The correspondent of the _Daily News and Leader_ of London sends from
Ostend this graphic story of the scenes where one of the greatest
battles in the world’s history took place:
“Taking advantage of the lull we got out of Namur early this morning,
taking crossroads and lanes in front of the Belgian and French lines.
The allied forces were pushing the Germans back under great guns placed
along the northern line. The fields and low hills were alive with moving
troops, columns of cavalry with light guns moving into position and long
snakes of infantry.
“An officer warned us in a lane to wait there. He said: ‘We’ve run down
some Uhlans in those woods.’ We waited half an hour. No movement in the
sunny fields, nothing to be seen. Then suddenly out of a wood we saw
four horsemen dash and we heard the snap of rifle shots on the far side
of a field.
“The next instant there was a running fire of invisible muskets. Three
of the horses fell. The fourth man fell from the saddle and was dragged
through the stubble, his foot being caught in the stirrup. One of the
others got up, leaving his horse and walking a few steps. He then fell.
“We were accompanied by a squad to Mazy. There we were blocked for two
hours. Slowly through the village (no peasants or children showing now)
defiled regiment after regiment of French cavalry, glorious fellows with
their helmets covered with dust, their colored cuirasses dull with rust,
dusty trappings and uneasy horses. It was not the glitter of a parade,
but the infinitely more impressive savage, bronzed columns of war.
“A line of Belgian artillery, then light horse and lancers, and finally
cyclists and a detachment of the Red Cross ambulances passed up the
lanes out to the hills with a sort of rustling, intense silence. There
was no drum nor music. This is war. For many of these grave and bronzed
men, with here and there a fierce negroid African, we were the last link
with the life of the towns. In a few days, perhaps in a few hours, they
will be lying in long, nameless trenches in the fields.”