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Show I FIELD MARSHAL FRENCH REPORTS I BRITISH OPERATIONS IN FRANCE Message of Sir John to Secretary of War Reviews War Movements Move-ments Up to August 28 Tells of British Valor Against Overwhelming Odds, Engagements and Retreats, the Army Retaining Splendid Morale. PRAISES GENERALS, OFFICERS AND MEN August 26 Most Critical Day of All Second Corps Face Four German Army Corps and by Consummate Skill of General in Command Retires Without Demoralization, Demor-alization, After Facing Magnificently a Terrible German Onslaught. London, Sept. 10, 2 30 a, m The text of the report of Field Marshal Sir John French, in command of the British forces in France, eoverin- the British operations s.nce they landed in France, was made public today Thf report is addressed to Farl Kitchener, the secretary of war. and its publication indicates that the government gov-ernment is responding to the public demand for fuller information on the progress of operations, so far as the British forces are concerned in France. Field Marshal's Report The report is published in the London Lon-don Gazette, the official organ. It follows- "The transportation of the troops from England by rail and sea was effected ef-fected in the best order and without! a check Concentration was practically practic-ally completed on the evening of Friday, Fri-day, August 21, and I wab able to I make dispositions to move the force i Saturday to position? I considered - most favorable from which to commence com-mence the operations which General Joffre requested mJ to undertake The line extended along the line of the canal from Conde on the west, through Mons and Binche, on the east "During August 22 and 23, the- advance ad-vance squadrons did sonrn excellent work, some of them penetratln? as fas as Soignies (a town ot Belgium 10 miles northeast of Monsi and several sev-eral encounters took placp in which our troops showed to great advantage. advan-tage. Attack on Mons "On Sunday, the 23d, reports be gan to come into the effect that the enemy was commencing an atack on the .Mons line apparenth in some Btrength but that the right of the p3 Bltlon from Mons was being particu larly threatened. "The commander of the first corps had pushed hifl flank hack to some high ground south of Bray and the fifth cavalry evacuated Binche. moving mov-ing BUlhtly south. The enem then occupied Binche. "The right of the third division un der General Hamilton was at Mons. which formed a somewhat dangerous salient, and I directed the commander comman-der of the second corps, it threatened seriously, to draw back the center behind Mons. This was done before dark. Receives Unexpected Message. "In the meantime, about 5 oclock in the afternoon I received a most unexpected un-expected message from General Joffre by telegraph telling me that at least three German corps were moving on my position in front and that n second corps was engaged in a turning movejnent from the direction of Tournai He also Informed me that the two reserve French divisions, the fifth French army corps on my right, were retiring, the Germans having on the previous day gained possession of the passage of the Sambre between Charleroi and Namur. "In view of the possibility of my being driven from the Mons position, I had previously ordered a position in the rear to be reconnoitered This position rested on the fortress of Maubeuge on the right and extended west to Jenlain, southeast of Valenciennes Valen-ciennes on the left. The position as reported difficult to hold because standing crops and buildings made the siting of trenches very difficult and limited the first in many Important Import-ant localities. It. nevertheless, iliord ed a few good artillery positions. Decides to Retire. "When the news of the retirement of the French and the heavy German threatening on m front reached me. 1 endeavored to confirm it by aero-p'ane aero-p'ane reconnoissance and. as a result of this. I determined to eflect a re-! re-! tlreinent to the Maubeuge position at I daybreak on the 24th. "A certain amount of fUhting con j tinued along the wholo line through l out ihe night, and. at daybreak on th ; 24th the second division trom the I neighborhood of Harmignies made a 1 powerful demons! ration as if to retake re-take Binche. This was supported by the artillery of both the first and thf second divisions while the first division took up a supporting position posi-tion In the neighborhood of Peissant ! Under cover of this demonstration the second corps retired on the line I of Dour, Quarouble and Fra merles. I The third division on the right or the corps suffered considerable loss I in this operation from the enemy who had retaken Mons. Second Corps Halts. "The second corps halted on this line where they entrenched themselves, them-selves, enabling Sir Douglas Halg with the first corps, to withdraw to i the new position and he effected this! without much further loss, reachins the line from Bavav to Maubeuge 1 about 7 o'clock in the evening. "Towards midnight the enemy appeared ap-peared to be directing his principal ilfort against our left. 1 had previously pre-viously ordered General Allenby with the cavalry, to act vigorously in ad-anee ad-anee of my left front and enaeavor 1 to take the pressure off. Fifth Calls for Help. 'About 7:30 in the morning, Genital Gen-ital Allenby received a message trom Sir Charles Ferguson, commanding the fifth division, saying he was very hard pressed and in urcent need or support. On receipt of this message, General Allenby drew In his cavalry and endeavored to bring direct support sup-port to the fifth division. "During the course of this operation. opera-tion. General De Lisle of the second cavalry brigade thought, he saw a good opportunity to paralyze the rur ther advance of the nemy'8 infantry by making a mounted attack on his flank He formed up and adanced I lor this purpose but was held up by wire about 500 yarM from his objec- tive and the Ninth Lancers ard tne Eighteenth Hussars suffered severely In the retirement of the brigade. Nineteenth Infantry Brigade. "The nineteenth infantry brigade, which had ber n cuardlng the line ot , communications, was brought b rail to Valenciennes on the 22d and 23d ; On the morning of the 24th. they were j moved out to a position south oL I Quarouble to support the left flank I I of the second corps. With the assistance as-sistance of cavalry. Sir Horace Smith Dorrlen was enabled to effect his re-Ueat re-Ueat to a new position, although hav-irg hav-irg two corps of the enemy on his front and one threatening his flank. He suffered great losses in doing so "At nightiall a position was occu-poied occu-poied by the second torp6 to the westi of Bavay, the first corps to the Nkht . The right wag protected by the fort-l ress of Maubeuge, the left by tip'' nineteenth brigade in position between be-tween Jenlain and Bruay. and cavalry cav-alry on the outer flank The French were still retiring and I had no support sup-port except such as was afforded by the fortress of Maubeuge and deter mined efforts of the enemy to get around my flank assured me that it was his intention to hem me against that place and surround me. Avoids Being Surrounded "I felt that not a moment must be lost in retiring to another position 1 had every reason to believe that the enemy's forces were somewhat ex hausted and 1 knew that they had sue j lered heavy losses. 1 hoped, there fore, that his pursuit would not be too vigorous to prevent me effecting my object The operation, however, w as full of dancer and difficulty, not only owing to the very superior i forces in my front, but also to the i exhaustion of the troops. "The retirement was recommenced I in the early morning of the 25th to a i position in the neighborhood of Le-i Le-i Cateau, and the rear guard was or-. or-. dered to be clear of Ma:ibeuge and I Bavay by 5:30 a. m. Two cavalry brigades, with the divisional cavalry of the second corps, covered the movement of the. second corps and the r inulnder of the cavalrj division ! with the nineteenth brigade, the 1 whole under command of General Allenby, Al-lenby, covered the west flank. Fourth Division Detrains. ' The fourth division commenced Its detralnment at LeCateau on Sunday. I the L'3d. and by the morning of the 25th, eleven battalions and a brigade i of artillery, with the divisional stall were available for service 1 ordered : General Snow to move out to take J up a position with hi? tight souLu ol 1 Solesmes, his left resting on the Cambral Lecateau road south of La I Chapris. In this position the division I rendered preat help to the ecfectlve I retirement of the second and first ! corps to new positions "Although the troops had been or (b red to occupy the Oambral, Laca-1 teau, Landreceis position and ground! had, during the 25th. been partially1 prepared ami entrenched, i ha(j grave doubts, owing to information I had j received as to the accumulating I strength of the enemj against me. as to the wisdom ot Standing there to fight. Continues Retreat. "Having retard to the continued re tirement of the French right, my ex posed left flank, the tendency of the enemy n western corps to envelop me and more than all. the exhausted con- dit I the troops. I determined to make a great effort to continue the retreat illl I could put some substan tlal obstacle, such as the Somrae or thi 'Use betwen my troops and the em my and afford the fnr.iier some opportunity for rest and reorganlza i ion "Orders were therefore sent to the corps commanders to continue their r treat as soon 3s thej posa'bli couid towards the general line o' Vermund St Quentln and Ribemont, nnd the cavalry under General Allenby were ordered to cover tin retirement Throughout the 25th and far into the evening the first corps continued to .march on Landrecles, following the road along the eabtern border of the torrst of Mormal, and arrived at j Landrecles about 10 o'clock I had Intended that the corpr, should come further west so as to fill up the gap between Lecateau and Lsndrecics but the men were exhausted and could not get further in without a rest. Fourth Guard Attacked. "The enemy, however, would not I allow them this res; and, about that evenln-. the report was received that the fourth guard brigade in Landrecies was heavily attacked by trcops of tin- ninth German army corps who were coming through the lorest to the north of the town This brigade fought most gallantly and caused the enemj to suffer a iremen-dous iremen-dous losr. in issuing from the forest into the narrow streets of the town This loss has been estimated from reliable sources at between 700 and 1 "At the same time information reached me from Sir Douglas Halg that his ii;.-t division was also heav-11 heav-11 engaced south and east of Manl-les. Manl-les. I sent urgent messages to the commander nl" two French reserve di isions on my right to come up to the assistance of the first corps which they eventually did. F'artlv owing to this assistance, but mainly to the successful manner in which Sir Halg extricated his corps from a difficult position in the darkness of night, thpy were able al dawn to resume their march towards VYassigny and Guise. Second Corps in Position. "By ahont 6 in the afternoon, the second corps had got into position with their right on Lecateau, their 1' ft in the neighborhood of Caudry and the line of defense was continued thence by the fourtb division toward Seranvilleres "Dunn; the ficiiting on the 24th and 25th, cavalry became a good deal BCattered but bj early morninc of the 2tUh General Allenby had BUCl eeded in concentrating two brigades to the south of C'ambrai. The fourth division divi-sion was placed under the orders or the general officer commanding the second army corps. "On the 24th the French cavalry corps, consisting of three divisions under General Sordet. had been in Billet, north of Avesnes. On my way back from Vavay, which was my poste de commandemente during the fighting of the 23rd and I he 24th. I visited General Sordet and earnestly requested his co-operation and support. sup-port. He promised to obtain sanction sanc-tion from his army commander to act on my left flank but said that his horses were too tired to move before the next day "Although he rendered me valuable assistance later on In the course of the retirement, he was unable for the reasons given to afford me any support sup-port on the most critical day of all, namely the 86th. Most Critical Day of All. "At daybreak it became apparent that the enemy was throwing the bulk of his strength against the lef? of the position occupied by the second sec-ond coris and the fourth division. At this time the guns of four German army corps were In position against them, and Sir Horace Smith Dorrlen reported to me that he judged it impossible im-possible to continue his retirement at daybreak, as ordered, in the face of such an attack. "I sent him orders to use hi3 utmost endeavors to break off the action and retire at the earliest possible moment as it was impossible for me to send him support, the first corps being at the moment incapable of movement. move-ment. "The French cavalry corps under General Sordet was coming up on our left rear early In the morning and I sent him an urgent message to do his utmost to come up and suppn-i the retirement of my left flank but owing to the fatigue of his horses, he found himself unable to intervene in any way Troops Face Terrible Fire "There had been no time to cn trench the position properly, but the troops showed a magnificent front to the terrible fire which confronted j them. The artillery although outmatched out-matched by at least four to one, made a splendid fight and inflicted heavy losses on their opponents. "At length It became apparent that. If complete annihilation was to be avoided, retirement must be attempt ed and the order was given to commence com-mence It about .1:3n in the afternoon The movement was covered with most devoted Intrepidity and determination by the artillery which had itself suffered suf-fered heavily, and the fine work done by the cavalry in the further retreat from the position, assisted material-h material-h the final completion of this most difficult and dangerous operation Fortunately the enemy had himself suffered too heavily to engage in any energetic pursuit. Praises British Commander "I cannot close the brief account of this glorious stand of the British troops without putting on record my deep appreciation of the valuable ser vices, rendered by Sir Horace Smith Dorrien I 9a' without hesitation that the saving of the left wing of the army under my command on the morning of the 26th could never have been accomplished unless a commander com-mander of rare and unusual coolness Intrepidity and determination had been present to personally conduct the operations "The retreat was continued far into the night of the 26th and through the 27th and the 28th, on which date the troops halted on the line from Noyon. Chauny and Lef ere. having then thrown off the weight of the enemy's pursuit. Indebted to French Cavalry. "On the 27i h and the 28th, I was much Indebted ic General Sordet and the l-'rench cavalry division which he commands for materially assisting my retirement and successfully driving driv-ing back some of the enemy on Cam bral General d' Amade also, with the 61st and 62nd reserve divisions moved down from the neighborhood Of Arras on the enemy's right Clank and look much pressure off the rearj of the British forces. "This closed the period covering tbu heavy fighting w hich commenced at j Mons on Sunday afternoon, August 23 ;.nd whlcta really constituted a four days" battle At this point, therefore. I propose to close the present pres-ent dispatch. Deeply Deplores Losses. "1 deeply deplore the very serious losses which the British forces suffered suf-fered in this sreat battle, but they were Inevitable In view of the fact that the British army only a few days after concentration by rail was called on to withstand the vigorous attack of five German army corps. "It is Impossible for me to speak too highly of the skill evinced by th two general officers commanding the army corps, the self-sacrificing and devoted exertions of their staffs, the direction of troops by the divisional, division-al, brigade and regimental leaders, the command of small units by their officers, and the magnificent flgbtins spirit displayed by the non-commis sioned officers and men Flying Corps' Admirable Work "I wish particularly to bruit; to your lordship's notice the admirable work done by the royal flying corps under Sir David Henderson Their skill, energy and perseverance has been beyond all praise. They have furnished me with most complete and accurate information which has been of incalculable value In the cou-duct cou-duct of operations They were fired at constantly by both friend and fo and not hesitating to fly in every kind of weather, they have remained undaunted throughout. Further, by actual fighting, they destroyed five of the enemy B machines. wish to acknowledge with deep gratitude the Incalculable assistance received from the general and personal per-sonal staffs at headquarters during ihis mine, period. Lieutenant Gen eral Sir Archibald Murray, chief of the general Staff; Major General Wilson, Wil-son, sub-chief of the general staff, and all under them have worked day and night unceasingly with the utmost skill, selt'-sacrlflce and devotion, and the same acknowledgment is due by me to Brigadier General, The Hon orahle W Lambton. my military secretary, sec-retary, and personal staff. Quartermaster's Skillful Work. "In such operations as I have de scribed, the work of the quartermns tor-general is of an extremely oner ouk nature. Major-Genernl Sir Will-lam Will-lam Robertson has met w hat appeared to be almost Insuperable difficulties wllh characteristic energy, skill and determination and It 16 largely owing ow-ing to his exertions that the hardships and sufferings of the troops Insep erable from such operations were not much grenter. "Major-General Sir Nevll MacReady tho adjutunt general, has also been confronted with the most onerous and difficult task In connection with dis clplinarj arrangements and prepara tion; nt casaHy lists. He has been iiuL i.j' Same lb his exertions to meet the 'difficult situations which arose He has not been able to complete the list of officers whose names 1 desire to bring to your lordships no tice for services rendered during the period under review and as I under stood it that It Is important that this dispatch should be no longer delayed I propose to send this list separately as soon as I can. (Signed) I "J. D. P. FRENCH " oo |