Battle in the marshes of Saint-Gond

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The battle in the marshes of Saint Gond and the fighting at Fere-Champenoise (French: Bataille des Marais de Saint-Gond , English: Battle of the Saint-Gond Marshes ) from September 6 to 9, 1914 were at the beginning of the First World War In addition to the Battle of the Ourcq, a decisive phase of the battle in the First Battle of the Marne . The newly established French 9th Army , in close cooperation with the 5th Army, carried out strong counterattacks from September 6th and stopped the advance of the right wing of the German 2nd Army and the left wing of the German 3rd Army . Heavy fighting broke out on both sides for four days. The French 9th Army had to withstand the attacks of the German 2nd Army (Guard, 10th Army and 10th Reserve Corps) and the right wing of the 3rd Army (12th Army and 12th Reserve Corps), who wanted to break through on the central French front. On September 8th the battle reached its climax, the German troops succeeded in occupying Fère-Champenoise . On the morning of September 9, the situation of the French 9th Army was still critical, the German troops attacked on all sides, stormed the village and the castle of Montdement and Mont-Août, reached the west bank of the Maurienne brook and still stormed the village of Mailly. In the course of the afternoon the German troops began to retreat, the left wing of the German 2nd Army was violently pursued by the French 5th Army. The tenacious resistance of the French 9th Army in the marshes of Saint-Gond had tied up strong German troops and allowed the French 5th Army and the British Expeditionary Force to successfully close the gap between the German 2nd and 1st Armies at Chateau- Break through Thierry north.

prehistory

The German 2nd Army under Colonel General von Bülow reached the Oise on August 28 and encountered the counter-offensive of the French 5th Army between Guise and Saint-Quentin . After the battle of St. Quentin (August 29 and 30, 1914), the French commander-in-chief, General Joseph Joffre, reinforced the 5th Army, which was based in Paris and the Marne, and, as a precautionary measure, gathered troops from Alsace and Lorraine to protect Paris in the Meaux area . The aim was to launch a strong counter-offensive into the open flank of the German right wing. The German 3rd Army pursued to the southwest, General von Hausen supported a request for help from the Duke of Württemberg and had the right wing (XII Army Corps) of his army swivel to the southeast on Sompuis . The AOK 3 did not recognize an open breach that had opened between the French 4th and 5th Army. The French 4th Army was seriously threatened in the Vitry-le-François region and a front gap of 20 km opened between it and the 9th Army. To fill this gap, Joffre had to pull more troops out of other sections. The previous commander of the French 20th Corps in the Nancy area . General Ferdinand Foch was given command of the newly formed Foch Army Division on August 28 (renamed 9th Army on September 5 ). The 9th Army is formed from other front sections with the 9th and 11th Corps and the 9th Cavalry Division and inserted between the 5th and 4th Army. Colonel Maxime Weygand , previously leader of the 5th Hussar Regiment, acted as Chief of Staff of the 9th Army , who was to remain in close contact with General Foch until the end of the war. In order to overcome the French resistance, the OHL asked Colonel General von Kluck to approach the left wing of the 1st Army on the Oise in the direction of Coucy - Matz. The French 3rd Army (General Sarrail) and the 4th Army (General de Langle de Cary) were able to hold their own in the battles in Champagne and the Argonne , but the French commander-in-chief was forced to set up a new army with improvised forces, to close the gap in the front between the 5th and 4th Armies.

March

Colonel-General Karl von Bülow believed that the enemy had withdrawn across the Seine and ordered his units to destroy the French rearguard and to pursue units as far as the Seine valley and cut off the railway line there. The first obstacle to be overcome was the course of the Petit Morin and the northern part of the Marais de Saint-Gond.

On September 5th at 10 a.m., Foch received the order from Joffre to end the retreat: The 9th Army had the task of covering the right wing of the 5th Army, holding the southern entrances to the swamps of St. Gond and part of them Armed forces concentrate on the plateau north of Sezanne. The swamps of St. Gond lie between Epernay and Sezanne and are irrigated by the headwaters of the Petit Morin. The Brie plateau is cut by the Petit-Morin river, which flows west to the Saint-Gond marshes. The forests there are numerous and cover a large part of the plateau. The character of the country changes towards the southeast on the edge of the ridge of the Paris Basin. The heights of Allemant offer a wide view of the Aube and the Seine. In the middle of the plain there are some isolated peaks such as Mont-Août, from which one can see the swamps from the south. From Mont Aimé the artillery could control the roads from Reims to Troyes and from Paris to Châlons. Outside the routes via Reuvres and Broussy-le-Grand , the swamps were impassable before they were later constrained. After the abandonment of Champaubert , the French 9th Corps had to retreat to the southern edge of the marshes of Saint-Gond marshes. The left flank with the Moroccan division received the order to retreat to St-Prix and Baye and to hold there. The 42nd Division under General von Grossetti was still on the railroad from Guignicourt, being transported and, after unloading in Sezanne, was pushed in on the outer left flank and provided the connection to the 10th between Villeneuve-lès-Charleville and Saint-Prix. 5th Army Corps. The left wing of the 9th Army took up position south of the marshes of Saint-Gond, the 9th Corps behind the avant-garde with the front facing north. The Moroccan division was placed between Broussy-le-Grand and Broussy-le-Petit . The Blondlat Brigade attacked Congy, but failed and went back to Mondemont. The 52nd Reserve Division assisted at Connantre. The 17th Infantry Division evacuated Bannes on the right and positioned their outposts on the northern edge of the swamps, a strong avant-garde remained in Toulon-la-Montagne, parts of the villages Vert-la-Gravelle and Morains-le-Petit held. The 135th regiment (17th division) fought in Toulon-la-Montagne and Morains-le-Petit and had to retreat through the marshes to Mont-Août.

The right wing of the 9th Army was formed by the 11th Corps on the line Ecury-le-Repos, Normée to Lenharrée. To the east of the latter place there was a 25 km long gap to the 4th Army, which was filled by the 3rd Cavalry Corps of General de l'Espée. During the afternoon the 9th Dubois Corps retreated via Broussy and Bannes and pushed two battalions across the marshes to Toulon-la-Montagne. On the line Vert-la-Gravelle and Aulnizeux one met the Prussian Guard Corps, whose main power assembled in Vertus. The right wing of the 9th Army, which the 11th Corps under General Eydoux secured on the eastern edge of the marshes at Morains-le-Petit, further along Somme to Sommesous, where the 60th Reserve Division also approached. Opposite the Saxon XII. Army Corps with the 23rd Reserve Division. On the Sommesous - Humbauville line, the 9th Cavalry Division (General de l'Espée) tried to fill a gap of about 19 km between Foch's right and left wing of the army of Langle de Cary.

Involved armed forces

General Foch
Georges Humbert
Paul-François Grossetti

French people

5th Army General Franchet d'Esperey

1st Corps, General Henry Deligny

10th Corps, General Gilbert Defforges

  • 19th Division, General Gaëtan Bonnier, from 5th Sept .: General Bailly
  • 20th Division, General Élie Auguste Julien Boë
  • 51st Division, General René Auguste Émile Boutegourd

9th Army General Ferdinand Foch , Chief of Staff: Colonel Maxime Weygand

9th Corps, General Pierre Joseph Dubois

  • Moroccan Division, General Georges Louis Humbert
  • 17th Division, General Jean Baptiste Dumas , from September 12th Pierre Amable Guignadaudet
  • 52nd Reserve Division, General Jules Augustin Léon Battesti

11th Corps, General Joseph-Paul Eydoux

  • 21st Division, General René Louis Jules Radiguet
  • 18th Division, General Justinien Marie Ernest Georges Lefèvre
  • 22nd Division General Joseph Maurice Pambet
  • 60th Reserve Division, General Maurice Joppé, later Géraud François Gustave Réveilhac

Cavalry Corps l'Espée

  • 9th Cavalry Division, General Jean de l'Espée
  • From September 10th, 6th Cavalry Division, General Antoine de Mitry

4th Army General Fernand Louis Langle de Cary

From 9 September: 21st Corps (General Émile Legrand-Girarde) from 14 September to the 9th Army

  • 43rd Division, General Pierre Ernest Lanquetot
  • 13th Division, General Louis Henry Auguste Baquet

German army

2nd Army Colonel General Karl von Bülow, Chief of Staff: Major General Otto von Lauenstein 240,000 men (159 battalions, 40 squadrons, 152 batteries with 848 artillery pieces)

Karl von Bülow
Max von Hausen

VII Army Corps , General of the Cavalry Karl von Eine

X. Reserve Corps , Infantry General Johannes von Eben

X. Army Corps , General of Inf. Otto von Emmich

Guard Corps General d. Inf. Karl von Plettenberg

3rd Army Colonel General Max von Hausen , Chief of Staff: Major General Hoeppner

XII. Reserve Corps , General of the Artillery Hans von Kirchbach

September 6th

On the morning of September 6, General Franchet de Esperey launched an unexpected counter-offensive in the Montmirail area . The German 2nd Army had reached the Fontenelle line (northwest Montmirail-Marigny le Grand; 12 km southwest Fère-Champenoise). Opposite the French 9th Army, the left wing of the German 2nd Army had received the order on September 5th to advance further in the direction of Troyes and Vendoeuvre . The subsequent counter-attack by the French 5th Army, which had already been believed defeated and attacked the center and the left wing of the 2nd Army, took Colonel-General von Bülow by surprise. At the same time, the newly established French 9th Army attacked the right wing of the 2nd Army, which the German Guard Corps formed in the Marais de Saint-Gond section. In the section of the French 9th Corps, the 42nd Division (General Grossetti) went on the offensive again before dawn heading northwest against Soisy-Bouy and Villeneuve-lès-Charleville, but the German X , which was advancing over Corfélix and the heights of the Saint-Prix Army Corps forced the French to retreat. La Villeneuve was lost at 8 a.m., but was retaken at 9 a.m. and lost again around noon.

The attack of the 10th Corps (General Defforges) from the right wing of the Franchet d'Espérey Army enabled the 51st Division (General Boutegouard) to hold Soisy. The attack of the 9th Corps could not advance and had to stop north of the swamps, but they managed to hold their own front. The 11th Corps was initially supposed to play a defensive role on the right wing. The 9th Corps provided support from the left by attacking with General Moussy's Brigade (17th Division) in the direction of Aulnizeux and Vert-La-Gravelle. At 1:30 p.m. General Defforges, the leader of the 10th Corps, reported to the 5th Army High Command that he no longer had an enemy in front of his front and that the German troops had withdrawn to Montmirail. The left wing of the 9th Army fought on the Artonges - Montmirail - Marigny-le-Grand front line during the day. The 42nd Division was driven out of Talus-Saint-Prix and went back to the line Oyes to Mondemont. The German Xth Army Corps and the Guard drove back the vanguard of the French 9th Corps south of the St. Gond swamp. The German 1st Guard Division managed to occupy Bannes , because they came under heavy crossfire, they had to withdraw from the fire area of ​​the French artillery. Further to the east, the 2nd Guards Division was preparing to cross the Morains-le-Petit, but had to wait for 3rd Army support before another offensive movement was possible.

The French 4th Army was also in a heavy defensive battle that day. There was a gap of 30 kilometers between the left and right wing of the 9th Army, which was not recognized by the German AOK 3. General Langle de Cary was announced that this vacuum would be filled no later than September 8th by the arrival of the 21st Corps from Lorraine. In the evening the 11th Corps had to face the Saxon XII. Army Corps evacuated the places Écury-le-Repos and Normée and withdrew to the neighboring forest, the French 9th Cavalry Division withdrew in the direction of Mailly. The 60th Division, deprived of its artillery and two battalions, positioned the 120th Brigade at Semoine and Montépreux and the 119th Brigade in Villiers-Herbisse . The 18th Division (General Lefevre) brought in from Lorraine remained behind in the Euvy region as an army reserve, then when it reached the battlefield via Semoine and Villiers-Herbisse, it was transferred to the 11th Corps as reinforcement. General Foch had been instructed to keep his reserves available in this important area. The Moroccan division initially remained on the defensive. To the left of this was the battle for the ridge called "Signal du Poirier", which was lost by the French. On the right, Humbert's troops on the Oyes , Reuves and Broussy-le-Petit line withstood all attacks by the German 20th Division. The 11th Corps, urged by two German corps (XII. AK and XII. RK) to retreat, also forced the 17th Infantry Division to retreat south of the marshes of Saint-Gond in front of the German guard. In the evening it was announced at Foch headquarters that the 5th Army Corps were pursuing a successful offensive and that the 6th Army was waging a battle west of the Ourcq, the outcome of which was still undecided. The Germans saw their forces stopped, the right wing opposite the Ourcq was in poor condition, the left wing in Lorraine had got stuck. The only chance of gaining the victory saw the army command in a decisive blow on the wing of the 2nd and 3rd Armies in the swamps near St. Gond and Fere-Champenoise. The entire weight of the defense was thereby placed on the French 4th and 9th French armies.

7th of September

On September 7th, the struggle continued across the board. Despite concerns, the German high command ordered the attack to continue on the afternoon of September 7th: the IX. Army Corps of the 1st Army was to reach the area south of Château-Thierry by the evening of that day. In order to cover the exposed right wing of the 2nd Army, the 13th Infantry Division was assigned , then to the IX. Army Corps to occupy the Dollau section from Fontenelle to Montmirail; the 14th Infantry Division was instructed to position itself as a reserve to protect the army’s right flank north of Montmirail.

Despite the difficult fighting the previous day, General Foch intended to continue the attacks in order to support the offensive of the French left wing. Foch ordered the 11th Corps to advance north and northwest on the right flank, while the 9th Corps in the center would firmly block the marshes of Saint-Gond before its two corps would take turns attacking. The following fighting began first on the left flank, where the German 10th Army Corps attacked Soizy-aux-Bois in order to break through towards Sézanne . On the left the 42nd Division and the Moroccan Division were attacked along their entire front. La Villeneuve, which was lost to the German 19th Division, was soon taken back by the 151 Infantry Regiment. The French artillery fired at the German meetings in the Everglades of the yoke and Villevenard . To his left, the Cros and Fellert Brigade holds the Reuves , Oyes and Bois de Saint-Gond line. At around 10.15 a.m., the 162nd Infantry Regiment was pushed back from Soizy de Bois to the road to Montgivroux. The Moroccan division, which had lost the Ferme Montalard and Oyes, had to withdraw to the ridge north of Mondement. In order to contain the further threat, Foch ordered the 9th Corps to maintain contact with the 42nd Division at all costs and to stop the enemy breakthrough via Saint-Prix. The Moroccan division secured the front line from Mesnil - Broussy - Oyes and supported the 42nd division before Saint-Prix. A brigade of the 17th Division stopped at Broussy-le-Grand and its artillery dominated the approaches to Bannes and Aulnay-aux-Planches. The 52nd Division had positioned its artillery on Mont-Août and controlled the exits from the Marais de St. Gond north of Broussy-le-Grand and Bannes. During the morning fierce fighting broke out in Soizy-aux-Bois and in the surrounding forests. The Germans made some progress, but the 42nd Division, reinforced by the artillery of the 51st Division, attacked continuously and managed to hold positions 6 kilometers north of Sézanne. On the right, the German 19th Division attacked Mondement and the Allemant ridge, but the Moroccan division held their positions in the western part of the Saint-Gond marshes. The 42nd Division was attacked by strong forces from Saint-Prix towards La Villeneuve and Soisy. General Humbert knew that the Germans would go to great lengths to gain a foothold on the heights of Montgivroux. The Moroccan division was then forced to retreat along the entire front, giving up La Villeneuve on their left and Soisy-aux-Bois on their right. After a short artillery preparation, the 42nd Division began its attack: the village of Villeneuve was taken, but like the forest south of Soisy was lost again. A heavy fight continued over the castle of Montgivroux until late at night. A battalion of IR 90 (17th Division) attempted a diversionary attack north of the swamps. Soon you lost bannes, then you stormed Aulnizeux with the bayonet, but could not stay there and had to retreat again at night.

From 8 o'clock in the morning the right wing of the army, the 11th Corps, was attacked on its entire front, German guard troops appeared in front of Morains-Le-Petit, Écury-Le-Repos and especially in the direction of Lenharrée and Haussimont . The troops of the 11th Corps actually had orders to go on the offensive themselves in order to regain the positions they had lost the day before, but the Germans attacked with force so that it was impossible to make any progress. The 11th Corps (21st and 22nd Divisions) resisted the attacks and did not reveal any terrain. In the course of the day General Eydoux's troops joined the operation and advanced from the village of Clamanges and the heights south of it, to Pierre-Morains and Mont-Aimé, over the Morains-Le-Petit and through the Somme valley of Écury-Le-Repos. The 22nd Infantry Division (General Pambet) occupied Normée to the east, following the line to Lenharrée. One of the regiments of the 60th Reserve Division covered the right wing of the 11th Corps as far as Coole , another protected the road to Châlons and was reinforced by the 35th Artillery Regiment . The first available brigade of the 18th division had to attack the south-eastern projection of Pierre-Morains at Normée sur Clamanges and the 22nd division. The 21st Infantry Division (General Radiguet) reinforced by the 293 Infantry Regiment tried to advance on the line from Morains-le-Petit to Normée and had strong support from its own corps artillery.

In the center of the 9th Army, on the south bank of the marshes of Saint Gond, the day was marked only by artillery actions, which were quite lively. In the western part of the marshes, the troops of the German 2nd Army - the X. Army and Guard Corps - were already exhausted after the long marches and battles and were severely restricted by the French artillery, which hindered any movement. At around 5:00 p.m., the 42nd and Moroccan divisions tried again to recapture Soizy, the Bois de Saint-Gond and the lost Saint-Prix. This attack was met by heavy gunfire which the Germans had already positioned between the Bois de Saint-Gond and Montgivroux. When the fight ended around 6 p.m., the French troops held the southern part of the Bois de la Branle and the Montgivroux road, some parts were also in the forest of de Saint-Gond. Following the eastern part of the St. Gond swamps, the situation on the German 3rd Army was even worse. General von Hausen had to turn some of his troops (XIX. AK) further east to support the 4th Army on their right flank. The 3rd Army, weakened in effectiveness, was unable to make any progress on September 7th and suffered all day from the 75 mm cannon fire of the French artillery.

Karl von Plettenberg

Around 4:30 p.m., the IR 90 of the 17th Division, heading towards Aulnay-Aux-Planches, managed to storm the village of Aulnizeux, which the Germans took back shortly afterwards. But this action brought at least much-needed relief to the 11th Corps' left flank. On the right wing of the army, the 9th Cavalry Division was able to hold out at Villiers-Herbisse after Sommesous had been taken from the enemy. The 18th Division, including the brigade made available to the 11th Corps, was now available on both sides of the Fère-Champenoise-Normée road. The 60th Reserve Division was in a defensive position on the Montépreux plateau. The balance for the day of September 7 was similar to that of the previous day. The left of the 9th Army, thanks to the tenacity of its efforts, had stopped the adversary's advance; the center remained in its positions; the right was weakened and had lost to the Somme-Sou defensive line. Colonel-General von Hausen decided to launch an attack by 3rd Army the next day at 5:00 p.m. He considered it essential to limit the range of the French artillery batteries and, after a meeting with General von Plettenberg and von Kirchbach , ordered a frontal attack with the bayonet in the central sector at dawn in order to surprise the French. The attack should by General Hans von Kirchbach with a part of the XII. Reserve Corps, the Saxon XII. and the XIX. Army Corps to be led to the left. At 9.15 p.m. the chief of the German Army Command, General von Moltke, telegraphed his approval of the attack plan.

September 8th

Battle of the Marais de Saint-Gond, 1914

From morning to evening, the French 9th Army had to face repeated German attacks on September 8th. General von Hausen subordinated all attacking troops to the right wing under General Hans von Kirchbach. The 3rd Army's attack was suddenly launched at dawn without artillery preparation. The Saxons used the night to approach the French lines without being exposed to enemy fire and formed the attack columns a few hundred meters in front of the French lines at 4:30 a.m. without artillery preparation south of Morains-Le-Petit and at Écury-le Repos to begin the attack. Already at 6.15 a.m. the situation on the right wing of the French 9th Army seemed to be critical, the 11th Corps had been violently attacked. The soldiers of the Saxon XII. AK and XII. RK advanced at a run and with unloaded rifles and trusted in the power of the bayonet attack. At the same time on the right the attack was started by the 2nd Guard Division, which was supported by the 1st Guard Division, while the 32nd Infantry Division and the 23rd Reserve Division attacked on the left. The German infantry advanced through the swamps and achieved initial success. The German advance endangered the opposing field batteries posted in front, which had to give up their positions. The two divisions of the 11th Corps suffered heavy losses and retreated south.

On the left at 9th Corps, the Moroccan division resumed its attacks in the early hours of the morning. The German units drove their troops out of the village of Oyes at around 7 a.m. while the 42nd Division reached Saint-Prix, but then stagnated off the heights of Baye. The French eventually took Soizy-aux-Bois and Saint-Prix back, but the success was short-lived. Soon the Moroccan division had to withdraw and give up part of the marshes of Saint-Gond again. After the attack by the German Guard and the Saxons developed well, General von Emmich also had his X. Army Corps attacked in the direction of Mondement. The 19th Infantry Division tried to break through on the line Villeneuve-lès-Charleville, Les Essarts and Saint-Prix and the 20th Infantry Division wanted to reach Sezanne. The German Guard Corps fought with the French 17th Infantry Division, while the 1st Guard Division pushed through to Broussy-le-Grand and the 2nd Guard Division via Bergères and Morains-le-Petit towards Fere-Champenoise. The 21st and 22nd Divisions were surprised by the unexpected frontal attack and could not stop the Saxon infantry. The places Normée and Lenharrée were lost, German troops crossed the Somme-Soude and embraced the marshes of Saint-Gond from the east. The 21st Division, deployed on the left in the 11th Corps, flooded back to Fère-Champenoise and carried away part of the 52nd Reserve Division and 18th Division.

General Foch's army was in great danger; on the right the 11th Corps was in full retreat, while the center could only hold its own with great effort. At 12:00 noon, Prussian guard troops penetrated Fère-Champenoise, the Saxons occupied Sommesous on the left, the French returned here to Vesle . The 11th Corps was pushed back 10 km in the direction of Fère-Champenoise and Connantray and clung to the Maurienne-Graben, Corroy, Gourgançon and Semoine line. On the left flank, communication with the 9th Corps at Connantre could be maintained. General Eydoux tried to counter-attack, his troops were able to hold on to the heights south of Fère-Champenoise, while the bulk of the 18th Division south of Connantray was assembled for a counter-attack to take Fère-Champenoise back. With the 18th Division and the 52nd Reserve Division, the French managed to organize a new line of defense. The advance in open formation by French artillery fire had also brought heavy losses to the Saxons. General von Hausen found that the surprise attack had turned into a "difficult and slow forward movement".

The French 42nd Division went on the offensive again thanks to a flank attack by the 5th Army against the German XAK and occupied La Villeneuve, Soisy, the left flank was advanced to Corfélix. The German artillery made the positions at Saint-Prix untenable, so that General Blondlat's brigade evacuated the place around 6 p.m. and retreated to Allemant via Oye and Reuves. The Germans followed immediately and advanced in the direction of Mondement. Despite these difficulties and the threatened attacks at the western end of the swamps, which hindered the availability of the 9th Corps, Foch still regarded nothing as lost, he saw the situation as "excellent" and ordered the offensive to be resumed. The 42nd Division attacked, became master of the Bois de Soizy-Aux-Bois at 11 a.m. and advanced in conjunction with 10th Corps on the plateau of La Villeneuve on Corfélix and Boissy. Around noon, the French left reached the Les Culots, Corfélix region, supported by the 51st Reserve Division of the 10th Corps. At 2 p.m. the Germans launched a heavy bombardment of the French line at Broussy-Le-Petit, Ménil-Broussy, Reuves, Oyes and Saint-Prix, and half an hour later the infantry attacked. They captured Broussy-Le-Petit and Ménil-Broussy and forced the Moroccan division to retreat to the line on the eastern edge of the Bois de Saint-Gond - Montgivroux - Mondement - Bois and on to Croup d'Allemant. During these events General Foch organized the counter-attack with two regiments of the 52nd Reserve Division on Fère-Champenoise, which was supported by five artillery groups. The attack was supported on the right by the units of the 21st and 18th Divisions, only a few parts of the 52nd Reserve Division were able to penetrate temporarily in Fère-Champenoise. In the 11th Corps, a gap in the front of Montépreux was closed and the 9th Cavalry Division attempted to maneuver Mailly on the Sommesou Strait. The connection to the 4th Army remained fragile, as the Saxon troops had also occupied Sompuis.

Strong British and French forces advanced into the gap between the 1st and 2nd German Army around noon. On that day, Colonel-General von Bülow was no longer able to close the gap to the 1st Army with his right flank; rather, he had to withdraw the 13th Division behind the Surmelin sector that day because of the endangerment of his right flank . As a result, the gap to the 1st Army that had already arisen as a result of Kluck's maneuvers had increased to 40 kilometers. In the evening Foch returned to his new headquarters in Plancy and ordered the 11th and 9th Corps to be firmly established in the positions they had captured. At 17:00 Foch asked General de Langle de Cary to support his right wing, in particular the newly arrived 21st Corps (General Legrand) should be deployed in the direction of Sommesous, where the 9th Cavalry Division had retreated. General de Langle replied that the 21st Corps was attacking in a northerly direction, but that the distance between the two armies was too great to intervene effectively. It was only at 9.10 p.m. that General Franchet d'Esperey from the 5th Army was able to promise troop aid by extending his right wing with the 10th Corps. Thanks to this measure, Foch was able to pull the 42nd Division out of the front on the following day and release it as a reserve for the threatened central sector.

the 9th of September

Saint Gond marshland

On the morning of September 9th, the French 11th Corps was on the heights south of Fère-Champenoise. General Franchet d'Espèrey had transferred his 10th Corps (19th and 20th Divisions) to the 9th Army on his right wing for a counterattack. The German troops doubled the strength of their attacks at dawn. In order to deceive the French and to slow their pursuit, the Germans first resumed the attacks, which again endangered the position of the French 9th Army. The 22nd Division had to hold the hill position on the Cote 177 2.5 km from Semoine and had to endure the German artillery fire from Mailly. At about 6 a.m. the hard-pressed Moroccan division was given the corps reserve; only the 77th Infantry Regiment was still in Saint-Loup , two miles away. During the morning the German infantry attacked Montépreux and tried to bypass the French defense in the east. The 9th Cavalry Division was forced to retreat into the forest south of Semoine. To save the necessary time, General Humbert received reinforcements from General Grossetti, whose troops were replaced by the right wing of the 10th Corps. German artillery bombed the edges of the forests of Montdement and Montgivroux, the German troops managed to take both positions. Grossetti, in conjunction with the Moroccan division, attacked the villages of Saint-Prix, Les Culots, Soizy-aux-Bois, six batteries supported by Mondement. Two battalions of hunters and artillery of the 42nd Division brought relief to the Moroccan division, which made it possible to increase the resistance in the woods south of Mondemont. At 6:30 am, progress was slowed by German artillery fire, but reached the Farm de Saint-Georges, Hill 130 and the Vaure Valley. The German 2nd Guard Division was able to advance on Morains-le-Petit, the 24th Reserve Division reinforced the troops in Fere-Champenoise. At the same time the 23rd Infantry Division occupied Lenharree and managed to move part of its own artillery to the other bank of the Somme. The 23rd Reserve Division supported the attack by storming Sommesous and the heights south of the village. The French 22nd Division kept to the line Lenharree, Chapelaine, Vassimont, Haussimont. The 60th Reserve Division reinforced the positions and organized the defense of infantry regiments 174 and 182 on the Gourgançon, Semoine, Herbisse and Villiers-Herbisse lines. The two French divisions were instructed to hold their positions at all costs. Supported by the entire divisional artillery, General Humbert organized the attack by the Moroccan division on Oyes and Saint-Prix. At 7 a.m. most of the targets except Saint-Prix were captured, but the new positions were fired at by German artillery. The 1st Brigade of the Moroccan Division deployed on the right attacked on the Oyes, Reuves, Broussy-le-Petit line and in Mesnil-Broussy. In the course of the morning the progress of the French 20th Infantry Division was stopped by the fire of the heavy artillery. The 40th Brigade got stuck in front of Thoult and suffered heavy losses. The 39th Brigade on the left stood from Corfélix to the west of Thoult in Boissy-le-Repos and the edge of Bannay.

From 10 a.m. the German artillery fire intensified. The 104th Brigade of the 52nd Reserve Division had to evacuate the Mont-Août and withdrew to the hill 182 and the place Chalmont. The soldiers of the Prussian Guard attacked again with order and discipline, advanced south of Fère-Champenoise and managed to capture the village of Connantre. The 18th and 22nd divisions returned to the left bank of the Maurienne at 10 a.m., where they were reorganized. Meanwhile, the right flank and the center of the 9th Corps were under heavy pressure from German attacks. The 21st Division deployed on the left suffered severely from the heavy bombardment of German artillery and although increasingly isolated, it continued to hold out on the right thanks to its alignment with the Maurienne section. At dawn the 103rd Brigade (52nd Reserve Division), which had retreated between Connantre and Fère-Champenoise in the evening, resumed its attacks on the Fère station. But they could not make any further progress and the artillery battle raged on unhindered.

General Dubois ordered the 17th Division to hold the line behind the Mont-Août at Ferme Nozet and Ferme St.-Sophie at all costs. The enemy artillery made the situation critical. In a surprise attack, the Hanoverian 19th Division under General Hofmann captured Mondement. Foch had to leave his headquarters when the Germans reached the nearby village of Connantre. The 18th Division held with the 35th Brigade on the Gourgançon and Euvy line, the 34th Brigade was thrown back and suffered heavy losses from fire. During the afternoon, German attacks came west of Gourgançon via the Maurienne. At around 11 a.m. the 77th Infantry Regiment was called in from the reserve. On the left, however, the French 10th Corps sent by the 5th Army gained ground, crossed the Petit Morin and put the Germans returning here under pressure.

After the appearance of Lieutenant Colonel Hentsch, sent by the OHL, and due to the general situation, Colonel General von Bülow made the decision that morning at his headquarters in Champaubert to begin the general withdrawal of his army. At 11:40 am the 42nd Infantry Division began to attack Saint-Prix and the 51st Reserve Division in the direction of Corfélix. At first, the infantry failed to get out of the forest to reach Saint-Prix. In the course of the afternoon a new attack by the 151st Regiment was set up on Forges, the 51st Reserve Division was able to storm Corfélix. Before the 11th Corps withdrew, General Dubois ordered the 17th Division and 52nd Reserve Division to establish a line of defense between Broussy-le-Grand, Bannes and Mt. Aout.

By noon the 11th Corps was newly established south of the Maurienne section between Congy and Semoine, with the 18th division in the middle, on the left with the 21st division and on the right with the 22nd division. The 18th Division was to deploy 6 battalions on Connantray to regain the ground lost by the 21st Division the day before. The 22nd division then had to reach the connection with the 60th division west of Montépreux between Connantray and Maltournée Farm.

The contested Château de Montdement

Against the 11th Corps, new German attacks launched across the Vaure and occupied Corroy and Agnes. Part of the 18th division was pushed south of Gourgançon into the forest. On the left wing, however, the Moroccan division successfully continued to oppose on the heights of Mondement. The village and castle of Mondement became the focal point of the battle: the French 77th Infantry Regiment, with the support of the Zouaves who were to attack the west side, were instructed to attack from the south side in order to regain this base. The 42nd Infantry Division occupied the Château de Montgivroux on the edge of the Bois de Montdement, the division advanced further towards the Bois d'Allemant to support the attack of the Moroccan division on the Château de Montdement. Several attacks were started from 2:30 p.m. and then at 3:00 p.m. the château was unsuccessfully attacked by the units of the Moroccan division and 77th infantry regiment.

In the course of the day General Foch ordered the 9th Corps to take back Fere-Champenoise as well. Five battalions of the 103rd Brigade (52nd Reserve Division) advanced on the Sézanne-Fère-Champenoise road and were supported by 4 battalions of the 135th Infantry Regiment (17th Division). The intensity of the German artillery fire prevented quick successes, the French troops could only reach the southwestern edge of Fère-Champenoise in the evening. In accordance with Foch's instructions, the Moroccan division was deployed there and with the help of the IR 77 not only held its ground, but was also able to recapture the chateau there and push the enemy back onto the swamps in the evening. Regardless of the dangerous situation of the 11th Corps, Foch intended to continue the offensive with the 42nd Division of Connantre and Euvy, and the 9th Corps was to take part in the attack on the Morain road, Fère-Champenoise.

At 1:45 p.m. Foch ordered a counterattack from Pleurs to the northeast to be prepared. The 42nd Division had marched from the left wing of the army towards the center at 7 a.m. and arrived at the front between Linthes-Pleurs as reinforcement at 2:30 p.m. The attack should be the signal for all other divisions to move forward again. At 13:30 the 52nd Reserve Division, which held the Mont-Aout, was pushed back, which led to the fact that the entire 17th Division, which was newly formed three kilometers behind Linthes, also withdrew. The 17th Division held on to this position, where the enemy offensive was topped. In the late afternoon the 18th Division attacked the Cote 169 southwest of Connantray and occupied the Cote 162 2.5 km north of La Fere-Champenoise. The 22nd Division on the right side of the front lies on the heights of Semoine on hills 140 and held at the crossroads of the Semoine, Villiers-Herbisse and Semoine paths in Mailly. The measures against Fère Champenoise were central. In this connection, Foch sent his chief of staff, Colonel Weygand, to Linthelles. A meeting was held in this village at 4 p.m. next to the Chief of Staff of the 9th Army, General Dubois and General Grossetti. General Dubois prepared the offensive of the 9th Corps to set up the regiments of the 17th Division at Nozet and Morains-le-Petit. The French troops advanced again, occupied the Mont-Août and the Nozet farm and reached the forest north of the road that connected Fère-Champenoise with Sézanne. The 9th Cavalry Division had held their positions in the Huitrelle Valley all afternoon. The 1st Cuirassier Brigade stood on both sides of the road to Arcis and covered the right wing of the 60th Infantry Division.

Grossetti appeared with his troops around 5 p.m. and changed the whole situation. The 42nd Division was assigned the Connantre-Connantray line, then the Normée-Lenharrée line should be crossed. Since it was of the utmost importance that the right flank of the 42nd Division was perfectly supported, the 11th Corps had to advance on Sommesous and Lenharrée, the 9th Cavalry Division on Mailly. The 42nd Division was set up between Lenharrée - Normée and the 9th Corps against the Normée-Écury, Morains-Le-Petit line. The 10th Corps, which joined at Montfort, was to attack at Étoges and Villevenard in a general direction Colligny-Bergères-Les-Vertus.

In the late afternoon, the 21st Division re-occupied those lost positions that had been evacuated from Connantre and Conay by German troops. In the meantime, the German retreat had started on the right wing of the Saxons and at 5 p.m. the infantry of the German 2nd Army began to clear the conquered swamps of Saint-Gond. The 42nd Division attacked at 17:15 from the Linthes and Pleurs line on Connantre and Moulin de Connantre (north of Corroy). The 11th Corps was instructed to support this attack on the right with frontal attacks. As soon as the withdrawal of German troops was determined, the 60th Reserve Division began the pursuit. At 6 p.m. the artillery fire raged on the entire front, the entire available artillery of the French was used. West of the marshes of Saint Gond, the 10th Corps also gained ground, while the 1st Corps further north reached the La Chapelle - Champaubert line. At 6:30 p.m. IR 77 (Colonel Lestoquoi) retook the village and castle of Mondement. On the evening of September 9, Foch had prescribed that the counterattacks should continue with all their might the following day. Originally planned for September 9 at 5.15 p.m., the counteroffensive was finally postponed to the next day. To this end, seven divisions of the 9th and 11th Corps were concentrated and all reserves were deployed. The final details of the attack for the next day have been finalized.

The German withdrawal

Withdrawal from the Marne to the Aisne

September 10

On the morning of September 10th, at 5:00 a.m., the 11th Corps, 42nd Infantry Division and 10th Corps began the advance. The 9th Army was freed from German pressure on its left wing in the swamp of Saint-Gond and was able to take the offensive without reservation. The 9th Corps had to advance together with the 10th Corps over the northern edge of the marshes from Saint-Gond to Etoges and Colligny. The German cavalry patrols withdrew without a fight. The troops of the 9th Corps occupied the line from Morains-Le Petit and Fère-Champenoise from 5 a.m., while the 42nd Division advanced from Connantre to Connantray. The 11th Corps followed further south, while to the right of the Army the 9th Cavalry Division pointed forward towards Mailly and the 21st Corps of the 4th Army was four kilometers away from Sompuis. As a result, the entire 9th Army was on its way to the Marne of the Châlons region. The advances made at Fère-Champenoise put General Foch in a position to move the 10th Corps with the 51st Reserve Division quickly on to Étoges . Foch instructed General L`Espee to unite with the newly arrived 6th Cavalry Division on the advance on Châlons and to form a cavalry corps. At noon Foch moved his headquarters to Fère-Champenoise, the German troops had devastated and sacked the city. The 1st Guard Division returned to Vertus on September 10th via Aulnay-Colligny, the 2nd Guard Division via Moraines le Petit-Bergéres. Small skirmishes with the German rearguard that began here did not allow rapid progress. On the evening of September 10th, troops of the French 9th Army met the German rearguard, which was attacked during the night at Clamanges and Trécon .

September 11

On the morning of September 11th the road was clear and the movement of the 9th Army encountered almost no resistance. The beginning of the withdrawal of the German 3rd Army went almost smoothly: The Saxon XIX. Army Corps under General von Laffert set out first, the Saxon XII. Army Corps under General d'Elsa followed, both were added to the 2nd Army in the northwestern apron of Reims. The Saxon XII. Reserve Corps under General von Kirchbach crossed the Marne undisturbed at Condé and Vraux under the protection of the rear guards of the 23rd Division. General Foch urged the units under my command to reach the Marne as quickly as possible and to get their hands on the crossing points in their respective zones during the day: the 9th Corps in Aulnay-sur-Marne and downstream; the 42nd Infantry Division at Matougues; the 11th Corps with the cavalry in Mairy, Sogny, Châlons. While the 5th Army wanted to cross the Marne at Dormans with the 1st Corps, the 10th Corps was supposed to march to Épernay on September 11th and establish contact with the 1st Corps. At dusk, the 9th Army reached the Écury-Le-Repos, Lenharrée, Poivres-Sainte-Suzanne line. On the left, the right wing of the 5th Army reached the Marne near Dormans, but without maintaining contact with the 9th Army. On the left flank of the 4th Army, the 21st Corps was still in the Sompuis area. Now the German troops withdrew from the entire front of the 4th Army, and at the end of that day the 21st Corps was able to advance its vanguard on the Marne in the direction of Mairy. On the evening of September 11th, the 9th Corps reached the Marne Valley at Plivot and Athis. The 42nd Infantry Division reached the wooded area north of Germinon, Velye, Avantgarde in Thibie. The 11th Corps camped in front of the line Thibie-Écury - Coole; the 18th division even advanced elements to Châlons. The cavalry corps sent detachments to the bridges from the Marne to Châlons and upstream. The reconnaissance found the Marne Bridge in Châlons intact but barricaded.

12th September

On September 12th at 5 a.m. the whole front of the 9th Army was resumed as the Marne was approached between Sarry and Condé. The avant-garde reached the Marne without enemy resistance, the march was only slowed down by bad weather, and at Damery and Epernay they managed to occupy the bridges. These were destroyed on the entire front of the army; only the crossings at Châlons and Songy-aux-Moulins remained intact. General de Langle gave his left wing the order to force the Marne crossing between Vitry and Châlons. The right wing received orders to gain a foothold north of Saulx and Ornain. The 5th Army also hit two points of the new German front system, one east of Epernay and Reims, the other northwest of Soissons. The commander of the 5th Army therefore took over the 10th Corps on September 12 under his own command. The 11th Corps crossed the evacuated city of Châlons with all three divisions marching in double columns. The three left army corps (21st, 17th, 12th Corps) of the 4th Army cross the Marne in the Vitry-le-François area. To the right of this the colonial corps passed the river without difficulty at Saulx and Ornain. General Foch's entry into Châlons took place on September 12th, he stayed in the Hotel de haute-mère-Dieu, where the personalities of the Saxon Army previously resided. In the evening the army front was a little north of the Reims-Bar-le-Duc road between La Cheppe and Nettancourt.

On the evening of September 12th, the 9th Army reached with its vanguard: Isse and the Grand Loges (9th Corps), Vadenay, Cuperly and Camp d'Atila (11th Corps). The 9th Cavalry Division could neither overcome a German rearguard at Lepine, nor reach their march destination Tilloy. Due to successive delays in their movements, the tasks set by the cavalry corps were missed. to attack the opposing columns in the north. The cavalry was redirected to Bussy-Le-Château, La Cheppe. The 9th Corps had worked all night to restore the partially destroyed Marne crossings at Condé, Tours and Bisseuil, and began to cross the river at 9 a.m. The 42nd Division put down an infantry bridge at Matougues and led one of their brigades across the river. General Foch's new command post was installed in Chaintrix-Bierges. Parts of the 9th Cavalry Division had been sent ahead to Lépine, Tilloy, Auve, Marson, Moivre, Herpont, and in the evening the 6th Cavalry Division reached the Herpont and Dommartin-Sur-Yèvre line.

13.september

On September 13th, the French 9th Army continued the pursuit to reach the Py and Suippe Sections . In advance the cavalry corps found Suippes and Somme-Suippe still in the possession of the Germans around 9 a.m. After the arrival of the avant-garde of the 22nd Infantry Division and the left column of the 21st Corps of the 4th Army at 2 p.m. both places were occupied by the French, the cavalry advanced again towards Souain , where new German resistance at the edge of the forest between the Suippe and Ain stop. After fighting by the 11th Corps on the Suippe, the 9th Corps near Prosnes and on the Marquesas , the 9th Army and the Cavalry Corps were disbanded on the evening of the 13th day. The pursuit on the left wing was resumed on September 14th to reach the Aisne if possible. The movement towards Aisne met strong German resistance on September 13 and 14, and several attacks on September 15 failed. In the Battle of the Aisne , unsuccessful attempts to break through the German front from September 16 to 25 followed. The following day the attacks were stopped due to a lack of ammunition.

Commemoration

Head of the menhir
Relief with Joffre at the base

After the war, a 33-meter-high monument was erected in Mondement to commemorate the French victory on the Marne. The artefact, made of 2,000 tons of reinforced concrete, was designed by the architect Bigot, modeled by Bouchard and deliberately resembles a Breton menhir. Joffres famous attack order of September 6th is engraved on the north wall together with the battle order of the armies on the south wall. At the foot of the north wall there is a relief sculpture with the commanders of the army. In the middle there is an oversized Joffre and a Poilu . On the right (east) there are life-size reliefs of Generals Sarrail (3rd Army), de Langle de Cary (4th) and Foch (9th). To their left (west) are Franchet d'Esperey (5th), Sir John French (BEF), Maunoury (6th) and Gallieni (Army of Paris). The monument, together with the church and castle of Mondement, forms an outstanding memorial site of the First World War.

literature

  • Charles Le Goffic: General Foch at the Marne: An Account of the Fighting in and Near the Marshes of Saint-Gond. EP Dutton 1918, reprinted by Fb & C Limited 2017, ISBN 0331626179 , 9780331626179
  • Ferdinand Foch: Mémoire pour servir à l'histoire de la guerre 1914–1918, Paris 1931
  • Gabriel Hanotaux: La bataille de la Marne: Tome II
  • George Herbert Perris: The Battle of the Marne, John W. Luce & Co., Boton 1920, Michelin & Cie 1920, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/55221/55221-h/55221-h.htm

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