space of time; two great victories over the French. And most
remarkable of all, the nation which for forty-four years had desired
_revanche_ for Sedan, was again completely defeated at the same
place--almost on the anniversary of the first battle.

[Footnote 174: The writer, Dr. W. Kriege, is a Roman Catholic priest
from Trier (Treves). His book "Bilder vom Kriegsschauplatz" (Pictures
from the Seat of War"), published in 1915, is both interesting and
illuminating.]

"Twilight shadows fall deep upon the quiet fields where the dead rest.
Squadrons of white clouds drift down the valley, as if to cover the
sleeping heroes with a shroud of white. Above Sedan's heights appears
the shining crescent of the moon and sheds a ghostly light over the wide
field of death--the battlefield of Sedan."[175]

[Footnote 175: Dr. W. Kriege: "Bilder vom Kriegsschauplatz," p. 45 _et
seq_.]

"At last we arrive at our destination--Somme-Py. But what a sight!
Nothing remains of the once beautiful, spacious village but a heap of
rubbish. A few black-burnt walls are still standing and about three
houses; among them, fortunately, the house occupied by Kaiser Wilhelm I.
in 1870-71, when the victorious German army was marching on Paris. At
present it serves as a field-hospital. Yes, this is the second time that
a German army has marched this way; but the battles were never so bloody
as this time.

"Somme-Py and the country round has a special meaning for us folk in
Trier. For here our Trier regiments--above all the 29th and 69th--have
fought with splendid valour, and here they have buried many a dear
friend and comrade. Immediately before Somme-Py one of the largest
mass-graves of the whole campaign may be seen.

"A simple iron railing surrounds the spot where hundreds of those rest
who lived so happily in our midst, who marched so gaily and to whom we
waved farewell greetings as they tramped through our streets.

"The fight for the village had been particularly fierce and bloody; the
inhabitants had no time to flee. Half-burnt men and animals, soldiers
and civilians, filled the houses and streets, or lay buried under the
ruins--awful sacrifices to the war Fury! We must thank God and our brave
soldiers that they have preserved our hearths and homes from such horror
and misery."[176]

[Footnote 176: Ibid., pp. 78-80.]

It is cheering to find a growing feeling of respect for the French in
German war literature. One of many such expressions w