The Story of the Great War (Vol. 1-8). Various Authors
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at which point lay the left of General von Bülow's army, it witnessed a number of 75-millimeter guns on selected gun sites commanding the right flank of the German right center. General Foch's daring, the success of the maneuver, and the fact that the conduct of all the French armies on that day and the day following seems to be with the full cognizance of this venture, led inevitably to the conclusion that those brilliant feats, conceived by General Foch, had been communicated to General Joffre in time for the French General Staff to direct the French armies to the right and left of General Foch to cooperate with his action. Had General Foch been less ably supported, his wedge might have proved a weak salient open to attack on both sides. But General Foch's main army to the west kept General von Bülow busy, and General Langle's army to the east fought too stubbornly for the Duke of Württemberg to dare detach any forces for the relief of General von Bülow. General von Hausen's Saxon Army was weak, at best.
What were the forces that operated to make this particular point so weak are not generally known. As, however, the divisions from Alsace were much in evidence three or four days later, it is more than probable that these divisions were intended for service at this point, and also to reenforce General von Kluck's army, but that, by the quick offensive assumed by General Joffre on the Ourcq, and, owing to the roundabout nature of the German means of communication, these expected reenforcements had not arrived. The German official dispatches point out that General von Bülow's retreat was necessitated by the retreat of General von Kluck. Of this there is no doubt, but even military necessity does not quite explain why General von Bülow bolted so precipitately. His losses were fearful, and the offensive of General Foch rendered it necessary for the Germans to fall back on the Aisne.
The armies of the Duke of Württemberg and of the crown prince may be considered together, for they were combined in an effort to pierce the French line near the angle at Bar-le-Duc. General Langle held on desperately against the repeated attacks of the Duke of Württemberg. Ground was lost and recovered, lost again and recovered, and every trifling vantage point of ground was fought for with a bitter intensity. Though active, with all the other armies, on September 5 and 6, 1914, it was not until September 7 that General Langle found himself strained to his utmost nerve. If he could hold, he could do no more, and when night fell on September 7, no person was more relieved than General Langle. Yet the next day was even worse. Instead of slackening in the evil weather, the German drive became more furious. The exhausted Fourth Army fought as though in a hideous nightmare, defended their lines in a sullen obstinacy that seemed almost stuporous, and countercharged in a blind frenzy that approached to delirium. It was doubtful if General Langle's army could hold out much longer. But, when General von Bülow was compelled to retreat, when General Foch turned his attention to General von Hausen's Saxon Army, and when General Joffre found himself in a position to rush reenforcements and reserves to the aid of General Langle, a new color was given to the affair. The defense stiffened, and as rapidly as it stiffened, so much the more did it become patent that the Duke of Württemberg could not afford to be in an exposed position far in advance of all the other attacking armies. Wednesday, September 9, 1914, revealed to the German center the need of falling back on the crown prince's army, which was the pivot on which the whole campaign swung.
Meantime, the crown prince's army had been steadily victorious. The weak French army under General Sarrail had been pushed back, yielding only foot by foot, back, back, along the rugged hill country of the Meuse. A determined stand was made to protect the little fort of Troyon, ten miles south of Verdun, for had the Germans succeeded in taking this, Verdun would have been surrounded. No army and no generalship could have done more than the Third Army and General Sarrail did, but they could not hold their ground before Troyon. On September 7, 1914, the way to Troyon was open, and the army of the crown prince prepared to demolish it. Then came September 9, 1914, when the allied successes in the western part of the Marne valley allowed them to send reenforcements. Thus the Third Army was perceptibly strengthened and hope for Troyon grew. One day more, certainly two days more, and nothing could have saved Troyon, but with the whole German line in retreat, the army of the crown prince could not be left on the advance.
Incredible though it may seem, when the army of the crown prince besieging Troyon withdrew, that little fort was a mere heap of ruins. There were exactly forty-four men left in the fort and four serviceable guns. Even a small storming party could have carried it without the least trouble, and its natural strength could have been fortified in such wise as to make it a pivotal point from which to harry Verdun.
At the extreme east, on that ring of wooded heights known as the Grande Couronne de Nancy, and drawn up across the Gap of Nancy, the Second French Army, under General de Castelnau, successfully resisted the drive of the Crown Prince of Bavaria. Great hopes had been placed on this attack, and on September 7, 1914, the German Emperor had viewed the fight at Nancy from one of the neighboring heights. Surely a victory for the German arms might come either at the point where stood the German Emperor or where led the crown prince. But the fortunes of war decided otherwise. Far from losing at Nancy, the French took the offensive. After an artillery duel of terrific magnitude, they drove the Bavarian army from the forests of Champenous and took Amance. The line of the Meurthe was then found untenable by the Germans, and on September 12, 1914, General de Castelnau reoccupied the town of Lunéville, which had been in the hands of the Germans since August 22, 1914.
With General von Kluck in retreat on September 7, 1914, General von Bülow hastening to the rear on September 8, 1914, with the Duke of Württemberg falling back on September 9, 1914, and the Imperial Crown Prince and the Bavarian Crown Prince retreating to an inner ring of defense on September 10, 1914, the battles of the Marne may, in a measure, be said to have concluded. As, however, the new alignments were made mainly by reason of the topographical relationships of the Marne and the Aisne Rivers and the territory contiguous thereto, it is perhaps more in keeping with the movement to carry forward the German retreat across the Marne as a part of the same group of conflicts.
CHAPTER XVIII
OTHER ASPECTS OF THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE
In dealing with a battle as important as that of the Marne points of view are valuable. We therefore follow with an account of its general course and description of its main features by a French military writer, whose knowledge is based on information that is official.
"Before the German armies," he says, "became engulfed in the vast depression that stretches from Paris to Verdun, General Joffre with admirable foresight had brought together a powerful army commanded by General Manoury and having as its support the fortified camp of Paris. As soon as General von Kluck, turning momentarily from the road to the French capital and bending his march to the southeast, laid bare his right wing, General Joffre vigorously launched against his flank the entire army of General Manoury. The brilliant offensive of this army achieved success from the beginning; it threw back the German forces. Von Kluck perceived the danger that threatened him, and the danger was serious, for it only required that Manoury should advance a little further and he would have been almost totally defeated. Resolutely, energetically, and with a sang-froid to which homage must be rendered, Von Kluck proceeded to circumvent this danger. He ordered back to the north two of his army corps, recrossed the Marne, and threw himself with intrepidity on Manoury.
"But the retreat of these two army corps allowed General French and General Franchet d'Espérey both to drive forward vigorously. Something resembling the phenomenon of a whirlwind then took place in the German ranks. The British army made progress toward the north, the Fifth French Army, commanded by General Franchet d'Espérey, did the same. General Manoury, assisted by all the troops that General Galliéni was able rapidly to put at his disposal, made headway against the furious onslaught of Von Kluck. Thus the entire German right found itself in a most critical situation. It could not overcome Manoury, who was threatening its communications, and on the other hand it found itself powerless to resist the victorious advance of Generals French and de Franchet d'Espérey.
"It was the critical moment of the battle. The German General Staff decided that there was only one method of putting an end to it, and that was to direct against the army of General Foch in the center an offensive so violent