At Étrepy (25 km.), we pass in front of the church (see above). There are numerous ruins in this village, which was set on fire by the Germans on September 7.
Of the seventy families who remained at Étrepy during the battle, sixty-three were homeless after the incendiaries had passed by. Two old people, more than eighty years of age, M. and Mme. Miliat, were led away almost naked to a distance of 3 km. from the village and horribly ill-used. In order to quicken their pace, rendered slow by age, they were struck with the flat of swords. Mme. Miliat died four days afterwards as a result of this treatment. On leaving the village, on the right is the entrance to the castle of the Morillot family. (The son of Count Morillot, a naval lieutenant and commander of the submarine "Monge," went down with her, after having made the crew put off in their boats, rather than surrender to the enemy.) The castle, which is built at the meeting place of the Saulx and the Ornain, and is surrounded by a moat, dates from the seventeenth century. It was set on fire by the Germans.
The position of Étrepy is important, being a bridgehead on the waterway formed by the Saulx, the Ornain, and the canal from the Marne to the Rhine. The passage was defended on September 6 by the Third Division of the Second French Corps, but the bridges were forced in the evening, and at dawn on the 7th the village fell into the hands of the Germans. It was only retaken on the 11th.
CHURCH, HEILTZ-LE-MAURUPT
After crossing in succession the Saulx, the canal, and then the Ornain, which flows through a frequently flooded plain, we arrive at Heiltz-le-Maurupt (29½ km.) and, after turning to the right, take the left towards the church.
On September 6, on the arrival of the Duke of Wurtemberg's troops, the beautiful Romanesque church was devastated by fire, at the same time as the little town. Before setting fire to the houses, the Germans pillaged them. The spoils were placed on waggons under the superintendence of an officer. These removals having been effected, German soldiers were next seen, two by two, carrying buckets slung on poles and filled with inflammable liquid, which they threw on the houses. The result was a huge outburst of fire, in which the church, the town-hall, the school, and 187 houses out of 210, were destroyed.
NAVE OF CHURCH, HEILTZ-LE-MAURUPT
The photos opposite show that the roof of the church has disappeared, exposing the nave. The vaults of the transept and of the apse have resisted the flames. The Romanesque apse is very interesting; the vaulting is round-arched, and on the exterior are sixteen blind windows, also round-arched, separated from each other by small pillars. The old Romanesque tower was surmounted by a spire about 100 feet high built in the sixteenth century. It collapsed in the flames. The western doorway is also in the Romanesque style (photo below). The work of restoration is in progress, as may be seen in the photo opposite.