to eternity. Yet the hordes still came
on, with a bravery never surpassed, and, in spite of every effort, in
spite of a superb display of courage and tenacity, the French were
forced to retire up the slopes towards Bezonvaux, and so in the
direction of the fortress of Douaumont perched up aloft and looking
down upon the scene of this sanguinary conflict. Towards the former of
these two places the garrison of Ornes was also compelled to beat a
retreat, finding itself at Bezonvaux, at the mouth of a ravine, which
ascends the heights leading to that fortress already mentioned, which
was to be the scene of a terrible battle in days now near at hand. To
portray all that occurred on this eventful 23rd February would be
almost impossible, and certainly beyond the scope of these pages; yet
one must mention the case of those gallant Zouaves and African
sharpshooters, who, to the north of Douaumont, recaptured a wood
between Herbebois and Hill 351, which is just to the south-west of it,
and lies in front of Beaumont. Here, in spite of an avalanche of
shells which was poured upon them, and of murderous attacks launched in
their direction, they held out for quite a considerable period, and,
having in turn retired upon the Bois de Fosse, were eventually
compelled to fall back upon the plateau of Douaumont.

The morning of the 24th, as it dawned, discovered, indeed, a critical
change in the positions held by our noble allies. The northern face of
the salient had, as we have described, been driven in, and the handful
of troops holding it had been forced to retire over some four miles of
country, fighting in the open, infantry and gunners fighting a terrific
rear-guard action, and doing their utmost--and doing that most
gallantly--to hold up a further advance of the enemy. That imaginary
base-line which we have mentioned as running across the base of the
salient, where the winding River Meuse traces its path amongst the
hills, had been dangerously shortened, and already Germans were massing
in the neighbourhood of Vacherauville, close down to the river, under
the shadow of the Cote du Poivre, where they hoped to drive in their
wedge, and to further shorten that line across which French troops must
retreat if indeed the salient was to be evacuated. And towards the
east, towards the apex of the salient, outlying advance-parties of the
French had been driven in by sheer weight of guns and numbers, and were
now back on the heights o