SOME BOOKS ON THE BATTLE
Chaps. VI.-X. For further details of the actions traced in these chapters, see the works of Marshal French, Von Bülow, M. Hanotaux, Generals Mallaterre, Canonge, and Palat, M, Victor Giraud, Lord Ernest Hamilton, Mr. G. Campbell, and others named above, and the following:
“Guides Michelin pour la visite des Champs de Bataille” (Paris: Berger-Levrault. 1917–18).
Vol. I. L’Ourcq (Meaux–Senlis–Chantilly).
Vol. II. Les Marais de Saint Gond (Coulommiers–Provins–Sézanne).
Vol. III. La Trouée de Revigny (Chalôns–Vitry-Bar-le-Duc).
Excellent guides, containing good chronological summaries of the fighting on the left, centre, and right, with maps and other illustrations.
La Bataille de la Marne. By Gustave Babin (Paris: Plon. 1915). With 9 plans. One of the first day by day narratives of the battle, based on Staff information.
La Victoire de la Marne. By Louis Madelin, with 2 plans. A well-written sketch by a historian who was on the Staff at Verdun (Paris: Plon. 1916).
Avant-propos Stratégiques. By Col. F. Feyler, the well-known Swiss military writer (Paris: Payot. 1916).
Les Campagnes de 1914. By Champaubert (General Malleterre).
Collections of the French official bulletins published by Payot, and reports of the French Devastation Commission by Hachette.
Les Champs de l’Ourcq. By José Roussel-Lepine (Paris: Plon. 1919). Especially good in its descriptions of the Ourcq countryside.
La Rôle de la Cavalerie Française à l’aile gauche de la première bataille de la Marne. By J. Hethay (Paris. 1919). Includes an account of the strange raid of the 5th Division, 1st Cavalry Corps, into Villers-Cotterets Forest and region of La Fertê-Milon, ordered by General Bridoux on the morning of September 8. It was driven hither and thither for several days, at last escaping in fragments to the west; but it created some little alarm and disturbance on Von Kluck’s lines of communication.
Les Marais de Saint Gond. By Charles le Goffic (Paris: Plon. 1916). A standard work on this part of the battle.
“Mondemont.” Article by “Asker,” in L’Illustration, July 3, 1915. Many valuable articles will be found in the files of this weekly journal.
La Victoire de Lorraine. By A. Bertrand (Paris: Berger-Levrault. 1917).
Morhange et les Marsouins de Lorraine. By R. Christian-Frogé (Berger-Levrault. 1917).
Sous Verdun. By M. Genevois (R. Hachette. 1916).
Die Schlacht an der Marne. By Major E. Bircher, of the Swiss General Staff. Contains a bibliography of 150 works and a number of useful maps and plans (Berne: Paul Haupt).
[56] Avec Charles Péguy de la Lorraine à la Marne, by Victor Boudon (Paris: Hachette). Péguy, a sort of mystical Tory-Socialist, or, as M. Lavisse says, “Catholic-Anarchist,” was author-editor of Les Cahiers de la Quinzaine.
[57] M. Hanotaux (p. 126) says that Gallieni’s order of September 4 was “an order for deployment, not for the offensive,” and he adds that the Governor intended that the cavalry should feel the way. There is no evidence of cavalry activity on the 5th; and it is manifest that the encounter before St. Soupplets was a complete surprise for the 6th Army.
[58] Sir John French, in his dispatch, says: “I should conceive it to have been about noon on the 6th September, after the British Forces had changed their front to the right, and occupied the line Jouy le Chatel–Faremoutiers–Villeneuve le Comte, ... that the enemy realised the powerful threat that was being made against the flank of his columns moving south-east, and began the great retreat which opened the battle.” This is a significant mistake. We now know that Bülow sent a first warning of an Allied concentration towards the west on the afternoon of September 5 to Kluck, who by then had his own information from the IV Reserve Corps. A few hours later Kluck was fully aware of his danger; and, as he has since stated to an interviewer, decided “in five minutes” how to meet it.
Field-Marshal French (1914, ch. 5), wrongly, I think, considers that Kluck “manifested considerable hesitation and want of energy.”