In the Foreign Legion

ne of the Legion's history : A hundred thousand victims : A psychological puzzle : True heroes

and gravel, which formed the prisoners' exercise-ground, by

ght there stands a sentry with fixed bayonet before the regiment's holy of holies. For the soldie

e sentry on duty was a man of my own company, whom I

all a flood of colour met my gaze. The walls of the enormous room were covered with pictures. Flanking the entrance were the life-size portraits of two légionnaires, the one in modern African campaigning kit, and the other in

Meyer. And in very good company were these German soldiers of fortune: the list showed the names of some of France's most famous soldiers and generals. Each of them had at some time or other co

orks of art. A number of these pictures come from the brush of Captain Cousin, while the allegorical frescoes on the ceiling are the work of an artist

and there are several stories besides that of this humble a

n, it was found on inquiry to contain no less than seven architects. These seven soldiers became once more seven artists, and executed the plans for the new officers' mess. They agreed on the style of a Tonquin pagoda. Among the Norwegians of the regiment were several carpenters who were experts in artistic w

then once more shou

mn and suffered heavy losses in a scrap with the Arabs. The number of wounded was very great, and nothing could be done for th

any doctors

Sorbonne, another had gained the diploma of the University of Zurich,

ort in the Legion three fortification experts reported themselves from a single company:

d till they dropped, and-there was nothing that they could not do. He would undertake to build an engine with his légionnaires; from their ranks he

went to Paris to give concerts, is another proof of the many-sidedness of the Legion's talents. Many an artist who once playe

lways represented the exceptions, and that the majority of the men in the Legion were very simple fellows, whose past had nothing at all interesting about it. It

Greek, and now you're a journalist. Is the

the Legion took part written on them: forty-eight great battles, fought in all corners of the earth, from Indo-China in the East t

any of the Legion who were killed to a man at Camaron. Over two thousand Mexican irregulars set upon the detachment in the neighbourhood of the village of Camaron. The detachment fought its way through t

pile of dead. The few survivors were badly wounded. A few hours later relief came. But t

f pliant steel hung side by side; beside poisoned arrows from Madagascar there were old-fashioned bayonets which had done a

in the year 1831 under the na

acters of all nations. He assumed the title of lieutenant-general, and finally succeeded in persuading the military authorities that his fellows would make capital stuff for service in Algeria. About 4000 men took the oath of allegiance on the French colours in Marseilles and embarked for Africa. The French troops there turned up their noses at these tattered soldiers, and the hostile Arabs called them mockingly "the Bedouins from France,"[3] because they were so poor and ragged. The new-com

rd battalions S

alion Sp

talion

n Belgians a

ttalio

nationalities from each other and contented themselves with teachin

r the Legion such as no regiment

Christina of Spain to fight against the Carlists. For their services in Spain the Legion was to have been given 800,000 francs, but this s

city-builders. They worked hard, building town after town, and there is to-day no city in French Northern Africa in which the first European building was not built by légionnaires. In the Crimean War the Legion was ordered to Russia, where, in the Battle of the Alma, it was the first regiment to come under fire and fought with great bravery. In General Canrobert's despatches 29 officers and men of the Legion were mention

hty battle of Ischeriden brought the tribes of Beni Jenni, Beni Raten, and the Beni Amer into subjection. The regiment had a few hundred more to add to its list of dead and had won new honours, only, as a real regiment of mercenaries, to be transferred to a new field of battle. Re

was engaged in desultory fighting against the Arabs and Bedouins

ought off some mad exploit with the greatest bravery, adding that day at Camaron to the Legion's roll of honours. The result of the Mexican campaign, as far as

lers, digging wells, building villages, and laying roads-till the year 1870. In the Franco-German War the Legion first came into action at Orleans. All the German légionnaires had, ho

, and which formed one of the first examples of mounted infantry. Till the year 1883 the légionnaires remained in Africa, and enjoyed a period of comparative quietude, which only brought a few Arab rebellions and a few dozen skirmishes. Then, however, they started off once more on their travels. The Far East, Tonquin, was the scene of a colonial war against a brave enemy and a

to shed their life's blood, who did not serve under the Legion's flag merely to earn their living, but formed one of the best bodies of troops in the world. What misery and misfortune must there be in Europe to bring thousands and thousands of poor and desperate men flocking to the Legion's standard, whose total in the eighty years of the regiment's existence must add up to an ov

ities of the Legion i

ns 45 p

ans

ss

ians

chme

iard

ians

rian

hmen

ious cou

is extraordinarily high, and when to this we add the many thousands killed in battle, and consider that desertions are very frequent,

accuracy. It may be far below the mark or

form and equipment, to say nothing about his personal needs, be they ever so small. The assertion that these hundred thousand men have made the French Government a present of their work and strength during all these years, and all too often of their lives, is no exaggeration. Even though the history of the Foreign Legion, the history of that ever-fighting band of me

hat year after year so many men were willing to sell their lives for a country that

rt of bargain they made when they enlisted, and the Legion has always been a hotbed of seething discontent. As it is to-day, so has it always been; the only subject of conversation in the Legion is an endless discussion of that all-important question: how and when to desert. The légionnaire has enriched the

a form which appeals to their fancy, and who volunteer for one dangerous expedition after another till they meet the bulle

ts on their nerves: the whole garrison becomes restless and can only be kept in order with the greatest difficulty. Then comes the command to tur

feature of many a ruined life. It acts as a safety-valve: other

y of the regiment can only tell of glorious attacks, of furious charges made with a bravery that absolutely disregards danger and death. These poor adventurers have their own individual ideas o

n fight-the légi

I have so often heard the murmur of discontent which runs through the ranks when the hated call is heard at

on has taken no substantial form. Its officers have always reaped the reward of quick promotion, but the lé

times da

ng, so that the real wages are five centimes per diem. After the "second congé," when he has five years' service behind him, his wages are raised to t

present among a round three hundred officers there is only one who is not a Frenchman, a quondam officer in the Austrian army, who worked his way up from the ranks. Even among the non-commissioned officers the percentage of

en turned out of other armies. For these, the Foreign Legion has special regulations. They are not asked to show any papers nor are inquiries made into the reasons why they were originally dismissed: all that is required is a photograph showing him in uniform.

ever, remains that a man who spends fifteen years in all sorts of climates, and who works for fifteen years with the energy required of a légionnaire, can easily amass a small fortune. Another interesting fa

n the case of the Cross of the Legion of Honour a very considerable one. These distinctions, however, are so seldom conferred that they can hardly be

s, to whose deeds of honour the Hall of H

day-those glorio

t he stands in the street like a beggar, and does not know what in the world to do for a living. Even in the rare cases in which t

uartermaster's office to those who have served their time, being made of an ugly blue stuff, which looks like blue sacking. Of course their clothes did not fit them in the least, the trousers being either too long or too short, and the coat looked like a sack, for how could one expect them to

ally outside France. The majority, with grim humour, chose some town in the far north, generally Dunkirk, in order that the journey might be as long as possible. As a result of this the Mayor of Dunkirk wrote a

d the only papers he has to show are his certificates of dismissal from the Foreign Legion, which are worth very little in France. There are plenty of fine speeches made about the glorious Foreign Legion in

s starving and half perished with cold they had struggled against their fate, and gone from house to house seeking work until their clothes were mere rags and their boots were worn out. Finally, they had despaired of ever finding work, and

g years of work-the