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FOUR WEEKS IN THE 
 TRENCHES 
 
 THE WAR STORY OF A VIOUNIST 
 
 BT 
 
 FRITZ KREISLER 
 
 With Illustrations 
 
 \ 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 
 1915 
 
 \N\ 
 

 COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY FRITZ KREISLER 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 Published April iq/j 
 
 A^ 
 
 ^ 
 
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 APR 19 1915 
 
 CI,A;{9K421 
 
o- 
 
 TO MY DEAR WIFE 
 HARRIET 
 
 THE BEST FRIEND 
 
 AND STANCHEST COMRADE IN ALL 
 
 CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE 
 
 I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE BOOK 
 
 IN HUMBLE TOKEN 
 
 OF EVERLASTING GRATITUDE 
 
 AND DEVOTION 
 
PREFACE 
 
 This brief record of the fighting on the 
 Eastern front in the great war is the out- 
 come of a fortunate meeting. 
 
 The writer chanced to be dining with 
 Mr. Kreisler soon after his arrival in this 
 country, after his dismissal from the 
 hospital where he recovered from his 
 wound. For nearly two hours he list- 
 ened, thrilled and moved, to the great 
 violinist's modest, vivid narrative of his 
 experiences and adventures. It seemed 
 in the highest degree desirable that the 
 American pubHc should have an oppor- 
 tunity of reading this narrative from the 
 pen of one in whose art so many of us 
 take a profound interest. It also was 
 apparent that since so httle of an au- 
 thentic nature had been heard from the 
 Russo-Austrian field of warfare, this 
 
PREFACE 
 
 story would prove an important contri- 
 bution to the contemporary history of 
 the war. 
 
 After much persuasion, Mr. Kreisler 
 reluctantly acceded to the suggestion 
 that he write out his personal memories 
 of the war for pubUcation. He has com- 
 pleted his narrative in the midst of grave 
 difficulties, writing it piecemeal in hotels 
 and railway trains in the course of a con- 
 cert tour through the country. It is 
 offered by the publishers to the public 
 with confidence that it will be found one 
 of the most absorbing and informing 
 narratives of the war that has yet ap- 
 peared. 
 
 F. G. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Fritz Kreisler Frontispiece 
 
 Fritz Kreisler as an Officer of the Austrian 
 Reserve and his Wife as Nurse .... 6 
 
 Group of Officers and their Wives taken at 
 Leoben before Departure for the Front la 
 
 Concert given at Leoben in aid of Red Gross 
 before Departure for Front 28 
 
 Officers, Surgeon, and Non-commissioned Of- 
 ficers of Kreisler's Gompany 4o 
 
 Kreisler*s Battalion taking Oath at Leoben 54 
 
 Kreisler at the Front, taken after Three 
 Weeks* Service 66 
 
 Fritz Kreisler 82 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE 
 TRENCHES 
 
 I 
 
 In trying to recall my impressions dur- 
 ing my short war duty as an officer in the 
 Austrian Army, I find that my recollec- 
 tions of this period are very uneven and 
 confused. Some of the experiences stand 
 out with absolute clearness; others, how- 
 ever, are blurred. Two or three events 
 which took place in different locaHties 
 seem merged into one, while in other 
 instances recollection of the chronologi- 
 cal order of things is missing. This curi- 
 ous indifference of the memory to values 
 of time and space may be due to the 
 extraordinary physical and mental stress 
 under which the impressions I am trying 
 to chronicle were received. The same 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 state of mind I find is rather charac- 
 teristic of most people I have met who 
 were in the war. It should not be forgot- 
 ten, too, that the gigantic upheaval 
 which changed the fundamental condi- 
 tion of life overnight and threatened 
 the very existence of nations naturally 
 dwarfed the individual into nothingness, 
 and the existing interest in the common 
 welfare left practically no room for per- 
 sonal considerations. Then again, at the 
 front, the extreme uncertainty of the 
 morrow tended to lessen the interest in 
 the details of to-day; consequently I 
 may have missed a great many interest- 
 ing happenings alongside of me which I 
 would have wanted to note under other 
 circumstances. One gets into a strange 
 psychological, almost hypnotic, state of 
 mind while on the firing line which prob- 
 ably prevents the mind's eye from ob- 
 serving and noticing things in a normal 
 way. This accounts, perhaps, for some 
 
 2 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 blank spaces in my memory. Besides, 
 I went out completely resigned to my 
 fate, without much thought for the fu- 
 ture. It never occurred to me that I 
 might ever want to write my experi- 
 ences, and consequently I failed to take 
 notes or to establish certain mnemo- 
 technical landmarks by the aid of which 
 I might now be able to reconstruct all 
 details. I am, therefore, reduced to pre- 
 sent an incoherent and rather piecemeal 
 narrative of such episodes as forcibly 
 impressed themselves upon my mind 
 and left an ineradicable mark upon my 
 memory. 
 
 The outbreak of the war found my 
 wife and me in Switzerland, where we 
 were taking a cure. On the 31st of July, 
 on opening the paper, I read that the 
 Third Army Corps, to which my regiment 
 (which is stationed in Graz) belonged, 
 had received an order for mobilization. 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 Although I had resigned my commission 
 as an officer two years before, I immedi- 
 ately left Switzerland, accompanied by 
 my wife, in order to report for duty. 
 As it happened, a wire reached me a day 
 later calling me to the colors. 
 
 We went by way of Munich. It was the 
 first day of the declaration of the state 
 of war in Germany. Intense excitement 
 prevailed. In Munich all traffic was 
 stopped; no trains were running except 
 for military purposes. It was only due 
 to the fact that I revealed my intention 
 of rejoining my regiment in Austria that 
 I was able to pass through at all, but 
 by both the civil and military authori- 
 ties in Bavaria I was shown the great- 
 est posssible consideration and passed 
 through as soon as possible. 
 
 We reached Vienna on August first. 
 A startHng change had come over the 
 city since I had left it only a few weeks 
 before. Feverish activity everywhere 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 prevailed. Reservists streamed in by 
 thousands from all parts of the country 
 to report at headquarters. Autos filled 
 with officers whizzed past. Dense crowds 
 surged up and down the streets. Bulle- 
 tins and extra editions of newspapers 
 passed from hand to hand. Immediately 
 it was evident what a great leveler war 
 is. Differences in rank and social dis- 
 tinctions had practically ceased. All 
 barriers seemed to have fallen; every- 
 body addressed everybody else. 
 
 I saw the crowds stop officers of high 
 rank and well-known members of the 
 aristocracy and clergy, also state officials 
 and court functionaries of high rank, in 
 quest of information, which was im- 
 parted cheerfully and patiently. The 
 imperial princes could frequently be 
 seen on the Ring Strasse surrounded 
 by cheering crowds or mingling with 
 the public unceremoniously at the cafes, 
 talking to' everybody. Of course, the 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 army was idolized. Wherever the troops 
 marched the pubhc broke into cheers 
 and every uniform was the center of an 
 ovation. 
 
 While coming from the station I saw 
 two young reservists, to all appearances 
 brothers, as they hurried to the bar- 
 racks, carrying their small belongings in 
 a valise. Along with them walked a 
 little old lady crying, presumably their 
 mother. They passed a general in full 
 uniform. Up went their hands to their 
 caps in military salute, whereupon the 
 old general threw his arms wide open 
 and embraced them both, saying: **Go 
 on, my boys, do your duty bravely and 
 stand firm for your emperor and your 
 country. God willing, you will come 
 back to your old mother." The old lady 
 smiled through her tears. A shout went 
 up, and the crowds surrounding the gen- 
 eral cheered him. Long after I had left 
 I could hear them shouting. 
 
FRITZ RREISLER AS AN OFFICER OF THE AUSTRLAN RESERVE 
 AND HIS WIFE AS NURSE 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 A few streets farther on I saw in an 
 open cafe a young couple, a reservist in 
 field uniform and a young girl, his bride 
 or sweetheart. They sat there, hands 
 linked, utterly oblivious of their sur- 
 roundings and of the world at large. 
 When somebody in the crowd espied 
 them, a great shout went up, the public 
 rushing to the table and surrounding 
 them, then breaking into applause and 
 waving hats and handkerchiefs. At 
 first the young couple seemed to be ut- 
 terly taken aback and only slowly did 
 they realize that the ovation was meant 
 for them. They seemed confused, the 
 young girl blushing and hiding her face 
 in her hands, the young man rising to his 
 feet, saluting and bowing. More cheers 
 and applause. He opened his mouth as 
 if wanting to speak. There was a sudden 
 silence. He was vainly struggling for ex- 
 pression, but then his face lit up as if by 
 inspiration. Standing erect, hand at his 
 
 7 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 cap, in a pose of military salute, he in- 
 toned the Austrian national hymn. In 
 a second every head in that throng was 
 bared. All traffic suddenly stopped, 
 everybody, passengers as well as con- 
 ductors of the cars, joining in. the anthem. 
 The neighboring windows soon filled 
 with people, and soon it was a chorus of 
 thousands of voices. The volume of tone 
 and the intensity of feeling seemed to 
 raise the inspiring anthem to the utter- 
 most heights of sublime majesty. We 
 were then on our way to the station, and 
 long afterwards we could hear the sing- 
 ing, swelling like a human organ. 
 
 What impressed me particularly in 
 Vienna was the strict order everywhere. 
 No mob disturbances of any kind, in 
 spite of the greatly increased liberty and 
 relaxation of police regulations. Nor 
 was there any runaway chauvinism 
 noticeable, aside from the occasional 
 singing of patriotic songs and demon- 
 
 8 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 strations like the one I just described. 
 The keynote of popular feeling was 
 quiet dignity, joined to determination, 
 with an undercurrent of solemn gravity 
 and responsibility. 
 
 I had stopped in Vienna only long 
 enough to bid good-bye to my father, and 
 left for the headquarters of my regiment 
 in Graz. I reported there for duty and 
 then went to join the Fourth Battalion, 
 which was stationed at Leoben, one 
 hour away from Graz, my orders being 
 to take command of the first platoon in 
 the sixteenth company. My platoon 
 consisted of fifty-five men, two buglers, 
 and an ambulance patrol of four. 
 
 In Leoben my wife and I remained a 
 week, which was spent in organizing, 
 equipping, requisitioning, recruiting, and 
 preliminary drilling. These were happy 
 days, as we officers met for the first 
 time, friendships and bonds being sealed 
 which subsequently were tested in com- 
 
 9 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 mon danger and amidst privation and 
 stress. Many of the officers had brought 
 their wives and soon dehghtful inter- 
 course, utterly free from formaUty, de- 
 veloped, without any regard or refer- 
 ence to rank, wealth, or station in private 
 life. Among the reserve officers of my 
 battalion were a famous sculptor, a well- 
 known philologist, two university pro- 
 fessors (one of mathematics, the other of 
 natural science) , a prince, and a civil en- 
 gineer at the head of one of the largest 
 Austrian steel corporations. The sur- 
 geon of our battalion was the head of a 
 great medical institution and a man of 
 international fame. Among my men in 
 the platoon were a painter, two college 
 professors, a singer of repute, a banker, 
 and a post official of high rank. But no- 
 body cared and in fact I myself did not 
 know until much later what distin- 
 guished men were in my platoon. A 
 great cloak of brotherhood seemed to 
 
 10 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 have enveloped everybody and every- 
 thing, even differences in mihtary rank 
 not being so obvious at this time, for the 
 officers made friends of their men, and 
 in turn were worshiped by them. 
 
 My wife volunteered her services as 
 Red Cross nurse, insisting upon being 
 sent to the front, in order to be as near 
 me as could be, but it developed later 
 that no nurse was allowed to go farther 
 than the large troop hospitals far in the 
 rear of the actual operations. Upon my 
 urgent appeal she desisted and remained 
 in Vienna after I had left, nursing in the 
 barracks, which are now used for hos- 
 pital work. In fact, almost every third 
 or fourth house, both private and pub- 
 lic, as well as schools, were given to the 
 use of the government and converted 
 into Red Gross stations. 
 
 The happy days in Leoben came to an 
 abrupt end, my regiment receiving or- 
 ders to start immediately for the front. 
 11 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 We proceeded to Graz, where we joined 
 the other three battaHons and were en- 
 trained for an unknown destination. We 
 traveled via Budapest to Galicia, and 
 left the train at Strij, a very important 
 railroad center south of Lemberg. It 
 must be understood that the only reports 
 reaching us from the fighting line at that 
 time were to the effect that the Russians 
 had been driven back from our border, 
 and that the Austrian armies actually 
 stood on the enemy's soil. Strij being 
 hundreds of miles away from the Rus- 
 sian frontier, we could not but surmise 
 that we were going to be stationed there 
 some time for the purpose of train- 
 ing and maneuvering. This belief was 
 strengthened by the fact that our regi- 
 ment belonged to the Landsturm, or sec- 
 ond line of reserves, originally intended 
 for home service. We were, however, 
 alarmed that very same night and 
 marched out of Strij for a distance of 
 
 12 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 about twenty miles, in conjunction with 
 the entire Third Army Corps. After a 
 short pause for the purpose of eating and 
 feeding the horses, we marched another 
 twenty-two miles. This first day's march 
 constituted a very strong test of endur- 
 ance in consequence of our comparative 
 softness and lack of training, especially 
 as, in addition to his heavy rifle, bayo- 
 net, ammunition, and spade, each sol- 
 dier was burdened with a knapsack con- 
 taining emergency provisions in the 
 form of tinned meats, coffee extract, 
 sugar, salt, rice, and biscuits, together 
 with various tin cooking and eating 
 utensils; furthermore a second pair of 
 shoes, extra blouse, changes of under- 
 wear, etc. On top of this heavy pack a 
 winter overcoat and part of a tent were 
 strapped, the entire weight of the equip- 
 ment being in the neighborhood of fifty 
 pounds. 
 The day wore on. Signs of fatigue 
 
 13 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 soon manifested themselves more and 
 more strongly, and slowly the men 
 dropped out one by one, from sheer ex- 
 haustion. No murmur of complaint, how- 
 ever, would be heard. Most of those who 
 fell out of line, after taking a breathing 
 space for a few minutes, staggered on 
 again. The few that remained behind 
 joined the regiment later on when camp 
 was established. We wondered then at 
 the necessity of such a forced march, 
 being unable to see a reason for it, un- 
 less it was to put us in training. 
 
 Night had fallen when we reached a 
 small monastery in the midst of a forest, 
 where the peaceful surroundings and the 
 monastic life, entirely untouched by the 
 war fever, seemed strange indeed. Camp 
 was estabUshed, tents erected, fires were 
 lighted, and coffee made. Soon a life of 
 bustling activity sprang up in the wilder- 
 ness, in the midst of the forest which only 
 a few hours before had been deserted. 
 u 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 It made a weird and impressive picture 
 in the wonderful starlight night, these 
 soldiers sitting around the camp fires 
 softly singing in chorus; the fantastic 
 outlines of the monastery half hidden in 
 the woods; the dark figures of the monks 
 moving silently back and forth amongst 
 the shadows of the trees as they brought 
 refreshments to the troops; the red glow 
 of the camp fires illuminating the eager 
 and enthusiastic faces of the young offi- 
 cers grouped around the colonel; the 
 snorting and stamping of the horses 
 nearby; an occasional melodic outcry of 
 1 sentinel out in the night; all these things 
 merging into an unforgettable scene of 
 great romanticism and beauty. That 
 night I lay for a long while stretched near 
 the smoldering ashes of the camp fire, 
 with my cape as a blanket, in a state of 
 lassitude and somnolence, my soul filled 
 with exaltation and happiness over the 
 beauty around me. 
 
 15 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 The rest, however, was of very short 
 duration, for at six o'clock in the morn- 
 ing we were aroused, camp was broken 
 up and soon afterwards we started on a 
 forced march of twenty-two miles with- 
 out a halt, during which we twice had 
 to wade knee-deep through rivers. By 
 midday most of the men were so ex- 
 hausted that they could hardly crawl 
 along. It was remarkable that the com- 
 paratively weaker and more refined city- 
 bred people who had done little physical 
 work in their lives, most of them being 
 professional men, withstood hardships 
 better than the sturdy and, to all appear- 
 ances, stronger peasants. The only ex- 
 planation for it being perhaps that the 
 city-bred people, in consequence of their 
 better surroundings and by reason of 
 their education, had more will power and 
 nervous strength than the peasants. 
 
 At half-past two we reached a clearing 
 in the midst of a wood through which a 
 
 16 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 river flowed. Here camp was again es- 
 tablished and a half hour later all the 
 hardships of the march were once more 
 forgotten in the bustle of camp life. This 
 time we had a full rest until the next 
 morning at four o'clock, when suddenly 
 orders for marching were given. After 
 we had been under way for about three 
 hours we heard far-away, repeated rum- 
 bling which sounded like distant thunder. 
 Not for a moment did we associate it 
 with cannonading, being, as we supposed, 
 hundreds of miles away from the nearest 
 place where Russians could possibly be. 
 Suddenly a mounted ordnance officer 
 came rushing with a message to our co!.o- 
 nel. We came to a halt and all officers 
 were summoned to the colonel who, ad- 
 dressing us in his usual quiet, almost 
 businesslike way, said: *' Gentlemen, ac- 
 cept my congratulations, I have good 
 news for you, we may meet the enemy 
 to-day and I sincerely hope to lead you 
 
 17 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 to the fight before evening." We were 
 thunderstruck at the sudden reahzation 
 that the Russians had penetrated so 
 deeply into GaUcia. The despondency 
 which followed this startling revelation, 
 however, was quickly replaced by the 
 intense excitement of meeting the en- 
 emy so soon. We hurried back to our 
 companies, imparting the news to the 
 men, who broke forth into shouts of en- 
 thusiasm. All the fatigue so plainly 
 noticeable only a few minutes before, 
 suddenly vanished as if by magic, and 
 every one seemed alert, springy, and full 
 of spirit. We energetically resumed the 
 march in the direction of the distant 
 rumbling, which indicated that the artil- 
 lery of our advance guard had engaged 
 the enemy. My regiment then was part 
 of the main body of a division. A second 
 division advanced on the road parallel to 
 ours, about a mile and a quarter to our left. 
 Both columns belonged to the Third Army 
 
 18 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 Corps and kept up constant communica- 
 tion with each other through mounted 
 dispatch bearers and motor cycles. 
 
 The cannonading had meanwhile come 
 perceptibly nearer, and in the midst of 
 the dense forest we again came to a short 
 halt. Orders were given to load rifles, and 
 upon emerging from the woods we fell 
 into open formation, the men marching 
 abreast, the companies at a distance of 
 three hundred yards, with the battalions 
 at a distance of about a thousand yards. 
 We were slowly entering the range of the 
 Russian artillery. About a mile ahead 
 we could see numbers of harmless looking 
 round clouds, looking like ringlets of 
 smoke from a huge cigar, indicating the 
 places where shrapnel had exploded [in 
 mid-air. Our men, not being familiar 
 with the spectacle, took no notice of it, 
 but we officers knew its significance, and 
 I daresay many a heart beat as wildly as 
 mine did. 
 
 19 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 We marched on until the command 
 was given for us to deploy, and soon 
 afterwards the first shrapnel whizzed over 
 our heads. It did no harm, nor did the 
 second and third, but the fourth hit 
 three men in the battalion in the rear of 
 us. Our forward movement, however, 
 was not interrupted, and we did not see 
 or hear anything beyond two or three 
 startled cries. The next shell burst right 
 ahead of us, sending a shower of bullets 
 and steel fragments around. A man 
 about twenty yards to the right of my 
 company, but not of my platoon, leaped 
 into the air with an agonizing cry and fell 
 in a heap, mortally wounded. As we were 
 advancing very swiftly, I only saw it as 
 in a dream, while running by. Then 
 came in rapid succession four or five 
 terrific explosions right over our heads, 
 and I felt a sudden gust of cold wind 
 strike my cheek as a big shell fragment 
 came howling through the air, ploughing 
 
 20 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 the ground viciously as it struck and 
 sending a spray of sand around. 
 
 We ran on perhaps a quarter of a mile, 
 when from the rear came the sharp com- 
 mand, "Down," and the next second we 
 lay on the ground, panting and ex- 
 hausted, my heart almost bursting with 
 the exertion. Simultaneously the whiz- 
 zing of a motor above our heads could 
 be heard and we knew why the enemy's 
 shrapnel had so suddenly found us. It 
 was a Russian aeroplane which presum- 
 ably had signaled our approach, together 
 with the range, to the Russian gunners, 
 and now was probably directing their 
 fire and closely watching its effect, for a 
 chain of hills was hiding us from the view 
 of the enemy, who consequently had to 
 fire indirectly. The air craft hovered 
 above our heads, but we were forbidden 
 to fire at it, the extremely difficult, al- 
 most vertical aim promising little success, 
 aside from the danger of our bullets fall- 
 
 21 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 ing back among us. Our reserves in the 
 rear had apparently sighted the air craft 
 too, for soon we heard a volley of rifle 
 fire from that direction and simultane- 
 ously the aeroplane arose and disap- 
 peared in the clouds. 
 
 Just then our own artillery came thun- 
 dering up, occupied a little hill in the 
 rear and opened fire on the enemy. The 
 moral effect of the thundering of one's 
 own artillery is most extraordinary, and 
 many of us thought that we had never 
 heard any more welcome sound than the 
 deep roaring and crashing that started 
 in at our rear. It quickly helped to dis- 
 perse the nervousness caused by the first 
 entering into battle and to restore self 
 control and confidence. Besides, by get- 
 ting into action, our artillery was now 
 focusing the attention and drawing the 
 fire of the Russian guns, for most of the 
 latter's shells whined harmlessly above 
 us, being aimed at the batteries in our 
 
 22 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 rear. Considerably relieved by this di- 
 version, we resumed our forward move- 
 ment after about fifteen minutes of fur- 
 ther rest, our goal being the little chain 
 of hills which our advance guard had 
 previously occupied pending our arrival. 
 Here we were ordered to take up posi- 
 tions and dig trenches, any further ad- 
 vance being out of the question, as the 
 Russian artillery overlooked and com- 
 manded the entire plain stretching in 
 front of us. 
 
 We started at once to dig our trenches, 
 half of my platoon stepping forward 
 abreast, the men being placed an arm's 
 length apart. After laying their rifles 
 down, barrels pointing to the enemy, a 
 line was drawn behind the row of rifles 
 and paraUel to it. Then each man would 
 dig up the ground, starting from his part 
 of the hne backwards, throwing forward 
 the earth removed, until it formed a 
 sort of breastwork. The second half of 
 
 23 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 the platoon was meanwhile resting in 
 the rear, rifle in hand and ready for ac- 
 tion. After a half hour they took the 
 place of the first division at work, and 
 vice versa. Within an hour work on the 
 trenches was so far advanced that they 
 could be deepened while standing in 
 them. Such an open trench affords suffi- 
 cient shelter against rifle bullets strik- 
 ing from the front and can be made in 
 a measure shell proof by being covered 
 with boards, if at hand, and with sod. 
 
 In the western area of the theater of 
 war, in France and Flanders, where whole 
 armies were deadlocked, facing each 
 other for weeks without shifting their 
 position an inch, such trenches become 
 an elaborate affair, with extensive under- 
 ground working and wing connections of 
 lines which almost constitute Httle fort- 
 resses and afford a certain measure of 
 comfort. But where we were in Galicia 
 at the beginning of the war, with condi- 
 
 24 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 tions utterly unsteady and positions 
 shifting daily and hourly, only the most 
 superficial trenches were used. In fact, 
 we thought ourselves fortunate if we 
 could requisition enough straw to cover 
 the bottom. That afternoon we had 
 about half finished our work when our 
 friend the aeroplane appeared on the 
 horizon again. This time we imme- 
 diately opened fire. It disappeared, but 
 apparently had seen enough, for very 
 soon our position was shelled. By this 
 time, however, shrapnel had almost 
 ceased to be a source of concern to us and 
 we scarcely paid any attention to it. 
 Human nerves quickly get accustomed 
 to the most unusual conditions and cir- 
 cumstances and I noticed that quite a 
 number of men actually fell asleep from 
 sheer exhaustion in the trenches, in spite 
 of the roaring of the cannon about us and 
 the whizzing of shrapnel over our heads. 
 I, too, soon got accustomed to the 
 
 25 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 deadly missiles, — in fact, I had already 
 started to make observations of their 
 peculiarities. My ear, accustomed to 
 differentiate sounds of all kinds, had 
 some time ago, while we still advanced, 
 noted a remarkable discrepancy in the 
 peculiar whine produced by the differ- 
 ent shells in their rapid flight through 
 the air as they passed over our heads, 
 some sounding shrill, with a rising ten- 
 dency, and the others rather dull, with 
 a falling cadence. A short observation 
 revealed the fact that the passing of a 
 dull- sounding shell was invariably pre- 
 ceded by a flash from one of our own 
 cannon in the rear on the hill, which con- 
 clusively proved it to be an Austrian 
 shell. It must be understood that as we 
 were advancing between the positions 
 of the Austrian and Russian artillery, 
 both kinds of shells were passing over 
 our heads. As we advanced the differ- 
 ence between shrill and dull shell grew 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 less and less perceptible, until I could 
 hardly tell them apart. Upon nearing 
 the hill the difference increased again 
 more and more until on the hill itself it 
 was very marked. After our trench was 
 finished I crawled to the top of the hill 
 until I could make out the flash of the 
 Russian guns on the opposite heights 
 and by timing flash and actual passing of 
 the shell, f ounc" to my astonishment that 
 now the Russian missiles had become 
 dull, while on the other hand, the shrill 
 shell was invariably heralded by a flash 
 from oneof our guns, now far in the rear. 
 What had happened was this: Every 
 shell describes in its course a parabolic 
 line, with the first half of the curve being 
 ascending and the second one descend- 
 ing. Apparently in the first half of its 
 curve, that is, its course while ascend- 
 ing, the shell produced a dull whine ac- 
 companied by a faUing cadence, which 
 changes to a rising shrill as soon as the 
 
 27 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 acme has been reached and the curve 
 points downward again. The acme for 
 both kinds of shells naturally was ex- 
 actly the half distance between the Rus- 
 sian and Austrian artillery and this was 
 the point where I had noticed that the 
 difference was the least marked. A few 
 days later, in talking over my observa- 
 tion with an artillery officer, I was told 
 the fact was known that the shells 
 sounded different going up than when 
 coming down, but this knowledge was 
 not used for practical purposes. When 
 I told him that I could actually determine 
 by the sound the exact place where a 
 shell coming from the opposing batteries 
 was reaching its acme, he thought that 
 this would be of great value in a case 
 where the position of the opposing bat- 
 tery was hidden and thus could be lo- 
 cated. He apparently spoke to his com- 
 mander about me, for a few days later 
 I was sent on a reconnoitering tour, with 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 the object of marking on the map the 
 exact spot where I thought the hostile 
 shells were reaching their acme, and it 
 was later on reported to me that I had 
 succeeded in giving to our batteries the 
 almost exact range of the Russian guns. 
 I have gone into this matter at some 
 length, because it is the only instance 
 where my musical ear was of value dur- 
 ing my service. 
 
 To return to my narrative, the losses 
 which my battalion suffered that day 
 seemed extraordinarily small when com- 
 pared with the accuracy of the Russian 
 artillery's aim and the number of mis- 
 siles they fired. I counted seventy-four 
 shrapnel that burst in a circle of half a 
 mile around us in about two hours, and 
 yet we had no more than about eighteen 
 casualties. The most difficult part was 
 to he still and motionless while death was 
 being dealt all about us, and it was then 
 and there that I had my first experience 
 
 29 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 of seeing death next to me. A soldier of 
 my platoon, while digging in the trench, 
 suddenly leaned back, began to cough 
 like an old man, a httle blood broke from 
 his lips, and he crumpled together in a 
 heap and lay quite still. I could not real- 
 ize that this was the end, for his eyes 
 were wide open and his face wore the 
 stamp of complete serenity. Apparently 
 he had not suffered at all. The man had 
 been a favorite with all his fellows by rea- 
 son of his good humor, and that he was 
 now stretched out dead seemed unbehev- 
 able. I saw a great many men die after- 
 wards, some suffering horribly, but I 
 do not recall any death that affected me 
 quite so much as that of this first victim 
 in my platoon. 
 
II 
 
 The artillery duel died out with the 
 coming of darkness and we settled down 
 to rest, half of the men taking watch 
 while the others slept. At five o'clock in 
 the morning our regiment suddenly re- 
 ceived the order to fall in, and, together 
 with two other regiments, was drawn out 
 of the fighting Hne. Our commanding 
 general had received news that an iso- 
 lated detachment on the extreme right 
 wing of our army, about fifteen miles 
 east of us, had been entirely surrounded 
 by a strong Russian body, and we were 
 ordered to relieve them. It must not be 
 forgotten that our men had been under a 
 most incredible strain for the last three 
 days with barely any rest during the 
 nights and not more than one meal a day. 
 They had actually welcomed entering 
 
 31 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 the firing line, as a relief from the fa- 
 tigues of marching with their heavy bur- 
 dens. It is curious how indifferent one 
 becomes to danger if one's organism is 
 worn down and brain and faculty of per- 
 ception numbed by physical exertion. 
 It was, therefore, with badly broken- 
 down strength that we started on this 
 rehef expedition, and it was good to see 
 how unflinchingly the soldiers under- 
 took their unexpected new task. All we 
 had to say to our men was: "Boys, your 
 brothers are needing you. They are cut 
 off from all possible relief unless you 
 bring it. Their lives are at stake, and 
 as they are defending one of the most 
 strategically important points — the 
 right wing of our army — you can turn 
 the tide of the whole battle in our favor; 
 so go on." And on they went, staggering 
 and stumbling, and at the end of a few 
 hours almost crawling, but ever forward. 
 Suddenly we came up with another 
 
 32 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 regiment which had been called to the 
 same task, and the colonel of the new 
 regiment, being older in rank than our 
 colonel, took command of the newly 
 formed brigade of two regiments. My 
 company happened to march at the head 
 of the regiment and the new brigadier 
 rode for some time alongside of me. I 
 was deeply impressed by his firm mili- 
 tary and yet unassuming bearing and 
 his deep glowing enthusiasm for his army 
 and his men. He told me with pride that 
 two of his sons were serving in the army, 
 too, one as an artillery officer and the 
 other one as an officer with the sappers. 
 We were then approaching the point 
 where we could hear distinctly the fire of 
 our own batteries and the answer from 
 the Russians, and here and there a vol- 
 ley of rifle fire. Our colonel urged us on 
 to renewed energy, and knowledge that 
 we were nearing our goal seemedto give 
 new strength to our men. Already we 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 were witnessing evidences of the first 
 fight that had passed here, for wounded 
 men constantly passed us on stretchers. 
 Suddenly I saw the face of the colonel 
 riding next to me, light up with ex- 
 citement as a wounded man was borne 
 past. He addressed a few words to the 
 stretcher-bearers and then turned to me, 
 saying: "The regiment of my son is 
 fighting on the hill. It is one of their men 
 they have brought by." He urged us on 
 again, and it seemed to me as if I no- 
 ticed — or was it my imagination — a 
 new note of appeal in his face. Suddenly 
 another stretcher was brought past. The 
 colonel at my side jumped from his horse, 
 crying out, "My boy," and a feeble 
 voice answered, "Father." We all 
 stopped as if a command had been given, 
 to look at the young officer who lay on 
 the stretcher, his eyes all aglow with en- 
 thusiasm and joy, unmindful of his own 
 wound as he cried out, "Father, how 
 
 34 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 splendid that the reUef should just come 
 from you! Goon. We held out splendidly. 
 All we need is ammunition and a little 
 moral support. Go on, don't stop for 
 me, I am all right." The old colonel 
 stood Uke a statue of bronze. His face 
 had become suddenly ashen gray. He 
 looked at the doctor and tried to catch 
 his expression. The doctor seemed 
 grave. But the young man urged us on, 
 saying, "Go on, go on, I'll be all right 
 to-morrow." The whole incident had 
 not lasted more than five minutes, barely 
 longer than it takes to write it. The 
 colonel mounted his horse, sternly com- 
 manding us to march forward, but the 
 light had died out of his eyes. 
 
 Within the next ten minutes a hail of 
 shrapnel was greeting us, but hardly any 
 one of us was conscious of it, so terribly 
 and deeply were we affected by the scene 
 of tragedy that had just been enacted 
 before us. I remember foolishly mum- 
 
 35 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 bling something to the silent man riding 
 next to me, something about the power 
 of recuperation of youth, about the com- 
 parative harmlessness of the pointed, 
 steelmantled rifle bullets which on ac- 
 count of their terrific percussion make 
 small clean w^ounds and rarely cause 
 splintering of the bone or blood poison- 
 ing. I remember saying that I had quite 
 a medical knowledge and that it seemed 
 to me that his son was not mortally 
 wounded. But he knew better. He 
 never said a word, only, a few minutes 
 later, **He was my only hope"; and I 
 can't express how ominous that word 
 "was" sounded to me. But just then the 
 command to deploy was given and the 
 excitement that followed drowned for 
 the time being all melancholy thoughts. 
 We quickly ascended the hill where 
 the isolated detachment of Austrians had 
 kept the Russians at bay for fully 
 twenty-four hours and opened fire on 
 
 36 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 the enemy, while the second regiment 
 tried to turn his left flank. The Rus- 
 sians slowly fell back but we followed 
 them, and a sort of running fight en- 
 sued, during which my regiment lost 
 about fifty — dead and wounded. The 
 Russians temporarily resisted again, but 
 soon the pressure from our other regi- 
 ment on their flank began to be felt and 
 they fled rather disorderly, leaving two 
 machine guns, some ammunition, and 
 four carriages full of provisions in our 
 hands, while the regiment which had 
 executed the flanking movement took 
 two hundred and forty prisoners. 
 
 Around eight o'clock at night the 
 fight was stopped for want of light, and 
 we took up our newly acquired positions, 
 entrenched them well, and began to 
 make ready for the night. Orders for 
 outpost duty were given and the officers 
 were again called to the brigadier-colo- 
 nel, who in a few words outlined the sit- 
 
 37 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 uation to us, thanking us for the perti- 
 nacity and bravery shown by the troops, 
 and adding that the success of the ex- 
 pedition lay in the fact that we had ar- 
 rived in time to save the situation. 
 
 Then the question of transporting 
 prisoners to the rear came up, and while 
 the brigadier's eyes were searching us I 
 felt that he was going to entrust me with 
 that mission. He looked at me, gave me 
 the order in a short, measured way, but 
 his eyes gazed searchingly and deeply 
 into mine, and I thought I understood 
 the unspoken message. So, tired as I 
 was, I immediately set out with a guard 
 of twenty men to transport the two hun- 
 dred and forty Russian prisoners, among 
 whom were two officers, back behind the 
 fighting line. They seemed not unhappy 
 over their lot — in fact, were smoking 
 and chatting freely while we marched 
 back. One of the Russian officers had 
 a wound in his leg and was carried on a 
 
 38 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 stretcher, but he, too, seemed quite at 
 ease, conversing with me in French and 
 congratulating me upon the bravery our 
 isolated detachment had shown against 
 the terrific onslaught. As soon as I had 
 dehvered them safely into the hands of 
 the commander of our reserves, I in- 
 quired the way to the nearest field hos- 
 pital in search of the young officer, the 
 son of our brigadier-colonel. It was then 
 about nine o'clock at night, and on en- 
 tering the peasant's hut where the field 
 hospital was estabhshed, I saw at a 
 glance that I had come too late. He lay 
 there still, hands folded over his breast 
 with as serene and happy an expression 
 as if asleep. His faithful orderly sat 
 weeping next to him, and some kind hand 
 had laid a small bunch of field flowers 
 on his breast. 
 
 From the doctor I got the full informa- 
 tion. He had received a shot in the ab- 
 domen and a rifle bullet had grazed his 
 
 89 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 cheek. His last words had been a fer- 
 vent expression of joy over the rehef 
 brought by his father and the knowl- 
 edge that the position would not be 
 taken by the Russians. He had died as 
 simply as a child, without regret, and 
 utterly happy. I took the orderly with 
 me, asking him to carry all the belong- 
 ings of the young officer with him in 
 order to transmit them to his father. 
 
 When I returned with the orderly, 
 the brigadier was issuing orders to his 
 officers and conferring with them about 
 the military situation. He saw me come, 
 yet not a muscle moved in his face, nor 
 did he interrupt his conversation. I was 
 overwhelmed by the power this man 
 showed at that minute, and admit I had 
 not the courage to break the news to 
 him, but it was unnecessary, for he un- 
 derstood. The faithful orderly stepped 
 forward, as I had bidden him, present- 
 ing to the old man the pocketbook and 
 
 40 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 small articles that belonged to his son. 
 While he did so he broke forth into sobs, 
 lamenting aloud the loss of his beloved 
 lieutenant, yet not a muscle moved in the 
 face of the father. He took my report, 
 nodded curtly, dismissed me without a 
 word, and turned back to his ordnance 
 officers, resuming the conversation. 
 
 I assumed the command of my platoon 
 which in the mean time had been as- 
 signed to do some outpost duty under 
 the command of the sergeant. I inquired 
 about their position and went out to join 
 them. About midnight we were relieved, 
 and when marching back, passed the 
 place where the tent of the brigadier had 
 been erected. I saw a dark figure lying 
 on the floor, seemingly in deep sleep, 
 and ordering my men to march on I 
 crept silently forward. Then I saw that 
 his shoulders were convulsively shaking 
 and I knew that the mask of iron had 
 fallen at last. The night was chilly so I 
 
 41 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 entered his tent in search of his over- 
 coat and laid it around his shoulders. 
 He never noticed it. The next morning 
 when I saw him his face was as immov- 
 able as it had been the night before, 
 but he seemed to have aged by many 
 years. 
 
 The next day was a comparatively 
 restful one. We fortified the entrench- 
 ments which we had taken, and as our 
 battle lines were extended to the right, 
 from being the extreme right we became 
 almost the center of the new position 
 which extended for perhaps ten miles 
 from northwest to southeast about eight- 
 een miles south of Lemberg. 
 
 The next few days were given to re- 
 pairs, provisioning, and resting, with oc- 
 casional small skirmishes and shifting of 
 positions. Then one night a scouting 
 aeroplane brought news of a forward 
 movement of about five Russian army 
 corps, which seemed to push in the di- 
 
 42 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 rection of our center. Against this force 
 we could muster only about two army 
 corps, but our strategical position seemed 
 a very good one, both the extreme flanks 
 of our army being protected by large and 
 impassable swamps. Evidently the Rus- 
 sians had realized the impossibility of 
 turning our flanks and were endeavor- 
 ing to pierce our center by means of a 
 vigorous frontal attack, relying upon 
 their great superiority in numbers. 
 Every preparation had been made to 
 meet the cnslaught during the night. 
 Our trenches had been strengthened, the 
 artillery had been brought into position, 
 cleverly masked by means of transplanted 
 bushes, the field in front of us had been 
 cleared of objects obstructiag the view, 
 and the sappers had been feverishly 
 busy constructing formidable barbed- 
 wire entanglements and carefully meas- 
 uring the shooting distances, marking 
 the different ranges by bundles of hay 
 
 43 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 or other innocent-looking objects, which 
 were placed here and there in the field. 
 
 At nine o'clock in the morning every- 
 thing was ready to receive the enemy, 
 the men taking a short and well-de- 
 served rest in their trenches, while we 
 officers were called to the colonel, who 
 acquainted us with the general situa- 
 tion, and, giving his orders, addressed 
 us in a short, business-like way, appeal- 
 ing to our sense of duty and expressing 
 his firm belief in our victory. We all 
 knew that his martial attitude and 
 abrupt manner were a mask to hide his 
 inner self, full of throbbing emotion and 
 tender solicitude for his subordinates, 
 and we returned to our trenches deeply 
 moved. 
 
 The camp was absolutely quiet. The 
 only movements noticeable being around 
 the field kitchens in the rear, which were 
 being removed from the battle line. A 
 half hour later any casual observer, 
 
 44 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 glancing over the deserted fields might 
 have laughed at the intimation that the 
 earth around him was harboring thou- 
 sands of men armed to their teeth, and 
 that pandemonium of hell would break 
 loose within an hour. Barely a sound 
 was audible, and a hush of expectancy 
 descended upon us. I looked around at 
 my men in the trench; some were quietly 
 asleep, some writing letters, others con- 
 versed in subdued and hushed tones. 
 Every face I saw bore the unmistakable 
 stamp of the feehng so characteristic of 
 the last hour before a battle, — that 
 curious mixture of solemn dignity, grave 
 responsibihty, and suppressed emotion, 
 with an undercurrent of sad resignation. 
 They were pondering over their possible 
 fate, or perhaps dreaming of their dear 
 ones at home. 
 
 By and by even the little conversa- 
 tion ceased, and they sat quite silent, 
 waiting and waiting, perhaps awed by 
 
 45 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 their own silence. Sometimes one would 
 bravely try to crack a joke, and they 
 laughed, but it sounded strained. They 
 were plainly nervous, these brave men 
 that fought like lions in the open when 
 led to an attack, heedless of danger and 
 destruction. They felt under a cloud in 
 the security of the trenches, and they 
 were conscious of it and ashamed. Some- 
 times my faithful orderly would turn his 
 eye on me, mute, as if in quest of an ex- 
 planation of his own feeling. Poor dear 
 unsophisticated boy ! I was as nervous as 
 they all were, although trying my best to 
 look unconcerned; but I knew that the 
 hush that hovered around us like a dark 
 cloud would give way like magic to wild 
 enthusiasm as soon as the first shot broke 
 the spell and the exultation of the battle 
 took hold of us all. 
 
 Suddenly, at about ten o'clock, a dull 
 thud sounded somewhere far away from 
 us, and simultaneously we saw a small 
 
 46 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 white round cloud about half a mile 
 ahead of us where the shrapnel had ex- 
 ploded. The battle had begun. Other 
 shots followed shortly, exploding here 
 and there, but doing no harm. The Rus- 
 sian gunners evidently were trying to 
 locate and draw an answer from our bat- 
 teries. These, however, remained mute, 
 not caring to reveal their position. For a 
 long time the Russians fired at random, 
 mostly at too short a range to do any 
 harm, but slowly the harmless-looking 
 white clouds came nearer, until a shell, 
 whining as it whizzed past us, burst about 
 a hundred yards behind our trench A 
 second shell followed, exploding almost 
 at the same place. At the same time, we 
 noticed a faint spinning noise above us. 
 Soaring high above our position, looking 
 like a speck in the firmament, flew a Rus- 
 sian aeroplane, watching the effect of the 
 shells and presumably directing the fire 
 of the Russian artillery. This explained 
 
 47 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 its sudden accuracy. One of our aero- 
 planes rose, giving chase to the enemy, 
 and simultaneously our batteries got into 
 action. The Russians kept up a sharply 
 concentrated, well-directed fire against 
 our center, our gunners responding 
 gallantly, and the spirited artillery duel 
 which ensued grew in intensity until 
 the entrails of the earth seemed fairly 
 to shake with the thunder. 
 
 By one o'clock the incessant roaring, 
 crashing, and splintering of bursting 
 shells had become almost unendurable to 
 our nerves, which were already strained 
 to the snapping-point by the lack of ac- 
 tion and the expectancy. Suddenly there 
 appeared a thin dark Une on the horizon 
 which moved rapidly towards us, looking 
 not unlike a huge running bird with im- 
 mense outstretched wings. We looked 
 through our field glasses; there could be 
 no doubt, — it was Russian cavalry, 
 swooping down upon us with incredible 
 
 48 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 impetus and swiftness. I quickly glanced 
 at our colonel. He stared open-mouthed. 
 This was, indeed, good fortune for us, — 
 too good to believe. No cavalry attack 
 could stand before well-disciplined infan- 
 try, providing the latter keep cool and 
 well composed, calmly waiting until the 
 riders come sufficiently close to take sure 
 aim. 
 
 There was action for us at last. At a 
 sharp word of command, our men scram- 
 bled out of the trenches for better view 
 and aim, shouting with joy as they did 
 so. What a change had come over us all I 
 My heart beat with wild exultation. I 
 glanced at my men. They were all eager- 
 ness and determination, hand at the 
 trigger, eyes on the approaching enemy, 
 every muscle strained, yet calm, their 
 bronzed faces hardened into immobility, 
 waiting for the command to fire. Every 
 subaltern officer's eye hung on our colo- 
 nel, who stood about thirty yards ahead 
 
 49 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 of us on a little hill, his figure well de- 
 fined in the sunlight, motionless, the 
 very picture of calm assurance and proud 
 bearing. He scanned the horizon with 
 his glasses. Shrapnel was hailing around 
 him, but he seemed utterly unaware of 
 it; for that matter we had all forgotten 
 it, though it kept up its terrible uproar, 
 spitting here and there destruction into 
 our midst. 
 
 By this time the avalanche of tramp- 
 ing horses had come perceptibly nearer. 
 Soon they would sweep by the bundle of 
 hay which marked the carefully meas- 
 ured range within which our fire was 
 terribly effective. Suddenly the mad 
 stampede came to an abrupt standstill, 
 and then the Cossacks scattered pre- 
 cipitately to the right and left, only to 
 disclose in their rear the advancing Rus- 
 sian infantry, the movements of which it 
 had been their endeavor to veil. 
 
 The infantry moved forward in loose 
 
 50 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 lines, endlessly rolling on like shallow 
 waves overtaking each other, one line 
 running forward, then suddenly disap- 
 pearing by throwing itself down and 
 opening fire on us to cover the advance 
 of the other line, and so on, while their 
 artillery kept up a helhsh uproar spread- 
 ing destruction through our lines. Simul- 
 taneously a Russian aeroplane swept 
 down upon us with a noise hke an an- 
 gered bird of prey and pelted us with 
 bombs, the effects of which, however, 
 were more moral than actual, for we had 
 regained the security of the trenches and 
 opened fire on the approaching enemy, 
 who in spite of heavy losses advanced 
 steadily until he reached our wire entan- 
 glements. There he was greeted by a 
 deadly fu-e from our machine guns. The 
 first Russian Hues were mowed down as 
 if by a gigantic scythe, and so were the 
 reserves as they tried to advance. The 
 first attack had collapsed. After a short 
 
 51 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 time, however, they came on again, this 
 time more cautiously, armed with nip- 
 pers to cut the barbed wire and using 
 the bodies of their own fallen comrades 
 as a rampart. Again they were repulsed. 
 Once more their cavalry executed a 
 feigned attack under cover of which the 
 Russian infantry ralhed, strongly rein- 
 forced by reserves, and more determined 
 than ever. 
 
 Supported by heavy artillery fire their 
 lines rolled endlessly on and hurled them- 
 selves against the barbed-wire fences. 
 For a short time it almost seemed, as if 
 they would break through by sheer 
 weight of numbers. At that critical mo- 
 ment, however, our reserves succeeded 
 in executing a flanking movement. Sur- 
 prised and caught in a deadly cross-fire, 
 the Russian line wavered and finally 
 they fled in disorder. 
 
 All these combined artillery, infantry, 
 cavalry, and aeroplane attacks had ut- 
 
 52 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 terly failed in their object of dislodging 
 our center or shaking its position, each 
 one being frustrated by the resourceful, 
 cool alertness of our commanding gen- 
 eral and the splendid heroism and stoi- 
 cism of our troops. But the strain of the 
 continuous fighting for nearly the whole 
 day without respite of any kind, or 
 chance for food or rest, in the end told 
 on the power of endurance of our men, 
 and when the last attack had been suc- 
 cessfully repulsed they lay mostly pros- 
 trated on the ground, panting and 
 exhausted. Our losses had been very 
 considerable, too, stretcher-bearers being 
 busy administering first aid and carrying 
 the wounded back to the nearest field 
 hospital, while many a brave man lay 
 stark and still. 
 
 By eight o'clock it had grown per- 
 ceptibly cooler. We now had time to col- 
 lect our impressions and look about us. 
 The Russians had left many dead on the 
 
 53 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 field, and at the barbed-wire entangle- 
 ments which our sappers had constructed 
 as an obstacle to their advance, their 
 bodies lay heaped upon each other, look- 
 ing not unlike the more innocent bundles 
 of hay lying in the field. We could see 
 the small Red Gross parties in the field 
 climbing over the horribly grotesque 
 tumuli of bodies, trying to disentangle 
 the wounded from the dead and ad- 
 minister first aid to them. 
 
 Enthusiasm seemed suddenlyto disap- 
 pear before this terrible spectacle. Life 
 that only a few hours before had glowed 
 with enthusiasm and exultation, sud- 
 denly paled and sickened. The silence 
 of the night was interrupted only by the 
 low moaning of the wounded that came 
 regularly to us. It was hideous in 
 its terrible monotony. The moon had 
 risen, throwing fantastic lights and shad- 
 ows over the desolate landscape and the 
 heaped-up dead. These grotesque piles 
 
 54 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 of human bodies seemed like a monstrous 
 sacrificial offering immolated on the al- 
 tar of some fiendishly cruel, antique 
 deity. I felt faint and sick at heart and 
 near swooning away. I lay on the floor 
 for some time unconscious of what was 
 going on around me, in a sort of stupor, 
 utterly crushed over the horrors about 
 me. I do not know how long I had lain 
 there, perhaps ten minutes, perhaps half 
 an hour, when suddenly I heard a gruff, 
 deep voice behind me — the brigadier, 
 who had come around to inspect and to 
 give orders about the outposts. His calm, 
 quiet voice brought me to my senses and 
 I reported to him. His self-assurance, 
 kindness, and determine jn dominated 
 the situation. Within five minutes he 
 had restored confidence, giving definite 
 orders for the welfare of every one, man 
 and beast ahke, showing his soHcitude for 
 the wounded, for the sick and weak ones, 
 and mingling praise and admonition in 
 
 55 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 just measure. As by magic I feltfortified. 
 Here was a real man undaunted by 
 nervous qualms or by over-sensitiveness. 
 The horrors of the war were distasteful 
 to him, but he bore them with equanim- 
 ity. It was, perhaps, the first time in my 
 life that I regretted that my artistic 
 education had over-sharpened and over- 
 strung my nervous system, when I saw 
 how manfully and bravely that man bore 
 what seemed to me almost unbearable. 
 His whole machinery of thinking was 
 not comphcated and not for a moment 
 did qualms of "Weltschmerz" or exag- 
 gerated altruism burden his conscience 
 and interfere with his straight hne of con- 
 duct which was wholly determined by 
 duty and code of honor. In his private 
 hfe he was an unusually kind man. His 
 sohcitude for his subordinates, for pris- 
 oners, and for the wounded was touch- 
 ing, yet he saw the horrors of the war un- 
 flinchingly and without weakening, for 
 
 56 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 were they not the consequences of the 
 devotion of men to their cause? The 
 whole thing seemed quite natural to him. 
 The man was clearly in his element and 
 dominated it. 
 
 After having inspected the outposts, 
 I went back, bedded myself in a soft 
 sand-heap, covered myself up, and was 
 soon fast and peacefully asleep. During 
 the night the dew moistened the sand, 
 and when I awoke in the morning I found 
 myself encased in a plastering which 
 could not be removed for days. 
 
Ill 
 
 Our hopes of getting a little rest and 
 respite from the fighting were soon scat- 
 tered, for a scouting aeroplane brought 
 news that the Russians were again ad- 
 vancing in overwhelming strength. Our 
 commanding general, coming to the con- 
 clusion that with the reduced and weak- 
 ened forces at his command he could not 
 possibly offer any effective resistance to 
 a renewed onslaught, had determined 
 to fall back slowly before their pressure. 
 The consequence was a series of retreat- 
 ing battles for us, which lasted about ten 
 days and which constituted what is now 
 called the battle of Lemberg. 
 
 We were then terribly outnumbered 
 by the Russians, and in order to extri- 
 cate our army and prevent it from being 
 surrounded and cut off, we constantly 
 
 58 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 had to retreat, one detachment taking 
 up positions to resist the advancing Rus- 
 sians, trying to hold them at all costs 
 in order to give the rest of the army 
 sufficient time to retire to safety. This 
 maneuvering could not, of course, be 
 carried out without the forces guarding 
 the rear and covering the retreat suffer- 
 ing sometimes terrible losses. 
 
 These were depressing days, with rain 
 and storm adding to the gloom. The 
 men tramped wearily, hanging their 
 heads, ashamed and humiliated by the 
 retreat, the necessity of which they 
 could not grasp, having, as they thought, 
 successfully repulsed the enemy. It was 
 difficult to make them understand that 
 our regiment was only a cog in the huge 
 wheel of the Austrian fighting machine 
 and that, with a battle Hne extending 
 over many miles, it was quite natural 
 that partial successes could take place 
 and yet the consideration of general 
 
 59 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 strategy necessitate a retreat. Our argu- 
 ing made little impression on the men; 
 for they only shook their heads and said, 
 "We were victorious, we should have 
 gone on." 
 
 The spirit of retreating troops is vastly 
 different from that shown by an advanc- 
 ing army, and it was probably in recog- 
 nition of this well-known psychological 
 state that our general staff had in the 
 beginning attacked the Russians wher- 
 ever they could, in spite of the over- 
 whelming superiority of the foe, but the 
 reinforcements the Russians were able 
 to draw upon had swelled their ranks 
 so enormously that any attack would 
 have been Uttle short of madness. 
 
 The real hardships and privations for 
 us began only now. The few roads of 
 Galicia, which at best are in bad condi- 
 tion, through the constant passing of 
 heavy artillery and wagons of all kinds 
 following each other in endless proces- 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 sion through constant rains, had become 
 well-nigh impassable, the heavy mud 
 constituting an additional impediment 
 to the marching of troops. In order to 
 get all of the train carrying provisions 
 out of the possible reach of a sudden raid 
 by the Russian cavalry, it had to be sent 
 miles back of us, so as not to interfere 
 with the movement of the troops. This 
 caused somewhat of an interruption in 
 the organization of the commissary de- 
 partment and very little food reached 
 the troops, and that only at very long 
 intervals. 
 
 The distribution of food to an army, 
 even in peace and under the best condi- 
 tions, is a very comphcated and difficult 
 undertaking. Provisions are shipped 
 from the interior to the important rail- 
 way centers, which serve as huge army 
 depots and form the basis from which the 
 different army corps draw their provisions 
 and from which they are constantly re- 
 
 el 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 plenished. They in turn supply the divi- 
 sions and brigades wherefrom the regi- 
 ments and battahons dmw their provi- 
 sions. So it is seen that the great aorta 
 which leads from the interior to the big 
 depots slowly subdivides itself into 
 smaller arteries and feeders until they 
 reach the ultimate destination, the ex- 
 treme front. 
 
 This distribution of food had now be- 
 come a formidable task, in consequence 
 of the unforeseen movements and diver- 
 sions which were forced upon us by the 
 unexpected developments of the battle; 
 and it often happened that food supplies 
 intended for a certain detachment would 
 reach their destination only after the de- 
 parture of that detachment. 
 
 My platoon had by this time shrunk 
 from fifty-five men to about thirty-four, 
 but those remaining had become very 
 hardened, efficient, and fit. It is aston- 
 ishing how quickly the human organism 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 adjusts itself, if need be, to the most 
 difficult circumstances. So far as I was 
 concerned, for instance, I adapted my- 
 self to the new life without any trouble at 
 all, responding to the unusual demands 
 upon me automatically, as it were. My 
 rather impaired eyesight improved in 
 the open, with only wide distances to 
 look at. I found that my muscles served 
 me better than ever before. I leaped and 
 ran and supported fatigue that would 
 have appalled me under other circum- 
 stances. In the field all neurotic symp- 
 toms seem to disappear as by magic, 
 and one's whole system is charged with 
 energy and vitahty. Perhaps this is due 
 to the open-air life with its simplified 
 standards, freed from all the complex 
 exigencies of society's laws, and unham- 
 pered by conventionalities, as well as to 
 the constant throb of excitement, caused 
 by the activity, the adventure, and the 
 uncertainty of fate. 
 
 63 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 The very massing together of so many 
 individuals, with every will merged into 
 one that strives with gigantic effort to- 
 ward a common end, and the consequent 
 simphcity and directness of all purpose, 
 seem to release and unhinge all the prim- 
 itive, aboriginal forces stored in the hu- 
 man soul, and tend to create the inde- 
 scribable atmosphere of exultation which 
 envelopes everything and everybody as 
 with a magic cloak. 
 
 It is extraordinary how quickly sug- 
 gestions of luxury, culture, refinement, 
 in fact all the gentler aspects of life, 
 which one had considered to be an in- 
 tegral part of one's life are quickly for- 
 gotten, and, more than that, not even 
 missed. Centuries drop from one, and 
 one becomes a primeval man, nearing 
 the cave-dweller in an incredibly short 
 time. For twenty-one days I went with- 
 out taking off my clothes, sleeping on 
 wet grass or in mud, or in the swamps, 
 
 64 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 wherever need be, and with nothing but 
 my cape to cover me. Nothing disturbs 
 one. One night, while sleeping, we were 
 drenched to the skin by torrential rains. 
 We never stirred, but waited for the sun 
 to dry us out again. All things consid- 
 ered a necessity of civilization simply 
 drop out of existence. A toothbrush was 
 not imaginable. We ate instructively, 
 when we had food, with our hands. If we 
 had stopped to think of it at all, we 
 should have thought it ludicrous to use 
 knife and fork. 
 
 We were all looking like shaggy, lean 
 wolves, from the necessity of subsisting 
 on next to nothing. I remember having 
 gone for more than three days at a time 
 without any food whatsoever, and many 
 a time we had to lick the dew from the 
 grass for want of water. A certain fierce- 
 ness arises in you, an absolute indiffer- 
 ence to anything the world holds except 
 your duty of fighting. You are eating a 
 
 65 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 crust of bread, and a man is shot dead in 
 the trench next to you. You look cahnly 
 at him for a moment, and then go on eat- 
 ing your bread. Why not? There is 
 nothing to be done. In the end you talk 
 of your own death with as little excite- 
 ment as you would of a luncheon engage- 
 ment. There is nothing left in your mind 
 but the fact that hordes of men to whom 
 you belong are fighting against other 
 hordes, and your side must win. 
 
 My memory of these days is very 
 much blurred, every day being pretty 
 nearly the same as the preceding one, — 
 fatiguing marches, little rest and com- 
 paratively little fighting. 
 
 It is quite possible that our com- 
 mander tried to divide the work of the 
 troops in a just manner, and that in 
 consequence of my regiment having 
 borne the brunt of two terrible attacks, 
 and having suffered considerable loss, 
 we were now temporarily withdrawn 
 
 66 
 
KREISLER AT THE FRONT, TAKEN AFTER 
 THREE weeks' SERVICE 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 from the fighting line, and not once dur- 
 ing these days were assigned to the duty 
 of a rear guard. Consequently we had 
 only few and unimportant skirmishes 
 in these days, twice while guarding the 
 flank through having to repulse attacks 
 of Cossacks, and once being harrassed 
 by an armored automobile. But the 
 movements of an automobile being con- 
 fined to the road, we had no difficulty in 
 avoiding its fire, and as for the Cossacks 
 with their eternal feigned attacks, we 
 had reached the point where we almost 
 ignored them. 
 
 We were in the first days of Sef,; em- 
 ber, and upon reaching the swamps near 
 Grodeck, south of Lemberg, a deter- 
 mined stand was decided upon by our 
 commanding general. It seemed the 
 most propitious place for a formidable 
 defense, there being only few roads 
 through otherwise impassable swamps. 
 On September sixth my battalion was 
 
 67 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 ordered to take up a position command- 
 ing a defile which formed one of the pos- 
 sible approaches for the enemy. Here 
 we awaited the Russians, and they were 
 not long in coming. First they violently 
 shelled our position and silenced one 
 of our batteries. Finding their artillery 
 fire did not draw any answer from our 
 side, they attempted to storm our posi- 
 tion by means of frontal infantry at- 
 tacks, combined with occasional raids of 
 Cossacks, which were always repulsed. 
 Finally the Russian infantry succeeded 
 in establishing a number of trenches, the 
 one opposite us not more than five hun- 
 dred yards away. It was the first time 
 we had come in close touch with the 
 Russians, almost within hailing distance, 
 and with the aid of our field glasses 
 we could occasionally even get a glimpse 
 of their faces and recognize their features. 
 We stayed four days opposite each other, 
 neither side gaining a foot of ground. 
 
 68 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 It was there and then that I made a 
 curious observation. After the second 
 day we had almost grown to know each 
 other. The Russians would laughingly 
 call over to us, and the Austrians would 
 answer. The saUent feature of these 
 three days' fighting was the extraordi- 
 nary lack of hatred. In fact, it is aston- 
 ishing how little actual hatred exists be- 
 tween fighting men. One fights fiercely 
 and passionately, mass against mass, but 
 as soon as the mass crystallizes itself into 
 human individuals whose features one 
 actually can recognize, hatred almost 
 ceases. Of course, fighting continues, 
 but somehow it loses its fierceness and 
 takes more the form of a sport, each side 
 being eager to get the best of the other. 
 One still shoots at his opponent, bu^ 
 almost regrets when he sees him drop. 
 
 By the morning of the third diy we 
 knew nearly every member of the oppos- 
 ing trench, the favorite of my men being 
 
 69 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 a giant red-bearded Russian whose con- 
 stant pastime consisted in jumping like a 
 Jack-in-the-box from the trench, crying 
 over to us as he did so. He was fre- 
 quently shot at, but never hit. Then he 
 grew bolder, showing himself longer and 
 longer, until finally he jumped out of the 
 trench altogether, shouting to us wildly 
 and waving his cap. His good-humored 
 jollity and bravado appealed to our boys 
 and none of them attempted to shoot 
 at him while he presented such a splen- 
 did target. Finally one of our men, who 
 did not want to be second in bravery, 
 jumped out of the trench and presented 
 himself in the full sunlight. Not one at- 
 tempt was made to shoot at him either, 
 and these two men began to gesticulate 
 at each other, inviting each other to 
 come nearer. All fighting had suddenly 
 ceased, and both opposing parties were 
 looking on, laughing like boys at play. 
 Finally the Russian would draw a step 
 
 70 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 nearer, and our man boldly advanced 
 too. Then the Russians urged on their 
 man with shouts and laughter, and he 
 made a big leap forward, standing still, 
 whereupon the Austrian also jumped 
 forward, and so, step by step, they ap- 
 proached until they nearly touched each 
 other. They had left their rifles behind, 
 and we thought that they were going to 
 indulge in a fist fight, all of us being 
 sorry for our champion, for he was a 
 small and insignificant-looking man who 
 looked as if he could be crushed with one 
 blow by his gigantic opponent. But lo, 
 and behold! The big Russian held out 
 his hand which held a package of to- 
 bacco and our Austrian, seizing the to- 
 bacco, grasped the hand of the Russian, 
 and then reaching in his pocket pro- 
 duced a long Austrian cigar, which he 
 ceremoniously presented to the Russian. 
 It was indeed a funny sight to see the 
 small, wiry, lean Austrian talking in exag- 
 
 71 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 gerated terms of politeness to the blond 
 Russian giant, who listened gravely and 
 attentively, as if he understood every 
 word. 
 
 By this time all precautions and even 
 ideas of fighting had been forgotten, and 
 we were surprised to find ourselves out of 
 the shelter of our trenches and fully ex- 
 posed to the Russians, who, in turn, 
 leaned out of their own trenches and 
 showed their heads in full. This unoffi- 
 cial truce had lasted about twenty min- 
 utes, and succeeded more in restoring 
 good humor and joy of life among our 
 soldiers than a trainload of provisions 
 would have done. It was one of the in- 
 cidents that helped to relieve the mo- 
 notony of trench life and was heartily 
 welcomed by all of us. The fighting, 
 however, soon was resumed with all its 
 earnestness and fierceness, but from this 
 moment on a certain camaraderie was 
 estabhshed between the two opposing 
 
 72 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 trenches. Between skirmishes an unoffi- 
 cial truce would frequently be called for 
 the purpose of removing the wounded. 
 During these times when the stretcher- 
 bearers were busy, no shot would be 
 fired on either side. 
 
 Nor was this an isolated case, for sim- 
 ilar intermittent truces, sometimes ac- 
 companied by actual intercourse be- 
 tween the opposing forces, were quite 
 common all along the battle line. That 
 very night I was hurriedly summoned to 
 the trenches of the 13th Company, about 
 half a mile east of us, in order to act as 
 an interpreter between the major com- 
 manding that battahon and two singu- 
 lar guests he had just received, a Rus- 
 sian officer and his orderly. The pair, 
 carrying a white flag, had hailed one of 
 the numerous Austrian outposts placed 
 during the night, in front of the trenches, 
 and had been sent blindfolded back to 
 the major. The Russian officer spoke 
 
 73 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 only broken French. He commanded 
 one of the opposing trenches, and from 
 his narrative it appeared that his men 
 had not received any food supphes for 
 some days and were actually on the 
 point of starvation. Not being able to 
 stand their misery any longer, he had 
 taken the bull by the horns and, with the 
 utter confidence and straightforwardness 
 of a fearless nature, had simply come 
 over to us, the enemy, for help, offering 
 a little barrel of water which his com- 
 panion carried on his head and a little 
 tobacco, in exchange for some provisions. 
 The major seemed at first, perhaps, 
 a little perplexed and undecided about 
 this singular request, but his generous 
 nature and chivalry soon asserted itself. 
 One single look at the emaciated and 
 worn faces of our guests sufficiently 
 substantiated the truth of their story, 
 for both men were utterly exhausted 
 and on the verge of collapse. The next 
 
 74 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 minute messengers were flying to the 
 different trenches of the battalion to 
 solicit and collect contributions, and the 
 officers scrambled over each other in 
 their noble contest to deplete their own 
 last and cherished reserves for the supper 
 of the guests. Soon the latter were seated 
 as comfortably as circumstances permit- 
 ted before a feast of canned beef, cheese, 
 biscuits, and a slice of salami, my own 
 proud contribution consisting of two 
 tablets of chocolate, part of a precious 
 reserve for extreme cases. It was a 
 strange sight to see these two Russians 
 in an Austrian trench, surrounded by 
 cordiality and tender solicitude. The 
 big brotherhood of humanity had for the 
 time enveloped friend and foe, stamping 
 out all hatred and racial differences. It 
 is wonderful how the most tender flowers 
 of civilization can go hand in hand with 
 the most brutal atrocities of grun modern 
 warfare. 
 
 75 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 In the mean while the messengers had 
 returned almost staggering under the 
 weight of a sack filled with the gifts of 
 our soldiers to the enemy, — pieces of 
 bread and biscuits with here and there 
 a slice of bacon or a lump of cheese, all 
 thrown pele-mele together. Many a man 
 must have parted with his last piece of 
 bread in order not to be outdone by the 
 others in generosity, for our own pro- 
 visions were running very low. It is true 
 that the bread and biscuits were mil- 
 dewed, the cheese stale, and the bacon as 
 hard as stone, but the boys gave the best 
 they could, the very poverty and hum- 
 bleness of the gifts attesting their own 
 desperate plight, and bearing proud wit- 
 ness to the extent of their sacrifice. With 
 tears in their eyes and reiterated protesta- 
 tions of thanks, our guests staggered back 
 through the night to their lines, undoubt- 
 edly carrying with them tender memories 
 of Austrian generosity and hospitality. 
 
 76 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 On the morning of the next day a 
 Russian detachment succeeded in storm- 
 ing a hill on our flank, commanding the 
 strip of space between ourselves and our 
 reserves in the rear, thus cutting us off 
 from our main body. They established 
 there a machine-gun battery, and, al- 
 though we were under cover in our 
 trench, we were now in a very precarious 
 position, for no more provisions or am- 
 munition could reach us, all attempts 
 to do so breaking down under a terrific 
 machine-gun fire, but we had orders to 
 hold our position at all cost and to the 
 last man. Unfortunately our ammuni- 
 tion was giving out, in spite of our hus- 
 banding it as much as possible and shoot- 
 ing only when we had a sure target. The 
 Russians soon found that each shot 
 meant a victim and took no chances on 
 showing even the tips of their caps. 
 Neither could we move the least bit 
 without being the target for a volley 
 
 77 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 from their side. Up to this day I cannot 
 understand why they did not try to rush 
 us, but apparently they were unaware 
 of our comparative weakness. 
 
 Also for another reason our position 
 had become more and more untenable. 
 We were on swampy ground and the 
 water was constantly oozing in from the 
 bottom of the trench, so that we some- 
 times had to stand nearly knee-deep and 
 were forced to bail the water out with 
 our caps. It is difficult to imagine a 
 more deplorable situation than to have 
 to stay for four days in a foul trench, 
 half filled with swamp water, con- 
 stantly exposed to the destructive fire of 
 the enemy, utterly isolated and hopeless. 
 
 Soon we were completely without any 
 food or water and our ammunition was 
 almost exhausted. During the night, 
 here and there daring men would rush 
 through the space swept by the Russian 
 gun fire, which was kept up constantly, 
 
 78 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 trying to bring us what scanty supplies 
 they could procure from neighboring 
 trenches better provided than we were, 
 but the little they brought was nothing 
 compared to our needs. 
 
 On the evening of that third day, 
 knowing that our ammunition was giv- 
 ing out, we felt that the next day would 
 bring the end, and all out thoughts 
 turned homewards and to the dear ones. 
 We all wrote what we considered our 
 parting and last farewell, each one pledg- 
 ing himself to deliver and tak3 care of 
 the letters of the others if he survived. It 
 was a grave, sad, deeply touching mo- 
 ment, when we resigned ourselves to the 
 inevitable, and yet somehow we all felt 
 relieved and satisfied that the end might 
 come and grimly resolved to sell our 
 Uves dearly. 
 
 Never before had I as much reason to 
 admire the wonderful power of endur- 
 ance and stoicism of our soldiers as on 
 
 79 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 that night. Once resigned to the worst, 
 all the old-time spirit returned, as if by 
 magic. They sat together playing cards 
 in as much moonlight as would fall into 
 the deep trench, relating jokes and bol- 
 stering up one another's courage. 
 
 The fourth day broke gloomy, with a 
 drizzling rain. At ten o'clock one of our 
 men became suddenly insane, jumped 
 out of the trench, danced wildly and 
 divested himself of every stitch of cloth- 
 ing while doing so. Strange to say, the 
 Russians must have realized that the 
 man was insane, for they never fired at 
 him, neither did they at the two men 
 who jumped out to draw him back. We 
 succeeded in comforting and subduing 
 him, and he soon fell into a stupor and 
 remained motionless for some time. As 
 soon as darkness fell we succeeded in con- 
 veying him back to the reserves and I 
 understand that he got quite well again 
 in a few days. 
 
 80 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 At five o'clock that afternoon we sud- 
 denly received orders through a running 
 messenger, who was braving the inces- 
 sant machine-gun fire, that our posi- 
 tions were about to be abandoned and 
 that we were to evacuate our trench 
 under the cover of darkness, at eleven 
 o'clock. I cannot but confess that we all 
 breathed more freely on the receipt of 
 that information, but unfortunately the 
 purpose could not be carried out. The 
 Russians by this time evidently had 
 realized our comparatively defenseless 
 condition and utter lack of ammunition, 
 for that same night we heard two shots 
 ring out, being a signal from our sentinels 
 that they were surprised and that danger 
 was near. I hardly had time to draw my 
 ^|^''^iwo^di to grasp my revolver with my 
 left hand and issue a command to my 
 men to hold their bayonets in readiness, 
 when we heard a tramping of horses and 
 saw dark figures swooping down upon 
 
 81 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 us. For once the Cossacks actually 
 carried out their attack, undoubtedly 
 owing to their intimate knowledge of our 
 lack of ammunition. My next sensation 
 was a crushing pain in my shoulder, 
 struck by the hoof of a horse, and a 
 sharp knife pain in my right thigh. I 
 fired with my revolver at the hazy figure 
 above me, saw it topple over and then 
 lost consciousness. 
 
 This happened, to the best of my recol- 
 lection, at about half past ten at night. 
 Upon coming to my senses I found my 
 faithful orderly, kneeling in the trench 
 by my side. He fairly shouted with de- 
 light as I opened my eyes. According to 
 his story the Austrians, faUing back un- 
 der the cavalry charge, had evacuated 
 the trench without noticing, in the dark- 
 ness, that I was missing. But soon dis- 
 covering my absence he started back to 
 the trench in search of me. It was a peri- 
 lous undertaking for him, for the Cos- 
 
 82 
 
FRITZ RREISLER 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 sacks were still riding about, and he 
 showed me with pride the place where a 
 stray bullet had perforated his knapsack 
 during the search. He revived me, gave 
 me first aid, and succeeded with great 
 difficulty in helping me out of the trench. 
 For more than three hours we stumbled 
 on in the night, trying to find our fines 
 again. Twice we encountered a small 
 troop of Cossacks, but upon hearing the 
 tramping we quietly lay down on the 
 wayside without a motion untfi they had 
 passed. Happily we were not noticed by 
 them, and from then we stumbled on 
 without any further incident untfi we 
 were hafied by an Austrian outpost and 
 in safety. By this time I was utterly 
 exhausted and again lost consciousness. 
 When I opened my eyes, I was in a 
 little hut where our ambulance gave first 
 aid. Therefrom I was transported to the 
 nearest field hospital. This, however, had 
 to be broken up and the wounded re- 
 
 83 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 moved because of the Russian advance. 
 We were hastily put on big ambulance 
 wagons without springs, the jolting of 
 which over the bad road caused us such 
 suffering that we should have almost 
 preferred to walk or crawl. We tried to 
 reach the railway station at Komarno 
 but found a Russian detachment had in- 
 tercepted us. In the streets of the village 
 a shell burst almost in front of our wag- 
 ons, making the horses shy and causing a 
 great deal of confusion. We had to turn 
 back and after a long and wearisome de- 
 tour reached our destination, the troop 
 hospital in Sambor, in a state of great 
 exhaustion. There I remained but a day. 
 The less seriously wounded had to make 
 place for the graver cases, and being 
 among the former, I was transferred by 
 hospital train to Miscolcy in Hungary. 
 The same crowded conditions prevailed 
 here as in Sambor, and after a night's 
 rest I again was put on board a Red 
 
 84 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 Cross train en route to Vienna. We were 
 met at the station by a number of Red 
 Cross nurses and assistant doctors. 
 
 To my great joy my wife was among 
 the former, having been assigned to that 
 particular duty. A short official telegram 
 to the effect that I was being sent home 
 wounded on hospital train Number 16 
 was the first news she had received about 
 me for fully four weeks. None of my 
 field postcards had arrived and she was 
 suffering extreme nervous strain from the 
 long anxiety and suspense, which she 
 had tried in vain to numb by feverish 
 work in her hospital. I remained two 
 weeks in Vienna and then was trans- 
 ferred to the sulphur bath of Baden 
 near-by, where large hospitals had been 
 estabhshed to relieve the overcrowding 
 of Vienna. There I remained until the 
 first of November when I was ordered to 
 appear before a mixed commission of 
 army surgeons and senior officers, for a 
 
 85 
 
FOUR WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 medical examination. Two weeks later 
 I received formal intimation that I had 
 been pronounced invahd and physically 
 unfit for army duty at the front or at 
 home, and consequently was exempted 
 from further service. My mihtary exper- 
 ience ended there, and with deep regret I 
 bade good-bye to my loyal brother offi- 
 cers, comrades, and faithful orderly, and 
 discarded my well-beloved uniform for 
 the nondescript garb of the civihan, 
 grateful that I had been permitted to be j 
 
 of any, if ever so Httle, service to my 
 Fatherland. 
 
 i 
 
 THE END 
 
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