it was the old Bridge of Arches which gave way, towards the left bank.
The engineers had just blown it up. It seemed wiser to destroy the
bridge at Val Benoit, which left the Germans railway communication. But
no one thought of this; or rather, orders to that effect were not given
by the higher authorities. This was afterwards to cause the degradation
to the ranks of the chief officer of engineers who was responsible for
this unpardonable lapse.
The second bombardment lasted till two o'clock. Several projectiles now
fell upon the citadel, where everything was in readiness to set fire to
the provisions and munitions which remained there along with some
unserviceable cannon, generally used in the training of the Garde
Civique. By 10 a.m. the citadel had been evacuated, only very few
persons remaining, among them a major, who hastily hoisted the white
flag.
[Sidenote: German envoys in Liege.]
Burgomaster Kleyer awaited developments at the Town Hall. At half-past
three, he received envoys, who demanded the surrender of the town and
forts. Put into communication with General Leman, who was all the time
at Loncin with his Staff, he informed him that if the forts persisted in
their resistance, the town would be bombarded a third time. General
Leman replied that the threat was an idle one, that it would be a cruel
massacre, but that the higher interests of Belgium compelled him to
impose this sacrifice on the town of Liege.
[Sidenote: Bombardment of Liege.]
[Sidenote: Gloomy aspect of the town.]
At 9 p.m. fresh shells fell on different parts of the city and caused
more damage if not more victims. This bombardment lasted till 2 a.m. It
recommenced at intervals of half-an-hour, and caused two fires, one in
Rue de Hanque, and the other in Rue de la Commune. After midday, the
streets were deserted and all dwelling houses closed. In the afternoon a
convoy of Germans taken prisoners were seen to pass along the
boulevards, and were then shut up in the Royal Athenaeum. Then there was
an interminable defile of autos and carts conveying both German and
Belgian wounded, especially the former, those who came from Boncelles
more particularly. Bodies of stragglers re-entered Liege slowly,
ignorant of what had happened, as they were either untouched by the
order to retire, or had been forgotten in the advanced posts or in the
trenches. They were very tired and hardly had the courage to accelerate
their pace, except when the few passers-by explained the position in a
couple of words. The aspect of the town was very gloomy, and the only
places where any animation was to be seen were around Guillemins
station, where trains full of fugitives were leaving for Brussels, the
West quarter, towards which the last of the retiring companies were
marching, and the North, where many were still ignorant of this
movement.
[Sidenote: Germans enter Liege.]
On Friday, August 7th, at 3 a.m., the bombardment of Liege began again,
chiefly directed against the citadel, where only a few soldiers now
remained. These evacuated the place after setting fire to some
provisions they were unable to carry off. The population passed through
hours of anguish, which were destined not to be the last. Everybody
took refuge in the cellars. Some people lived there for several days in
fear that a shell might fall upon their house. On this Friday the
Germans penetrated into the town at five o'clock in the morning by the
different bridges which had remained intact. They came in through
Jupille and Bois de Breux chiefly. They seemed tired and, above all,
hungry. Leaving detachments in the Place de Baviere and near the
bridges, they successively occupied the Provincial Palace and the
citadel.
Count Lammsdorf, Chief of the Staff of the 10th Corps, Commander of the
Army of the Meuse, arrested Burgomaster Kleyer at the Town Hall, and
conducted him to the citadel, where he at first made him a rather
reassuring communication as to the fate of the town. . . . He then spoke
anew and said that he understood all the forts would surrender, in
default of which the bombardment would recommence. M. Kleyer vainly
protested against a measure so contrary to the laws both of war and of
humanity. He was simply authorized to pass through the German lines with
a safe conduct, to discuss the matter with General Leman, or even with
the King himself.
[Sidenote: The Burgomaster's task.]
This task of the burgomaster of Liege was a heavy one, and terrible was
the expectant attitude of the German authorities. Later, some people
have discussed the attitude he should have taken up and conceived the
nature of what should have been his reply; they would have desired words
of defiance on his lips and an immediate answer.
He lacked courage for this, and who will dare to-day to blame him for
the immense anxiety he felt on hearing of the horrible fate with which
his beloved town and his unhappy fellow-citizens were threatened?
He gathered together at the Town Hall several communal and provincial
deputies, some deputies and senators. The general opinion at the
beginning of the discussion was that it was necessary to obtain the
surrender of the forts. Someone pointed out that there was not much
likelihood of getting this decision from General Leman, who had already
pronounced himself upon that question, and thought it would be necessary
to continue the work heroically begun of arresting the progress of the
invader, and that the forts, all intact, would powerfully contribute to
that end.
It was finally decided to approach General Leman again with a message
which was entrusted to the burgomaster, the Bishop of Liege, and M.
Gaston Gregoire, permanent deputy. These gentlemen repaired to the
citadel in search of the promised safe conduct. They were met there,
according to the demand of Count Lammsdorf, by some prominent Liege
citizens, to whom he had expressed his desire to explain the situation.
[Sidenote: Hostages to the Germans.]
At the moment the three delegates were about to depart on their mission,
with a good faith upon which it would be foolish to insist, the German
commander declared that all the persons present were detained as
hostages. He gave as a specious pretext for this violation of right that
some German soldiers had been killed by civilians in some neighbouring
villages, and that the hostages would enable the Germans to guard
against the repetition of such acts, the more so as they were prepared
to make a striking example at the beginning of the campaign.
All the Liege citizens who had entered the citadel on this day were kept
there till the next day, Saturday. Moreover, the following persons were
retained as responsible hostages for three days: 1. Mgr. Rutien, Bishop
of Liege; 2. M. Kleyer, Burgomaster of Liege; 3. M. Gregoire, Permanent
Deputy; 4. M. Armand Flechet, Senator; 5. Senator Van Zuylen; 6. Senator
Edouard Peltzer; 7. Senator Colleaux; 8. Deputy De Ponthiere; 9. Deputy
Van Hoegaerden; 10. M. Falloise, Alderman.
The hostages were shut up in damp case-mates, palliasses were given them
for the night and, as food, the first day each one had half a loaf and
some water. The burgomaster and the bishop were, however, allowed to go
about their duties after they had given their parole to remain at the
disposal of the German military authorities.
[Sidenote: Last train for Brussels.]
The same day at 9 a.m. the last train left Liege for Brussels with
numbers of fugitives. The number of persons who abandoned Liege and its
suburbs may be calculated at some five thousand. From this moment and
for several days Liege was absolutely cut off from the rest of the
world, all communications having been cut.
On Saturday, August 8th, while the Germans were methodically organising
the occupation of Liege, Burgomaster Kleyer was authorised to wait upon
the King, in order to discuss the surrender of the forts. Furnished with
a safe conduct and accompanied by a German officer, he reached Waremme
early in the afternoon, and placed himself in communication with the
General Staff. The King was consulted, and the reply brought back to
Liege was the one the mayor had foreseen.
The same day saw the appearance of the following order of the day
addressed to the soldiers of the army of Liege:--
"Our comrades of the 3rd Army Division and of
the 15th mixed brigade are about to re-enter
our lines, after having defended, like heroes,
the fortified position of Liege.
[Sidenote: The King encourages the army.]
"Attacked by forces four times as numerous,
they have repulsed all assaults. None of the
forts have been taken; the town of Liege is
always in our power. Standards and a number of
prisoners are the trophies of these combats. In
the name of the Nation I salute you, officers
and soldiers of the 3rd Army Division and the
15th mixed brigade.
"You have done your duty, done honour to our
arms, shown the enemy what it costs to attack
unjustly a peaceable people, but one who wields
in its just cause an invincible weapon. The
Fatherland has the right to be proud of you.
"Soldiers of the Belgian Army, do not forget
that you are in the van of immense armies in
this gigantic struggle, and that you await but
the arrival of our brothers-in-arms in order to
march to victory. The whole world has its eyes
fixed upon you. Show it by the vigour of your
blows that you mean to live free and
independent.
"France, that noble country which has
throughout history been associated with just
and generous causes, is hurrying to our aid and
her armies will enter our territory.
"In your name I address them a fraternal
salute. ALBERT."
[Sidenote: German precautions.]
[Sidenote: Barricades constructed.]
On this day the Germans, who were not yet sure as to the intentions of
the Belgian field army, and who feared a possible offensive on the part
of the French advanced guards, put Liege in a state of defence.
Moreover, they distrusted the civilian population, and fortified
themselves in the town itself. They placed machine guns at the head of
the bridges, and upon one of them, Boverie, which they feared might be
blown up, or might be bombarded by the forts, they placed a curtained
recess in which they shut up several citizens. They caused the soldiers
to occupy Quai des Pecheurs, Quai l'Industrie, and the houses in
proximity to the bridge, after clearing out the occupants. They placed
bags of earth in the windows, behind which were installed machine guns.
In the arteries leading to La Hesbaye and La Campine, and in the streets
of the latter, they erected barricades, and installed themselves in the
riverside houses. These labours continued during several days on the
heights of Saint Nicholas and Hollogne, while the soldiers of the 10th
Corps installed themselves on the plateau of Cointe, the General Staff
having taken possession there of a convent, although this had been
transformed into a hospital. In the town, the German troops, delayed for
a short time by the necessity of carrying off their dead, shifting their
wounded, and of taking a much-needed rest, entered in large numbers.
They occupied the different stations, that of Ans on the Herbignon
plateau being the last one where they established themselves.
On Sunday, September 6th, there were at Liege more than 100,000 Germans.
On this day, at one o'clock in the afternoon, the hostages were given
their unconditional liberty. On the same date, in the neighbourhood of
Landen, the King, accompanied by the General Staff, reviewed the valiant
and now reconstituted 3rd Division, reconstituted in spite of the heavy
losses in officers suffered by certain regiments. General Leman received
from M. Schollaert, President of the Belgian Chamber, the following
telegram: "With a heart overflowing with enthusiasm and patriotic pride,
I acclaim the glorious defender of Liege."
[Sidenote: Praise for defense of the city.]
[Sidenote: President Poincare honors General Leman.]
With reference to the defence of Liege, letters, despatches, and
addresses of felicitation were received at Brussels from the Presidents
of the French Chamber and the French Senate, from the Paris Municipal
Council, and other French municipalities, words of friendship and
encouragement were pronounced later in the British Parliament, while the
King of the Belgians received the congratulations of King George, the
Tsar, and the President of the French Republic. Finally, M. Poincare
sent him the most envied of distinctions, the military medal. The
resistance of Liege had everywhere aroused grateful enthusiasm, for the
days, and even the hours gained from the invader were now of inestimable
value. But while the twelve forts were not yet to harass, as they could,
the progress of the enemy, Liege, whose hatred of the Prussian is
ingrained, was to pay dearly for the resistance it had made, and its
heart was to suffer cruelly over the vexations of which it was to be the
object, while awaiting pillage and burning.
Here we enter upon a new period, which cannot, however, be separated
from the siege of Liege, for at this time the forts still held out.
[Sidenote: The twelve forts.]
[Sidenote: Forts on the banks of the Meuse.]
The forts still held out, but the resistance of their garrisons had to
be heroic. The defences crumbled quite rapidly. We should not be
surprised at this, but should rather remember that these forts were more
than twenty years old. Their construction began in 1889, and their
armament, though modified later in certain details, was not capable of
resisting the heavy artillery of the Germans. Liege was defended by
twelve forts, large and small. The most important works were Barchon,
Fleron, Boncelles, Flemalle, Loncin, and Pontisse. These forts possessed
five large cupolas and three or four small ones. They were armed with
two guns of 15 centimetres, four of 12, two howitzers of 21, and three
or four guns of 5'7, ten more of 5'7 flanking the ditches. The little
forts counted upon four large and three or four small cupolas. They were
armed with two pieces of 15, two of 12, a howitzer of 21, three or four
guns, without cupola, of 5'7, and of seven or eight commanding the
ditches. The forts are arranged around Liege in the following order:--On
the left bank of the Meuse: Flemalle, Hollogne, Loncin, Lantin, and
Pontisse. On the right bank, between the Meuse and the Vesdre: Barchon,
Evegnee, and Fleron. Between the Vesdre and the Ourthe: Chaudfontaine
and Embourg. Between the Ourthe and the Meuse: Boncelles. The forts are
four kilometres apart, except Flemalle-Boncelles and Embourg-Pontisse,
which are six kilometres apart, while Chaudfontaine and Embourg are only
two kilometres from one another. The forts are eight kilometres from the
limits of the town. The forts of Hollogne, Loncin, Lantin, and Liers are
in grassy country. Boncelles is nearly completely surrounded by woods;
Embourg and Chaudfontaine dominate the deep and winding valleys of the
Ourthe and the Vesdre. Pontisse, Flemalle, and Barchon, commanding the
Meuse, are on broken ground. This last-named fort, with Evegnee and
Fleron, holds the most important strategic position in the Herve
country, facing the German frontier, in a land cut up by meadows planted
with trees and by little woods, traversed by many vales, not very deep,
but winding.
[Sidenote: War conditions changed.]
It is known that in the Brialmont project the intervening spaces were to
be defended and fortified with siege artillery. To tell the truth, the
eminent military engineer, in the pamphlets where he set out the
project, only allowed for a small mobile garrison, but he confessed
later that the difficulties which he knew he would meet with in the
Belgian Parliament over the credits for the fortifications made him
underestimate the number of men required. Besides which, the conditions
of war have been greatly modified during the twenty-five years which
have passed, owing to the increased power of siege guns. So that it may
be laid down that 80,000, if not 100,000, men were needed to properly
defend the entrenched camp of Liege.
[Sidenote: Troops in the forts.]
As for the forts, they were each occupied by a battery of artillery (250
men) and three companies (120 men), a total of 370 men. About 4,500
artillerymen for the twelve forts.
General Leman was shut up in Loncin, one of the chief forts, which
commanded the road towards Waremme and Brussels. He had sent away all
his General Staff with the division, in spite of the supplications of
his officers, who begged to be allowed to share his fate. He continued
to direct the longest resistance possible. The enemy was anxious to cut
all the communications between the forts, but soldiers volunteered for
carrying messages to the different commanders. Several succeeded, but
many were killed, for the investment became steadily tightened. Indeed,
certain gaps, where the ground was most broken, could not be swept by
the guns from the forts, and, under cover of the night, troops ensconced
themselves there comfortably. Moreover, the Germans, having received
reinforcements and heavy artillery, undertook the siege systematically,
first of Barchon, which it was unable to take by storm any more than
Boncelles, but which it subjected to a formidable deluge of shells.
Barchon could only reply haphazard to heavy guns the position of which
it could not tell. It was, indeed, deprived of its observation posts,
and was in the position of a blind man desperately parrying the blows of
an adversary who could see where to strike.
[Sidenote: Fort Barchon taken.]
The struggle was not for long, and the fort, reduced to impotence, left
a wide breach through which the invader scrambled. Through there he
could also introduce his heavy siege guns, howitzers of 28, and even
pieces of 42 cms.
[Sidenote: Forty-two centimetre guns.]
The enemy then followed a tactic which was to succeed rapidly. He
attacked the different fortifications in a reverse way. Thus Loncin,
Lantin, Liers, and Pontisse were bombarded by batteries placed in the
citadel itself and to which the Belgians could not reply without
shelling the town and doing frightful damage. A battery was also placed
in a bend of ground up Rue Naniot, under the "Tomb," where some of those
who fell in 1830 are buried, but it was discovered and had to be
withdrawn. Forts Boncelles and Embourg were attacked by guns placed on
the hill at Tilff, a pretty village, which would have been completely
destroyed had the firing been responded to. Finally, along the line of
the plateau of Herve, no longer dominated by Barchon and Fleron, now
destroyed, the enemy was able to bring into the very centre of the town
four of those howitzers of 42 cms. which were later to bombard Namur,
Maubeuge, and Antwerp.
The following are the dates on which the different forts succumbed:
Barchon and Evegnee fell on August 9th. Right from the 5th they had not
ceased to be the object of continual attacks. They had valiantly
resisted repeated assaults and field artillery. The heavy pieces poured
in a hurricane of fire.
Pontisse, which had so usefully barred the passage of the enemy below
Vise, did not give way till the 12th. On the 13th Embourg surrendered
after a twenty-six hours' bombardment.
[Sidenote: Forts yield one by one.]
The same day saw the fall of Chaudfontaine and Nameche, where two
accidents happened worthy of being related. A shell burst on a cupola
gun as it was finishing its movement after being loaded. The whole gun
was shattered and ten men were wounded. A little while after, a shell
entered the fort through the embrasure and set fire to the powder
magazine. One hundred and ten artillerymen were terribly burned, fifty
dying upon the spot. The 14th saw the fall of Boncelles, Liers, and
Fleron. Boncelles from the 5th had offered an admirable resistance.
Commandant Lefert had been wounded on the 8th, when 200 Germans,
presenting themselves to surrender, treacherously fired upon him.
Suffering greatly, he none the less went on directing the defence until
his officers met together in a kind of council of war, and had him taken
away in an ambulance. The unfortunate man was seized by a fever and
became delirious. Boncelles was bombarded unceasingly for a whole day
and the following morning. It was nearly destroyed, and may be
considered as the fort which was the centre of the worst carnage of
German soldiers. The enormous heaps of dead buried around it bear
witness to the fact. Liers was put out of action by guns installed at
Sainte Walburge.
[Sidenote: Loncin and Lantin fall.]
To get the better of the obstinate resistance of Fleron (Commandant
Mozin), the Germans united twenty guns by an electric battery and fired
them all off at the same time upon the fort, which trembled in its
massive foundations. No one can have an idea of how demoralising this
rain of projectiles was. On the 15th, Loncin and Lantin fell, the
defenders firing until they were overcome by asphyxia. On the 16th, it
was the turn of Flemalle, and on the 18th, of Hollogne.
We know that it was at Loncin, which dominated the roads of La Hesbaye,
where General Leman was shut up. Commandant Naessens and Lieutenant
Monard had the honour of defending the fort under the General's eyes.
Electrified by the presence of the governor of the fortress, the
soldiers of Loncin wrote with their blood the most heroic page of the
heroic defence of Liege. Commandant Naessens modestly narrated the
story when he had been wounded and transported to the military hospital
of Saint Laurent. General Leman has also _resumed_ the different phases
of the attack, while a prisoner at Magdeburg. We will listen to his
clear and crisp recital.
[Sidenote: General Leman's story.]
He distinguishes four periods during the bombardment. The first
commenced on August 14th at 4.15 p.m. The shell fire, directed with
great exactitude, lasted two hours without interruption. After a break
of half-an-hour, some 21-centimetre guns opened fire. All night, at
intervals of ten minutes, they rained shells upon the fort, causing it
considerable damage. The escarpment was damaged, the protecting walls of
the left flank battery destroyed, and the shutters of the windows
pierced. Another unfavourable circumstance was that all the places of
the escarpment where shelter could be obtained were full of smoke from
the shells which had burst either in the protecting wall or in the
ditches. The deleterious gases rendered it impossible to stand in the
covered places, and forced the General to assemble the garrison in the
interior and in the gallery. Even in these refuges the stupefying
effects of the gases allowed themselves to be felt, and weakened the
fighting value of the garrison.
[Sidenote: Horrors of the bombardments.]
The third period of bombardment began on the 15th at 5.30 a.m. and
continued until two o'clock in the afternoon. The projectiles caused
fearful havoc. The vault of the commanding post, where General Leman was
present with his two adjutants, was subjected to furious shocks, and the
fort trembled to its foundations. Towards two o'clock, a lull occurred
in the firing, and the general took advantage of it to inspect the fort.
He found part of it completely in ruins.
[Sidenote: Currents of poisonous gas.]
The fourth period is described as follows: "It was two o'clock when the
bombardment recommenced with a violence of which no idea can be given.
It seemed to us as if the German batteries were firing salvoes. When the
large shells fell we heard the hissing of the air, which gradually
increased into a roar like a furious hurricane, and which finished by a
sudden noise of thunder. At a certain moment of this formidable
bombardment, I wished to reach the commanding post in order to see what
was happening, but at the end of a few paces in the gallery I was
knocked down by a shock of violent air and fell face forward. I got up
and wished to continue my way, but I was held back by a current of
poisonous air which invaded the whole space. It was a mixture of the gas
from the exploded powder and of the smoke of a fire which had started in
the rooms of the troops where furniture and bedding were kept.
[Sidenote: The fort blown up.]
[Sidenote: General Leman a prisoner.]