A Blue Devil of France: Epic figures and stories of the Great War, 1914-1918. Gustav P. Capart
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Gustav P. Capart
A Blue Devil of France: Epic figures and stories of the Great War, 1914-1918
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4064066184254
Table of Contents
CHAPTER TWO MALANCOURT WOOD AND ST. MENEHOULDE
CHAPTER THREE RETURN TO NIEUPORT
CHAPTER FOUR FIRST VISIT TO VERDUN
CHAPTER FIVE EPARGES AND CALONNE TRENCH
CHAPTER SIX THE FIRST MONTHS OF THE BATTLE OF VERDUN
CHAPTER SEVEN THE RECAPTURE OF FORT DOUAUMONT AND THE ATTACK OF PEPPER HILL
CHAPTER EIGHT THE BATTLE OF CHAMPAGNE OF 1917
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
This volume contains an ensemble of true episodes about the French poilu taken from my diary.
The reader will regret, perhaps, the absence of continuity in the following chapters; that will rapidly disappear, however, when he sees the characteristic figures he should better know and love for a long time to come. A scruple has always guided me: to write the truth. I have been strict in writing nothing but what I have seen or heard.
In giving these souvenirs to the American public, I have had but one object: to mold in relief the warlike virtues of the admirable soldiers of France with whom I have fought for more than three years.
Mothers, wives, sweethearts and children of the heroes fallen in defense of their country, will find in these pages a precious consolation: they will see that with just reason they can be proud of their cherished dead.
I ask indulgence, much indulgence of the public. I have written these lines simply and faithfully during a long and painful convalescence; many times I have felt that my physical forces would abandon me before I could arrive at the end of my task. I shall be fully recompensed for these efforts if I know I have brought to my readers the emotion and feeling, which I still experience, of those epic hours.
Cap. G. P. Capart.
The Lawrence Hospital
Bronxville, New York
June 2, 1918
TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION
To have known the author intimately is a rare privilege which has materially aided me in retaining, if I have been successful in so doing, the spirit and atmosphere of the original pages of "A Blue Devil of France."
In every sense of the word I am a literalist. Barring a very few instances I have been particularly rigid in my efforts to render a literal translation. Where it has been impossible to do this, the reader will find the original French to enhance the charm and simplicity of the stories.
Simultaneously this striking story of the great war is published in Paris under the title of Comme Ils Vivent et Comme Ils Meurent (How They Live and Die).
Redundant with vitality the several stories show a beautiful insight into the character of the French poilu, who, fighting for more than four years, remains unbroken in morale. Unpremeditatedly heroic, killing their adversaries clean, ever chivalrous, witty, smiling in the face of death and obscurity, these soldiers of France will go down in history as martyrs to a definite understanding between peoples.
Sordid as war may be, here is the glorious side. Le Feu, by Henri Barbusse, the critics write, is pessimistic and deals with the dark side of this momentous conflict. If that be true "A Blue Devil of France," with winning ingenuity, tells us in a simple, straightforward manner that there is another, nobler, majestic view of modern battle. It personifies the spirit of right, forever unquenchable, the champion over material forces seeking to destroy.
Students of every free country will find in this book numerous examples of the spirit of sacrifice of those who, for four years, have written history with their blood; they will see that the most beautiful existence for a man is to know well how to live and die for his country!
Americans may here visualize the Argonne, Verdun, Saint Mihiel, the Champagne, consecrated spots, where their own blood is now being hypothecated to succeeding generations. They may see the type of the French poilu, with whom our boys are fighting arm in arm, as they go plunging on to certain victory.
J. C. Drouillard.
August 5, 1918.
New York City.
A Blue Devil of France
This chapter comprises several distinct periods in the life of the author.
Captain Capart left Switzerland, August 2, 1914, to enlist in the Belgian Army. [1]
He took part in the siege of Antwerp up to its fall (October 10, 1914), then as corporal in the dark days of the retreat.
From the month of December, 1914, he became attached to the French Army. He was commissioned sub-lieutenant, January, 1915.
The greater part of the stories in this chapter occurred during the period between March 7, 1915 and July of the same year, during which time he fought in the sector held by the Marine Fusiliers and that of the Zouaves in the region of Nieuport.
CHAPTER ONE
NIEUPORT
A Blue Devil of France
CHAPTER ONE
A SMALL CITY IN SWITZERLAND.
August 2, 1914.
War is declared!
I feel I must leave all, family, home, position.
I clasp my wife and three little ones in my arms. … The iron gate closes behind me and I almost break into tears—the happiest moments of my life are ended and I go toward the UNKNOWN——
One