On Hill 285, the Monument "To the Dead of the Argonne".
(Photo Sommer.)
Return to the Varennes-Four-de-Paris road, downhill road skirting the Meurissons ravine.
It was in this wild ravine of the Meurissons spring that the Garibaldian regiment, placed at the disposal of General Gérard, commanding the 2nd Corps, received their baptism of fire. On December 26, 1914, the 2nd Garibaldian Battalion was detailed to take a German trench. The attacking front was limited, about 150 yards, but the position was strongly held and protected by a deep entanglement of barbed wire. After an artillery preparation lasting from midnight until dawn, the Garibaldian companies rushed forward, one behind the other, to make a breach at all costs, but were held up by the uncut wire. At one point an opening was made and a few men got through to the edge of the German trench, only to be killed there. It was during this engagement, which cost the 2nd Battalion 30 dead, 17 missing, and 111 wounded, that Second-Lieutenant Bruno Garibaldi—a grandson of Giuseppe Garibaldi, "the old red bird" whom, in 1870, the Prussian General Werder confidently expected to "catch in his nest" in the Vosges, but failed in the attempt—was killed. Bruno Garibaldi, though in reserve, advanced to the assault with the 2nd Battalion, his sword drawn, his green tunic unfastened, showing the traditional and symbolic red shirt. Wounded in the hand, he went back to the trench to have it dressed, then returned immediately to the fight. Struck by a bullet, he continued to urge his men forward, until another laid him low. Before dying, he embraced a wounded comrade near by, saying "Kiss my brothers for me".
The Four-de-Paris—Varennes Road.
The German front line cut the road at this point. On the left, Meurissons ravine; on the horizon, Biesme valley.