With an Ambulance During the Franco-German War: Personal Experiences and Adventures with Both Armies, 1870-1871Ryan, Charles Edward
History
With an Ambulance During the Franco-German War: Personal Experiences and Adventures with Both Armies, 1870-1871
Ryan, Charles Edward
Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871 -- Civilian relief
I may mention that it was in this little expedition, when passing by
Givonne, that I espied, lying on his side and basking at full length in
the sun, a beautiful black and tan hound, identical in appearance with
the old breed of Kerry beagles. My companion was amused that I could
feel excited about Kerry beagles. But I had my reasons, and I asked the
owner of the house to whom the dog might belong. He replied that it was
the property of a Marquis in the Ardennes, who kept a pack for hunting
deer and wild boars, and he added that probably such a dog would not be
sold under 500 francs. The "Black and Tans" are an old-established pack
in my neighbourhood, with which I have long had very close associations;
and it made my blood run faster to be reminded of them in the
neighbourhood of the Forest of Ardennes, which for the world at large
has other memories, less personal, if more poetic.
Having arrived at our destination, and delivered and received our
letters, we had a good dinner and a smoke. None of my readers can know
the pleasure of a good dinner if they have not lived in a situation like
that which was then allotted to us. We went to see the old castle, with
its corridors hewn out of the solid rock, and its manhole in the parapet
leaning over the river, from which highwaymen and robbers--if not others
less guilty--were hurled into the waters beneath. Lingering about the
place for hours after we ought to have started, the evening came on so
quickly that we shirked the long journey in the dark. We thought it
better to stay the night at Bouillon, and take our chance of getting off
a reprimand by means of this explanation.
At first light next morning we started, but on arriving at the Hospital,
Dr. May, without asking why we had come after time, informed us from the
chief that we must consider ourselves as under arrest until further
notice. This was not exactly pleasant. But we had our work to do, and
there can be no doubt that the strict discipline kept in our Ambulance
was what made it so successful.
Many members of the French Hospital staff, whom I met here and
elsewhere, assured me that jealousy and want of discipline among them
were potent causes of their failure; their supply of material--which was
generally very short--in some cases outlasting the final disruption.
I had one other most interesting expedition, to the Château Bellevue and
along by the hills where the Prussians established their heavy guns on
the First. It commanded the whole valley, and as we looked down upon the
Plateau of Floing, the Bois de Garenne, the slopes of Givonne, and our
hospital standing on its huge embankment above the ramparts of Sedan
between them and us, the only wonder was that a single man of us
remained alive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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