The Standard History of The War, Vol 1 E-Book

Edgar Wallace

• Herausgeber: Al-Mashreq eBookstore
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 166

Beschreibung

The Standard History of The War, Vol 1 by Edgar Wallace is an in-depth, gripping account of one of the most tumultuous times in world history. Through Wallace's sharp writing and detailed research, this first volume takes readers to the frontlines, offering a vivid and harrowing look at the battles, strategies, and leaders that shaped the course of the war. From the tense political maneuvers to the brutal realities faced by soldiers, this book immerses readers in a pivotal moment in time, capturing the complexity of war and its far-reaching consequences. A must-read for history enthusiasts looking to gain a deeper understanding of this global conflict.

Leseprobe

The Standard History of The War, Vol 1

COMPRISING THE OFFICIAL DESPATCHES FROM GENERAL FRENCH AND STAFF WITH DESCRIPTIVE NARRATIVE

Author: Edgar Wallace

Edited by: Seif Moawad

Copyright © 2024 by Al-Mashreq eBookstore

First published by George Newnes, Ltd., London, 1914

No part of this publication may be reproduced whole or in part in any form without the prior written permission of the author

All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

The Standard History of The War, Vol 1

INTRODUCTION - BEFORE THE BRITISH CAME

CHAPTER I. — THE GREAT RETREAT

HOW THE BRITISH FOUGHT

THE INTERREGNUM - DESCRIBED BY "EYE-WITNESS" ON THE STAFF OF SIR JOHN FRENCH

CHAPTER II. — THE GREAT "RETURN"

INCIDENTS OF THE PERIOD COVERED BY THE SECOND DESPATCH

CHAPTER III. — THE STRUGGLE ON THE AISNE

INCIDENTS OF THE PERIOD

COVERED BY THE THIRD DESPATCH

PROCLAMATION

GENERAL FRENCH'S TRIBUTE TO THE ARMY

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

Landmarks

Cover

INTRODUCTION - BEFORE THE BRITISH CAME

IT is unnecessary within the scope of this volume to do more than sketch the events which led to a condition of war between Great Britain, France, Russia, Belgium and Servia on the one part, and Germany and Austria-Hungary on the other.

The assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his consort at Sarajevo, on July 25, was the ostensible reason for the presentation of the Austro- Hungarian note to Servia. This made demands upon Servia with which no self- governing state could comply, and was followed by military preparations in the dual kingdom.

Russia, who saw in these demands an oblique challenge to her as guardian of the Slav peoples, at once began to move. But at the earnest request of Sir Edward Grey her military mobilization was delayed whilst efforts were made not only by Great Britain, but by France to induce the Government of Germany to exercise its undoubted influence to avert war between Servia and Austria- Hungary.

Germany tacitly declined to second the efforts of Great Britain, and on July 30 a partial mobilization of the Russian Army was ordered, followed on the next day by a ukase commanding a general mobilization.

Even now Great Britain did not give up hope of averting the calamity of a European war, though Germany had declared herself in a state of war. But on the following day all hope of peace was abandoned. Although the mobilization of the Russian Army was explicitly directed towards Austria-Hungary, who had opened her campaign against Servia by a bombardment of Belgrade, the German Government cast the torch into the world.

On August 1 at 7.30 p.m. (Russian time) Germany declared war upon Russia, and German troops waiting on the frontier, gathered there in readiness, invaded the Neutral State of Luxemburg, and, seizing the railway, established the headquarters of the invading army in the capital. This was immediately followed by an ominous movement on the frontier of Belgium, the neutrality of which country was guaranteed by the Powers, including Great Britain, France and Germany.

Great Britain addressed questions couched in identical terms to France and Germany. Would these powers respect the neutrality of Belgium?

The reply of the French Government was prompt, and was in the affirmative. In the war of 1870, France had given a similar undertaking and had most honourably fulfilled her part, though by so doing she was compelled to fight the disastrous battle of Sedan.

The German reply, however, was evasive. Great Britain repeated her question, and demanded, through her Ambassador, a reply by eleven o'clock that night (German time). This was on August 4, two days after Germany had called upon Belgium to allow the unhampered passage of her troops through that country—a demand which was rejected by the Belgian Government with little hesitation.

On August 4 two German Army Corps, under General von Emmich, were already hammering at the door of Belgium, claiming admission. But the door was a particularly stout one, and Liège, splendidly commanded by General Leman, swept back the first attack without difficulty.

On the 4th of August, whilst the guns thundered about Liège, the order went forth for the mobilization of the British Army, and there followed the quiet, orderly gathering of reservists all over Great Britain.

On the 6th of August two of the Liège forts were silenced. The gallant commander—General Leman—was taken prisoner, having been found in an unconscious state amidst the ruins of one of the forts he had so bravely defended.

So terrible had been the havoc created by the Belgian artillery and infantry fire that the German commander asked for an armistice of twenty-four hours to bury his dead, a request which was refused.

But the German had his foothold, and through the area which had previously been swept by the guns of the two forts which were now destroyed the main body of the covering army passed into the town of Liège, leaving the remainder of the forts intact.

Heavy fighting between the Belgians and the invader now followed. French troops rushed northward, held Dinant and the country about, and there were fierce encounters between the traditional enemies who, further south, were already at grips in Alsace.

Between the German occupation of Liège and the events which are chronicled in this book, much happened. There was prolonged and bitter outpost fighting between the Belgians and their invader, and after a siege of ten days the remaining forts of Liège were reduced by means of very heavy guns. Among them the 42-centimeter howitzer, specially constructed by Krupps, was employed with very deadly effect.

The covering armies under von Emmich had been strongly reinforced, and it was now evident that the main attack upon France was to be expected from this quarter.

It was not until the 16th of August that the first instalment of the Expeditionary Army of Great Britain completed its landing in France. That force was under the command of Field-Marshal Sir John French. It consisted of two Army Corps, the composition of which was not revealed. Sir John French hastened to Paris for a brief consultation with the French War Minister and his colleagues before leaving to make his dispositions for resisting the advance of the enemy from Belgium.

Now threatened by the rapid advance of the main German Army, the Belgian Government transferred its seat from Brussels to Antwerp. On the 20th, the German Army entered Brussels, the civic guard having been disarmed by order of the burghomaster.

Whilst the right wing of the Germans was in possession of the capital, other great armies were moving diagonally toward the French frontier. On the 21st of August the French, who were holding a line of which the Belgian town of Charleroi was either the left or the left centre, came into touch with the enemy, and fierce fighting ensued.

On the next day another German Army attacked Namur, which marked the right of the French position. Namur, which was expected to offer even a more determined resistance than Liège had done, was carried after two days' fighting.

The French were beginning to fall back from Charleroi when, on August 22, the British came to their position at Mons, which lies directly to the left of where the French had been fighting. Only now did it become apparent to the defending line that the attack was being made in overwhelming strength. The battle of Charleroi was ended, our Ally was actually falling back, and Namur had been evacuated when the events which Sir John French describes began.

CHAPTER I. — THE GREAT RETREAT

MONS—CAMBRAI—LE CATEAU

THE FIRST DESPATCH

(From Field-Marshal Sir John French)

RECEIVED by the Secretary of State for War from the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, British Forces in the Field—

September 7, 1914.

MY LORD,

I have the honour to report the proceedings of the Field Force under my command up to the time of rendering this despatch.

The transport of the troops from England both by sea and by rail was effected in the best order and without a check. Each unit arrived at its destination in this country well within the scheduled time.

The concentration was practically complete on the evening of Friday, the 21st ultimo, and I was able to make dispositions to move the Force during Saturday, the 22nd, to positions I considered most favourable from which to commence operations which the French Commander-in-Chief, General Joffre, requested me to undertake in pursuance of his plans in prosecution of the campaign.*

[* It will be remembered that Sir John French visited the French War Office in Paris before leaving for the front to take command of the British Expeditionary Force.]

The line taken up extended along the line of the canal from Condé on the west, through Mons and Binche on the east. This line was taken up as follows—

From Condé to Mons inclusive was assigned to the 2nd Corps, and to the right of the 2nd Corps from Mons the 1st Corps was posted. The 5th Cavalry Brigade was placed at Binche.

In the absence of my 3rd Army Corps,* I desired to keep the Cavalry Division as much as possible as a reserve to act on my outer flank, or move in support of any threatened part of the line. The forward reconnaissance was entrusted to Brigadier-General Sir Philip Chetwode with the 5th Cavalry Brigade, but I directed General Allenby to send forward a few squadrons to assist in this work.

[* One division (20,000 men) of the 3rd Corps came over in time to play a very worthy part in the fight at Le Cateau later. They got out of the train and went straight into battle, a fact which General French emphasizes later.]

During August 22nd and 23rd these advanced squadrons did some excellent work, some of them penetrating as far as Soignies, and several encounters took place in which our troops showed to great advantage.

At 6 a.m. on August 23 I assembled the Commanders of the 1st and 2nd Corps and Cavalry Division at a point close to the position, and explained the general situation of the Allies, and what I understood to be General Joffre's plan. I discussed with them at some length the immediate situation in front of us.

From information I received from French Headquarters I understood that little more than one, or at most two, of the enemy's Army Corps, with perhaps one Cavalry Division, were in front of my position;* and I was aware of no attempted outflanking movement by the enemy. I was confirmed in this opinion by the fact that my patrols encountered no undue opposition in their reconnoitring operations. The observation of my aeroplanes seemed also to bear out this estimate.

[* About this time the information as to German movements were very vague.

 We knew that they were massing on the right bank of the Meuse north of Liège, 

and that they were assembling before Namur. The appearance of the great army

 in and about Brussels was, however, reported many days before the 22nd, which makes the lack of information afforded to General French a little inexplicable.]

About 3 p.m. on Sunday, the 23rd, reports began coming in to the effect that the enemy was commencing an attack on the Mons line, apparently in some strength, but that the right of the position from Mons and Bray was being particularly threatened.

The Commander of the 1st Corps had pushed his flank back to some high ground south of Bray, and the 5th Cavalry Brigade evacuated Binche, moving slightly south; the enemy thereupon occupied Binche.

The right of the 3rd Division, under General Hamilton, was at Mons, which formed a somewhat dangerous salient,* and I directed the Commander of the 2nd Corps to be careful not to keep the troops on this salient too long, but, if threatened seriously, to draw back the centre behind Mons. This was done before dark. In the meantime, about 5 p.m., I received a most unexpected message from General Joffre by telegraph, telling me that at least three German Corps, viz. a reserve corps, the 4th Corps and the 9th Corps, were moving on my position in front, and that the 2nd Corps was engaged in a turning movement from the direction of Tournay. He also informed me that the two reserve French divisions and the 5th French Army on my right were retiring,† the Germans having on the previous day gained possession of the passages of the Sambre between Charleroi and Namur.

[* A salient is a position projecting outward at an angle, and consequently assailable from two sides. Forces holding such a position may easily be surrounded or cut off from the main body.]

[† What few people realize is that in their retreat from Mons and Condé the British were largely on their own. They saw nothing of the French on their right save Territorial troops, and did not know of the desperate fighting round Charleroi. Indeed, very few of the British force ever saw a French soldier after the fighting began until the 27th of August.]

In view of the possibility of my being driven from the Mons position, I had previously ordered a position in the rear to be reconnoitred. This position rested on the fortress of Maubeuge on the right and extended west to Jenlain, south-east of Valenciennes, on the left. The position was reported difficult to hold, because standing crops and buildings made the siting of trenches very difficult and limited the field of fire in many important localities. It nevertheless afforded a few good artillery positions.

When the news of the retirement of the French and the heavy German threatening on my front reached me, I endeavoured to confirm it by aeroplane reconnaissance; and as a result of this I determined to effect a retirement to the Maubeuge position at daybreak on the 24th.

A certain amount of fighting continued along the whole line throughout the night, and at daybreak on the 24th the 2nd Division from the neighbourhood of Harmignies made a powerful demonstration as if to retake Binche. This was supported by the artillery of both the 1st and 2nd Divisions, whilst the 1st Division took up a supporting position in the neighbourhood of Peissant. Under cover of this demonstration the 2nd Corps retired on the line Dour-Quarouble-Frameries. The 3rd Division on the right of the Corps suffered considerable loss in this operation from the enemy, who had retaken Mons.

The 2nd Corps halted on this line, where they partially entrenched themselves, enabling Sir Douglas Haig with the 1st Corps gradually to withdraw to the new position; and he effected this without much further loss, reaching the line Bavai-Maubeuge about 7 p.m. Towards midday the enemy appeared to be directing his principal effort against our left.

I had previously ordered General Allenby with the Cavalry to act vigorously in advance of my left front and endeavour to take the pressure off.

About 7.30 a.m. General Allenby received a message from Sir Francis Fergusson, commanding 5th Division, saying that he was very hard pressed and in urgent need of support. On receipt of this message General Allenby drew in the Cavalry and endeavoured to bring direct support to the 5th Division.

During the course of this operation General De Lisle, of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, thought he saw a good opportunity to paralyse the further advance of the enemy's infantry by making a mounted attack on his flank. He formed up and advanced for this purpose, but was held up by wire* about 500 yards from his objective, and the 9th Lancers and 18th Hussars suffered severely in the retirement of the Brigade.

[* Barbed wire entanglements may be hastily but none the less effectively constructed for the protection of infantry and artillery from Cavalry attack. This protection might be given more easily in such a country as that through which the British were fighting, by the fact that there may have been a great deal of "natural wire" (i.e. wire fences fixed by farmers to mark boundaries, etc.).]

The 19th Infantry Brigade, which had been guarding the Line of Communications, was brought up by rail to Valenciennes on the 22nd and 23rd. On the morning of the 24th they were moved out to a position south of Quarouble to support the left flank of the 2nd Corps.

With the assistance of the Cavalry Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien was enabled to effect his retreat to a new position; although, having two corps of the enemy on his front and one threatening his flank, he suffered great losses in doing so.

At nightfall the position was occupied by the 2nd Corps to the west of Bavai, the 1st Corps to the right. The right was protected by the fortress of Maubeuge, the left by the 19th Brigade in position between Jenlain and Bry, and the Cavalry on the outer flank.

The French were still retiring, and I had no support except such as was afforded by the fortress of Maubeuge; and the determined attempts of the enemy to get round my left flank assured me that it was his intention to hem me against that place and surround me. I felt that not a moment must be lost in retiring to another position.

I had every reason to believe that the enemy's forces were somewhat exhausted, and I knew that they had suffered heavy losses. I hoped therefore that his pursuit would not be too vigorous to prevent me effecting my object.

The operation, however, was full of danger and difficulty, not only owing to the very superior force in my front, but also to the exhaustion of the troops.

The retirement was recommenced in the early morning of August 25 to a position in the neighbourhood of Le Cateau, and rearguards were ordered to be clear of the Maubeuge-Bavai-Eth Road by 5.30 a.m.

Two Cavalry Brigades, with the Divisional Cavalry of the 2nd Corps, covered the movement of the 2nd Corps. The remainder of the Cavalry Division, with the 19th Brigade, the whole under the command of General Allenby, covered the west flank.

The 4th Division commenced its detrainment at Le Cateau on Sunday, the 23rd, and by the morning of the 25th eleven battalions and a Brigade of Artillery with Divisional Staff were available for service.*

[* This Division had only left Cambridge on the Saturday morning (22nd), and had come through punctually without stopping. It is believed that the transportation of the 4th Division through England and the very proper reticence and secrecy shown in the dispatch of this force, gave rise to the extraordinary rumour that a strong Russian force was passing over our railways. It was after the dispatch of the 4th Division that this rumour began to gain ground.]

I ordered General Snow to move out to take up a position with his right south of Solesmes, his left resting on the Cambrai-Le Cateau Road south of La Chaprie. In this position the Division rendered great help to the effective retirement of the 2nd and 1st Corps to the new position.

Although the troops had been ordered to occupy the Cambrai-Le Cateau- Landrecies position, and the ground had, during the 25th, been partially prepared and entrenched, I had grave doubts—owing to the information I received as to the accumulating strength of the enemy against me—as to the wisdom of standing there to fight.

Having regard to the continued retirement of the French on my right, my exposed left flank, the tendency of the enemy's western corps (II) to envelop me, and, more than all, the exhausted condition of the troops, I determined to make a great effort to continue the retreat till I could put some substantial obstacle, such as the Somme or the Oise, between my troops and the enemy, and afford the former some opportunity of rest and reorganization. Orders were, therefore, sent to the Corps Commanders to continue their retreat as soon as they possibly could towards the general line Vermand-St. Quentin-Ribemont.

The Cavalry, under General Allenby, were ordered to cover the retirement.