THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE (2ND BATTALION)
The German General Staff at this juncture realised that a retreating
army is not necessarily a beaten one. For the last ten days, with their
maps spread before them, they had had the satisfaction of moving the
pins and flags representing their forces continually and rapidly nearer
and nearer Paris. But if the French Army--the British Army, they
thought, could be safely ignored--were to succeed in escaping south, it
would remain a constant menace. It might even interfere with the
Emperor's spectacular entry into Paris, every detail of which had been
sketched out beforehand by the officials, whose business it was to
stage-manage all the theatrical pageantry of their Imperial master's
movements.
So a big _coup_ was wanted--a smashing blow at the French. If the centre
of the French line could be pierced by the combined efforts of Von
Hausen's, the Duke of Würtemberg's, and the Crown Prince's armies, and
if simultaneously Von Kluck's army, which had reached Senlis, and was
only twenty-five miles from Paris, could execute a swift movement to the
south-east, the Fifth French Army would be caught in a vice. This
strategic plan really menaced the whole of the interior of France, and
had it succeeded might have resulted in her downfall. In all these
calculations of the German Staff it appears to have been assumed that
the British Army was practically out of action, and that whatever
remained of it had in all probability been sent to reinforce the weak
spot at Bar-le-Duc.
To accomplish his decisive stroke, Von Kluck had to execute that most
dangerous of all manoeuvres, a flank march with the object of rolling up
the left of the French line. The German General Staff assumed that the
left of the Fifth French Army was the left of the whole French line, and
that nothing beyond a few cavalry patrols had to be reckoned with. Von
Kluck was accordingly given orders to march his army to the left and
attack the Fifth French Army under General Franchet d'Esperey. They knew
nothing of the Sixth Army under General Maunoury, which had arrived with
such dramatic suddenness in taxi-cabs from Paris.
The unknown and the despised elements proved Von Kluck's undoing. Before
he had gone very far he found the completely ignored British Army on top
of him, and the totally unexpected Sixth French Army on his right flank.
Quickly realising his peril, he decided to retire. In the meantime, on
the French side, General Foch, who was about in the centre of the French
line, saw an opportunity, which he promptly seized, of driving a wedge
between the armies of Von Hausen and Von Bülow. The situation was now
entirely changed. The lately triumphant German forces were no longer
even moderately secure, and decided on a general retirement all along
the line.
It was on September 5 that Sir John French and General Joffre conferred
together and decided to take the offensive. To the British Army was
assigned the space between the Fifth and Sixth French Armies. This meant
a change of front, and hence that welcome order to the 2nd Battalion
Grenadiers to move due east instead of south.
That evening Field-Marshal Sir John French issued the following orders:
(1) The enemy has apparently abandoned the idea of advancing on
Paris and is contracting his front and moving south-east.
(2) The Army will advance eastward with a view to attacking. Its
left will be covered by the French Sixth Army also marching east,
and its right will be linked to the French Fifth Army marching
north.
(3) In pursuance of the above the following moves will take place,
the Army facing east on completion of the movement.
First Corps: right on La-Chapelle-Iger, left on Lumigny, move to be
completed 9 A.M.
Second Corps: right on La Houssaye, left in neighbourhood of
Villeneuve, move to be completed 10 A.M.
Third Corps: facing east in the neighbourhood of Bailly, move to be
completed 10 A.M.
Cavalry Division (less 3rd and 5th Brigades): to guard front and
flanks of First Corps on the line Jouy-le-Chatel (connecting the
French Fifth Army)--Coulommiers (connecting the 3rd and 5th
Brigades). The 3rd and 5th Cavalry Brigades will cease to be under
the orders of the First Corps and will act in concert under
instructions issued by Brigadier-General Gough. They will cover the
Second Corps connecting with the Cavalry Division on the right and
with the Sixth French Army on the left.
[Sidenote: Sept. 6.]
Sunday, the 6th, was the joyful day when there came this turn of the
tide, and that morning Sir John French issued an order to his Army in
which he said:
After a most trying series of operations, mostly in retirement,
which have been rendered necessary by the general strategic plan of
the Allied Armies, the British Forces stand to-day formed in line
with their French comrades, ready to attack the enemy. Foiled in
their attempt to invest Paris, the Germans have been driven to move
in an easterly and south-easterly direction, with the apparent
intention of falling in strength on Fifth French Army. In this
operation they are exposing their right flank and their line of
communication to an attack by the Sixth French Army and the British
Forces.
I call upon the British Army in France to show now to the enemy its
power and to push on vigorously to the attack beside the Sixth
French Army. I am sure I shall not call on them in vain, but that on
the contrary by another manifestation of the magnificent spirit
which they have shown in the past fortnight they will fall on the
enemy's flank with all their strength, and in unison with their
Allies drive them back.
At 5.30 the same morning the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers marched to Le Mée,
where trenches were dug. The men, for once, had had a good night's rest,
and were in great spirits at the prospect of an advance. A sharp
artillery attack was being carried on against Villeneuve, and the 1st
Brigade was moved out to attack the place, while the 4th Brigade
prolonged the line on the left. Being in reserve, the 2nd Battalion
Grenadiers saw little of the day's fighting. In the event the artillery
proved sufficient to shift the enemy, and the Battalion marched without
further incident to Touquin, where it bivouacked for the night. That
night the British Army occupied a line from Dagny on the right to
Villeneuve-le-Comte on the left.
[Sidenote: Sept. 7.]
Severe fighting went on all along the line next morning. Maunoury's
taxi-cab army had been able to press Von Kluck as he retired, and the
British Army had taken Coulommiers and La Ferté-Gaucher. As the German
battalions retreated shells were poured on them by our artillery, who
were kept well posted with information by the aircraft observers.
Marching through Paradis, Mauperthuis, St. Simeon, and Voigny, the 2nd
Battalion Grenadiers finally bivouacked at Rebais. Everywhere in the
villages were staring evidences of the German occupation and hurried
retreat. Shops had been looted, houses despoiled, and the contents--such
as could not be carried away--had been wantonly destroyed, evidently
under orders, and the fragments scattered to the winds. The
advance-guard of the 4th Brigade (the 2nd Battalion Coldstream) was
engaged with the German rearguard during this march, and the Grenadiers
who were in support came in for a certain amount of firing. The Germans
could be plainly seen retiring by Rebais with masses of transport in
great confusion.
[Illustration: Battle of the Marne. Position of the British Army on
September 8, 1914.]
[Sidenote: Sept. 8.]
It became clear next day that Von Kluck's Army was in retreat, and Sir
John French determined to press him and give him no rest--thus
completely were the positions reversed. The First Corps advanced, and
everything went well at first, but at La Trétoire it was held up by the
German rear-guard, which had found a good position, and the 3rd
Battalion Coldstream, which formed the advanced guard, was checked for a
time by the German machine-guns hidden in the houses round the bridge
over the Petit Morin. Meanwhile, a German field battery posted near
Boitron shelled the high ground over which the main body of the 4th
Brigade had to pass.
The Germans were evidently fighting a delaying action, and were
employing their cavalry with great skill to hold the river as long as
possible. In front of the British Army, the cavalry covering the retreat
of Von Kluck's Army was commanded by General von der Marwitz, who showed
no intention of abandoning his position without a struggle.
Thick woods run down to the river for the last half-mile here, but right
through them goes one big clearing about eighty yards wide. This was
swept by the German machine-guns, and it was a problem how to get the
men across. No. 3 Company Grenadiers under Captain Stephen was sent on
to support the Coldstream, followed later by No. 4 under Captain
Colston. Both companies reached the edge of the wood, but were there
stopped by a hail of fire from the machine-guns. Our field-guns could
not reach the houses where these had been placed, and the howitzers were
unaccountably slow in coming up. It was while he was endeavouring to
find some way of advance that Captain Stephen was shot through both
legs; he was taken to hospital, and died of his wounds four days later.
Urgent messages to push on kept arriving meanwhile from Sir Douglas
Haig. Lieut.-Colonel Feilding, who was temporarily in command of the
Brigade, sent the 2nd Battalion Coldstream by a circuitous route to try
and effect a crossing at La Forge, farther to the right. No. 1 and No. 2
Companies Grenadiers were then ordered to go round by a covered route to
avoid the clearing in the wood, and had actually started when
Lieut.-Colonel Feilding gave the order for them to turn about. Major
Lord Bernard Gordon Lennox, who had raced off at their head, was so far
in front that the order did not reach him. He rushed across the
clearing, and just managed to get into a ditch on the other side, the
shower of machine-gun bullets churning up the ground almost at his
heels.
So deafening was the noise of the firing that it was impossible to pass
orders simultaneously to the men scattered about in the woods, who at
the same time were all on edge to advance. And soon it became very
difficult to keep the troops together.
Lieut.-Colonel Corry had already gone off with these two companies, Nos.
1 and 2, to follow the 2nd Battalion Coldstream, when Lieut.-Colonel
Feilding thought he saw the Germans retiring, and shouted to Major
Jeffreys to turn the Grenadiers about and take them across the clearing
straight down to the river, but No. 2 Company had got a good way ahead
through the woods, and Major Jeffreys was only able to get hold of half
of No. 1 Company, which followed him across the clearing. Unfortunately,
however, the German guns were still there, and opened a heavy fire on
them. By this time the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was hopelessly split up,
different parts of the Battalion having gone in three different
directions, and the 3rd Battalion Coldstream was also scattered all over
the woods. In the meantime the howitzers came up, and soon drove the
Germans out of their position. No. 3 Company had done well in the
fighting, having succeeded in capturing one of the enemy's machine-guns
and many prisoners.
The various parties then made their way through the wood to the edge of
the stream, but as there was no bridge to be seen they worked along the
banks to La Trétoire. Without further opposition, a party of the Irish
Guards under Major Herbert Stepney, together with half of No. 1 Company
under Major Jeffreys and Lieutenant Mackenzie, crossed the bridge, and
advanced up the opposite side towards Boitron. In every direction the
ground was strewn with dead and wounded Germans, and after advancing
1000 yards the party of Grenadiers reached the position which had been
occupied by the German Battery; the guns had all been got away, but dead
horses, overturned limbers, and dead gunners showed how this Battery had
suffered at the hands of the 41st Brigade R.F.A.
As the enemy retired our guns and howitzers kept up a heavy fire, and
inflicted severe losses.
The whole Brigade had by now debouched from the woods, and gradually
collected behind Boitron, while the Divisional Cavalry went on ahead so
as to keep in touch with the retreating enemy. The 2nd Battalion
Grenadiers was then ordered to advance in artillery formation over the
open country north of Boitron, and met with no resistance.
But there was one incident that might have proved disastrous. In its
eagerness to get at the enemy, No. 2 Company got rather ahead of its
time, with the result that our own guns planted some shrapnel into it,
luckily without doing much damage. On the left the Irish Guards and the
2nd Battalion Coldstream found in a wood a number of Germans with
machine-guns, who had apparently got separated from the main body. Our
men charged, and immediately up went the white flag; seven machine-guns
and a large number of prisoners were taken, mostly men belonging to the
Guard Jäger Corps.
Rain had been falling for some time in a steady downpour, and as the
light was failing the Battalion assembled to bivouac near Les Peauliers.
An extremely wet sainfoin field was chosen for the purpose, and there,
in a misty September evening, the men lay down to sleep. Altogether the
Grenadiers had lost forty men in the day's fighting, besides Captain
Stephen.
[Sidenote: Sept. 9.]
Dismally the raindrops trickled through the trees as the men roused
themselves in the early morning. It was very cold, too, and the
greatcoats that had been so lightly flung away during the sweltering
days of retreat were now bitterly regretted. And it was a particularly
chilly task that lay before the Battalion, for it was in reserve, which
meant constant standing about--often even more tiring than a march.
However, about midday it cleared, and a very hot sun soon got every one
dry again.
On this day the passage of the Marne was forced; the Third Corps, under
General Pulteney, bore the brunt of the fighting, whilst the First Corps
on its right drove the Germans before it with some ease and took
numerous prisoners. The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers, starting off at 7.30,
eventually crossed the Marne at Charly, after innumerable halts and
checks. Before it got over it had to wait some hours at Pavant, where it
could watch various divisions crossing the river. This bridge at Charly
was the only one in the neighbourhood left standing; it had been
carefully prepared for demolition, and no one knew why, fortunately for
us, it had escaped. Rumour said that the German engineers entrusted with
the task got so drunk that, when the appointed moment arrived, they were
quite incapable of carrying out their orders.
During the day Lieut.-Colonel Corry received orders to return home. He
had been relieved of his command on account of the decision, already
recorded, which he took at Mons.
[Sidenote: Sept. 10.]
The Battalion bivouacked that evening--rain was again falling--on the
side of a wet hill near Villiers-sur-Marne, and woke up to more rainy,
cold weather. The battle of the Marne had been won, and the Germans were
retreating in perfectly orderly fashion, though we captured 13 guns, 7
machine-guns, and 2000 men. The prisoners said they had been officially
informed that a large German army was investing Paris, and that their
division was engaged in "drawing off" the French Army eastwards. The 2nd
Battalion Grenadiers was again in reserve, and was constantly marched
backwards and forwards throughout the day. It passed through Domptin,
Coupru, Marigny, and Veuilly to Hautevesnes, where it bivouacked.
[Sidenote: Sept. 11.]
The pursuit continued during the two following days. Through heavy
showers, which gave them a thorough soaking, the Grenadiers marched on
the 11th by the way of Priez, Sommelans, Latilly, La Croix, and Breny to
Oulchy, where they got into billets, and fires were lit to dry their
clothes. Such inhabitants as were left eagerly helped to supply all the
men's wants, and placed all they possessed at their disposal. The usual
signs of recent German occupation were to be seen in every house.
Drawers had been turned out, cupboards ransacked, and tables overturned,
and the floors were thickly strewn with such things as the Germans had
been unable to take away with them--clothes, smashed gramophone records,
broken glasses, and other debris. But, in spite of the pitiable
surroundings and their own soaked condition, the officers and men were
soon put in the best of spirits by the cheerful fires and the appetising
smell of bacon and eggs, put on to cook for them.
[Sidenote: Sept. 12.]
Next morning's parade was at 5 o'clock, but the town was so crowded with
supply wagons that it was 9 before a move could be made. It rained at
intervals during the day, and in the evening another steady downpour set
in, which once more soaked the men to the skin before they got to their
billets at Courcelles, having marched through Beugneux, Arcy,
Cuiry-Housse, Lesges, Limé, and Braine.