This last-named town has not been included in the itinerary, although it played an important part in the ultimate manœuvre attempted by Von Kluck—that of outflanking the French left wing. The paved road which leads to it is bad, and the other roads by which one could rejoin the planned route are extremely rough. Below we give a view of a corner of this battlefield. It gives some idea of the great plain which extends from Betz to Nanteuil, where the 7th and 61st French Divisions resisted with desperate energy the furious attacks of the Fourth German Corps. The dead horses seen in the photograph belonged to a French battery. The 75's, fully exposed, supported the foot-soldiers in their efforts until they came almost into actual contact with the enemy.
After passing under the railway the road rises to the plateau and soon brings us near a commemorative monument, on the right (view on following page).
Thence it passes through the Woods of Montrolles, where the 61st Division particularly distinguished itself on the evening of September 8. Worn out with fatigue, its reserve supplies exhausted two days before, it yet, by a supreme effort, succeeded in driving back the Germans.
THE PLAIN OF NANTEUIL-LE-HAUDOUIN
MONUMENT AT BETZ
Having passed through the Woods of Montrolles, we soon come to a fork. Here take the road on the left.