S. From the Sambre to the Marne.—We come now to the main German offensive in France, a campaign of three weeks, extending from the time Germany completed her mobiliza tion and threw her massed troops on the de fensive line of the Sambre to the time she en countered the smashing counterstroke of the French and British south of the Marne, that is from 20 August to 5 September. First as to commanders: At the head of the Ger mans was General von Moltke, nephew of the great general of the Franco-Prussian War and chief of staff when the war began. He was esteemed a master of war according to Ger man methods, and his name aroused confidence and enthusiasm in his army. Experience, how ever, was to show that he relied too much on prepared formulas, that he was not keenly alive to the opportunities that presented themselves and that his influence was broken by his failure to carry out the long cherished plan success fully. His failure to defeat the French at the Marne and his neglect of the opportunity to seize the Channel ports in the first weeks of the war led to his resignation on 22 Oct. 1914.
The chief of the general staff in France was General Joffre, then little known outside of army circles. To the soldiers, however, he was known for a level-headed and straightforward man, a faithful engineer officer who had done well in constructing colonial fortifications. No one who latew him disliked or distrusted him. To the soldiers he was endeared by his simple manners and his readiness to respond to every demand that the service made upon him. The first weeks of the war, when the fortunes of France seemed dark, found him cheerful and always master of himself. He had able assist ants who trusted him as much as he trusted them.
The two.great bodies of troops that faced each other m France were organized in field armies of about 200,000 men each. As they stood in the last days of mobilization the Ger man armies were as follows: 1. The 1st Army, under General vou Klucic, made up of four army corps and a body of cavalry, about 200,000 men and stationed near Cologne. Z The 2d Army, under General von Billow, con sisting of three corps and a large body of cavalry, stationed on the Rhine just south of Cologne, about 200,000 men. 3. The 3d Army, under the Duke of Wiirttemberg con sisting of four corps and a body of cavalry, stationed in the Moselle Valley in front of the Belgian Ardennes, containing more than 200,000 men. 4. The 4th Army, under the German crown prince, consisting of three corps, sta-. tionecl near Treves to the east of Luxemburg, aad containing nearly 150,000 men. 5. The 5th Ann,y, under the crown priSce of Bava ria, consisting of four corps, stationed just south of Metz, about 200,000 men. 6. The 6th Army, under General von Heeringen, consisting of two corps, stationed at Strass burg, about 100,000 men. Just as the opera- • tions began still another army was organued under General von Hausen, partly by drawing two corps from the 3d Army, and it was assigned position just south of the 2d Army. A4 the march was taken up most of these armies were strengthened by the addition of troops just arrived from Germany. The whole assemblage of troops numbered more than 1,000,000 at first. The armies stood in a line 190 miles long, although it was not con tinuous. It faced toward France, and the plan, as soon revealed, was for the lower part to move forward slowly toward the west, while the upper part swept into Belgium and bent around to the southwest and then moved on toward Paris. As this part had further to go
its movements were as rapid as possible, and to that end a large number of motor trudcs were used. To the 3d Army was assigned a direction due west, through the Belgian Arden nes, in order that it might come into close sup port of the 1st and 2d armies and the new army of General von Hansen. It struck the French defenses at Dinant and south of it. These several armies were ordered to move into position in such a way that they would come into a continuous line north and west of Verdun, and swing round to the south with that place for a pivot.
Opposite to them General Joffre assembled six French armies. In the angle between the Sambre and the Meuse, south of Namur, was one under General Lanzerac; northeast of Sedan stood another under General De Langle de Cary; in front of Longwy stood a third under General Ruffey; in front of Nancy was a fourth, under General Castelnau; a fifth, under General Dubail, stood on the border of upper Alsace; while the sixth, under General Pau, was to the east of Belfort facing lower Alsace. From the time the French offensive on the border was checked these armies were on the defensive. Conscious of the superior strength of the Germans, General Joffre or dered his commanders to feel the enemy and wait for a favorable time to deliver battle. He had a seventh army, but generally known as the sixth, under General Maunoury, but more of it later. • Another army opposed to the Germans was the relatively small British force commanded by General French. The British mobilized on 3 August and on the night of the 7th an ex peditionary force began to embark for France. Ten days later 150,000 men had landed. It was considered a great 10-day achievement to as semble and equip this force and gather the ships to transport it to France with the neces sary artillery, horses and supplies. The point of concentration in France was Amiens. Gen eral French had an early conference with Gen eral Joffre and it was agreed that he should move northward as soon as his force was ready and take position by the side of the Belgians who were then holding the Geete line across Belgium. At this time the French lines were being extended as rapidly as possible to the region south of the Sambre, and it was thus expected that the allied line would be made safe from Antwerp to the Swiss border. The British expedition contained two army corps; the first under General Haig, and the second under General Smith-Domen, aggregating about 80,000 men, and a cavalry division under General Allenby. General French had objected to the appointment of Smith-Dorrien, wishing General Plumer instead. In Haig and Allenby he had great confidence. He had a third, corps in France, but as it was not completely or ganized he moved forward with his first and second corps and Allenby's cavalry. By this time the Belgians had opened the g-ap in central Belgium and General French found himself obliged to take position west of the French army under Lanzerac in a line running from Binche through Mons to Condi, with his cav alry a little farther west He thus held the ex treme allied left, his left flank in the air.