hts of the Meuse is true not
only of that colonel and of that regiment, but of the whole five hundred
miles of trenches, and of all France.

* * * * *

February, 1916.

When I was in Verdun, the Germans, from a distance of twenty miles, had
dropped three shells into Nancy and threatened to send more. That gave
Nancy an interest which Verdun lacked. So I was intolerant of Verdun
and anxious to hasten on to Nancy.

To-day Nancy and her three shells are forgotten, and to all the world
the place of greatest interest is Verdun. Verdun has been Roman,
Austrian, and not until 1648 did she become a part of France. This is
the fourth time she has been attacked--by the Prussians in 1792, again
by the Germans in 1870, when, after a gallant defense of three weeks,
she surrendered, and in October of 1914.

She then was more menaced than attacked. It was the Crown Prince and
General von Strantz with seven army corps who threatened her. General
Sarrail, now commanding the allied forces in Salonika, with three army
corps, and reinforced by part of an army corps from Toul, directed the
defense. The attack was made upon Fort Troyon, about twenty miles south
of Verdun. The fort was destroyed, but the Germans were repulsed. Four
days later, September 24, the real attack was made fifteen miles south
of Troyon, on the village of St. Mihiel. The object of Von Strantz was
to break through the Verdun-Toul line, to inclose Sarrail from the south
and at Revigny link arms with the Crown Prince. They then would have had
the army of Sarrail surrounded.

For several days it looked as though Von Strantz would succeed, but,
though outnumbered, Sarrail's line held, and he forced Von Strantz to
"dig in" at St. Mihiel. There he still is, like a dagger that has failed
to reach the heart but remains implanted in the flesh.

Von Strantz having failed, a week later, on October 3, the Crown Prince
attacked through the Forest of the Argonne between Varennes and Verdun.
But this assault also was repulsed by Sarrail, who captured Varennes,
and with his left joined up with the Fourth Army of General Langle. The
line as then formed by that victory remained much as it is to-day. The
present attack is directed neither to the north nor south of Verdun,
but straight at the forts of the city. These forts form but a part of
the defenses. For twenty miles in front of Verdun have been spread