The battles of the Marne marked the turning-point in the campaign; the torrent of German advance had not only been stayed, but driven back. "The day of Sedan," 1st September, saw the German armies flushed with success, and confident of victory as rapid and complete as that of 1870. Nine days later their hopes were shattered: they were retreating northwards at full speed. Von Kluck's error of judgment, the fiery zeal of the British and French, General Foch's brilliant victory in the centre, and the wonderful working together of the Allied armies had wrought the miracle.
The retreat of the Germans was very skilfully conducted, and though they lost many men, guns, and wagons, they were neither broken nor defeated, and their losses, when all was said and done, were small. Von Kluck fell back thirty-five miles during the last two days of the battle, and the German centre cannot have retired less than fifty miles. In its way the retreat was as famous as that of the British from Mons.
The successes of the Allies filled them with a newborn confidence. They had taken the measure of the enemy; they knew their own strength, and were now sure that they were more than a match for the enemy. Given anything like equal numbers, they had no fear of the future.
Undoubtedly the Germans had by this time come to respect the British army. Ever since the days of Bismarck it had been the custom in Germany to regard our brave little army with scorn and contempt. When some one suggested to Bismarck that it might be landed in Germany, he remarked, "If it does, I shall ring for the police and have it locked up." Von Kluck believed that he had pierced the feeble British lion to the heart, and then vaingloriously thrust his head between its jaws. To his dismay, they met with a deadly snap, and only a quick withdrawal saved him from destruction.
CHAPTER XXVI.
STORIES OF THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE.
While the British and French were retreating from Belgium to the Seine, they were passing through country which had been untrodden by the foot of the enemy. Now that they were pushing him back on his tracks they saw at every stage the awful destruction which he had wrought. They found country houses burned and looted, smiling gardens and orchards trampled into mud, farms and villages laid waste, humble cottages in ruin. They saw towns riddled with shot and shell, churches and public buildings with broken, tottering walls, and houses stripped of all their valuable contents. From townsfolk and villagers alike, the Allies heard tales of shame and horror, and as they heard them a fierce anger was kindled in their hearts against the cruel and ruthless foe who had done such wicked and senseless deeds.
An officer of the Salvation Army tells us how the pretty town of Senlis fared at the hands of the Huns. When the Germans had been driven out of the town the Salvation Army officers entered it. They found the railway station gone, and scarcely a house along the whole line of march fit for habitation. Yet, in the middle of wrecked and ruined homes, they sometimes came across a house which had been untouched. On such houses was written in chalk, "Spare these people; they are good."
Here is the story of Jean Bauer, keeper of the prison at Senlis. He was an Alsatian, and had been forced to serve in the hated German army. After his time was up he left Alsace for France, and chanced to visit Senlis. The town pleased him, and he remained in it. After a time he was placed in charge of the prison. It was a small lock-up, just a square brick building, with a large garden all round, in which he grew cabbages. He was a kindly man, and the few prisoners who came into his hands did not find their lot very hard.