CAMPAIGNS IN ALSACE AND LORRAINE
The French staff apparently had designed a campaign in Upper Alsace and
the Vosges, but the throwing of a brigade from Belfort across the
frontier on the extreme right of their line on August 6 would seem to
have been undertaken chiefly with a view of rousing patriotic
enthusiasm. French aeroplane scouts had brought in the intelligence that
only small bodies of German troops occupied the left bank of the Rhine.
Therefore the opportunity was presented to invade the upper part of the
lost province of Alsace--a dramatic blow calculated to arouse the French
patriotic spirit. Since the Germans had expended hardly any effort in
its defense, leaving, as it were an open door, it may have been part of
the strategic idea of their General Staff to draw a French army into
that region, with the design of inflicting a crushing defeat. Thus
French resistance in the southern Vosges would have been weakened, the
capture of Belfort, unsupported by its field army, a probability, and a
drive beyond into France by the German forces concentrated at
Neubreisach made triumphant. Doubtless the French General Staff fully
grasped the German intention, but considered a nibble at the alluring
German bait of some value for its sentimental effect upon the French and
Alsatians. Otherwise the invasion of Upper Alsace with a brigade was
doomed at the outset to win no military advantage.
On August 7, 1914, the French dispersed a German outpost intrenched
before Altkirch. Some cavalry skirmishing followed, which resulted in
the French gaining possession of the city. As was to be expected, the
citizens of Altkirch welcomed the French with enthusiasm. The following
morning the French were permitted an uncontested advance to Muelhausen.
That such an important manufacturing center as Muelhausen should have
remained unfortified within striking distance of the French frontier,
that the French entered it without being compelled to fire a shot, was a
surprise to every one with the probable exception of the German and
French General Staffs.
The citizens of Muelhausen repeated the joyous ovation bestowed on the
French troops in Altkirch. The French uniform was hailed as the visible
sign of deliverance from German dominion, and the restoration of the
lost province to their kindred of the neighboring republic. The climax
of this ebullition was reached in a proclamation issued by direction of
General Joffre. "People of Alsace," it ran, "after forty years of weary
waiting, French soldiers again tread the soil of your native country.
They are the pioneers in the great work of redemption. What emotion and
what pride for them! To complete the work they are ready to sacrifice
their lives. The French nation with one heart spurs them forward, and on
the folds of their flag are inscribed the magical names Liberty and
Right. Long live France! Long live Alsace!"
During August 8, 1914, some intermittent fighting went on in the
vicinity of Muelhausen, which seems to have given the French general in
command the impression that the Germans were not eager for a
counterattack. In turn the Germans may well have been puzzled that a
French brigade instead of an army was thrown into Upper Alsace for the
bait of Muelhausen. Possibly they waited a little for the main body,
which did not come.
Sunday, August 9, 1914, revealed the Germans in such overpowering
strength, that the French were left no other choice than to beat a
hasty retreat. They accordingly fell back upon Altkirch, to intrench a
few miles beyond their own border. Thus ended the French initial
offensive. In military reckoning it achieved little of value.
Meanwhile in the Ardennes on August 13, 1914, the German Crown Prince,
commanding the Fourth Army, advanced from Luxemburg into the southern
Ardennes and captured Neufchateau. His further objective was to break
through the French line somewhere near the historic ground of Sedan. But
at this point some change in the German plan seems to have taken place.
From the maze enveloping the opening events of the war, one can only
conjecture a reason which would move such an irrevocable body as the
German General Staff to alter a long-fixed plan. Probably, then, the
unanticipated strength of Belgian resistance foreshadowed the summoning
of reenforcements to Von Kluck's right wing of the whole German army. We
have seen, in fact, how he came to be near a desperate need at Bruges,
and only the heavy reenforcement of Von Boehn enabled that general to
deliver a final defeat to the Belgian field army at Weerde. Whatever the
cause of change of plan may have been, important forces attached to or
intended for the armies of the Duke of Wuerttemberg and the crown prince
were withdrawn to support the armies of Von Kluck and Von Buelow. These
forces went to form a unit under General von Hausen, a veteran of
Sadowa. This change left the Saxon army of the crown prince with hardly
sufficient strength for a main attack on the French line at Sedan, but
still formidable enough to feel its way cautiously through the Ardennes
to test the French concentration on the central Meuse's west bank. When
the German right had finally settled Liege, the Saxon army could then
join in the united great movement on Paris.
Early on the morning of August 15, 1914, a French detachment of half an
infantry regiment, thrown into Dinant, was surprised by a mobile Saxon
advance force of cavalry, infantry and artillery. Dinant lies across the
Meuse eighteen miles south of Namur. It is a picturesque ancient town,
the haunt of artists and tourists. In the vicinity are the estates of
several wealthy Belgian families, particularly the thirteenth-century
chateau of Walzin, once the stronghold of the Comtes d'Ardennes. A
bridge crosses the Meuse at Dinant, which sits mainly on the east bank
within shadow of precipitous limestone cliffs. A stone fort more
imposing in appearance than modern effectiveness crowns the highest
cliff summit overlooking Dinant. The Germans came by way of the east
bank to occupy the suburbs. They presently captured the fort and hoisted
the German flag. Meanwhile the French took possession of the bridge,
being at a considerable disadvantage from German rifle fire from the
cliffs. The solid stone abutments of the bridge, however, enabled the
French to hold that position until strong reenforcements arrived early
in the afternoon. While French infantry cleared the environs of Germans,
their artillery bombarded the fort from the west bank. Their shells
played havoc with the old fort defenses, soon compelling its evacuation
by the Germans. One of the first French artillery shells blew into
shreds the German flag flying triumphantly over the fort, thus depriving
the French of the satisfaction of hauling it down. Toward evening the
Germans retreated toward the Lesse, followed by the French. In previous
wars the forces engaged were of sufficient strength to designate Dinant
a battle, but with the vast armies of the present conflict it sinks to
the military grade of a mere affair. However, it is called by the French
the Battle of Dinant.
The troops which entered Alsace on August 7, 1914, to the number of
18,000 to 20,000, belonged to the army of the frontier.
This first army, which was under the orders of General Dubail, was
intrusted with the mission of making a vigorous attack and of holding in
front of it the greatest possible number of German forces. The general
in command of this army had under his orders, if the detachment from
Alsace be included, five army corps and a division of cavalry. His
orders were to seek battle along the line Saarburg--Donon, in the Bruche
Valley, at the same time possessing himself of the crests of the Vosges
as well as the mountain passes. These operations were to have as their
theaters: (1) the Vosges Mountains, (2) the plateau of Lorraine to the
northwest of Donon, and (3) the left bank of the Meurthe. This left bank
of the Meurthe is separated from the valley of the Moselle by a
bristling slope of firs, which is traversed by a series of passages, the
defiles of Chipotte, of the Croix Idoux, of the Haut Jacques d'Anozel,
of Vanemont, of Plafond. In these passes, when the French returned to
the offensive in September, 1914, furious combats took place. The German
forces opposed to this first army consisted of five active army corps
and a reserve corps.
The first French army, after a violent struggle, conquered the passes of
the Vosges, but the conquest was vigorously opposed and took more time
than the French had reckoned on. As soon as it had become master of the
Donon and the passes, the first French army pushed forward into the
defile of Saarburg. At St. Blaise it won the first German colors, took
Blamont and Cirey (August 15, 1914), seized the defiles north of the
canal of the Marne and the Rhine, and reached Saarburg. Here a
connection was established with the army of Lorraine, which had
commenced its operations on the 14th. A violent battle ensued, known
under the name of the Battle of Saarburg. The left wing of the French
army attacked August 19, 1914; it hurled itself at the fortified
positions, which were copiously fringed with heavy artillery. In spite
of the opposition it made progress to the northwest of Saarburg.
On the 20th the attack was renewed, but from the beginning it was
evident that it could not succeed and that the duty intrusted to the
Eighth Army Corps of opening up the way for the cavalry corps could not
be accomplished. This army corps had gone through a trying ordeal as a
result of the bombardment by the heavy German artillery established in
fortified positions, covering distances all measured in advance, with
every group and French battery presenting a sure target and the action
of the French cannon rendered useless.
If the left wing of the First Army found itself checked, the center and
the right on the other hand were in an excellent position and were able
to advance. But at this point (August 21, 1914) the Second French Army
the army of Lorraine met a serious reverse in the region of Morhange
and was compelled to retreat. This retreat left the flank of the First
Army gravely unprotected, and as a consequence this army was also
obliged to fall back. This rear-guard movement was accomplished over a
very difficult piece of country down to the Baccarat-Ban de
Sapt-Provenchere line, south of the Col du Bonhomme. It was found
necessary to abandon the Donon and the Col de Sapt.
The task committed to the Second Army, that of Lorraine under De
Castlenau, was to protect Nancy, then to transfer itself to the east,
advancing later to the north and attacking in a line parallel to that
taken by the First Army on the Dieuze-Chateau Salins front in the
general direction of Saarbruecken. Its mission was therefore at once both
offensive and defensive: to cover Nancy and continue toward the west the
attack of the First Army.
After having repulsed, August 10 and 11, 1914, the strong German attacks
in the region of Spincourt and of Chateau Salins the Second Army took
the offensive and went forward almost without stopping during four days
of uninterrupted fighting. Penetrating into Lorraine, which had been
annexed, it reached the right bank of the Selle, cut off Marsal and
Chateau Salins, and pushed forward in the direction of Morhange. The
enemy fell back; at Marsal he even left behind enormous quantities of
ammunition.
As a matter of fact, he fell back on positions that had been carefully
fortified in advance and whence his artillery could bombard at an almost
perfectly accurate range. August 20, 1914, made a violent counterattack
on the canal of Salines and Morhange in the Lake district. The immediate
vicinity of Metz furnished the German army with a vast quantity of heavy
artillery, which played a decisive role in the Battle of Morhange. The
French retreated, and during this rear-guard movement the frontier city
of Luneville was for some days occupied by the Germans.
Thus the First and Second Armies failed in their offensive and saw
themselves obliged to retreat, but their retreat was accomplished under
excellent circumstances, and the troops, after a couple of days of rest,
found themselves in a condition again to take the offensive. The First
Army gave energetic support to the Second Army, which was violently
attacked by the Germans in the second week of August. The German attack,
which was first arrayed against Nancy, turned more and more to the east.
The battle, at first waged in the Mortagne basin, was gradually extended
to the deep woods on the left bank of the Meurthe and on to Chipotte,
Nompatelize, etc. The battles that have been named the Battle of
Mortagne, the Battle of the Meurthe, the Battle of the Vosges, all waged
by the First Army, were extremely violent in the last week of August and
the first two weeks of September. These combats partly coincided with
the Battle of the Marne; they resulted, at the end of that battle, in
the German retreat. The Second Army renewed the offensive August 25,
1914; it decisively checked the march of the German army and commenced
to force it back.
The instructions issued to General de Castelnau directed him everywhere
to march forward and make direct attacks. The day of August 25, 1914,
was a successful day for the French; everywhere the Germans were
repulsed. From August 26 till September 2, 1914, the Second Army
continued its attacks.
At this point the commander in chief having need of important forces at
his center and at his right relieved the Second Army of much of its
strength. This did not prevent it from engaging in the great Battle of
Nancy and winning it. It was September 4, 1914, that this battle began
and it continued till the 11th, the army sustaining the incessant
assaults of the Germans on its entire front advanced from Grand
Couronne. The German emperor was personally present at this battle.
There was at Dieuze a regiment of white cuirassiers at whose head it was
his intention to make a triumphal entry into Nancy. Heavy German
artillery of every caliber made an enormous expenditure of ammunition;
on the Grand Mont d'Amance alone, one of the most important positions of
the Grand Couronne of Nancy, more than 30,000 howitzer shells were fired
in two days. The fights among the infantry were characterized on the
entire front by an alternation of failure and success, every point being
taken, lost and retaken at intervals.
The struggle attained to especial violence in the Champenoux Forest. On
September 5, 1914, the enemy won Maixe and Remereville, which they lost
again in the evening, but they were unable to dislodge the French from
the ridge east of the forest of Champenoux. The Mont d'Amance was
violently bombarded; a German brigade marched on Pont-a-Mousson. The
French retook Crevic and the Crevic Wood.
On the 7th the Germans directed on Ste. Genevieve, north of the Grand
Couronne, a very violent attack, which miscarried. Ste. Genevieve was
lost for a time, but it was retaken on the 8th; more than 2,000 Germans
lay dead on the ground. The same day the enemy threw themselves
furiously on the east front, the Mont d'Amance, and La Neuvelotte. South
of the Champenoux Forest the French were compelled to retire; they were
thrown back on the ridge west of the forest. On the 9th a new
bombardment of Mont d'Amance, a struggle of extreme violence, took place
on the ridge west of the forest of Champenoux, the French gaining
ground. General Castelnau decided to take the direct offensive, the
Germans giving signs of great fatigue. On the 12th they retired very
rapidly. They evacuated Luneville, a frontier town, where they left a
great quantity of arms and ammunition. The French began immediately to
pursue them, the Germans withdrawing everywhere over the frontier.