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Entente Cordiale 
 
 from the letters of 
 
 Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 Geo. H. Ellis Co. 
 
 1918 
 
o . 
 
 COPYRIGHT, I9l8 
 GEO. H. ELLIS CO. 
 
 M 28 1918 
 
 ©CI.A497933 
 
From the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 Preface 
 
 In the spring of 1916 a French soldier, Lieutenant 
 G — , received from a dying comrade two letters 
 which had come from America. The author of the 
 letters was a stranger to both men, but was seeking, 
 through the (Euvre mon Soldat, a. chance to cor- 
 respond with one of the defenders of France. 
 Lieutenant G — answered the letters; and thus was 
 begun a friendship which has grown firm and deep, 
 though the writers have never met. 
 
 The messages from France are simple, direct 
 expressions of the superb patriotism which ani- 
 mates every French soldier, from the highest officer 
 to the humblest poilu. They reveal heartfelt 
 appreciation of the assistance given to France by 
 her allies; and at a time when German propaganda 
 seeks to cast doubts on the motives and mutual 
 relations of the Allied Powers, evidence such as 
 this of the cordial feeling in the French Army 
 toward us is of real importance. 
 
 The translation of Lieutenant G — 's letters is as 
 nearly as possible a literal one. The arrangements 
 for their publication have been made possible by 
 the kindness of an interested reader who feels that 
 their power to make friends should have wider scope. 
 
 True Allies, fighting for true democracy, win 
 prove unconquerable. 
 
 W. L. W. F. 
 
Aux armees, 
 29th August, 19 1 6. 
 Cher Monsieur S — : 
 
 My dear comrade Delberg gave me, before 
 dying, the two amiable letters you had sent to 
 him. Wounded myself, I was unable to reply 
 to you at once, and it was not until I returned 
 to the front for the fourth time, that I found 
 my little belongings and your letters. My 
 comrade died bravely, as every one does here, 
 in the front of these maudits Boches, who keep 
 us from having news of our dear families. 
 
 As I see that your kind heart offered a corre- 
 spondent to my dear departed friend, I ask you, 
 if it will not trouble you too much, to write to me. 
 I also am from the invaded regions, and I have 
 my wife and three dear little ones in the hands 
 of our enemies; therefore you can believe that 
 it is not always gay. It would thus be with 
 pleasure that I could distract myself with an 
 exchange of letters. I know that your great 
 country has taken an interest in our just cause. 
 Your political questions interest me, and that 
 which the neutrals think of us and our allies. 
 The news of your country life — the stories of 
 your little hens, etc. — interest me also, and 
 change my ideas in recalling my lost hearth. 
 
 I am grateful to you in advance for the trouble 
 
6 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 which you will take, and I shall do my best to 
 write you often. It will seem so good to read 
 an agreeable word. In this hope and begging 
 you to accept for yourself and your family my 
 best wishes, I beg you, Monsieur, to believe in 
 my meilleurs sentiments. 
 
 Henri G — 
 
 13th November, 19 16. 
 Cher Monsieur S — : 
 
 It gives much pleasure to us combatants to 
 know that over there across the sea, unknown 
 friends are thinking of us, and k is a com- 
 fort to feel ourselves morally sustained in the 
 great cause for which we fight. As you have 
 had the goodness to ask me what I should like, 
 I permit myself to ask you if it would be possible 
 to send some illustrated magazines which would 
 make known to me and my friends your lovely 
 country. It would give great pleasure to my 
 comrades and to me and will make the hours 
 seem less long, for in the mud and the snow one 
 has not always a smile. 
 
 lyth November, 1916. 
 
 I was agreeably surprised to receive two days 
 ago your long and detailed letter. I do not 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 7 
 
 know how to thank you sufficiently for the 
 pleasure it gave me and the moral aid you have 
 thus brought me. As you ask it, it will be very 
 delightful for me to converse frequently with 
 you, and as the mail between our two countries 
 takes so long, I am going to permit myself to 
 write you about every two weeks. I am going 
 to ask you to excuse me from not writing you 
 in pure French, because I am not as well edu- 
 cated as you. I have made above all commer- 
 cial and mechanical studies. 
 
 As you have been good enough to accept my 
 correspondence, it is of the most elementary 
 politeness that I should introduce myself. I am 
 thirty-one years old and was before the war 
 agent for a large steel firm in Lille. I lived with 
 my wife and my three little children in a small 
 house in the suburbs of Lille, where I had my 
 office, and I travelled in the north of France and 
 parts of Belgium. On the 9th of October, 1914, 
 my quarter was bombarded and burned by the 
 Germans on their entry into the city. Since 
 this date I am entirely ignorant of what has 
 happened to my dear family. Cest le plus triste. 
 The factories to which I was attached, being 
 in the east of France in the invaded regions, 
 have been completely destroyed. There remains 
 for us nothing at all but the courage to put one's 
 self back to work as soon as the war is over. In 
 
8 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 spite of our modest salaries, which do not com- 
 pare with those of your region, I had a position 
 which permitted me to have a charming house, 
 and I worked with pleasure to offer a good 
 education to my little children. All that is 
 now only a remembrance — the little house which 
 I had had built is completely destroyed. I do 
 not know whether my papers, securities, etc., 
 have been stolen or burned. That is of small 
 importance now. The hope of returning vic- 
 torious keeps one alive. When one is young 
 with a good will one can make again a little 
 living. 
 
 For two weeks we have had snow and it has 
 been below freezing, and there is a great deal 
 of fog, which makes the service hard. In spite of 
 the fact that the shelters are quite comfortable, 
 and that our chiefs give us everything which 
 can protect us from the rigors of winter, one has 
 not always the heart to write, especially when 
 thinking of the beloved beings in the invaded 
 regions, who suffer more than martyrs because 
 of the Boches. You have read of the new 
 atrocities in Belgium. If we had lacked courage, 
 which is not the case, reading of all these crimes 
 would give us the necessary vigor not to feel 
 our own sufferings. 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 . 1st December, 1916. 
 
 C7^r Monsieur o — : 
 
 I thank you truly for all your good wishes 
 that I might win the "baton de marechal" One 
 does all one's duty without looking for honors. 
 
 For news I must tell you that I have just 
 been wounded for the fourth time. There was 
 in my sector a little marine cannon which was 
 inactive. I obtained permission to use it, and 
 during a fortnight I did great damage to the 
 Boches. Then I was discovered by them and 
 bombarded by them in a terrific manner — six- 
 teen shells landing on the shelter of my gun 
 emplacement. I kept on firing during this bom- 
 bardment, which ended when my piece was 
 struck, and it jumped back and hit me full in 
 the chest. I was unconscious for two hours, 
 but after that things went better. It was 
 great luck that I had nothing broken. A 
 centimetre lower and I should have had fatal 
 injuries. 
 
 That was two weeks ago — I am getting along 
 finely and await with impatience my cure in 
 order to return to my comrades and my men in 
 the trenches, for one is not comfortable in a 
 hospital, feeling that when in bed one is not 
 in his place. At this moment the only place for 
 a soldier is in the fight, mais que voulez-vous? 
 One is not wounded on purpose. 
 
io from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 You must be following in the papers the 
 martyrdom of Belgium. I fear always that my 
 family may be enduring the same hardships. 
 For a long time there has been practically noth- 
 thing to eat there, and one has fears of not find- 
 ing them alive. It would be a terrible grief to 
 fight courageously as we do, only to find noth- 
 ing left when the war is over. 
 
 27th December, 19 16. 
 
 I thank you from the bottom of my heart as 
 well as all the kind people who busy themselves 
 with good works to aid our comrades and above 
 all our families in the invaded regions. We are 
 very grateful to your compatriots who occupy 
 themselves with sanitary work and aviation. 
 We all regret very deeply the death of Mon- 
 sieur Norman Prince, who was well known and 
 highly thought of in this region. I am charged 
 by my comrades from the invaded regions to 
 interpret to all the people in the different ozuvres 
 our thanks for that which you do for us to aid 
 us obtain the victory. 
 
 1st January, 1 91 7. 
 Cher Monsieur S — : 
 
 I received in its time your good letter of 15th 
 November, and since its reception I promised 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 1 1 
 
 myself each day to write and thank you for 
 showing me so many marks of sympathy, but 
 recent events have occupied me and let me hope 
 for an unexpected solution. 
 
 The length of time necessary between the 
 sending and receiving of our correspondence 
 does not permit me to chat with you on daily 
 events. I am very grateful for the details you 
 give me. If I do not reply to them at length it 
 is in order not to make the censor shiver. I 
 read your letter to my chiefs and my comrades, 
 and all have asked me to thank you for the good 
 wishes you addressed to our soldiers. 
 
 In these latter days since I received your 
 letter, has appeared the request of your nation 
 intervening for peace, which the Allies have re- 
 jected in a polite manner. I hope that on the 
 receipt of this letter a great step will have been 
 made towards the achievement of peace. That 
 which we desire is truly glorious, — to assure to 
 Europe and to the entire world tranquillity and 
 the respect of the laws of humanity. We have 
 suifered much, — it is said without complaining 
 — not as to morale, for every one has a high idea 
 of the sacrifice to be made, but physically, — 
 we have passed long days without fire, in the 
 water, in the mud, but we are willing to go 
 through much more to assure the triumph of 
 that our children or those for whom 
 
12 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 we are responsible may have the assurance of 
 a life wholly concentrated towards the good 
 and the beautiful, instead of the worries of 
 warriors. 
 
 I should like to have sent you extracts from 
 the European papers on the subject of the 
 various peace interventions, but military exi- 
 gencies have distracted me from the normal 
 life. For a whole week I have not read a paper. 
 I am profiting by a day of rest to scratch off 
 this letter. The news you sent gives me great 
 pleasure. It is a tremendous help to know 
 that "over there" your great country shows 
 us so much sympathy, and that one of its 
 families has been willing to interest itself in my 
 modest self. 
 
 As you understand, the censor will not permit 
 me to give precise details; otherwise I should 
 be afraid of not being modest enough; but 
 as you have asked me to write of some of my 
 adventures, I will do so when I have a free 
 moment, only I beg you not to compliment 
 me on what I have done. Every one is brave 
 here. If some have not done extraordinary 
 things it is because the chance has not pre- 
 sented itself. Besides, in the middle of an 
 action it is not easy to know when one is doing 
 anything extraordinary. Admirable things are 
 often done, and, in the circumstances where 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 13 
 
 they take place, regarded by their doers as 
 insignificant. Personally I have lived through 
 moments which seemed to me terribly long, 
 where the effort expended did not correspond 
 with the importance of living. 
 
 The thing which displeases the poilu most 
 after the bombardments is an attack with the 
 aid of asphyxiating gas. It is the most terrible 
 thing that I know of and have lived through, — 
 to feel one's self dying, to have seen one's com- 
 rades and one's leaders dying, without being 
 able to reply, without returning the harm one 
 receives; to die like a beast suffering the most 
 awful agonies — it is terrible. 
 
 This last time when I was wounded in Novem- 
 ber I had nothing to complain of. My accident 
 had been foreseen for a long time. Every one 
 believes that some day something will happen 
 to him, and in proportion to the harm I did the 
 Boches I would not have paid dearly even if 
 I had had to lose my life. My reasoning may 
 seem to you peculiar, mats que voulez-vous? 
 c'est la guerre! You give blows, you receive 
 them. It is logic! The poilu who at the end 
 of an engagement where he has fought well 
 receives a bullet or a piece of shell is happy 
 that it is not more serious, and finds that it 
 was foreordained. 
 
 Without disturbing the censor, I can tell 
 
14 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 you that I was at Verdun [191 6] at the time 
 which, if less happy than at present, was none 
 the less glorious. We were among the troops 
 who received orders to hold on, cost what it 
 might. When after severe losses, caused by 
 heavy artillery which nearly crushed us, we 
 retired slowly, it was not on our part without 
 having very heavy hearts; yet, in spite of the 
 fact that we were among those who lost ground, 
 our chiefs had words of praise in our favor for 
 having held on so long with the few men the 
 general command had been able to send to this 
 place. Verdun was hell, it seemed to us. How- 
 ever, the Somme for the Boches is teji times that. 
 Never were we demoralized. Tired, yes — re- 
 maining nine days without food or drink coming 
 from the rear; and for those who had the strength 
 to eat there was dried meat, dried biscuit, and 
 chocolate. In spite of that, our poilus were so 
 courageous that the officers and your corre- 
 spondent were able to smile and joke. I do 
 not know what was the cause, whether it was 
 the horror of the multitude of corpses which 
 were not respected even in death by the new 
 shells which continually pulverized them — 
 whether it was a sort of intoxication caused by 
 fatigue and shock — whether it was tremendous 
 preoccupation in the lives of my men and the 
 movements of the enemy, — but I did not dur- 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 15 
 
 ing this entire period know what it was to be 
 afraid. It was a curious phenomenon which 
 permitted me to do things since judged remark- 
 able, but which did not cost me great effort. 
 Thus things are regarded in their true light. 
 Comrades who had not my luck expended 
 much more energy in doing little things. 
 
 One morning I was asked by a general to make 
 a reconnaissance of the ground in front of our 
 lines, consequently on the ground conquered 
 by the Boches. I knew very well I could 
 easily remain there, and departed, accompanied 
 by an under officer. During an hour and a 
 half, jumping from shell hole to shell hole, I 
 was able to verify the line occupied by the 
 enemy, in spite of the fact that four machine 
 guns were trying to get me. Although wounded, 
 I made a topographical plan of the ground, 
 and succeeded in getting through a barrage of 
 .105-centimetre shells the Boches put around 
 me, and brought the plan safely back to my 
 chief. That was the day I won the croix 
 (Thonneur. I knew the difficulty of the posi- 
 tion, and said good-bye to my poilus before 
 leaving, and departed whistling a hunting song. 
 
 Also during night patrols I have had un- 
 expected hand-to-hand encounters with the 
 Boches. I have even been carried off by a 
 species of Hercules who picked me up by the 
 
1 6 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 neck and managed to get hold of my legs; but 
 I was able to succeed in commanding my men 
 to fire, and my aggressor was killed while carry- 
 ing me. 
 
 One day the Boches threw us a paper asking 
 us to take at 9 p.m. some French papers and 
 an hour later they would come and take them 
 back to their lines. With the authorization 
 of my superior officer I took four men and we 
 put at the indicated spot a picket to which was 
 attached a package of French newspapers. 
 Instead of returning to our lines we went into 
 ambush, and when the Boches (there were seven 
 of them) came to get the papers we took six 
 prisoners, letting one go to carry off the papers. 
 For this occasion my men and I were given a 
 few days' permission. 
 
 It is hard and painful to stand guard for 
 entire hours in a trench in the mud, the rain, 
 and the wind, expecting from one moment to 
 another the arrival of a grenade or torpedo 
 in one's face, but it is very interesting to spend 
 long hours on patrol, the body flat on the 
 ground in the mud, lying in wait for the 
 passing of a Boche or an enemy patrol; to let 
 them approach and seize them if it be an in- 
 ferior force, or to attack them if it seems su- 
 perior. One catches cold at this game, mais 
 c' est joliment inter -ess ant. To prepare a raid, 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — I y 
 
 jump in the enemy trench, tumble onto a be- 
 wildered Boche whom one leads back trium- 
 phantly to one's chief, — these are true pleasure 
 parties. But helas! how many unfortunate 
 deaths, how many poor comrades fall crushed 
 by a shell or a torpedo, or in a shelter which 
 caves in! Mais encore que voulez-vous? 
 
 It is for this reason: first, the desire to avert 
 from our children the worries of such a catas- 
 trophe; second, the desire to free again our dear 
 invaded regions, to find again those we love; 
 and third, the desire to revenge one's self for 
 those who have suffered and are no more; 
 that gives us courage and sustains our morale. 
 The French nation and our leaders have worked 
 prodigiously to give us everything necessary. 
 Thanks to the fleet of our friend England, we 
 have continual provisions to nourish, clothe, 
 and sustain us. 
 
 yth January, 1 91 7. 
 Chere Mademoiselle B — : 
 
 I do not wish to put off till to-morrow the 
 pleasure of thanking you for the delicate atten- 
 tion of sending me a remembrance. You can 
 never know how deeply I was touched and grati- 
 fied by the bundle I received to-day. In order 
 to make you understand, I must tell you that 
 never, since I left for the war, have I received a 
 
1 8 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 bundle from any one who interested himself 
 in me. At the moment when all my comrades 
 received from their families des friandises, or 
 provisions for the winter, I found myself more 
 than ever forsaken. Permit me, Mademoiselle, 
 as I may speak to you with an open heart, to 
 express to you all my thanks for this delicate 
 attention. 
 
 The role of a leader is sometimes ungrateful; 
 I will tell you of a recent happening on All Saints' 
 Day — (La Fete des Morts). I gave to my 
 poilus a rest period on that afternoon to mark 
 this solemn time and I visited each of my men. 
 Many who were in the same situation as my- 
 self confided to me their grief for the absence 
 of their relatives in the invaded regions, or for 
 their dead. As well as I could, I comforted my 
 brave comrades in combat, but re-entering my 
 abri, face to face with reality, I found myself, 
 an officer, having been able to say a kind and 
 consoling word, without consolation for myself, 
 while no one could doubt that I endured the 
 same sufferings of morale. 
 
 And it is from you, Mademoiselle, to whom 
 I am only an unknown person, the French soldier 
 for whom you have been good enough to have a 
 little sympathy, that comes the gift which recalls 
 to me those of one's family. I do not know how 
 to tell you how profoundly I was touched. 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 19 
 
 Pray believe that everything gave me pleasure, — 
 your kind thought and the contents of the 
 bundle. Also, Mademoiselle, if I have the good 
 fortune to find again my little family, be sure 
 that I shall teach my dear children to know 
 and love you. 
 
 14th 'January, 191 7. 
 Chere Mademoiselle B — : 
 
 To make you understand all the pleasure I 
 had in receiving yesterday your good letter and 
 the illustrated magazines, I must tell you that 
 they arrived during a time of fatigue and de- 
 pression which we call in the terms of the poilu, 
 "le cafard." It is a state of depression, — not 
 of discouragement — which takes one following 
 great physical or mental fatigue — something in 
 the nature of a cri de nerfs. Although being 
 an officer, and therefore not having the right 
 to let myself be overcome by le cafard, it 
 produces, all the same, a halting of will-power. 
 In these circumstances I have experienced 
 several hallucinations, seeing compatriots from 
 our invaded regions re-enter France and not 
 seeing my dear ones come. I had at one time 
 hoped for this happiness, but alas! it cannot be 
 at present, for the Boches do not permit two 
 members of the same family to leave and be 
 repatriated. They are so unhappy there! I 
 
20 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 shall tell you more of their manner of existence 
 at another time. 
 
 Why do you ask me to excuse the mistakes in 
 French which you may commit? Is it not more 
 for me to regret that I do not know your clear 
 language? If my duties were less numerous, I 
 should set myself to the study of your grammar. 
 I have already studied during the last year, 
 outside my hours of guard duty, a little law and 
 superior geometry, but it was quite difficult, 
 for the Boches do not leave much time to do the 
 big problems. In reality we have studies to 
 do to prepare for the final battle, and it is neces- 
 sary for us to study and put into application 
 means of defence against the asphyxiating gases. 
 
 I also had a lovely little dog for a companion — 
 "beau" is perhaps a little exaggerated. He 
 was a Griffon, with reddish hair, curly and quite 
 long. He was very little, and was given me as 
 a present when he was only four weeks old. 
 With a great deal of trouble I was able to raise 
 him by the aid of condensed milk. All the 
 regiment knew him. He wore a collar of 
 horizon blue cloth like our clothes, on which 
 one read in red soutache braid his name of 
 Kamerad. He did not like the Germans, and 
 was very useful to me during night patrols, when 
 by his low growls he would put me on guard 
 against an evening surprise attack. He was 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 21 
 
 wounded by a bursting grenade and later by a 
 shell which fractured his paw. Well cared for, 
 he once more trotted lightly. When at Verdun, 
 when I was there, he was killed by bullets from 
 a machine gun as he was carrying some instruc- 
 tions in his collar to one of my chiefs. I felt 
 almost as much grief at his loss as at that of a 
 poilu. 
 
 You must be following anxiously, as we do, 
 the talks of peace. In spite of them we do not 
 let ourselves be put to sleep by such hopes. 
 We are preparing to give the great blow. We 
 are in good condition materially, physically, 
 morally, and with our adversaries it is above all 
 the latter which is feeble, in spite of what the 
 German press says. 
 
 \6th January, 191 7. 
 
 I do not wish to close without telling you a 
 word of your compatriots who serve in our 
 ranks. You can never know how much we ad- 
 mire them. They greet us with a broad and 
 expressive smile which accompanied by a warm 
 handshake takes the place of the most elegant 
 conversation. You cannot believe the pleasure 
 our poilus take in greeting one of your fellow- 
 countrymen, — in shaking him by the hand and 
 saluting him so proudly one would think he was 
 saluting an officer. In the aviation your com- 
 
22 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 patriots have shown great prowess, but it is 
 above all in the sanitary service, in construction 
 work, aiding the hospitals and particularly in the 
 transport of the wounded that they have done 
 wonders. I believe this latter accords a little 
 with your temperament. At Verdun, under 
 machine-gun fire, among the shell holes and 
 corpses, I was taken out in a quiet little car 
 driven by one of your countrymen who had no 
 other worry than for our comfort, and who, 
 without bothering himself about the barrage 
 fire on the roads of evacuation, — or that which 
 remained of them, — concentrated on avoiding a 
 hole or a corpse which would cause more pain 
 to our injuries. 
 
 24th January, 191 7. 
 Che re Monsieur S — : 
 
 It is with a very heavy heart that I write 
 you from the hospital where I have been for 
 several days. Following a too prolonged stay 
 in the snow I was taken ill, and my wounded 
 knees began again to make me suffer a paralysis 
 of the joints. It was a temporary crisis, but 
 that which troubles me most is my chest, which, 
 following the blow received in November, stifles 
 me in a serious manner. I am, however, a very 
 good invalid, for I have too much sorrow at 
 leaving my men at the moment of the final 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 23 
 
 battle; then what a joy it will be for us who 
 have been in Alsace so long, when we can throw 
 ourselves into the enemy territory! I want 
 that so much! I shall do my best to take my 
 place among my good comrades as soon as 
 possible. You must understand how hard it 
 would be to have fought and held on until now 
 and not to be in the last great battle, for it is 
 the last which is going to begin soon. We do 
 not have to form any wishes that it shall be 
 favorable to us. We have confidence in our 
 chiefs and in the means they will use to lead 
 us to victory and find again our dear lost 
 families. 
 
 Since my arrival here in a room that is too 
 white and a bed that is too lovely, I have spent 
 all my time in looking at the beautiful illus- 
 trated magazines which you have sent me. I 
 recognized in a page of advertisements a picture 
 the same as the postal card you sent me from 
 Pasadena representing the orange groves with 
 snow-covered mountains behind. I also found 
 an illustration of my little dog, which in your 
 country is called a Sealyham terrier; and I 
 saw with pleasure the variety of hens, which 
 were the amusement of my little ones — des 
 Campines, which are the same as your Leg- 
 horns. All the illustrations were superb, and 
 my comrades in the same room were equally 
 
24 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 interested in seeing them. My neighbor in the 
 next bed was an officer of our native troops, 
 who spoke French with great difficulty, and 
 who went into ecstasies over these magazines 
 which came from even further off than his own 
 home. He was very amused and astonished 
 that your customs and your clothes were not 
 different from ours, as everything was new for 
 a time to him in Europe. 
 
 \th February, 19 17. 
 Che re Mademoiselle B — : 
 
 Before replying to your charming letter, per- 
 mit me to tell you of some splendid news for 
 me. I have had these last few days a reply to 
 a message which I sent in May, 1916, to my 
 family. The card was dated 15th of Novem- 
 ber, 1916, and, though very brief, it reassured 
 me that my wife and children are in fair health 
 but very unhappy because living is so difficult. 
 It would be almost necessary to be a millionaire 
 to live even moderately well where they are. 
 It is thanks to the generosity of your com- 
 mittees that our families do not die of hunger. 
 
 I do not know whether I told you that when 
 I was brought to the hospital this time I was 
 again taken by an American ambulance. I 
 happened to have with me one of your enve- 
 lopes and I showed it to one of your compatriots. 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 25 
 
 He made me understand that he knew that part 
 of the country and we shook hands heartily. 
 
 iSth February, 1917. 
 Cher Monsieur S — : 
 
 I perceive that I have committed the dis- 
 courtesy of talking too long of myself without 
 speaking of the step which your Government 
 has just taken [severing of diplomatic relations]. 
 Although not expecting an effective interven- 
 tion, every one here is happy to see the act of 
 your country. It is long since the animation 
 in our streets has been so great. Even our big 
 victories have not so aroused the masses. It 
 seems as if the doors of moral victory were 
 opening and that the situation of the United 
 States is going to cure our hurts. 
 
 The day of the announcement of American 
 intervention, I put in my buttonhole a cocade of 
 your colors which Mademoiselle B — had put on 
 one of the packages. By coincidence, my old 
 father, to whom I had sent your letters, also the 
 post-cards, that he may keep them for me and 
 have them read later to my dear children, had 
 bought a little American flag, which he put in the 
 window of his apartment. He wrote me of it, 
 saying, "I thought that would have been your 
 wish if you had been present." It seems that 
 a large number of our fellow-townsmen stopped 
 
26 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 while he was fixing the flag in place, and they 
 uncovered and gave an hourra (Phonneur. My 
 father was very proud to have been the cause 
 of this demonstration. 
 
 Yes, it has happened to me to be afraid, and 
 it will happen again. But these fears might be 
 better called surprises. The firing of a gun, or 
 the rapid passing of a shell, makes one duck 
 one's head in an instinctive manner. On the 
 contrary, a foreseen and expected attack leaves 
 one calm and indifferent. At Verdun during 
 the strongest attacks, during the artillery duel 
 which crushed us, I took notes very tranquilly 
 and sent off reports to my superiors, as if in my 
 office. Never during all that time did I have a 
 sensation of fear. I was very lucky in this, for, 
 being calm almost to the point of foolish indif- 
 ference, I was able to busy myself with the ser- 
 vice and above all with my poilus. Do not 
 think this was brave. It was only natural. 
 It was splendid, for example, to see one of my 
 sergeants, who ordinarily was afraid, and who, 
 to give me pleasure, tried hard to be fearless — 
 he was much less calm than I, but deserved a 
 hundred times as much merit, for he was making 
 a great effort. At times even I would ask my- 
 self if during such circumstances one did not 
 lose one's feeling, because I remained insensible 
 to the most awful horrors. That which added 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 27 
 
 to the impression of calm was the full con- 
 ciousness of my duties as an officer. When one 
 realizes that the lives of 200 to 250 poilus depend 
 on one, and when one feels the responsibility of 
 his acts, that he must think and act for all this 
 little group, — and I beg you to believe it is no 
 easy thing, — one becomes so absorbed one for- 
 gets himself. The poor poilu is the most un- 
 fortunate. He is guided by the idea that his 
 leader is there with him, and follows him with 
 his eyes. That is true, but he has only himself 
 to think of and his own poor life. 
 
 It is a great help for a chief to feel the confi- 
 dence of his men, gained by knowing how to 
 measure the effort asked for, and obtaining their 
 unshakable faith by never asking them to do 
 impossible things. Once at the time of a coun- 
 ter-attack at Verdun I remained the only officer 
 commanding my company and its neighbor in 
 the battalion, I being known to the men, but not 
 knowing all of them. I gave the signal for the 
 attack, and, without my having to pay with my 
 life, — being the first to leave the trench, — these 
 350 or 400 men departed at my command. I 
 assure you, Monsieur, that was splendid. In 
 such a moment one measures the grandeur of 
 the enormous confidence which the men have in 
 their leaders. I could never have a better re- 
 ward than that. I have never known anything 
 
28 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 more splendid than the spirit with which they 
 replied to my signal. You will excuse me, Mon- 
 sieur, for taking so long with my explanations, 
 but I have touched on a subject very dear to me. 
 I love my poilus, and I believe I may say that it 
 is reciprocated. 
 
 12th March, 1 91 7. 
 Cher Monsieur S — : 
 
 Speaking of the American Ambulance, I do 
 not know whether I have told you that I can 
 never forget the service they did at Verdun. 
 No words could express my feelings. I was 
 wounded, and waiting at the advance post for 
 my evacuation. In spite of bursting shells and 
 machine-gun fire which rained over us, the 
 automobiles arrived at the appointed hour at 
 the meeting-place, — all except one which was 
 crushed by a bursting shell. In the inside of 
 the car were four blesses couches. Two of them 
 were terribly hurt. I did not want to take the 
 place of a stretcher, and as I could still hold 
 myself upright, they enveloped me in many 
 wrappings and put me on the front seat at the 
 right of the driver. I thought he would start 
 off at great speed, as quickly as possible to 
 avoid the firing. No, not at all. Very slowly, 
 as if in the middle of an avenue, he avoided the 
 numerous shell holes and corpses which would 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 29 
 
 have jarred the wounded. The driver, who 
 only spoke French with great difficulty, kept 
 askmg me if he was not going too fast for the 
 good of my wounded comrades. I could live a 
 hundred years but I would never forget your 
 compatriot. I, who was only able to keep up 
 after a month of torture by the prospect of 
 escaping death once again, found strength to 
 greatly admire this man. What a lesson of 
 energy I got from him. When he helped me to 
 get down, we shook hands in a most moving 
 manner. We put all our hearts into it. You 
 can testify on my part for the devotion of your 
 friends among us. We will never forget them. 
 
 (The Somme, 191 7) 
 
 2 1 st March, 1917. 
 
 You must be happy because of this German 
 retreat. For us it is not joy; it is delirium. 
 My poor comrades who are from the recon- 
 quered regions do not know how to contain 
 their joy. Sunday and Monday every one em- 
 braced every one else, officers and simple poilus, 
 as if everything was saved. Unfortunately one 
 perceives after the departure of these cursed 
 Boches many new atrocities — all the wells and 
 springs poisoned; quantites of young girls 
 
3<d from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 carried off, violated, killed, or massacred. They 
 ought, however, to fear a prompt chastisement. 
 Perhaps one day our English allies will deliver 
 a blow near Lille and will let me hope to see 
 again my dear family. You can never doubt 
 the sufferings of spirit we have endured. 
 
 What do you think of the Russians? Here 
 all that news was welcomed differently. For 
 those who were not informed of the latest 
 internal incidents, it seemed like a catastrophe, 
 for a French proverb says, "One does not change 
 mounts in the middle of a ford." In other 
 words, one does not change leaders in the middle 
 of a battle. For those who knew how formidable 
 and unfavorable for our cause were the Imperial 
 Party, one expected those "who whistle up a 
 wind" to "arouse a tempest." The decision of 
 the new government to continue fighting to the 
 end has changed all opinions in favor of the 
 revolution. When will one take place in Ger- 
 many? 
 
 6th Jpril, 191 7. 
 Cher Monsieur S — : 
 
 Since I have just read the telegram announc- 
 ing the entry of your country into the war, it 
 is not possible for me to live another hour with- 
 out telling you what emotion this news makes us 
 feel. Permit me, humble officer to whom you 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 3 1 
 
 have given your confidence and your sympathy, 
 to express to you the joy and pride which we 
 experienced in feeling our hearts beat with 
 yours. The tremendous aid which your coun- 
 try will bring us is not only material; it is above 
 all an aid of morale and a comfort. The entry 
 into the war of your great nation gives the 
 whole world official recognition of outraged 
 right and menaced civilization. All honor to 
 you for this act. 
 
 I do not know how to describe to you the joy 
 of every one here — officers and soldiers. There 
 are moments when it is good to live. I wish 
 that you could have taken part in this cele- 
 bration. My comrades and my men to whom 
 I speak often of you and of the sentiments 
 which you express to me have come this in- 
 stant to compliment me on being your friend. 
 My commandant has also just telephoned to 
 congratulate me. You see I am not modest 
 to tell you this. I am personally very happy 
 and proud to have seen such a spirit, and to 
 be the interpreter for every one here, to tell you 
 of the expressions of our gratitude and our 
 most ardent wishes for your success in arms. 
 
 In begging you to recall me to the good re- 
 membrance of your family, be good enough, cher 
 Monsieur, to accept my most cordial thoughts. 
 
 Henri G — . 
 
3 2 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 Beauvais, 
 2%th April, 1 91 7. 
 
 Chere Mademoiselle B — : 
 
 You must be saying to yourself that some 
 accident has happened to me, for three weeks 
 have passed since writing you. We have been 
 engaged in these late affairs — that is what has 
 hindered me from writing, and for the last three 
 days I have been with my little family, whose 
 return I had the good fortune to announce to 
 you. 
 
 It is not possible for me to write you at length 
 of all the events which preceded my arrival 
 near my repatriated family. I can tell you I 
 asked myself with a very heavy heart in what 
 state of health I should find them. Thanks to 
 the courage and energy of my dear wife, which 
 has been most admirable, my children do not 
 carry too much the traces of their captivity. 
 Only my wife appears fatigued by the privations 
 she has imposed on herself in giving her part to 
 her children. She has been wounded by shrap- 
 nel in the left side, but she does not suffer from 
 it now, and at one time she was ill in bed with- 
 out care for three weeks with a congestion of 
 the lungs contracted during the long waits 
 necessary to obtain food. 
 
 I ought to begin by telling you that it was 
 with tears in her eyes Madame G — charged 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 33 
 
 me to express to you all her gratitude for the 
 help and food which the American Committee 
 gave to her. Without them, they would all 
 have died of hunger. Words will not describe 
 the suffering endured by my little family. All 
 that is now but a terrible remembrance, be- 
 cause I have the good fortune to have them 
 in France. There remains to me only to have 
 them cared for and to settle them. I hope 
 that to have them cared for will be easy. 
 Madame G — has need of nourishing food and 
 tonics, for she is emaciated, and my oldest 
 daughter equally so. She is growing very fast 
 and has not been nourished as she should have 
 been. My little son is more gravely ill. Of a 
 nervous temperament, he was much impressed 
 with all this war, and following the explosion of 
 a powder factory situated in our quarter, he 
 had a shock, became bewildered, and has re- 
 mained mentally enfeebled ever since. Only 
 my youngest girl has preserved her good spirits 
 and knows how to laugh at all her troubles. 
 You can imagine that, in spite of my happiness 
 at finding them alive, there was a shadow over 
 the picture. 
 
 There remains now the question of settling 
 them. My wife had wished to bring away 
 with her all that was left of her money and 
 belongings, the greater part of which had been 
 
34 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 destroyed or stolen; but when at the moment 
 of departure she was examined by the Germans, 
 they refused to let her take anything, even 
 her livret de famille, her only official piece of 
 identification. She was thus forced to come 
 away with the little sum of 150 francs, which 
 the Boches permitted. In spite of all her joy at 
 being again among the French, my wife weeps 
 for that which remains with the Boches. Now 
 we possess nothing at all. Not a bijou, not a 
 single souvenir. The bandits would not even 
 permit my dear little girls to take their dolls; 
 therefore they were made happy when on their 
 entry into Switzerland some one gave them a 
 very little one. 
 
 I have spoken to Madame G — of you all, and 
 read to her your correspondence during the three 
 days' permission I obtained on their return. I 
 have told her all the gratitude I owe you for the 
 moral and material aid you have given me. I 
 gave her the marks of sympathy you have 
 so kindly afforded me. She was profoundly 
 touched and would like to have thanked you 
 herself. Unfortunately her state of health does 
 not permit her to hold a pen, — she trembles too 
 much. But that will be for later on. My 
 oldest daughter, Berthe, asks me to let her 
 write for her mamma. I close, chere Mademoi- 
 selle, in the hope that this letter finds you in the 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 35 
 
 midst of delightful excursions. As soon as I am 
 back in the trenches I will write again. 
 
 Meilleurs souvenirs a votre famille. Plus cor- 
 dial ement. 
 
 H. G— . 
 
 (Letter from Berthe) 
 
 Che re Mademoiselle B — : 
 
 I thank you with all my heart, as well as all the 
 people of your country, for the ravitaill ement 
 Americain^ which has kept my dear mamma, 
 my brother and sister and me from dying of 
 hunger. I thank you, as well as your good 
 mother and Monsieur votre fere, for all that 
 which you have done for my dear papa. 
 
 Also, I love you very much and send you my 
 best kisses. Vive Les Etats-Unis! 
 
 A little Lilloise, 
 
 Berthe G— . 
 
 iSth May, 191 7. 
 Now I have plenty of news of my family, but 
 for the present they are not joyous. I had to 
 see them come back in a condition bordering on 
 misery, without proper clothes, with nothing in 
 fact but sickness and enfeebled by two years of 
 privation. I assure you it was hard. Forgive 
 me if I confide thus in you things I cannot say 
 
36 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 to my family, but there are moments when 
 one seems at the end of one's strength. 
 
 I do not remember whether I gave you a few 
 details of the manner of life in Lille. Did I tell 
 you that for more than two years they have only 
 had 250 grammes of bread a day; that my wife 
 had to buy grain and grind it in her coffee-mill 
 and make from it a sort of cake of doubtful 
 taste; and that eggs which cost 15 centimes 
 in normal times were above 125 centimes, 
 meat 30 francs for 500 grammes, and very 
 scarce? Also that the explosion of a neighboring 
 powder factory practically destroyed my house 
 and stunned my children, and that my son then 
 received serious injuries which have affected 
 his mind? 
 
 242A May, 191 7. 
 Chere Mademoiselle B — : 
 
 At the moment when your letter arrived I 
 was going to a small attack. I read your letter 
 hastily and glanced at the lovely photographs. 
 Then carefully putting in an inside pocket your 
 pretty little flag, and happy as a child, I went 
 "over the top" with my men. 
 
 If I write you so gayly to-day, it is because I 
 have come out once again from a bad place. The 
 result was not brilliant, but I brought back all 
 my little world. Nevertheless I had luck. My 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 37 
 
 clothes were pierced by little pieces of the gre- 
 nade, my watch smashed on my wrist, and I had 
 several scratches on the face. Yesterday one was 
 anxious for the success of the affair. To-day 
 one rests happy that one has taken a kilometre 
 of trenches which does not even appear in the 
 communique . Only one has come out of it with 
 a whole skin and I have been sparing of my 
 men. That sounds a very little thing, but it is 
 of enormous importance. 
 
 You know, perhaps, the etymology of the 
 word "poilu"? La voild: During the retreat 
 from Belgium and the Battle of the Marne, — 
 in fact during all the phases of the fighting in 
 the open, — one could not reasonably give much 
 thought to one's comfort or even the necessary 
 cares of hygiene. Following the addition of 
 the English to our line of troops came a physical 
 renaissance. It is not rare now to see, the 
 evening before an attack, the men freshly shaved 
 and the moustaches curled, — guess with what? 
 With a nail heated by a match! Coldly the 
 poilu will tell you, "I am making myself beau- 
 tiful to die," or "to show the Boches that I 
 
 still have soap"! 
 
 2%th May, 191 7. 
 
 Cher Monsieur S — : 
 
 You can never know how reading of your de- 
 lightful travels changes our ideas from our 
 
38 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 present life. Yesterday once again it was Sun- 
 day — Feast of Pentecost. In the trenches one 
 knows very little of Sunday, still less of religious 
 festivals, for it seems that the Boche prefers 
 these days for making a heavy blow. I cele- 
 brated this fete in the afternoon by re-reading 
 all the interesting correspondence you have 
 exchanged with me. Sitting at the bottom of 
 a communication trench, a piece of canvas 
 stretched over our heads to protect us from the 
 sun while reading the letters and looking at the 
 photographs, my comrades and I passed some 
 delightful moments, when our imaginations took 
 us far from the realities. I was happy to notice 
 one thing: From my comrades and those of my 
 men who in passing by my improvised shelter 
 glanced over the photographs, I did not hear one 
 expression of envy; on the contrary I picked out 
 many reflections of this sort: "To say that here 
 are happy people who are coming to break their 
 heads to give us pleasure, and all for an ideal, — 
 it is chic, all the same." The expression is 
 rough, but it denotes none the less the admira- 
 tion that our brave but uneducated poilus have 
 for your compatriots. You can never know 
 what great moral aid you bring to us. 
 
 I know well that fatigue and weariness can 
 be read on many faces, but it has been said 
 that victory will be for the one who knows 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 39 
 
 how to suffer a quarter of an hour longer than 
 his adversary. For us, in spite of the restric- 
 tions, and ill-supplied wants of the civilian 
 population, the future does not appear un- 
 certain. Certainly all is not rosy. There is 
 even much blood in the picture of the situa- 
 tion, but in spite of our individual and national 
 enemies we remain confident. 
 
 Recently there have been requests for officers 
 knowing English to act as instructors in the 
 American Army, and I regretted greatly not 
 to be able to compete. In December I refused 
 to be instructor to the class of 1918, because I 
 did not wish to leave my regiment, but since 
 my return from the hospital, as I am often 
 ailing, I fill in, which is less interesting than 
 being fixed in one company. 
 
 6th June, 191 7. 
 Cher Monsieur S — : 
 
 It is true that the future sometimes appears 
 dark and full of worries. The East is to us a 
 complete mystery. What will the Russians 
 do? I think they are like spoiled children to 
 whom the intercourse with a black bogey is 
 salutary. I think the spectre of China and 
 Japan leagued for a crushing blow would open 
 their eyes and oblige these revolutionaries be- 
 cause of their lack of a ruler to let themselves 
 
40 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 be governed. One hopes that a Washington 
 or a Danton will know how to impose himself 
 upon them. 
 
 Apropos of anecdotes of my poilus, I forgot 
 to tell you that the little starry flag which I 
 received from Mademoiselle B — , has had some 
 victims. You can easily understand that such 
 a lovely flag could not remain without being 
 used; therefore, the evening of its arrival, 
 fixed on the end of a bamboo pole which served 
 as an antennae for wireless telegraphy, we car- 
 ried it out in front of our line, and arranged ten 
 metres in front of it a wire with a gas-bell at- 
 tached. The day came, and the Boches, per- 
 ceiving the flag, fired on it without result. In the 
 evening, one of our machine gunners got ready 
 his piece, and the comrades listened. At eleven 
 o'clock the bell rang; it was the Boche run- 
 ning into the wire. A round of machine-gun fire; 
 then silence. At I a.m., a new noise; new firing; 
 and then cries. About 3.30 I had the flag 
 brought in. Two days later we learned from a 
 prisoner that at eleven o'clock we had killed 
 two men, and one had died of wounds; while 
 at 1 a.m. one was killed and three wounded. 
 That was not bad. I was so pleased with the 
 success of this little game that I offered an 
 extra wine ration and a cigar to each of those 
 who had served the machine gun. 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 41 
 
 Sth June, 191 7. 
 Chere Madame S — : 
 
 Yesterday I received the lovely illustrated 
 cards which you sent me from the Yosemite 
 Valley and I thank you very much for them. 
 You must have had a delightful trip in that 
 beautiful region. The waterfalls are superb and 
 the view is magnificent. It changes greatly 
 one's thoughts, for instead of thinking of our 
 existence in the earth I can dream of the 
 splendors of your national parks. 
 
 Also I have received the wonderful big box 
 of friandises. I am truly too spoiled by all the 
 good things you send me, and it will never be 
 possible for me to thank you sufficiently. 
 
 If it pleases you to know of my satisfaction 
 in receiving such a splendid bundle, it would 
 perhaps please you more to know what use has 
 been made of it. I was going to write, "Your 
 bundle arrived at a fortunate moment," but I 
 would then have used the customary phrase 
 with which the poilu acknowledges the recep- 
 tion of a bundle, for there is no example of a 
 bundle arriving without need. Does that mean 
 that one lacks everything? Oh, no. But one 
 can always find a use for everything that comes. 
 I unpacked your bundle, and while contemplat- 
 ing this great box of delicious things, had many 
 reflections on the inefficiency of the submarines, 
 
42 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 and on the way in which to thank you for your 
 delicate attention. I asked myself whether it 
 would be better to eat them at once in order 
 that the rats should not take too large a share, 
 or that — one never knows — a shell should crush 
 my hiding-place; or whether it was preferable 
 to keep them for a day when there was a lack 
 of food, or, better yet, to offer them as a reward 
 to some brave poilu, or as a feast after some good 
 news. I finally decided on the latter. 
 
 In going through the shelters at meal-time to 
 observe the condition of my men and to hear 
 their thoughts, I perceived one of my good men 
 did not eat. On questioning him, he told me 
 his teeth bothered him and that he could not 
 chew the bread, which was very hard, following 
 its long trip to the trenches. I thought quickly 
 of my box of crackers, and, although I am not a 
 gourmand, a rather selfish feeling kept me for a 
 moment from going for them. That did not last 
 long, for I could not endure seeing him suffer 
 in chewing. I offered him a handful of my 
 crackers, but when I saw his pleasure at being 
 able to eat, I gave him the whole box. The 
 others, his comrades, laughed at him and 
 treated him like a millionaire because he was 
 eating lentils cooked with onion with such 
 dainty biscuits. You see how one becomes like 
 a child when one ought to be most serious. 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 43 
 
 These are little incidents which enliven our 
 lives and which keep up the spirit of good 
 fellowship. Not to break the rule, you can 
 see that your box arrived at a moment when 
 one had need of it. 
 
 A sentiment which has developed greatly 
 among us here is fatalism. It is not a religious 
 question nor a sign of discouragement, neither 
 of loss of morale. It is above all the result of 
 things seen and lived through. One told me 
 recently of the attitude of the colonel of one of 
 the regiments which attacked Moron villiers : 
 Before the attack he went out in front of our 
 line of departure and waited in a shell hole the 
 hour of attack. By this act each wave of 
 assault had to pass by him, and he saluted them. 
 He was a fatalist. During all the attack he 
 showed complete indifference, and nothing hap- 
 pened to him. 
 
 From the religious point, for one to be a 
 fatalist is, perhaps, the wrong conception of 
 the laws which govern human beings, but 
 from the military point of view it is a tremen- 
 dous strength. When in the middle of a bad 
 passage the instinct of self-preservation makes 
 you want to hide or stop and be no longer 
 master of yourself, at this moment one says, 
 "Come what may," and continues on his way. 
 It is a great help. In hard moments, at Verdun 
 
44 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 and others, I have been happy to be a fatalist. 
 One thus creates for one's self an illusion of 
 security which rests one. Before closing per- 
 mit me to thank you again for all your thought- 
 fulness and delicate attentions. In the hope 
 that this letter finds you in the midst of delight- 
 ful excursions. 
 
 Be good enough to accept, chere Madame, 
 to yourself and your family the expression of 
 my most cordial thoughts. 
 
 H.G. 
 
 Jthjuly, 1917. 
 Cher Monsieur S — : 
 
 You must be wondering if I have suddenly 
 become completely indifferent, not to have 
 replied to your interesting letter of the 5th of 
 June, which I found by good luck in the debris 
 of that which remains of my belongings. 
 
 It is not possible for me to tell you from where 
 I have come, but, however, I can tell you that I 
 have been for three weeks in one of the corners 
 which has had the sad monopoly of being daily 
 in the communiques. Do not expect me to 
 tell you any of the events. It is not that I 
 do not know several stories, but I am too full 
 of the horrors of that vast carnage which I have 
 been through and where many Boches' corpses 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 45 
 
 mixed themselves, alas, with those of the French. 
 The carnage at Verdun, which deeply impressed 
 me, was surpassed in horror by the awful visions 
 of these bloody days. One wonders how one 
 has come out alive and without a scratch. 
 Do not think that our proportion of losses was 
 enormous. Happily not. There were many 
 losses, because so many were engaged in this 
 furnace. There were also many slightly 
 wounded, which, in a week, or at most a month, 
 can rejoin their units. 
 
 Our preparation of artillery was marvellous, 
 stupefying, appalling, and murderous. But the 
 thirst and hunger, — ah, what cruel suffering! 
 How I blessed Madame S — for the delicious 
 preserves which made the terrible hours less 
 hard for me. In spite of the physical or moral 
 depression, inevitable after each great effort, 
 one is happy to find one's self alive again, 
 when for ten days and twelve nights one has 
 seen and felt death brush by you a hundred 
 times daily. 
 
 To tell you of my surprise yesterday when 
 opening a paper (an unknown thing for three 
 weeks) I read of the war news, and above all 
 of the arrival of American troops in France. 
 How my heart beat on the day of your festival 
 of independence! I wish I could have been 
 near you to express to you all my feelings. 
 
46 . from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 As I am counting on leaving en permission 
 to-morrow, it may be that I can be in Paris 
 for the 14th of July. I shall, without doubt, 
 have the pleasure of seeing your splendid 
 " Teddys." I shall seem to see a little of your 
 country shining in their eyes. You will excuse 
 me if I do not write at length to-day. I must 
 tranquillize my family, who have not heard 
 from me for ten days and may be worried. 
 
 Beauvais, 
 13th July, 1917. 
 
 It has been a great task for Madame G — to 
 make again a little home. It does not compare 
 with that which we had at Lille, but she can 
 have the strict necessities, though it grows very 
 slowly. She was desolated at the idea that the 
 little house she had rented here would not suit 
 me. However, for seven weeks she has worked 
 with a great heart, without caring for her en- 
 feebled health; she has busied herself with get- 
 ting the large garden into shape and caring for 
 the growing vegetables. To-day she was well 
 satisfied, for I could not express my satisfaction 
 at such a splendid accomplishment and also at 
 seeing the children in good health and suitable 
 surroundings. 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 47 
 
 23d July, 1917. 
 
 Chere Mademoiselle B — : 
 
 A funny thing has just happened to the 
 Boches opposite to us. I need not tell you it 
 was a coup de main. The English have for a 
 long time carried out these fruitful raids. Gen- 
 erally a raid has for its object to make prisoners, 
 in order to know one's neighbor, who he is and 
 where he comes from, that which he thinks, 
 and all the things that may interest the high 
 command. Sometimes it succeeds; sometimes 
 it does not. Lack of artillery preparation, 
 abandonment of trenches by the Boches at the 
 beginning of an operation, and, Dame, one can- 
 not bring back that which does not exist. 
 
 About two days ago the Boches tried a raid on 
 us, well led, it is necessary to admit; but in- 
 stead of making prisoners of us, it is we who have 
 captured them! Like the moral in a fable of 
 La Fontaine, "He is taken who wishes to take" 
 — " Tel est pris qui croyait prendre." This will 
 be moreover the conclusion of the war. Are not 
 our neighbors amiable? They gave themselves 
 great trouble to come to us. They would have 
 done better to surrender, for several of them 
 were wounded. To revenge themselves they 
 bombarded us heavily. If I am writing badly 
 it is because of the continuous trembling of the 
 
48 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 two fires, — French artillery combating that of 
 the Boches. Happily it is only the artillerymen 
 who are after each other at this moment, and all 
 the shells are passing over us. Voild la guerre. 
 To-day, or at least at this moment, one does not 
 think much of what is happening to the artillery- 
 men. Every one here is sitting outside. One 
 is even breakfasting in the sun. This evening 
 it will perhaps be the reverse. The artillerymen 
 may dine tranquilly in the shade, thinking each 
 must hide in his turn. Only for the poor in- 
 fantryman it is more often his turn. He is not 
 content with collecting shells from the cannon; 
 he is the only one who offers himself the luxury 
 of receiving bullets, torpedoes, and grenades, 
 flaming liquids, and other diabolical inventions 
 conceived by German kultur. 
 
 Enclosed in this letter are some violets which 
 I picked for you when I took a trip to Ballon, 
 Alsace. The word " excursion" is perhaps pre- 
 tentious. You must imagine three or four hours 
 of climbing, heavily loaded, with the mind on 
 quite different things than contemplating the 
 countryside. Naturally at the arrival at the 
 summit one has little admiration except for the 
 spring of fresh water which permits us to slake 
 our thirst. Following that with a glance, care- 
 less because of fatigue, at a lovely panorama 
 which deserves more attention, one stretches 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 49 
 
 one's self on the grass, or the snow, according to 
 the season. 
 
 I had wanted to write you at length to-day, 
 but the Boches have begun firing again and I 
 must go to see that my poilus are ready for un- 
 pleasant encounters, and also to try and make 
 out the intentions of the Boches. If only they 
 will not try a heavy blow to-night. 
 
 Au revoir, chere Mademoiselle. My best re- 
 membrances to you and your family. 
 
 H. G— . 
 
 yth August, 19 1 7. 
 Chere Madame S — : 
 
 I feel the need of writing. It is a great relax- 
 ation for me. For ten days we have been en- 
 tirely in the water in a relatively calm secteur. 
 We are living in regular swamps, little or no 
 shelter — not only no shelter for protection from 
 shells, — for one does not count much on them, 
 as nothing resists them, — but we have no shelter 
 against the rain. It is truly strange to see such 
 a thing; I cannot give you any reason. For 
 the first few days I had a hole a little larger than 
 that of a terrier, and I had to curl up while lying 
 in it, for I could not sit up. I had for a mattress 
 a mat such as one puts over hotbeds, only mine 
 was made of reeds such as are used for fishing- 
 poles. It was in an advanced state of decay. 
 
50 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 It is needless to add that a collection of insects 
 of all sorts inhabited it. Clayey soil every- 
 where, red as blood, covered one like a cloak, 
 and kept the dampness in one's feet. Our 
 clothes, hands, even faces, were all the same 
 color. 
 
 Two days ago my poilus gave me the surprise 
 of offering me a shelter which seemed like a 
 palace in comparison to my former one. We 
 had had to build a shelter for the munitions, 
 and the poilus had enlarged its dimensions. I 
 had thus a place two feet wide, six feet long, and 
 four feet high, where I could move about on my 
 knees, and above all stretch myself out quite 
 well. You cannot doubt that it was comforta- 
 ble for me. I had for a table a box of car- 
 tridges, for a chair a case of grenades, and on 
 the walls were fixed rockets of all colors, which 
 serve us at night for signalling the artillery. 
 While waiting for this important task, the latter 
 served me as hooks on which to hang my be- 
 longings to dry. 
 
 It was absolutely impossible to be clean; even 
 by washing one's hands twenty times a day, one 
 could not hope to touch paper without soiling it. 
 My men were even more unhappy, I think, 
 though we have not all the same tastes. For me 
 the height of comfort is to be able to write — 
 whether in a trench or in a shelter, provided I 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 51 
 
 can write, all is well. But alas, it has been 
 impossible to write outside, as it rains all day; 
 impossible to write inside because I cannot sit 
 upright, nor can I have a light because of the ex- 
 plosives. You see I have the entire series of 
 trench munitions chez mot, — cartridges, star 
 shells, grenades, machine-gun belts, rockets, and 
 asphyxiating — [Censored.] 
 
 24-th September, 1 91 7. 
 
 I forgot to tell you that on my departure for 
 the new fabrique de communiques we crossed 
 some camps and detachments of Americans. It 
 was for all of us a tremendous encouragement 
 and a delightful sensation. They were very 
 imposing in their sober clothes and with their 
 regularity of movement. 
 
 I must tell you that the new Boche gas is 
 not joyous. It has a caustic action on the face 
 and clothes. In spite of that, the number of 
 losses among the wounded who are affected 
 does not amount to one per cent. It is above 
 all from the point of view of morale that gas 
 has effects; in a little while one will think no 
 more of- it. It is not thus with the tanks. 
 They have great moral effect on the Boches, 
 because they cause them actual losses; the 
 Boches speak of them as diabolical inventions. 
 
52 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 If you knew where my division is and what it 
 is doing at the present time, you would easily be 
 astonished that I can scratch off so much paper 
 so tranquilly. I cannot be ashamed that I am 
 not with it, because it is not my choice, that 
 I have been put in the rear for several days, 
 as I cannot march. My poor knees refuse to 
 carry me. My long stay in the swamps pro- 
 duced a new crisis in joint troubles. For 
 several days I could hardly hold myself on my 
 horse. In spite of the fact that I am very 
 peaceful here, it is not without painful emo- 
 tion that I hear the incessant rumbling of can- 
 non, and each courier brings me the same news, 
 — success of my regiment, and the names of 
 comrades who have paid for it with their lives. 
 We all know very well one cannot make an 
 omelet without breaking the eggs, but I have 
 never left my comrades and I feel like a lost 
 being, here in this calm. 
 
 \th October, 191 7. 
 
 Chere Mademoiselle B — : 
 
 I perceive that health is a precious thing, 
 for I had hoped to remain with my brave poilus 
 until the end of these hard combats, but I have 
 had to leave them in spite of myself. This 
 latter time we "have had them," as say the 
 poilus. I cannot give you details, but you may 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 53 
 
 have read in certain communiques that three 
 times the Boches have attacked us and three 
 times we have repulsed them. It is not a great 
 offensive like those so many times carried out. 
 It has been an effort to take from us certain 
 important points of observation which we took 
 from them some time ago. From the moment 
 that we occupied these points they have been 
 very interesting for us; also we have held them. 
 If I had remained it would not have been pos- 
 sible for me to speak of this, but because of my 
 absence these latter days I can tell you that 
 everything was marvellous. I will tell you 
 later on of the citation with which the grand 
 chef gratified us. At the moment we are re- 
 ceiving congratulation on congratulation, but 
 that which seems best to us is to feel the con- 
 fidence of our poilus. I have already spoken 
 to you of this, but I cannot keep from repeating 
 it. In general our numbers are made up of 
 older men, therefore more thoughtful because 
 of age and family cares. I have had occasion 
 many times to hear advice given by our older 
 men to the younger ones, and it is admirable 
 to see them. I cannot describe to you the en- 
 thusiasm of these counter attacks; they seemed 
 like nothing but a race against death. I have 
 seen — because unfortunately I could not be 
 among the first, because of my lame legs — 
 
54 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 some of my poor boys, knocked down by a 
 shell or throwing themselves into a hole to 
 escape one, run with all their might to catch 
 up with the wave of assault. 
 
 Near me a machine gunner was sitting tran- 
 quilly by his piece, waiting until the Bodies' 
 attack was not more than ioo metres off before 
 opening fire. He nearly burst with satisfac- 
 tion. " Regardez, mon lieutenant" he cried to 
 me, "how I am ripping them up!" and in 
 truth he made havoc with them. I have told 
 you that the fire gives a feeling of security — I 
 mean that when one begins to be afraid one 
 fires to give one's self confidence. You will 
 understand therefore that my comrade with the 
 machine gun was very cool-blooded. I who had 
 not the right to be afraid, had to hang on to 
 myself not to command him to begin firing. It 
 is then that one feels one's self a little thing, — 
 very little in the midst of this tempest of fir- 
 ing; and when one sees the gray uniforms 
 precipitating themselves toward you, one can- 
 not help wondering whether one is to be the 
 sheep or the butcher. 
 
 You are going to ask me how I found the 
 Boches in this attack; what was my impres- 
 sion of them. In all sincerity I can tell you that 
 I found them a little changed, because in this 
 corner where I come for the second time the 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 55 
 
 roles are reversed. Last year it was the Boches 
 who attacked to the finish; they had then the 
 advantage, and we more difficulties in holding 
 on, because it was necessary to hold on. This 
 year it is we who attack without haste, method- 
 ically, and with a great deal more economy of 
 human material than the Boches had last year; 
 therefore it is not astonishing if I find things 
 changed. 
 
 I have had occasion lately to talk with pris- 
 oners, because we have sometimes even made 
 more than we wanted. There are times when 
 prisoners are very cumbersome. In general 
 the Boche who has no leader surrenders easily. 
 To one of my comrades having thirty men 
 with him, one hundred Boches presented them- 
 selves, with cries of " Kamerad." You will 
 admit it was cumbersome, above all when one 
 had good reason to suspect that each prisoner 
 had two or three grenades in his pocket. They 
 might easily try to reverse the role and make, 
 or try to make, prisoners of my friends. 
 
 In a shelter we once found a strong Boche 
 garrison who, when summoned to surrender, 
 replied unanimously, " Kamerad sans officiers" 
 I ought to say in honor of the latter that they 
 had preferred shooting themselves. All the 
 men surrendered. All the Boches are persuaded 
 that there will be no winter campaign. Great 
 
56 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 was the astonishment of an officer when I told 
 him we were ready to pass it in fighting. Much 
 greater was his astonishment when, in speaking 
 to me of your armies — which he said would 
 never come to Europe because their sub- 
 marines barred the ocean — I took from my 
 pocket, along with your flag, a photograph of 
 an American camp taken as we were coming 
 to this region. He couldn't believe his ears 
 when I told him. "The Americans! But there 
 are one hundred thousand of them, — and more- 
 over, before the hour is out you will see some 
 yourself." This was true, as on his way back 
 of the lines he would have to pass near to a 
 place over which floated your starry flag. An 
 officer told me that he paid tribute to the 
 correct treatment we give our prisoners, in 
 spite of the stories which he had orders to give 
 his men. Further up I spoke to you of the 
 very military conduct of the Boche officers 
 who did not wish to surrender, but I forgot to 
 tell you that for the others we have been given, 
 without having asked for it, very precise in- 
 structions permitting us to annihilate troops 
 who attack again after surrendering. 
 
 To finish my little stories to-day, which I 
 hope will not bore you too much, I want to 
 tell you the adventure of a young Boche pris- 
 oner; apropos of age, I have forgotten to tell 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 57 
 
 you that that which strikes me most is the 
 youth of our adversaries. We have troops of 
 seventeen and nineteen years in front of us; 
 also their morale is very young. A youngster 
 of eighteen fell completely bewildered on one 
 of my poilus, who immediately hindered him 
 from all his bad intentions, which, however, he 
 really did not have at all. They brought him to 
 me. Our sector seemed relatively calm at that 
 moment, and I could permit myself a little dis- 
 traction. Noticing his unembarrassed air, I 
 asked him if he was pleased to be a prisoner; he 
 replied in the affirmative and told me of his mis- 
 adventure. He had been one of some troops of 
 assault, and in the first wave. As he had very 
 little belligerent taste, he allowed himself to fall 
 into a shell hole and let his comrades pass on. 
 He knew that behind the waves of assault other 
 regiments would have to come to install them- 
 selves on the conquered territory, or that which 
 ought to have been conquered. He waited an 
 hour; then when all was calm again and the 
 machine guns had ceased their rattling, he said 
 to himself that he could without fear advance 
 to his first line and retake his place among his 
 comrades. Everything led him to hope for a 
 good result, for no one had gone back. He 
 advanced from shell hole to shell hole, saw the 
 corpses of several Frenchmen who had too 
 
58 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 boldly advanced in front of our line, and he did 
 not take into account the great number of 
 Boche corpses. Positive of being on the right 
 road he continued to advance, and was picked 
 up by us without having seen a Boche line. It 
 was easy for me to understand. The attack 
 of which he was a part had not been able to 
 reach our lines. None had taken the road 
 back, almost all of them being killed, and the 
 living being prisoners. 
 
 You may repeat to Monsieur your father 
 that a very cultivated prisoner affirmed to me 
 that in Germany one thinks that America will 
 make an appearance of arming herself; that 
 she will never fight. I think — and, you are 
 even more certain — that their disillusionment 
 will be great. 
 
 Before closing, I want to assure you that 
 those in your country who put their hope in 
 aviation see things in their true light. More 
 than ever of late I have observed of what 
 capital importance are the things of the air. 
 The courage of the poilus for an attack would 
 be nothing without artillery. This latter de- 
 pends on the aviation. We have had a great 
 many examples of it; and there as elsewhere 
 the Boche works, too. It is necessary to 
 recognize this quality in him. 
 
 I have just been spending some delightful 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 59 
 
 hours with the lovely magazines received. 
 Stretched on several chairs — for I cannot move 
 — I admired at length the lovely pages of the 
 Studio, with its beautiful colored illustrations, 
 and the pictures in Asia and the National 
 Geographic. Motor Life has charmed me. The 
 American Photo Magazine and Travel interested 
 me very much. Film Fun and Life were very 
 amusing. While I am writing, one of my com- 
 rades has been resting himself from the horror 
 of the carnage from which he had just come, 
 by looking at certain illustrations in the Studio. 
 It is easy to understand how these sketches 
 charm him. 
 
 yth November, 191 7. 
 Chere Monsieur S — : 
 
 I ought to tell you of my great pleasure while 
 on my 10 days' permission in finding Madame G — 
 and her two daughters in better health again. 
 Unhappily this is not the case with my poor 
 Pierre. He remains always under the effects of 
 the concussion of 1916. According to the advice 
 of doctors who have seen him, he needs to be 
 sent for quite a stay to a medical and instructive 
 establishment. Prices of board are unfor- 
 tunately very high — 200 to 700 francs a month. 
 I have made a request to the Prefecture of my 
 Department, in view of having him admitted 
 
60 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 to one of these schools free of charge as a war 
 victim, or at least at a reduced rate. I know 
 that the request has been sent to the Minister 
 with a favorable opinion. . . . 
 
 I have had occasion to see troops of very 
 different countries. First of all, the Americans 
 in great numbers — splendid in bearing and 
 presence. They impress one by their correct 
 behavior and appearance. They represent for 
 us the Great Hope, — the deliverance and the 
 return of our murdered country. But will we 
 ever return there? English and Portuguese 
 were quite numerous in the regions I came 
 through. Seen in Paris were some Bersagliere, 
 splendid Italian soldiers, not yet affected by 
 the bad news — all were transients, I think 
 Serbians and Roumanians, Russians and Bel- 
 gians — also French poilus. 
 
 All Saints' Day, November 1st, we went to 
 the great cemetery for the official service for 
 the dead, and in the afternoon we went to des 
 Invalides to see the war trophies and to salute 
 the aeroplane of our great aviator Guynemer. 
 It was impressive. In the middle of the Court 
 of Honor the aeroplane was placed, but hidden 
 under the flowers, wreaths, and bouquets which 
 his admirers had placed there in saluting or 
 inclining themselves in front of it. There, as 
 in other public places, I admired the behavior 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 6 1 
 
 of your splendid soldiers. Later that day I 
 entered into a cafe, where it seemed to me there 
 were no empty places, but two United States 
 soldiers got up to offer me their place, as I was 
 an officer. I found that very charming. Above 
 all, it was offered in such a graceful manner. . . . 
 
 You are probably going to ask me how I 
 found our great city during the fourth winter of 
 the war. Eh bien! truly, in spite of my rather 
 low spirits, caused by the recent death of some 
 of my comrades and the Italian affair, I found 
 Paris very striking. I speak of the super- 
 ficial Paris — that which one sees on the streets 
 and the boulevards. One must not forget that 
 it is made up of sixty per cent, strangers — 
 people brought there by the needs of the war, 
 and living for and by the war. 
 
 As to the heart of Paris, it suffers discreetly at 
 home. It weeps for its dead and waits for the 
 return of those it loves, but it remains ever con- 
 fident. It is no longer the frivolous Paris one 
 would have known formerly. It is like a person 
 growing wiser with age. Even bad news leaves 
 it indifferent. But it is not insensible; for if 
 there is a victory, of little importance even, it 
 lives again. That which gives a great deal of 
 animation is the going through of the permis- 
 sionaires, — people who wish to live happily dur- 
 ing a very short period, but always replaced by 
 
62 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 their successors. And as for your soldiers, we 
 must love them well and receive them well, to 
 make them forget the distance that separates 
 them from those who are dear to them. 
 
 lytk November, 191 7. 
 Chere Monsieur S — : 
 
 You have read of the battles of the English 
 in the waters of the Yser. Although we are not 
 in that region, we are equally poorly situated. 
 I assure you that our role becomes more and 
 more difficult. Each day we become more at- 
 tached to our brave fioilus because of the diffi- 
 culties of existence which we meet.* Unfortu- 
 nately recent events do not seem to favor us, 
 but we cannot doubt the issue. It would be 
 wrong to think thus of our allies and in par- 
 ticular of the efforts of your great nation. Nev- 
 ertheless you must realize that events do not 
 appear joyous. After the Bulgarian treason, fol- 
 lowed by that of Greece, we have had the Rus- 
 sian defection, and now this attack on Italy. 
 
 It is not modest on my part, being a part of 
 it, to recall all that the French Army has done 
 on the different fronts. But it must be admitted 
 that, like the Boches, we are always there when 
 things are going badly. At the time when 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 63 
 
 Russia, Roumania, and Italy struck great blows 
 at Austria, the Boches arrived to fill up the holes. 
 We resemble them a little now. When Belgium, 
 Serbia, Roumania had difficulties, our flag ap- 
 peared. When the English front was flooded 
 last fall, we were there. Now we are with the 
 Italians. Surely, as with all departures of the 
 troops, a tear glistens in the corner of the eye, 
 but each has a bright smile on the lips. 
 
 In this moment among the great hours we 
 are going through, truly we have terrible 
 worries, but not a word of discouragement from 
 our brave men. As our physical forces decline 
 after these months of suffering our strength of 
 morale seems to gain in front of increasing 
 difficulties. If sometimes we let ourselves be 
 overtaken by worries, caused by political agi- 
 tations, we quickly realize that these situa- 
 tions are not comparable to ours, and that 
 there is never but one enemy — the Boche. 
 From him only come all our miseries and our 
 torments. 
 
 At this moment I have good news from home 
 except from Pierre. No progress in his con- 
 dition, and the request I made to the Pre- 
 fecture with the view of obtaining his admission 
 in the Medical Institution has as yet had no 
 answer. During all this time he suffers and 
 the days pass. 
 
64 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 I think that never has the responsibility of 
 being the head of a family appeared to me more 
 crushing than now, never have I felt the weight 
 of my little family so heavily as in this moment, 
 not even when they were in the hands of the 
 Boches. I suffered then because of their ab- 
 sence and worried about their existence, but now, 
 on seeing them back again, and only after the 
 greatest of efforts, settled so very modestly, 
 in a little better health except for Pierre, I under- 
 stand more than ever how they will suffer the 
 day I may disappear. I tried gently to put to 
 my wife in imagination such a situation, for I 
 believe it a duty in order that the reality may 
 not be too cruel and the consequences too hard. 
 
 Berthe and Henriette work quite*' well now, 
 but their backwardness caused by their cap- 
 tivity troubles them always. Each week they 
 write me a good letter and reply to questions 
 I ask them. This occupies me a great deal 
 and pleases them, because that which comes 
 from their papa is to them precious. Berthe 
 wrote me the other day: "Your permission 
 ended much too quickly. You were helping 
 me so much with my work. Now I have an 
 examination to take at school and I do not 
 know enough." 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 65 
 
 23 d November, 191 7. 
 Cher Monsieur S — : 
 
 The communique has just come telling us of 
 the success of the English near Cambrai. I 
 immediately departed to congratulate one of 
 my poilus whose family inhabited Masnieres, 
 one of the little villages reconquered and intact. 
 Next I asked for him an exceptional permission, 
 permitting him, according to the instructions 
 of the English Army, to go and see his family. 
 
 The Boches to show their disappointment 
 have torpedoed us copiously. That only ended 
 about an hour ago. Ordinarily during a bom- 
 bardment I can sleep or continue to occupy 
 myself with my little duties, but to-night I had 
 the presentiment that they were not going to 
 content themselves with a simple bombard- 
 ment. They tried a coup de main, that which 
 the English call "a raid." All my little world 
 was ready for them, even those who were 
 authorized to rest themselves, and the Boche 
 left four of their number among us. With us 
 there was not a single scratch, only one had to 
 have a little sport and throw several cases of 
 grenades. It is a very good way to limber one's 
 joints when one is stiff. You see the Boche 
 serves us for various purposes. There remains 
 only to-night to go out and search for the 
 pieces of Boche and to bury them. That is 
 «4> 
 
66 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 not always done by the Germans. Last year I 
 had to bury the Boches killed between the lines, 
 but nearer their lines than ours. They have 
 no respect for their dead. Each time when it 
 is possible for us, we do it, because we consider 
 that all the ground up to their lines of barbed 
 wire belongs to us. They must have realized 
 to-night that the ground up to our lines did not 
 belong to them! 
 
 That which gives us pleasure in the new 
 English offensive is that the villages are intact; 
 and that the Boche has not had time to repeat 
 his crimes, as in his strategic retreat on the 
 Somme last April. This new method is going to 
 worry the Boche very much, because they will 
 be obliged to hold immobile behind all their 
 front strong reserves ready to parry each new 
 attack. The method of long and minute prep- 
 aration has the inconvenience of giving warn- 
 ing of an attack. The French, as well as the 
 Boche, are generally warned of an offensive on 
 a given point by the frightful shelling that 
 precedes it. These are military considerations 
 which perhaps will not interest you, but by them 
 we gain back our little country where life can 
 begin again rapidly. 
 
 Some time ago I guided a poilu who came, 
 hoping to see again his house in this vast desert 
 .near which we were stationed. In spite of the 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 67 
 
 fact that I was guided by a detailed plan of the 
 village, we wandered for more than two hours 
 before determining which was his house and 
 then only thanks to the communal wells; he 
 knew that his house had the third well beyond 
 that of his village. You understand that every- 
 thing must have been swept away not to be 
 able to determine which were houses and where 
 were the streets. Remember also that the 
 material of the demolished building and much 
 of the rubbish is often carried away for the 
 needs of the army. 
 
 I want to tell you a little incident lived 
 through yesterday afternoon. I departed in 
 the morning on duty on horseback and accord- 
 ing to my custom rode across country. I went 
 to the quarters of my Colonel, who invited me 
 to dejeuner after the service questions had been 
 settled. About one o'clock I went back to my 
 horse and I fairly caracoled at having been ad- 
 mitted to the table of my great chief. I was 
 opposite a little hillock and therefore in sup- 
 posed security when a shell burst in my direc- 
 tion, then another, and still others. Suddenly 
 there were eight terrific detonations at my left. 
 If I had not had a horse already greatly fatigued 
 he would have reared and fallen over. Without 
 knowing it I was passing in front of some 
 batteries of French artillery which the Boches 
 
68 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 were trying to locate. Thus for a few minutes 
 I was under a circle of fire. It was very im- 
 pressive. I was happy to have experienced for 
 a few minutes sensations unusual for an in- 
 fantryman. Nevertheless I was quite content 
 to come out of it. 
 
 Chere Mademoiselle B — : 
 
 29^ November, 191 7. 
 
 I think that this time your desires have come 
 true. The bundles arrived last evening, and 
 although very curious as to their contents I 
 waited until this morning to open them. I can- 
 not say I was greatly surprised, for I am now a 
 little accustomed to being spoiled, 4 but I was 
 profoundly touched by all that the bundles 
 contained. It is necessary for me to say, in 
 order that you will excuse me for having opened 
 them both, that my captain and my comrades 
 presided over their reception. Following the 
 logic which I have already explained to you in 
 a previous letter, we hold nothing in reserve 
 for the future. So, in spite of my insisting 
 that the opening of the second bundle should 
 wait until Christmas, my captain pointed out 
 to me that I could not possibly charge myself 
 with such a possession in moving from one 
 place to another. That was true, but it seemed 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 69 
 
 to me I was breaking your confidence by not 
 following your instructions, and I preferred to 
 tell you about it. 
 
 If your good mother and you know how to 
 spoil me with delicious things you also know 
 _>w to give me great pleasure and great good. 
 It would never be possible for me to express 
 to you my gratitude. By a coincidence it has 
 become very cold this morning. Someone re- 
 marked to me that you were like the good fairy 
 of ancient stories, sending a warm sweater to 
 cover me. I am certain that if your mother 
 had seen me in my warm knit sweater she 
 would not have believed me so old, for I was 
 like a great, joyful boy. It is necessary for 
 me, too, to thank you for the socks, which 
 are so warm and useful here. They will be 
 welcome, because we are again in the swamps. 
 As to the other things, I marvelled at them, 
 and at the thought you have had in sending 
 me all these utilities. The knife is marvellous 
 and is the admiration of every one. That 
 which greatly interested my comrades were the 
 two packages of lump sugar. Every one won- 
 dered at the thought that presided over the 
 choice of the little articles, — the coffee, con- 
 densed milk, etc. 
 
 As you may easily imagine, it was necessary 
 to open a box of dainties, the dry almonds and 
 
jo from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 the ginger, and we made some of the delicious 
 George Washington coffee. Our captain had 
 a search made for a bottle of wine, and, as he 
 charged me to present to you the thanks of all 
 our little mess, I asked him to raise his glass in 
 your honor and also that of your great nation 
 on the occasion of your festival of Thanksgiving. 
 After having distributed to each one a little 
 piece of the ribbon of the United States colors 
 we pinned them on to our various coats. After 
 that we raised your little flag and we all rose and 
 saluted you as well as your family. I address 
 to you from the bottom of my heart my most 
 sincere thanks for so much goodness. More 
 moved than we wished to acknowledge, we have 
 just separated. 
 
 I am sure that this evening one of us will 
 carry near to the Boche the remains of the box 
 and its wrappings. We will leave a note ex- 
 plaining that in spite of the submarines, these 
 dainties came in one month from our great 
 Allies to the French trenches. Perhaps they 
 will think it was your splendid soldiers who 
 brought these things to spoil us, but we will 
 arrange it so that they cannot fail to under- 
 stand. Have you read the descriptions of the 
 capture of the first Boche by the American 
 troops? The Boches could hardly believe their 
 eyes when they saw your men. 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 71 
 
 I thank you very sincerely for all your good 
 wishes, and I beg you to accept mine equally 
 sincere for the New Year. It is perhaps per- 
 mitted for me to hope that, thanks to your 
 nation's great aid, we will see an end to the 
 terrible scourge which is slowly consuming us. 
 The news lately seems to be actually good on all 
 sides. Our friends at Cambrai have been dis- 
 turbed of their firm title, and we hope that the 
 taking of this city will oblige the evacuation of 
 Douai, which would free Lille. 
 
 I have been disturbed several times, but I 
 hope that the Boches will permit me to finish 
 my letter. 
 
 I forgot to tell you that I have ornamented 
 the sweater with a little end of ribbon of your 
 colors, which is sewed in the middle of the chest, 
 near the point of the collar. By the same mail 
 I have written to the house, of the surprises 
 you have sent me once again. The other day 
 Madame G — scolded me by letter because she 
 believed I had omitted to reply to you. She 
 does not write much, but she is none the less 
 grateful for all the attentions you have given 
 us. She charges me to present to you her most 
 sincere wishes on the occasion of the New Year. 
 In transmitting them to you I beg you to sub- 
 mit them to Madame S — , to whom I have 
 written by this same mail, to Monsieur S — , to 
 
72 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 whom I owe a letter, and to Monsieur George. 
 Perhaps the year which begins will hold for us 
 the gift of being reunited or of letting us meet 
 one another. It is my dearest wish. 
 
 I am obliged to end in great haste. In the 
 expectation of hearing from you and renewing 
 to you the expression of all my gratitude, ac- 
 cept them with my bons sentiments et mes 
 meilleurs salutations. 
 
 Henri G — . 
 
 6th December, 191 7. 
 
 Here in France one has been a bit worried by 
 the Russian events, which turn like those of a 
 melodrama. In Italy, in spite of the heavy 
 attacks which our leaders expect, one sees the 
 situation with calm and confidence. For the 
 new year we would have wished to hope that 
 it would end with us back at our hearthsides in 
 the midst of our families. I believe that that is 
 asking too much. One counts on the American 
 nation, and we know that she will not spend 
 her energy until she is ready. One can in this 
 hope find strength to hold against many attacks. 
 It is hard and painful, but we will hold. 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 73 
 
 20th December, 191 7. 
 Chers Amis: 
 
 Here several whole days have passed and I 
 ought to have written to thank you for all that 
 I have received from you, but I have been 
 terribly busy these last few days. We have 
 been taking a course with flame-throwers, that 
 which the Boche calls flammenwerfer. I tried 
 to take several photographs, which I will send 
 you later. 
 
 Then I had to return to Verdun with the 
 widow of one of my comrades, to take her 
 to the cemetery where her husband rests. I 
 need not tell you that these are sad duties which 
 friendship obliges one to perform. I knew that 
 my friend wanted tremendously to know the 
 corner of the earth where lay her poor departed 
 one. Having asked for two passports from the 
 Etat Majeur of the army, it was permitted me to 
 take her there as she desired, and I was able 
 to visit again the graves of the other comrades 
 whose families had charged me with their care. 
 Unfortunately it is not possible to have you 
 read the letters of my friends, but it would be 
 hard to find a Frenchwoman more courageous in 
 her grief, and I ought to tell you that the other 
 day she gave me a tremendous lesson of courage. 
 As for me I could not hide my sorrow, while 
 she, calm and strong, accepted the loss, however 
 
74 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 cruel, which she had experienced. These are 
 the true women, yet her life is completely 
 broken. 
 
 Returning to the trenches after this short 
 absence I had the great pleasure of finding four 
 bundles from you. The first arrived was of 
 recent date with a little word from Monsieur 
 S — with his Christmas wishes; two others 
 dating from September; and the last to arrive 
 was, I think, of the end of April, marked Los 
 Angeles. As says a French proverb, " Every- 
 thing comes to him who waits." It is certainly 
 one of your boxes sent last spring and following 
 its non-appearance supposed to be submarined. 
 My comrades had already opened the boxes 
 and made a little hole in the contents. That is 
 well understood and agreed to by me. It is 
 the custom that when one of us receives a pack- 
 age we may open it in case of absence of the 
 owner, for fear of perishable things. That is 
 not the case with the delicious things you send. 
 You know how to choose that which will not 
 deteriorate. 
 
 Many thanks for all the useful and agreeable 
 things on the part of my comrades, and on my 
 own account. I am enclosing a little card of 
 thanks which my captain begs me to send you. 
 We have left a large part of the bundles for 
 Christmas Day, if that shall be possible for us, 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 75 
 
 for at this moment one is preparing material for 
 a communique — that is to say, one is bombard- 
 ing the Boche copiously, preparatory to a raid, 
 which will without doubt take place to-night. 
 At the hour when you receive this letter nu- 
 merous raids will have been carried out. Per- 
 haps this one of ours will not have been worthy 
 of a mention in the communiques, but that does 
 not really interest one — the principal thing 
 is to be able to give one's commander informa- 
 tion on who is opposite us. 
 
 You cannot doubt that the question is very 
 grave at this moment. We are going through 
 a period when each is anxious as to what will 
 happen next. The Russian treason is truly a 
 black point against us and it is certain that 
 the Boche will attempt a great effort before 
 the entry into line of important contingents 
 of your countrymen. 
 
 One expects continually a great German 
 attack. Will they succeed? I am not willing 
 to believe so. But a heavy blow is always 
 possible. 
 
 I have seen recently a civilian who has just 
 come back from Germany, where he was held as 
 a prisoner, and he told me that the economic 
 situation is not good and that by spring it will be 
 desperate. In May, 191 7, they cut the green 
 crops to consume them at once, and when the 
 
76 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 harvest came it was made exclusively for and 
 by the army. Thus the population cannot be 
 happy. It will be necessary for us to bear the 
 great blow for which one is preparing, and 
 perhaps by next summer there will be a happy 
 solution. But who knows from here what is 
 really going on over there [in Germany]? 
 
 The papers are not interesting at present, 
 and to avoid being bored I do not read them. 
 All the same, as in each great war of the past, 
 in whatever country it has taken place, there 
 are always unfortunate things going on in the 
 rear of those who fight. Those who are the 
 authors of these things are not worthy of a 
 thought. We have but a single purpose — to 
 fight the Boche. It is of grave e*nough im- 
 portance that just now one should give all his 
 attention to attaining this end. 
 
 There are moments when one ought not to 
 think of the discomfort in which we live. One 
 must not look at one's self after a night of 
 painful guard duty, when one's capote is stiff 
 with frozen mud, the face green and splotched 
 with cold. But if a ray of sun appears, all the 
 face relaxes and becomes almost smiling, an 
 expression which the arrival of a torpedo or a 
 shell cannot take away. In spite of all that 
 is hard, one does not want to complain, but 
 nevertheless it is the fourth winter. 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 77 
 
 Many thanks for the congratulations for our 
 brave poilus. They are truly splendid, and we 
 love them well, because they are worthy of it. 
 How many of us have awaited impatiently for 
 the papers these latter days, hoping that the 
 English will have pierced on towards Cambrai 
 and hoping above all to see their own country. 
 It is almost harder to bear than a bombard- 
 ment. 
 
 I must not continue in this way or you could 
 misjudge me and believe in a loss of morale, 
 which is not so. Mais que voulez-vous? I am 
 under the blow of the loss of good comrades, and 
 the cannon which thunders lets one anticipate 
 of a new communique. 
 
 I end in renewing to you the expression of 
 my sincere thanks, in sending you the cordial 
 salutations of Madame G — , who is in better 
 health again as well as the children — to which 
 I join my salutations, equally sincere. 
 
 Very cordially, 
 
 Henri G — . 
 
 2d January, 1918. 
 Cher Monsieur S — : 
 
 It is not possible for me to let this day end 
 without writing to you. The year began yester- 
 
78 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 day, and I wish to renew to you the most 
 sincere wishes I form for you, your family, and 
 your country. 
 
 I received Christmas Eve your good letter 
 of the 27th November, a package of illustrated 
 magazines, and the third bundle from Madame 
 S — for Christmas. 
 
 To tell you what I owe in the way of thanks 
 to your family is impossible. I do not know 
 how to express myself to show you my grati- 
 tude. Your very interesting letters and those 
 of Mademoiselle B — are always a veritable 
 feast. To tell you of the delightful hours we 
 spend with the illustrated magazines is also 
 impossible to describe. I do my best to trans- 
 late the resumes written under each illustration, 
 and among my comrades I am asked to explain 
 each picture. The letters are read many times, 
 and when one of our comrades comes to see us 
 I am expected to give him explanations on the 
 United States. 
 
 Christmas Day we were in open line. Little 
 or no shelter, only the officers having a hole 
 not much larger than that of a terrier. I was 
 able to have gathered several pine branches 
 with which I tapestried the walls of an assez 
 grand gourbi. When I say "large," that repre- 
 sents the capacity of half a railway carriage, 
 in which was already a bed and a table. On 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 79 
 
 the table was a microscopic fir-tree all covered 
 with ribbons and naturally with our flag and 
 the little flag of your country. We had put 
 as a contribution the preserves and friandises 
 and cigarettes of the latest bundle, which 
 arrived the night before as if by enchantment. 
 I assure you that if the wireless could have 
 communicated to you our words, you would 
 have often heard your name pronounced. 
 
 At our little mess every one speaks of you, 
 as if we had all known and seen you. When 
 a comrade has been absent, on his return he 
 asks, "Eh bien, has one any news from Amer- 
 ica?" If not, one says the mail is delayed. 
 If yes, it is necessary to read it. The other 
 day the Colonel passed by and said to me, 
 "I must hurry and return to my quarters, 
 for I have not been able to take the time to 
 breakfast this morning and I am very hungry." 
 I offered him a gaufrette to still his hunger. 
 "Oh, it is true," he said to me; "you are the 
 spoiled child of good people. Give them my 
 thanks and express to them my sympathies." 
 
 Some time ago I had the occasion of dining 
 in company with two of your splendid soldiers. 
 As soon as they saw me they wanted to talk, 
 and were very happy to see me take an English- 
 French dictionary from my pocket, by the aid 
 of which we were able to converse. What was 
 
80 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 their satisfaction of seeing in my kepi a. little 
 cocade of your colors, as well as in my note- 
 book. They were a corporal and a sergeant 
 having a leave of three days to visit the city 
 where I was. The next day they saw me in 
 the street and came to salute me. 
 
 I am chattering of insignificant things and 
 I have not congratulated you on the trouble 
 you are taking with your new work at N — . 
 I beg you to accept all the wishes which I form 
 for its good success. I am now very certain 
 we could shake each other by the hand and 
 call ourselves " allies" as well as "friends" — 
 our cause is yours and yours is ours. 
 
 At present one is going through a period of 
 nervous tension. We are at bay, keeping good 
 guard and trying to find out at which point 
 the Boche is going to hurl himself, for try to 
 pierce our line he certainly will. It would be 
 wrong not to recognize his deeds, such as they 
 are. Certainly neither the Italian defection nor 
 the Russian treason is an aid in our game, but 
 I firmly believe that French breasts will know 
 how to bar the route to the Boches long enough 
 that a strong American concentration can be 
 made which will finish the party. 
 
 We have still a great effort to furnish. I am 
 not at all of the opinion of that Monsieur who 
 appeared as if he were very well informed, repre- 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 8 1 
 
 senting a great American paper, and whose 
 sensational article of ten days ago entitled 
 "France is not bled white" you must certainly 
 have read. He contested our losses, etc., etc. 
 Officially France has mobilized 15 per cent, of 
 its composition, and no other nation has come 
 near to that number. We are not exhausted 
 physically nor enfeebled morally. On the con- 
 trary, at the approach of a new danger all the 
 heads hold themselves up and the necks stiffen, 
 but it is not for nothing that we have always 
 borne the greatest efforts and the hardest 
 blows, — Verdun, le Chemin des Dames, etc. — 
 there have been only the French — and many 
 have remained on the ground. 
 
 I do not know whether the papers have told 
 you that the Boches have tried to fraternize 
 on our front as on the Russian and Italian fronts. 
 
 One morning in our sector an officer and a 
 Boche soldier without arms, raising a white 
 flag, presented themselves. The officer of the 
 secteur presented himself and demanded of the 
 Boches that they surrender. They made 
 known their refusal and made it understood 
 that they had come simply to talk. After hav- 
 ing got in touch with the artillery — for I ought 
 to tell you that one saw numbers of Boches 
 in the first advanced line — the officer, refusing 
 to surrender, was killed, as well as his following, 
 
82 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 at the moment when a well-adjusted barrage 
 of 75's transformed the curious Boches into 
 little pieces. It was very impressive to thus 
 kill a Boche hors de combat. He was perhaps 
 the victim of what his chiefs had told him, 
 but it was the only way to reply to advances 
 of this sort. The general commanding that 
 region has moreover warmly congratulated the 
 officer on his initiative. 
 
 I wrote you at the beginning that I did not 
 want to let the day end without writing you, 
 for I had promised myself to do so yesterday, 
 but frankly I had not the spirit to write. 
 
 I was bothered by le cafard, that villanous 
 little beast who only attacks the morale. It 
 was because it was a painful day. To know 
 one's family were not very badly off, it is true, 
 but not to be able to hinder one's self from 
 thinking that perhaps they would not have 
 you any more at the end of the year; to know 
 whether one would return to one's house, to 
 one's hearthside, — all that is an agonizing 
 problem. The courage does not lack, but 
 neither do the bullets, shells, and gas. 
 
 Mais que voulez-vous? 
 
 Mademoiselle B — told me of having read of 
 the citation of the regiment. I do not know if 
 I have told you what is our nickname in the 
 army. After the terrible combats of the 13th, 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 83 
 
 14th, and 24th September, but above all the 
 24th, one of our leaders christened us the 
 "division of tigers" — and you know that such 
 as men do, such they are. Also, now all our 
 brave poilus feel themselves under the obliga- 
 tion to do always more and more to remain 
 worthy of being called " tigers." I must tell 
 you that they will do their best to conduct 
 themselves as such. 
 
 We were formerly "defensive troops," that is 
 to say, firm for holding a conquered or menaced 
 position by reason of the middle age of our 
 men, and the calm temperament which belongs 
 especially to the North of France. We are now 
 classed with the troupes d'Elites, such as the 
 colonial troops, and the active troops made 
 up of young elements and especially trained for 
 the attack — the title is enviable, but onerous. 
 
 This evening, if I can, I am going to write to 
 Madame S — . She must know how much I 
 regret not to be able to correspond in her lan- 
 guage, to chat often and in a friendly way, and 
 to thank her for all that she has done even when 
 it is to make a pair of chaussettes boiteuses. (The 
 socks were of uneven length.) Be good enough 
 to tell her that I shall receive them with the 
 heart and not with the eyes, and shall be too 
 happy at receiving them not to learn to limp 
 with one leg to preserve the equilibrium. 
 
84 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 I must end for the moment, because I have 
 to busy myself with the changing of the clothes 
 of the poilus. Following the bad weather there 
 has taken place a change of belongings — vests, 
 pantaloons, shoes. It has been necessary to 
 use ready-made garments of average size, with- 
 out knowing the size of each man, or what 
 number of clothes or shoes fits him. It is not 
 the least gay moment of the day. With the 
 good humor which the poilu shows, it is curious 
 to help at a change of belongings. If the capote 
 is long or short, one knows how to explain what 
 is the reason, and how he resembles the client of 
 the first tailor of London. 
 
 I hope that my letter finds you in good health 
 and in the midst of your well-installed courses, 
 and be good enough to accept the kind regards 
 of my family, the sympathies of my comrades, 
 and my cordial salutations. 
 
 Henri G — . 
 
 14/A February, 191 8. 
 
 Chere Madame S — : 
 
 I have been spoiled again — what delightful 
 times one can spend with these splendid il- 
 lustres! Each one tries to decipher them with 
 the aid of his dictionary. Life had a " succes 
 fou" but the large pictures in Country Life 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 85 
 
 made every one exclaim in admiration before 
 their beauty and their finish. If you could 
 have seen us, four or five groups of officers 
 near the lamp with the same magazine. Each 
 one gives his advice and his manner of under- 
 standing. It is one of our best pastimes. I 
 am certain that the magazines pass through at 
 least fifty hands. You can thus realize how 
 many people are made happy. Many thanks 
 once more. 
 
 I wish that the news of my family were better. 
 My wife is very weak and she no longer seems 
 in as good health as during the first months of 
 her return. She writes often of her restless 
 nights, of her nightmares. Always it is the 
 Boche who worries her. I do not know if I 
 wrote you on my return from my last permission, 
 that I had often heard Pierre and his sisters 
 cry out in their dreams about the Boches. I am 
 happy to go to them to-morrow for ten days, 
 and I shall try to find out if they have not still 
 hidden from me some misery which the Boches 
 caused them. On each leave so far, I have 
 learned of some new horror, — first, the accident 
 to Pierre, the wounding of my wife by a shell; 
 later, of her illness. What am I going to learn 
 this time? 
 
 Berthe is becoming very intelligent and 
 thoughtful. She often writes me very delight- 
 
86 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 ful little letters, and I believe that she will soon 
 catch up in her studies with the children of her 
 age. 
 
 Beauvais, 
 \th March, 191 8. 
 
 Chere Mademoiselle B — : 
 
 Your long, delightful letter of 4th February 
 reached me here at the hospital. It will not 
 surprise you very much, perhaps, because I 
 have now become a pillar of the hospital. This 
 is what happened. 
 
 The 24th January I wrote you that I de- 
 parted to a hospital near Verdun, where I 
 did not stay very long, for they did not look 
 after me much. The 14th February, on my 
 leaving there, I told you of my departure en 
 permission — I had hardly reached home when 
 I became again very ill and was taken to a 
 hospital in Beauvais. 
 
 I ought to tell you at once that I am better 
 now, for I am being very well cared for by a 
 good doctor and splendid nurses. That which 
 helps my treatment is that each afternoon my 
 wife comes to keep me company, and Thursdays 
 and Sundays the children come with her. You 
 see that I have nothing to complain of. The 
 treatment will be quite long, because of the 
 trouble with my heart. When I am better, and 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 87 
 
 can leave, I shall be sent to Amiens to be operated 
 on for something in the throat, but that ought 
 not to be serious. Following that, I expect to 
 be sent to a town especially installed, both from 
 a medical and climatic point of view, to finish 
 setting me to rights; and then I may be able to 
 rejoin my regiment. I wrote to my colonel 
 to excuse me for being so often absent, and tell- 
 ing him that, being well cared for, I seriously 
 hoped not to be too long in getting free. He 
 replied to me that under such conditions he 
 would be happy to keep me on in his regiment. 
 I am very pleased, because you understand that 
 we all love our regiments. It does not matter 
 what one is, one has one's chiefs, one's friends, 
 one's poilus; that is the spirit of the country. 
 Often one knows the families of one's comrades 
 and it is hard to be separated from them. 
 
 I started out by telling you at once of my 
 health, but I ought to have thanked you for 
 the lovely magazines received lately. Life is 
 always very amusing, but Color is superb. I 
 have just been spending some delightful moments 
 looking at them and trying to decipher all the 
 inscriptions. Happily you have translated a 
 great part of them, and that is much more 
 interesting for me than working out a word-for- 
 word translation. When I had finished reading 
 them, I lent them to some other sick officers, 
 
88 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 but the one to whom they gave the most pleasure 
 was an English Tommy who does not know a 
 word of French and who can talk only with the 
 doctor, and even then not much each day. This 
 poor unfortunate had thus nothing to read, 
 and he was completely happy when I had your 
 magazines sent to him. You would have been 
 pleased to see the manner in which he expressed 
 his satisfaction in reading something which he 
 could at last understand. I understand how 
 hard it must be to be a stranger alone, and in a 
 hospital. There are also some Portuguese and 
 Italians in this hospital. Aside from visits 
 which their comrades who are in the city make 
 them, they cannot understand an entire sentence. 
 
 I am always very interested to read of the 
 food restrictions imposed by your government. 
 If in France we had acted that way long ago, 
 there would have been a less serious crisis; as 
 it is, it is only four days since one has been for- 
 bidden to make pastries. 
 
 Of the events of war I shall speak little. You 
 must now know as much as we. You know that 
 the first United States battalions have done 
 well recently. It seems the Boche is worried 
 about your aid. In spite of that, I believe 
 his offensive will be violent and hard. 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 89 
 
 Rennes, 
 28th March, 191 8. 
 
 Chere Mademoiselle B — : 
 
 I am very ashamed to have let three weeks 
 pass without writing. There have been various 
 reasons which have prevented me from giving 
 you news of myself and my family, but I wish 
 to thank you at once for all the delightful letters 
 which have just come. 
 
 My last letter was from the hospital in Beau- 
 vais, where I was well cared for and had the 
 pleasure of seeing my family each day. Helas! 
 it was too good to last. 
 
 The approach of the Boche offensive necessi- 
 tated the evacuating of all the sick and wounded 
 who could be moved from the hospitals situated 
 in the zone of the armies. Beauvais came under 
 this ruling, and I was consequently packed into 
 a hospital train, one lovely morning, for an 
 unknown destination far from the front. It 
 was not only leaving my family which made me 
 sad, but having to leave la zone du front as a 
 malade. In 1916 after Verdun I was also sent 
 to the interior, but then I had been wounded. 
 I do not know if I can make you understand 
 that it is considered a little degrading for a 
 combattant to be sent back ill. Here I am being 
 cared for to-day, more than three hundred miles 
 from the front, while my comrades fight. But 
 
90 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 if all the various treatments go well, I hope to 
 return to my regiment sometime after the end 
 of April. I am impatient to be again with my 
 comrades, in danger certainly, but also in a posi- 
 tion of honor. 
 
 In your good letter of January 27, you en- 
 closed a newspaper clipping about le Pere 
 Cabanel, and you told me of the pleasure you 
 had had in hearing him lecture. In my turn, 
 I have sent the article, and an extract of your 
 letter expressing your warm appreciation of him, 
 to some good friends I made during my stay in 
 Alsace, where le Pere Cabanel was stationed 
 with his "blue devils" for a year and a half. 
 It must be easy for you to understand how such 
 a splendid Frenchman would please the Alsa- 
 tians. I ought also to tell you, that in that 
 country one must neglect nothing that will 
 combat the Boche spirit. 
 
 I do not know whether le Pere Cabanel told 
 you that, following great attacks, it is not at all 
 rare to see the Catholic chaplain going over the 
 battlefield in company with the Protestant 
 pastor, both of them giving their religious aid 
 to the dying, regardless of their faiths. We 
 had a splendid chaplain, but as he was old, one 
 often saw him going about on the arm of the 
 pastor, who was young and active. It was 
 touching in its simplicity. In general, all the 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 91 
 
 religieux at the front have been admirable for 
 their bravery, sincerity, and tact. 
 
 I remember in the attacks at Bois de Chaume, 
 in September, a young officer near me was 
 mortally wounded. As he was still on the bat- 
 tlefield the next day, the chaplain, who was 
 going by, approached him to say some words 
 of consolation. My comrade, who was not a 
 believer, made an effort and said, "Monsieur 
 r Aumonier, I am not a believer, but I am going 
 to die happy because I have done my duty." 
 Our good chaplain replied, " Permit me, my 
 friend, to shake your hand, because you are an 
 honest man." These are the little things which 
 make one admire them. 
 
 A little while after that we were sent back 
 to rest billets, with orders to let the men amuse 
 themselves according to their tastes, and for 
 many this was to drink, to blot out the nervous 
 excitement of the hard hours. Our chaplain, 
 without orders, went through each cantonnement, 
 and as every one loved him, he was quickly 
 surrounded. Then, without saying a single 
 word of religion, he gave a little moral lesson, 
 easy to understand, but great in the manner 
 in which he explained that having conducted 
 themselves as bravely as they had done, they 
 had no longer the right to lower themselves, but, 
 on the contrary, ought to be proud of being true 
 
92 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 men on whom the high command might count, 
 and that, being conscious of the strength of 
 their characters, they ought to consecrate them- 
 selves to the service of good. 
 
 Unfortunately he died soon after, of typhoid 
 fever contracted following great fatigue. I 
 know that before dying, he complained that he 
 who had so often escaped death on the battle- 
 fields should have to die in a hospital. 
 
 You say you have read a translation of " Le 
 Feu" by Henri Barbusse. If you remember 
 some notes I sent you in 191 7, some of them 
 entitled "La releve" you can compare them 
 with the passage called "La descente" You 
 will understand it when you realize that until 
 June, 1916, I was in the 18th Company of which 
 he speaks. 
 
 2&th March, 191 8. 
 Cher Monsieur S — : 
 
 I have hardly the heart to write at this mo- 
 ment, but all the same I cannot put off thanking 
 you for the good letters and words of encourage- 
 ment you have written me. That is why to-day 
 I turn to you, for we understand each other, in 
 spite of the censorship restrictions. 
 
 You will have read without surprise at the 
 end of the French communique of March 25 : 
 "The French troups began on the 23d of March 
 
from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 93 
 
 to intervene in the battle on the British front. 
 They have relieved a part of the forces of their 
 allies, and have begun fighting on their own 
 account in this sector," etc., etc. It is true! 
 It is splendid! Thus, what I wrote you a little 
 while ago is confirmed. 
 
 I do not think this is the real battle. It will 
 begin elsewhere. The French poilu expects it 
 elsewhere and awaits it coolly. We will go 
 through still more black days, but we know 
 that your nation is on the horizon, and the 
 army which held at Verdun will know how to 
 hold in Picardy — or elsewhere. 
 
 And while my comrades fight, here am I 
 a sluggard at the hospital, and still ill. I cannot 
 bear to think that my comrades are under the 
 Boche shells, while I am tranquilly in a bed far 
 from the cannon! But alas, all my rage and all 
 my impatience can do nothing but retard my 
 cure. 
 
 If the Boches keep on advancing at this rate, 
 in three days they will be at my house again. 
 I await with anxiety each day's communique, for 
 that of to-day let me think them about 50 kilo- 
 metres off. But I must not lack confidence in 
 my comrades who are fighting! 
 
 Madame G — has great courage and is full of 
 resignation. Though always anxious for her 
 and the little girls, it is for Pierre I fear the 
 
94 from the letters of Lieutenant Henri G — 
 
 most, for I believe that if he were once again in 
 the hands of the Bodies, he would not come 
 back alive. My poor little son is not the same, 
 and I do not wish to have any illusions about 
 his condition. I fear and I believe that he will 
 remain definitely afflicted. I have as yet had 
 no reply in months to my request for his ad- 
 mission into a school of mental education. 
 As I have not the right to neglect anything for 
 my dear little one, I think the ceuvre where 
 Mademoiselle R — is working could perhaps 
 act and bring about a happy solution. We 
 are very grateful to you for this new proof of 
 interest in our little son. 
 
 Madame G — does not realize Pierre's condi- 
 tion, as she is always with him; but I see plainly 
 that, although very gentle, he learns nothing. 
 Please God, who has taken the intelligence of 
 the son, that He does not take the life of the 
 father. 
 
 The End. 
 
 W92 
 

 
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