Chapter I: Front Matter

A Blue Devil of France

A BLUE DEVIL _of_ FRANCE

_Epic figures and stories of the Great War,
1914-1918_

BY
CAPTAIN G. P. CAPART
LATE OF GENERAL PÉTAIN'S STAFF

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH
BY
J. C. DROUILLARD

NEW YORK
W. J. WATT & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY
W. J. WATT & COMPANY

PRESS OF
BRAUNWORTH & CO.
BOOK MANUFACTURERS
BROOKLYN, N. Y.

TO
M. PAUL BIZET
M. DESIRÉ MARBAIS
MY FRIENDS

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

This volume contains an ensemble of true episodes about the French _poilu_ taken from my diary.

The reader will regret, perhaps, the absence of continuity in the following chapters; that will rapidly disappear, however, when he sees the characteristic figures he should better know and love for a long time to come. A scruple has always guided me: to write the truth. I have been strict in writing nothing but what I have seen or heard.

In giving these souvenirs to the American public, I have had but one object: to mold in relief the warlike virtues of the admirable soldiers of France with whom I have fought for more than three years.

Mothers, wives, sweethearts and children of the heroes fallen in defense of their country, will find in these pages a precious consolation: they will see that with just reason they can be proud of their cherished dead.

I ask indulgence, much indulgence of the public. I have written these lines simply and faithfully during a long and painful convalescence; many times I have felt that my physical forces would abandon me before I could arrive at the end of my task. I shall be fully recompensed for these efforts if I know I have brought to my readers the emotion and feeling, which I still experience, of those epic hours.

CAP. G. P. CAPART.

THE LAWRENCE HOSPITAL
Bronxville, New York
June 2, 1918

TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION

To have known the author intimately is a rare privilege which has materially aided me in retaining, if I have been successful in so doing, the spirit and atmosphere of the original pages of "A Blue Devil of France."

In every sense of the word I am a literalist. Barring a very few instances I have been particularly rigid in my efforts to render a literal translation. Where it has been impossible to do this, the reader will find the original French to enhance the charm and simplicity of the stories.

Simultaneously this striking story of the great war is published in Paris under the title of _Comme Ils Vivent et Comme Ils Meurent_ (How They Live and Die).

Redundant with vitality the several stories show a beautiful insight into the character of the French _poilu_, who, fighting for more than four years, remains unbroken in morale. Unpremeditatedly heroic, killing their adversaries clean, ever chivalrous, witty, smiling in the face of death and obscurity, these soldiers of France will go down in history as martyrs to a definite understanding between peoples.

Sordid as war may be, here is the glorious side. _Le Feu_, by Henri Barbusse, the critics write, is pessimistic and deals with the dark side of this momentous conflict. If that be true "A Blue Devil of France," with winning ingenuity, tells us in a simple, straightforward manner that there is another, nobler, majestic view of modern battle. It personifies the spirit of right, forever unquenchable, the champion over material forces seeking to destroy.

Students of every free country will find in this book numerous examples of the spirit of sacrifice of those who, for four years, have written history with their blood; they will see that the most beautiful existence for a man is to know well how to live and die for his country!

Americans may here visualize the Argonne, Verdun, Saint Mihiel, the Champagne, consecrated spots, where their own blood is now being hypothecated to succeeding generations. They may see the type of the French _poilu_, with whom our boys are fighting arm in arm, as they go plunging on to certain victory.

J. C. DROUILLARD.

August 5, 1918.
New York City.

A Blue Devil of France

_This chapter comprises several distinct periods in the life of the author._

_Captain Capart left Switzerland, August 2, 1914, to enlist in the Belgian Army._[1]

_He took part in the siege of Antwerp up to its fall (October 10, 1914), then as corporal in the dark days of the retreat._

_From the month of December, 1914, he became attached to the French Army. He was commissioned sub-lieutenant, January, 1915._

_The greater part of the stories in this chapter occurred during the period between March 7, 1915 and July of the same year, during which time he fought in the sector held by the Marine Fusiliers and that of the Zouaves in the region of Nieuport._

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The Author was born in Brussels, in 1881, of Belgian parents. The two great-grandparents of Captain Capart were soldiers in the armies of Napoleon I.--Tr.

CHAPTER ONE

NIEUPORT

A BLUE DEVIL OF FRANCE