RURAL COMMUNITY LIFE IN THE 

 HAUTE MARNE 



By ERNEST G. BISHOP, A.M.* 



1. Introduction. There is no region in western Europe so 

 rich in historical association as that valley which is drained by 

 the river Marne. Not less important than the victories of Tours 

 and Chalons in saving France and the liberties of free nations 

 from the blighting menace of invading and destructive hordes 

 stand the triumphs won at the first and second battles of the 

 Marne. That name is woven permanently into the fabric of 

 history. Upper Marne River, having its source in the Depart- 

 ment of Haute Marne, also drains historic ground. At a time 

 when France was a wilderness and without roads, warriors navi- 

 gated this stream and fought along its banks. At Langres, near 



EniTOB's NOTE : The author of this study was born in Hastings, England. At 

 the age of eight months he came to the T 7 nited States. 



Mr. Bishop received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the University of 

 Southern California in June, 1915, and the degree of Master of Arts from the same 

 institution one year later. He was married to Miss Florence B. Hight, R. N., of 

 Los Angeles on December 19, 1917, in Tacoma, Washington. 



Mr. Bishop entered the service of the United States Army on October 3. 1917. 

 He was in training in Company A, 348th Machine Gun Battalion at Camp Lewis, 

 which was often spoken of as the best trained and most efficient unit in Camp. Mr. 

 Bishop left Camp Lewis on June 25, 1918. for overseas duty and arrived at the 

 village of Poulangy, situated among the hills about fourteen kilometers from the 

 American headquarters at Chaumont. After two months of intensive drill, the 348th 

 departed for the front lines and reached a position in reserve on September 22. 

 Three hours after the Battalion went into action on September 26, Mr. Bishop 

 was severely wounded. Both limbs and the left arm were broken, and twenty-one 

 schrapnel wounds were suffered. In a remarkable article entitled "How it feels to 

 be shot," in the San Francisco Bulletin for March 22, 1919, Private Bishop reports 

 that he has twenty-one souvenirs of the battle of the Argonne "I collected alto- 

 gether twenty-one of them (schrapnel), all fortunately in the arms and legs." 

 Private Bishop says that after the 77 had bursted with a terrific roar, "My ears 

 rving with a sharp, metallic din, my head buzzed and for a fleeting second I ques- 

 tioned whether I was dead or alive. In fact, my inner consciousness seemed to 

 insist that I was dead." 



He left France on January 20, 1919 ; reached New York, January 31 ; and 

 arrived at Letterman Hospital, San Francisco on February 14, where he is at 

 present writing (April 15, 1919,) in the charge of the reconstruction aides. In a 

 letter. Mr. Bishop says, "I have no regrets whatever, for I was crippled in the 

 greatest crusade, the most righteous cause that mankind ever undertook." 



The first draft of this monograph was made in France while the author was a 

 hospital patient. 



