward, and when they later retreated to the north
again they had left here a rearguard to hold back the victorious
French.

All through the disastrous afternoon of Wednesday the 9th, these
Germans had defended Mondemont against a furious cannonade and in the
face of infantry assaults which, in some cases, had to be repulsed
with the bayonet. Meanwhile, the main German armies retreated many
miles until on Thursday morning this heroic rearguard found itself
hopelessly surrounded on all sides. The French commanders summoned the
place to surrender, explaining that further resistance was madness,
but were met by a firm refusal, whereupon the Germans were subjected
to a most terrific bombardment by cannon, large and small. In all at
least ten