began coming back to be attended to by the doctors. I have not explained that in advance of these dug outs which I mentioned before - were our trenches held by other regiments and the German trenches were not far from these. Soon after the shelling ceased, I received a message saying the Germans were attacking our trenches in great numbers and that what with the heavy shelling & the musketry fire the men of some of the regiments in the trenches had begun to retire - then came our turn. I ordered one company to a flank to cut off Germans who were reported as trying to get behind us and another company to the front to prevent the Germans coming on any further & the whole wood was alive with men. Just after this the German prisoners began coming in & I remember several wretched Germans being escorted through the wood with wounds in the head, feet or body. A very fine big German officer came along with a bullet through his chest looking the picture of despair. We collected our prisoners at one side of the road out of the way - then I gave saw some Zouaves who had been holding some trenches on our left & who