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A FEW DA VS WITH THE FOREIGN LEGION.
Non n THB EDITOB.-The following i. a translation made for the JOUBII'AL by Major F. A. Mahan, U. S. Arm'!, retired, of an article by Mr. Jean·Jole Frappa, Editor in Chief of L~ Mo .. d6 1I1tUlr (France), appearing in conaecutive number. of that periodical during the month. of April and May, 1914. In a perIoD&! letter Major Mahan aaYI:
"For two or three year. before the exiltinlJ war broke out, the German prel. went mad over the ForeilP' Legion of France. Noth,nf was too bad to say about It. It was maliJned, abused, mlsrepreaented in ' every way; al IOrtl of chargel .. ere made againft it in Germany, but, curiously enough, the l{Teater the abuae the greater the number of young men .. ho ran away from Germany to Joill it. Thi. state of affairs led Mr. Jean·Jole Frappa, editor·in·chief of L, M o .. d, IlltUlrl, to go to Africa, there to Itudy the Foreip Legion alld to report truthfully .. hat he aaw. • • •
'"I'he Foreign Legion hu always had a great fucination for me and it leeml to me that we could have IOmething of the IOrt in the Philippines with advantage to our aervice.
'"The Legion i. an integral part of the French Armr. and the ftag of the Fint Foreign has bC!en decorated with the crosa of the Legion of Honor. Some of the belt officera hav~ aerved with it and luch lervic~, by reason of ita activity, i. rarely if ever declined.
"If my memory aervel me aright, only nine regiments of the French Arm)' carry tbe cro .. of the Legion of Honor On their ft .. , 10 the rank of the Fint Foreign can be easily placed."
W ITH admirable perseverance, the German Press has been carrying on a hot, violent campaign against our Foreign Legion for the last two years. It has spared this body no accusation.
It has painted in somber hues the life of the simple young Germans who have been so imprudent as to enlist in the regIments of Sidi-BelAbbes or Saida.
There, ill lodged, ill clad, ill fed, held down tight by an iron rod, they are the powerless victims of their officers, real torturers, gold-laced brutes who do not hesitate to inflict the most cruel punishments for the slightest faults, or even to blowout their brains at the least sign of revolt. If wounded on duty they are condemned as unfit for service, cast out without any indemnity, and left to beg or to exhibit their wounds in the music-halls of Berlin.
Still the enlistments in the Legion are more and more numerous, so numerous indeed that there is talk of soon organizing other regiments to lighten somewhat those now existing, of which each one contains more than six thousand men.
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? It was to be able to answer this
for what truth there £el'm~ml!;tic press and in the
and a few
31
which tormented be the assertions of
defenders of the
to prevent their
to be driven
FORT SAINT-JEAN AT MARSEILLES.
a small
report at The forthe this
Have
The weekly detachment of recruits at the railway station.
Sidi-Bel-Abbes.
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33
it were its of the
of the great
FORT SAINTE-CATHERINE AT ORAN.
The new arrivals first come into contact with the as the "Small
find here a an and a nn;T-"",-,,, ... ,m The last named takes down the _ ... '.~ ...... w. "_~'!)""'_ those intended the
the Second at Saida. which is situated on a steep cliff soon to be torn recalls a
on a small scale. It is the same sort of which one is at a level than
buildin~:s which contain the and side of the little which leads to
the successive have created a hollow of the rocks. At the time of my
34
a vast Morocco with 1I .. ' ...... J ... j;; in the earth.
Men at the little
In this which I
a curious scene at
A do in the
arms. neither of now met at the ...... ""'AI,,,. others more sad or more
of men of all The start from
o'clock. The detachment a one of its and went up to the station situated
hour's run there was a of cars and a with trees and
where the station-masters and toward nine o'clock or
between two Little stations were with the sun
enter the men receive a
to be them alike; no
are. The
up, we reached Sidi-Bel-Abbes.
SIDI-BEL-ABBES.
"Bo"'IlC'O": A .ort of short linen jacket.
were
to sell his civilian clothes
and many
THE FIRST FOREIGN-ITS CHIEFS.
One of the kitchens.
A group of u aIlC;ells" (veterans) .
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31
and how to
like to visit the "'".,."'-.,." the doors are open
directed to show me We have
come and " It was said with a
same with a little emotion and anger.
AT DRILL.
THE BAlilRA~K.
in which the movements are ; some act wi th
Let us return now to the quarters which we will visit with the ". .... "t .. ~i' care.
The
a a a company store-room. store-rooms as we have them
Here are the well
the nr,rv1,,,,.,,n, .as a ments for a
call like
Those tell are
ex:ceE~din2' cleanliness of these the walls are
beaten and No
39
and even a little capote is not
Never will or, if it be
meet in town a man whose summer, whose blouse is not
with whiteness. How different from most of
the same clothes. the blue
the latter told from
the African
as to his the is not less so as to his per-son; on the he makes for oued he comes to and scrubs himself down soap from head to foot. the shower baths are As our are
with its own outfit.
HOW THE LEGIONARY IS FED.
Here are kitchens where the
December 13, 1913. Bean soup
Fish with caper sauce Peas mashed and strained
Potatoes saute
December 14. with macaroni
with Roast
Baked jJUI"'LlJt:"
and
Bean Roast
Sauerkraut bacon Potatoes saute
Fritters
Like all the
of the biils of to October 20,
will see that are not than those with mustard roast mutton, fried cod
_~ .• ~ ..... ~, hadlis Parmcllticr. is the in which we the German press accuses us of
of so
40
THE INFIRMARY.
so a with a smile.
found in the officers' The
soldiers contains of all sorts.
we reach the in the offices of
floor. the first floor are wards white sheets. Air and
I have received this same soldiers of all arms. At the time
officer of the German enlisted was under treatment for least,
were way for his on this pretext.) His had been She was at
Bel-Abbes His government had said to officer: "Go no " The
'" '"
the division of this had asked him to come to uv .... ,"l5. to conceal." He had come, he had seen
'" '"
even' if somewhat asked torturers?" he had answered with
men, I listen to them. I saw this German
I did not ask name, the Rhine who
it was or, to be accurate,
'" '"
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42
in the barrack is somewhat
, ..... 'u, .. ,,,, fifes in which
a few men in fieldthe a rolled relieve comrades and will remain
non-commissioned officer A few friends
of
the units leave the with the colors
attention is
THE SALLE D'HONNEUR."
Let us take a look now at the sa lie of which an old of the first class has
one wills it or the voice in at the end of the and in a
emblem to which is attached the of the first which was
these two : "Honneur the word "Patrie" on other
"Th" S"Ue d'Ho .... e"y is the regimental reception room.
43
with him allowed themselves to be killed so as not to abandon the of their chief.
for these words of the several hours in the sand reached to be carried
die in the memory "
same will be the
THE LEGIONARIES.
Astoin
howof a
as a lieu-
have here! What will not can call forth. For of great acts or the
almost refuse to lie
to
fired behind the lines come outside and get the
It is the remark of a man a bit off his head I grant, but it shows the of this of real soldiers. In town, in talk of
but heroic and like
ci u uo Lo ~ E o
..':
., E o
If)
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the one which my in the which we are
would have been called theatrical in this same
who was ... v., .. I' .......
but do not
THE STRING ORCHESTRA.
the them make a snug
who is the third francs.
LEGIONARIES IN THE FIELD.
this
on a hillside where he No water! Still the
Color Guard, First Foreign.
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THE LIFE AT THE SMALL POSTS.
The post once established and the .u,m-,UUJ:C"
be the of our men? It must be and monotonous. months between four walls without other resources than the little Moorish cafe or the French built as soon as and olltside the camp, is
an attractive Moroccans that there is and the unex-
circumstances to time
have no time and fro across the desert
this great enemy: the
THE COMBAT.
violent "",-"" .. ,. with
shot their
The dOWlr is
is a contingent furscouts.
"'Spahi: A loldier of a cavalry co.". organized by the Frencb in Algeria. "'H ariuJ; A rather important expedition .ent out by the ",aghu .. , or government of
Morocco. A to
form of madne •• wbich atrangest and wildest acts
soldiers, when it
49
THE LEGIONARY ANn HIS CHIEFS.
come from very different of their classes at our
have obtained their hot-headed fellows
double he has the same
the ranks as the result
the officers of the soon catch from that of
the same way as men like our and so many defects.
There are here both more and more The ishment does not exist. What are three of or house for a man who is there sometimes his whole life? other an offense which a soldier ment in would the '~",'V"G'
I,JU!l">ULU""""" are rows in towll, etc. wish to reduce the
ndllil;r,enc:e would be caUed weak; he never protests
Pe re Laurent saying mass during a march.
The Hall of Honor, Second Foreign.
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51
himself to him heart and soul and then there is no limit to his And the officer who knows how to use this attachment has in his hand a terrible a man who has misbehaved; he addresses him as you for a
The is of
themselves before their chief if he be ther around his and die to the last man
at
FATHER LAURENT.
brother to his a wounded or
said to me at Merada when the column came that you did not see Father
was not warned that the otherwise he would have come with us. He is our great
!" and his absence of the
matter of he not been warned. Father Laurent is a Franciscan
years of age, who has taken upon
"Le'Mali .. : A prominent Parisian morning paper. I mv old Good I beg thy pardon for
in person note "A very light, narrow·gauge railway, so light, indeed, that it. position can be shifted
easily.
TRANSLA TIONS AND REPRINTS.
fatiguing task of carrying the aid of religion to the wounded and dying. Thin, nervous, active, with brilliant black eyes behind his glasses, he is always on the move, visiting the hospitals of all the posts, bringing newspapers and books, and undertaking commissions for Oudjda or Bel-Abbes. He is, indeed, without distinction of creed, the great comrade of the soldiers, who hail him joyously and to whom he speaks in the second person singular. A type of the warrior monk of the crusades, rough of speech but kind of heart, he follows the expeditions with a colonial helmet on his head and sandals on his bare feet. Sometimes he
COLOXEL PASSARD, Second Foreign.
rides astride of a mule. Most of the time he walks bv the side of the men, singing the cha,~sons de route" and carrying the -muskets of those who are tired. 'He takes his meals with the officers and with the men. When Colonel Boyer invited him to luncheon in my presence at Guercif, he answered: "Thank you, Colonel, but the calltillier'" has already invited me."
"Songs which &oldie .. sing while on the march. lIThe c"",illi~,. keeps the contin, where food and drink are supplied to the men .
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THE SECOND FOREIGN.
53
is seen time and his
Before cOlnnlet:inl1' this series of "nlll'IIP" I desire to show our readers a few views of the Second at which I did not have time will see that has to envy Be1-Abbes.
The Second whose
his men as say more about
in
commanded Colonel caused him to known
. There is no need to
CONCLUSION.
THE ARMY.· CHAPTER V,-MOBILIZATION.
I. FORMATIONS IN TIME OF WAR.
the army consists of: army III\)UIULCU.
up of the units as
, would doubtless be distributed among
each. of animals
defense of the of communications would not be attached. The rail
to handle the Decauville systems in the "Cont;luded from May number.