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Sierra Club Bulletin 



detail later. Five kilometers southeast of the Gueb wilier Ballon 

 lies that terrible mountain, Hartmanweilerskopf, where so many- 

 gallant men laid down their lives. I will explain why this came to 

 be regarded as such an important point. 



Early in August, 19 14, the French drove forward into Alsace and 

 captured the main ridge of the Vosges from Bon Homme Pass, south 

 of Saint Die, to Le Rheinkopf. They also secured possession of the 

 high ridge which shoots off to the southeast from Le Rheinkopf and 

 extends as far as Thann. The later ridge lies to the east of the fa- 

 mous valley of the Thur. These preliminary successes gave the 

 French great advantages in terrestrial observation, which they main- 

 tained until the end of the war. From these heights they could keep 

 a splendid watch on the country below them occupied by the Ger- 

 mans. The latter were quick to realize the handicap which they suf- 

 fered, and they promptly adopted a policy of attempting to hold a 

 number of detached hills to the east of these mountain ridges, in 

 order that they might be able to get some counter-observation of the 

 terrain occupied by the French to the east of the main ridge. The 

 possession of these peaks, however, only partly overcame the disad- 

 vantages under which they labored, but they sacrificed thousands of 

 men to hold them. As luck would have it, the terrain of our sector 

 lying to the east of the main ridge, except the southern part, was not 

 particularly well wooded. For this reason our movements from the 

 main ridge to our front line, with the exception noted, had to be 

 made under cover of darkness. 



The enemy had superiority in artillery when we first went in, and 

 it was not safe to provoke him to use it by showing ourselves. We 

 were liable to start something which we were powerless to stop. The 

 Germans made strenuous efforts to seize and hold the detached hills 

 referred to above, and terrific combats were thus brought about 

 whenever an attempt was made to dislodge them. Such places 

 changed hands frequently in the early part of the war, and for this 

 reason they became known as "friction-points." Hartmanweilers- 

 kopf was the most terrible of all. Thousands upon thousands of 

 French and German soldiers laid down their lives there in fruitless 

 struggles. The French were the heaviest losers, because the Ger- 

 mans, particularly in the early part of the war, not only had more 

 guns, but guns of longer range and heavier caliber. We had a num- 

 ber of these friction-points along our front, but none of these had the 



