The Untold Story of Frederick Michaelis

Pain

The march to get the boats was awful; I have not had shoes to wear in months. For the beginning of the march, I could feel the rocks cutting my feet up as we walked on the dirt path. The tiny rocks got into my cuts and caused a constant stinging feeling throughout my feet every step I took. As we continued forward, the cold started to numb the pain but caused a new and worse feeling. I started to lose all feeling in my toes at first and then it spread to the rest of my foot, up to my ankles. It was unbearably uncomfortable to walk at all but still I marched on. At first my feet were frozen but then I felt them start to burn as if I was walking on hot coals. I had to lock my jaw so that I did not cry out in pain as I marched and I could tell some of the other men were having the same troubles as myself. When we finally reached our destination a couple hours later, my fingers and my feet were blue and stone cold.

"Come Lads! Get in the boats and sail back to the others!" Glover's voice rang through the men. One by one we all filed into boats and headed downstream to the rest of the army. At one point I lost my balance and fell overboard into the freezing cold winter water of the river. Luckily for me, some men pull me back on the boat but I remained wet and frozen. My hair started to freeze together; I felt incredibly weak and tired. I could do little more than just breath.