THE MARNE

By Louis Madelin, Contemporary French Historian.

HAVING checked the Germans on the Ourcq, the next step of the Allies the breaking of the German line was achieved at its very center on September 9, 1914, by the Ninth French Army under General Foch, as recounted by Madelin, an eye-witness of many of the events here recorded. By September 11, the retreat of the Germans to a new line of defense was begun all along the front. Weary but victorious, the Allies were unable to accomplish the rout and ruin of the enemy.

Here ended the first stage of the war. The great drive for Paris was foiled. A new war began, with new plans and strategies trench warfare on an unprecedented scale. Engaged in the Battle of the Marne were 41 German divisions (about 1,000,000 men) opposed by 46 incomplete Allied divisions, all told.

Following this account is the terse commentary of Marshal Joffre and the pronouncement of the victory by President Poincare.

ON the morning of September 9th the situation is extremely critical. The enemy obviously aimed at taking the higher ground which, with the marshes, separates the Petit-Morin valley from the plain of theAube. Had our line been forced back on the Aube, the results would have been incalculable, probably obliging d'Esperey, who was advancing north, to fall back and exposing de Langle de Cary who continued to hold on desperately in the valley of the Saulx and Ornain. That is why the struggle for Saint-Prix was so fierce; during the first four days of the battle it was taken and retaken five times, so was the Castle of Mondement, which, according to a witness attached to General Humbert who commanded the Morocco division, was lost, retaken, lost and retaken again and again. The 10th corps of the 5th Army came to the help of the 9th Army on the morning of September 9th, but in vain; the Prussian Guards intending to keep up their reputation hurl themselves on Fere-Champenoise, our line gives way under the assault: Fere-Champenoise is lost. General Foch shows no discouragement. Fere is lost, but Fere will be recaptured. "The situation is excellent," he writes on the 9th. Excellent! what faith there is in such optimism! And he adds: "I command that the offensive be resumed."

In truth, such optimism was not only on the surface. With his quick eye the Commander of the 9th Army had just perceived a break in the German line. Von Bulow influenced by Von Kluck, had to his great disappointment been forced to fall back in this maneuver, and, as happens sometimes in improvised retrograde movements, a gap occurred between Hausen and himself. Foch in his turn thought of driving a wedge into the weak spot.

The first thing was to reconstitute our line. The 42nd division attack and carry Fere-Champenoise. Then Mondement becomes the center of a deadly struggle. General Humbert has butted himself against it. This old castle, torn by our shells, and the enemy's, becomes for a moment the center of the battle. "Forward, boys," cries Colonel Lestoquoi, to his men who are storming for the third time; "and we shall succeed." And we did succeed. General Humbert once again took up his post of observation in the old tower, now a mass of ruins, while 3,000 German corpses strewed the avenue of the park.

"One last effort and we shall succeed!" General Foch might have used Colonel Lestoquoi's cheering words to his entire army. The high ground above the marshes is now ours, the enemy is giving way, the valley is open to us and we rush through it.

By the evening of the 10th he held the marshes, and thanks to the energy with which he had transformed his difficult defensive movement into a victorious offensive, the troops advanced northwards and at a blow carried the line Vertus-Vatry. Foch took up his headquarters in La Fere-Champenoise, occupied a few hours previously by the Prussian Guard, who gorged themselves and drank to the certain destruction of the French army. "Let the troops eat the bread made for the enemy," wrote Napoleon to Murat ; "that bread will taste better to them than cake." Our soldiers not only found bread baked by the enemy, but thousands of empty bottles, the sight of which made them smile and explained certain shortcomings. Many drunken soldiers belonging to the Guard and other corps, the victims of champagne, were taken prisoner that day.

While Maunoury on the Ourcq was making a "bulge" and the armies of Sir John French and d'Esperey threatening to envelop Von Kluck, so contributed to his retreat, d'Esperey's right wing seconded the valiant 9th Army which repulsed the great piercing movement attempted against our center. The two armies on the right meanwhile fulfilled their mission, which was to protect the "pivot" by hurling the enemy back from the triangle formed by the heights of Verdun, Bar and Vitry.

On the 10th, the Imperial Crown Prince was obliged to relinquish his great dream. Sarrail had shaken his army and was pushing it to the north of Verdun.

But with what confidence in his own powers had the Crown Prince attacked! Bearing down in the neighborhood of Revigny, he intended to seize the bridges of the Ornain as far as Bar and enter the little ducal town in a few hours. It is reported that on the 6th, an officer informed an inhabitant of Vaubecourt that "To-morrow we shall burn Poincare's town." And in fact the XVI corps intended to occupy, if not destroy Bar, while the IV cavalry corps, no doubts being entertained as to victory, would move south, towards Saint-Dizier, Langres, and la Bourgogne.

A great danger had threatened Sarrail's flank; it caused the last incident in the huge battle. German forces were reported to be massing near Woevre and preparing to attack Saint-Mihiel. This is very serious news, for if the Germans should succeed in piercing through to Saint-Mihiel and cross the Meuse there, Verdun would be cut off from the 3rd Army and the latter would be turned. Once again our pivot is threatened. The danger does not, however, divert the Commander of the 3rd Army from his first duty; at daybreak on the 8th, he sends forward troops who dislodge the German corps from the valley of the Ornain and push them on to Vassincourt, Villers-aux-Vents, Triaucourt, while the 6th artillery corps crushes the XV corps at Aire. The menace is, however, increasing on the Heights of the Meuse, the enemy glides towards Saint-Mihiel; at 1 p. m. he has begun to bombard Fort Troyon. In the meantime, General Sarrail, in order to protect his right flank, gives the order to destroy the bridges at Saint-Mihiel. This, though it did not paralyze the attack of the 3rd Army, made things harder. The repulse, on the 9th, of the enemy's advance on every side had to suffice for the time being. The situation becomes worse in the rear ; after Troyon, Genicourt is bombarded, and the guns at Troyon now seem silent. General Coutanceau, who had just sent an urgent appeal to the 2nd Army (under Castelnau) , telegraphs to the Commander of the fort: "General situation of our armies excellent. It is of consequence that the fall of Troyon should not open a way to the Germans. Hold indefinitely." But the German columns continue to advance on Saint-Mihiel. On the 10th Sarrail's army holds the whole day through, the battle rages and spreads destruction among the enemy (7,000 casualties) from Revigny to Vaubecourt. The situation is extremely critical, a defeat in the Saint-Mihiel direction may jeopardize everything at a moment when things are turning in our favor from the Ourcq to the Ornain.