France at War: On the Frontier of Civilization | ||
AN ARMY IN MOTION
We were no more than well clear of that immobile host when it all surged forward, headed by massed bands playing a tune that sounded like the very pulse of France.
The two Generals, with their Staff, and the French Minister for War, were on foot near a patch of very green lucerne. They made about twenty figures in all. The cars were little grey blocks against the grey skyline. There was nothing else in
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"What is the tune?" I asked of an officer beside me.
"My faith, I can't recall for the moment. I've marched to it often enough, though. 'Sambre-et-Meuse,' perhaps. Look! There goes my battalion! Those Chasseurs yonder."
He knew, of course; but what could a stranger identify in that earth-shaking passage of thirty thousand?
France at War: On the Frontier of Civilization | ||