. Battles of the nineteenth century . t adistance of about eight hundred paces fromthe line of the redoubts, and now, so tospeak, they had reached the beginning of theend. The men on duty in this parallel, orshelter-trench (about eight feet deep), were re-lieved at first every forty-eight hours, and thenevery twenty-four, the former period havingbeen found to be too great a strain on thesoldiers, who, in consequence, had soon as manyas ten per cent, on the sick list. For nothingcould have been more trying to the constitutionthan this trench-life, with its cold nights, andrain, and mud, and man
. Battles of the nineteenth century . t adistance of about eight hundred paces fromthe line of the redoubts, and now, so tospeak, they had reached the beginning of theend. The men on duty in this parallel, orshelter-trench (about eight feet deep), were re-lieved at first every forty-eight hours, and thenevery twenty-four, the former period havingbeen found to be too great a strain on thesoldiers, who, in consequence, had soon as manyas ten per cent, on the sick list. For nothingcould have been more trying to the constitutionthan this trench-life, with its cold nights, andrain, and mud, and manifold wretchedness. Yet the Prussian soldiers, who were all veryyoung fellows—mere boys some of them—kept uptheir spirits in the most wonderful manner, andindulged in all kinds of fun—mountmg a gas-pipeon a couple of cart-wheels, and thus drawingthe fire of the Danes, who imagined it to be acannon ; making sentries out of clay, and other-wise indulging in the thousand-and-one humoursof a camp. They were also cheered by frequent. visits from their commander, the Red Prince,who—although housed in most comfortable, notto say luxurious, quarters at the Schloss, orchateau, of Gravenstein, about six miles to therear—failed not to ride to the front every dayand acquaint himself with all that was going such a commander soldiers will do any-thing, and hence the whole Prussian force infront of the Danish redoubts began to burn witha fighting ardour which neither cold, nor wet,nor knee-deep mud could in the least degreedamp or depress. On the other hand, the Danes, though betteroff for shelter in their block-houses, woodenbarracks, and casemates, were not in such good spirits. One of thefew things, appa-rently, that cheeredtheir hearts was thesight of the numerousEnglish tourists— T. Gs, or travel-ling gents, as theyused to be called in theCrimea, and Kricgs-bummlcr^ or war-loafers, as they aredubbed in Germany—who, arrayed insuits of a most fearfuland wonderful make
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1901