Metz! How much history does the name suggest in the light of the Great
War! If the young artillery student could have foreseen the backward
and forward swing of the pendulum, as exemplified in that ancient city,
how his blood would have quickened!
The summer of 1870 arrived. Ferdinand Foch, a well-grown lad of
nineteen, went home to St. Etienne on his first vacation. It had been
his first year away from home, and there must have been a joyful
reunion. But over the vacation season hung a war cloud. In the middle
of July, France was persuaded to declare war. Her first great clash
with Germany was on.
The news, however, was not displeasing to Ferdinand. He had supreme
confidence in the ability of the trained French army to subdue the
"Prussian militia." All France had been soundly fooled as to the
extent of the German preparedness. Foch thought of Metz as the
starting point of the war which was to wage its victorious course
eastward. But the reverse soon proved to be the case. From Metz the
Germans drove westward into France. The school at St. Clement was
transformed into a military hospital. Ferdinand remained at home
watching the turn of events with surprised eyes. When the defeat at
Sedan came, in September, it seemed to him like the end of the world.
Pages:
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215