did great execution among them.

They afterwards made five desperate assaults on our trenches, advancing
in mass and singing "Die Wacht am Rhein" as they came on. Each assault
was easily beaten back, our troops waiting until the enemy came to very
close range before they opened fire with rifles and Maxims, causing
terrible havoc in the solid masses.

During the fighting in this quarter on the night of the 22d and on the
23d the German losses were again extremely heavy. We made over 600
prisoners during that time and picked up 1,500 dead, killed on the
latter day alone.

Much of the slaughter was due to the point blank magazine fire of our
men against the German assaults, while our field guns and howitzers,
working in perfect combination, did their share when the enemy were
repulsed. As they fell back they were subjected to a shower of shrapnel.
When they sought shelter in villages or buildings they were shattered
and driven out by high-explosive shells and then again caught by
shrapnel as they came into the open.

The troops to suffer so severely were mostly of Twenty-third Corps, one
of their new formations.

Certainly the way their advance was conducted showed a lack of training
and faults in leading which the almost superhuman bravery of the
soldiers could not counterbalance. It was a holocaust.

The spectacle of these devoted men chanting a national song as they
marched on to certain death was inspiring. It was at the same time
pitiable.

And if any proof were needed that untrained valor alone cannot gain the
day in modern war, the advance of the Twenty-third German Corps on Oct.
23 most assuredly furnished it.

Besides doing its share of execution on the hostile infantry, our
artillery in this quarter brought down a German captive balloon.

As some gauge of the rate at which the guns were firing at what was for
them an ideal target, it may be mentioned that one field battery
expended 1,800 rounds of ammunition during the day.

On Saturday, the 24th, action on our right was once more confined to
that of artillery, except at night, when the Germans pressed on, only to
be repulsed.

In the centre, near Armentieres, our troops withstood three separate
attempts of the enemy to push forward, our guns coming into play with
good effect. Against our left the German Twenty-seventh Corps made a
violent effort with no success.

On Sunday, the 25th, it was our turn to take the offensive. This was
carried out by