The Germans in Retreat. So hurried was their march towards the Aisne that at certain times it "had the appearance of a rout."
From the drawing by Dudley Tennant.
To the right of the 4th French Army were the 3rd and 2nd French Armies, opposing those of the Crown Prince and the Bavarians. The left of the Crown Prince's army was in touch with the outer forts of Verdun, and was attacking Fort Troyon, the first of the forts along the heights of the Meuse between Verdun and Toul. The little garrison was in dire straits, and was about to surrender when the French movement which I am about to describe began.
General Joffre sent orders that the French 3rd and 2nd Armies were to move to the west against the Germans operating between the Upper Meuse and the Upper Aisne. The orders were carried out, and the French artillery won a great success. No less than eleven batteries of the Germans were destroyed. There was fiercer fighting on the 10th; but the French made progress, and on the 11th advanced still farther. A wedge had been thrust in between the Crown Prince and the Bavarians, and the Crown Prince was bound to retreat. This meant the salvation of Fort Troyon. It had been bombarded for five days. Most of its guns were out of action, and the forty-four survivors of the garrison were huddled in the bomb-proof shelters of the central works, when suddenly the German guns ceased firing and French cheering was heard. The fort was saved at the very moment when all hope seemed to have vanished.
Before I conclude the story of the battle of the Marne I must say something about the 2nd French Army, which was facing the Bavarian army in Lorraine. The French army was drawn up across a gap in the Vosges Mountains known as the Gap of Nancy,[111] and its object was to hold back the Bavarians, so that they could not attack the right flank of the Allies. A second French force was now moved into Lorraine, and it took up a position to the south-east of the army holding the Gap. The commander of the 2nd Army erected very strong field works on the heights in front of Nancy, and from the 23rd of August onwards gallantly held his own. On the 6th September the fiercest of fighting began. The Kaiser himself came into the field, and by his presence and his speeches urged on the Bavarians to a desperate assault. For three days the battle raged without ceasing. The Bavarian troops were thought to be second to none in the German army, and their White Cuirassiers were amongst the flower of German cavalry. On the 7th the Kaiser took up a position on a neighbouring hill, and watched the attack which was to overwhelm the French. He had made ready to enter Nancy in triumph that evening.
Picture him on the hill, in his long gray cloak and silver helmet, peering through his field-glasses into the valley, and confidently expecting to see his Bavarians drive the French before them. He sees the White Cuirassiers charge, and, as the brave men cheer and gallant horses thunder towards the enemy, he feels that nothing can resist them. To his dismay, they are hurled back with great slaughter, and a miserable remnant alone remains. Then the pitiless French guns begin to speak, and he sees his infantry mowed down like wheat before the reaper's sickle. He looks for victory; he sees defeat. Now the French begin to attack, and his Bavarians give way before their fierce onset. The time has come for him to seek safety in flight. A strange fatality seems to accompany him. Wherever he appears and commands in person, there you may look for disaster—whether in France or in Poland. He is a melancholy figure, flitting from East to West, feverishly inciting his armies to die for the Fatherland; dreaming great dreams of world conquest which can never be realized.
"Such," says the French official account, "was the seven days' battle in which more than two millions of men were engaged. Each army gained ground step by step—opening the road to its neighbour, supported at once by it, taking in flank the adversary which the day before it had attacked in front—the efforts of the one fitting in closely with those of the other.
"To give this victory all its meaning, it is necessary to add that it was gained by troops who for two weeks had been retreating, and who, when the order to attack was given, were found to be as ardent as on the first day. These troops had to meet the whole German army, and from the time they marched forward they never fell back again. In spite of the fatigue of our men, in spite of the power of the German heavy artillery, we took colours, guns, Maxims, shells, more than a million of cartridges, and thousands of prisoners. A German corps lost almost the whole of its artillery, which, from information brought by our airmen, was destroyed by our guns."