DESTROYED VILLAGE OF HAUMONT PRÈS SAMOGNEUX

Before it was even a village, Haumont near Samogneux was first a site of Gallic celebration of the Sun God through an altar erected in the 1st century AD on its heights. Later, the Roman army established a fortified camp there.

Towards the end of the Thirty Years' War, which pitted Catholics against Protestants, the village was completely ruined by the incessant passage of troops who ransomed and even tortured the inhabitants unable to satisfy them. From 300 inhabitants in 1850, its population dropped to 139 in 1914.

The population was evacuated shortly after the start of the war, due to its location in the far north, too close to the front which had stabilized a few kilometers away, thanks to the success of the Battle of the Marne. However, it suffered a first bombardment on February 7, 1915, which damaged part of its church.

But this was nothing compared to what it would endure a year later, on February 20, 1916, at the very beginning of the great German offensive on Verdun. On February 22, 1916, the valiant defense of the village by the 362nd Infantry Regiment forced the German assault troops to retreat...

This brief respite for the soldiers resulted in a deluge of iron and fire unleashed by the powerful German artillery. During this violent bombardment, the village literally collapsed, burying 80 brave soldiers under its stones and rubble.

The German advance on the French lines moved the village away from the intense fighting taking place further south until October 1918, when the French army's offensive push returned to the area.

Its ruins were indeed recaptured on October 8, 1918, by the 67th Infantry Regiment and the 66th and 68th Senegalese Tirailleurs Battalions, a little over a month before the end of hostilities.

Between the two wars, Haumont near Samogneux was declared a "destroyed village" in 1919, a unique status shared by eight other villages in the Meuse.

On March 15, 1921, it was cited in the army's order to mark the Nation's recognition for the supreme sacrifice of the commune.

On August 28, 1928, its war memorial was inaugurated, and in 1932, its Saint Nicolas shelter chapel was built, then furnished and decorated in 1933, proving the determination of its former inhabitants, the "Sachots," to make it a respected place of remembrance.

In 1940, the beginning of the Second World War saw new battles on its territory, during the inevitable push of the German army overwhelming the few remaining valiant French troops desperately trying to stop them.

The occupation of the country that followed led to the effective abandonment of the maintenance of this place of remembrance, from 1940 until 1968. Nature reclaimed its rights, and the chapel was even swallowed by vegetation...

But in 1971, under the impetus of its mayor, Charles Renversez, extensive cleaning and restoration work was undertaken. And now, Haumont near Samogneux and the "Sachots" continue this essential work of remembrance every year, so necessary for future generations.

To see:

• The Saint-Nicolas chapel (triptych painting by Lucien Lantier, representing the village in 1914, 1915, and 1916);
• The war memorial;
• Remnants of the village.