BATTLE OF MONS
On Friday, August 21, 1914, the British force began to take position
on the French left, forming the line Binche-Mons-Condé. When finally
concentrated it comprised the First and Second Army Corps, and
General Allenby's cavalry division. The regiments forming the cavalry
division were the Second Dragoon Guards, Ninth Lancers, Fourth
Hussars, Sixth Dragoon Guards, with a contingent of the Household
Guards. The First Army Corps was given the right of the line from
Binche to Mons. It was commanded by Sir Douglas Haig. He was a
cavalry officer like the commander in chief, and a comparatively
young man for such a responsibility, but had seen active service
with credit. His corps was comprised of six guards' battalions.
The First Black Watch, Second Munster Fusiliers, The Royal Sussex,
North Lancashire, Northamptons, Second King's Royal Rifles, Third
West Surreys, The South Wales Borderers, Gloucesters, First Welsh
Regiment, Highland Light Infantry, Connaught Rangers, Liverpools,
South Staffords, Berkshires, and First King's Royal Rifles. The First
Irish Guards went into action for the first time in its history.
The second corps extended from Mons to Condé, commanded by Sir
Horace Smith-Dorrien. General Dorrien was a west of England man,
and turning fifty-six. He had seen active service in the Zulu War,
Egypt, Sudan, the Chitral Relief Force, and Tirah campaign. He had
occupied the positions of adjutant general in India, commander
of the Quetta division, and commander in chief at Aldershot. He
was recognized as a serious military student, and possessing the
approval and confidence of Lord Kitchener. The Second Corps was
composed of Royal Irish Rifles, Wiltshires, South Lancashires,
Worcesters, Gordons, Royal Scots, Royal Irish, Middlesex, Royal
Fusiliers, Northumberland Fusiliers, Royal Scots Fusiliers, Lincolns,
Yorkshire Light Infantry, West Kent, West Riding, Scottish Borderers,
Manchesters, Cornwalls, East Surreys, and Suffolks. To the rear
Count Gleichen commanded the Norfolks, Bedfords, Cheshires, and
Dorsets. On the left of the Second Corps was stationed General
Allenby's cavalry.
In passing we may note that the commander in chief of the British
forces was a cavalry officer, the commander of the First Army Corps
a cavalry officer, and that the cavalry was in comparatively ample
force. Von Mackensen of the German force came from that branch of
the service. Cavalry officers are excellent soldiers, but their
training as such is not promising for the command of modern armies,
mainly of infantry and artillery, with other complements. In war much
has changed since Waterloo, with the value of cavalry retreating
into the background as aeroplanes sweep to the front for scouting
and other purposes.
From Binche to Condé the line assigned to the British was approximately
twenty-five miles. Their force totaled some 75,000 men with 259 guns.
General French, therefore, had 2,500 men to the mile of front.
This was an insufficient force, as the usual fighting front for a
battalion of a thousand men in defense or in attack is estimated in
all armies at about 425 yards. The British brigade of four battalions
(4,000 rifles) covers a half-mile front. General French's Third
Army Corps having been utilized elsewhere, he was compelled to
use his cavalry in four brigades as reserve.
Previous to the German attack on Charleroi, General Joffre still held
to his plan of a left-wing attack, or rather a counter-attack after
the Germans were beaten. But battles were commencing on other fronts,
properly belonging to the general retreat, which made its execution
doubtful even in an hour of Victory. The capture of Charleroi, of
course, dissipated it as a dream. That General French realized
the superiority in numbers of Von Kluck's advancing army both in
infantry and artillery is nowhere suggested. His airmen had merely
brought in the information that the attack would be in "considerable
force." The French Intelligence Service were led to believe and
informed the British commander that Von Kluck was advancing upon him
with only one corps, or two at the most. Some of General French's
cavalry scouting as far toward Brussels as Soignes, during the 21st
and 22d, confirmed it. But the British proceeded to prepare for
attack immediately on taking position. They set to work digging
trenches.
While continuing their defensive efforts through Saturday, August
22, 1914, there floated to them a distant rumble from the eastward.
Opinions differed as to whether it was the German guns bombarding
Namur, or a battle in progress on the Sambre. For the most part
British officers and men had but a vague idea of their position, or
the progress of the fighting in the vicinity. Even the headquarters
staff remained uninformed of the desperate situation developing on
the French right at Charleroi.
The headquarters of the British army was at Mons. It lies within
what is known as "le Borinage," that is the boring district of
Belgium, the coal-mining region. In certain physical aspects it
much resembles the same territory of Pennsylvania. Containing one
or two larger towns such as Charleroi and Mons, it is sprinkled
over with villages gathered near the coal pits. Everywhere trolley
lines are to be seen running from the mines to supply the main
railways and barge canals.
Formerly the people were of a rough, ignorant and poverty toiling
type, but of late years have greatly improved with the introduction
of organized labor and education. Previous bad conditions, however,
have left their mark in a stunted and physically degenerate type of
descendants from the mining population of those times. In contrast
to later comers they resemble a race of dwarfs. The men seldom
exceed four feet eight inches in height, the women and children
appear bloodless and emaciated.
The output of the Borinage coal field exceeds twenty million tons
a year. Its ungainly features of shafts, chimneys, and mounds of
débris are relieved in places by woodlands, an appearance of a
hilly country is presented where the pit mounds have been planted
with fir trees. Apart from its mining aspect, Mons is a city of
historic importance. It contains a Gothic cathedral and town hall
of medieval architectural note. It also, cherishes a special yearly
fête of its own on Trinity Sunday, when in the parade of the Limaçon,
or snail, the spectacle of St. George and the Dragon is presented.
With great pride the citizens of Mons showed the British soldiers
of occupation an ancient cannon, claimed to have been used by their
forefathers as an ally of the English at Crecy.
Especially east of Mons, toward Binche, the British line ran through
this district. Several of the greatest European battles have been
fought in its vicinity--Ramilles, Malplaquet, Jemappe, and Ligny.
The night of Saturday, August 23, 1914, passed peacefully for the
British soldiers, still working on their trenches. But distant boom
of guns from the east continued to vibrate to them at intervals.
Of its portend they knew nothing. Doubtless as they plied the shovel
they again speculated over it, wondering and possibly regretting
a chance of their having been deprived of the anticipated battle.
Sunday morning, August 24, 1914, dawned brightly with no sign of
the enemy. In Mons and the surrounding villages the workmen donned
their usual holiday attire, women stood about their doors chatting,
children played in the streets. Church bells rung as usual summoning
to public worship. General French gathered his generals for an
early conference. General Joffre's message on Saturday morning,
assured General French of victory, and positively informed him
that Von Kluck was advancing upon him with no more than one or
two army corps. In testimony of it, General French thus wrote a
subsequent official dispatch.
"From information I received from French headquarters, I understood
that little more than one or at most two of the enemy's army corps,
with perhaps one cavalry division, were in front of my position,
and I was aware of no outflanking movement attempted by the enemy"
(Von Hausen's advance on the right). "I was confirmed in this opinion
by the fact that my patrols encountered no undue opposition in
their reconnoitering operations. The observations of my aeroplanes
seemed also to bear out this estimate."
To General French, therefore, his position seemed well secured.
In the light of it he awaited Von Kluck's attack with confidence.
Toward mid-day some German aeroplanes swept up above the woods
in front, and circled over the British line. British marksmen at
once fired on the bodies and hawklike wings of the intruders.
Some tense interest was roused among the men as British aeroplanes
rose to encounter the German aircraft. It was the first real battle
of the sky they had witnessed. General French's cavalry patrols now
brought information that the woods were thick with German troops,
some of them deploying eastward toward their right at Binche.
At twenty minutes to one the first shots swept from the woods upon
the British line. Presently, Von Kluck's main attack developed
with great rapidity. The German artillery was brought to the front
edge of the woods to hurl a storm of shells on the British trenches.
It was returned with equal vigor. But very soon it became apparent
to British commanders along the line that the German artillery
fire was in far greater volume than what might be expected from
two army corps, whose normal complement would be some 340 guns.
Instead it was estimated 600 German guns were shortly brought into
action.
The battle field was described by the Germans as "an emptiness."
The term is intended to emphasize that the old martial display and
pomp has completely gone. A grand advance upon each other, with
trumpets sounding, banners fluttering, brilliant uniforms, and
splendid cavalry charges, was impossible with long range weapons
hailing storms of bullets and shells of devastating explosive power.
Cover was the all important immediate aim of both attack and defense.
In this respect as we have seen, the German gray-green uniform
assisted by rendering them almost invisible within shelter of such
woods as those before Mons. On the other hand, the brown khaki
shade of the British field uniforms--originally designed for the
same purpose on the sandy wastes of Egypt and Northern India--became
conspicuous upon a green background.
As the battle of Mons developed, the British line of the Condé
Canal was swept with German shrapnel. German shells, also, began
bursting in the suburbs of Mons and in the near-by villages. Sir
Douglas Haig's right thus came under strong fire. German aeroplanes
assisted by dropping smoke bombs over the British positions to give
the angle of range for their artillery. Thereupon fights above
took place between British and German airmen, while the armies
beneath thundered shot and shell upon each other. The Germans came
on in massed formation of attack. The British were accustomed to
attack in open extended line, and their shooting from any available
cover was generally excellent. They could not understand the German
attack in such close order that they were mowed down in groups of
hundreds.
The German infantry rifle fire, breaking from the shelter of the
woods to encounter a stronger British fire than was anticipated,
was at first ineffective. As to the mass formation they depended
upon overwhelming reserves to take the places of those dead piled
in heaps before the British trenches. It was General Grant's "food
for powder" plan of attack repeated.
Thus the battle raged upon the entire length of the British line,
with repeated advances and retreats on the part of the Germans.
Now and then the bodies almost reached the British trenches, and
a breach seemed in certain prospect. But the British sprang upon
the invaders, bayonet in hand, and drove them back to the shelter
of the woods. The Irish regiments, especially, were considered
invincible in this "cold steel" method of attack, their national
impulsive ardor carrying them in a fury through the ranks of an
enemy. But at Mons always the Germans returned in ever greater
numbers. The artillery increased the terrible rain of shells. Pen
pictures by British soldiers vividly describe the battle somewhat
conflictingly.
"They were in solid square blocks, standing out sharply against the
skyline, and you couldn't help hitting them. It was like butting
your head against a stone wall.... They crept nearer and nearer,
and then our officers gave the word. A sheet of flame flickered
along the line of trenches and a stream of bullets tore through the
advancing mass of Germans. They seemed to stagger like a drunken
man hit between the eyes, after which they made a run for us....
Halfway across the open another volley tore through their ranks,
and by this time our artillery began dropping shells around them.
Then an officer gave an order and they broke into open formation,
rushing like mad toward the trenches on our left. Some of our men
continued the volley firing, but a few of our crack shots were
told off for independent firing.... They fell back in confusion,
and then lay down wherever cover was available. We gave them no
rest, and soon they were on the move again in flight.... This sort
of thing went on through the whole day."
From another view we gather that "We were in the trenches waiting
for them, but we didn't expect anything like the smashing blow
that struck us. All at once, so it seemed, the sky began to rain
down bullets and shells. At first they went wide... but after a
time... they got our range and then they fairly mopped us up....
I saw many a good comrade go out."
During the early part of the battle Von Kluck directed his main
attack upon the British right, with a furious artillery bombardment
of Binche and Bray. This was coincident with the crumpling of the
French right at Charleroi by the army of Von Bülow, and its threatened
retreat by that of Von Hausen. The retirement of the French Fifth
Army, therefore, left General Haig exposed to a strong flank attack
by Von Kluck. Confronted with this danger, General Haig was compelled
to withdraw his right to a rise of ground southward of Bray. This
movement left Mons the salient of an angle between the First and
Second British Army Corps. Shortly after this movement was performed,
General Hamilton, in command of Mons, found himself in peril of
converging German front and flank attacks. If the Germans succeeded
in breaking through the British line beyond Mons, he would be cut
off and surrounded. General Hamilton informed his superior, General
French, of this danger, and was advised in return "to be careful
not to keep the troops in the salient too long, but, if threatened
seriously to draw back the center behind Mons."
[Illustration: GERMAN HOSTS INVADE AND CONQUER BELGIUM.
SIEGE GUN. FORTRESSES OF LIEGE, NAMUR, MALINES. VALIANT RESISTANCE
BY THE BELGIANS
One of the great siege guns that destroyed the fortresses in Belgium
and northern France and made possible the first great drive of
the German armies]
[Illustration: This bridge over the Meuse at Liege was blown up by
the Belgians to delay the German advance. The German army crossed
on pontoon bridges]
[Illustration: Belgian gunners and field gun in action on the firing
line between Termond and St. Giles, Belgium]
[Illustration: The fortress town of Namur, Belgium, whose once
impregnable fortifications were shattered in a few days by the great
German siege guns]
[Illustration: The city of Malines Belgium, from which the inhabitants
fled as the Germans advanced from Brussels]
[Illustration: A Belgian machine-gun corps taking up their position
in a beet field at Lebbeke on learning of the approach of the German
invaders]
[Illustration: Belgian artillery replying to the fire of the Germans.
Though hidden by trees, this battery could be detected by aeroplane
scouts]
[Illustration: Belgian soldiers intrenched along a railway line.
The fine roads and railways of Belgium and France aided the rapid
advance of the invaders]
A little after General French had sent General Hamilton this warning,
he received a telegram from General Joffre which he describes as
"a most unexpected message." General Joffre's telegram conveyed
the first news to General French not only that the French Fifth
Army had been defeated and was in retreat--the first intimation
even that the French right at Charleroi under General Lanrezac was
in peril--but that at least three German army corps were attacking
the British. Doubtless the German smashing of General Joffre's
planned grand counterattack, after the Germans were to be beaten,
was disheartening as well as a sore disappointment.
General French possessed 75,000 men. It was now disclosed that
in front Von Kluck was hurling upon him 200,000 men, Von Bülow
was hammering on his right, Von Hausen in pursuit of the French
threatened his rear, while some 50,000 Germans were enveloping
his left. He had no option but to order a retreat.
Dealing with the combined action of the French and British in this
critical period a French military writer says:
"The French armies of the center--that is to say, the Third and
Fourth Armies--had as their mission the duty of attacking the German
army in Belgian Luxembourg, of attempting to put it to flight and
of crumpling it up against the left flank of the German main body
at the north. This offensive on the part of the French center began
on August 21, 1914. The Third Army (General Ruffey) followed from
the east to the west the course of the Semoy, a tributary on the
right of the Meuse. The Fourth Army operated between the Meuse
and the Lesse. The Germans occupied the plateau which extends from
Neufchâteau to Paliseul. It is uncertain territory, covered with
heaths and thick woods, and lends itself poorly to the reconnaissance
work of aviators or cavalry patrols. There are no targets for the
artillery. The Germans had strongly fortified the ground. The infantry
of the Fourth Army which hurled itself against these positions
was thrown hack; still fighting it fell back over the Meuse. The
pursuit by the Germans was punctuated by strong counterattacks,
which inflicted great losses on them. The Third Army was similarly
checked in its march on Neufchâteau by the superior forces of the
crown prince and was thrown back on the Semoy. Thus the offensive
actions undertaken by the armies of the French center miscarried.
Not only were they unable to lend their aid to the armies of the
left, but they saw themselves obliged to retreat.
"The situation could only be reestablished by a victory on the
part of the Fifth French Army operating in conjunction with the
army of General French. This army, however, found itself in the
presence of German forces of great strength, consisting of the
crack corps of the German army. On the 22d the Germans at the cost
of considerable losses succeeded in passing the Sambre, and General
Lanrezac fell back on Beaumont-Givet, being apprehensive of the danger
which threatened his right. On the 24th the British army retreated,
in the face of a German attack, on to the Maubeuge-Valenciennes
line. It appeared at first that the British had in front of them
at most an army corps, with perhaps a corps of cavalry. They were
apprised, however, about five o'clock in the evening that three
army corps were advancing against them, while a fourth was marching
against their left along the road from Tournai in a turning movement.
General French effected his retreat during the night behind the
salient of Mons. Threatened on August 24 by the strength of the
whole German army, he fled backward in the direction of Maubeuge."
* * * * *