rsonal Experiences from the Lips of Survivors
of the World's Bloodiest Battles--Tales of
Prisoners of War, Wounded Soldiers and Refugees
Rendered Homeless in Blighted Arena of Conflict_.

HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTING

Cavalry fighting on the banks of the River Marne in the year 1914 was
almost identical with the charge in the days when Hannibal's Numidian
horse charged at Romans at Lake Trasimene, or when Charles Martel and
the chivalry of France worsted the Moors and saved Europe on the plains
of Tours.

A good description of a cavalry charge was given by Private Capel of the
Third British Hussars, a veteran of the Boer war, who took part in the
fighting beginning at Mons and was separated from his regiment in a
charge at Coulommiers, in the battle of the Marne, when his horse fell.

"You hear," said he, "the enemy's bugles sounding the charge. Half a
mile away you see the Germans coming and it seems that in an instant
they will be on you. You watch fascinated and cold with a terror that
makes you unable to lift an arm or do anything but wait and tremble.

"They come closer and still you are horrorstruck. Then you feel your
horse fretting and suddenly you start from your daze, and fear changes
suddenly to hate. Your hand goes to the saber hilt, your teeth clinch
and you realize that you must strike hard before the enemy, who is now
very close, can strike. Every muscle tightens with the waiting.

"Before your own bugles have sounded two notes of the charge you find
yourself leaning forward over the neck of your galloping horse. All the
rest is a mad gallop, yells of the enemy and your own answer, a terrible
shock in which you are almost dismounted, and then you find yourself
face to face with a single opponent who, standing up in the stirrups, is
about to split your head. You notice that you are striking like a fiend
with the saber.

"After that madness passes it seems almost like a complex maneuver and
soon you find yourself riding for dear life--perhaps to escape, perhaps
after the Germans. You then realize that you have been whipped and that
the charge has failed, or you see the backs of the fleeing enemy,
feel your horse straining in pursuit and know that you have gained a
victory."

FRIGHTFUL MORTALITY AMONG OFFICERS

The official reports of the loss of life in the battles in France tell
of the large number of officers killed. Sharp-shooters on both sides
have had instructions to aim at officers. These sh