Rheims and the Battles for its Possession Part 22

The ancient =Church= was likewise badly damaged (_photos above and below_). While the tower, west front, and the two first bays of the nave are late 15th or early 16th century, the greater part of the nave is 11th or 12th century. The chevet and the transept-crossing are early 13th century, while the transept ends probably date from the middle of 12th century.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CORMICY CHURCH IN 1918]

The portal comprises twin doors surmounted with a broad flamboyant recess. The doors have been partially mutilated. Above the window runs a balcony, the Gothic bal.u.s.trade of which, known as the _Gloria Gallery_, was modern. This bal.u.s.trade was destroyed by the bombardments, which also brought down the steeple.

[Ill.u.s.tration: G.C. 32 ROAD ON LEAVING CORMICY (_See Itinerary, p. 134._)]

The west front has two Gothic doors with 16th century iron-work, at the extremity of the aisles. The tympana of these doors, formerly lighted, have been bricked up. The lintels have three consoles ornamented with fantastic animals and banderoles. The three statues which carried the consoles have long since disappeared.

In the south transept, on the left, behind the altar, is an interesting small door surmounted with a square lintel of the 11th or 12th century.

Two figures of winged monsters with heads of a man and a woman and fish tails, stand out in high relief, framed and separated by a belt, on which are carved _florets_ mingled with fantastic figures.

The three remarkable 18th century marble altars of the choir and transept chapels come from the Church of the Nuns of Longueau, the abbey of which, in the Rue du Jard at Rheims, was sold in 1790. The high-altar occupies nearly the whole of the chancel. Over the tomb, six columns of grey Dinant marble, crowned with Corinthian capitals, support an oval marble cornice with richly carved and gilt consoles of wood. The very large, white and gilt tabernacle is a fine example of 17th or 18th century woodwork. Its door, decorated with symbolic attributes, is surrounded by statuettes depicting, _in the lower part_, St. John the Evangelist and a holy woman wearing crowns; _above each of these figures_, an angel; _at the top_, The Resurrection of Christ.

The sixteen carved oak stalls of the choir, as well as the wrought-iron reading-desk on a marble pedestal, also came from the former Abbey of Longueau.

Near the choir, on a pillar of the nave, is an inscription to the effect that the chronicler _Flodoard_, who died in 966, was _Cure_ of Cormicy.

The modern =Town Hall=, built by the Rheims architect, Gosset the elder, which faced the church, was entirely destroyed.

[Ill.u.s.tration (Map)]

All the places visited since leaving Merfy, _i.e._ St. Thierry, Thil, Villers-Franqueux, Hermonville and Cormicy, border the St. Thierry Heights. The latter are commanded by the fort of the same name and the Chenay Redoubt, with alt.i.tudes of about 670 and 620 feet respectively.

They were recaptured from the Germans after the Battle of the Marne on September 11, 1914, by the French 3rd Corps.

After the loss of the Chemin-des-Dames and the Aisne Ca.n.a.l on May 27, 1918, this position, which with its guns commands the road and railway from Rheims to Soissons and the road from Rheims to Laon, remained the sole protection of Rheims to the north-west.

It was defended by the French 45th Infantry Division (General Naulin), composed of Algerian Sharp-shooters, Zouaves and African Light Infantry, who held their ground on May 27-28, after which they were reinforced by battalions of Singalese and Marines drawn from the sector east of Rheims.

The struggle was a fierce one, and hand-to-hand fighting frequent.

Finally the constant inflow of German reserves forced back the French who, on May 29, had to abandon the position, to which the enemy afterwards clung for four months. On October 1 the Germans, beaten on the previous evening by the French 5th Army on the high ground between the Aisne and Rheims, was forced to retreat. The French regained possession of Merfy and St. Thierry, and advanced as far as the outskirts of the Fort of St. Thierry, which, with Thil and Villers-Franqueux, Hermonville, Courcy and Cormicy, fell into their hands in the course of the next few days (_see map above_).

[Ill.u.s.tration: DESTROYED BRIDGE OVER THE Ca.n.a.l, NEAR LE G.o.dAT]

=From Cormicy to G.o.dat Farm=

(_See Itinerary, p. 134._)

_Pa.s.s straight through Cormicy, leaving the church on the left. Take G.C. 32 to the Rheims-Laon road (N. 44), where turn to the right. Rather less than a mile further on, near the_ Maison Blanche, _is a road leading to_ =G.o.dat Farm=. _Cars can only go as far as the ca.n.a.l_, the destroyed bridge (_photo above_) not having yet been rebuilt. The lock-keeper's house _seen in the photograph below_ was completely destroyed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE LOCK-KEEPER'S HOUSE AT LE G.o.dAT (_Now destroyed._)]

_Cross the ca.n.a.l on foot to reach G.o.dat Farm, situated about 300 yards further on._

=Le G.o.dat=, formerly a small fief with a castle and chapel (destroyed during the Revolution in 1793), was merely a farm and a plain country house when the war broke out. By reason of its position, north of the Aisne Ca.n.a.l, this bridgehead was, throughout the war, one of the most fiercely disputed points in the sector north-west of Rheims, even during the period of trench-warfare. At the time of the French offensive of April, 1917, the 44th Infantry Regiment advanced beyond Le G.o.dat, where the French held their ground until the powerful German push of May 27, 1918.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUINS OF LE G.o.dAT FARM]

The farm is now a mere heap of ruins. Shelters still exist in the bas.e.m.e.nts.

_Return to the National Road, and turn to the left._

_The road crosses_ numerous boyaux which provided access to the front-line trenches down the hill on the right.

_Follow the National Road to_ =Chauffour Farm= (in ruins), _where take the road on the left to_ =Loivre=.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EMPLACEMENT OF GERMAN HEAVY GUN AT LOIVRE]

_On nearing the ca.n.a.l_, the ruins of the village of Loivre (entirely destroyed) _become visible_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUINS OF THE CHURCH AT LOIVRE]

=From Loivre to Brimont=

=Loivre.=--_Visit the village on foot. The ca.n.a.l can only be crossed near the lock south-east of the village._ The destroyed bridge has been replaced by a temporary footway across the bed of the ca.n.a.l, which necessitates climbing down and up the banks by steep paths.

_After crossing the ca.n.a.l the tourist pa.s.ses by the_ ruins of the Loivre Gla.s.s-Works, founded in 1864 by the descendants of the n.o.ble house of Bigault de Grandrupt, gla.s.s manufacturers of Argonne.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GENERAL VIEW OF THE RUINS AT LOIVRE IN 1919]

Loivre and its gla.s.s-works were occupied in September, 1914, by the Germans, who deported the inhabitants to the Ardennes. The village and works were re-captured during the offensive of April 16, 1917, by the French 23rd and 133rd Infantry Regiments, surnamed _Les Braves_ and _Les Lions_ respectively. Whilst other battalions outflanked the village and crossed the ca.n.a.l, the third battalion of _Lions_ attacked it in front.

The position, powerfully organised, was stoutly defended. The attacking troops were obliged to come to a halt in front of the cemetery (a veritable bastion with concrete casemates), and before the ruins of the mill, both of which bristled with machine-guns. Withdrawing slightly to allow of a barrage of 75's, they rushed forward again under the protection of the latter. The site of the mill and the cemetery were captured, together with numerous prisoners (122 were taken in one machine-gun shelter). The ruined village was next carried in a bayonet charge, to the sound of the bugles. The captures were considerable, one battalion of 500 men alone taking 825 prisoners.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SEPULCHRE IN THE CEMETERY AT LOIVRE, USED BY THE GERMANS AS A PHOTOGRAPHIC DARK-ROOM]

In March and May, 1918, two violent attacks were made on Loivre by the Germans, but without success. They took it on May 27, only to be driven out on October 4.

_Before the war, a road_, which has since completely disappeared, _led direct from Loivre to Brimont. To reach the latter it is now necessary to go farther north, via Bermericourt and Orainville, returning southwards by the Neufchatel to Rheims road (see Itinerary, p. 134)._

=Bermericourt.=--This hamlet, of Gallo-Frankish origin, was formerly more populous. The bombardments have literally wiped it out.

_From Bermericourt the tourist reaches_ =Orainville= _by G.C. 30, which becomes I.C. 2 after crossing the boundary line between the "departments" of the Marne and the Ardennes. At the entrance to the ruined village, near the church, turn to the right into I.C. 12, which, 1 kilometre further on, joins the road from Neufchatel to Rheims (G.C.

9), where turn to the right._

_Follow this road for four and a half kilometres to the ruins of_ =Landau Farm=, _turn to the right, then, about 200 yards further on, take the road on the left to the_ village of Brimont, entirely destroyed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ALL THAT REMAINS OF BERMeRICOURT VILLAGE]

=Brimont Fort and Chateau=

(_See Itinerary, p. 134, and summary of the Military Operations, p.

154._)

Situated to the west of the road from Rheims to Neufchatel (formerly a Roman causeway which crossed the hill at _Cran de Brimont_) Brimont was already important in Roman times. It was fortified in the Middle Ages, and traces of its ancient fortifications are still to be found on the hill. The discovery of a Roman tomb in 1790 caused considerable excitement in archaeological circles, as it was believed to be the burial-place of the Frankish Chief _Pharamond_ who, according to one chronicler, had been buried on a hillock near Rheims.

In 1339, during the siege of Rheims by the English, the Duke of Lancaster had his camp at Brimont.