BATTLE OF THE AISNE
_Most Prolonged Encounter in History Between Gigantic Forces--A
Far-Flung Battle Line--Germans Face French and British in the Aisne
Valley and Fight for Weeks--Mighty Armies Deadlocked After a Desperate
and Bloody Struggle_.
For a few days after the tide of battle in France turned in favor of
the Allies (September 9), the German forces continued to retreat to the
north, closely followed by the French and British armies that had fought
and won the battle of the Marne, as described in a previous chapter.
This northward movement was marked by heavy German losses in men and
munitions of war, and lasted until Saturday, September 12, when the
Germans were found to be occupying a position of great defensive
strength on the River Aisne, north of Soissons. At that time they held
both sides of the river and had a formidable line of intrenchments on
the hills to the north of eight road bridges and two railway bridges
crossing the Aisne. Seven of the road bridges and both the railway
bridges had been destroyed.
The Allies gained some high ground south of the Aisne, overlooking the
Aisne valley, east of Soissons. Then began (on Saturday, September 12)
an action along the Aisne which was destined to go down in history as
the greatest and most prolonged battle of all time. Two days, three
days, a week, two weeks, three, four, five weeks it lasted, with varying
fortune to the contending armies, but no decisive result. Germans,
French and British, literally by the thousand, fell under the continuous
hail of shrapnel, the hurricane of machine-gun and rifle fire, or in
the desperate bayonet charges of daily occurrence, but still the battle
raged. Minor positions were gained and lost, towns and villages along
the far-flung battle line were occupied and evacuated, countless deeds
of heroism were wrought, to be sung and celebrated by posterity in a
dozen different lands--but the lines on both sides held and victory
refused to perch on any banner.
Modern scientific strategy exhausted its utmost efforts; flanking and
turning movements were planned, attempted and failed; huge masses of
men were hurled against each other in every formation known to military
skill; myriads of lives and millions of money were sacrificed in
historic endeavors to breach the enemy's front--but ever the foeman held
his ground and neither side could claim decided advantage. Intrenchments
such as the world has never seen before covered the countryside for
fifty miles. Teuton, Gaul and Anglo-Saxon, Turco and Hindu, literally
"dug themselves in," and refused to budge an inch, though hell itself,
in all its horror and its fury, was loosed against them.
And thus the battle of the Aisne--also aptly called, from its extent and
ramifications, the battle of the Rivers--continued through many weeks
while all the world wondered and stood aghast at the slaughter, and the
single gleam of brightness that came out of that maelstrom of death and
misery was the growing respect of Frenchman, German and Briton for the
individual and collective courage of each other and the death-defying
devotion that was daily displayed by all.
FIGHTING CONTINUOUS DAY AND NIGHT
Beginning as an artillery duel in which the field-guns of the French and
Germans were matched against each other from opposite heights as never
before, the battle of the Aisne soon resolved itself into a series of
daily actions in which every arm of the opposing hosts engaged. There
was little rest for the troops day or night. Artillery fire beginning at
daybreak and continuing till dusk might break out again at any hour
of the night, the range of the enemy's intrenchments being known.
Frequently the artillery seemed to open fire in the still watches of the
night for no other reason than to prevent the enemy in his trenches from
getting any sleep at all, and many a man was borne to the rear on both
sides suffering from no wound, but from utter exhaustion--a state of
collapse which is often as deadly as shrapnel to the soldier in the
field.
For weeks at a time the only real rest for many of the troops engaged
along the line of battle came in snatches of a few hours when they were
temporarily relieved by fresh troops brought up from the rear, and
these in their turn might be soon exhausted by the continuous strain of
keeping on the alert to repel attacks--or, as frequently happened, their
ranks might be decimated, or worse, when they were ordered to a charge.
Officers and men suffered alike from the strenuous nature of the demands
made upon them--and so far as actual casualties are concerned the battle
was one in which officers of all ranks, in all the armies, suffered
perhaps more severely, in proportion to the number engaged, than in any
previous battle. Hundreds of British officers, for example, were among
the victims whose bones lie rotting in the valley of the Aisne, as whole
pages of their portraits in the London journals, bearing many of the
best known names in the British Empire, testified in mute protest
against the horrors of war. And both Germany and France have a similar
"roll of honor."
REPORTS OF THE BATTLE
While the great battle of the Rivers was in progress the most connected
stories of its daily developments came through the British official news
bureau, and these are reproduced in part in the pages that follow. The
author of these reports is believed to be Colonel Swinton, of Field
Marshal French's staff, who is generally credited with having
contributed to the literature of the war some of the most interesting
and enlightening accounts of the operations of the British and French
armies in the field. And these reports are given here, because of their
general character of apparent truth and fairness, and in the absence of
any similar reports from the other side.
OPENING OF THE GREAT BATTLE
The following report from the British headquarters covers the period
when the Allies' forward movement was halted along the Aisne and also
describes the terrain, or country, in which the subsequent fighting
occurred:
"From Thursday, September 10, the British army made [Illustration: In
the above view the Rivers Marne, Ourcq, Aisne, Oise, and Meuse are
clearly shown, exaggerated in size for convenience of reference. The
position of the Allies September 20, 1914, is shown by a black dotted
line running from between Amiens and Peronne to Verdun and Nancy. The
German front is indicated by the shaded sections, which also show the
German lines of communication or retreat, numbered from 1 to 7. At this
time the Allies were pushing north to Arras, endeavoring to turn the
German right flank in common of General von Kluck.] steady progress in
its endeavor to drive back the enemy in co-operation with the French.
The country across which it had to force its way, and will have to
continue to do so, is undulating and covered with patches of thick wood.
"Within the area which faced the British before the advance commenced,
right up to Laon, the chief feature of tactical importance is the fact
that there are six rivers running across the direction of the advance,
at all of which it was possible that the Germans might make resistance.
These rivers are, in order from the south, the Marne, Ourcq, Vesle,
Aisne, Ailette and Oise.
"The Germans held the line of the Marne, which was crossed by our forces
on September 9, as a purely rearguard operation. Our passage of the
Ourcq was not contested. The Vesle was only lightly held, while
resistance along the Aisne, both against the French and the British, has
been and still is of a determined character.
"On Friday, September 11, but little opposition was met with along any
part of our front, and the direction of the advance was, for the purpose
of co-operating with our allies, turned slightly to the northeast.
The day was spent in rushing forward and gathering in various hostile
detachments. By nightfall our forces had reached a line north of the
Ourcq, extending from Oulchy-le-Chateau to Longpont.
"On this day there was also a general advance of the French along their
whole line, which ended in a substantial success, in one portion of the
field Duke Albrecht of Wuerttemburg's army being driven back across the
Saulx, and elsewhere the whole of the artillery of a German corps being
captured. Several German colors also were taken.
"It was only on this day that the full extent of the victory gained by
the Allies on September 8 [at the Marne] was appreciated by them, and
the moral effect of this success has been enormous. An order dated
September 6 and 7, issued by the commander of the German Seventh Corps,
was picked up. It stated that the great object of the war was about to
be attained, since the French were going to accept battle, and that upon
the result of this battle would depend the issue of the war and the
honor of the German armies.
"On Saturday, the 12th, the enemy were found to be occupying a very
formidable position opposite us on the north of the line at Soissons.
Working from the west to the east, our Third Army Corps gained some high
ground south of the Aisne overlooking the Aisne valley, to the east of
Soissons. Here a long-range artillery duel between our guns and those of
the French on our left and the enemy's artillery on the hills continued
during the greater part of the day, and did not cease until nearly
midnight. The enemy had a very large number of heavy howitzers in
well-concealed positions.
"At Braisne the First cavalry division met with considerable opposition
from infantry and machine-guns holding the town and guarding the bridge.
With the aid of some of our infantry it gained possession of the town
about midday, driving the enemy to the north. Some hundred prisoners
were captured around Braisne, where the Germans had thrown a large
amount of field-gun ammunition into the river, where it was visible
under two feet of water.
FATEFUL ENCOUNTER BEGINS
"On our right the French reached the line of the River Vesle. On this
day began an action along the Aisne which is not yet finished, and which
may be merely of a rearguard nature on a large scale, or may be the
commencement of a battle of a more serious nature.
"It rained heavily on Saturday afternoon and all through the night,
which severely handicapped transport.
"On Sunday, the 13th, extremely strong resistance was encountered by the
whole of our front, which was some fifteen miles in length. The action
still consisted for the most part of a long-range gunfire, that of the
Germans being to a great extent from their heavy howitzers, which were
firing from cleverly concealed positions. Some of the actual crossings
of the Aisne were guarded by strong detachments of infantry with
machine-guns.
"By nightfall portions of all our three army corps were across the
river, the cavalry returning to the south side. By early next morning,
three pontoon bridges had been built, and our troops also managed to
get across the river by means of the bridge carrying the canal over the
river.
"On our left the French pressed on, but were prevented by artillery fire
from building a pontoon bridge at Soissons. A large number of infantry,
however, crossed in single file the top girder of the railway bridge
left standing.
"During the last three or four days many isolated parties of Germans
have been discovered hiding in the numerous woods a long way behind our
line. As a rule they seemed glad to surrender, and the condition of some
of them may be gathered from the following incident:
"An officer proceeding along the road in charge of a number of led
horses received information that there were some of the enemy in the
neighborhood. He gave the order to charge, whereupon three German
officers and 106 men surrendered.
RHEIMS OCCUPIED BY GERMANS
"Rheims was occupied by the enemy on September 3. It was reoccupied by
the French after considerable fighting on September 13.
"On the 12th, a proclamation, a copy of which is in the possession of
the British army, was posted all over the town. A literal translation of
this poster follows:
"'PROCLAMATION--In the event of an action being fought early today or in
the immediate future in the neighborhood of Rheims, the inhabitants are
warned that they must remain absolutely calm and must in no way try
to take part in the fighting. They must not attempt to attack either
isolated soldiers or detachments of the German army. The erection of
barricades, the taking up of paving stones in the streets in a way
to hinder the movement of troops, or, in a word, any action that may
embarrass the German army, is formally forbidden.
"'With an idea to securing adequately the safety of the troops and to
instill calm into the population of Rheims, the persons named below have
been seized as hostages by the commander-in-chief of the German army.
These hostages will be hanged at the slightest attempt at disorder.
Also, the town will be totally or partially burned and the inhabitants
will be hanged for any infraction of the above.
"'By order of the German authorities. (Signed) "'THE MAYOR.'
"Here followed the names of eighty-one of the principal inhabitants of
Rheims, with their addresses, including four priests, and ending with
the words, 'And some others.'"
HOW THE BATTLE DEVELOPED
The following descriptive report from Field Marshal Sir John French's
headquarters was issued September 22:
"At the date of the last narrative, September 14, the Germans were
making a determined resistance along the River Aisne. The opposition has
proved to be more serious than was anticipated.
"The action now being fought by the Germans along their line is
naturally on a scale which, as to extent of ground covered and duration
of resistance, makes it undistinguishable in its progress from what is
known as a 'pitched battle.'
"So far as we are concerned, the action still being contested is the
battle of the Aisne. The foe we are fighting is just across that river,
along the whole of our front to the east and west. The struggle is not
confined to the valley of that river, though it will probably bear its
name.
"On Monday, the 14th, those of our troops which had on the previous
day crossed the Aisne, after driving in the German rearguards on that
evening, found portions of the enemy's forces in prepared defensive
positions on the right bank and could do little more than secure a
footing north of the river. This, however, they maintained in spite of
two counter-attacks delivered at dusk and 10 p.m., in which the fighting
was severe.
"During the 14th strong reinforcements of our troops were passed to the
north bank, the troops crossing by ferry, by pontoon bridges, and by the
remains of permanent bridges. Close co-operation with the French forces
was maintained and the general progress made was good, although the
opposition was vigorous and the state of the roads, after the heavy
rain, made movements slow.
FIRST CORPS MAKES CAPTURE
"One division alone failed to secure the ground it expected to. The
First Army Corps, after repulsing repeated attacks, captured
prisoners and twelve guns. The cavalry also took a number of prisoners.
"There was a heavy rain throughout the night of September 14th,
and during the 15th the situation of the British forces underwent no
essential change. But it became more and more evident that the defensive
preparations made by the enemy were more extensive than was at first
apparent. The Germans bombarded our lines nearly all day, using heavy
guns brought, no doubt, from before Maubeuge as well as those with the
corps.
"All the German counter-attacks, however, failed, although in some
places they were repeated six times. One made on the Fourth Guards
Brigade was repulsed with heavy slaughter.
"Further counter-attacks made during the night were beaten off. Rain
came on towards evening and continued intermittently until 9 _a.m_., on
the 16th. Besides adding to the discomfort of the soldiers holding
the line, the wet weather to some extent hampered the motor transport
service, which was also hindered by broken bridges.
"On Wednesday, the 16th, there was little change in the situation
opposite the British; the efforts made by the enemy were less active
than on the previous day, though their bombardment continued throughout
the morning and evening.
"On Thursday, the 17th, the situation still remained unchanged in its
essentials. The German heavy artillery fire was more active than on the
previous day. The only infantry attacks made by the enemy were on the
extreme right of our position, and, as had happened before, they
were repulsed with heavy loss, chiefly on this occasion by our field
artillery.
NATURE OF THE FIGHTING
"In order to convey some idea of the nature of the fighting it may be
said that along the greater part of our front the Germans have been
driven back from the forward slopes on the north of the river. Their
infantry are holding strong lines of trenches amongst and along the
edges of the numerous woods which crown the slopes. These trenches are
elaborately constructed and cleverly concealed. In many places there are
wire entanglements and lengths of rabbit fencing.
"Both woods and open are carefully aligned, so that they can be swept by
rifle fire and machine-guns, which are invisible from our side of the
valley. The ground in front of the infantry is also, as a rule, under
cross fire from the field artillery placed on neighboring heights, and
under high angle fire from pieces placed well back behind the woods on
top of the plateau.
"A feature of this action, as of the previous fighting, is the use by
the enemy of numerous heavy howitzers, with which they are able to
direct long range fire all over the valley and right across it. Upon
these they evidently place great reliance.
"Where our men are holding the forward edges of the high ground on the
north side they are now strongly intrenched. They are well fed, and in
spite of the wet weather of the last week are cheerful and confident.
HEAVY BOMBARDMENT BY BOTH SIDES
"The bombardment by both sides has been heavy, and on Sunday, Monday,
and Tuesday was practically continuous. Nevertheless, in spite of the
general din caused by the reports of the immense number of heavy guns
in action along our front on Wednesday, the arrival of the French force
acting against the German right flank was at once announced on the
east of our front some miles away by the continuous roar of their
quick-firing artillery, with which the attack was opened.
"So far as the British are concerned, the greater part of this week has
been passed in bombardment, in gaining ground by degrees, and in beating
back severe counter-attacks with heavy slaughter. Our casualties have
been severe, but it is probable that those of the enemy are heavier.
"The rain has caused a great drop in the temperature and there is more
than a distant feeling of autumn in the air.
"On our right and left the French have been fighting fiercely and have
been gradually gaining ground. One village already has been captured and
recaptured twice by each side and at the time of writing remains in the
hands of the Germans.
"The fighting has been at close quarters and of the most desperate
nature, and the streets of the village are filled with dead of both
sides.
CHEERING MESSAGE TO THE FRENCH
"As an example of the spirit which is inspiring our allies the following
translation of an _Ordre du Jour_ (order of the day), published on
September 9, after the battle of Montmirail, by the commander of the
French Fifth Army, is given:
"'Soldiers: Upon the memorable fields of Montmirail, of Vauchamps,
of Champaubert, which a century ago witnessed the victories of our
ancestors over Blücher's Prussians, your vigorous offensive has
triumphed over the resistance of the Germans. Held on his flanks, his
center broken, the enemy now is retreating towards the east and north
by forced marches. The most renowned army corps of old Prussia, the
contingents of Westphalia, of Hanover, of Brandenburg, have retired in
haste before you.
"'This first success is no more than the prelude. The enemy is shaken
but not yet decisively beaten. You have still to undergo severe
hardships, to make long marches, to fight hard battles. May the image of
our country, soiled by barbarians, always remain before your eyes! Never
was it more necessary to sacrifice all for her.
"'Saluting the heroes who have fallen in the fighting of the last few
days, my thoughts turn toward you, the victors in the last battle.
Forward, soldiers, for France!'
LETTER FROM A GERMAN SOLDIER
"So many letters and statements of our wounded soldiers have been
published in our newspapers that the following epistle from a German
soldier of the Seventy-fourth Infantry regiment, Tenth Corps, to his
wife also may be of interest:
"'My Dear Wife: I have just been living through days that defy
imagination. I should never have thought that men could stand it. Not a
second has passed but my life has been in danger, and yet not a hair of
my head has been hurt.
"'It was horrible; it was ghastly, but I have been saved for you and
for our happiness, and I take heart again, although I am still terribly
unnerved. God grant that I may see you again soon and that this horror
may soon be over.
"'None of us can do any more; human strength is at an end. I will try to
tell you about it. On September 5 the enemy were reported to be taking
up a position near St. Prix, southeast of Paris. The Tenth Corps, which
had made an astonishingly rapid advance of course, was attacked on
Sunday.
"'Steep slopes led up to the heights, which were held in considerable
force. With our weak detachments of the Seventy-fourth and Ninety-first
regiments we reached the crest and came under a terrible artillery fire
that mowed us down. However, we entered St. Prix. Hardly had we done
so than we were met with shell fire and a violent fusillade from the
enemy's infantry. Our colonel was badly wounded--he is the third we have
had. Fourteen men were killed around me. We got away in a lull without
my being hit.
"'The 7th, 8th, and 9th of September we were constantly under shell and
shrapnel fire and suffered terrible losses. I was in a house which was
hit several times. The fear of death, of agony, which is in every man's
heart, and naturally so, is a terrible feeling. How often I have thought
of you, my darling, and what I suffered in that terrifying battle
which extended along a front of many miles near Montmirail, you cannot
possibly imagine.
"'Our heavy artillery was being used for the siege of Maubeuge. We
wanted it badly, as the enemy had theirs in force and kept up a furious
bombardment. For four days I was under artillery fire. It was like hell,
but a thousand times worse.
"'On the night of the 9th the order was given to retreat, as it would
have been madness to attempt to hold our position with our few men, and
we should have risked a terrible defeat the next day. The first and
third armies had not been able to attack with us, as we had advanced
too rapidly. Our morale was absolutely broken; in spite of unheard-of
sacrifices we had achieved nothing.
"'I cannot understand how our army, after fighting three great battles
and being terribly weakened, was sent against a position which the enemy
had prepared for three weeks, but, naturally, I know nothing of the
intentions of our chiefs; they say nothing has been lost.
"'In a word, we retired towards Cormontreuil and Rheims by forced
marches by day and night. We hear that three armies are going to get
into line, intrench and rest, and then start afresh our victorious
march on Paris. It was not a defeat, only a strategic retreat. I have
confidence in our chiefs that everything will be successful.
"'Our first battalion, which has fought with unparalleled bravery, is
reduced from 1,200 to 194 men. These numbers speak for themselves.'"
EVENTS FROM SEPTEMBER 21 TO
The next report from the official chronicler at the front, dated
September 24, was in part as follows:
"The enemy is still maintaining himself along the whole front, and in
order to do so is throwing into the fight detachments composed of units
from the different formations, the active army, reserve, and landwehr,
as is shown by the uniforms of prisoners recently captured.
"Our progress, although slow on account of the strength of the defensive
positions against which we are pressing, has in certain directions been
continuous, but the present battle may well last for some days more
before a decision is reached, since it now approximates nearly to siege
warfare.
"The nature of the general situation after the operations of the 18th,
19th, and 20th, cannot better be summarized than as expressed recently
by a neighboring French commander to his corps: 'Having repulsed
repeated and violent counterattacks made by the enemy, we have a feeling
that we have been victorious.'
"So far as the British are concerned, the course of events during these
three days can be described in a few words. During Friday, the 18th,
artillery fire was kept up intermittently by both sides during daylight.
At night the Germans counter-attacked certain portions of our line,
supporting the advance of their infantry as always by a heavy
bombardment. But the strokes were not delivered with great vigor and
ceased about 2 _a.m_. During the day's fighting an aircraft gun of the
Third Army Corps succeeded in bringing down a German aeroplane.
ARTILLERY FIRE BECOMES MONOTONOUS
"On Saturday, the 19th, the bombardment was resumed by the Germans at an
early hour and continued intermittently under reply from our guns, which
is a matter of normal routine rather than an event.
"Another hostile aeroplane was brought down by us, and one of our
aviators succeeded in dropping several bombs over the German line, one
incendiary bomb falling with considerable effect on a transport park
near LaFère.
"A buried store of the enemy's munitions of war also was found not far
from the Aisne, ten wagonloads of live shells and two wagons of cable
being dug up. Traces were discovered of large quantities of stores
having been burned--all tending to show that as far back as the Aisne
the German retirement was hurried.
"On Sunday, the 20th, nothing of importance occurred until the
afternoon, when there was an interval of feeble sunshine, which was
hardly powerful enough to warm the soaking troops. The Germans took
advantage of this brief spell of fine weather to make several attacks
against different points. These were all repulsed with loss to the
enemy, but the casualties incurred by us were by no means light.
"The offensive against one or two points was renewed at dusk, with no
greater success. The brunt of the resistance naturally has fallen on the
infantry. In spite of the fact that they have been drenched to the skin
for some days and their trenches have been deep in mud and water, and
in spite of the incessant night alarms and the almost continuous
bombardment to which they have been subjected, they have on every
occasion been ready for the enemy's infantry when the latter attempted
to assault. Indeed, the sight of the troops coming up has been a
positive relief after long, trying hours of inaction under shell fire.
OBJECT OF GERMAN ATTACKS
"The object of the great proportion of artillery the Germans employ is
to beat down the resistance of their enemy by concentrated and prolonged
fire--to shatter their nerve with high explosives before the infantry
attack is launched. They seem to have relied on doing this with us,
but they have not done so, though it has taken them several costly
experiments to discover this fact.
"From statements of prisoners, it appears that they have been greatly
disappointed by the moral effect produced by their heavy guns, which,
despite the actual losses inflicted, has not been at all commensurate
with the colossal expenditure of ammunition which has really been
wasted.
"By this it is not implied that their artillery fire is not good. It is
more than good--it is excellent. But the British soldier is a difficult
person to impress or depress, even by immense shells filled with a high
explosive, which detonate with terrific violence and form craters large
enough to act as graves for five horses.
"The German howitzer shells are from eight to nine inches in calibre,
and on impact they send up columns of greasy black smoke. On account of
this they are irreverently dubbed 'coal boxes,' 'Black Marias,' or 'Jack
Johnsons' by the soldiers.
"Men who take things in this spirit are, it seems, likely to throw out
the calculations based on loss of morale so carefully framed by the
German military philosophers.
"The German losses in officers are stated by our prisoners to have been
especially severe. A brigade is stated to be commanded by a major; some
companies of foot guards by one-year volunteers; while after the battle
of Montmirail one regiment lost fifty-five out of sixty officers.
LETTER FOUND ON GERMAN OFFICER
"The following letter, which refers to the fighting on the Aisne and was
found on a German officer of the Seventh Reserve Corps, has been printed
and circulated to the troops:
"'Cerny, South of Paris, Sept 17.--My Dear Parents:--Our corps has the
task of holding the heights south of Cerny in all circumstances till the
Fourteenth Corps on our left flank can grip the enemy's flank. On
our right are other corps. We are fighting with the English guards,
Highlanders and Zouaves. The losses on both sides have been enormous.
For the most part this is due to the too-brilliant French artillery.
"'The English are marvelously trained in making use of ground. One never
sees them and one is constantly under fire. The French airmen perform
wonderful feats. We cannot get rid of them. As soon as an airman has
flown over us, ten minutes later we get shrapnel fire in our position.
We have little artillery in our corps; without it we cannot get forward.
"'Three days ago our division took possession of these heights and dug
itself in. Two days ago, early in the morning, we were attacked by
immensely superior English forces--one brigade and two battalions--and
were turned out of our positions. The fellows took five guns from us. It
was a tremendous hand-to-hand fight.
"'How I escaped myself I am not clear. I then had to bring up support on
foot. My horse was wounded and the others were too far in the rear. Then
came up the Guard Jager Battalion, Fourth Jager, Sixth Regiment, Reserve
Regiment Thirteen, and Landwehr Regiments Thirteen and Sixteen, and,
with the help of the artillery, we drove the fellows out of the position
again. Our machine-guns did excellent work; the English fell in heaps.
"'In our battalion three iron crosses have been given. Let us hope that
we shall be the lucky ones the next time.
"'During the first two days of the battle I had only one piece of bread
and no water. I spent the night in the rain without my greatcoat. The
rest of my kit was on the horses, which have been left miles behind with
the baggage and which cannot come up into the battle because as soon as
you put your nose up from behind cover the bullets whistle.
"'War is terrible! We are all hoping that a decisive battle will end the
war. Our troops already have got round Paris. If we beat the English the
French resistance will soon be broken. Russia will be very quickly dealt
with; of this there is no doubt.
"'We have received splendid help from the Austrian heavy artillery at
Maubeuge. They bombarded Fort Cerfontaine in such a way that there was
not ten meters of parapet which did not show enormous craters made by
the shells. The armored turrets were found upside down.
"'Yesterday evening about 6, in the valley in which our reserves stood,
there was such a terrible cannonade that we saw nothing of the sky but a
cloud of smoke. We had few casualties.'
TELEPHONE AN AID TO SPIES
"Espionage is carried on by the enemy to a considerable extent. Recently
the suspicions of some of the French troops were aroused by coming
across a farm from which the horses had been removed. After some search
they discovered a telephone which was connected by an underground cable
with the German lines, and the owner of the farm paid the penalty in
the usual way in war for his treachery. "After some cases of village
fighting, which occurred earlier in the war, it was reported by some
of our officers that the Germans had attempted to approach to close
quarters by forcing prisoners to march in front of them. The Germans
have recently repeated the same trick on a larger scale against the
French, as is shown by the copy of an order issued by the French
officials. It is therein referred to as a ruse, but if that term can be
accepted, it is a distinctly illegal ruse.
REFERS TO RHEIMS CATHEDRAL
"Full details of the actual damage done to the cathedral at Rheims will
doubtless have been cabled, so that no description of it is necessary.
The Germans bombarded the cathedral twice with their heavy artillery.
"One reason it caught fire so quickly was that on one side of it was
some scaffolding which had been erected for restoration work. Straw had
also been laid on the floor for the reception of German wounded. It is
to the credit of the French that practically all the German wounded were
successfully extricated from the burning building.
"There was no justification on military grounds for this act of
vandalism, which seems to have been caused by exasperation born of
failure--a sign of impotence rather than of strength."
FIVE MORE DAYS OF BATTLE
On September 29 Field Marshal French's headquarters reported as follows:
"The general situation as viewed on the map remains practically the same
as that described in the last letter, and the task of the army has not
changed. It is to maintain itself until there is a general resumption of
the offensive.
"No ground has been lost. Some has been gained, and every counter-attack
has been repulsed--in certain instances with very severe losses to the
enemy.
"Of recent events an actual narrative will be carried on from the 25th
to 29th, inclusive. During the whole of this period the weather has
remained fine.
"On Friday, the 25th, comparative quiet reigned in our sphere of action.
The only incident worthy of special mention was the passage of a German
aeroplane over the interior of our lines. It was flying high, but drew a
general fusillade from below, with the result that the pilot was killed
outright and the observer was wounded. The latter was captured by the
French.
"That night a general attack was made against the greater part of the
Allies' position, and it was renewed in the early morning of Saturday,
the 26th. The Germans were everywhere repulsed with loss. Indeed,
opposite one portion of our lines, where they were caught in mass by our
machine-guns and howitzers firing at different ranges, it is estimated
that they left 1,000 killed or wounded.
"The mental attitude of our troops may be gauged from the fact that the
official report next morning from one corps, of which one division had
borne the brunt of the fighting, ran thus laconically: 'The night was
quiet except for a certain amount of shelling both from the enemy and
ourselves.'
AN ALL-DAY ATTACK
"At 3:40 a.m. an attack was made on our right. At 5 a.m. there was a
general attack on the right of the----th division, but no really heavy
firing. Further ineffectual efforts to drive us back were made at 8 a.m.
and in the afternoon, and the artillery fire continued all day.
"The Germans came on in 'T' formation, several lines shoulder to
shoulder, followed almost immediately by a column in support. After a
very few minutes the men had closed up into a mob, which afforded an
excellent target for our fire.
"On Sunday, the 27th, while the German heavy guns were in action, their
brass bands could be heard playing hymn tunes, presumably at divine
service.
"The enemy made an important advance on part of our line at 6 p.m., and
renewed it in strength at one point, with, however, no better success
than on the previous night. Sniping continued all day along the whole
front.
"On Monday, the 28th, there was nothing more severe than a bombardment
and intermittent sniping, and this inactivity continued during Tuesday,
the 29th, except for a night attack against our extreme right.
A TYPICAL BATTLE INCIDENT
"An incident that occurred Sunday, the 27th, serves to illustrate
the type of fighting that has for the last two weeks been going on
intermittently on various parts of our lines. It also brings out the
extreme difficulty of ascertaining what is actually happening during an
action apart from what seems to be happening, and points to the value of
good intrenchments.
"At a certain point in our front our advance trenches were on the north
of the Aisne, not far from a village on a hillside and also within a
short distance of German works, being on a slope of a spur formed by a
subsidiary valley running north and a main valley of the river. It was a
calm, sunny afternoon, but hazy, and from our point of vantage south
of the river it was difficult exactly to locate on the far bank the
well-concealed trenches.
"From far and near the sullen boom of guns echoed along the valley,
and at intervals in a different direction the sky was flecked with the
almost motionless smoke of anti-aircraft shrapnel.
"Suddenly and without any warning, for the reports of the distant
howitzers from which they were fired could not be distinguished from
other distant reports, three or four heavy shells fell into the
village, sending up huge clouds of dust and smoke, which ascended in a
brownish-gray column. To this no reply was made by our side.
"Shortly afterwards there was a quick succession of reports from a point
some distance up the subsidiary valley on the side opposite our trenches
and therefore rather on their flank. It was not possible either by ear
or by eye to locate the guns from which the sounds proceeded. Almost
simultaneously, as it seemed, there was a corresponding succession of
flashes and sharp detonations in the line along the hillside along what
appeared to be our trenches.
"There was then a pause and several clouds of smoke rose slowly and
remained stationary, spaced as regularly as poplars.
"Again there was a succession of reports from German quick-firers on
the far side of the misty valley and like echoes of detonations of high
explosives; then the row of expanding smoke clouds was prolonged by
several new ones. Another pause and silence, except for the noise in the
distance.
"After a few minutes there was a roar from our side of the main valley
as our field guns opened one after another in a more deliberate fire
upon the positions of the German guns. After six reports there was again
silence save for the whirr of shells as they sang up the small valley.
Then followed flashes and balls of smoke--one, two, three, four, five,
six--as the shrapnel burst nicely over what in the haze looked like some
ruined buildings at the edge of the wood.
TRYING TO ENFILADE THE TRENCHES
"Again, after a short interval, the enemy's gunners reopened with a
burst, still further prolonging the smoke, which was by now merged into
one solid screen above a considerable length of the trenches and again
did our guns reply. And so the duel went on for some time.
"Ignoring our guns, the German artillerymen, probably relying on
concealment for immunity, were concentrating all their efforts in a
particularly forceful effort to enfilade our trenches. For them it must
have appeared to be the chance of a lifetime, and with their customary
prodigality of ammunition they continued to pour bouquet after bouquet
of high explosives or combined shrapnel and common shells into our
works.
"Occasionally, with a roar, a high angle projectile would sail over the
hill and blast a gap in the village. One could only pray that our men
holding the trenches had dug themselves in deep and well, and that those
in the village were in cellars.
"In the hazy valleys, bathed in sunlight, not a man, not a horse, not
a gun, nor even a trench was to be seen. There were only flashes, and
smoke, and noise. Above, against the blue sky, several round, white
clouds were hanging. The only two visible human souls were represented
by a glistening speck in the air. On high also were to be heard more or
less gentle reports of the anti-aircraft projectiles.
"But the deepest impression created was one of sympathy for the men
subjected to the bursts along that trench. Upon inquiry as to the losses
sustained, however, it was found that our men had been able to take care
of themselves and had dug themselves well in. In that collection of
trenches on that Sunday afternoon were portions of four battalions of
British soldiers--the Dorsets, the West Kents, the King's Own Yorkshire
light infantry, and the King's Own Scottish Borderers."
ARMIES IN A DEADLOCK
Later reports from the Aisne valley, up to October 17, when the big
battle had been five weeks in progress, indicated little change in the
general situation. Bombardments and artillery duels, varied by general
attacks, occurred daily all along the line. The main positions of both
armies were firmly held, though the French had gained some ground north
of Rheims and continually threatened the German center. The left of the
Allies' line had crept north to and beyond Arras, where there was severe
fighting for several days; and at the end of the thirty-fifth day of this
battle of the Rivers the lines of the opposing armies extended almost
continuously from beyond Arras on the northwest, south in a great curve
to the Aisne valley, thence east to Verdun, where the Crown Prince's
army kept hammering away at that fortress without success, and thence
southwest to Nancy and the Alsatian border.
By this time the armies of the center were in a species of deadlock. The
strain on both sides had long promised to get beyond human endurance and
the antagonists of the Aisne were likened by a French officer to two
exhausted pugilists, who would soon be unable to inflict further
punishment upon each other. But there was no sign of "throwing up the
sponge" on either side, though beyond the actual sphere of conflict it
was felt that "something must give way soon."
A BLAZING VALE OF DEATH
Writing on September 16, the fourth day of the battle, a special
correspondent behind the British lines by Senlis and Chantilly, said:
"I have passed through a smiling land to a land wearing the mask of
death; through harvest fields rich with great stacks snugly builded
against the winter to the fields of a braver harvest; by jocund villages
where there is no break in the ebb and flow of everyday life to villages
and towns that despoiling hands have shattered in ruins.
"And I have passed up this Via Dolorosa toward the very harvesting
itself--toward those great plains stretching away on the banks of the
River Aisne, where the second act of this drama of battles is at this
moment being played.
"Details of this fight, which, as I write, reaches its fourth day of
duration, are very scanty, but partly from personal observation and
partly from information which has reached me I know that the struggle so
far has been a terrible one, equal to, if not greater than, the struggle
on the banks of the Marne.
"The events of Monday (September 14) revealed a foe battling desperately
for his life; and this defense of General von Kluck's army demanded of
the Allies their utmost strength and determination.
"Picture this battlefield, which will assuredly take its place with that
of the Marne as one of the greatest combats of the greatest war. Through
the middle of it flows the great river, passing from the east to the
west. The banks of the river here are very steep. Above the plain, which
sweeps away from the northern bank, rises the "massif" of Laon. It is an
ideal area for great movements and for artillery work directed upon the
valley of the river. Passing eastward a little, there are the heights
behind the city of Rheims and above the Vesle, a tributary of the Aisne.
Here again nature has builded a stronghold easy to defend, difficult
exceedingly to attack.
"I know of heroic work against these great lines, work that will live
with the most momentous of this struggle. I know of smashing attacks the
thought of which takes one's breath away. I have heard narratives of the
trenches and of the bridges--these engineers, French and English, have
indeed 'played the game'--which no man can hear unmoved; how the columns
went down again and again to the blazing death of the valley, and how
men worked, building and girding in a very inferno--worked with the
furious speed of those whose time of work is short.
HEROISM IN THE TRENCHES
"And in the trenches, too, the tale of heroism unfolds itself hour by
hour. Here is an example, one among ten thousand, the story of a wounded
private: 'We lay together, my friend and I...The order to fire came. We
shot and shot till our rifles burned us. Still they swarmed on towards
us. We took careful aim all the while. "Ah, good, did you see that?" I
turned to my friend and as I did so heard a terrible dull sound like a
spade striking upon newly turned earth. His head was fallen forward. I
spoke, I called him by name. He was moaning a little. Then I turned to
my work again. They are advancing quickly now. Ah! how cool I was. I
shot so slowly,...so very slowly.
"'And then--do you know what it feels like to be wounded? I rose just
a little too high on my elbow. A sting that pierces my arm like a hot
wire--too sharp almost to be sore. I felt my arm go away from me--it
seemed like that--and then my rifle fell. I believe I was a little
dazed. I looked at my friend presently. He was dead.'
THE GRIM STORY OF SENLIS
"So, on these green river banks and across these fair wooded plains the
Germans make their great stand--the stand that if they are defeated will
be their last in France. And meanwhile behind them lie the wasted fields
and the broken villages. It is impossible adequately to describe the
scenes which I have witnessed on the line of the great retreat, but here
and there events have had place, which, in truth, cry to high heaven for
report. Of such is the grim story of Senlis.
"I spent many hours in Senlis and I will recount that story as I saw it
and as I heard it from those who lived through the dreadful procession
of days. On Saturday, September 5, the Germans reached this beautiful
old cathedral town and entered into occupation. They issued a
proclamation to the inhabitants calling upon them to submit and to offer
no sort of resistance on pain of severe reprisals.
"But the inhabitants of Senlis had already tasted the bitter draft of
war making. The people had become bitter to the point of losing care of
their own safety. They were reckless, driven to distraction.
"Bitter was the price exacted for the recklessness! The trouble began
when, exasperated beyond measure by their insolence, a brave tobacconist
declared to a couple of the Prussians: 'I serve men, not bullies.' He
followed his words with a blow delivered fiercely from the shoulder.
"The infuriated soldiers dragged him from his shop and hurled him on his
knees in front of the door. His wife rushed out shrieking for mercy.
Mercy! As well ask it of a stone! A shot rang out...Another...Man and
wife lay dead.
"Immediately the news of this murderous act flew through the town.
Outraged and furious, the conquerors marched instantly to the house of
the mayor--their hostage--and arrested him. They conveyed him without a
moment's delay to the military headquarters, where he was imprisoned for
the night. On Wednesday morning a court-martial sat to decide his fate.
A few minutes later this brave man paid for the indiscretion of his
people with his life, dying splendidly.
"And then guns were turned on this town of living men and women and
children. Shells crashed into the houses, into the shops, into the
station. At Chantilly, seven kilometers away, the amazed inhabitants saw
a great column of black smoke curl up into the air; they guessed the
horrible truth. Senlis was burning.
"The work, however, was interrupted. At midday the glad tidings were
heard, 'The Turcos are here.' Within the hour broken and blazing Senlis
was re-relieved and rescued. The Turcos pursued and severely punished
the enemy.
"Today these streets are terrible to look upon. House after house has
been shattered to pieces--broken to a pile of stones. One of the small
turrets of the cathedral has been demolished, and a rent has been torn
in the stone work of the tower. The station is like a wilderness."
RHEIMS CATHEDRAL DAMAGED
A correspondent gives a vivid account of the German bombardment of
Rheims, during the battle on the Aisne, as viewed by him from the belfry
of the famous cathedral.
"What a spectacle it was!" he said. "Under the cold, drifting gray
rainclouds the whole semicircle of the horizon was edged by heights on
which the German batteries were mounted, three miles away.
"There was nothing but the inferno of bursting shells, those of the
Germans landing anywhere within the space of a square mile. Sometimes
it was just outside the town that they fell, trying to find the French
troops lying there in their trenches, waiting to go forward to the
attack of the hills, when their artillery should have prepared the way.
"The cathedral tower made a wonderful grand stand from which to watch
this appalling game of destruction. It was under the protection of the
Red Cross flag, for directly the shells began to hit the cathedral in
the morning some German wounded were brought in from a hospital nearby
and laid on straw in the nave, while Abbé Andreaux and a Red Cross
soldier pluckily climbed to the top of the tower and hung out two Geneva
flags.
"The crescendo scream the shells make has something fiendish in it that
would be thrilling apart from the danger of which it is the sign. You
hear it a full second before the shell strikes, and in that time you can
tell instinctively the direction of its flight.
"Then comes the crash of the explosion, which is like all the breakages
you ever heard gathered into one simultaneous smash."
SAVING THE GERMAN WOUNDED
A few of the German shells struck the cathedral and set it on fire. The
scene was thus described by Abbé Camu, a priest of Rheims:
"It was all over in an hour. There were two separate fires. We put the
first out with four buckets of water, all we had in the place, but soon
another shell struck the roof and the wind drove the flames along the
rafters inside of the nave. We rushed up, but it was flaming all along
and as we could do nothing, we hurried down.
"There were holes in the ceiling of the nave and sparks began to fall
through them into a great heap of straw, ten feet high and twenty yards
long, which the Germans had piled along the north aisle. We tried to
catch the sparks in our hands as they fell, and such of the German
wounded as were able to walk helped us. But the first spark that fell on
the pile set it blazing. There was time to think of nothing but getting
out the wounded.
"They screamed horribly. We carried many of those that could not walk,
while others dragged themselves painfully along to the side door in
the north aisle. Those who had only hand and arm wounds helped their
comrades. We got out all except thirteen, whose bodies were left behind.
"When at last I came out of the flaming building I found the whole body
of wounded huddled together around the doors. Opposite to them was
a furiously hostile crowd of civilians of the town and a number of
soldiers with their rifles already leveled.
"I sprang forward. 'What are you doing?' I cried.
"'They shall all burn,' shouted the soldiers in answer. 'They shall go
back and burn with the cathedral or we will shoot them here.'
"'You are mad!' I exclaimed in reply. 'Think of what this means. All the
world will hear of the crime the Germans have committed here, and if you
shoot these men the world will know that France has been as criminal in
her turn. Anyhow,' I said, 'you shall shoot me first, for I will not
move.'
"Unwillingly the soldiers lowered their rifles and I turned to six
German, officers who were among the wounded and asked if they would do
what I told them to. They said they would and I asked them to tell their
men to do the same. Then I formed them up in a solid body, those who
could walk unaided carrying or helping those who could not. I put myself
at the head and we set off to the Hotel de Ville, which is only a few
hundred yards away.
"Well, then the crowd, mad with grief and rage, set on us. I can't
describe it. You have never seen anything so dreadful as that scene.
They beat some of the Germans and some of them they got down.
"'Can't you help me!' I called to a French officer I caught sight of.
"'You will never get to the Hotel de Ville like this,' he replied, so I
forced my wounded through the gateway of a private house and we managed
to close the gates after us.
"They had been roughly handled, some of them, and they stayed there a
day and a night before we could move them again."
[The damage done to the cathedral at Rheims, by the way, though by no
means slight, inexpressibly sad and truly regrettable, was not nearly
so great as was indicated by many early reports. The friends of
architectural art and beauty hope to see the cathedral fully restored at
no distant date.]
"SLAUGHTER" AT SOISSONS
Much of the fighting during the battle of the Aisne centered around
Soissons. On September 16 a correspondent described the fighting there
as follows: "For the last three hours I have been watching from the
hills to the south of the town that part of the terrific struggle that
may be known in history as the battle of Soissons.
"It has lasted for four days, and only now can it be said that victory
is turning to the side of the Allies.
"The town itself cannot be entered for it still is being raked both by
artillery and rifle fire, and great columns of smoke mark several points
at which houses are burning.
"The center of the fighting lies where the British and French pontoon
corps are trying to keep the bridges they have succeeded in throwing
across the river.
"Men who have come from the front line tell me that the combat there has
been a positive slaughter. They say that the unremitting and desperate
firing of these four days and nights puts anything else in modern
warfare into the shade, that river crossings are as great an objective
on one side to take and keep as on the other to destroy."
SEVEN DAYS OF HELL
A wounded soldier, on being brought back to the hospital at Paris, after
only one week in the valley of the Aisne, said in a dazed sort of way:
"Each day was like the others. It began at 6 o'clock in the, morning
with heavy shellfire. There was a short interval at which it stopped,
about 5:30 every day. Then in the night came the charges, and one night
I couldn't count them. It was awful--kill, kill, kill, and still they
came on, shoving one another over on to us. Seven days and nights of it
and some nights only an hour's sleep; it was just absolute hell!"
None of the wounded found another word to describe the battle and the
sight of the men bore it out. Muddied to the eyes, wet, often with blood
caked on them, many were suffering from the curious aphasia produced by
continued trouble and the concussion of shells bursting. Some were
dazed and speechless, some deafened, and yet, strange to say, said a
correspondent, no face wore the terrible animal war look. They seemed to
have been softened, instead of hardened, by their awful experience.