THE FRENCH ARMY ON THE OISE—SIR JOHN FRENCH ON THE OPERATIONS OF
THE BRITISH TROOPS ON AUGUST 28—THE FIGHT AT ST. QUENTIN—
A SHARP ACTION AT COMPIÈGNE—AT CHANTILLY—ENGLISH SOLDIERS
SHOPPING—A QUIET DAY—BRITISH LOSSES AND RESOURCES—THE
ENEMY AT SENLIS—THE END OF THE RETREAT—A VIEW OF A GREAT
MILITARY FEAT—SIR JOHN FRENCH’S DESPATCH.
The Press Bureau supplied, on September 7, a survey of the activities
of the British Expeditionary Army which has, it stated, conformed to
the general movement of the French forces and acted in harmony with the
strategic conceptions of the French General Staff.
After the battle at Cambrai, on August 26, where the British troops
successfully guarded the left flank of the whole line of French armies
from a deadly turning attack, supported by enormous force, the 7th
French Army came into operation on our left, and, in conjunction with
the 5th Army on our right, this greatly relieved our men from the
strain and pressure.
The 5th French Army, in particular, on August 29 advanced from the
line of the Oise River to meet and counter the German forward movement,
and a considerable battle developed to the south of Guise.
In this, the 5th French Army gained a marked and solid success, driving
back with heavy loss and in disorder three German Army Corps, the 10th,
the Guard, and a reserve corps.
It is believed that the commander of the 10th German Corps was among
those killed.
In spite of this success, however, and all the benefits which flowed
from it, the general retirement to the south continued, and the German
armies, seeking persistently after the British troops, remained in
practically continuous contact with our rearguards.
Sir John French’s despatch of September 17 describes the operations of
the British Forces on August 28 and 29:—
On that evening, he says, the retirement of the Force was followed
closely by two of the enemy’s cavalry columns, moving south-east
from St. Quentin.
The retreat in this part of the field was being covered by the 3rd
and 5th Cavalry Brigades. South of the Somme General Gough, with
the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, threw back the Uhlans of the Guard with
considerable loss.
General Chetwode, with the 5th Cavalry Brigade, encountered the
eastern column near Cérizy, moving south. The Brigade attacked
and routed the column, the leading German regiment suffering very
severe casualties and being almost broken up.
The 7th French Army Corps was now in course of being railed up from
the south to the east of Amiens. On the 29th it nearly completed
its detrainment, and the French 6th Army got into position on my
left, its right resting on Roye.
The 5th French Army was behind the line of the Oise, between La
Fère and Guise.
The pursuit of the enemy was very vigorous; some five or six German
corps were on the Somme, facing the 5th Army on the Oise. At least
two corps were advancing towards my front, and were crossing the
Somme east and west of Ham. Three or four more German corps were
opposing the 6th French Army on my left.
This was the situation at 1 o’clock on the 29th, when I received a
visit from General Joffre at my headquarters.
I strongly represented my position to the French
Commander-in-Chief, who was most kind, cordial, and sympathetic,
as he has always been. He told me that he had directed the 5th
French Army on the Oise to move forward and attack the Germans on
the Somme, with a view to checking pursuit. He also told me of the
formation of the 6th French Army on my left flank, composed of
the 7th Army Corps, four Reserve Divisions, and Sordêt’s Corps of
Cavalry.
I finally arranged with General Joffre to effect a further short
retirement towards the line Compiègne—Soissons, promising him,
however, to do my utmost to keep always within a day’s march of him.
In pursuance of this arrangement the British Forces retired to a
position a few miles north of the line Compiègne—Soissons on the
29th.
The right flank of the German Army was now reaching a point which
appeared seriously to endanger my line of communications with
Havre. I had already evacuated Amiens, into which place a German
reserve division was reported to have moved.
Orders were given to change the base to St. Nazaire, and establish
an advance base at Le Mans. This operation was well carried out by
the Inspector-General of Communications.
In spite of a severe defeat inflicted upon the Guard 10th and Guard
Reserve Corps of the German Army by the 1st and 3rd French Corps on
the right of the 5th Army, it was not part of General Joffre’s plan
to pursue this advantage; and a general retirement on to the line
of the Marne was ordered, to which the French Forces in the more
eastern theatre were directed to conform.
A new Army (the 9th) had been formed from three corps in the south
by General Joffre, and moved into the space between the right of
the 5th and left of the 4th Armies.
Whilst closely adhering to his strategic conception to draw the
enemy on at all points until a favourable situation was created
from which to assume the offensive, General Joffre found it
necessary to modify from day to day the methods by which he sought
to attain this object, owing to the development of the enemy’s
plans and changes in the general situation.
In conformity with the movements of the French Forces, my
retirement continued practically from day to day. Although we were
not severely pressed by the enemy, rearguard actions took place
continually.
On August 30 and 31, the British covering and delaying troops were
frequently engaged. In the districts of St. Quentin—Verdun and
Ham—Péronne a battle was fought lasting some days. The special
correspondent to the _Daily Telegraph_ wrote:—
St. Quentin, the scene of the British fight on Sunday, August
30, was ready for evacuation a couple of days previously. On the
British right the French force, under the gallant General Pau,
scored a distinct success. On Sunday and Monday the Germans were
hotly pressed near Guise, and the French, once getting the upper
hand, hammered away at the enemy, and completely demoralised them.
One German army corps was completely broken and thrown into the
Oise, and, being cut off on both sides from their supports, lost
fearfully, a remnant withdrawing and leaving enormous numbers of
dead, wounded, and prisoners in the valley.
A captain of a French infantry regiment reached the Gare du Nord
yesterday, with his left leg shattered by a shell; but the severity
of his wound did not prevent him describing the battle of Guise as
he saw it. “The Germans who engaged us were,” he said, “the _élite_
of their army—the 10th Corps and the Imperial Guard—but our
troops gave proof of their extreme bravery and of their marvellous
dash. They received heroically the German thrust, and very soon
took a vigorous offensive, which was crowned with success. The
German masses were forced to bend back, and their losses were
enormous. I am certain of that. When I fell, the German retreat
increased, and our offensive movement claimed victory. But on our
left the line was bent back to La Fère, and the offensive could not
therefore be persisted in.”
The correspondent to the _Daily Telegraph_ stated that at St. Quentin,
when he retired from Landrecies, General French established himself
temporarily in the Lycée Henri-Martin, named after the most patriotic
historian of France. The English artillery covered the heights that
command the town. It was a repetition of the battle of Saint Quentin
of 1870, with this difference—that the enemy approached the town
from another direction. For the space of ten days or so fierce and
uninterrupted fighting took place between Saint Quentin, Péronne, and
Vervins. A French artillery regiment was at a place called Catelet,
between Cambrai and Saint Quentin. However, the German column, in spite
of these attacks on both its flanks, one of which was driven back on to
Guise a week ago, continued to force its way towards the Oise valley,
and General French moved his headquarters first to Noyon, and then to
Clermont.
The English troops were then deployed all the way between Clermont and
Soissons.
On Monday, August 31, the Allies’ left was brought round and
southwards, their headquarters being at Aumale, where General d’Amade,
the hero of the French Morocco campaign, was with his staff.
A very vigorous effort was made by the Germans on September 1, which
brought about a sharp action in the neighbourhood of Compiègne. The
action was fought principally by the 1st British Cavalry Brigade and
the 4th Guards Brigade, with a body of German cavalry, preceded by a
light scouting column in the forest of Compiègne, and was entirely
satisfactory to the British. The German attack, which was most
strongly pressed, was not brought to a standstill until much slaughter
had been inflicted upon them, and until ten German guns had been
captured. The brunt of this creditable affair fell upon our Guards
Brigade, who lost in killed and wounded about 300 men.
Another corps of German cavalry advancing on the opposite flank of the
column pushed its line to the railway station at Anizy-le-Château,
between Laon and Soissons. The enemy, however, found that the railway
line had been rendered useless.
* * * * *
We venture to quote the fine account of fighting at Compiègne which was
given by a wounded Guardsman in the _Evening News_. In this action ten
of the enemy’s guns were captured.
“We were in a field when the Germans dropped on us all of a sudden.
The first hint we had of their presence was when a battery of guns
on the right sang out, dropping shells into a mob of us who were
waiting for our turn at the wash tub—the river.
“There was no panic as far as I saw, only some of our fellows who
hadn’t had a wash for a long time said strong things about the
Germans for spoiling the best chance we had had for four days.
“We all ran to our posts in response to bugles which ran out all
along the line, and by the time we all stood to arms the German
cavalry came into view in great strength all along the left front.
“As soon as they came within range we poured a deadly volley into
them, emptying saddles right and left, and they scattered in all
directions. Meanwhile their artillery kept working up closer on
the front and the right, and a dark cloud of infantry showed out
against the sky-line on our front, advancing in a formation rather
loose for the Germans.
“We opened on them, and they made a fine target for our rifle fire,
which was very well supported by our artillery. The fire from our
guns was very effective, the range being found with ease, and we
could see the shells dropping right into the enemy’s ranks.
“Here and there their lines began to waver and give way, and
finally they disappeared. Half an hour later more infantry appeared
on our right front, but we could not say whether it was the same
or another body. This time they were well supported by artillery,
machine guns, and strong forces of cavalry on both flanks. All came
on at a smart pace with the apparent plan of seizing a hill on our
right. At the same moment our cavalry came into view, and then the
whole Guards Brigade advanced.
“It was really a race between the two parties to reach the hill
first, but the Germans won easily, owing to their being nearer by
half a mile.
“As soon as their guns and infantry had taken up a position, the
cavalry came along in a huge mass with the intention of riding down
the Irish Guards, who were nearest to them. When the shock came
it seemed terrific to us in the distance, for the Irishmen didn’t
recoil in the least, but flung themselves right across the path of
the German horsemen.
“We could hear the crack of the rifles and see the German horses
impaled on the bayonets of the front ranks of the Guardsmen; then
the whole force of infantry and cavalry were mixed up in one
confused heap like so many pieces from a jig-saw puzzle. Shells
from the British and German batteries kept dropping close to the
tangled mass of fighting men, and then we saw the German horsemen
get clear and take to flight as fast as their horses would carry
them. Some had no horses, and they were bayoneted where they stood.
“While this was going on there was a confused movement among the
German infantry, as though they were going to the assistance of the
cavalry, but evidently they did not like the look of things, for
they stayed where they were. After this little interruption the
whole of the Guards continued their advance, the Coldstreamers
leading this time, with the Scots in reserve and the Irish in
support.
“Taking advantage of the fight between the cavalry and infantry,
the German artillery had advanced to a new position, from which
they kept up a deadly fire from twelve guns. Our infantry and
cavalry advanced simultaneously against this new position, which
they carried together in the face of a galling fire.
“In the excitement the enemy managed to get away two of their guns,
but the remainder fell into our hands. The infantry and cavalry
supporting the guns didn’t wait for the onslaught of our men, but
bolted like mad, pursued by our cavalry, and galled by a heavy fire
from our infantry and artillery, which quickly found the range.
“We heard later that the Germans were in very great force, and
had attacked in the hope of driving us back, and so uncovering
the French left, but they got more than they bargained for. Their
losses were terrible in what little of the fight we saw, and when
our men captured the guns there was hardly a German left alive or
unwounded. Altogether the fight lasted about seven hours, and when
it was over our cavalry scouts reported that the enemy were in
retreat.”
A Coldstream Guardsman, writing of the fighting near the forest of
Compiègne, compares the sight of the Germans issuing from the trees to
a cup final crowd at the Crystal Palace.
“You couldn’t miss them,” he said. “Our bullets ploughed into them,
but still they came for us. I was well entrenched, and my rifle got
so hot I could hardly hold it. I was wondering if I should have
enough bullets when a pal shouted, ‘Up, Guards, and at ’em!’ The
next second he was rolled over with a nasty knock on the shoulder.
He jumped up and hissed, ‘Let me get at them!’ His language was a
bit stronger than that.
“When we really did get the order to get at them we made no
mistake, I can tell you. They cringed at the bayonet, but those on
our left wing tried to get round us, and after racing as hard as we
could for quite three hundred yards we cut up nearly every man who
did not run away.”
Referring to the cavalry, he writes:—“You have read of the charge
of the Light Brigade. It was nothing to our chaps. I saw two of
our fellows who were unhorsed stand back to back and slash away
with their swords, bringing down nine or ten of the panic-stricken
devils. Then they got hold of the stirrup-straps of a horse without
a rider, and got out of the _mêlée_. This kind of thing was going
on all day.
“In the afternoon I thought we should all get bowled over, as they
came for us again in their big numbers. Where they came from,
goodness knows; but as we could not stop them with bullets they had
another taste of the bayonet. My captain, a fine fellow, was near
to me, and as he fetched them down he shouted, ‘Give them socks, my
lads!’ How many were killed and wounded I don’t know; but the field
was covered with them.”
Private Walter Morton, of the 1st Battalion Black Watch, gave a
description of a magnificent charge by his regiment at St. Quentin to
the _Scotsman_. Private Morton, who is only 19 years of age, belongs to
Camelon, Falkirk:—
We went straight (he said) from Boulogne to Mons, being one of the
first British regiments to reach that place. Neither army seemed
to have a very good position there, but the numbers of the Germans
were far too great to give us any chance of success. We were
hard at it all day on the Monday, and on Tuesday, as the French
reinforcements which we had been expecting did not arrive, the
order was given to retire.
In our retreat we marched close upon eighty miles. We passed
through Cambrai, and a halt was called at St. Quentin. The Germans,
in their mad rush to get to Paris, had seldom been far behind us,
and when we came to St. Quentin the word went through the ranks
that we were going into action. The men were quite jubilant at
the prospect. They had not been at all pleased at their continued
retirement before the enemy, and they at once started to get
things ready. The engagement opened briskly, both our artillery
and the Germans going at it for all they were worth. We were in
good skirmishing order, and under the cover of our guns we were all
the time getting nearer and nearer the enemy. When we had come to
within 100 yards of the German lines the commands were issued for
a charge, and the Black Watch made the charge along with the Scots
Greys. Not far from us the 9th Lancers and the Cameronians joined
in the attack.
It was the finest thing I ever saw. The Scots Greys galloped
forward with us hanging on to their stirrups, and it was a sight
never to be forgotten. We were simply being dragged by the horses
as they flew forward through a perfect cloud of bullets from the
enemy’s maxims. All other sounds were drowned by the thunder of
the horses’ hoofs as they careered wildly on, some of them nearly
driven mad by the bullets which struck them. It was no time for
much thinking. Saddles were being emptied quickly as we closed on
the German lines, and tore past their maxims, which were in the
front ranks.
We were on the German gunners before they knew where they were, and
many of them went down in their gore, scarcely realising that we
were amongst them. Then the fray commenced in deadly earnest. The
Black Watch and the Scots Greys went into it like men possessed.
They fought like demons. It was our bayonets against the Germans’
swords. You could see nothing but the glint of steel, and soon even
that was wanting as our boys got well into the midst of the enemy.
The German swords were no use against us, and just clashed against
the bayonets as the now blood-stained steel was sent well home time
and again. They went down in hundreds, and still the deadly work of
the bayonet continued.
The enemy began to waver as the carnage amongst them increased, and
they soon broke and fled before the bayonets like rabbits before
the shot of a gun. Still the slaughter went on, with here and there
a fierce hand-to-hand exchange, where Germans with their retreat
cut off fought to the last. We knew what our men had come through,
and we did not forget them.
There were about 1,900 of us in that charge against 20,000 Germans,
and the charge itself lasted about four hours. We took close upon
4,000 prisoners, and captured a lot of their guns. In the course of
the fighting I got a cut from a German sword—they are very much
like saws—and fell into a pool of water, where I lay unconscious
for twenty-three hours. I was picked up by one of the 9th Lancers.
The _Liberté_ gives the following details of the German occupation of
Péronne:—
The Germans arrived outside Péronne on August 28, at five in the
afternoon. French Dragoons and Alpine regiments fought with the
greatest courage to oppose their advance, and enabled the French
troops to retire in good order. The Germans had guns in position in
the woods at Racogne, overlooking Péronne, and from the east, on
the left bank of the Somme, they shelled the town, which greatly
suffered.
The enemy entered Péronne at 5.30. The soldiers behaved
disgracefully, shouting madly and firing shots at windows, in
order to terrorise the inhabitants. At the Town Hall they summoned
the authorities, and as none came forward the Germans burned the
sub-prefecture building and surrounding houses, after having thrown
petrol over them with pumps and then using grenades.
The whole of the main square would have been completely destroyed,
had it not been for the courageous intervention of a priest. Canon
Caron, who, after an interview with the German officers, succeeded
in obtaining a promise that the passage of the enemy through
Péronne should not be marked by the complete destruction of this
ancient town.
Three inhabitants were selected to take over the administration of
the town, and the Germans asked for four hostages, who, however,
were released after three days. During the occupation, which lasted
from August 27 till September 14, the Germans behaved in the most
arbitrary manner. They were constantly requisitioning provisions,
and searched and looted all houses and shops, and they sent back
to Germany whole trains filled with furniture stolen from deserted
houses.
On September 5 the head doctor of the German ambulance gave orders
to send to Amiens all the French wounded. The Amiens Red Cross sent
twenty automobiles, with doctors and nurses, and the latter were
on the point of restarting for Amiens when Colonel von Kosser, the
Governor of the town, ordered them to be detained in Péronne, where
they remained for two days in barracks, and were then released. The
Red Cross people had to walk to Amiens, as the Germans kept the
motor-cars. On September 14 Colonel von Kosser hurriedly left the
town, and the next morning a division of French cavalry reoccupied
the place.
The Germans left so precipitately that they had to abandon the
wounded and the ambulances. The staff of the latter consisted of
seventy women, twenty-five doctors, 150 assistants, a Protestant
chaplain, a Franciscan chaplain, and a few sisters. The latter
were armed with heavy revolvers, which a German doctor said was to
ensure the protection of their persons.
In spite of such a gross violation of the Geneva Convention, the
_personnel_ of the ambulances were treated with the greatest
respect. The women were disarmed, and the ambulance, which was
splendidly organised, was sent by special train to Switzerland.
The _Daily Telegraph_ correspondent described how the English, in their
retirement, came like an avalanche on Chantilly, followed closely by
the Germans, after evacuating Compiègne. His informant was an English
trainer who escaped with his wife under the fire of the German guns,
leaving all his fine racehorses, goods, and chattels behind.
“It was on Sunday last, August 30, he said, that the firing which
had been coming nearer and nearer La Croix Saint-Ouen made him
hurry into Compiègne to learn what was going on. He was surprised
to find Compiègne become the headquarters of the retiring British
Army. The sight was one of the most extraordinary he had ever seen.
At a place I am not at liberty to mention he was suddenly met by
what he calls an invasion of all that might be called English.
First the motor vans appeared. All London, Manchester, and
Liverpool seemed to be on the roads. English brewery vans and
London motor-’buses with advertisements still on some of them
led the way. Along came the vans of well-known firms like an
avalanche. They raced down the roads, tooted without stopping, and
made a deafening noise that echoed all over the forest.
Provisions, guns, and ammunition were conveyed as fast as they
could to the place assigned them in the rear. The drivers seemed to
know the roads as if they had been over them every day for years.
When they reached the place assigned to them they got out, prepared
to lay down and sleep on the roadside, and told each other funny
stories to while away the time. One of the last who had come into
Compiègne had missed his way. Suddenly he came upon a few Germans
whom he mistook at first for English soldiers. He looked more
closely, and when only within a few hundred yards he recognised his
mistake. He instantly wheeled his van round, and before they were
able to open fire he was racing down the road as if devils were
behind him. ‘I got my van away all right and I laughed at their
popping at me,’ he said.
After the vans came the soldiers, headed by the 5th Dragoons. They
had blown up everything behind them, railway lines and bridges,
and it would be some time before the Germans would come up. The
soldiers as they reached Compiègne were in the best of spirits.
They had been fighting all the time, killing scores of the enemy as
they retired through the woods, and losing hardly a man themselves.
The French people in all the villages and at Compiègne received
them with a hearty welcome.
When they came to an inn or a ‘marchand de vin,’ they were offered
any drink in the shop for nothing, or what they liked to give. As
a rule the barmen offered them the best wine. The soldiers would
smell it, nod their heads, as much as to convey ‘this is good,’
and down it would go. ‘Fine drink that,’ they would say to each
other, and march off again. At Compiègne all the townsfolk came
out, and exclaimed: ‘What fine men, these English!’ The fact is the
people here, as well as at Chantilly, were accustomed to see, as a
rule, only English jockeys and stable lads, of less than average
size. They had thereby come to imagine that Englishmen mostly were
smaller than the French. When they saw the Dragoons and Lancers and
the Scottish troops and Highlanders, they wondered, and were beside
themselves with admiration.
In the shops the English soldiers made it a point to pay for
everything they got. Funny scenes were often witnessed. They would
select anything they fancied, hold it up in their hands, and ask
mutely by a sign ‘How much?’ Sometimes misunderstandings occurred.
Tommy Atkins had not yet had time to master the simplicity of
French currency. Two of them were buying bread. One paid for his,
and the other laid down the same amount, thinking it was all right.
The loaf was much bigger, and the baker tried to explain to him
that it was two pounds. ‘What,’ exclaimed the indignant trooper,
‘two pounds for a loaf of bread. You are trying it on,’ and out he
walked indignantly, clinging to his loaf nevertheless. Finally,
it was explained to him what the baker meant, namely, that it
weighed two pounds. The soldier at once asked a pal to return and
apologise, and, as he said, ‘pay up and tell the tale.’
The Germans did not give them time to stay long at Compiègne.
Firing was resumed during the night, and on Monday afternoon,
August 31, the enemy was already swarming round La Croix-Saint-Ouen
and La Morlay. In the withdrawal the English were accompanied by
French chasseurs Alpins, and the country in the valley of the
Oise, with its steep slopes, afforded them good opportunities of
inflicting losses on the enemy.
The alarm of the advancing Germans had reached Chantilly. People
went from house to house to spread the news. Most of the trainers
had already left and their horses had also been got away. Still
about forty or fifty animals remained in the stables. On Tuesday,
September 1, the guns were heard at Chantilly. Fighting was then
going on around Creil, which the Germans had reached. The English
soldiers fell back methodically, eating and sleeping on the
roadside, and turning back to have a shot at the enemy. He lent
himself easily to this game by coming on in dense columns.
The soldiers have wonderful tales about the execution done by
the Maxim guns. ‘We take up a position on the roadside and wait
for them to come,’ said one of them. ‘When they are 200 or 300
yards away we are eager to fire. “Wait a bit,” says the Captain,
“till I make sure they are not English.” He looks through his
field-glasses, and then says, “Let ’em have it, boys!” Off it goes,
and you see fifty or sixty of them fellows drop. They don’t care;
others come on, and then we move our gun.’
This is the kind of fighting that was going on for three days
in the forests of Compiègne and Chantilly. They cover about
50,000 acres of ground, and lend themselves wonderfully to small
skirmishes. The woods are cut in every direction by lanes and
training paths, which were used by the Germans. They even moved
their artillery over them; in fact, they swarmed everywhere. On
Tuesday evening Chantilly was empty.” The frightful odds which
the Germans, knowing the quality of our troops, threw against our
lines, caused a withdrawal to a new position.
After this engagement, says a Press Bureau statement, our troops were
no longer molested. Wednesday, September 2, was the first quiet day
they had had since the fighting had begun at Mons on August 23.
During the whole of this period marching and fighting had been
continuous, and in the whole period the British casualties had
amounted, according to the latest estimates, to about 15,000 officers
and men.
The fighting having been in open order upon a wide front, with repeated
retirements, led to a large number of officers and men, and even small
parties, missing their way and getting separated, and it was known that
a very considerable number of those included in the total would rejoin
the colours safely.
These losses, though heavy in so small a force, in no wise affected the
spirit of the troops.
They did not amount to a third of the losses inflicted by the British
force upon the enemy, and the sacrifice required of the Army had not
been out of proportion to its military achievements.
In all, drafts amounting to 19,000 men reached our Army, or were
approaching them on the line of communication, and advantage was taken
of the five quiet days that had passed since the action of September 1
to fill up the gaps and refit and consolidate the units.
The German army on September 2 was described as having “gradually
narrowed its principal attacking point, until it had become an
arrow-head or a V-shaped mass pointing directly for Paris, and the
southern-most end of the enemy was just before Creil, less than an
hour’s run from the capital by train. Before it was a river, bridges
awaiting to be blown up, an army as ready as ever to resist it, and the
fortifications of Paris. Away on the sloping flanks were armies of the
Allies, numerically inferior but as full of fight as their opponents.”
But the Germans had advanced further south than Creil for on the night
of September 1 their patrols were in action at Senlis with an Infantry
Brigade of the Allies.
It is curious to note that this quiet day was the forty-fourth
anniversary of the battle of Sedan, when it was expected that the
Germans would have made a desperate effort—sparing no sacrifices
to repeat the triumph of 1870. But the conditions that prevailed on
September 2, 1914, were not quite the same. Sedan-day was, however,
celebrated in Berlin, where demonstrations were said to have taken
place of a character highly satisfactory to the public.
The fighting at this place was severe, as is testified by the Rev.
F. Anstruther Cardew, Chaplain of St. George’s, Paris, who recently
paid a visit to the battlefields of the Aisne. “Our route,” he said,
“lay through Senlis, a beautiful old-world town with its venerable
cathedral and monastery. I knew that the Germans had occupied this
place and done much damage, but I was not prepared for what I saw. The
quarter of the town through which we drove was utterly wrecked, every
single house without exception was smashed to pieces by shells and
gutted by fire; nothing was left to tell the passage of the German army
but blackened and desolate rubble and masonry.” Other quarters of the
town, however, do not appear to have suffered so heavily.
Mr. W. Maxwell, writing from Beauvais, on Wednesday, September 2,
supplied the following able article on the retirement of the British
Expeditionary Forces:—
I have just returned from the direction of Rheims, and have met
some of the men who have been fighting in the north. The last time
I saw them was on Saturday, August 22, when they were marching on
Mons. Their lines stretched east toward Charleroi and west toward
Tournai through Valenciennes, and army headquarters were at Le
Cateau, about sixty miles to the south.
Since then they have fought a great battle and fallen back fighting
over a distance of nearly 100 miles. Yet it is just the same
confident and cheerful army it was ten days ago.
The retirement must have been a fearful ordeal. Everybody is aware
of the tremendous efforts the enemy have been making to strike at
the capital of France. They have been content with demonstrations
on the east and with masking the fortress positions along that
border; they have descended in hordes from the north; they have
poured out their blood like water from the Meuse to the Somme; but
they have reserved their greatest efforts and sacrifices for the
north-west.
It is this turning movement on the left flank of the British that
has forced the allied armies to retire. Never was attack made with
more reckless courage nor pressed with such relentless ferocity.
And never was defence conducted with greater heroism. Every mile
has been contested with stubborn gallantry, British and French
retiring with their faces to the foe.
Their numbers were overwhelming. They gave us no rest. Night and
day they hammered away, coming on like great waves. The gaps we
made were filled instantly. Their artillery, which is well handled,
played upon us incessantly. Their cavalry swept down upon us with
amazing recklessness. If we have heavy losses the enemy have even
greater.
Officers tell me that our men fought with cool gallantry. They
never wavered an instant. But the pressure was irresistible.
Column after column, squadron after squadron, mass after mass,
the enemy came on like a battering ram crushing everything in its
way. Shattered to fragments by shot and shell, the hordes of the
enemy seemed instantly to renew themselves; they swarmed on all
sides. Nothing but the sheer pluck, the steadfast courage and the
unflinching determination of our soldiers saved the army from
annihilation.
The losses inflicted on the enemy must have been enormous. They
attacked in solid formation, and whole brigades of infantry were
decimated by the fire of our rifles and guns. No army of civilised
men can endure such devastation as was wrought among the Germans in
this long battle over scores of miles.
The retirement was effected with admirable coolness and skill. The
positions of the covering troops were well chosen, and our guns
shelled the advancing columns until the dead lay in heaps along the
roads and in the fields.
“The enemy hung on to us like grim death,” said a wounded soldier, who
insisted on remaining in the ranks. “They wanted us to retire in a
direction they had determined upon. But we were not taking our marching
orders from them. We went our own way, and at our own pace. We were
retiring—not retreating.”
Remembering the tremendous difficulties of carrying out a retirement
under such conditions, it is amazing how well the men held together.
Their losses were great, but not nearly so great as the circumstances
seemed to exact. Many of the missing men found their way back to their
regiments, from which they were separated in the desperate rush of the
fighting.
The attack on the French army on our right seems to have been heaviest
in the neighbourhood of St. Quentin. But the French met it with courage
and coolness, sweeping the ranks with their artillery, and advancing
with the bayonet under covering fire. For a time they were able to
resume the offensive, and drove thousands of the enemy across the river.
But here, as on the left wing, the story was the same. The numbers of
the enemy seemed inexhaustible. No sooner was one column wiped out than
another was there to take its place. There was nothing for it but to
retire fighting.
In continuation of the deeply interesting despatch of Sir John French
of September 17, the first portion of which is quoted at the beginning
of this chapter, he says:—
On the 1st September, when retiring from the thickly-wooded country
to the south of Compiègne, the 1st Cavalry Brigade was overtaken
by some German cavalry. They momentarily lost a Horse Artillery
battery, and several officers and men were killed and wounded. With
the help, however, of some detachments from the 3rd Corps operating
on their left, they not only recovered their own guns but succeeded
in capturing 12 of the enemy’s.
Similarly, to the eastward, the 1st Corps, retiring south, also
got into some very difficult forest country, and a somewhat severe
rearguard action ensued at Villers-Cotterets, in which the 4th
Guards Brigade suffered considerably.
On September 3rd the British Forces were in position south of
the Marne between Lagny and Signy-Signets. Up to this time I had
been requested by General Joffre to defend the passages of the
river as long as possible, and to blow up the bridges in my front.
After I had made the necessary dispositions, and the destruction
of the bridges had been effected, I was asked by the French
Commander-in-Chief to continue my retirement to a point some 12
miles in rear of the position I then occupied, with a view to
taking up a second position behind the Seine. This retirement was
duly carried out. In the meantime the enemy had thrown bridges and
crossed the Marne in considerable force, and was threatening the
Allies all along the line of the British Forces and the 5th and
9th French Armies. Consequently several small outpost actions took
place.
On Saturday, September 5, I met the French Commander-in-Chief
at his request, and he informed me of his intention to take
the offensive forthwith, as he considered conditions were very
favourable to success.
General Joffre announced to me his intention of wheeling up the
left flank of the 6th Army, pivoting on the Marne and directing it
to move on the Ourcq; cross and attack the flank of the 1st German
Army, which was then moving in a south-easterly direction east of
that river.
He requested me to effect a change of front to my right—my left
resting on the Marne and my right on the 5th Army—to fill the gap
between that army and the 6th. I was then to advance against the
enemy in my front and join in the general offensive movement.
These combined movements practically commenced on Sunday, September
6th, at sunrise; and on that day it may be said that a great battle
opened on a front extending from Ermenonville, which was just in
front of the left flank of the 6th French Army, through Lizy
on the Marne, Mauperthuis, which was about the British centre,
Courtaçon, which was the left of the 5th French Army, to Esternay
and Charleville, the left of the 9th Army under General Foch, and
so along the front of the 9th, 4th, and 3rd French Armies to a
point north of the fortress of Verdun.
This battle, in so far as the 6th French Army, the British Army,
the 5th French Army, and the 9th French Army were concerned, may
be said to have concluded on the evening of September 10, by which
time the Germans had been driven back to the line Soissons-Reims,
with a loss of thousands of prisoners, many guns, and enormous
masses of transport.
About the 3rd September the enemy appears to have changed his plans
and to have determined to stop his advance south direct upon Paris,
for on the 4th September air reconnaissances showed that his main
columns were moving in a south-easterly direction generally east of
a line drawn through Nanteuil and Lizy on the Ourcq.
On the 5th September several of these columns were observed to have
crossed the Marne, whilst German troops, which were observed moving
south-east up the left flank of the Ourcq on the 4th, were now
reported to be halted and facing that river. Heads of the enemy’s
columns were seen crossing at Changis, La Ferté, Nogent, Château
Thierry, and Mezy.
Considerable German columns of all arms were seen to be converging
on Montmirail, whilst before sunset large bivouacs of the enemy
were located in the neighbourhood of Coulommiers, south of Rebais,
La Ferté-Gaucher, and Dagny.
I should conceive it to have been about noon on the 6th September,
after the British Forces had changed their front to the right
and occupied the line Jouy—Le Chatel—Faremoutiers—Villeneuve
Le Comte, and the advance of the 6th French Army north of the
Marne towards the Ourcq became apparent, that the enemy realised
the powerful threat that was being made against the flank of his
columns moving south-east, and began the great retreat which opened
the battle above referred to.
On the evening of the 6th September, therefore, the fronts and
positions of the opposing armies were roughly as follows:—
ALLIES.
_6th French Army._—Right on the Marne at Meux, left towards Betz.
_British Forces._—On the line Dagny—Coulommiers—Maison.
_5th French Army._—At Courtagon, right on Esternay.
_Conneau’s Cavalry Corps._—Between the right of the British and
the left of the French 5th Army.
GERMANS.
_4th Reserve and 2nd Corps._—East of the Ourcq and facing that
river.
_9th Cavalry Division._—West of Crecy.
_2nd Cavalry Division._—North of Coulommiers.
_4th Corps._—Rebais.
_3rd and 7th Corps._—South-west of Montmirail.
All these troops constituted the 1st German Army, which was
directed against the French 6th Army on the Ourcq, and the British
Forces, and the left of the 5th French Army south of the Marne.
The 2nd German Army (IX., X., X.R., and Guard) was moving against
the centre and right of the 5th French Army and the 9th French Army.
On the 7th September both the 5th and 6th French Armies were
heavily engaged on our flank. The 2nd and 4th Reserve German Corps
on the Ourcq vigorously opposed the advance of the French towards
that river, but did not prevent the 6th Army from gaining some
headway, the Germans themselves suffering serious losses. The
French 5th Army threw the enemy back to the line of the Petit Morin
River after inflicting severe losses upon them, especially about
Montçeaux, which was carried at the point of the bayonet.
The enemy retreated before our advance, covered by his 2nd and 9th
and Guard Cavalry Divisions, which suffered severely.
Our Cavalry acted with great vigour, especially General De Lisle’s
Brigade with the 9th Lancers and 18th Hussars.
On the 8th September the enemy continued his retreat northward,
and our Army was successfully engaged during the day with strong
rearguards of all arms on the Petit Morin River, thereby materially
assisting the progress of the French Armies on our right and left,
against whom the enemy was making his greatest efforts. On both
sides the enemy was thrown back with very heavy loss. The 1st
Army Corps encountered stubborn resistance at La Trétoire (north
of Rebais). The enemy occupied a strong position with infantry
and guns on the northern bank of the Petit Morin River; they were
dislodged with considerable loss. Several machine guns and many
prisoners were captured, and upwards of two hundred German dead
were left on the ground.
The forcing of the Petit Morin at this point was much assisted
by the Cavalry and the 1st Division, which crossed higher up the
stream.
Later in the day a counter-attack by the enemy was well repulsed
by the 1st Army Corps, a great many prisoners and some guns again
falling into our hands.
On this day (8th September) the 2nd Army Corps encountered
considerable opposition, but drove back the enemy at all points
with great loss, making considerable captures.
The 3rd Army Corps also drove back considerable bodies of the
enemy’s infantry and made some captures.
On the 9th September the 1st and 2nd Army Corps forced the passage
of the Marne and advanced some miles to the north of it. The 3rd
Corps encountered considerable opposition, as the bridge at La
Ferté was destroyed and the enemy held the town on the opposite
bank in some strength, and thence persistently obstructed the
construction of a bridge; so the passage was not effected until
after nightfall.
During the day’s pursuit the enemy suffered heavy loss in killed
and wounded, some hundreds of prisoners fell into our hands and a
battery of eight machine guns was captured by the 2nd Division.
On this day the 6th French Army was heavily engaged west of the
River Ourcq. The enemy had largely increased his force opposing
them; and very heavy fighting ensued, in which the French were
successful throughout.
The left of the 5th French Army reached the neighbourhood of
Château Thierry after the most severe fighting, having driven the
enemy completely north of the river with great loss.
The fighting of this army in the neighbourhood of Montmirail was
very severe.
The advance was resumed at daybreak on the 10th up to the line of
the Ourcq, opposed by strong rearguards of all arms. The 1st and
2nd Corps, assisted by the Cavalry Division on the right, the 3rd
and 5th Cavalry Brigades on the left, drove the enemy northwards.
Thirteen guns, seven machine guns, about 2,000 prisoners, and
quantities of transport fell into our hands. The enemy left many
dead on the field. On this day the French 5th and 6th Armies had
little opposition.
As the 1st and 2nd German Armies were now in full retreat, this
evening marks the end of the battle which practically commenced
on the morning of the 6th instant; and it is at this point in the
operations that I am concluding the present despatch.
Although I deeply regret to have had to report heavy losses in
killed and wounded throughout these operations, I do not think
they have been excessive in view of the magnitude of the great
fight, the outlines of which I have only been able very briefly to
describe, and the demoralisation and loss in killed and wounded
which are known to have been caused to the enemy by the vigour and
severity of the pursuit.
In concluding this despatch I must call your Lordship’s special
attention to the fact that from Sunday, August 23rd, up to the
present date (September 17th), from Mons back almost to the Seine,
and from the Seine to the Aisne, the Army under my command has been
ceaselessly engaged without one single day’s halt or rest of any
kind.