FOUGHT ON BEAUTIFUL CHATEAU LAWNS
"Some of the hottest fighting of the prolonged battle took place around the beautiful chateau of Mondement, on a hill six miles east of Sezanne. This relic of the architectural art of Louis XIV occupied a position which both sides regarded as strategically important.
"To the east it looked down into a great declivity in the shape of an immense Greek lamp, with the concealed marshes of St. Sond at the bottom. Beyond are the downs and heaths of Epernay, Rheims and Champagne, while the heights of Argonne stand out boldly in the distance. To the west is a rich agricultural country.
"The possession of the ridge of Mondement was vital to either the attackers or the defenders. The conflict here was of furnace intensity for four days. The Germans drove the French out in a terrific assault, and then the French guns were brought to bear, followed by hand-to-hand fighting on the gardens and lawns of the chateau and even through the breached walls.
"Frenchmen again held the building for a few hours, only to retire before another determined German attack. On the fourth day they swept the Germans out again with shell fire, under which the walls of the chateau, although two or three feet thick, crumpled like paper."
The same correspondent described evidences on the battlefields of how abundantly the Germans were equipped with ammunition and other material. He saw pyramid after pyramid of shrapnel shells abandoned in the rout, also innumerable paniers for carrying such ammunition. These paniers are carefully constructed of wicker and hold three shells in exactly fitting tubes so that there can be no movement.
The villages of Oyes, Villeneuve, Chatillon and Soizy-aux-Bois were all bombarded and completely destroyed. Some fantastic capers were played by the shells, such as blowing away half a house and leaving the other half intact; going through a window and out by the back wall without damaging the interior, or going a few inches into the wall and remaining fast without exploding.
Villeneuve, which was retaken three times, was, including its fine old church, in absolute ruins.
A SERIES OF BATTLES
The battle line along the Marne was so extended that the four-days' fighting from Sunday, September 6, to Thursday morning, September 10, when the Germans were in full retreat, comprised a series of bloody engagements, each worthy of being called a battle. There were hot encounters south of the Marne at Crecy, Montmirail and other points. At Chalons-sur-Marne the French fought for twenty-four hours and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. General Exelmans, one of France's most brilliant cavalry leaders, was dangerously wounded in leading a charge.