America's War for Humanity Part 22

"Most of these people have lost everything. Few of them have any money.

The peasant is considered lucky who succeeded in saving a single horse or a cow.

"Military men characterize the German force which is moving across Belgium as overwhelming, saying it consists of at least two or three army corps. The advance of this huge force is covered over the entire thirty-mile front by a screen of cavalry. The Germans had no difficulty in taking Louvain, which was virtually undefended.

"In the high wooded country between Louvain and Brussels the Germans found an excellent defensive position. Having occupied Louvain, the Kaiser's troops pushed forward with great celerity, the cavalry opening out in fan-shaped formation, spreading across country.

"At one point they ran into a strong force of Belgian artillery, which punished them severely. Later in the day a Belgian scouting force reached Louvain and found it unoccupied, but received imperative orders to fall back, because of the danger of being outflanked and annihilated."

ALLIES MEET THE INVADERS

By August 20 the Germans were in touch with the French army that had advanced into Belgium and occupied the line Dinant-Charleroi-Mons, the right of the French resting on Dinant and the left on Mons, where they were reinforced by the British expeditionary force under Field Marshal French. There was a heavy engagement at Charleroi, and a four days'

battle was begun at Mons August 23. Slowly but surely the Franco-British army was forced back across the French border, to take up a new position on the line, Noyon-Chant-La Fere, which const.i.tuted the second line of the French defense.

The German right, opposing the British, was under command of General von Kluck; General von Buelow and General von Hausen commanded the German center opposing the Franco-Belgian forces between the Sambre and Namur and the Meuse. The Grand Duke Albrecht of Wuerttemberg operated between Charleroi and the French border fortress of Maubeuge. The German Crown Prince led an army farther east, advancing toward the Meuse. The Crown Prince of Bavaria commanded the German forces farther south toward Nancy, and General von Heeringen was engaged in repulsing French attacks on Alsace-Lorraine, in the region of the Vosges mountains, where the French had met with early successes.

Meanwhile on August 18 the town of Aerschot had been the scene of a b.l.o.o.d.y engagement and was occupied and partly destroyed by the Germans.

The occupation of Brussels followed on August 20-21 and the German line of communications was kept open by a line of occupied towns.

After overwhelming the Belgians the Kaiser's great advance army swept quickly into deadly conflict with the allies. The first mighty shock came at Charleroi, where the French were forced back, and on August came the first battle with the British at Mons.

THE BATTLE OF MONS----FOUR DAYS OF FIGHTING----RETREAT OF THE ALLIES

All England was thrilled on the morning of September 10 when the British government permitted the newspapers to publish the first report from Field Marshal Sir John D.P. French, commander-in-chief of the British army allied with the French and Belgians on the continent, telling of the heroic fight made by the British troops, August 23-26, to keep from being annihilated by the Germans. The withdrawal of the British army before the German advance was compared to the pursuit of a wildcat by hounds, the English force backing stubbornly toward the River Oise, constantly showing its teeth, but realizing that it must reach the river or perish. The report of Field Marshal French created much surprise in England, as it was not known until his statement was made public just how hard pressed the British army had been.

The communication was addressed to Earl Kitchener, the secretary for war, and its publication indicated that the government was responding to the public demand for fuller information on the progress of operations, so far as the British forces in France were concerned.

The report, as published in the London Gazette, the official organ, was as follows:

FIELD MARSHAL FRENCH'S REPORT

"The transportation of the troops from England by rail and sea was effected in the best order and without a check. Concentration was practically completed on the evening of Friday, August 21, and I was able to make dispositions to move the force during Sat.u.r.day to positions I considered most favorable from which to commence the operations which General Joffre requested me to undertake. The line extended along the line of the ca.n.a.l from Conde on the west, through Mons and Binche on the east.

"During August 22 and 23 the advance squadrons did some excellent work, some of them penetrating as far as Soignies (a town of Belgium ten miles northeast of Mons) and several encounters took place in which our troops showed to great advantage.

"On Sunday, the 23d, reports began to come in to the effect that the enemy was commencing an attack on the Mons line, apparently in some strength, but that the right of the position from Mons was being particularly threatened.

"The commander of the First Corps had pushed his flank back to some high ground south of Bray and the Fifth Cavalry evacuated Binche, moving slightly south. The enemy thereupon occupied Binche. "The right of the third division under General Hamilton was at Mons, which formed a somewhat dangerous salient and I directed the commander of the Second Corps if threatened seriously to draw back the center behind Mons.

"In the meantime, about five in the afternoon, I received a most unexpected message from General Joffre by telegraph, telling me that at least three German corps were moving on my position in front and that a second corps was engaged in a turning movement from the direction of Tournai. He also informed me that the two reserve French divisions and the Fifth French Army Corps on my right were retiring.

CHOSE A NEW POSITION

"In view of the possibility of my being driven from the Mons position, I had previously ordered a position in the rear to be reconnoitered.

"This position rested on the fortress of Maubeuge on the right and extended west to Jenlain, southeast of Valenciennes on the left. The position was reported difficult to hold because standing crops and buildings limited the fire in many important localities.

"When the news of the retirement of the French and the heavy German threatening on my front reached me, I endeavored to confirm it by aeroplane reconnaissance, and as a result of this I determined to effect a retirement to the Maubeuge position at daybreak on the 24th.

"A certain amount of fighting continued along the whole line throughout the night and at daybreak on the 24th the second division from the neighborhood of Harmignies made a powerful demonstration as if to retake Binche. This was supported by the artillery of both the first and the second divisions while the first division took up a supporting position in the neighborhood of Peissant. Under cover of this demonstration The Second Corps retired on the line of Dour, Quarouble and Frameries. The third division on the right of the corps suffered considerable loss in this operation from the enemy, who had retaken Mons.

"The Second Corps halted on this line, where they intrenched themselves, enabling Sir Douglas Haig, with the First Corps, to withdraw to the new position.

NIGHT ATTACK ON THE LEFT

"Toward midnight the enemy appeared to be directing his princ.i.p.al effort against our left. I had previously ordered General Allenby with the cavalry to act vigorously in advance of my left front and endeavor to take the pressure off.

"About 7:30 in the morning General Allenby received a message from Sir Charles Fergusson, commanding the fifth division, saying he was very hard pressed and in urgent need of support. On receipt of this message General Allenby drew in his cavalry and endeavored to bring direct support to the fifth division.

"During the course of this operation General DeLisle of the Second Cavalry Brigade thought he saw a good opportunity to paralyze the further advance of the enemy's infantry by making a mounted attack on his flank. He formed up and advanced for this purpose, but was held up by wire about 500 yards from his objective.

GENERAL SMITH-DORRIEN IN RETREAT

"The Nineteenth Infantry Brigade was brought by rail to Valenciennes on the 22d and 23d. On the morning of the 24th, they were moved out to a position south of Quarouble to support the left flank of the Second Corps. With the a.s.sistance of cavalry Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien was enabled to effect his retreat to a new position.

"At nightfall a position was occupied by the Second Corps to the west of Bavay, the First Corps to the right. The right was protected by the fortress of Maubeuge, the left by the Nineteenth Brigade in position between Jenlain and Bavay and cavalry on the outer flank. The French were still retiring and I had no support except such as was afforded by the fortress of Maubeuge.

ARMY IN GEEAT PERIL

"I felt that not a moment must be lost in retiring to another position.

I had every reason to believe that the enemy's forces were somewhat exhausted and I knew that they had suffered heavy losses. The operation, however, was full of danger and difficulty, not only owing to the very superior forces in my front, but also to the exhaustion of the troops.

"The retirement was recommenced in the early morning of the 25th to a position in the neighborhood of Le Catean and the rear guard were ordered to be clear of Maubeuge and Bavay by 5:30 a. m.

"The fourth division commenced its detrainment at Le Cateau on Sunday, August 23, and by the morning of the 25th eleven battalions and a brigade of artillery with the divisional staff were available for service. I ordered General Snow to move out to take up a position with his right south of Solesmes, his left resting on the Cambrai-Le Cateau road south of La Chapriz. In this position the division rendered great help.

"Although the troops had been ordered to occupy Cam-brai-Le Cateau-Landrecies position and ground had, during the 25th, been partially prepared and entrenched, I had grave doubts as to the wisdom of standing there to fight.

"Having regard to the continued retirement of the French right, my exposed left flank, the tendency of the enemy's western corps to envelop me, and, more than all, the exhausted condition of the troops, I determined to make a great effort to continue the retreat till I could put some substantial obstacle, such as the Somme or the Oise between my troops and the enemy.

RETREAT IS ORDERED

"Orders were therefore sent to the corps commanders to continue their retreat as soon as they possibly could toward the general line of Vermand, St. Quentin and Ribemont, and the cavalry under General Allenby were ordered to cover the retirement. Throughout the 25th and far into the evening the First Corps continued to march on Landrecies, following the road along the eastern border of the forest of Mormal, and arrived at Landrecies about 10 o'clock. I had intended that the corps should come further west so as to fill up the gap between Le Cateau and Landrecies, but the men were exhausted and could not get further in without a rest.

"The enemy, however, would not allow them this rest and about 9: that evening the report was received that the Fourth Guards brigade in Landrecies was heavily attacked by troops of the Ninth German army corps, who were coming through the forest to the north of the town.

FRENCH AID IS GIVEN

"At the same time information reached me from Sir Douglas Haig that his first division was also heavily engaged south and east of Marilles. I sent urgent messages to the commander of two French reserve divisions on my right to come up to the a.s.sistance of the First Corps, which they eventually did.

"By about 6 in the afternoon the Second Corps had got Into position, with their right on Le Cateau, their left in the neighborhood of Caudry, and the line of defense was continued thence by the fourth division toward Seranvillers.

"During the fighting on the 24th and 25th the cavalry became a good deal scattered, but by early morning of the 26th General Allenby had succeeded in concentrating two brigades to the south of Cambrai.

"On the 24th the French cavalry corps, consisting of three divisions under General Sordet, had been in billets, north of Avesnes. On my way back from Vavay, which was my _paste de commandemente_ during the fighting of the 23d and the 24th, I visited General Sordet and earnestly requested his cooperation and support. He promised to obtain sanction from his army commander to act on my left flank, but said that his horses were too tired to move before the next day.

"Although he rendered me valuable a.s.sistance later on in the course of the retirement, he was unable for the reasons given to afford me any support on the most critical day of all--namely, the 26th.

GERMANS USE HEAVY GUNS