Battle of Lorraine

On the morning of August 15, 1914, General de Castelnau's Second French army moved rapidly toward the Lorraine border on a front extending from the Grand Cauronne to the Vosges. In the van of this advance was the 20th Corps, commanded by General Ferdinand Foch, the incomparable strategist who was destined four years later to lead all the Allied armies to a glorious victory.

The French army aimed at seizing the Metz-Strasburg railroad, and especially the junction at Saarburg, in order to cut the direct communication between the armies of Prince Rupert and von HeerinGeneral The actual frontier line was then held by a mere screen of enemy troops, the main German army occupying an entrenched position of great strength in the hilly country a few miles back of the border.

General Foch's 20th Corps, across the frontier, advanced in two columns, the left aiming at Delme, the right at Chateau Salins, both driving the German outpost guards before them. Bridges were thrown across the Seille River and the corps crossed to the German side before night.

General Espinasse's 15th Corps, meanwhile, was moving toward the lake region, and General Taverna's 16th Corps on Saarburg, with General Conneau's cavalry division guarding its right flank and exploring the wooded uplands in front. On the extreme right, a division of Dubail's army was co-operating in the move on Saarburg.

The German frontier forces continued to fall back slowly during the next two days, fighting delayed actions on a large scale, but leaving neither guns nor prisoners in the hands of the French. General Foch's right column seized Chateau Salins on the 18th and his left column occupied Delme, thus controlling the junction of the Nancy-Morhange railway with the frontier line to Metz. The French center, advancing through the lake region, was approaching the main Metz- Strasburg railway; the French right wing had occupied Saarburg Junction.

On the 19th, the French advance came under heavy artillery ...

On August 19, 1914, the 7th Company of the French 153d Infantry made an approach march of some three miles in the preliminary phase of the Battle of Morhange. The 4th Platoon of this company numbered about fifty-five menforty of them regulars and the rest reserves who had been called to the colors three weeks before. These reservists had forgotten much of their former training, and consequently lacked the dependability, confidence and aggressiveness of the other members of the platoon.

The platoon advanced some two miles under continuous artillery fire but, thanks to a combination of good leading and good luck, lost only two men. The remainder of the 7th Company was not so fortunate; it lost 33.

Late in the afternoon the platoon reached the reverse slope of a bare hill which had to be crossed. The crest, though out of small-arms range, was within easy range of the German artillery. A company to the left of the platoon attempted to cross in skirmish line and was shot to pieces. The platoon witnessed this.

The platoon leader studied the terrain carefully. He noted a ravine at the foot of the forward slope that offered fairly good protection. The only cover from the crest down to this ravine was a line of grain shocks spaced at intervals of four or five yards. The platoon leader decided to move his unit to the ravine a man at a time, taking advantage of the cover offered by the shocks. He led the way and directed his platoon to follow. On reaching the ravine he took cover and waited for the platoon to rejoin him. One by one they filed in. The enemy had not fired a single shot. Nevertheless, a check revealed `12 men missing-all reservists. The platoon leader had not left anyone behind to see that all men made the forward movement.

From studies on the advance of infantry under artillery fire by Major André Laffargue, Prench Army. Major Laffaergue commanded the 4th Platoon of the 71h Company.

DISCUSSION. The formation adopted for crossing the crest was u...

The Battle of Lorraine was fought in August, 1914, between France and Germany. This followed Plan XVII, which proposed a French offensive through Lorraine and Alsace, and into Germany itself.

French Offensive

The main French offensive in the west, known as the Battle of Lorraine, was launched on 14 August. The First Army of General Auguste Dubail was to advance on Sarrebourg, while the Second Army of General de Castelnau headed towards Morhange. On the 17th, the XXth Corps (General Foch) captured Château Salins near Morhange, while Sarrebourg was captured on the 18th. However, after four days of retreat in order to lure the french armies into German territory, the German Sixth and Seventh Armies under the combined command of Crown Prince Rupprecht launched a counter-attack; Rupprecht was in charge of the German forces assigned to meet and engage the French assault in the centre until they could be enveloped by the encircling German right wing. The German rearguards, equipped with machine guns, inflicted heavy casualties on the French infantry, still wearing their early 19th-century uniform of blue coat and red trousers.

German Counteroffensive

Crown Prince Rupprecht, dissatisfied with the defensive role assigned to him, petitioned his superiors to allow him a counter-offensive. On August 20, the offensive began and Auguste Dubail ordered his army to withdraw from Morhange. Seeing this, Noel de Castelnau's army pulled out of Sarrebourg. The Germans didn't halt at the border and instead marched on to try to take Nancy. Ferdinand Foch's XX Corps managed to defend Nancy successfully, halting the German offensive. To the north, Mulhouse was retaken, but it was abandoned as the French gave up on Plan XVII.

The battle lapsed into stalemate until August 24th, when a limited German offensive was launched. The French had been alerted beforehand by scouting aircraft and so German gains were limited to a small salient. The following day, even that was lost whe...