The Generalissimo is credited with a dictum which he may himself have uttered with a certain astonishment:
"You are my best infantrymen," said he to the Fusiliers.
We will close with these simple, soldierly words, more eloquent than the most brilliant harangues. The brigade will reckon them among their proudest trophies to all time.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] We may perhaps be allowed to note that Dixmude appeared in the Revue des Deux Mondes, March 1 and 15, before any other study on the subject.
[2] "When we passed through the streets of Ghent they were full of people shouting, 'Long live the French!' I heard one person in the crowd call out, 'Long live Jean Gouin!' He must have known them well." (Letter of Fusilier F., of the island of Sein.) Le Gwenn, which has been corrupted into Gouin, is a very common name in Brittany. [Compare the current English nickname "Jack Tar."—Tr.]
NOTE
The sources drawn upon in the following narrative are of various kinds: official communiqués, French and foreign reports, etc. But the majority of our information was derived from private letters, collected by M. de Thézac, the modest and zealous founder of the Abris du Marin (Seamen's Shelters), from note-books kindly lent by their owners, and from oral inquiries addressed to the survivors of Melle and Dixmude. Whenever possible, we have let our correspondents speak for themselves. We regret that the strictest orders have compelled us to preserve their anonymity, which, however, we hope may be merely temporary.