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146 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
Fields and meadows, pastures, groves and orchards—all
slashed in different directions by the dark shaded lines of the
roads. Now and then one sees cattle browsing peacefully
—
sheep among the goats. And the peasants who have
returned to their land are busying themselves in their yards
and fields. We pass through several villages, among others
Tannay and Le Chesne on the Ardenne Canal. This country
is full of memories. One can without much effort imagine
oneself back in the last days of August, 1870, when Marshal
MacMahon’s army marched in long columns along these very
roads—towards Beaumont and Sedan. There, close by, in the
wood to the south-west, and south of Le Chesne, the first
German cavalry pickets were peering out, on August 29th,
on the road to the north. These were horsemen, no doubt,
who less than a fortnight previously had gained glory on the
blood-drenched fields of Vionville and Mars-la-Tour.—Hark !
The bugles are sounding at the head of von Bredow’s brigade !
—The stranger from the land of Charles XII. feels a twinge in
his heart, as his fancy calls up kindred memories of past ages.
From remote regions far, far away, other sounds, yet strangely
similar, seem to ring in his ears—an echo from the days of long
ago, when his people were fighting for the Germanic cause in
the east,—Around him is seething the vital energy of the
German army, of the German people. He feels something he
has felt before. He now comprehends the true significance of
the words in which the poor Swedish petty officer Wessling
replied to the Generals of Tsar Peter, who asked him how the
Swedes could fight so valiantly, two against a hundred :
" We were bound to do so for the sake of our most gracious
king and the oath we have sworn." This spirit shines from
the eyes of every German soldier.—At length we arrive in
Vouziers on the western bank of the Aisne.
We do not stop long. The General only remains long enough
to hear the reports of a couple of officers of the Intermediate
Base Command there, as to what has occurred since yesterday.
When he has gathered that all is in the best order he gives the
word to drive on, and we soon continue southward on the
high road to Séchault and Cernay—the road taken by the
nth Army Corps to Sedan in 1870. At Cernay we are twenty
kilometres west of Varennes. But between these two localities
lies the Argonne, where obstinate fighting is still proceeding.
From Cernay issues, to the west, the great highway to Rheims.
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