remarkable energy. Its first reconnaissances were carried out by detachments of cavalry, patrols of infantry, and numerous squads of cyclists mounted on bicycles bought from the local shops, who pushed forward in every direction and drove back the small enemy detachments encountered by them. After Sept. 2 these reconnaissances were extended. Small columns consisting of one or two battalions, one or two sections of artillery, a few cavalrymen, and cyclists, repulsed the enemy in a series of engagements which were practically without exception success- ful. They appeared simultaneously in the direction of Falck- willer, Waldighoffen, Uberkumen, Burnhaupt, Gildwiller, Ster- nemberg, Heimsprung, thus giving the illusion of a force very superior to that which the fortress of Belfort was in fact able to furnish. Thus covered, the 5 7th Div. was able to advance from village to village, organizing the localities as it occupied them, and on Sept. 10 the advance guards were on the line Ballersdorff-Gommersdorff-Tranbach beyond Dannemarie.
The active brigade had also carried out reconnaissances well in advance of its front Felon- Lagrange; on Sept. 6 it established its connexion with Thann, the most advanced point held by the 58th Div., which, since the break-up of the army of Alsace, had been bottled up in the Thur valley by the Germans, hold- ing Cernay and the Nonnenbruch forest. On the pth it advanced to the heights of the left bank of the Doller; its artillery broke up an attack of the S5th Brigade of Landwehr against Vieux-Thann, and at the close of the day it occupied Michelbach, Aspach-le- bas, and the important position of Kalberg, thus holding the highroad to Cernay, commanding the Nonnenbruch and over- looking the plain in the direction of Mulhouse.
After a day spent in massing strong forces at Cernay and in the Nonnenbruch, von Gaede on the nth carried out a new demonstration against Thann, preceded by a bombardment, and directed a very violent, heavy attack against the positions held by the Belfort brigade. Despite serious losses, the latter held its ground; but its commander, feeling his position to be too exposed, and fearing to be cut off from the fortress, fell back under cover of darkness and regained his cantonments behind La Chapclle sous Rougemont. .
It was not long before the advance of the s8th Div. on his right allowed him to push his advance guards forward to the Soultzbach, from Mortzwiller to Dicffmattcn, while on his left Massevaux was held by a detachment which was supported in its turn by a Territorial battalion occupying the Ballon of Alsace, and the upper valley of the Doller.
On Sept. 18, wishing to put an end to the raids which the enemy patrols were still carrying out on his right, the governor of Belfort occupied Chavannate, Suarce, Lepuy and Rechezy with strong posts of custom-house officers, who from that day assured the safety of these villages.
On this same day, Sept. 18, the H.Q. of the 57th Div., whose daily reconnaissances had been carried on uninterruptedly in advance of its front, was transferred from Foussemagne to Dannemarie. This transfer was, from the point of view of the garrison of Belfort, the affirmation of their possession of this place, and it was completed on the day following the Marne victory, with the express intention of marking out a new perma- nent line of defence; it thus made a great impression in France, as also in Alsace, and had all the importance of a victory. It was indeed a considerable success, for the occupation of Danne- marie had been carried out with such precision and solidity that it had now to become definite. From Sept. 18 1914 onwards, the tricolor flag never ceased to fly over the little Alsatian town thus reconquered. (F. T.)
(2.) THE FIRST BATTLES IN LORRAINE
The first plan of the French High Command, as shown in the General Instruction No. i, of Aug. 8, was of a purely offensive nature; it was a question of seeking a battle, with all forces concentrated, with the right of the army resting on the Rhine. In Lorraine there were two French armies, the I. and II.; the I. Army was to move against the German Army of Saarburg (the VII.) and endeavour to throw it back in the direction of
Strassburg and Lower Alsace. One isolated corps (the VII.) was to make a diversion to the E. of the Vosges; the II. Army, throwing out a flank guard to face Metz, was to take the offensive in the general direction of Saarbriick, on the front Delme- Chateau Salins-Dieuzes, keeping touch with the I. Army in the region of the lakes. It was to leave its two left corps at the disposal of the generalissimo, in the area Bermecourt-Rozieres en Haye (W. of the Moselle), with a view to their possible em- ployment in the north.
In front of the I. and II. Armies were the VI. and VII. Ger- man Armies, the VI. (Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria) consisting at first of the I., II. and III. Bavarian, and I. Bavarian Reserve Corps and the XXI. Corps, together with two independent divisions and three cavalry divisions; the VII. (Gen. von Heer- nigcn) of the XIV. and XV. Active and XIV. Reserve Corps and the 3oth Reserve Division. Both armies were at first to remain on the defensive.
The extreme rapidity of the German invasion of Belgium, and the importance of this theatre, from the first moment induced the French High Command to hurry on the operations in Alsace and Lorraine in order to disengage the Belgian front. By Aug. 13 the VIII. and XIII. Corps were on the Meurthe, the XIII. in the triangle Baccarat-Raon 1'Etape-Bazient, the VIII. in that of Fraimbois-Vathimenil-Gerbeviller. Gen. Dubail, commanding the I. Army, counted in addition on the coopera- tion of the two right corps of the II. Army * and on that of the XXI. Corps, descending from the Vosges on his right. On Aug. 16 the II. Cavalry Corps, with a division from the I. Army and two from the II., came under his orders.
It must be noted that the concentration, though completed as far as concerns the fighting troops, was to be entirely finished only on Aug. 18. However, the XIII. and VIII. Corps, com- menced their movement on Aug. 14; the next day they entered Cirey and Blamont, driving back the I. Bavarian Corps, which, menaced with envelopment, retired on Saarburg. By the eve- ning of Aug. 17 the two French corps had reached the line Vas- perviller-Aspach-St. Georges, and the XXI. Corps was in line with them towards the Vosges. The II. Cavalry Corps had been ordered to lead the advance on Aug. 18 towards Saarburg, which fell into its hands after some fighting. The XXI. Corps pushed its advance guards north-eastwards to Walscheid; the
XIII. held the heights N. and E. of Saarburg; the VIII. Corps, marching on Heming, seized the crossings over the Marne- Rhine canal and entered Saarburg. The II. Cavalry Corps bivouacked in the Diane Capelle area, in touch with the II. Army, which had reached the front Bisping-Chateau Salins on the left of the first. The Germans held strongly fortified posi- tions facing the I. and II. Armies on a front of 37 m. from near Dommenheim to Biberkirch.
Both Gen. Dubail and his troops appeared full of confidence, as also did Gen. Joffre. It was decided that the I. Army should attack with its left N.W. of Saarburg, reposing its right and centre in view of the possibility of a German counter-attack in the Vosges, of which there were certain indications. The II. Cavalry Corps was to be directed on Saar Union and to operate to the S. of the Saar.
On Aug. 19 the left of the attack (VIII. Corps) commenced before daybreak, gained ground to the N.W. of Saarburg, despite the strength of the enemy's positions, and repulsed a counter-attack from the direction of Delving. On Aug. 20 the advance was resumed, and early in the morning it became evident that the VIII. Corps would be unable to open the way for the II. Cavalry Corps. The isth Div. could neither cross the Saar nor maintain its hold on Gosselming; counter-attacked from the N. it fell back on Kepprich and the wood to the E., then to the Marne Rhine canal, after suffering severely from the fire of the German heavy artillery.
1 The I. Army comprised at the beginning of hostilities the VIII., XIII., XXI., and XIV. Corps, the I2th, I3th, 22nd, 28th and 3Oth groups of Alpine Chasseurs, and the 7lst Reserve Division. The
XIV. Corps, the Alpine groups and the 7lst Div. remained at first in the Vosges or at Epinal.
