THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE.
Now that the British were across the Marne and on the flank of the
Germans defending the Ourcq, von Kluck's forces were bound to retreat
without a moment's loss of time. The Allies followed them up with the
utmost speed, and drove them onwards towards the Aisne in confusion,
though the retreat cannot be called a rout. Before they reached the
river the British had captured thirteen guns, seven machine guns, and
two thousand prisoners, besides much transport. The 6th French Army was
by this time across the Ourcq, and was striving to get to the north of
the Germans and cut them off. By night the Zouaves were hurried to
Senlis in taxi-cabs, and almost before the brakes had been applied these
swarthy, baggy-trousered warriors were falling furiously on the
surprised Germans. They literally flung them out of the town, in which
they had behaved in the most disgraceful fashion. When the Zouaves
attacked them they were sleeping off the effects of eighteen thousand
bottles of champagne which they had looted.
Still farther to the north there was fierce fighting in the woods of
Compiègne, where it is said, though with what truth I do not know, that
the Allies repeated the trick practised on Macbeth[106] in the battle
which laid him low. You will remember that Macbeth in Shakespeare's play
had been warned by a spirit that he would never be vanquished until
Birnam[107] wood should come to Dunsinane Hill.[108] When Macbeth's
enemies marched against him they made the saying of the spirit come
true. They cut down branches from the trees of Birnam wood, and bore
them aloft. Macbeth's soldiers were dismayed at the sight, and in the
battle which followed the murderer king was slain. In the open country
on the edge of Compiègne woods it is said that the Allies provided
themselves with bushes and branches, and used them as screens behind
which they advanced on the trenches of the foe. When they were fifty or
sixty yards away, down went the branches, and forward dashed the
soldiers who had been hidden behind them. The Germans were driven from
their trenches and fled.
[Illustration: German Infantry advancing to a new position.
_Photo, Sport and General._]
So the great drive continued, and every hour of the day furious
rearguard actions were fought. The Germans had taken to heart the lesson
of the Allies' retreat, and on every possible occasion their rearguards
stood and fought in order to delay the pursuit. They lost heavily in
killed, wounded, guns, and prisoners; but they were prepared to pay this
price rather than suffer their main bodies to be overwhelmed. The line
of German retreat was strewn with the wreckage of men, horses, weapons,
and equipment.
A British artillery officer gives us a good idea of what this rearguard
fighting was like. He is describing the crossing of a little river.
"The Germans were holding the opposite bank, a very steep bluff,
with a battalion of riflemen and eight machine guns. These guns
were trained on the road where it was fully exposed for about
one hundred yards, and nothing could cross. One section of my
battery was trying to locate them and knock them out. So I took
my section up a hill behind these, and waited for any targets to
appear. Our advance guard had been working well. By taking cover
in the woods they had managed to get down into the river-bed and
round the flanks. From there they opened a hot fire on the
German machine guns. From my position I could see a portion of
the road on the opposite bank. I had just got the range for this
when a German machine gun came galloping up. I fired two rounds
at it. The first was over and just behind; the second short.
However, I had never seen anything move quicker than that gun.
By now our infantry had forced the German riflemen back, and we
had orders for a general advance. As we crossed the bridge I
heard that seven of their machine guns had been captured. We
wound up and up, and on all sides saw evidence of our fire. In
one place an ammunition wagon had been hit. Both horses were
blown over into the ditch. A bit higher up was a young boy, hit
in the back. All that we could do was to give him water. He told
me that his orders had been to stay till shot or captured. These
German infantry are a brave lot."
Now we must hark back and see how the French armies to the right of the
British were faring. The 5th French Army, which was next to the British
on their right, had a threefold part to play. It had to support the
British on its left and the 9th French Army on its right. Further, it
had to throw back the Germans facing it. On the 7th it made a leap
forward, and during the following days, after desperate fighting,
reached and crossed the Marne. In its advance it captured many guns,
howitzers, machine guns, and more than a million cartridges.
You know enough about strategy to be aware that when von Kluck retreated
he left the right wing of von Buelow's army exposed. You may be certain
that General Joffre ordered this wing to be attacked without delay. When
the enemy perceived that his right was in danger he made a desperate
effort, which lasted from 7th September to 10th September, to pierce the
French centre, to the west and east of a place known as La Fère
Champenoise,[109] on one of the upper streams of the Grand Morin. We
must pay particular attention to the fighting in this region, for the
result of it was to set the whole German line retreating.
[Illustration: General Foch.]
Look at the little map on the next page and find the town of Sézanne.
From this place the 9th French Army extended for about twenty miles to
the east. It was a newly-created army, which had not yet been engaged;
and it was under the command of General Foch,[110] a brilliant writer
on the art of war. It was now to be seen whether he was as good in the
field as he had proved himself to be in the study. On the 8th of
September Foch's army was violently attacked by the famous German Guard,
and his right was forced back a few miles. Early next morning he made a
further retreat, and at the same time drew back his left, so as to
maintain his line. Although he had retreated he was full of fight, and
he ordered an attack to be made the same day.
[Illustration]
To the north of Sézanne you will see a region known as the Marshes of
St. Gond. This stretch of swampy ground was the scene of a great fight
which forced the retreat of the German centre; we must, therefore, look
at it more closely. In the plateau to the north of Sézanne is a basin of
clay, ten miles long from east to west, and varying in breadth from one
to two miles. The streamlets which give rise to the Petit Morin run
across it, and the whole ground was formerly a bog. It has long been
reclaimed; the streamlets run in deep ditches, and some of them have
been turned into canals. In ordinary dry weather most of the district is
open country, with a good deal of pasture for cattle, though here and
there traces of its marsh character are still to be seen in the
rush-covered levels. After a few hours of heavy rain the streams
overflow, and flood the roads and tracks; the ground becomes a swamp,
and the highways are deep in mire.
The early part of the night between the 8th and 9th of September was
clear and starry, but later the weather broke; the rain came down in
torrents, and soon the marshes of the Gond were wellnigh impassable for
wagons and guns. Nothing could have been more fortunate for General
Foch. He knew that, as the German right was in retreat, he might safely
strike at the right of the army which was facing him, and thus drive in
a wedge between von Kluck and von Buelow. He advanced towards the Petit
Morin with the Morocco Division, and, deploying in the direction of the
Marshes, met a furious assault of the Germans, who now perceived the
perilous position in which they were placed. The Moroccans fought like
heroes, and drove the Germans into the Marshes, where they found that
they could not move their guns or wagons, which were up to the
axle-trees in mire. Foch captured many prisoners and at least forty
guns--the largest number which had so far been taken at one time by the
Allies.
History had repeated itself. In the campaign of 1814 German troops had
been driven into the self-same swamp; a hundred years later a similar
disaster had overtaken them. This success greatly elated Foch's army,
and it was eager for the next move.
A wedge had been driven between von Kluck and von Buelow; it now
remained to drive a similar wedge between von Buelow and von Hausen,
whose forces continued the German line to their left. Foch's airmen had
told him that there was a considerable gap between the left of von
Buelow and the right of von Hausen. He now moved the division which had
driven von Buelow's right into the Marshes to the right of his line, and
having thus reinforced it, made a flanking movement on the left of von
Buelow and on the right of von Hausen. It was one of the boldest moves
ever made, and it took the enemy completely by surprise. The German
Guard made but little resistance. Von Buelow knew that he was outflanked
on both sides, and that there was no safety except in retreat. Foch
followed him up, and on the 11th drove him across the Marne in disorder.
The losses of the Germans in this part of the retreat were enormous; it
was said that the 9th Army buried ten thousand German dead.
To the right of Foch was the 4th French Army, facing the Duke of
Würtemberg's forces. This French army had a hard struggle; and it was
not till the 10th, when it was reinforced by an army corps from the
west, that it gained ground. Next day it forced the Würtemberg army to
give way; but the rearguard kept up a tremendous artillery fire, and
moved back very slowly. On the 12th, however, the Germans retired more
hurriedly.
[Illustration: The Germans in Retreat. So hurried was their march
towards the Aisne that at certain times it "had the appearance of a
rout."
_From the drawing by Dudley Tennant._]
To the right of the 4th French Army were the 3rd and 2nd French Armies,
opposing those of the Crown Prince and the Bavarians. The left of the
Crown Prince's army was in touch with the outer forts of Verdun, and was
attacking Fort Troyon, the first of the forts along the heights of the
Meuse between Verdun and Toul. The little garrison was in dire straits,
and was about to surrender when the French movement which I am about to
describe began.
General Joffre sent orders that the French 3rd and 2nd Armies were to
move to the west against the Germans operating between the Upper Meuse
and the Upper Aisne. The orders were carried out, and the French
artillery won a great success. No less than eleven batteries of the
Germans were destroyed. There was fiercer fighting on the 10th; but the
French made progress, and on the 11th advanced still farther. A wedge
had been thrust in between the Crown Prince and the Bavarians, and the
Crown Prince was bound to retreat. This meant the salvation of Fort
Troyon. It had been bombarded for five days. Most of its guns were out
of action, and the forty-four survivors of the garrison were huddled in
the bomb-proof shelters of the central works, when suddenly the German
guns ceased firing and French cheering was heard. The fort was saved at
the very moment when all hope seemed to have vanished.
Before I conclude the story of the battle of the Marne I must say
something about the 2nd French Army, which was facing the Bavarian army
in Lorraine. The French army was drawn up across a gap in the Vosges
Mountains known as the Gap of Nancy,[111] and its object was to hold
back the Bavarians, so that they could not attack the right flank of the
Allies. A second French force was now moved into Lorraine, and it took
up a position to the south-east of the army holding the Gap. The
commander of the 2nd Army erected very strong field works on the
heights in front of Nancy, and from the 23rd of August onwards gallantly
held his own. On the 6th September the fiercest of fighting began. The
Kaiser himself came into the field, and by his presence and his speeches
urged on the Bavarians to a desperate assault. For three days the battle
raged without ceasing. The Bavarian troops were thought to be second to
none in the German army, and their White Cuirassiers were amongst the
flower of German cavalry. On the 7th the Kaiser took up a position on a
neighbouring hill, and watched the attack which was to overwhelm the
French. He had made ready to enter Nancy in triumph that evening.
Picture him on the hill, in his long gray cloak and silver helmet,
peering through his field-glasses into the valley, and confidently
expecting to see his Bavarians drive the French before them. He sees the
White Cuirassiers charge, and, as the brave men cheer and gallant horses
thunder towards the enemy, he feels that nothing can resist them. To his
dismay, they are hurled back with great slaughter, and a miserable
remnant alone remains. Then the pitiless French guns begin to speak, and
he sees his infantry mowed down like wheat before the reaper's sickle.
He looks for victory; he sees defeat. Now the French begin to attack,
and his Bavarians give way before their fierce onset. The time has come
for him to seek safety in flight. A strange fatality seems to accompany
him. Wherever he appears and commands in person, there you may look for
disaster--whether in France or in Poland. He is a melancholy figure,
flitting from East to West, feverishly inciting his armies to die for
the Fatherland; dreaming great dreams of world conquest which can never
be realized.
* * * * *
"Such," says the French official account, "was the seven days' battle in
which more than two millions of men were engaged. Each army gained
ground step by step--opening the road to its neighbour, supported at
once by it, taking in flank the adversary which the day before it had
attacked in front--the efforts of the one fitting in closely with those
of the other.
"To give this victory all its meaning, it is necessary to add that it
was gained by troops who for two weeks had been retreating, and who,
when the order to attack was given, were found to be as ardent as on the
first day. These troops had to meet the whole German army, and from the
time they marched forward they never fell back again. In spite of the
fatigue of our men, in spite of the power of the German heavy artillery,
we took colours, guns, Maxims, shells, more than a million of
cartridges, and thousands of prisoners. A German corps lost almost the
whole of its artillery, which, from information brought by our airmen,
was destroyed by our guns."
* * * * *
The battles of the Marne marked the turning-point in the campaign; the
torrent of German advance had not only been stayed, but driven back.
"The day of Sedan," 1st September, saw the German armies flushed with
success, and confident of victory as rapid and complete as that of 1870.
Nine days later their hopes were shattered: they were retreating
northwards at full speed. Von Kluck's error of judgment, the fiery zeal
of the British and French, General Foch's brilliant victory in the
centre, and the wonderful working together of the Allied armies had
wrought the miracle.
The retreat of the Germans was very skilfully conducted, and though they
lost many men, guns, and wagons, they were neither broken nor defeated,
and their losses, when all was said and done, were small. Von Kluck fell
back thirty-five miles during the last two days of the battle, and the
German centre cannot have retired less than fifty miles. In its way the
retreat was as famous as that of the British from Mons.
The successes of the Allies filled them with a newborn confidence. They
had taken the measure of the enemy; they knew their own strength, and
were now sure that they were more than a match for the enemy. Given
anything like equal numbers, they had no fear of the future.
Undoubtedly the Germans had by this time come to respect the British
army. Ever since the days of Bismarck it had been the custom in Germany
to regard our brave little army with scorn and contempt. When some one
suggested to Bismarck that it might be landed in Germany, he remarked,
"If it does, I shall ring for the police and have it locked up." Von
Kluck believed that he had pierced the feeble British lion to the heart,
and then vaingloriously thrust his head between its jaws. To his dismay,
they met with a deadly snap, and only a quick withdrawal saved him from
destruction.
[Footnote 106: Scottish noble who murdered King Duncan (1040) and became
king in his stead. He reigned seventeen years, but was slain in battle
(1057) by Malcolm, Duncan's son.]
[Footnote 107: Near Dunkeld, in Perthshire.]
[Footnote 108: Hill of the Sidlaws, Perthshire, eight miles north-east
of Perth.]
[Footnote 109: _La fair shom-peh-nwaz´._]
[Footnote 110: _Fock._ Born 1851; was professor of strategy and tactics
at the French School of War.]
[Footnote 111: _Non-see´_ (_n_ nasal).]