perhaps, that the men in the front line trenches were
exceptionally daring in making raids into the enemy's territory. One of
the main reliances of the Germans against these raids was poison gas, a
plentiful supply of which they kept on hand at all times, and which they
could utilize quickly and with great facility.

The small number in this division who were taken prisoner by the enemy
verifies the assertion made before that the Negro would sacrifice his
life or submit to deadly wounds rather than be captured. When only five
out of a total of about 30,000 fell into the Germans' hands alive, it
gives some idea of the desperate resistance they put up. Perhaps the
stories they had heard about the wanton slaughter of prisoners by the
Hun or the brutalities practiced on those who were permitted to live,
had something to do with the attitude of the Negroes against being
captured; but a more likely solution is that their very spirit to
advance and win and to accept death in preference to being conquered,
caused the small number in the prisoner list, and the large number in
the lists of other casualties.

Considering the desperate advance made by the 92nd Division from Pont a
Mousson the morning of November 10th, through a valley swept by the
tremendous guns of Metz and thousands of machine guns, the casualty list
really is slight.

Advancing over such dangerous ground to gain their objective, it appears
miraculous that the division was not wiped out, or at least did not
suffer more heavily than it did. An explanation of this seeming miracle
has been offered in the rapidity of the advance.

No two battles are ever fought alike. Offensives and defensives will be
planned along certain lines. Then will suddenly obtrude the element of
surprise or something that could not be foreseen or guarded against,
which will overturn the most carefully prepared plans.

No soldiers in the world were ever trained to a higher degree of
efficiency than the Germans. Mathematical precision ruled everywhere;
the ultimate detail had been considered; and all students of military
matters were forced to admit that they had reduced warfare seemingly, to
an exact science. But it was a mistake. The Germans were the victims of
surprise times innumerable. Some of the greatest events of the war,
notably the first defeat at the Marne in its strategic features, was a
complete surprise to them.

Everything about war, can, it seems, be reduced to a science