The First Battle of the Marne 1914 by Ian Sumner

Author:Ian Sumner
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782002284
Publisher: Osprey Publishing

The village of Corfélix, looking eastwards up the valley of the Petit Morin, remained relatively unscathed, considering that 19. Infanterie-Division had mounted its attacks on Soizy through the village.

In Charleville the situation of the French was so exposed that Desforges gave his brigadier (Général Cadoudal, 40e Brigade) permission to withdraw. But Cadoudal was implacable in his response to the hapless staff officer who brought the message. ‘How could I dare evacuate [a] position,’ he retorted, ‘that has so resisted the enemy, abandoning the bodies of the men who sacrificed themselves to hold it? Tell Général Desforges that I am staying in Charleville, and he will find me here, no matter what.’

On the French right flank the Bretons of 11e Corps d’armée (Eydoux) were playing an entirely defensive role. They dug in along the line of the Somme to control the crossing points on the river, taking up positions between the villages of Morains-le-Petit and Lenharrée, with isolated battalions further south-eastwards, as far as the railway junction at Sommesous. At the northern end of their front, the men of 2. Garde-Infanterie-Division were doing better than their comrades in 1. Garde-Infanterie-Division. They managed to force 21e Division d’infanterie out of many of its positions during the afternoon. And by evening the French had lost control of the neck of land between the marshes and the Somme. Further south Général Eydoux was scrambling to put the rest of his battalions into some kind of defensive order. But he met with little success. The front was too long to hold comfortably with the two divisions of regulars and one of reservists available to him.

To the west 9e Corps d’armée (Dubois) threw men across the marshes to hold the northern end of the crossings. But there he encountered troops from 20. Infanterie-Division and the Gardekorps (Plettenberg) coming south. With insufficient support from their own artillery – which, for the most part, remained south of the marshes – the French battalions took heavy casualties and made no gains. The two regiments most heavily engaged – 77e and 135e RIs – each lost around 500 men. By afternoon 9e Corps d’armée was back on the south side of the marshes. The Gardekorps now moved off to its left to find a way around the eastern end of the marshes. But here they found greater opposition. Heavy artillery fire stopped the advance of 1. Garde-Infanterie-Division in its tracks, and Plettenberg turned to the neighbouring XII Armeekorps (d’Elsa) for support.

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