Charles Peguy Memorial

On 5 September 1914, only a few hours after the first Battle of the Marne started, poet and writer Charles Péguy was struck in the head by a bullet as he gallantly led his men in an attack on German positions.

At around 4.30pm, in scorching heat, the 276th Infantry Regiment to which he belonged set off towards the Monthyon hillock, to cover the retreat of Moroccan riflemen who were fighting against the Germans.
Out in the open, in a field that offered no shelter whatsoever, the men fell one after the other under German machine-gun fire.
This memorial stone pays tribute to this monument to French literature, who fell on the field of honour in the first moments of the battle. At the base of the cross, some verses remind us of the work of this great author and his patriotic sentiments.

"Blessed are those who died for carnal earth.
Provided it was in a just war.
Blessed are those who died for four corners of earth.
Blessed are those who died a solemn death.
Blessed are those who died in great battles.
Stretched out on the ground in the face of God.
Blessed are those who died for their hearth and fire,
And the lowly honours of their fathers' houses.

Blessed are those who died, for they have returned
Into primeval clay and primeval earth.
Blessed are those who died in a just war.
Blessed is the wheat that is ripe and the wheat that is gathered in sheaves."
Charles Péguy – Eve (1913) – Extracts