nd
north by forced marches. The most renowned army corps of old
Prussia, the contingents of Westphalia, of Hanover, of Brandenburg,
have retired in haste before you.

This first success is no more than the prelude. The enemy is
shaken, but not yet decisively beaten. You have still to undergo
severe hardships, to make long marches, to fight hard battles.

May the image of our country, soiled by barbarians, always remain
before your eyes. Never was it more necessary to sacrifice all for
her.

Saluting the heroes who have fallen in the fighting of the last few
days, my thoughts turn toward you, the victors in the next battle.
Forward, soldiers, for France!

FRANCHET D'ESPEREY,
General Commanding the Fifth Army.
Montmirail, Sept. 9, 1914.

The Germans are a formidable enemy, well trained, long prepared, and
brave. Their soldiers are carrying on the contest with skill and valor.
Nevertheless they are fighting to win anyhow, regardless of all the
rules of fair play, and there is evidence that they do not hesitate at
anything in order to gain victory.

A large number of the tales of their misbehaviors are exaggeration and
some of the stringent precautions they have taken to guard themselves
against the inhabitants of the areas traversed are possibly justifiable
measures of war. But, at the same time, it has been definitely
established that they have committed atrocities on many occasions and
they have been guilty of brutal conduct.

So many letters and statements of our wounded soldiers have been
published in our newspapers that the following epistle from a German
soldier of the Seventy-fourth Infantry Regiment, Tenth Corps, to his
wife may also be of interest:

"My Dear Wife: I have just been living through days that defy
imagination. I should never have thought that men could stand it. Not a
second has passed but my life has been in danger, and yet not a hair of
my head has been hurt.

"It was horrible! It was ghastly! but I have been saved for you and for
our happiness, and I take heart again, although I am still terribly
unnerved. God grant that I may see you again soon, and that this horror
may soon be over.

"None of us can do any more; human strength is at an end. I will try to
tell you about it. On the 5th of September the enemy were reported to be
taking up a position near St. Prix, southeast of Paris.

"The Tenth Corps, which h