DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/crossflag01rido Dr. Ridout as he ap- peared coming out of i}ie Argonne Battle Front. Rev. George W. RidouU D. D. The Cross and Flag Experiences in the Great World War BY GEORGE W. RIDOUT, D. D. Methodist Minister. Y. M. C. A. Secretary Overseas. Pentecostal Publishing Company ^ Louisville, Ky. COPYRIGHT, 1919. BY PENTECOSTAL PUBLISHING COMPANY. 9tf ^ ^ 7 ^ DEDICATION. To my wife who with great bravery bore my going to war, and with a beautiful spirit carried all the responsibilities of home and family during my absence. To the Officers and Men of the 38th Regiment with whom I was associated when they "wrote one of the most brilliant pages of military history'* in the Battle of July 15. JUST A WORD. Numerous war books have been published. To venture another upon this somewhat overcrowded sea might appear a trifle presumptuous, but I have ventured because of the unusually generous re- ception my writings in the Christian Witness, The Pentecostal Herald, The Christian Herald and the Christian Advocate have received. Some things which have appeared in some of the above papers I have thought it worth while to reproduce in the book. I have named this book: *'The Cross and the Flag — Experiences in the Great World War/' be- cause of what the Cross means to me as a Chris- tian, and what the Flag means to me as an Amer- ican. Since the war, these words have a new signifi- cance for me : "In the Cross of Christ I glory, Towering o'er the wrecks of time ; All the light of sacred story Gathers round its head sublime.'* In one of the French villages which the Ger- mans had destroyed by their artillery, one thing remained untouched and unhurt through all — the Wayside Cross. Homes had been wiped out, busi- ness places ruined, schoolhouse and church laid in ruins, but the Cross stood intact. So with the wreckage of this old world and the tumbling of thrones and crowns, the Cross of Christ remains as ever — the hope of the world and its only means of salvation. Then the Flag I Glorious old Flag! Its stars broke upon the darkened skies of Europe and gave out light and hope. When it was flung to the breeze in France a new day da%Mied for the Allies. The coming of our Flag brought rescue and vic- tory! The Flag is coming back home again and we hail it with new affection and new thrills of pa- triotism. During the war someone wrote of the Flag thus : * 'Here's to the blue of the wind-swept North, As we meet on the fields of France. May the spirit of Grant be over them all, As the sons of the North advance. And here's to the gray of the sun-kissed South, As we meet on the fields of France. May the spirit of Lee be over them all, As the sons of the South advance. And here's to the blue and the gray as one, As we meet on the fields of France. May the spirit of God be over us all. As the sons of the Flag advance." Now that it comes back from Foreign shores we say as thankful patriots : "Your flag and my flag; and oh! how much it holds : Your land and my land, secure beneath its folds. Rose-red and blood-red, its stripes forever gleam. ; Snow-white and soul-white, the good forefath- er's dream Sky-blue and true-blue, with stars to gleam aright — The gloried guidon of the day, the shelter of the night.'* CONTENTS. Chapter. Page. 1. Departure 1 2. A London Air Raid Ie5 eS. The Battle of the Skies in Paris 23 4. My First Religious Work in France 28 5. Doing Field Work on Historic Soil 32 6. The Story of a Little French Village, . . 35 7. The Story of John Grace of the Army ... 41 8. Under Fire 47 9. Chateau Thierry 52 10. Moving Toward the Battle Lines 60 11. My Baptism of Fire 65 12. The Second Battle of the Marne 73 18. After the Battle 76 14. Fletcher Benson 90 15. Peace 103 16. Preaching the Gospel in Germany 114 17. Some Messages of the War 129 18. Joan of Arc 139 19. Consecration — As Illustrated by the War 149 20. Some Interesting People I Met During and After the War 158 21. The Havoc of War, and After 166 CHAPTER 1. DEPARTURE. When the war between Germany and America broke out I was on the Theological staff of Taylor University. With the declaration of war there was great excitement, and for a few days it was a difficult matter to hold the students down to their studies, particularly the young men. In addressing my Bible class one morning I told them that I believed the war would only be a question of a few months, now that America had entered upon it. I w^as greatly mistaken. The foe was much stronger than we gave him credit for. At that time I had not the slightest idea of becoming in any way connected with the war, save as a citizen, but one night with several other professors of Taylor University I attended a meet- ing at Marion, Indiana, where speeches were made and the war situation impressed upon us. I got a different view of matters that night. For quite a considerable while I felt a great burden of prayer on my soul as though something was pending, I knew not what. I think I know the reason now. The Lord was getting me ready for a line of service and suffering such as I had never passed through before. The fact was, that for some time I had been 7 8 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG. feeling that the world was in an agony and that the Lord would not hold us guiltless if we lived snug lives and comfortable, paid our taxes and did a few other decent things like respectable Chris* tians and let the other fellows do the suffering and endure the agony and we, like the Levite in Luke 10, pass by on the other side. I felt that in a crisis like the one that is now on us with hundreds of thousands of our boys from our Sunday schools and churches and camp meetings going across the sea to fight for a safe and righteous democracy for the world, that an opportunity was afforded Christian men and workers and evangelists and preachers to pitch in and help save our boys from going to the devil, and put up bars and build fences around them of prayer, and moral and re- ligious influence and by every means possible do the utmost to save them physically, morally and spiritually . The Y. M. C. A. had opened doors by which many ministers could go to the war and do their bit in a moral and religious sense, and when pass- ing through Chicago in December, 1917, on my way to a meeting in Michigan, I went before the Central West Committee who were selecting men for overseas service. It seems as though it pleas- es the Lord to favor me with an immediate accep- tance and I went on my way to await the call. When we offered ourselves to the work it was Vvith no limitations and no strings ; it was for im- mediate service and for the duration of the war. THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 9 We felt if this thing was worth going into it was worth going into all over. And w^hy not? John S. Inskip was Chaplain in the Civil War, and Hedley Vickers and General Gordon, though sol- diers, were eminent Christians, and Captain Webb, of early Methodism, w^as a British soldier ! If a mullion of our young men were giving them- selves absolutely to fight for flag and country w^hy should not many Christian ministers give them- selves whole-heartedly to work for Christ on the field and out on the firing line among the troops, — to protect morally, socially and physically the boys whilst in camp and to pray with them and preach to them the mighty Christ, and when the battle wages hot and the wounded and dying are all about you to point them to Jesus, comfort and console them and do everything possible to save soul and body. In our meeting in Michigan with Rev. G. W. Gordon, we had many adversaries — especially from the weather man. Snow storms and frost are no helpful accompaniments of a revival meet- ing. It was impossible for many to attend, but we continued over Sunday. When we cam.e to our clos- ing service we were beseeched to stay a few days longer. We promised to stay until Wednesday and make that an all-day meeting. Wednesday came and a good day of blessing it proved to be. As we sat down to supper a message came to the parsonage — I was wanted at the telephone. I said at once. "That means France." I went to the 10 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG phone. It was a message from my wife that a call had come summoning me to New York at once. That night in the church I attended my last re- vival meeting in America, and before daylight next mornmg was on my way to Detroit to catch a train for home. Christmas day I ate dinner with my family, and at 3 o'clock I took the train for New York, there to take steamer for PYance. Many things had to be gotten together before departing. My uniform and outfit, and especially my passports. Before going you pass the most scrutinizing inspection of Washington for your passport, and England and France must pass on you too, before they let you in one of their ports. After everything on shore was adjusted the most perplexing movement was to get on board ship and, having gotten on board, it was about as difficult to get off— the only possible thing that could accelerate the exit would be a German tor- pedo. In that event you got off as best you could, without having to hand out your passport or take an affidavit that you were not a spy. The voyage across the Atlantic, when f crossed, v/as anything but pleasant; dangers and perils met you on every hand and particularly so when you neared the war zone. The last three days on board we dare not move without our life belts. We bore them with us as we sat down to eat, and wherever we went, and slept at night without un- dressing, and with our lift belts close at hand. THE CROSS AND THE FLAG. 11 The good ship "Auronia," of the Cunard Line in which we sailed, made many a voyage in safety, but eventually the Hun submarine got her later on in the season and she sunk to her grave in the bottom of the sea. What joy and delight there was on board when the Navy destroyers met us ! It was a great relief and everybody breathed a sigh of relief now that those faithful watch-dogs of the British Navy were at our side and would stay by us till we made port. We had six ships in our convoy, and the destroyers of course had been notified by wire- less of our coming. They scoured the seas for miles all around us for the piratical submarine. They never relaxed for one minute their vigilance. They bobbed up and dowTi here and there and ev- erywhere. Woe betide the submarine that would show itself in our vicinity just now. Here let me stop long enough to speak a word of admiration for the incomparable British Navy. What wonders it has achieved: It blockaded Germany and bottled up the Germany Navy, pre- served the British Empire from invasion, enabled the British Empire to wage war in ten different parts of the world, increased its tonnage from 2,500,000 to 8,000,000, steamed in one month 8,000,000 miles, destroyed 150 submarines, trans- ported 20,000,000 men, 2,000,000 horses, 25,000,- 000 tons war material, 51,000,000 tons of oil and fuel, and 130,000,000 tons of food. Brought food" for its 46,000,000 inhabitants of Great Britain, for 12 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG. its 8,000,000 soldiers, and for the 75,000,000 in- habitants of Italy and France. The U. S. Navy became part of this great sea power, and of course contributed immensely to its achievements. Our ship was loaded with troops^ — ^soldier boys from all the States were going forth to the great adventure across the seas. Also, there were many officers. I was talking one night in the cabin to a Major of the Regular Army. He had spent many years in the service and had traveled in many parts of the world. One thing that struck one about his conversation was that a man to be- come a good soldier must give up everything, he must abandon the idea of money and other like things, and must give himself absolutely to his profession. So Uncle Sam is preaching today a tremendous sermon on consecration. He is stretching an altar rail from Maine to California, and the boys are coming hundreds of thousands — yea, millions — and they are offering upon the altar of patriotism themselves and all they have and are — money, business, friends, bright pros- pects — all go! Behold, on the other hand, with Avhat hesitancy Christian people consecrate them- selves to their Lord. How unwilling they are to place all upon the altar and give themselves with- out reserve to Jesus and His cause. WE LAND IN ENGLAND. After a night at Liverpool we went up to Lon- don, the great Capital of England, and the seat THE CROSS AND THE FLAG. 13 of the British Empire, and what a country is Eng- land! Many years ago one of German's poets wrote these lines on England, and no doubt, Schiller, as he wrote the lines in reference to the Spanish Armeda meant every word of it. TO ENGLAND. Blessed island . . . Queen of the seas . . . Who wrought for thee the precious jewel that makes thee queen of all the lands? Hast thou not wrung from proud kings the wisest of constitutions — The Magna Gharta that makes citizens of thy kings and princes of thy citizens? Thy proud sea power, has thou not won it from a million rivals in the sea fight? To whom dost thou owe it, ruddy-faced people of this earth : To whom else but thy spirit and thy sword ? * * * From above God Almighty saw the proud live pen- nons of thy enemy. He saw thy destined grave . . . *'Shall," quoth He, "thy Albion perish, thy race of heroes be destroyed, The last rock bastion against oppression fall to eaii:h, The defence against tyrants be annihilated in this hemisphere?" "Never," He cried, "shall Freedom's paradise, the shield of all that is worthy in man perish !" 14 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG. The British Empire is world-wide in its control — embracing Canada, Newfoundland, Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Suez Canal and the Red Sea, Aden in Arabia, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Cape Colony, Natal and Sierra Leone, ruling over 450,000,000 souls. When war broke out England only had a little army of 160,000. She raised an army of 7,500,000 and lost in killed alone over 800,000 — live times as many as constituted her original army. Her casualties during the war were 750,000 more than the U. S. A. entire expeditionary Force in France, her total casualties (being 2,500,000. Emerson's tribute to England reads good to us these days : ENGLAND. I see her not dispirited, not weak, hut well re- membering that she has seen dark days before; indeed, with a kind of instinct that she sees a lit- tle better in a cloudy day, and that in storm of battle and calamity she has a secret vigor and a pulse like cannon. I see her in her old age, not decrepit, but young, and still daring to believe in her power of endurance and expansion. Seeing this, I say. All hail ! Mother of nations. Mother of heroes, with strength still equal to the time; still wise to entertain and swift to execute the policy which the mind and heart of mankind require at the present hour, and thus only hospitable to the foreigner, and truly a home to the thoughtful and generous, who are born in the soil. (1856). CHAPTER II. A LONDON AIR RAID. I had been in London twice before — in peace times. It was a visbly different London now with the war on, but with all its sufferings, limitations, restrictions and such like it was truly remarkable the courage and spirit manifested by the people. Of course it was not the London of twenty years ago — at night everything had to be darkened, food was somewhat scarce, sugar was at a premium, meat was a rarity, bread was limited, butter none at all. Everything was put on a war basis. We were not there long before we had a taste of the horrors of war. We were sitting in the Hall of the Y. M. C. A. when the secretary came in and addressed the audience thus: '*An air raid is pending; you are requested to keep your seats. We will inform you if there are other instruc- tions." An air raid! I had read about air raids, had imagined thern — here I was thrust right into the midst of one so soon! I went to the door with the purpose of going out but it was forbidden that anyone should be on the streets during a raid. I at length went out with an officer who had to re- port for duty at a certain hour. I went with him as far as the Police Station, and there I got in conversation with a friendly policeman who in- 15 16 TH ECROSS AND THE FLAG. vited me down in the subway to see a sight. I went down, and what a sight! A mass of hu- manity had gathered there from the nearby alleys and tenements, and crowded the subway. There were old men and old women, young mothers with nursing babies, young men and young women and little children. Some were weeping, some shiver- ing with fear, some fainting, some hysterical, some laughing, and, I suppose some praying. Up in the sky a terrible battle was going on, and from the sky the bombers hurled the deadly bombs that meant destruction and death. The anti-air craft guns from the ground were pouring their deadly shells at the enemy planes above, but in the dark the shooting was largely at random. That night there were two raids. After the first was over I went back to my hotel and was get- ting ready to retire when another alarm was heard. I went out and this time there were visi- ble signs of the damage wrought by the enemy. Just down a short distance from my hotel was a great building on fire — the bomb had done its deadly work, it had hit the roof of this big print- ing establishment and went clear through the building to the cellar where over a hundred peo- ple had taken refuge. The majority of them were killed, the building set on fire, and for awhile pan- demonium reigned. The firemen got busy trying to put out the fire and they finally conquered. The great building was a wreck but they had saved ad- joining buildings from destruction. THE CROSS AND THE FLAG. 17 There was a kindly-hearted Episcopal clergy- man in London who made it his business, when air raids were on, to go out and tiy to comfort the distressed in his parish. This night he himself met his death. This war has developed forms of destructive- ness men never dreamed of. Science has been harnessed to the Red Horse of War and been turn- ed into an instrument of fruitfulness extreme. London has had many troubles and dark days. War has cast its shadows upon this great city many a time. It has felt the blast of the war king for centuries past, but never perhaps, has war's dreadfulness come so close to her as in this crisis. London was a treasure-house during this war. She had to bury many of her treasures. London has the greatest Museum in the world, but during the war it had to be shut up and its priceless manuscripts and books, brought down from the distant past, had to be hidden where the incen- diary bomb could not destroy them. London has the most wonderful Cathedral in the world — Westminster Abbey — portions of that, during the war, was closed to visitors because of the priceless relics of ancient days housed there. Many of the statues in public buildings had to be sand-bagged to preserve them in case of air raids. The London police have a great organization during the war, and no stranger is allowed to come there or go away without their consent. They have on their records my history, my photograph, 18 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG. my address, etc. They could lay their hands on me at any time if I did contrary to their regula- tions. One thing I was constantly reminded of as I traveled about those European countries, how im- portant a thing it is to have a good record and to so live that you can stand the strictest kind of scrutiny. I was reminded too that how one stands abroad depends greatly upon his record at home. It further impressed me with the fact that every man's record is being kept in the sky, and the day of Revelation is going to be a hard day on those who neglected to keep on good terms with Head- quarters. London is the city of John Wesley, and on Sun- day morning I went to old City Road Chapel and worshipped in the church where the saintly Wes- ley preached and conducted his great Conferences with the early Methodist preachers. City Road Chapel keeps the same shape or form of building as in Wesley's days, but the interior has been em- bellished and beautified by the gifts of money from Methodists from all over the world. The old pulpit from which John Wesley preached is still there. It was a pleasure to stand up in it. Out- side in the church yard are the graves of John Wesley, Adam Clarke, Jabez Bunting, and many other famous Methodist worthies. On the tomb- stone of Adam Clarke, Methodism's greatest Com- mentator, was this inscription : "A man of re- markable mental vigor ; almost unparalled indus- THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 19 try and of expansive and varied learning. A Christian of deep and stedfast piety, firmly at- tached to the essential doctrine and discipline of Wesleyan Methodism." In the afternoon we went to St. PauFs Cathe- dral to worship. The service was strictly ritual- istic as was to be expected. They have here the most famous boy choir in the world — the little fel- lows are taken in charge very young and then de- vote themselves entirely to the one thing of fitting themselves for singing fit for the King — and very frequently they sing before His Majesty because upon all State occasions such as National Thanks- giving, National humiliation and prayer, etc., St. Paul's is made the State Church and Royalty at- tends. Their music on Sunday afternoon was beautiful, especially the Anthem, which embraced Hayden's, "The Heavens are Telling.'' The preacher gave a good gospel message from Paul's words, *T have fought a good fight." London has some fine Methodist movements; the chief one being the Central Mission Westmin- ster. It is an immense structure devoted to great religious enterprises. On Sunday evening we at- tended a great gospel meeting there, which was packed to the galleries with a congregation of per- haps 8,000 people. Rev. Dinsdale T. Young, of Wesleyan Methodism, was the preacher. One thing we noticed particularly was the way those Methodists sang the old-time hymns, and sang them through — not two or three stanzas but the 20 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG whole hymn. One of the hymns is a hymn of my iboyhood — I have not heard it sung in many years. Let me give the first stanza : 0 God, of good the unf athomed sea ! Who v^ould not give his heart to Thee? Who would not love Thee with his might? 0 Jesus, Lover of mankind. Who would not his whole soul and mind, With all his strength, to Thee unite? They sang the whole five stanzas. The sermon was one to m.ake a camp meeting shout over. In fact at times the preacher was interrupted with ''Hallelujah," 'Traise the Lord." It reminded me of old-time Methodism truly, and the preacher was one of the most scholarly and renowned preachers of English Methodism. Preaching about the fin- ished work of Christ he said, *'They say that it is old-fashioned to preach that now. Well then, this preacher is old-fashioned and shall continue to be. What if I should be called to the Bar of God and, instead of preaching the whole counsel of God, I should be charged with trying to please the peo- ple." A visit that we made at Westminster Abbey re- vealed many newly interesting things though we had made previous visits to this most historic Abbey. One very curious thing called to our at- tention was a door on the north side which is known as Demon's Door. It was the custom al- ways to open this door during the progress of the THE CROSS AND THE FLAG. 21 service and keep it open so that the demons who might be inside should be driven out doors by the power of prayer and worship within. We thought that we knew not a few churches in the homeland w^here such a north door would be very handy if it was within the realm of possibility to drive the devils out through it. London has a great history religiously. It was in this great old city that some of the most won- derful events in church history have occurred. Here in London the word of God has been sound- ed forth to the ends of the earth. It was here the great Spurgeon preached for many years the pure gospel, the echoes of which went throughout the whole world. It was here the Wesleyan revival began, and here at City Road was the great head- quarters of the Methodist Movem.ent which swept through the British Isles like flames of holy fire, purging and purifying the nation, and which later crossed the Atlantic engirdling the American States in its arm.s of power and revivalism. But oh, shades of Wesley! What things have transpired since thy day, John Wesley of old Lon- don I The very nation and people among whom Wesley went to obtain a sample of pure primitive Christianity and where he says he found the very best type of Christians, have changed their God ! The God of War has supplanted the G^d of Grace and Glory. The word of God^ — ^the old Bible — has been thrown aside for the new learning and the new culture, and in consequence the whole world 22 THE GROSS ANDi THE FLAG. has been thrust into an abyss of woe such as was never known in all the annals of time. Sad indeed it is that the Germany of the Mo- ravians who taught John Wesley the way of salva- tion and the Germany of Martin Luther, who was God's instrument in bringing on the great Reformation and rediscovering to the Church the great doctrine of Justification by faith should be- come obsessed by lust of power and conquest like the Huns and Attila of old the "scourge of God" among the nations — ^the truce-breaker and defiler, the hated among the nations for her rapine and carnage, her bloody deeds and frightfulness. CHAPTER III. THE BATTLE OF THE SKIES IN PARIS. While the war was on, when one started for Europe, from the moment he put steps on ship- board until the armistice was signed, there w^as absolutely no real safety. Perils on sea, perils on land, perils in the heavens! I had gotten safely to Paris having crossed the English Channel in a crowded ''packet" steam.ship, but was not there very long before I got another baptism of fire. The Germans seemed determined to capture Paris, or destroy it. When they started out in August, 1914, their objective was Paris, and they got with- in 37 kilometres of it, but God, in His good mercy, stopped them, and they never got any nearer. They were marching at the rate of 40 kilometres a day for four days. A German diary found by the French tells about this march: 'The men stumble at every step, their faces all begrimed with dust, their clothes in ribbons ; they look like living rags ; they march with their eyes closed and sing in chorus lest they might drop asleep on the road. The certainty of instant victory and a tnumphant entry into Pans keeps their nerves taut It is the ecstasy of victory that keeps the men alive. That word Paris (on a sign-board) made them simply mad. Some hugged the sign- post with both arms ; others danced around it." 23 24 THE GROSS AND THE FLAG. Paris! What a city to fight for! No wonder that in 1870 when the Prussians besieged it, rath- er than give it up the people of Paris endured the most awful privations, until eventually with star- vation facing them they surrendered. Paris is France reflected in a single city. Here are her artists and orators, her scholars and her soldiers, her lawyers and her statesmen ! Paris is a city of beauty. Statues appear everywhere, many of them are inspired by patriotism, but all are de- signed to be decorative and magnify the artistic taste. Paris is the home of the artists — ^the at- mosphere of Paris, it is said, teaches them mod- eration, clearness, discipline, "divine proportion,'* as Leonardo calls it, but this must be taken in an artistic sense, not in a moral. Morally, Paris is frightfully unclean. The city is built according to plan, and no one can build a house there unless willing to conform to the general plan or setting of the given locality. Paris has few high build- ings. Skyscrapers are unknown there. There are no ^'canyons" of high buildings such as are to be found downtown in New York. During the war there did not exist any ''gay" Paris. It was sombre and sober Paris. At night darkness unrelieved by bright lights took hold of the city and only glimmering street lights were permitted to burn. All windows had to be heavily curtained at night so as not to allow a single ray of light to creep outside because one light might point the way into the city of some enemy air- THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 25 plane hovering on the outskirts of the city. Paris has certainly made a reputation for itself, not alone as the city of art and beauty but as a city of loose morals. The American Army drew a tight line against Paris as a leave center for its men. P^or a long period no soldiers were permitted to go to Paris on leave — officers were also excluded, hut after the Armistice the rules relaxed some and officers were permitted to go there, and some of the privates. In order to guard our men the Y. M. C. A., Red Cross and other American Institu- tions opened up hotels, club rooms, etc., for offi- cers and men. Here everything was on the American plan — American meals, etc., and Amer- ican women supervised a good deal of the work. These places became the natural rendezvous of Americans. They felt at home there, they were given good beds to sleep on, good food to eat, good entertainments, and on Sundays, religious ser- vices. No doubt thousands of Americans in Paris were saved from falling into the toils of the strange women by means of those places provided out of the money of the American people. Be- sides the above, when the American soldier wish- ed to see Paris he did so with the aid of compe- tent American guides who took him around to all the places worth while seeing. During the war Paris was the target of Ger- man's aeroplanes, and latterly of her biggest gun. The Germans had invented a gun that could throw an immense shell seventy-five miles. Paris was 26 THE CROSS AD THE FLAG the target. That gun was designed to terrorize the Parisians and was employed as an adjunct to their desperate drive of March, 1918. The Ger- mans thought that big Bertha would have such a psychological effect upon the Parisians that they would become utterly discouraged, they would be- come broken in spirit — ^but it did not work that way. The big gun did some cruel damages to Paris — the most awful on Good Friday, when the shell fell in a church where there were many worshippers and many were killed, including sev- eral Americans. I had not been in Paris long before one night the alarm was given all over the city that an air raid was in progress. Overhead we could hear the "rat-tat-tat" of the machine guns of the aero- planes as they engaged in deadly combat, from the ground the anti-aircraft guns poured forth their deadliest at the invader. While the fighting was going on everybody was in suspense — no one could tell when or where the enemy bomb might fall. During this night's raid forty-nine were killed. A sad case was that of a French soldier — artilleryman. He arrived home next morning on a ten days' leave, to find that during this raid his wife and two children had been killed. Some bombs fell in the suburbs but did not do much damage to property or to life. Soon the signals were given that the danger was past and people went back to their homes and hotels. Those air raids always had a terrorizing effect THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 27 upon nervous people, the weak and the sick, and no doubt more people died through fear than were killed by falling bombs. Those air raids of the Germans reminded us of the Beast of Revela- tions 13 :13. ''He doeth great wonders so that He maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men." They reminded me, too, of the Judgment Day when woes shall break forth upon the earth and the stars shall fall from their sockets and all nature shall be in convulsions. See the stars from heaven falling. Hark, on earth the doleful cry. Then on rocks and mountains calling. While the glorious Judge draws nigh, ''Hide us, hide us. Rocks and Mountains, from his eye." CHAPTER IV. MY FIRST RELIGIOUS WORK IN FRANCE. My first assignment took me to a large Quar- termasters Headquarters Camp at Gievres lying between Tours and Blois. It was what was known as an Intermediate Camp — ^between the base camps and the front line camp. The engi- neers had done a wonderful piece of construction here, and it was in this vicinity they were con- structing the biggest ice plant in Europe. The Y. M. C. A. hut here was in charge of Rev. Waiter Murray, a Presbyterian preacher from Philadelphia. I continued here about two months. We slept in a tent during those winter months, but had a stove in it, and the last thing at night and the first thing in the morning we had a good fire going. Every morning we would rise at Re- veille, before daylight, have mess with the engi- neers, then come back to the hut, get around the stove and have the Bible read, and pray together. Mr. Murray later joined a fighting division and met his death. One day in July he got under shell fire, two shells falling close to him and he was killed. They buried his body near where he fell. His wife and children lived in East Orange, N. J. In one of my first Sunday services held in the hut here I preached from the text, Hebrew 4:12: 'Tor the word of God is quick and powerful, and 28 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG. 29 sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." In this mes- sage to the soldiers I endeavored to show that if the word of God be so and the Bible be true cer- tain things must inevitably follow. 1. If the Bible is true, sin cannot go unpun- ished. Be sure your sin will find you out. This is true of men and of nations. Germany for her high crimes against law and humanity and against God cannot go unpunished. The sins of Bis- marck of 1870 against the French nation are bringing a terrible fruitage. 2. If the Bible is true man needs a Savior. He cannot save himself or take one sin away. He needs a mighty Savior and he must come to him in the terms of the hymn : ''Just as I am, without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bidst me come to thee, 0 Lamb of God, I come." 3. If the Bible is true God answers prayer. There are times in the life of every man when he feels he must pray. No human power can help him. The promise is that God is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek Him. I set myself to emphasize the religious idea as soon as I got to work in France. I had been a preacher for twenty-five years and I felt that while many Y. M. C. A. men did not care for that 30 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG aspect of the work, yet some of us must hold fast to it. I found among some Secretaries a very cold disposition towards religious work, but some of us never wearied, and all through my fifteen months' service I took advantage of every opportunity to put in religious work and service. Apart from preaching and public meetings I did some Bible class work. In our Bible class work we sometimes find some splendid fellows. I met a young man from Philadelphia who said that until their company got broken up and separated, a number of them used to get together out in the woods and have prayer meetings. Another fine young fellow from Michigan in my tent Monday night had a rich time in his soul as he found out our little meeting place, and two nights after I went with him about two miles up to his barracks where I met about forty other fellows. In my Friday night tent Bible class and prayer meeting a young fellow from Philadelphia gave an interesting testimony. He had been going through a trial and was feeling quite dejected and discouraged all day. Toward evening the mail arrived and brought him, from some good friend, a beautiful Bible with this inscription up- on it : "Endure hardness as a good soldier of Je- sus Christ." He said it seemed like a direct mes- sage to him. He got blessed. It was another proof of God's faithfulness that in the hour of trouble and trial He would remember us in great mercies. Isa. 54:7. THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 31 We went the other night to barracks of Com- pany of to hold a Bible class with them. When we reached there I witnessed a most interesting scene. The mail had arrived and it had brought letters that had been looked for, for four weeks. Shall I describe the scene? The barracks w^as lighted only by candles and up against a wall elevated on some boards was the fellow who had the mail and another holding the candle over him so he could see to read out the names — ^what a shower of letters some boys from Michigan re- ceived ! Well suffice it to say I had no Bible class that night, and no one could blame the boys. They wanted to read letters from mother and father, sisters and brothers and sweethearts. CHAPTER V. DOING FIELD WORK ON HISTORIC SOIL. I was assigned by the director of religious work in Paris, to do some preaching and lecture work up the Marne where Joffre and Foch made history in 1914. On my way up by train, as we arrived at Chalons, I saw my first daylight battle in the skies. At London and Paris I had been thrust into air raids but it was night and there was noth- ing visible. Here at Chalons the enemy was visi- ble and he certainly was given a race for his life by the French. Chalons is a famous old French city. Here the Huns under Attila, the "scourge of God," in the Fifth Century was defeated ; 165,- 000 combatants lay dead on the field of battle and Attila was sent back into Germany. It was close to here in the early days of our late war that the Germans suffered their great initial defeat and setback by Joffre and Foch. It was the first battle of the Marne and was fought out for seven days, Sept. 5-12. The Germans had 900,000, the French and British 700,000. The British forces only being one-thirtieth of the whole as their army at this period was a very small one. On the night before the opening battle Joffre issued to his troops this message: ''When the battle begins in which the fate of the country 32 THE GROSS AND THE FLAG 33 begins, every man must be reminded that the time is past for looking behind. When a unit can no longer advance it must keep at all costs the ground gained and die v^here it stands rather than fall back. No flinching can be tolerated." I was preaching at Mailly, also at Hausemuth, and in going between the two places I had to pass through Somme Sous. It was here I was told that Foch broke the backbone of the Germans in this great battle of the Marne. It was a death strug- gle. If the Germans had won here they would have captured Paris next day. Paris knew this and did a most extraordinary thing. The Gov- ernor of Paris, Gallieni, requisitioned every taxi cab, automobile and such like that he could lay his hands on — 1,000 of them — and, contrary to ortho- dox military strategy, emptied his garrison of troops and sent them on to help Joffre win the battle of the Marne. What saved the day for the French (and for the Allies )was Foch discovering a break in the German line and driving a wedge through it. After three days of terrific fighting in which he had been beaten back time and again, he sent this cheerf ul message to Joffre who was then in charge of the French forces: "The situation is excellent, my right is driven back, so is my left, I am pushing my center forward.'* It was by pushing his center forward that he won the battle. As I rode through this piece of country, graves of French and German dead were on both sides 34 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG of the road, sad reminders of the bloody struggle. It was while preaching in this section that I met for the first time some soldier boys who were stu- dents at Taylor University. It was a delight to meet them and talk of old times. One young fel- low, the son of a preacher out West, was especial- ly desirous of meeting me and talking over some of his difficulties. We talked after the service. I counseled him as best I could, and then under the pine trees we bowed together in prayer to the Mighty God whom we felt to be as near to us in France as in America. I remember my messages were based largely, during this trip, on Romans 1:16 and Acts 25:19. Before the evening service I took tea with the Major and Chaplain. Both of them were devout men. The Major was a constant attendant upon religious services and the Chaplain was a man who had the religious interests of the men at heart. The Y. M. C. A. Secretary at this hut was Mr. Fitt, son-in-law of the great Moody. It was just after Passion Week I visited this section, and all through Passion Week Mr. Fitt held nightly religious services. CHAPTER VI. THE STORY OF A LITTLE FRENCH VILLAGE. It was the little village of Montribourg not far from Chaumonth, the headquarters of the Ameri- can Army in France. Troops of the Third Bat- talion, Thirty-eighth Regiment, Third Division, arrived there from Brest in April. The village was in a pretty valley along the whole length of which ran a splendid stream of water. When we arrived there spring was just setting in and adorning the landscape with pretty colors, flow- ers were just peeping out of their places, birds were beginning to sing, the meadows were turn- ing into a beautiful green and all around nature was doing her utmost to make things pleasant and pretty for the American soldier visitors. The vil- lagers were not many ; some were very old. There were no young men, they were away to the war. Of children there were only about a score or more, but a better lot of children could not he found in France. It did not take the soldiers and officers long to get fixed. I myself had my hut and headquarters and "sleeping apartments" in a a big stone barn. I slept overhead on the thresh- ing floor until the m.ice got too busy at night, and I found my bed elsewhere in one of the homes. Soon the villagers and the Americans got to know each other and the most pleasant relations 35 36 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG prevailed — the French never attempted to take advantage of the Americans in prices, etc., and the Americans, from the officers dov^n, never showed anything but the utmost courtesy to the men, women and children of the village. I be- came known in that village by the troops as "Holy Joe," and by the children and the villagers as *'Oncle (Uncle) George." The nickname **Holy Joe," was started by some "regulars" of the old army who had a certain chaplain to whom they gave that appellation. The boys generally took hold of it and as they found it sometimes difficult to remember my name they found "Holy Joe" quite handy. I became "Uncle George" to the children be- cause I grew so fond of them and played with them so much and always remembered them when apples or oranges or any other kind of goodies came down to my hut. One little girl by name Louise, live years of age and an orphan — ^her fath- er was killed in the war — and I became fast friends. I grew very fond of that little child. She was very shy and at first would not come near a soldier, but eventually I won her and she would come to me and we would take walks in the flow- er-bedecked fields, and those two months I was in that little village little Louise helped me greatly to overcome homesickness. That little child seemed to feed my hungry heart. At night when at her mother's knee she would say her rosary (she was a Catholic, as all the villagers were) THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 37 she would always remember to pray for ''Uncle George." The period we spent in this little French village was a period of training and preparation. Every day the soldiers would go out to the drill grounds. Their days were busy ones. They rose at 6 a. m. and had mess. Then at 8 they marched out to the fields above the village where they drilled and practiced all the varying arts and maneuvers of war as it pertained to the Infantry. The officers were a fine set of men — some from the East, some from the West, some from the South. Gap- tain Nixon, the commanding officer, was a fine soldier. He was in the fight at Belleau Woods and was carried out blinded for life. Lieutenant Cramer, from Kansas Cit3% was a bright young fellow. He was killed going into Fismes with a message. Lieutenant Johnson, from the South, came from a splendid home. His mother used to write him a letter every day. He was killed in the Argonne. I was enabled in this village camp to carry out my own program of activities and made Sunday a day of worship as far as I could. We had two preaching services and Sunday school in the afternoon. Then once a week on Wednesday ev- enings, I held a service. Very often the French people would come to our services. They liked to hear the Americans sing, though they could not understand the meaning. There was a French Catholic church 38 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG in the village, but it could not maintain a priest so the people who wanted to go to mass went to the neighboring village Company. Among those who always attended our religious services were some Catholics and Jews. I had a few Jewish soldiers in that outfit who were among the finest fellows I have met in the Army, and they were devout and thought of and prayed to God. As Decoration Day approached we began to make preparations for a celebration. Captain McMillan was going to have the companies assem- ble in the morning and we were going to remem- ber America even though we were in France, but to the surprise of everybody, orders came in from headquarters to move. Now up to this time I had not been near the front, but our Division Secre- tary, Mr. Danforth, told me one day that all Sec- retaries who were acceptable to officers and men, and who did good service would move with the troops when they went front. I was now equipp- ed with my helmet and gas mask and other acces- sories and was ready to go along. My trunk and belongings which I could do without were to be left behind with other excess baggage — ^all that I was permitted to take was my bed roll and what things I could carry along in that. The day we marched out of that little village was a memorable one in more senses than one. The village people hated to see us go ; they said "au revoir" to us with tears in their eyes, and the children cried too. Lieut. Pitts was telling of one THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 39 good soui who had mothered quite a few of the boys, that she told him how sorry she was they were going. Oh, he said, other troops will be here after we go. "0, no," she said, "we don't want them, there will never be any like yours. My little Louise clung to my neck and kissed me through her tears. We said "au revoir" and departed and went out from that little village where peace and quiet and contentment reigned, to be ushered upon another scene within a few days where the air was filled with booming guns, where war in reality was being waged, where there was hurry and confusion and congestion, and the voices of Captains giving orders, the whirling of the heavy wheels carrying supplies and guns and ammunition to the front, and the smoke of burning towns annd villages, and the flight of their people with what they could carry away on their backs, in go-carts, in dog-carts, voitures, etc. We had intended the last Sunday we were in our little village to have communion. The Chap- lain and myself had planned a good program as we thought. The Sunday before I was preaching at night to the boys of two Companies on ''Moses' Choice," and I was led to press the subject of per- sonal decision for Christ preparatory to our Com- munion Service. When I called for those who would, four young fellows at once responded. The next day, after drill hours I met one of them and asked him how he had gotten on during the day, 40 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG and he said, 'Tine. I got through today without any swearing." Alas, for our Communion Ser- vice and our plans for the same ! The next Sun- day we were traveling and no chance for anything like religious services. CHAPTER VII. THE STORY OF JOHN GRACE OF THE ARMY. Wlien the war broke out John Grace was in school preparing for his life work as a minister of the gospel. He was the only son of his mother and she was a widow, but she was a very devout woman and she sacrificed much to give her boy an education and fitness for life's work and battle. John was a good boy, he had experienced the sav- ing grace of God in a great revival held in Phil- adelphia by a noted evangelist, and after his con- version John showed by his changed life to his comrades in the machine shop in which he worked after leaving school, that divine grace keeps a fel- low clean and straight, makes him a good work- man and a thorough man. John, sometime after his conversion, felt called to devote his life to the ministry and, though to obey this call meant the surrender of a good job and good wages, he yield- ed to his conviction and started in to prepare him- self for the ministry, but very soon the war broke out and believing in the righteousness of the cause, he 'believed it was his duty as a patriot to offer his service to his country and not try to es- cape the draft under the plea that he was a di- vinity student. At the same time he felt that he could do more good if he should be attached to some branch of the army where he could aid the 41 42 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG sick and wounded, so he joined the medical de- partment. He was resolved that he would not sur- render his Christian principles in the army ; that he would not hide his colors, that he would seek to b€ a true soldier of Jesus Christ as well as a good soldier for his country. So when he went into the camp he looked around for an opportuni- ty to serve his Master's cause. The camp was sit- uated at a place where there were no religious services as chaplains were very scarce and there was nobody officially present to look after relig- ious matters. So he sought out a few fellows of like mind with his own and they thought out a plan for religious activities. There was an old church building up in the town which was not in use, and they went around and saw the trustees and secured permission to use this building for re- ligious service. They then went to the command- ing officer and secured his consent. The first Sun- day the interest was excellent. Officers came, sol- diers came and two splendid services were held, and thus for many Sundays John Grace brought to his camp and his comrades the gospel, and it proved a great blessing. But the pathway of John Grace's soldier life was not always an easy one. He had to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and often was he subjected to the scorn and the scoffs of the scorner. On one occasion he had to under- go a very severe test. A number of fellows one night took the wrong direction, and upon evil bent THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 43 went into the forbidden house where bad women lure and destroy, and whilst there the military po- lice raided the place and the soldiers found there were summoned to appear next morning before the Colonel. Some one in the crowd gave the name of John Grace and the next morning his Sergeant said to him: ''Grace, you are wanted at the Col- onel's this morning." Grace expressed his amaze- ment by saying, "Wanted at the Colonel's? What for?" "What for?" said the Sergeant. ''Weren't you with that bunch that got raided down town last night?" Grace's reply was, "Why, no, I was not there, I ^vas in my quarters early last night. If I am to report at the Colonel's, I don't know what for, but all right, I will go." The Sergeant looked at him square in the face, and to Grace's utter surprise he said: "Grace, you needn't go, I will go to the Colonel and will answer for you. I have been watching your life and I am sure that you wouldn't be found in such a place as that joint they raided last night." The Sergeant was an old army man, not given to much indulgence with his men, gruff and stem, and this was the first time Grace had ever receiv- ed any special favor at his hands, but it brought to John Grace fresh assurance that his life in the army was telling for God, and ever after this he and the Sergeant have been the best of friends. A further evidence of the worth of Christian young men in the army is found in the fact that John Grace so conducted himself before his su- 44 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG perior officers and gave such repeated exhibition of manly and Christian conduct that he was grant- ed some privileges commonly denied enlisted men. One thing, perhaps more than another, that in- gratiated him v^ith his chiefs was his unselfish- ness and his readiness to help the other fellow. For instance, when Private Johnson got badly hurt and laid in his billet where it was almost impossible for him to sleep John Grace, knowing his condition, reported as usual to his quarters and turned in but he was concerned about his suf- fering comrade and, unknown to those sleeping around him, he quietly crept out and went over and spent the night with the hurt soldier attend- ing to his needs and alleviating his sufferings. Grace had no thought that anyone had observed this action of his, but someone had knowledge of it, because a few days after a sergeant remarked in the presence of some officers: "Well, if it hadn't been for Grace spending the night caring for Johnson he might have died.'' Those repeated acts of kindness and unselfish- nes's on John Grace's part and his all-round Christian conduct won for him the esteem of his comrades and the confidence of his officers. John had upon his heart to minister if he could, to the boys who were in the "Mill" or camp prison. There were not many, it was true, but Grace thought that perhaps he could do some good to them. So he applied for permission to visit them. He received the following written permit: THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 45 To the Officers of the Guard : Private John Grace, A. C. No. 7, has the Com- manding Officer's permission to visit prisoners in the Guard house in the performance of his duties. L. F. F., First Lieutenant U. S. Police Officer. Related as John Grace was to the medical corps he, of course, had duties to perform in connection with the hospital, but he was not satisfied with mere duty. He wished the privilege of visiting the sick in hospital v/hen off duty and of doing some little acts of kindness as well as dropping a word of religious comfort or admonition or invita- tion, giving a Testament, a tract here and there, praying with some fellow who needed comfort and help. It was a question in John's mind as to whether he would be ganted this privilege or not and it was with some hesitancy he requested it, but it was readily granted as the following permit will show: "Private John Grace, (M.D.,) has permission to visit the hospital w^ards from 7 to 7 : 30 p. m. whenever he desires. Major C. M. Surgeon." When I met John Grace it w^as in camp where things were unavoidably crowded and the men were billeted in all kinds of places. I met John coming down the street with a bundle of hay un- der his arm and he remarked to me, ''1 am going to make me a bed. Come up and see my quar- 46 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG ters." I went in through a narrow door which led to a crooked stairway very dark. Up on the attic floor were the beds of some eight or ten sol- diers and here was where John and I had a good heart-to-heart talk on religious matters and things of common interest. In that old attic room we bowed in prayer together and prayed for one an- other and the work of the Lord among the boys of the American Expeditionary Force. I came from that room thankful that young men of John Grace's disposition are found in the Army. They are as salt, as exemplars, as lights. They have to stand much temptation. Of course, they have environments not at all conducive to re- ligious life but it is often amid untoward sur- roundings that the strongest Christians are built. CHAPTER VIII. UNDER FIRE. While on our way to the front the Germans were putting across another great offensive and Paris was once again put in great danger. Once our train was diverted and word came to us that we had to go to the defence of Paris. Once while the train was held for further orders word was passed on to the troops that we may have to go into action at once. War v/as coming very close to us now. But the enemy was held, and instead of going to Paris we were ordered on toward Chateau Thierry. We derailed at Conde, and that evening the distant hills were covered with the smoke of burst- ing shells and burning villages, and towns. Just think, France lost 240,000 houses during the war. Conde was now being emptied of its inhabitants because of shell fire. Evidences were on every hand visible of the awf ulness of war, bombers had done some deadly work here. That night I slept under fire for the first time. Our battalion was located in the woods of a fine old Chateau. We slept on the ground, but though we could hear the roar of distant artillery that night, no harm befell us and I had my first night's rest under fire without any mishap or losing any sleep. The next morning all was hurry and con- 47 48 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG jestion. The roads were lined with all kinds of traffic. The French and American troops were together. I ate my breakfast with a "merchant" Y. M. C. A. from St. Louis. Our "table'* was a fence railing, but we ate our bacon and hard tack and drank our coffee with a relish. We hiked that day towards Chezy, just over from Chateau Thierry, and I remember so well my first sight of the enemy observation balloon. Away over about five miles distant perhaps, there it was. Lieutenant Cramer said to us, "Men, you must keep out of sight. See over there is the enemy. You must not be walking about where you can be observed or we will have some shelling.'' I recall several things about this day's hike. It was a warm day and the boys had heavy packs to carry. We halted at a certain point where was a farm house by the side of the road. The boys went in quest of water to fill their canteens, when an old lady with a sweet, motherly face came out with a big pail of water and two glasses and she took such delight in giving those thirsty boys drink. When night came on and it was a question as to where we should sleep, the officers went into the town and were given beds in the houses now vaca- ted by their owners. I was given possession of a whole house. I was expecting some of the officers to put up with me but they got fixed up elsewhere, so I was given this elegant house as mine. T thought much of the melancholy aspects of war THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 49 as I viewed this beautiful house left by its aged owner in the care of a French Major and of his turning it over to us of the American army for the officers' use. Here is a home having all the evi- dences of wealth, refinement, education and relig- ion. Upon the door is a religious emblem bearing the words: '*Car Jesu sacratissimum misere no- bis." The furniture and furnishings are the very finest, room after room is just filled with the gath- erings of years evidently and photographs upon the walls tell of grandparents, parents and chil- dren, and no doubt in this elegant home there were many delightful gatherings of children and grand- children. The court is a thing of beauty planted with fruit trees and profuse wdth flowers of many varieties — ^here are poppies and primroses and daisies and blue bells and lilies and the white rose and carnations. And scattered beneath the cosy arbors are numerous seats and resting places. Here; as I write, instead of the laughter of merry children and the young folks and old folks conversing 'mid happy scenes and surroundings, all is desolation. The piano in the parlor is un- opened, the only music now to be heard is the roar and w^hiz and burst of the guns. Just a couple of hours ago, the enemy got the range on us and threw a few bombs near the church — it tore away the roof of yonder house, but more will be coming. Last night I went to sleep to the thunderous roar of the guns. I was tired, as the French would put it, "tres fatigue.'* We had marched quite a- 50 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG stretch and one af the boys with bursting head- ache fell out and I took his pack (weighing only about 75 pounds) and carried it for him a distance of perhaps five miles and therefore it did not take long for sleep to come to me when I lay me down in a soft feather bed. And though the guns roared and the concussion shook the windows and doors yet I slept the sleep of the just and the unafraid and rose in early morn rested and refreshed. That evening we had orders to move. We moved under cover of darkness, of course. None of us could tell where we were going. We went on and on till we were halted by a message from the front that we must proceed no further but return. For the first time I saw those night flares which the Germans threw up with such lightening effect. It seemed as though none of the allies had anything that could equal those German flares. They illu- minated the country all around about and tend to give the enemy the location of their enemies. We were hiked back to Chezy, and I went back to find my house occupied by officers and men of another outfit. A number of oflficers went in search of quarters and at length we came to a house that we had to gain access to through the win- dows. It was another splendid home with every- thing left in the most perfect condition. Evi- dently it was the home of a French officer who had spent much time in Africa with the French army. We found delightful beds and had a good night's sleep. It may seem strange to the civilian in THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 51 America that we should take possession of homes this way but let it be remembered that in the war zone everything is in the hands of the army and they may do with it as they deem necessary. Then again, we never can tell when a town or city in the ''zone" might be completely destroyed by shell fire, and all those delightful rooms, beds, furnishings, etc., ruined. When passing through those desert- ed areas the laws of warfare permit the army to make use of things necessar>^ I have thought often of Chezy since that night. I imagine the frightful bombardment of that Saturday night, July 14th, w^hich was kept up for ten hours must have wrought irreparable devastation to that town which w^as just across the river from Cha- teau Thierry. CHAPTER IX. CHATEAU THIERRY. We have seen the army behind the lines in the great base camps where seldom a gun is heard and only rarely an aeroplane was to be seen. We have seen the troops in the camps where, after their arrival in France they were taken for special drill and training. Now we are seeing the army in real action and we write this within the fight- ing zone just a stones throw from the enemy, and as we write the boom, boom of gunnery and the buzzing of aeroplanes fill the air and every soldier is constantly on the alert not knowing the min- ute when he might be called to jump into the fray and fight for the cause which brought him here as well as for his own life. SHELL FIRE. To many of us shell fire had been a matter of newspaper and magazine knowledge only, we had seen pictures of the thing and had drawn up all kinds of imaginary notions of it, but to behold the real thing, to be into it, to be a dodger of the shells as they fall about you is another thing. I have been frequently on roads where the shells had been quite busy. The other day I had to go over to Y. M. C. A. supply headquarters on the front to look after some supplies for my companies, and 52 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 53 had to go by a road which every now and then had shell holes in it, and I could never tell when an- other shell might fall behind me or in front of me and one felt a bit as though he was pursued by an unseen enemy, and a feeling of comfort hardly came back till I was completely without range of German positions and could no longer be seen by their powerful field glasses. They have been known to shoot at individuals even with shells. Some engineers were telling me the other day they were engaged doing a piece of work when shell after shell followed them. Somehow when in the zone one learns the knack of knowing how to "duck" or dodge the shells when they come along, and thank heaven, as a general thing you can hear the whistle of the thing a few seconds before it hits the ground, and this gives you a chance, if you are quick, to jump into a dug-out or behind a rock or tree, or throw yourself prone on the ground, and yet this does not always insure safety. The other day a fine young fellow who had gone through the spring drive in safety lost his life just a little down the line from my dug-out, because the shell hit a little too close to where he had jumped. His chum got it likewise and lived only a few hours after, but it is surprising how coolly our boys take these things. It is a rare thing to find a fellow that is scared. Yesterday I was visiting various platoons and dealing out some Y. M. C. A supplies to them when shells were screeching over our heads. Sometimes they came 54 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG a bit too close but through it all the fellows were as full of humor as though nothing was happen- ing. I think it can be written down that the American soldier is not afraid of danger and as he nears the firing line the more nerve he seems to get. A Lieutenant said to me last night that it was a great surprise to him as his men came into real action to find some fellows who were, in ordi- nary times, considered no good that they proved to be fellows of courage and daring, and volun- teered for the most dangerous service when oocca- sion arose. I went down with a Sergeant to see a Lieutenant on the front. When I got there I met a number of the boys whom I had not seen for a week or more, the companies having been sepa- rated by several kilometres. They were glad to see a Y. M. C. A. man again, and then told me how much they liked the very front lines. They pre- ferred it to the rear. Just across were the enemy positions, within a stone's throw almost, and the little, and once prosperous, happy town lay empty and dejected with its fine church a wreck and its people fied, no one knows where. Such is war! And I thank God that the one thing that is bring- ing Americans over here is to protest against this kind of thing and make it possible that Europe can, after this war is over, live without the fear that at any moment war lords who make war a business shall not project upon humanity another such calamity as world-wide war. Though, at the same time, I have my doubts whether wars will THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 55 ever be a thing impossible as long as sin is in the human heart and the devil is doing business. France has hardly known fifty years straight his- tory without war. It is to be hoped she may go centuries without another, and England also, and America. LIFE IN A DUGOUT. To live in a dugout is an experience rather un- usual indeed. One feels a bit of surprise at times at the way men take to this kind of thing when it becomes a necessity of war as well as a matter of safety and protection. I have seen men living in holes in the ground, in holes dug out of the side of the bank as well as in the larger dugouts capable of holding quite a number. A friend of mine, a professor of languages from down south, has his abode in a hole in the wall, and the captain has the same. I am with several Lieutenants, and a Captain in a large dugout. The advantage of a dugout is, you are protected from shell fire, and then the enemy aeroplanes cannot locate you and you can sleep free from the feeling that bombs might get you as you sleep. I have thought frequently of those words of Jer. 49:8, ''Dwell Deep," as I have come in contact with the dugout outfit. It is a good thing on the danger line to dv^ell deep. Spiritually it is like- wise so. The soul that dwells deep in God may have a thousand enemies pursue it but is safe from the enemy. Moses dwelt deep in God, and Enoch and Elijah and Daniel and Paul. Though 56 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG all the world was against them and the "times" were opposed to them their refuge was in God and they dwelt safely. Life in a dugout is very sim- ple. Lots of things you don't have to do; you don't have to sweep the floors or dust the furni- ture or be careful of the furnishings, and then you are not so very particular about the matter of attire. There are no tailors around the corner to press your uniform, and as you have to sleep witn your clothes on ready to jump up and out in a mo- ment if need be, you don't grow very particular, and then as you never meet any of womankind you don't mind being a bit rough in appearance for the time being. Then again, you don't have to be over careful about the dining-room. Your eating uten- sils are neither china nor glass, but tin or alumi- num, and your dining table may be a box, or a rock, or a patch of straw. You have to forego napkins, etc., but invariably you have a good ap- petite and are always ready when mess time comes around. The other night I had to visit a company quite a distance away, and in reaching them I had to pass through some very interesting bit of terri- tory, and in returning had to meet many a guard who, in compliance with his orders, halted with bayonet fixed and pointed at everyone who came by. The important thing at a moment like that is to stand still and not move till told to advance with the countersign. I of course had the coun- tersign and was permitted to pass, arriving back THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 57 at my dugout about midnight. I had no sooner laid down than the gas alarm was sounded and a Lieutenant rushed in and yelled ''Gas." This is a cry often heard within the war zone, and woe to the soldier who neglects to heed the warning. In- stantly I grasped my gas mask and put it on. For- tunately this was not a severe attack and none of us had to Iceep the uncomfortable gas mask on very long. SOME MORE THINGS ABOUT THE WAR. About this war there is not much of the poeti- cal, it is nothing but practical drab v/ar with no brass band attachments. Often we read of the soldier marching into battle with flags flying and bands playing, etc. Not so in this war. You nev- er hear the band play within the war zone, and the musicians them.selves are called upon to be stretcher bearers and perform other duties. There are no flags flying, because it is important that your positions should not be known by the enemy who has his aeroplanes flying all over, observing all movements, besides there are observation bal- loons constantly being employed and the man sit- ting up in that observation seat with his balloon attached to the ground can see for many miles with his all-powerful glass all that is going on. The other day I was passing through some coun- try where the artillery was located. The men who operated those guns were far behind the actual scenes. They really knew nothing themselves as to how things were going, and every shot was 58 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG fired at the direction of the man at the telephone and he in turn got his instructions from the man at the observation point, and that may be in an aeroplane, a balloon, or some other vantage point. The gunner is an important factor in war, but one is struck by the fact that he does all his v^ork un- observed and hidden in a place where it is impos- sible for him to make observations. To me this illustrates many points in religious warfare. Some of the most important work has to be done away from the limelight where the public eye cannot see and where there can be gotten no inspiration from the crowd. Many a saint on his knees un- observed by anyone except God, does a greater work for the kingdom than many a one who wins the plaudits of the crowd. Daniel alone in his se- cret chamber praying three times a day did more to promote religion in Babylon than all the lords and grandees in the kingdom. Father Nash pray- ed down more revivals of religion than a battal- ion of time-serving preachers could bring to pass in a thousand years. Then in gunnery I am re- minded that all the directions come from someone above. The gunner does not act on his own ini- tiative, but does as he is told to do by the one aibove — ^he is given the exact direction, the dis- tance, the range, and away he sends the fatal bul- let and it is wonderful to behold the exactness with which the gunner strikes his blows. I passed a big farm house yesterday which was literally hacked to pieces by artillery fire. It was an im- THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 59 portant point and its destruction was a matter of necessity. Then I observe the artilleryman is required to be faithful unto death. Recently I passed an ar- tillery embankment no longer in use but beside it was a grave and it bore a wooden cross upon it with the inscription in French, ''Here lieth Bour- nard Pascal, Cist Artillery, who died for France.** The date was also given and his soul was commit- ted to God. A number of American artillerymen in the recent battle have been cited for bravery. One gunner is named especially-— his whole gun crew had been wiped out and he himself was se- verely wounded by a shell, he crawled to his com- pany commander and asked for other men to man the gun, and then crawled 200 yards to turn in parts of the gun he carried in his pocket. The gunner often takes his life in his hands — ^he con- secrates himself to the very death if need be, and many seal their devotion with their blood. We are reminded just here of Rev. 2:10, "Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life,'* which in the French Testament reads thus : ''Sois fidele jusqua la mort et je te donnerari la couronne de vie.** CHAPTER X. MOVING TOWARD THE BATTLE LINES. After leaving Chezy we were marched into Courban where we tarried for over a week. It was here we had our first gas alarm. The ene- my was shelling us with his long range guns, and every day his aeroplanes would fly over us and not infrequently did we witness a fight in the air be- tween the Allies and the Germans. Several times also, did we see our observation balloons go up in flames from the bullets of enemy air craft sent out to destroy them. The observer in the basket, when he saw his balloon was doomed, would cut the ropes of his basket and his parachute arrange- ment would land him eventually on the ground. One day I saw a poor fellow about to descend from his burning balloon when alas ! his parachute caught an fire. Of course he descended to his death. Referring to the gas alarm at Coboum, we had been warned that gas might come our way any day. On this particular night I was sleep- ing on the ground beside the Captain and was fast asleep when about midnight the dre'adful cry "gas" was raised — the gas songs rang out. I awoke immediately and proceeded to put on my gas mask. Fortunately this alarm was not an at- tack. In a few minutes orders were given, *'re- 60 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 61 move gas masks/' I shall never forget that gas cry however! Many a time soldiers have been caught napping when the gas attack came on and they died before getting their gas masks adjusted. Some gas is more dangerous than others. Some will injure you but not kill. Some will work on you gradually — you take it in unawares. Its ef- fects appear hours after when your lungs feel as though they would burn and burst. I have seen gas infected soldiers. They were unable to walk, they gasped for breath, they acted as though they were choking. Their sufferings rendered them unconscious of their surroundings. I can recall one of our own men who got gassed heavy at the Battle of the Marne. They brought him down to the dressing stations. He was crjang like a baby and calling out for his Captain ; crying plaintively, "Captain Smith, Captain Smith!'' While at Courbon one day the German guns broke loose on us and gave us another exhibition of the kind of regard the Hun has for the church- es, for bis gun evidently was trained on the church, and the shell struck the edge of the tower, but did not damage the building. A remark made by an officer set me to thinking: "When under shell fire keep away from the church because the Huns get their range on the town from the church." This was a very sensible remark, be- cause generally in the French towns the church is located right in the center of things. It led me to think away from immediate things 62 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG and to think of the Church of God. And true it is that when evil is raging, the church comes in for the heaviest shelling from helFs artillery, and particularly is this true when it is purposed to make the church the center of things and to put ''Jesus in the midst." From the days of Pentecost down to the present day, the Church of Christ has had to stand the heaviest artillery onslaughts of the Wicked One when she has been most devout, most prayerful, most zealous for righteousness and holiness. Hell tried to destroy the church in the days of the apostles, tried again in the dark ages, tried again in the age of Luther and Cranmer and Bunyan, in the days of the Inquisition and the Armada; but despite it all the church lives on and the words of the Master come back to us vnth enforced mean- ing : will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'' One day we got orders to move on closer to the lines. I remember the Captain saying to me : "We are going to a quiet place. It is in a fine woods which has not been shelled, I think, we are going to have a nice time there and you will like it.'' Little did any of us think that we were go- ing up to the hottest place we struck during the war, and where we shall receive our first bloody baptism in this war. We moved always at night. In actual live warfare there is not much podtry. It is dreadful prose. I saw a picture in the ''Lit- erary Digest" last fall showing troops being led THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 63 up front headed by a brass band ! Such a thing would be absurd and the man who put that thing together must have dreamed things, not \^dtnessed them on battle fronts. Oh no, we are not led into front lines and into battles by bands of music. We march at night, and in the dead of night. This was a dark night when we moved into and up that hill between St. Eugene and Crezancy on the Marne. When we reached the woods it was so densely black that we could hardly see where we were going. Occasionally v/e caught sight of a French soldier — we were relieving the French that night. When we got in the woods orders were given to lie down just where we were and make the best of it till morning. This w^as July, and fortu- nately the nights were not very long and the morning broke early. Numerous dugouts were in these woods and some of the stopping places of the French officers and men who held this place prior to our coming into it were artistically fixed up. The French are artistic even when it comes to war. They had all manners of rustic seats, tables, etc., located in pretty bowers. I had my canteen located in one of those bowers and slept on the ground. The days were delightfully summer like, the nights were short but noisy. Our hill was lined with artillery, and it was always particular- ly active at night. Some nights the guns did over- time and time and again the vibration from the guns would shake the ground upon which I was 64 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG sleeping and I would be roused from sleep. One gun, a naval gun, was particularly noisy. One night the noise became so suddenly terrific that I jumped up and ran over to inquire of the Lieutenant what was happening. Days wore on till things began to assume a se- rious aspect. Orders went all over the camp to ''dig in." The men were set to work at dugouts. Every man had to be provided for sleeping in a dugout. This was a very fortunate order as events proved. If we had not "dug in'' our casual- ties the night of July 14 would have been im- mense. If I had slept that night on the ground instead of in a dugout I would not have been alive next day to tell the story. The place where my canteen was and where had been my former sleep- ing place had been hit by several shells and my goods were scattered pell mell. An attack was expected Sunday, July 7th. There were many signs of activity among the Ger- mans, and both French and Americans looked for the offensive on Sunday night, July 7th, but that night passed by, but in another week the battle raged in all its fury. CHAPTER XL MY BAPTISM OF FIRE. Since writing my last I have had an experience that will be engraven upon my memory as long as that faculty continues to exist. I have often read of battles and have imagined what they are like. I have thought at times that I should like to be a distant spectator of one, but I hardly thought so soon that I would be right into the heart of one, and endure shell-fire and all other things that go with it, and then through the good providence of God come out of it safely. Yes, I came out of it whole, but considerably broken in strength and nerve, so much so that as a result of keeping on my feet in service during the first w^eek of battle, I finally, on the second Sunday afternoon after being under heavy shell- fire again, had to give up and go to the rear and spend a few days in the hospital resting up. The battle which may be know as *The Battle of Chateau Thierry," or otherwise spoken of as the 'The Second Battle of the Marne," began Sunday midnight, July 14. This w^as the great French holiday — ^their Fourth of July. Possibly the Ger- mans took advantage of that event, thinking that they might find the French off guard, but the fact was the French were looking daily, almost hourly, 65 66 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG for the attack. We all expected it July 12, our troops were ready and waiting for it. On the previous Sunday, July 7, we all felt it was close at hand, and preaching on that day to our men I used the text in Samuel, "Be of good courage and play the man,'' etc. Sunday evening of the battle 1 preached on ' 'Proclaim liberty to all the inhabi- tants,*' etc. That was my last message to many Americans. Many died, many were wounded, a few were made prisoners. I went to my dug-out about eleven o'clock Sun- day night and laid down to sleep. I was all alone as the soldiers were busy at night in preparation for the impending attack. At midnight, all of a sudden, there was the roar of cannon on all sides. 'Cannon answering to cannon, and Germany put across on our territory and troops one of the most terrific bombardments known since Verdun — in- deed some of the French officers who had been at Verdun declared that it was equally as ferocious as Verdun. For several days we had poured into the German ranks thousands of shells — one night 10,000 shells, and it was a matter of surprise to many of us that they had made no reply, but evi- dently the Germans saved everything for their one grand offensive of July 14 and 15. When they opened their batteries on the American and French positions that night it was something al- most indescribably furious. The Third Battalion, 38th Regiment with which I was connected were up on a hill. The Germans THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 67 evidently left no spot within a dozen or fifteen kilometers from their lines untouched, but the particular zone in which the troops and artillery were located was the place to w^hich they paid special attention. They sent over little shells, big shells, gas shells, and all other kinds of things, w^hile their aeroplanes bombed us from the sky. What is a bombardment or barrage like, do you ask? Well, it is somewhat hard to describe it. This one was like a hail of iron. The shells came thick and fast. As I sat there in my dug-out all alone and for hours keeping my gas mask on be- cause many shells were the horrible gas shells, I could hear the shells as they came with thunder- ous force and broke all around me. I could dis- cern also from the sound that they were ap- proaching my dug-out and soon they would be ex- ploding all around me. That wonderful old hymn of Wesley's came to me with special emphasis and blessing — with little changes in the words. ''Jesus, lover of my soul. Let me to Thy bosom fly. While the nearer (terrors) roll While the tempest still is high Hide me 0 my Saviour, hide, Till this storm (of shell) is past; Safe into the (morning) guide, 0 (protect) my soul at last." Then, as the thud of the shells fell close to me and I felt them coming closer to me, my prayer was, 68 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG "Cover my defenseless head With the shadow of Thy wing." At length some shrapnell hit the roof of my dug-out and the dirt began to tumble down. I drew nearer the entrance when another hit struck it on the edge. I then thought it was time to get out and seek some safer refuge if possible. So I climbed out and made the most rapid flight to the captain's dug-out, which was more solidly con- structed. When I arrived there it was full and there were several wounded men in it. It was now morning and the shelling was subsiding just a little. As I sat there I saw and heard things which showed up wonderfully the American spirit in this war. I saw runners (despatch carriers from one point to the other) come in and go out in the midst of this hail of fire in fulfilment of their duty. Some were wounded, some were killed and some escaped unhurt. An officer came in and reported to our Captain that the enemy had cross- ed the river and were coming up our hill. What did the Captain say, think you? This is what he said, "We are here to hold this hill to the last man. Lieutenants, call out your men and get them to take up their positions." Instantly the Lieuten- ants,went out and blew their whistles and their men came from their dug-outs — those that es- caped from being wounded — and I saw those American soldiers go forth to their trendhes and positions in the teeth of one of the heaviest ar- tillery barrages the Germans ever put across. THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 69 These men were a part of the 38th Regiment which did the heaviest fighting and contributed more to the undoing of the Huns in this offensive than any- other troops on the battlefield. It is already said that the 38th Regiment is going to be awarded one of the highest war decorations of France for their brilliant services in this engagement. With the Germans close at hand and I being no combatant and carrying no arms Lieut. , said to me, ''Mr. Ridout, you have no means of de- fending yourself, so I think you had better go down to Battalion headqarters." I at once proceeded to the Chateau where head- quarters were, and in getting there it was almost a race for life through the roads and fields with shells whistling through the air and breaking all around. Every now and then as I would hear a shell coming I would prostrate myself flat upon the ground. At length I reached the stone v^all of the Chateau, climbed over hastily and was soon under its shelter, but I was not there long before a sight met my eyes which was reassuring to our American side of the situation. There passed along a big procession of German prisoners. All of them had cast aw^ay their arms, some their helmets, and some were wounded. Many were very young boys and they were glad, most of them said, to be captured, as they were tired of war, and knew now they w^ould not have to be killed. The next thing that confronted me were the wounded being brought in to the first aid station 70 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG at the old Chateau in charge of the doctors and medical corps. Here was plenty of work for all, and that day and the next were days of unceasing activity among the wounded and suffering. I as- sisted in dressing wounded Americans, French and Germans, and after their wounds ^vere drass- ed we took them to big cellars underneath the Chateau and provided beds and mattresses for all. One American, I remember, had a shot wound that pierced his back and evidently passed through his lungs. I gave him drink and tried to quiet him as he cried out, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe." I put my arm beneath his head and tried to soothe him, and when I was called to attend to another wounded he would cry, ''Don't leave me, don't leave me." It was not long 'before he slept the sleep of death, sealing with his blood his conse- cration to liberty's cause. As for the German wounded I felt a great pity for some of them. They were mere boys, and were in the war as the victims of a horrible ma- chine. They were glad, though wounded, to be in American hands. They told us they were sur- prised at our treatment of them — they had been told that the Americans would kill them if they made them prisoners, but how different they found things. I sav^ our American boys share their rations with those German prisoners. They opened their "bully beef" and passed it around among the German boys. They shared out their coffee, and when ni^t came on and several of the THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 71 wounded were suffering considerably, we searched till we found bedding and made them as comfor- table as we could. The next day we saw them off in the ambulances taking them to a rear hospital. It is really re- markable the dispatch with which the wounded upon the battlefield are handled. Within a very few hours they are taken away back to the hospi- tals, and perhaps the same day or the next are on the train for some great base hospital, where ev- erything is at hand from the most eminently skilled surgeon to the merest little detail. Speaking of hospitals what a horrible commen- tary upon the unspeakable cruelty of the Germans is this constant habit of theirs to bomb the hospi- tals. Just close to where I now write — near the Marne River — sl field hospital was bombed two nights ago, and five fellows were killed, and at a larger hospital farther back, where I went one day with a Y. M. C. A. truck with a load of wounded, they told me that for many successive nights the Hun bombarding aeroplanes had been at w^ork there, as well as shelling from a long- range gun. Of course the daily press has been giving the details of this latest battle. It was unquestionably one of the most distinct victories of the war. I have suggested that this may be known as the Battle of Chateau Thierry, but to the Crown Prince, with his contemptuous notions of the American soldier, it may be best known as the Battle of Shattered Theory, because it was 72 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG here that the Crown Prince and his big Generals got all their theories knocked into a thousand pieces, and to save themselves they have had to put up one of the heaviest pieces of the retreating business in the history of the war. I visited, some months ago, the spot where in 1914, at the first Battle of the Marne, General Foch, in a superb piece of strategy, broke the backbone of the German invasion of that time. Again, the Mame has led to Germany's undoing, and given her a humiliating defeat. General Joffre at Verdun uttered those notable words, *'Ils ne passeront pas.*' (They shall not pass). Again we seem to hear those words voiced by the Marne, "They shall not pass." We hear it as it is echoed and re-echoed by over a million American soldiers in France, "They shall not pass." We hear it as the Allies take it up and utter it in many languages, "They shall not pass," and we seem to hear it coming forth from the bleeding heart of an oppressed and sorrowing and crushed Europe, "They shall not pass." And yet again, all that is good and pure, righteous and just in nations, in civilization, and in religion, cries out in thunderous tones, "They shall not pass." CHAPTER XII. THE SECOND BATTLE OF THE MARNE. In the previous chapter I have described some thrilling experiences I had at the battle of the Marne, July 15th. At one time during that battle il was at Bfattalion P. C, that was almost sur- rounded by the enemy and as we sat in the big cave underneath the great Chateau we could feel the building tremble under the concussion of the big German guns that were pouring the iron on us at a ferocious rate, we could also hear the rat- tle of machine guns and the crack of the rifles as foe met foe, and at one juncture of the event I looked quite seriously at the question of how I would like to be a German prisoner and take a trip into Germany at the Kaiser's expense. We Y. M. C. A. men, chaplains, Red Cross workers, etc., are not permitted to use arms, we have no means of protecting ourselves, and if the enemy got too close to us and there was no escape, the only thing we could do would be to surrender, and then — well it would depend a good deal on the temper of our captors wikether we lived or died. At any rate I have found it a great com- fort to be at peace with God and be ready for death or life in the war zone. One thing I did. I had some notes and papers on me that I did not want to fall into the enemy's 73 74 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 'hands if anything happened to me, so I did them up in a small package and tied them to the but- ton-hole of a wounded American soldier who was going into the hospital on the Ambulance, with the instructions that they be handed to some Y. M. C. A. worker. I also wrote a brief letter to my wife, that if she did not hear from me for a month or more to not be concerned, as it mig^ht be that I s^hall be taking a trip to Germany. This letter I sent out also by a wounded soldier wiho was going to the hospital. About 3 p. m. word came up to our Major that the enemy was coming up the road. The Major sent word teck that he intended to hold the lines. However the enemy Was held hack by the brave 38th against tremendous odds. Soon a great counter attack by the French was brought on, and the tide turned against the Germans, ("The Stars fought against Sisera!'*) they were driven out, they retreated, they ran; they were routed, and the greatest victory was achieved for the Allies since 1914. I soon found myself on the victory side, got back my papers and instead of being a German captor myself, I had consid- erable work to do with German prisoners, helping the wounded, etc. I remember how forcibly that Scripture came into my mind during those days that I ministered to them: *'If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing 'thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.*' I can re^call THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 75 one nice looking young fellow about nineteen, his leg was injured severely and he was suffering greatly, he was very quiet but his face revealed his pain. When night came I hunted around till I got some bedding for the poor boy so that he could get some sleep. On the morrow the ambulances managed to get through the shell fire and we sent all our wounded — American, French, and German to the hospitals in the rear, and let it be remembered, the German prisoners who are wounded, get just as good attention as any others. During the battle I refer to we lost a lot of personal property. The German shells tore up my canteen, and I lost some most precious things, among them my handy Bible which had full line of helps, index, etc. It was a library in itself and so compact that I could carry it conveniently in my pocket. It had notes, etc., in it and I had preached much from it in France. It was like losing a dear friend. I had another Bible in my travelling bag in the rear, and lo ! and behold thalfc ibag was lost also, containing not only my Bible, but a lot of valuable papers and other things in- cluding my dress suit — and so it goes when you get in the war zone. But, in a bunch of mail there came to me a Bi- ble — sent by someone whom I do n<^t know, and I am real glad to have a whole Bible again — ^for several weeks I had been obliged to content my- self with a pocket Testament. CHAPTER XIII. AFTER THE BATTLE. The Battle of the Marne, or Chateau Thierry, of July 15, was unquestionably one of the decisive battles of the war. The 38th Regiment, during that engagement, held one of the gateways to Paris. If they had not held the lines the enemy would have got to Paris probably by Wednesday night, July 17, as the Kaiser had prophesied. The defeat they suffered at the Marne turned the tide which ultimately turned the whole current of the war, resulting in defeat and retreat all along the line, for the enemy and eventuating at Sedan, November 11th, with the signing of the Armis- tice. Work in connection with this July 15th battle, together with the nerve-racking experiences I had gone through when on the eighth day going back in the lines where the shelling that afternoon was very heavy I got on a piece of road all alone when three shells — one, two, three, came right up the road, seemingly after me, it was the last kick. I felt my strength leaving me — ^tumbled into a cellar and there waited till the shelling subsided. I just had to give up and go out to the field hos- pital where three days lying in a comfortable cot, getting good nourishing food and good sleep T felt myself again. The Surgeon warned me as I was 76 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 77 leaving that I had no business on the front lines because of my age. "Let the younger men go there," said he, ''and you work in the rear." I did not take his advice hoAvever. In a few days I was back again in the lines and had many things yet to suffer and endure. OTHEPw DRIVES. After returning from the hospital I caught up again with my regiment at Crezancy. In a couple of days we were on the move again — where, we could not tell, but presumed on again toward the front. We moved out of Crezancy about 3 a. m. in the morning — ^this time in French trucks. I well remember how beautiful in the early morn it was to cross the Marne upon newly built bridges. We went on and on till we finally landed in a woods near where that big gun called the Bertha, which' fired on Paris had been in posi- tion. The Germans, before lea\ing, tried to blow up the emplacements but failed because of their ponderous weight of iron. The woods bore many a mark of battle, here and there were French sol- diers lying unburied — one poor fellow presented a never-to-be-forgotten expression. He was in a kneeling posture when the ball struck him in the head, he dropped upon his hands and there he was on hands and knees cold in death ; his face was a striking one denoting, I thought, intellectuality and spirituality. Who knows but what he was one of France's favorite sons, now to be buried as common clay. 78 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG We had orders to move again that afternoon and we entered upon one of the most horrible hikes I think I ever experienced. When we start- ed the sun was shining and the country looked pretty. It seemed glorious to be travelling over such siplendid territory so long in the hands of the enemy, now set free. We hiked on till evening, and then rain came on, and with the rain of course we had mud — slippery, sticky mud. Still we hiked on. As we neared the front lines the enemy seem- ed to have got wind of our coming and began to shell us heavily, but thanks to a merciful Provi- dence, the shells did not fall on the road but in the fields. As we got still nearer, shells came thick and fast and also some one-pounders. If these had fallen on the road where our Brigade was the casualties would have been awful that night. The rain continued to fall until many got drenched to the skin. I took a chill once during a hold-up that caused me to shake all over and it was some min- utes before I got over it. It was a densely dark night making it difficult to keep formations when on the hike. At last the head of our Brigade reached the river to be crossed when alas ! the bridge was blown up. What were we to do ! We down in the center could not imagine what was holding us so long. At last I saw a bunch of men coming back. I called out, ''What outfit are you?" They recognized my voice and said, **Co. M., we are ordered to the rear and you had better come along with us." I did not hesitate what to do, but THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 79 joined them instantly. We started back, we knew not where. Finally, Lieutenant White came along and took charge of us. We went on back perhaps two miles till we struck a woods. Tired, wet, worn, exhausted, I find my brain giving way to strange illusions. As I looked at the trees I thought the spaces between were the broken down walls of houses. I thought there were numerous cellars there, and never did an old cellar seem so good to my imagination as it did that night, but alas 'it was all an illusion. I was in a woods^ — nothing there but trees and bushes, and every- thing soaking wet. It was now about 2 a. m., Sun- day morning, August 4th. I was so completely exhausted that I could have thrown myself down on the wet ground and gone to sleep but fortu- nately some of the boys had shelter tent. We rigged up a pup tent and I crept in with a couple of doughboys and slept soundly. When morning broke it was raining a little but soon stopped. We were all wet but fortunately I had some dry socks in my pack. This helped my feet out. I got out first and then longed for a cup of coffee. I had some coffee and bacon and hard tack in my pack but the question was how to get a fire. It looked hopeless, but I persevered and got together some pieces of wood — an old German bas- ket, (the Germans had been in these woods about forty-eight hours ago) and after many difficulties I got a fire started, got some water and soon had my cup of coffee, fried bacon and hard tack. I sel- 80 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG dom had a breakfast that tasted so good. I en- couraged the other fellows to start their break- fast, and soon we had everyibody busy cooking their bacon and boiling their coffee. It was well on to noon ibef ore ''breakfast'' was over. It was Sunday, and now that the sun was out and the boys were feeling better I started in to remind the boys that it was Sunday by reading a dhapter from my Bible and having family prayers, but this was a case where it was in order, and the most common sense thing to do was to put the nat- ural first and then the spiritual. During the after- noon a friendly kitchen hove in sight and the boys got some supper. The call to move came and we marched on toward Fismes — that dreadful spot where so much American blood was spilled. It was when in the Fismes region that I came nearest losing my life, and this led to my penning the following article : SERVING GOD AMID SHOT AND SHRAPNEL. The other day I was within a few miles of the firing line at a first aid station. The station was in a house very much battered by shell fire. I had reached the place after a walk from an adjoining encampment about two kilometres away. Dur- ing my hike a lot of shells came shrieking through the air and hit away up on a high hill where artil- lery Avas placed. Some of those shells were gas shells, the wind carried the fumes down the val- ley and across the road and I walked right into it but fortunately the fumes were not of the ex- THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 81 tremely dangerous kind. I very soon got my gas mask on, and sat down on the side of the road with some soldiers who were waiting till the firing was through. Arriving at the first aid station I found things had been very busy there as the action up the road had been quite lively, and many of our Amer- ican men had been wounded by machine-gun fire, also by shrapnel. The doctor had his hands full all night and all day, but now the casualties were diminishing, and during our first night there we slept on a stretcher and had a fair night's sleep, but the morning brought some very painful and distressing experiences. Some wounded men had been brought in and we had an ambulance ready to depart for the hospital when a shell came within six or eight feet in front of us, and the flying shrapnel damaged the ambulance so much that w^e had to remove the wounded and bring them back into the aid station. No sooner had we done this than another shell struck right in front of the station and flung its iron, fragments right into the midst of us all. For a few^ moments all was roar and confusion, and the cries and screams of the wounded men filled the air. When things quieted down, and no other shells fell, we proceeded to pick ourselves up and attend to the suffering ones. That awful shell had killed two outright, and had wounded four. It threw the doctor to the ground, and a supply lieutenant 82 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG likewise, but through the good mercy of God I was spared any serious injury, though I had a slight hit on the back and one on the right cheek. The fellow that was badly wounded in the leg cried piteously. I gave him a drink, comforted him, and told him of God who comforts us in our sufferings. Another poor fellow had a most griev- ous wound. I held him While the doctor worked with him, but death got ahead of the doctor, and I had hardly laid his head down before he was gone. I noticed that he had his breast-pocket filled with letters and a book and a piece of shrapnel had hit thalt pocket, had torn into the letters, thus saving his breast from a bad wound. I have fre- quently advised our men to wear the New Testa- ment in the pocket on the heart side, and many a time this precious little book has saved a life as well as a soul. One of those whose life was so suddenly taken away by that fatal shell was an ambulance man, the son of wealthy parents of Patterson, N. J. Those ambulance drivers are brave fellows. They run great risks in going almost up to the firing- line and bringing the wounded out. In some cases those drivers are young women. They drive their cars through roads that are riddled with shell- holes, and many a car bears the mark of shrapnel hits. The Germans seem to make special marks of hospitals, aid stations and ambulances. They ^hell and bomb these places at every opportunity. THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 83 It is a thousand pities that our German enemy should do such an inhuman thing as this, but I know from personal observation that such is true. During the week of the battle, July 15, I had occasion to go down with a load of wounded to a big hospital at Golummiers. This is a large town. For many days it had been bombed from the air, and at night a long-range gun was being fired in- to it. It must be confessed that it is anything but comfortable experience to hospital patients to think that at any moment a bomb might come their way. One of those bombs, however, worked fearful vengeance on the Germans themselves. They bombed a prison hospital and killed 79 Ger- man prisoners. We were at rest for a few days at Crezancy, when the Brigade was ordered on to the Saint Mihiel Drive. It was one dreadful night when we started. The rain poured. Fortunately I found a place in the Regimental Ambulance. We were on the road all night and witnessed the opening of this battle. The following is a good description of this offensive : At 1 o'clock on the morning of September 12, the artillery preparation began with one terrific burst of flame from many hundreds of guns, French as well as American, ranging in size from the 75's to the great seacoast guns, some as large as 400mm. in caliber, which, firing from railway mounts, carried harrassing fire to rail and road junctions as far behind the German lines as St. 84 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG Benoit, Mars-la-Tour, Gorze, Conflans and even Metz. The stupendous bombardment shook the earth for hours, driving the enemy's troops into their dugouts, tearing up their trenches and demoral- izing their communications of every description. Meantime, the hundreds of thousands of Infantry- men, the hundreds of machine guns, the scores of American and French tanks, and the greatest as- semblage of American, British and French avia- tion ever employed for a single operation on the Western front all waited, tense and eager, for the word to sweep forward over the shell-torn fields and roads and trenches which a heavy rain that had begun in the evening was rapidly turn- ing to quagmire. ROLLING BARRAGE STARTS. At 5 o'clock, which was still 20 minutes before daybreak of that wet and foggy morning, the bombardment of the German front lines in the sectors of the First and Fourth Corps suddenly changed to a rolling barrage, and behind it the In- fantry jumped off, preceded by detachments with wire cutters and bangalore torpedoes to destroy the numerous successive belts of German entan- glements. Immediately occurred the first agreeable sur- prise. The enemy's wire was in very poor condi- tion, rusty or broken. Little diflaculty was expe- rienced in passing it, some of the troops even be- ing able to go over or through it without cutting. THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 85 It is well known that the Saint Mihiel was one of the most singularly successful campaigns of the Americans. Great gains were made at but little cost in casualties. I remember when we were about to move into action, we had only about started when \vord came from the front that the enemy had capitulated and that we had taken 13,000 prisoners. It was a time of great joy and exhilaration for the Americans. It was also the beginning of the end for the Germans. After this came the Argonne. This proved to be one of the bloodiest battle grounds to the Amer- icans because of the woods which abounded here and which the Germans were so well acquainted with and had invested so fully with machine guns. While my regiment was in action I stayed at First Aid Station at a point near Montfaucon, and just a couple of miles from Cierges. Here I had a series of unusual experiences. First was our baptism of fire the morning we arrived, first from avions and next from artillery. We had no sooner got our positions than a swoop of aero- planes appeared in the distance. Our first thought was that they were our machines, but not so, they proved to be Germans. They came over us, turned their machine guns on us and threw out hand grenades. Our boys fired their rifles and also turned some machine guns on them and brought down one. Som.e of our men were wounded dur- ing the attack, but the worst was to come. The avions gave away our position to the enemy and 86 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG it was not long before the Germans poured on us many murderous shells. It was awful to witness shell after shell tearing right into the field where several companies were located. Fortunately our men had ''dug in" and this saved many lives, but over one hundred were put out of commission by death, wounds and shell shock. After the shelling was over, the wounded and shell-shocked were brought over to our dressing station, we had our hands full for sometime. I saw at this time many cases of genuine shell- shock. They shook all over ; they reeled and stag- gered like drunken men ; they startle and shook at the least sound, they cried, they stuttered and stammered. It was really pitiful to have to send most of them on foot to the ambulance station at Montfaucon about two miles away. We could not do anything else with them. Reaching there they were taken care of by the ambulance company which sent them into the field hospital. When in the hospital myself after the Battle of the Marne, a lad was brought in suffering from shell-shock. In the morning he was walking around with no wounds or any signs of illness about him. I spoke to him. He stared at me and asked me: *'When were you taken prisoner?" I said I wasn't taken prisoner. He looked at me in amazement. He was under the delusion that he was a prisoner in German hands. When the sur- geon came round the boy tumbled into his bed and cried, ''Don't kill me; don't kill me." He THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 87 buried his head in the pillow and cried out again : ''Don't kill me till I write to my mother." Shell shock did it! IN THE ARGONNE. After the St. Mihiel was through with we wound our way along until eventually we landed in the xAa'gonne. This brought us over the Hin- denb^rg trenches, once thought so untakable. It also gave me a chance to see the awful havoc wrought by the Battle of Verdun in 1916. Pass- ing along one of the highways which the engineers were repairing, I talked with one of the officers, who pointing to a certain hill said, "There is where the Germans lost 500,000 men." A terri- ble country was this, the fields were ploughed into shell holes as far as the eye could see. We land- ed at evening in what was once no doubt a splen- did forest. It was melancholy to see the ruins of those great trees. Nothing but their ghosts re- mained. Our troops could hardly find room be- tween the shell holes to erect their pup tents. The battle was on and our regiment moved to the front lines. We established our dressing sta- tion near Montfaucon in several dugouts left in good shape by the Germans. I served with Dr. Lutz, of Second Battalion some of the time ; also, with the Regimental Medical Corps. These were busy days. I started making hot chocolate at first for the wounded and the stretcher-bearers that bore them in from the lines. This broadened out to a kitchen. I would rise early in the morning, 88 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG make chocolate and coffee, and when I could get bread, bacon, rice, etc., I would serve it out to the hungry and wounded, the sick, the cold and the stragglers who came along. During the first few days the roads were so congested that it was im- possible to get ambulances through, and for one day and night we had the ground literally spat- tered all over with the wounded. Among them were some German wounded, some of them young boys. One of them made me think so much of my own boy George B., that I did a whole lot for that German boy to make him comfortable. It was quite an undertaking to keep them warm through that cold night, and I hunted around till I found blankets, old clothing, some of it bloody it's true, and wrapped our boys up as well as the wounded of the enemy. During the night some of them died. Among them a German Sergeant and a German medical man, and one of our American boys. It was in the Argonne that we had our heaviest casualties. Many of our companies went in in full strength and came out, some 80, some 70, some 60. All our Majors went to the hospital, nearly all our Captains also, and many lieutenants, and of the boys who came but most of them were sick due to getting gassed, and also due to having to eat so much canned stuff. The German power was crumbling every day now and we felt sure of victory in the not dis- tant future for the Allies. It looked to us as THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 89 though the war might be over this fall and yet it might go on till spring. After Vve had come out of action and were going to the rear I decided to go out to Chaumont and adjust my papers, take examination, etc., for the regular Chaplaincy. There was quite a demand for Chaplains, so I made my application which was endorsed by the Colonel of the Regiment, the Major of the Battalion, and the Surgeon. I passed the examinations successfully and was practically accepted, but the commission had to come by wire from Washington, and while waiting this the Ar- mistice was signed, which arrested all commis- sions for the time being. Being now away from my regular troops I be- came temporarily attached to Chaumont Divis- ion and did lecture and preaching work among va- rious units, but spent about six weeks with the 77th Division traversing their entire area, lec- turing during the week and preaching three times on Sundays. It was in the Argonne that I met with the Christian soldier boy who impressed me so much that it led to my writing the sketches, *'The Story of Fletcher Benson,'* which appears in the next chapter. CHAPTER XIV. FLETCHER BENSON. Fletcher Benson was a good fellow, well built physically, strong in mind, had a tender heart and was whole-souled. He knew God in a sound conversion when quite a lad, and afterwards ex- perienced a clean heart at Zion Hill camp grounds. When war broke out he was studying for the ministry in college, but when the call for soldiers came he did not shirk his duty to his flag and country, but went and enrolled himself under the banner of Uncle Sam. He fully knew what it would mean to get in the army — going away from home and religious surroundings, and getting into an atmosphere where there would be great temp- tations, many hardships, much to endure on all hands and of all sorts, but he was convinced that there w^as grace sufficient for every need. After awhile training in a home camp he was shipped to France, and it was not long before he found himiself as an infantryman in active service on the front line. At the Battle of the Marne he passed through his first great fiery ordeal — ^the night of that dreadful bombardment he was down in the trenches and when just past midnight the Ger- mans began to pour that rain of shell over on the American forces he was exposed to the fire with- 90 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 91 out a thing to shelter him but the walls of a hasti- ly built trench. To him it was a terrible expe- rience, but through it all he prayed to God in si- lent yet fervent prayer that he might pass safely through the awful night and see the morning break. Many that night about him were wounded by the flying shrapnel, and some were killed, but when morning came he was found without a scratch, yet his sympathies went out to the wound- ed in adjoining trenches and he willingly offered himself as stretcher-bearer to help take the wounded down the hill to the first aid station in the old Chateau. Many a comrade did he aid that day in getting to the dressing station, and he did all he could to get water for the thirsty, and in every way help the helpless and the suffering. When the counter attack at the Battle of the Marne took place the next Tuesday night, his company had an exposed bit of the line to hold, but they held it through terrible odds, and Fletch- er himself knew from real experience what it meant to engage in real soldiering, but throug'h it all he was sustained by the conviction, in some peculiar way, the battle was the Lord's and it was his duty to be a real soldier — to be brave and courageous and do his full duty. I met Fletcher about three weeks after the Bat- tle of the Marne. I remember the meeting up there in that shack where he was put up. It was Sunday morning when I happened in on him. He was reading his Bible and he had a little army 92 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG hymn book opened before him. He said to me, **Just before you came along I was singing one of those hymns that seemed just to suit my experi- ence. If you don't mind I will sing you a verse of it." And he began to sing : "0 Jesus, I have promised To serve Thee to the end ; Be Thou forever near me, My Master and my Friend ! I shall not fear the battle If Thou art by my side, Nor wander from the pathway If Thou wilt be my Guide." After singing the verse he said : '*You remem- ber the Battle of the Marne, Sunday night of July 14th. Well, all through that terrific barrage this hymn was singing through my soul and especially those words : "I shall not fear the battle. If Thou art by my side." "I felt in a strange, peculiar way that there was One standing at my side and when the shells were bursting all about me I felt that He was shielding me from the shrapnel and comforting me so that all terror left me and I was not afraid." I said to him, *''Sing on, let me hear the rest of the hymn." And he sang: "0 let me feel Thee near me ! The world is ever near ; I see the sights that dazzle, The tempting sounds I hear; THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 93 My foes are ever near me, Around me and within ; But, Jesus, draw Thou nearer, And shield my soul from sin. let me hear Thee speaking In accents clear and still. Above the storms of passion. The murmurs of self -^will ! 0 speak to re-assure me. To hasten or control! 0 speak, and make me listen. Thou Guardian of my soul !" I must confess that this was a means of grace to my soul, to meet such a young fellow, far, far away from home, the product of one of our most spiritual colleges, the fruits of a revival meeting in a little Methodist Church down in a small town, and a by-product of Zion Hill camp meeting — ^to meet him here in France and in the war zone, and a soldier in Uncle Sam's army, and to find that through all the temptations and tests that had be- set him he had kept unflinchingly true to God. It was encouraging and inspiring and I went out from his shack to my morning service to preach more vitally the saving and keeping power of the mighty Christ. My next meeting with Fletcher Benson was over in the Saint Mihiel sector. Our division was ordered to relieve the attacking division. We got over in a country that was virtually ploughed up 94 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG by our own artillery preparatory to the attack up- on the German strongholds. I had witnessed a great deal of the effects of German artilleiy but here I had the opportunity of seeing what our guns had done to the enemy country. Some of our large shells had made holes big enough and deep enough to suffice for the cellar of an ordi- nary sized house ; great gaps and chasms had been made in the earth big enough to bury a family of elephants, and the German dugouts were played havoc with — dugouts which had endured for four years, and where the Huns had kept fairly com- fortable had caved in under the American fire as though they were paper boxes. We had to put up a couple of nights in those woods. The first night the Germans threw a lot of shells over on us — they knew where we were — and some of their fire struck us bad. Two of our boys were killed dur- ing the night, several were wounded, and in the morning a soldier pointed out to me where a piece of shrapnel had struck the trunk of a tree right next to the pup tent where I slept, and he said : "It is a good thing for you that that trunk got that bit of iron ; if it had hit your tent, good-bye." Well, such are the mercies attendant upon us in the battlefields ! The next day, knowing we would have to spend another night in that woods I went looking for a dugout, and in my search I was de- lighted to come across my friend Fletcher Benson again. It was a happy meeting. We went to- gether in search of a dugout, and at length was di- THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 95 rected by my good friend, Major Mac, to a dugout close to his. We settled on it for the night. Now I must confess that those Germon dugouts always felt hideous to me, there was something uncanny about them though they were invariably built strong and substantial and comfortable. This one especially gave me strange feelings, but when night came on, and Benson came, we got in, light- ed our candles and sat do^Mi to talk things over. Since our first meeting Fletcher told me he had passed through some strange experiences. One thing he was glad to tell me was, that he had been promoted from Corporal to Sergeant, and that his company comm.ander had shown him many favors. He said one day his Captain said to him, "Benson, I see you don't smoke, chew or swear." ''No, sir, I don't do either. At home 1 was taught to avoid tobacco; at college it was prohibited, and as to swearing, I don't think any man can fear God and swear at the same time." "Well, Benson," said the Captain, "You keep on. I myself am a preacher's son. My father taught me along the same line. I got away from his teachings some since getting in the army, but I hope to get back to them again some day." Benson was kno\Mi by some of the men as "Happy" Benson. He was never seen out of tem- per, nor indulging in an\i:hing coarse or doubtful. One day one of his comrades said, "Well, I should like to know what keeps Benson so happy in such 96 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG miserable surroundings as we have to put up with." *^If you would like to know," replied Benson, "I will tell you. This is what makes me happy. I try to keep the fear of the Lord ever before me. I am in France in the line of duty. I have a little book — my New Testament — -which I read every day and I say my prayers regularly." "Oh, there you go again Benson, with your re- ligious business." **Well," spoke up another comrade, "I think it is a good thing that in this man's army we have a few fellows like Benson, who have the courage to be religious ; he helps make up for a lot of us who have not that kind of stuff." Well, as we sat there in the dugout, Benson was telling me these little incidents, and then before we laid down on our German-made wire cots, I asked Benson to read something from his little Testament, and he read Ephesians, 1st chapter, and after he had finished he said: ^'I want to read from another little book which I have carried with me all through the war," and he pulled out from his pocket, *The Practice of the Presence of God," by Brother Lawrence. He said, "Let me read a couple of citations from this little book which has been a blessing to me often. Listen." "There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and more delightful than that of a continual walk with God ; those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it." THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 97 And again : *'To be with God, there is no need to be continually in church. Of our heart we may make an oratory wherein to retire from time to time and with Him hold meek, humble, loving con- verse. Everyone can converse closely with God, some more, others less. He knows we can. Let us begin then, perhaps He is just waiting for one generous resolution on our part ; let us be brave.'' In that old German dugout we knelt in prayer and we felt that God was as close to us there as on Zion Hill camp ground, or in the most sacred spot at home. We laid down to sleep, blew out our candles, and sang as our good-night lullaby, Lytes famous hymn : •'x^bide with me : fast falls the eventide ; The darkness deepens ; Lord, with me abide : When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me." After we had spent that night together in the German dugout in the Argonne, we had to make an early start for our next objective. Breakfast was eaten when it was barely light, and at six o'clock we were on the move. Fletcher was at- tached to Company G, of the Second Battalion, and my understanding was that the first and sec- ond battalions were to move immediately in on the line of attack w^hile the third remained in re- serve. I moved on with the Second Battalion Medical Corps, and we put up our first-aid station 98 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG as far up toward the front as we could go with safety. It was not long before our wounded began to arrive, and one day we had to work continuously for about twenty-two hours. Some of our boys were terribly wounded, some hopelessly, but the surgeon gave them the best of treatment and hurried them on to the hospital as fast as the ambulances could take them, but, alas, the roads became congested. Everything was trying to get to the front where the fighting was going on — ar- tillery, ammunition, rations, engineers, signal corps, etc, and between them all a jam occurred on the road, and for aibout ten miles for almost a whole day scarcely a wheel moved. Of course, one of the things which superinduced this condi- tion was the dastardly trick the Germans played on us by mining the roads ; and at one point where the mine went off one of the biggest of our army trucks tumbled over and it took the engineers nearly ten hours to clear things up and build a bridge over the chasm made by the Hun mine. About two o'clock in the afternoon of the second day a captain was brought in on a stretcher se- verely wounded. He had been shot in both legs, also in the shoulder. He was in a desperate condi- tion, but what added to his grief was the fact that four men had been killed in their effort to bring him in. They were bearing him along on the stretcher, when the German snipers picked them off one by one. Four other fellows volunteered THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 99 to take the Captain out, and one of them was Fletcher Benson. These last four succeeded in getting their Captain out of danger and bringing him safely to the first-aid station. Night was coming on, and the stretcher-^bearers concluded they would wait for morning before re- turning to the lines, and this gave me another chance to fellowship with Benson, and that night by our fire where we kept our chocolate and coffee hot for dispensing to the wounded and to hungry and thirsty soldiers we talked of many things. "Well,'* I said, ''Benson, what do you think of war by this time?" "Oh," he said, "war is awful. I hope this will be the last war this old sin-cursed world will ever see. When I get home one thing I shall never do. I shall never glorify war. Now think of what I had to go through and see yesterday. When we got on the lines we were up against a nest of Ger- man machine guns — one pounders and snipers. I saw one of our Lieutenants shot in the head and fall dead instantly. Ten of my own platoon went down one after the other, and our company got so shot to pieces that I believe there are not more than sixty or seventy left out of 250. On our way out with the Captain the Germans were shelling everything in sight. One shell fell about fifty feet away from us and killed four of our boys and wounded eight others, and a fellow riding a horse was shot to pieces and his horse torn in two. I 100 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG have seen enough the past two days to make war appear to me the most horrible monster the devil ever invented. But the marvel is that I am alive. Bullets were f\ymg all around me and shells hurst close to me and yet through it all God has merci- fully spared my life and I am alive to praise Him. These days I often think of those words in the 91st Psalm, *'A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee,'' and then I think of that hymn we used to sing at Zion's Hill camp meeting, "God will take care of you." I said, "It is several days now since I have had a sing, and I pulled out my little song hook and together, Benson and I sang the first verse. "Be not dismayed whatever betide, God will take care of you ; Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you." The singing attracted many who were standing around, and we had quite a congregation as we sang the second verse. "Through days of toil v^hen heart doth fail, God will take care of you ; When dangers fierce your path assail, God will take care of you." Then others joined us in the chorus, and we sang on until we sang the hymn through. I said, "When we have been having some close calls the THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 101 past few days, many of our comrades have gone, not to come back, we have been spared, I propose before we separate to go to our dugouts, that we have a bit of prayer. And I am going to call on Sergeant Benson to lead us in prayer." All heads were bared and as I recall it now, Benson prayed something like the following : "Heavenly Father, we give Thee thanks that our lives have been spared during the awful fight- ing of those two days past. We have seen many comrades go down in battle, many others wound- ed and carried off to the hospital. We thank Thee for Thy loving care over us. We have not been \\'orthy of Thy goodness, oh, God, but Thou hast been merciful. Bless my comrades here, oh God, forgive us all our sins, and don't let any of us go down to death without saving our souls. Protect us this night from the shells and from gas. Grant that soon the war might be over and peace shall come on the earth again. Bless our dear loved ones in America, protect them, and grant we may all meet again. For Christ's sake. Amen." The next morning the glad new^s reached us that the Armistice had been signed and that to- morrow at 11 o'clock all hostilities were to cease. Fletcher Benson went back to the lines and I saw no more of him till tw-o weeks after the war finished up. I was preaching in the Y. M. C. A. hut out from the front lines and he found it out and came over. I was anxious to know what he intended to do when he got back home again, and 102 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG I was glad to hear him say that he meant to go back to school to prepare for the ministry. He said, *'The war has taught me many things. I have had all kinds of experience but through it all God has kept me clean. There are a great many problems coming up before the country with our returning soldiers, and I feel as though I might be able to contribute a little to the church and the ministry from the many experiences I have had in I'rance. I know one thing, I feel more deeply settled in God and the old gospel than ever before in my life and I want to live to preach a free and full salvation and to testify to the won- derful grace of a mighty Savior." A,nd now, dear reader, I have set forth this sketch purposely to show that thousands of splen- did youths have been in Uncle Sam's army in France and have been kept true in the midst of all the tests to faith and manhood. They have lived the praying life, they have kept the faith and will be returning home the brighter and stronger for the many things they have passed through. And don't forget this also, that with the return of the soldier boys there will come a splendid oppor- tunity to win them to Christ. Many of them will be hungry for church, and the old-time home preaching again — they did not get much of that here in France. Let our returning soldiers have the warmest kind of welcome, but don't neglect the opportunity of winning them for Christ and the Church. CHAPTER XV. PEACE. When I left home Christmas day, 1917, I thought I was going on a two years' service. The great German offensive and success of March, 1918, indicated that the war was not going to end that year. Things looked black in the spring. Time fled fast. The weeks and months have gone by rather fast because the year was one of ceaseless activities and a goodly portion of it spent on battle fronts. Often have I longed for home and loved ones and have had that which the Ger- mans call ''Heimweh'' which translated means '*ache for home.'* Often on the long hikes with the army in the dark, rainy nights, have I longed for the lights and comforts of home. When our sleep would have to be on the wet ground or in murky dug- outs or trenches, and our *'eats" would be coffee without any ''fixings," and dry bread, sometimes ''hard tack;" when for days no kitchens could ac- company us because of shell fire and we bad to subsist on reserve rations, I would cast longing eyes towards the homeland and the cosy kitchen and dining-room and the well-prepared meals, and the family circle. But we all felt it was war! From the Colonel 103 104 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG of the Regiment down to the humble private they all took their share of the hardships without grumbling. But oh, the joy, the unspeakable joy that comes to us these days, when we think of it — ^the war is over. We say it to one another. It seems almost like a dream — almost too good to be true. I remember we were on the Argonne front when the first gleams of peace began to break upon the dismial horizon, and day by day all kinds of re- ports came across. We heard of Bulgaria's sur- render, and then of Turkey. We knew if Austria gave up it would be good-bye to Germany. I was so sure of it that my over sanguine nature gave way, and with Austria's surrender I predicted Germany coming across and the cessation of hos- tilities in forty-eight hours. I had to revise that and, to be on the safe side, I put it that the war would be over by Thanksgiving. Well, I was on the sure side this time, and hostilities ceased Nov. 11 at 11 o'clock. That eleventh hour was hailed with feverish expectancy by our troops. Sad is it not that in the very last hour of the war one of our preachers met his death by an unfortunate Shell! . . By a strange range of circumstances Sunday, Nov. 10, found me in Paris, preaching in the morning at an Aviation Encampment, and my ev- ening appointment brought me to Versailles where I preached. This visit to Versailles was very interesting to me of course because the Al- THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 105 lied Supreme Council was then meeting there to determine the question of Armistice, etc. On Sunday afternoon I took a walk through the Palace Gardens, made famous by the brilliant King Louis XIV, and his dazzling Court. Voltaire estimated that Versailles cost Louis XIV SlOO,- 000,000, Mirabeau said it cost $240,000,000, Vol- ney put the figure at $280,000,000. You can take your choice or believe the more popular tale that the Great Monarch was himself frightened when he saw the bills and tore them up, so that no one would ever know w^hat it cost. Twent>^ thousand workmen and 6,000 horses were put to work creating the great park and building the chateau where the delegates of democracy are to assem- ble. The task took a long time. In 1685 a courtier wrote in his diar^': ''There are more than 36,000 peasants now at work for the King in or about Versailles. These half-clad and half-stan-'ed wretches die by the dozens under the strain of the cruel tasks imposed upon them. And when one of these workmen died in the King's sen^ice his fam- ily received $2.50. The Hall of Mirrors, where the Peace Confer- ence held its sessions, is 242 feet long and 33 feet wide and measures 43 feet from floor to ceiling. On one side of it seventeen large mirrors look out upon the stilted artificial gardens which were de- signed by Lenotre under the personal supervision of Louis XIV. On the other side of the gallery seventeen large mirrors reflect the splendors of 106 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG the stately room. Paintings representing scenes in the life of Louis the Magnificent ornament the ceiling, sides and every available vacancy not filled by a mirror. As I walked through its parks with the trees dressed in their autumn glory, the sight was in- deed entrancing, yet the fading leaves spoke to me of the fading qualities of human glory. "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth,'* so do kings and empires! Think if you will, of nations and thrones that have faded out. Egypt gone, Assyria, Chaldea, Persia, Rome and Greece and now we see the fading away of Austria as an empire, and Germany too. Thrones have tottered, crowns have gone to the scrap-heap, kings and queens in- to exile, and Europe is like an old house that has got to be torn down to its very foundations to make room for something new and different. But oh, the joy of peace! I was in a great city where are the headquarters of the A. E. F., when hostilities ceased, and at once the city was decora- ted with the tri-color of France, the Union Jack of Old England, and the Star Spangled Banner of U. S. A. French people were wild with joy and as the band played the people exulted so as to get beyond themselves. And now the war is over what of conditions religiously. A friend writing me from New Jer- sey thinks that the churches need to be aroused to meet ''conditions that will be upon us after the war is over. Our soldier boys should be met by THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 107 the church, not simply by giving out flowers and refreshments, but by offering a Christ who satis- fies." do not know," writes my friend, "what will be the conditions of the soldier boys' con- science when they return, but I do know what should be the attitude of the church in receiving them .... After the war is won for democracy shall it produce pride and self-conceit?" Well, as I see it when the boys come marching home the church should meet them with a vital gospel be- cause, to be perfectly frank, they have not had much of that in France. My own conviction is that the only thing that will meet the case will be the old gospel and the full gospel. I have heard men talk about the war giving us a nev/ theology, a new gospel, a new vision of God, a new pulpit. I have heard them say that after the war men will no longer stand for the kind of gospel that the preachers have preached for so long a time. When you first hear that, you may be carried away with the novelty of it for the present and you might find yourself yielding a kind of assent to it, but let me advise you to go slow in changing your point of view or trading awiay your old faith for the new. Bear in mind that the Christian faith is not a bit of machinery that is subject to so many im- provements that a thing a couple or three years old is thrown on the dump heap as useless since the newest thing has come out. Bear in mind that the Christian faith is the best thing that has ever 108 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG been found to bless the human soul— -to heal its wounds, to wash away its guilt, assuage its sor- rows, cleanse its defilement, illuminate its dark- ness and bring it back to its God, its Saviour, its Refuge, its Home, its Heaven. Now the war is over, the paramount question is, "When are we going home?" Before the Armis- tice the question was, *'When will the war be over?'* I have had to answer those questions times without number, as best I could. The other night in the Y. M. C. A. hut I got myself in quite a fix with a big audience of New York troops who are longing to see the Statue of Lib- erty again as soon as possible. I told them that at the close of the program I would try and tell them when they would be going home. I afterward saw that I had involved myself into quite a task. At the end of the program it came on me like a sort of inspiration, * 'Valentine's Day," so I told them they might expect to be home by Valentine's Day, 1919. I hardly think I was far astray. The troops long for home now that the war is over. Talk all you might about ''LaBelle, France," to them, it has no attraction for the bulk of them — they are longing for "home, sweet home," longing for mother's touch, and sister's love, and wife's embrace, and children's kisses, and the old homestead or farm ; and the little dhuroh by the cross roads, and the school-house where they attend the country Sunday school, and the boys from the city long for Broadway and THE CROSS AND THE PXAG 109 State Street, and the park and the city crowds. One boy in the hospital got so homesick that he could not eat, and there seemed but little prospect of his getting better, till one day one of the good nurses thought of something, and she made a pie like ''mother used to make," and brought it to the sick boy. It aroused his appetite, he ate it with great relish, and soon he was on the mend, and will see mother and the old home again. The coming back of the boys from France will mean a great home coming. Many of the boys will come home out of ''great tribulation." They have been in the trenches and dugouts, and out at the battle front where they have fought the enemy and seen war in all its hideous realities. Some of them will never get over the shock of war. One boy, in the insane hos- pital, was talking to the Chaplain. He looked all right, and, for awhile, talked all right, then he said "Chaplain, I am not crazy, I am all right. I tell you. Chaplain, how it was; me and my chum were marching along when a shell came across and just cut my buddie's head clean off. I went over where he lay and picked up his head and put it on again and said, 'Buddie, come along now with me,' and I tell you, Sir, he wouldn't come along." The shock, the sight, the horror of the thing was too great for that poor soldier boy ; his brain turned, and it is a grave question as to whether he ever will get his mind back again. Yet, there is a possibility because he is young. 110 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG Last Sunday I was preaching at an encamp- ment, when the Y. M. €. A. Secretary said to me : "Could you stay over and conduct a funeral ser- vice?" I said I would. The circumstances led me to chiange my subject and to preadh to the sol- diers a sermon on heaven. Would the readers like to know what the sermon was like? Well, I think I will put down some notes of the message. The text was Rev. 21 :2 : "And I, John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.'' I said in part, "We are indebted to John, for the fullest description of heaven we have in the Bible. Jesus told us about the many mansions in John 14, but here in this chapter we have heaven described to us as a city. Now what is there about a city that distinguishes it from all other places ? 1. A city is a place of mansions and homes. People crowd in the cities and make them their homes. Heaven is a home city. It has many man- sions. 2. A citj^ is a place of many people. So is heaven. John saw multitudes there which no man could number, and they were of all tongues and races and nations and families. 3. A city is a place where there is much beauty and music. Some cities are renowned for their beauty, like Paris, or Venice, or Los Angeles. They have beautiful avenues, parks, statuary, pic- tures, etc., and in the city there is mudh music. THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 111 So with heaven ; beauty is there— there the trees of Paradise grow, and the trees of life beside the River of Life. I expect there are flowers there — the lily and rose, and daisy and daffodil, and as for music, there will be abundance there. John, in Rev. 14: ''I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps and they sung as it were a new song before the throne." John heard the angelic choir singing around the throne: "The number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands," and the song they sang was : "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. To receive power and riches. And wisdom and strength and Honor and glory and blessing. Blessing and honor and glory. And powder be unto Him That sitteth upon the throne, And unto the Lamb, For ever and ever." Music hath charms, and in heaven we shall be charmed with its music. David v/ill then play on his golden harp, and the sweet singers of Israel will chant God's praise whilst the redeemed' from all the earth shall shout aloud redemption's song. Today the land is being filled with music, be- cause the war is over. Our Regiments carry with them their bands, and when the bands play the soldier's heart beats fast with a new joy. Music has often inspired the troops when weary 112 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG with the march, and we are told of one Scottish musician who, during the battle, played his bag- pipes to encourage his fighting comrades, while the shot and shell fell thick and fast. He played on and on while they fought, until he himself got a fatal s>iot and death silenced him. 4. Heaven is the home of the soul. Home nev- er felt sw^eeter to us than now. We dream about it and the loved one there. We are all longing for the time when the ship hauls into the pier and we get on board and then say good-hye to France, and face the western sky and our homes. So after life's battles are fought we want to make heaven at last and go to the home of the soul. 5. We must remember next what it means to get to heaven. We must be a candidate for it and run for it. We must let the world know that we are heaven-bound. We must be sure to have things so arranged that we shall not be disap- pointed. If I desire to go to Paris I must get my ticket and get on the train that goes that way. So we must take care that we are headed right for heaven if we want to make that city our heavenly home. Then we must remember the mark to be borne by those who come up to heaven's gate. John indicates, in Revelation, when the question was asked about the great company, "Who are these arrayed in white and Whence came they?" The reply was, "These are they that have come up out of great tribulation and washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.'' THE CROSS AND TH EPLAG 113 Note two things here, 'They have come up out of great tribulation/' Many of our soldier boys are going back home out of great tribulation. They are going to bear wound marks and they are priv- ileged to wear "wound stripes." I remember the doctor who got wounded when the Huns shelled us at our dressing station at St. Giles. He went to the hospital, got well again, but when he re- turned he was wearing a wound stripe on his arm. Those wound stripes are honorable — they testify that the bearer was in toattle or in the war zone where dangers abounded, he endangered his life for his country's sake and gave up all. So vdth regard to heaven. When we get there we shall bear the marks of battle, and remember we have an enemy to fig^ht more dreadful and powerful than the Hun — that enemy is the world, the flesh and the devil. In our conflicts with this triple foe we shall suffer bruises and wounds, but may come off more than conqueror through Him who hath loved us. Then we must bear the blood mark. When we get to heaven's gate we shall not get through because v/e are Protestant, Catholic, or Jew — we shall not get through because we have fought on the battle- fields of France ; the rich man shall not get through because of his money, nor the learned man because of his culture, nor the great man be- cause of his renown — there is just one condition, "we must be washed in the blood of the Lamb." CHAPTER XVI PREACHING THE GOSPEL IN GERMANY. At this writing I am in Germany working with the troops of the Army of Occupation. For a few days, including Sunday, I was with the Rainbow Division. At the present I am with my old Divis- ion with which I spent seven months, including the five months I was on the battle lines with them. I am particularly pleased that on the home stretch I have been put with the famous Third again. It was my old Regiment, the 38th Infan- try, that Pershing in his report said, "Wrote one of the most brilliant pages in military history.'* It was my lot to be with them when they were writing that chapter. It happened July 15-16, and looking at it now it looks like a perfect miracle how that one Regiment held the Germans as they at- tempted to cross the Marne — ^held them after the 125th French had retired ; held them through ter- rific odds and succeeded in throwing three Ger- man Divisions into confusion (about ten times their number) . I remember what a time we had down at the old Chateau where Biattalion Head- quarters were attending the wounded as they were brought into us from the neai^y hill and the river bank where the German hordes were trying to break loose upon us. I remember Captain 114 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 115 Burleson in charge of our defences at the Chateau that day and night, how he told me that he had the place bristling with machine guns and eveiy man at night standing with bayonet fixed. I can recall his expression as he said, "'We were to fight to the last man," and I can recall, too, how he shook his head in doubt as to the final issue when I asked him '"'How things were looking." It must be confessed that for twenty-four hours, at least, things did look rather black for us. If the Bat- talion had not held the lines the Germans would have got us — there would have been no help for us, as our retreat would have been completely cut off. That was one time when I looked either death or capture right in the face. It all depended on into whose hands we fell if the enemy got us. Some officers would have com- manded the wiping of us all out. Red Cross or Y. M. C. A. insignia did not count for much with some Germans, when things fell their way, but thank God, the 38th Regiment did not know how to retreat or run away and they determined to stick it out and they did. They held the lines! They held all day and all night. They held until reinforcements came. They saved the situation ! I must confess that it is a genuine pleasure to get back to that 38th Regiment. At present I am with the 4th, but next week I shall move up to headquarters of the 38th. I expect to have a good time preaching the gospel to them. At one time last August this Regiment was out to rest for 116 THE CROSS AND THE FLAG nearly three weeks, and during that time on Sun- days we had intense religious interest. Sunday nights we had old-fashioned evangelistic meet- ings and the interest was so keen that I felt if I could open a protracted meeting for ten days there we would have had hundreds turn to Christ — ^the fact was the battle they had been in had brought them face to face with death and eternity and they remembered God and began to pray. A Hebrew Sergeant said to me one day : "I tell you a lot of us have prayed more the past few weeks than ever before in our lives, and, as for me, I am a dif- ferent man.'' Strange, too, to relate that this man, a Jew, came to all our religious services and requested the privilege of joining our Regimental Church! In the 38th Regiment I met an Asbury student — Benson by name — a good fellow and a true-blue Christian soldier. He had been study- ing for the ministry when the war broke out but did not play the shirker — ^he made a good soldier. Many talks did we have together, and it was a great pleasure to have him in the services to lead in prayer and otherwise help. I believe Benson came out of the fight without injury. The last time I was with him he and I were dodging Ger- man shells up the Argonne as we went in search of Regimental P. C. to see Colonel Adams. I hope Benson will get back to Asbury to finish his studies and I am sure his experiences on the battle- field will make a stronger man and preacher out of him. THE CROSS AND THE FLAG 117 Well to return to Germany! I came from Paris to Metz and then into Goblenz, the head- quarters of the American Army of Occupation. I stayed over a Sunday at Metz to preach at the Y. M. C. A. In the morning I went to the service at the Cathedral. It seemed a pity that such a magnificent church should not be devoted to real religion instead of religious mummery. As I sat there I thought of Martin Luther coming back and ascending that old pulpit and preaching to that crowd of hungry, needy people out of the blessed Word of God the unsearchable riches of Christ. I could almost hear him rebuke the priests adorned in their gaudy glittering robes and saying: ''Here! here! Give this people bread, not stones; give them the gospel, not Latin phrases; give them real prayers, not mum- mery. Lift up your voices, 0 ye priests, and de- clare comforts to the mourners, consolation for the sorrowing, cleansing for the unclean, pardon for the sinning through a Savior crucified and risen again for our justification! Away with your empty forms and lip service; rend your gaudy garments in sincere repentance, turn your hearts toward God and lead the people to the 'Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.' The land that g