Sir John French issued a stirring “order of the day” to the British Expedition at the moment, when our forces were complete, and our columns formed for advance. In the course of “a few brief words to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men I have the honour and the privilege to command,” the Commander-in-Chief said:—
Our cause is just. We are called upon to fight beside our gallant Allies in France and Belgium in no war of arrogance, but to uphold our national honour, independence, and freedom.
I have in peace time repeatedly pointed out to you that the strength and efficiency of a modern army in the field is to be measured more by the amount of individual intelligence which permeates throughout its ranks than by its actual numbers.
In peace time your officers and non-commissioned officers have striven hard to cultivate this intelligence and power of initiative. I call upon you individually to use your utmost endeavour to profit by this training and instruction. Have confidence in yourselves, and in the knowledge of your powers.
Having, then, this trust in the righteousness of our cause, pride in the glory of our military traditions, and belief in the efficiency of our Army, we go forward to do or die for God, King, and Country.
The disposition of the French forces was described by a statement issued from the War Office at Paris as follows:
An army starting out from the Wavre in the north, and going in the direction of Neufchâteau, is attacking the German troops which have been pouring down the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg along the western bank of the Semoy, and going in a westerly direction.
Another army which left from the region of Sedan and crossed the Ardennes is attacking several German army corps that were on the march between the Lesse and the Meuse.
A third army from the region of Chimay has been moved forward to make an attack on the German right between the Sambre and the Meuse, and is supported by the English army which set out from the region of Mons.
The movement of the Germans who had sought to envelop our left wing has been followed step by step, and their right is now being attacked by our army forming our left wing, in junction with the English army. At this point the battle has been raging violently for more than a day.
The Germans had concentrated a huge mass of men for the attack on the left of the allied lines, held by the British troops, with the object of dealing them a smashing blow and of forcing their way south. They were determined to carry out the Army Orders of August 19 in which the German Emperor declared with characteristic assurance that:
It is my Royal and Imperial Command that you concentrate your energies, for the immediate present, upon one single purpose, and that is that you address all your skill and all the valour of my soldiers to exterminate first the treacherous English and walk over General French’s contemptible little army.
Headquarters,
Aix-la-Chapelle.
Men and guns were not wanting for this assault. The shrapnel was deadly in its effect, but the marksmanship of the German rifles is stated to have been uniformly poor. To make assurance doubly sure, the troops pitted against our men were some of the best, as testified by the statement of a wounded Belfast man:—
You must remember that for almost twenty-four hours we bore the brunt of the attack, and the desperate fury with which the Germans fought showed that they believed if they were only once past the British forces the rest would be easy. Not only so, but I am sure we had the finest troops in the German army against us.
On the way out I had heard some slighting comments passed on the German troops, and no doubt some of them are not worth much, but those thrown at us were very fine specimens indeed. I do not think they could have been beaten in that respect.
“It was like a great river bursting its banks. The moment the Belgians were forced to retire to their entrenched camp at Antwerp,” wrote Mr. William Maxwell, on August 21, from Mons, “the Germans swept over the country without check west toward Ghent, south toward Mons. The enemy was committed to a great turning movement. It was striving to hold the French along the Meuse between Namur and Dinant, while its armies west of the river were marching south along a front of many miles. One army threatens Mons with the object of penetrating the French frontier and descending on Maubeuge and Valenciennes, another army was advancing toward the line of Tournai—Coutrai which covers the great city of Lille. At Ath there were indications that the enemy was advancing south along the Enghien—Soignies, though he seemed to avoid the main road at Jurbise. By deserted country paths from this point I came to Mons.” Here as everywhere great fear was manifested by the citizens at the approach of the Uhlans. The authorities had been warned by telephone that they were near. “They pretend that they are English and then when the villagers cry ‘Vive l’Angleterre,’ they find out their mistake.”
On the same day, a French witness, the correspondent of a Paris paper, spoke of the German advance as extending “over a line of nearly 100 miles, spreading out in a formidable fan-like movement, preceded by a swarm of scouts in all directions, which sweeps over the country from Brussels to Arlon. The German hordes are on the march over five different routes towards France. They will find men to meet them.”