There is fighting in front of Verdun from February 21, and fighting goes on there during June and July. The Italian offensive on the Trentino opens on June 25, while that on the Isonzo begins during the early days of August. The Franco-British offensive on the Somme starts on July 1, and the central Russian offensive on July 3. “Soldiers of Verdun, it is to your heroic resistance that this consummation is due....” * * * * * In _War and Peace_, Prince Bagration, in the course of a battle, hears bad news, but his coolness astonishes and reassures the aides-de-camp who bring it. He has an unswerving confidence in Russia’s future. A temporary set-back cannot make him any less certain of the final triumph. “Merely at the sight of him, those who approached him with anxious looks began to recover their calm....” This gives us a clue to the comforting words heard at Verdun in March, when the fort was swept by the storm for the first time: “You need feel no uneasiness.” For the future is taking shape. The fort played its part before the inviolate citadel of Verdun. And while it was keeping the enemy in check, the storm-clouds were gathering elsewhere, some day to burst and humble the German might in the dust. * * * * * Hapless fort of Vaux, a stronghold reduced to ashes, a marvel of endurance, you who pulsated like a human heart, the whole world had its eyes riveted on you for the space of a few days. The whole world was not in error when it ascribed to you that significance which your courage enhanced. You were minister to plans whose full tenor you did not know, and to-day you play your part in the operations that are unfolding themselves and will continue to unfold themselves. Land that has been overrun by the lava of volcanoes shows an unparalleled fertility when the lava has passed. Upon your tortured soil a harvest of victories will spring up, and from your defence will gush forth a fresh and inexhaustible fount of French heroism.... THE END PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN Transcriber’s Notes Punctuation and hyphenation were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. Inconsistent spellings were not changed, as the book contains letters and diary entries from different writers. Simple typographical errors were corrected; ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. Page 185: Text explains that the letter beginning at the bottom of that page contains spelling errors. End of Project Gutenberg's The Last Days of Fort Vaux, by Henry Bordeaux