THE FIRST CLASH OF ARMS.
I wonder whether you have ever met with the word _dinanderie_. You will
find it in an English dictionary, though it is an old word which has
almost gone out of use. _Dinanderie_ means vessels of chased copper or
brass used for household purposes. In the thirteenth, fourteenth, and
fifteenth centuries such vessels were largely made in the little Belgian
town of Dinant; hence the name.
You can scarcely imagine a more picturesque town than Dinant. It stands
on the right or eastern bank of the broad river Meuse as it sweeps
northward from France to join the Sambre at Namur. The main part of the
town lies at the foot of lofty limestone rocks, which are honeycombed
with grottoes containing stalactites, or limestone "icicles," such as
you may see in the caves of Cheddar[8] or Derbyshire. In the
Grand'-Place, quite close to the foot of the limestone rocks, is the
Cathedral of Notre Dame, a very handsome building with finely carved
portals. Behind the cathedral there are four hundred and eight steps cut
in the rock, by means of which you may ascend to the citadel which
crowns the summit.
From this citadel, or from the top of the hill behind it, there is a
glorious view of the Meuse valley. If we face the river, we shall see on
the opposite bank the houses straggling up a wooded hillside, and to our
right "Roche à Bayard," a bold pinnacle of rock with an ancient story.
Bayard[9] was the prince of knights in the sixteenth century, a hero of
the most noble and unselfish character, "without fear and without
reproach." We can pay no greater honour to a soldier than to call him a
"Bayard." Like our own King Arthur, he has become a figure of romance,
and all sorts of magical deeds have been ascribed to him. It is said
that on one occasion he defended a bridge single-handed against two
hundred Spaniards. According to an old legend, he was once pursued by
Charlemagne, and was only saved from capture by his gallant horse, which
sprang right across the gorge of the river, and left a hoofmark on the
rock which now bears his name.
I have described Dinant because it was in and around this town that the
French first came into contact with the Germans. In Chapter XXX. of our
first volume I told you that after the entry of the Germans into
Brussels, von Kluck's army (the First Army), which was to form the
extreme right of the German line, was rapidly advancing towards the
Franco-Belgian border, and that von Buelow's army (the Second Army) was
moving in the direction of the strong fortress of Namur. The first clash
of arms between the French and Germans took place five days before the
occupation of Brussels, when von Kluck's army was fighting its way
towards the capital.
At that time the Duke of Würtemberg's army was marching through the
wooded hills of the Ardennes towards the Central Meuse, and the Saxon
army was advancing farther north towards Dinant and Namur. While these
movements were in progress, the French sent a detachment northwards to
occupy Dinant, which is only ten miles as the crow flies from their
border. On 15th August, at about six in the morning, German cavalry and
artillery of the Duke of Würtemberg's army made an attack on the town,
which was only held by part of a French infantry regiment. Though the
French were greatly outnumbered, they fought gallantly, and held the
bridge across the Meuse stubbornly. By ten o'clock, however, the Germans
had driven them off, and had hoisted their flag on the citadel. Some of
their cavalry then crossed the river into the suburbs on the left or
western bank.
[Illustration: The Battle of Dinant, August 15, 1914. French infantry
recapturing the town.]
About two in the afternoon, in the very nick of time, French
reinforcements arrived. A French infantry regiment appeared on the left
bank of the river, and drove the cavalry out of the suburbs. Meanwhile
two French batteries took up position, and began a brisk cannonade of
the citadel. One of their first shots cut the German flag in two. So hot
was the fire that the enemy was forced to leave the citadel and retire
along the cliffs to the south. A vigorous artillery duel was kept up
across the valley; the French dashed across the river by the bridge,
retook the town, and flung back the Germans, who retreated east and then
south. Thus in the first battle of the war the French were victorious.
The fight at Dinant, compared with those which were to follow, was a
mere baby battle. Only about eight thousand men took part in it, and
there was not much loss on either side. It has, however, a special
interest, because it marked the first dash of arms between the French
and the Germans. Not for a week later did the war begin in real earnest.
* * * * *
Now we must visit another town of Belgium--the famous fortress of Namur,
which stands on a hill in the sharp angle between the Meuse and the
Sambre. Southward and eastward of it lies the trench valley of the
Meuse; to the west extends the vale of the Sambre, which runs through
the "Black Country" of Belgium. Standing at the meeting-point of these
rivers, Namur bars the road into France, and it has been fortified from
very early times. Brialmont, of whom you have already heard, built a
ring of four large forts and five smaller forts round it, and about
three hundred and fifty guns were mounted in them. From this little map
you will see how they were placed. As most of them were on high ground,
it was hoped that they would hold out for a long time.
[Illustration: Plan of Namur Forts.]
The Belgians had ten days' notice of the attack, and while the great
siege trains of the Germans were slowly lumbering westward over the
cobbled roads they did much to strengthen the place. About twenty-six
thousand men were moved into it to hold the forts and trenches, large
areas were mined, houses and trees in the line of fire were cut down,
and barbed-wire entanglements, charged with a deadly current of
electricity, were set up.
General Michel, who was in command, was well aware that the forts could
not long resist the fierce onslaught of the German siege guns, but he
hoped that before the first shot was fired the French would come to his
assistance and would man the trenches for him. He had good reason for
his hope, for French cavalry were already on Belgian soil, and French
infantry and artillery were at Dinant, only eighteen miles away. He was
not, however, well served by his scouts, and he does not seem to have
learned that the Germans were advancing on both sides of the Meuse. Had
he been better informed he might have struck a blow at the German siege
train which was crawling slowly towards him. As it was, he did nothing,
and the Germans were able to bring up their big guns and fix them on
concrete platforms without being molested.
* * * * *
Now let us see how the Allies proposed to meet the Germans. Here is a
map which you must study carefully, for it shows the positions occupied
by the British and French on the evening of Friday, 21st August. The
British army, which was to form the extreme right of the Allied front,
lay along the line Condé[10]-Mons-Binche.[11] In reserve, behind the
French fortress of Maubeuge,[12] about twelve miles south of Mons, was a
French cavalry corps of three divisions, and away to the west, at Arras,
was a corps of French Territorials, facing east. In the angle between
the rivers were two French armies, one holding the line of the Sambre
and the other the line of the Meuse. Farther south, from the French
border through Mézières,[13] past Sedan, to Montmédy, was another army,
also holding the line of the Meuse.
[Illustration: Map showing Position of Armies.]
Before we go any further we must look closely at the position of the
French armies marked 2 and 3 on the map. You notice that they form a
sharp angle with each other. Military men call any angle less than two
right angles a _salient_. I think you can easily see that the armies
holding such a salient as that formed by the two rivers were by no means
in a strong position. They were very much exposed to attacks on their
flanks, and they depended at their weakest part--the point of the
angle--on the fortress of Namur. As long as Namur held out, well and
good; but if it should fall the line would be pierced, and the French
would be in a very dangerous position indeed.
[Footnote 8: Village of Somersetshire, famous for its limestone cliffs
and caves.]
[Footnote 9: Born 1475, died 1524.]
[Footnote 10: Kon-day.]
[Footnote 11: Bànsh.]
[Footnote 12: Mō-būzh.]
[Footnote 13: May-ze-air.]