Grandpré lies at the eastern end of the pass formed by the Valley of the
Aire, which cuts deeply into the Argonne. The town is very old. To the
south, on the Nègremont Mountain, there are traces of a camp which is
supposed to be Roman. Attila, after his defeat in the _Champs
Catalauniques_, also camped there, and long after him, Dumouriez. The
village was possibly founded or extended by a follower of Clovis, who
built a château there, but of which nothing now remains. Grandpré was
pillaged in 884, by the Normans; during the Hundred Years’ War, by the
English; and, under the League, by the rival troops of the Marshal of
St. Paul, Mayenne, and Henri IV. The latter stayed there in 1591. His
letter of October 3, 1591, in which he relates the events of the
preceding days, was dated from Grandpré. During the _Fronde_ the country
was again ravaged, and at a later date, pillaged by the Dutchman
Growenstein.
In 1792, Dumouriez had his headquarters at Grandpré, and after the
battles of Croix-aux-Bois and Montcheutin, the headquarters of the King
of Prussia were transferred there. In October of the same year, during
the Prussian defeat, Grandpré was crowded with enemy sick, struck down
by dysentery.
[Illustration: GRANDPRÉ. TEMPORARY BRIDGE ACROSS THE AIRE]
According to Goethe, the castle was at that time the abode of pestilence
and death; the neighbourhood of the village, thickly strewn with corpses
and graves, was one gigantic cemetery.
During the war of 1914-1918 the German camps and military works at
Grandpré were frequently bombed by the Allied airmen. Only at the end of
September, 1918, did the Franco-American troops recapture the village
after a long and severe struggle.
On a terrace, in grounds to the north of the village, stands a château
in the style of Louis XIII., which is but the main entrance of an old
and larger castle belonging to the Dukes of Joyeuse. This castle, in
which Charles VI. lodged when on his way to the Ardennes, was rebuilt by
_Louis de Joyeuse_, assisted by the generosity of Louis XI. Joubert,
Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Italy, was married to Mlle. de
Montholon Senonville in this castle on the 7th Messidor of the year
VII. (June 26, 1799). The castle was destroyed by fire in 1834.
[Illustration: GRANDPRÉ. RUINS OF CHURCH]
_The road passes slightly to the right of the Church_--a large, handsome
building of yellow stone (_hist. mon.--photo above_), which suffered
greatly from the bombardments.
Dating from the 13th century, when it formed part of the old Priory of
St. Médard, it had frequently been restored and altered. The pulpit and
the choir-stalls were composed of fragments of magnificent 16th century
woodwork, brought from the Abbey of Belval. The church contains the tomb
of Claude de Joyeuse, a remarkable monument in black marble.
_One hundred yards beyond the village, turn to the left, into I.C. 15,
which leads to_ =Termes= (_3 km. 500 from Grandpré_).
Many of the houses in Termes were destroyed. _Pass in front of_ the
church, which has lost the top of its steeple (_photo, p._ 89). In the
interior there is an old holy-water basin shaped like a mortar.
[Illustration: GRANDPRÉ CHURCH. NAVE AND SOUTH AISLE, SEEN FROM THE
CHOIR]
[Illustration: SHELL HOLES ON MORT-HOMME HILL
_5 km. north of Grandpré._]
_Opposite Termes, stands the village of_ =Senuc=, which dominates the
junction of the Aire and the Aisne.
In 1918 the position of Senuc, strongly fortified by the Germans, was
taken by the French troops after a long struggle.
[Illustration: TERMES. RUINED CHURCH
_I.C. 15 at the corner of Olizy road._]
_Keep along I.C. 15, which leads straight to_ =Mouron= (2 _km._ 700).
It was between Termes and Mouron that, on October 2, 1792, the Prussian
Army, retreating after the Battle of Valmy, recrossed the Aisne on two
pontoon-bridges. Goethe, who was standing between the two bridges,
watched the disappointed and exhausted troops go by.
The King of Prussia and the Duke of Brunswick, with their staff, brought
up the rear. “Both,” wrote Goethe, “paused for a moment before crossing
the bridge, as if reluctant to abandon the Plains of Champagne, where
they had just suffered a humiliating defeat.”
Mouron and Vaux guard the entrance to the Grandpré Pass--the easiest
pass of the Argonne.
In 1792, Dumouriez concentrated the greater part of his army there,
leaving practically undefended the passes of Les Islettes,
Croix-aux-Bois and Chesne.
[Illustration: MOURON. DESTROYED BRIDGE OVER THE AISNE, AND TEMPORARY
BRIDGE]
In 1918, the Germans clung desperately to these positions, from which
the French had to drive them by main force.
The Church of Mouron is modern, but contains some interesting 17th
century woodwork.
_On leaving the village, take the left-hand road, which soon crosses
first the Aisne (photo above), then the railway (l.c.), reaching_
=Vaux-lez-Mouron= (_1 km. 200 from Mouron_).
_The road runs along the south side of Vaux Church, and after passing
the portal, goes straight ahead._
_About 100 yards beyond the church, leave the Challerange road on the
right, and continue for another 800 yards, where the I.C. 21 joins up.
Turn into the latter on the left._
[Illustration: GERMAN VILLAGE ON THE EDGE OF AUTRY WOOD]
1 _km. 800 further on, after crossing the I.C._, the edge of Autry Wood
_will be reached_. _On the right will be seen_ a village built by the
Germans (_photo above_).
_I.C. 21 now runs through the wood, which was strongly fortified by the
Germans from 1914 to 1918._
_On leaving it at the fork in the road, turn to the left; 500 yards
further on, at another fork, turn again to the left, reaching_ =Autry=
_soon afterwards_ (6 km. 300 _from Vaux_).
[Illustration: AUTRY. DESTROYED BRIDGE ACROSS THE AISNE]
[Illustration: GERMAN TELEPHONE EXCHANGE
_50 yards to the left of G.C. 66 (coming from Autry) and 150 yards this
side of Binarville._]
Autry, like all the surrounding villages, has had a chequered history.
It was besieged and taken by the English in 1359. At the beginning of
the 17th century it was practically a deserted ruin.
Under the _Fronde_ it suffered again. The Lord of Autry was one of the
four knights who bore the canopy of the Sacred Ampulla during the
consecration of the kings at Rheims.
_The road winds round the rock on which stands_ the ruined church. St.
Lambert’s Chapel in the cemetery contains some interesting frescoes.
The château, which is below the church, dates from 1635.
[Illustration: SERVON. GERMAN SHELTERS
_Along G.C. 66, below site of destroyed Church._]
[Illustration: ST. THOMAS. ROUTE DE SERVON, WITH BARRICADES AND TRENCHES
(_Feb. 2, 1916_).]
_Leave Autry by two bridges across the Aisne._
_Beyond the second bridge and the second house, there is a German
structure under the cliff, on the right._
_On the left is the road to_ =Lançon=, the village where the French and
American troops effected their junction during the offensive of
September-October, 1918.
_Keep along I.C. 21 in the direction of_ =Binarville.= _1 km. 700 beyond
Autry, leave the road to Condé-les-Autry on the right. 500 yards this
side of Binarville and 200 yards before the fork with G.C. 66 coming
from Varennes, there is_ a French military cemetery _on the left_.
[Illustration: FRENCH DEFENCE WORKS AND DRESSING-STATION
_G.C. 66, between Servon and St. Thomas._]
_Just before reaching Binarville, fifty yards to the left of the road,
are_ two large German concrete structures, a post of commandment, and a
telephone exchange (_photo, p._ 92).
The village of Binarville, and the adjacent hamlet of =Mare-aux-Bœufs=,
were occupied by the Germans from 1914 to 1918, and were only recaptured
in September, 1918, by the French 4th Army.
Binarville was completely destroyed.
_Outside the village, leave on the left the (impassable) road from
Vienne-le-Château, and keep straight on along G.C. 66._
_Two kilometres further on_, a few houses in ruins mark the site of
Mare-aux-Bœufs. _Keep to the left, leaving on the right the road from
Condé-les-Autry._
_Fire hundred yards beyond Mare-aux-Bœufs, on the left, there is_ a
German post of commandment in concrete, with rooms, shelter and
telephone exchange. An Iron Cross is carved on one of the doors.
[Illustration: FRENCH DEFENCE WORKS BETWEEN SERVON AND ST. THOMAS]
_Keep along G.C. 66, past numerous defence-works and shelters, some in
concrete._
This region, an excellent artillery position and a veritable stronghold,
from which the Germans launched many counter-attacks against the right
flank of the French 4th Army, during the offensive of September 26,
1918, was liberated by the French on September 30, after a heroic
struggle.
_Five kilometres beyond Binarville is_ =Servon.=
It was near Servon that, on August 25th, 1786, the aeronaut Blanchard,
on his way from Lille to Paris, where he hoped to present a bouquet to
the King, was forced to descend after being carried out of his course by
contrary winds.
Occupied by the Germans since September, 1914, and strongly fortified by
them, the village and surrounding country were attacked by the French on
September 25, 1915, during a minor offensive, intended to cover the main
attack in Champagne. The French, after a short advance, were forced to
retire on their original positions, in consequence of counter-attacks
debouching from Servon.
The village was only retaken on September 26, 1918, by the French 4th
Army, which, on the evening of the same day, reached the wood 1 km. 500
to the north-east of the village, after a fierce struggle.
To-day Servon is an absolute ruin. The cemetery alone, on the left of
the road, indicates the site of the village.
Below the ruins of the church, which stood on the top of the hill on
which the village was built, several German shelters (_photo, p._ 92)
may still be seen _along G.C._ 66.
[Illustration: FRENCH MILITARY GRAVES AT ST. THOMAS
_Alongside the road from Servon._]
Immediately beyond these shelters _turn into the road on the left, which
runs through the village;_ on both sides are other defence-works.
_Outside the village, leave the (impassable) Vienne-le-Château road on
the left, and keep straight on._
_G.C. 66 runs alongside the Aisne as far as_ =St. Thomas=, _then passes
by_ trenches and barbed-wire entanglements--the remains of the old
German front lines.
_Shortly afterwards_, the old French front lines _are reached_. _To the
right, on the left bank of the Aisne, is seen_ the hamlet of =Melzicourt=,
which the French retook on October 25, 1914.
All through the trench warfare the French line ran through the
Melzicourt Ford.
_Two kilometres beyond Servon, by the side of the road_, are large
shelters of stone and cement (_photo, p._ 92). _Opposite is_ a French
military cemetery (_photo, p._ 95). _Two kilometres further on_ =St.
Thomas= _is reached_.
[Illustration: FIRST FRENCH LINE IN AISNE VALLEY BEFORE SERVON
(_St. Thomas’ Sector._)]
The little village of St. Thomas formerly possessed a rich priory,
founded in 1096 by Robert, Abbot of St. Méry, and Manassés, Archbishop
of Rheims.
The modern church was built on the site of the Priory Chapel, destroyed
during the Revolution.
The village has completely disappeared; of the church only a few broken
fragments of wall remain.
_On leaving St. Thomas, G.C. 66 winds down into the valley of the
Biesme, passes near_ a military cemetery, _crosses the valley, then
divides_. _Take the left-hand road (G.C. 67) which soon passes near_ the
farm of La Renarde, _then alongside_ a large military cemetery, _finally
reaching_ =Vienne-le-Château= (_3 km. beyond St. Thomas_).
[Illustration: ST. THOMAS CHURCH AND VILLAGE
_Seen from G.C. 66 going towards Servon._]
[Illustration: VIENNE-LE-CHÂTEAU. RUINS OF CHURCH]