In the Field (1914-1915): The Impressions of an Officer of Light Cavalry

embe

ck in the

tired out, their faces black with dust, had hardly dismounted when they threw themselves on the ground and slept in a field of cut corn. The officers chatted together

ely. This had happened each day of that unforgettable retreat, begun at the Sambre and pushed beyond the

e up a further portion of our sweet France; to deliver up some of our lovely hamlets, some of our fields, our orchards, our gardens, some of our vineyards, to the barbarians?... You were ordered to do so. We have learnt, since then,

was sleepin

d to be the ever-watchful shepherd of that immense flock. At such moments the chief must be able to seem unconscious of the self-abandonment, the disorder and the exhaustion of his men. Human powers have their limits. They had been expe

uld I recognise the smart, brilliantly accoutred horsemen, whose uniforms used

es had been invaded by beards which made them look like those of men of thirty or more. The dust of roads and fields, raised

coloured pieces. A few more days of such unremitting war, and we should have vied with the glo

mer coats! They had followed their masters' fortunes. How many of them had already fallen under the Prussian bullets; how many had been left dying of exhaustion or starvation after our terrible rides! They seemed to sleep, absorbe

d still be equal to an effort for the figh

electric current, every man had got up and had fixed his astonished eyes on the newcomer. He was an artillery non-commissioned officer; his face was crimson, his hair unkempt, his cap had come off his head and was d

d was bending down towards him. Even at that distance we could hear som

ined standing. With the greatest calmness he asked the sergeant in an undertone for some information; and the man answered him with emphatic gestures. All eyes were

e trooper, that sublime act which pierces, rends, and crushes by a furious onslaught-wild gallop, with uplifted sword, yelling mouth, and frenzied eyes. The charge! The charge of our great ancestors, of

had one desire, and one only-to measure ourselves with them. And every time we had seen their squadrons the result had been either that they had turned

them and measure our s

calm as at man[oe]uvres, led us at a gentle trot skirting the little clumps of trees that dot

ze the haunches of mine, "Tourne-Toujours," my gallant charger, the fiery thoroughbred which had so often maddened me at the riding schools of the regiment and at man[oe]uvres, by his savageness and the shaking he gave me. "Tourne-Toujours" gave evident signs of excitement. By his pawing the ground every now and then he, an officer's horse, seemed to resent the clo

irregularities of the ground ahead. Their hands grasped their sword-hilts tightly. Major B., leaning well forward, and riding between the two squadrons, was practising some furious cutting-strokes. What a grand fight it was going to be!

ces, which we could not hear. The Colonel turned towards our Captain, who was behind him, leaning forward over his horse, all attention, with hi

pulled himself together. Every man felt conscious of all the glory in store for us. Every man prepared to perform expl

ad passed over in a body. There was a succession of yellow or green fields, with here and there some leafy thicket. On our left, surrounded by orchards, rose the grey and massive b

be deprived of the pleasure of measuring ourselves with their Uhlans at close quarters. We saw distinctly on the edge of the wo

he wood and had been quietly waiting for us with rifles levelle

ion to let the fellows have a taste of our steel was too strong. I rejoiced at the thought of seeing their heavy bo

d the general feeling

music of merrily clinking stirrups and scabbards and

stled in all directions, and behind me I heard the heavy sound of men and horses falling on the hard ground. In

ff. We spurred our horses

s of our sacrifice. We had just realised that the edge of the wood was surrounded with wire, and that it was behind this impassable barrier that the Prussians were calmly firing at us as at a target. What w

low me, in open order!" And he spurred in an oblique direction towards the nearest depression in the ground. But the movement was badly carried out. The men, disheartened, instead of spreading out like a flight of sparrows, rushed off in so compact a body that some mo

od, behind which it was able to re-form. The sweating horses snorted loudly. Th

shap, seemed proud of the blood that stained their tunics and their hands. The men whose horses had fallen had already come up jogging heavily over the field of lucerne that stretched out before us. One man alone was absent; Paquin, a good little fellow, energetic and well

mon Lieutenant, you

had made a horrible wound, as large as my hand, from which the blood was streaming all down his leg. Two other bullets had hit him, one in the flank, the other in the loins, leaving two small red holes. The noble animal had brought me back safely, and then, as he stood still on his four

ut my saddle on the horse of one of the wounded troopers. Whilst Surgeon-Major P., in the growing dusk, attended to the seriously wounded m

Mouniette, Val

four men, dispersed at wide intervals to my right and left, sto

h streak of light still gave a feeble glow. Everything was becoming blurred and mysterious. In front of us stretched the disqui

Paquin!...

squadron had ridden over. Every now and then we came across the body of a horse, marking our mournful

Paquin!...

se we love, those who are suffering, those who are dying-and think of nothing but our regiment, our squadron, our troop. Paquin's name would

ing, each corps arrives at its appointed place of rest. It is the moment when in normal life nature falls asleep in the peace of evening. It is the mome

very life of an army. All these things rumble along methodically in the dark, clanking and creaking, towards a goal invisible and yet sure. Above this huge chaos voices rise in various keys: soldiers astray asking their road; van-drivers urging on their foot-sore

dly lighting up some corners of the scene. That evenin