Allen L. Churchill

"THE RACE TO THE SEA"

The Germans, having failed in their first enveloping movement, attempted a second after the battle of the Marne. They tried to repeat their maneuver of August, endeavoring to overwhelm the French left; while the French, on their side, tried to overwhelm the German right. Each of these armies, by a converging movement, gradually drew its forces toward the west. No sooner did the Germans bring up a new corps on their right than the French brought up another on their left. Thus the front of the battle ascended more and more to the west and north until arriving at the sea it could go no farther. This is what has been called by French military critics "The Race to the Sea." In this race to the sea the Germans had a great advantage over the French. A glance at the map is enough to make it understood. The concave form of the German front made the lines of transportation shorter; they were within the interior of the angle, while the French were at the exterior. On the German side this movement drew into the line more than eighteen army corps, or twelve active corps, six reserve corps, and four cavalry corps.

These German soldiers are dragging a great siege gun into position for use in refortifying the city of Antwerp.

On the French side it resulted in the posting of the army of Castelnau on the left of Manoury's army, in the deployment of the army of General de Maud'huy to the left of the army of Castelnau, in the transference of the British army to the left of the army of Maud'huy, in the relegation of the army of Urbal to the left of the British army, the army of Urbal being later flanked by the Belgian army which came out of Antwerp. In order to accomplish this new and extended disposition of forces the French General Staff was compelled to reduce to their extreme limits the effective strengths of the armies of the east and of the Oise, and as a result to make the maximum use of the means of transport. In this it succeeded. When the great battle of Flanders was waged toward the end of October, the Germans, trying to turn the French left and to pierce it, found themselves facing considerable French forces, which, allied with the British and Belgian armies, completely barred the passage against them.

From the 15th of September, 1914, it was clear that the Germans were making a great effort to try and overwhelm the French left. General Joffre parried the attack, reenforcing at first the army of Manoury by an army corps, then transferring to the left of the army of Manoury the entire army of Castelnau that was in Lorraine. A corps of cavalry and four territorial divisions commanded by General BrugÈre received the order to establish itself on both banks of the Somme and protect the detraining of the army of Castelnau.

From September 21 to September 26, 1914, all the French forces that had newly arrived were engaged in the Lassigny-Reye-PÉronne region. They succeeded in withstanding, not without difficulty, the German attack, but they could not advance. The Germans determinedly and unweariedly continued to mass new forces on their right. On the left of the army of Castelnau it was therefore necessary to establish a new army. It was established on September 30, 1914, under the command of General Maud'huy. From the first days of October this army waged violent conflicts in the region of Arras and of Lens. It found facing it two German cavalry corps, the Guard, four active army corps, and two reserve corps.

General Joffre continued without intermission to send new forces to the left. On October 4, 1914, he called on General Foch in the north and charged him with the duty of coordinating the action of all the armies in that region: those of De Castelnau, Maud'huy, and the territorial divisions. At the beginning of October the British army, which was posted on the Aisne, was transferred to the left of the French armies and replaced by the armies of Manoury and d'EspÉrey. The Belgian army, issuing from Antwerp on October 9, 1914, effected its retreat, covered by the British naval forces and 6,000 French marines. It took its place on the Yser Canal between Nieuport and Dixmude. The Germans continuing their efforts to turn the French left, it was found necessary again to strengthen that left considerably; and new French army corps were transferred to Flanders and Belgium. It was a new French army that was established and the command of it was intrusted to General d'Urbal. It consisted at first of two divisions of territorials and four divisions of cavalry of the corps of General de Mitry, along with a brigade of naval fusiliers. But from October 27 to November 11, 1914, it received considerable reenforcements.

During the second week in November the German attack revealing its purpose more clearly, General Joffre sent four more battalions of chasseurs and four more brigades of infantry. The reenforcements sent to the French army of the north totaled as a result five army corps, a division of cavalry, a territorial division, sixteen cavalry regiments, and more than sixty pieces of heavy artillery.[Back to Contents]