Part 13

We are now following the course of the attacking troops who left Bannes under a murderous fire from the heavy artillery and machine-guns. When the road became too dangerous, they entered the marshes and advanced painfully up to their waists in water. Some disappeared suddenly, swallowed up by the bogs. They succeeded eventually in reaching Coizard and, after fighting in the streets and houses, drove off the Germans, and began to assail the slopes which dominate the village. But the enemy had here a crushing superiority, and after a seven-hours' fight the French were obliged to retire across the marshes, pursued by the dropping fire of the batteries on the northern bank which raked the narrow causeways. The Germans wished to push home their advantage and take foot on the southern bank, and accordingly began to cross the marshes by the Coizard-Bannes road. Their losses were heavy, for the machine-guns and "75's" directed a cross-fire on them. They came on nevertheless and reached Bannes, but when they endeavoured to advance on Mont-Août, they were met by so fierce a fire that they were obliged to draw back into the village. Mont-Août did not fall until September 9, having been outflanked on the south.

Cross the Morin, whose bridge was destroyed at the beginning of the battle (photograph opposite), then leaving the soft ground of the marshes, cross one of the drained parts whose number increases every year; thus reducing considerably the original swamp which comprised all the hollow.

_On reaching =Coizard=, turn first to the left, then to the right in order to arrive at the church (24 km.)._

The villages on the north of the marshes suffered less than those on the south, for the French bombardment was less intense than the German. A few houses were however destroyed in Coizard (view above).

_Turn to the left this side of the church (the road, is visible in the above photograph) and continue to follow_ G. C. 43 _for 1 km. as far as =Joches=. At the corner of the farm_, of which the view below shows the interior, and which was burnt by the Germans, _turn to the right towards Congy, thus leaving the marshes_.

(_If pressed for time, instead of turning to the right, continue on the road, along the marshes by Courjeonnet and Villevenard, thus reaching Saint-Prix. The distance by the direct road is about 6 km.; going round by Congy it is 16 km._).

_In =Congy= (30 km.) follow the main street, turning to the right before reaching the town-hall, then to the left to cross the railway._

On September 5 and 6 the Ninth Corps, who still had outposts at Toulon and at Vert, tried to extend its line towards Congy. Blondlat's Brigade of the Moroccan Division crossed to the north bank and attempted to gain Congy by Joches and Courjeonnet. The difficulties were great, for the German artillery swept the slopes. The attack failed in the end and the brigade was obliged to re-cross the marshes. During the battle the German heavy guns on the heights commanding Congy pounded the French positions on the opposite side of the marshes.

_About 2 km. beyond Congy we meet the "Route nationale" 33 and turn into it, to the left, towards =Champaubert=, which is 2.7 km. further on._

On the left is the column commemorating Napoléon's victory in 1814. Champaubert Farm where he slept is a grey house with red-brick facings standing opposite the column on N. 33.

_On arriving at the column, turn to the left into N. 51, in the direction of Baye._

In Baye (37½ km.) on the left is to be seen the interesting thirteenth century church, which has recently been restored (photograph opposite), 900 _yards further on is the castle, of which a view is given below_. It was the birthplace of Marion Delorme, who there passed a tranquil childhood before becoming acquainted with the feverish life of the courtesan.

The castle is the property of the Baron de Baye, and contained many rich archæological and artistic treasures. It was inhabited by a member of the German Imperial family from September 5 to 9, and was pillaged methodically.

The following is the report of the Inquiry Commission:

_"Having repaired to Baye Castle, we verified the traces of the pillage which this edifice has suffered. On the first floor, a door leading to a room which adjoins the gallery where the proprietor had amassed valuable works of art had been broken in; four glass cases had been broken, another opened. According to the declarations of the caretaker, who, in her master's absence, was not able to inform us of the full extent of the damage, the principal objects stolen were Russian gems and gold medals. We noticed that tablets covered with black velvet, belonging doubtless to the glass cases, had been dismantled of part of the jewels which they formerly bore._

_"The Baron of Baye's room was in a state of great disorder. Numerous objects were strewn about on the floor and in drawers which had been left open. A flat-topped secrétaire had been broken into. A Louis XVI. 'commode' and round-topped desk of the same period had been rifled. This room was doubtless occupied by a person of high rank, for on the floor still remained chalked the following inscription: 'I. K. Hoheit.' Nobody could tell us exactly who was this 'Highness,' but a general who lodged in the house of M. Houillier, one of the town councillors, told his host that the castle had sheltered the Duke of Brunswick (William II.'s son-in law) and the staff of the Tenth Corps."_

N. 51 now descends into the valley of the Petit Morin. From September 5 to 9, the German reserves followed closely on each other along this road, hastening to the attack on the Plateau of Sézanne.

_After having passed the little station of Talus-Saint-Prix, we arrive at the bridge over the Morin._

This bridge, forming the narrow bottle-neck in which the German attack was to be precipitated, constitutes one of the most interesting points of the battlefield. It is here that the marshes come to an end, and the Morin continues its course along a gradually narrowing valley. The view above, taken from the bridge eastwards, shows the river leaving the marshes. The tree stump in the foreground, which has now disappeared, recalls the successive bombardments, French and German, which the bridge experienced. The other view is taken westwards.

From the heights which form the background of the two photographs, the German cannon rained shells on the French positions on the southern edge of the marshes.

The heights of Saint-Prix form the northern edge of the Plateau of Sézanne, on which depended the liaison between the Fifth and Ninth French Armies. The Germans had bitten into the plateau on the west and on the north-west at Esternay, Charleville, and La Villeneuve, which we have already visited. They tried to complete their success by attacking also on the point now before us.

On the left of the road (view above) may be seen the little Chapel of Saint-Prix, below Botrait Woods. On the bare part of the summit are the remains of the trenches in which the Germans had placed machine-guns. Further to the left is the "Crête du Poirier" which was so bitterly disputed. To the right of the road (view below) appear the woods of the Grandes-Garennes which clothe the heights towards Corfélix.

On N. 51, in the Woods of Botrait and the Grandes-Garennes, attacks and counter-attacks followed each other during four days. The thickets were the scene of fierce hand-to-hand struggles. In the rare clearings the combatants sheltered themselves in hastily-dug trenches. This stubborn resistance exasperated the Germans; and after the battle witnesses found a company of Algerian sharp-shooters whose brains had been beaten out by blows from the butt-end of rifles. This fact is vouched for by the Inquiry Commission. Other corpses belonging to the same regiment had been placed in a ring round a fire which had burnt all the heads.

The battle continued until the French, after having silenced the German guns at Le Thoult and Corfélix (see p. 157), finally reached Corfélix and the Morin. Advancing along the valley (seen in the views at the foot of p. 167, and at the top of p. 168), they debouched on the flank of the enemy's troops deeply engaged in the interior of the Plateau of Sézanne.

The manœuvre of September 9 was decisive. Attacked on flank and front, and driven from the woods, the Germans re-crossed the Morin; while their rearguards fought desperate covering engagements, of which the chapel and its little cemetery (seen in the view above), the machine-gun trench (seen in the photograph at the top of p. 167), and the neighbourhood of the station of Talus-Saint-Prix were, in particular, witnesses. The retreat however continued briskly, and on September 10 the Tenth Corps, which had performed the outflanking movement, was able, setting forth from the Champaubert-Saint-Prix front, to sweep the whole of the north of the marshes.

_Follow the zig-zags which_ N. 51 _makes to climb the slope and continue towards =Soizy-aux-Bois= (45 km.)._ On this road, and in the woods which border it, the 42nd Division met with a repulse at the hands of the German troops who, on the 7th, took Soizy and even pushed on to Chapton (we passed through this village before arriving at Sézanne). On the 8th, the 162nd Line Regiment counter-attacked and carried Soizy at the point of the bayonet; and on the 9th, as we have seen above, the Germans were driven back across the Morin.

Soizy still shows the ruins of houses destroyed by bombardment or fire. _After glancing at them return to the entrance to the village and take (on the left looking towards Soizy) G. C. 44 in the direction of Oyes._

Almost immediately after, on the left, below the level of the road, may be seen two large graves, where the French soldiers who fell during the combats at Soizy were buried (view p. 169). The Germans were buried to the right of these graves.

_Cross through the woods of Saint-Gond._ Sign-posts indicate that military graves exist in the thickets, and recall the hand-to-hand struggles which took place here during the fluctuations of the battle round Soizy.

_Descend again towards the marshes_ between the "Crête du Poirier" on the left and the heights on Montgivroux on the right. Before arriving at Oyes there appears on the left a chalky road with a quarry on its right, leading to the top of a hill.

_Follow this road_, on the left of which are remains of trenches. _150 yards from its commencement may be seen an interesting view, of which the photographs on pp. 170-171 give fragments._

The summit on which we now stand is connected by a little valley with the summit of the Poirier seen on panorama I. These two heights constituted on the north the advanced line of defence of the heights of Mondement. Panorama IV. shows the position of Mondement which will be visited in due course. The castle and the church may be perceived. The road in the foreground, in the centre of this panorama, is the one which we took to climb the hill.

The line of the Poirier was the object of furious combats. The "tirailleurs" of the Moroccan Division had dug trenches there in order to protect themselves against the withering fire of heavy and light artillery which the Germans directed from the north of the marshes. When the Germans had succeeded in crossing the Morin by the bridge at Saint-Prix, they penetrated into Botrait woods (panorama I.) and attacked the Poirier. They drove the sharp-shooters from the summit, and then from the southern slopes where the latter had made a stand. On September 8 a bayonet charge brought the Poirier again into the possession of the sharp-shooters, but the German artillery rendered the position untenable, and they were obliged to evacuate it and fall back on the heights of Mondement-Montgivroux. At the same time Blondlat's Brigade which held Oyes and Reuves (panorama III.), was thrown back on the Allemant Woods by superior forces which had managed to cross the marshes.

The position of Mondement had thus lost all advanced protection and so fell on the following day, but the same evening it was retaken (_see pp. 176-178_), and from this moment the battle was lost for the Germans. The Tenth Corps, by means of its outflanking movement described on p. 169, obliged them to re-cross the Morin at Saint-Prix (below Botrait Woods, panorama I.). The flank of the marshes was thus turned. During the night of the 9th-10th, the German troops hurriedly regained the northern edge by the causeways running from Oyes, Reuves, and Broussy (panorama III.).

_Rejoin_ G. C. 44 _and turn to the left towards Oyes (50 km.)._ The village still bears traces of the bombardment during its heroic defence by Blondlat's Brigade. _Turn to the right, thus leaving the church on the left, and, passing through the village, turn to the left to regain the marshes_, in the middle of which stands the old =Priory of Saint-Gond=. The entrance, seen in the photograph above, is on the right of the road (51 km.).

Saint-Gond, who gave his name to the marshes, was a seventh century hermit. Charmed by the solitude of the spot, he there founded a little monastery. Destroyed during the barbaric invasions, then rebuilt, it became an abbey and later a priory, after which its decline was rapid. All that remains to-day consists of the entrance (view above), and in the interior, a door (seen on the opposite view behind the Abbé Millard). The Abbé Millard who occupied the priory is an elderly ecclesiastic who divides his time between studies and rural tasks. In the photographs on this page he is seen in the simple apparel which he prefers. He is a distinguished historian and member of several learned societies.

The Abbé Millard, who was recovering from a long illness, reluctantly left his hermitage a little before the arrival of the Germans. The sharp-shooters had established on the road opposite his house a barricade flanked by machine-guns behind which they tried to stem the German advance; but the latter surmounted this obstacle and advanced on Oyes.

_Leaving the priory, we come across the road which runs from Villevenard, on the right of the marshes, to Oyes and Reuves, on the left._ This was the road taken by the Germans who attacked Oyes and Reuves for three days. They suffered heavy losses from the fire of the French artillery which swept Villevenard and the causeways, but came resolutely on and carried the two villages on September 8, in spite of the heroic defence of Blondlat's Brigade.

_At the cross-roads turn to the right towards =Reuves= (53 km.) and traverse its length._ It suffered terribly. The views on this page show the state of the church after the bombardment.

_Turn to the right at the end of the village, leaving on the left the road which continues to follow the edge of the marshes in the direction of Broussy._ This village fell at the same time as Oyes and Reuves, having been attacked by the German troops coming down from Joches and Coizard. _Immediately on leaving the village, take, on the left_, G. C. 45 _and make towards =Mondement=._

We are following the last stage of the German advance. On the morning of September 9, the troops which had taken Oyes and Reuves, after having been reinforced during the night, assailed the Heights of Mondement and wrenched from the grasp of the few remaining Zouaves and sharp-shooters the castle, the church and the village.

_The road passes before the castle_ (56 km.) whose fame since the war has become worldwide.

On September 6, 1914, the owners, Mme. Jacob and one of her sons, were still at Mondement. The bombardment by the German big guns on the north of the marshes began on the morning of the 7th. The inhabitants of the castle, together with the "curé" of Reuves, who had come to join them, passed many anxious hours. The cellar, in which they had taken shelter, almost fell in on them. It was useless to think of seeking refuge in the neighbourhood of the castle, for the shells fell like hail. Their motor-car had been destroyed (as may be seen in the photograph at the foot of p. 178) and the only horse in the stable had been killed.

There was nothing left for it but, at night, to set out on foot along the road to Broyes, in spite of the feeble state of M. Jacob, who was suffering from heart-disease.

They were picked up fortunately by a motor-car sent by General Humbert, but M. Jacob died a few days afterwards, as a result of the shock and of the fatigues which he had experienced.

On the 7th, General Humbert established his headquarters in the castle, which made a splendid observation post. He followed the course of the battle through his field-glasses from the foot of the towers.

When the shells fell too thickly on the castle, he gained the little church near at hand (from which the panorama on pp. 182-183 is taken), and came back to the castle when the Germans began to direct their fire on the church-tower. During these comings and goings, a shell fell among his escort and killed several horsemen. As the bombardment continued to increase in violence, the headquarters were transported to the "Castle des Pucelles" at Broyes, which we have already seen (_p. 159_).

_The road goes round the castle._ The opposite photograph gives a side view of the façade. The tower at the end has been cleared of the ivy which covers it (in the photograph on p. 174), and completely restored. The ruined roof has been removed, in order to give place to a new one. In the foreground is a tree which has been felled by a shell. Shells from the '105's' and '150's' laid low many others, sometimes killing at the same time the persons who had sought shelter under them.

_Take the Broyes road_ which passes before the principal entrance (photograph opposite). The two heraldic lions surmounting the pillars of the gateway are worthy of notice. The roofs of the buildings were destroyed by shells, and the main-building opposite the gate has a temporary zinc covering.

In the field on the other side of the Broyes road is the grave where the Zouaves and other foot soldiers, who fell during the attack on the castle, were buried (photograph opposite). After the entrance gate come the out-buildings, and then the kitchen-garden, whose wall we skirt.

The above view shows the two sides on which the French attacked on the afternoon of September 9. The trees behind the kitchen-garden are those of the park. On the right of the horizon, and separated from Mondement by a hollow, are Allemant Woods.

The castle was taken by the Germans at daybreak on the 9th, and was immediately put into a state of defence. Loop-holes were made in the walls, and machine-guns placed on the towers and at prominent windows. The 77th line Regiment which was reforming at Saint-Loup (see pp. 162-163) was directed in all haste to Mondement to counter-attack. Colonel Lestoquoi placed a battalion on either side of the Broyes Road in the woods which come to an end a few hundred yards from the south side of the kitchen-garden. The Zouaves and sharp-shooters of the Moroccan Division, also hidden among the trees, were to attack on the other side, by the principal entrance.

The artillery preparation was entrusted to the guns of the Moroccan Division, aided by the batteries of the 42nd Division, which had halted at Broyes before descending into the plain (see pp. 162-163).

The attack began at 2.30 p.m. Major de Beaufort's battalion, composed of Bretons, to whom one of their comrades, a soldier-priest, had just given the absolution, left the woods, their bugles sounding the charge. A murderous fire met them from the castle, but could not stop them. A breach had been made in the wall by one of the French "75's," and towards this Major de Beaufort rushed, only to fall struck by a ball in the forehead. Officers and men succeeded him, but as soon as they appeared in the opening the fire of the machine-guns and rifles, hidden in the out-buildings (photograph above) was concentrated upon them, and they succumbed before even reaching the garden. A few, hoisting themselves on the shoulders of their fellows, gained the summit of the wall, but an entry in mass, which alone could have ensured success, was impossible.

On the other side, the attack of the Zouaves and sharp-shooters had met with equally great difficulties. Sheltering themselves behind the trees on the road and the pillars of the railings, they sniped at the occupants of the castle without being able to advance.

At the end of an hour of costly efforts, orders were given to fall back, and the troops retired into the woods from which they had set out.

Pieces of artillery were then dragged by the men to within three or four hundred yards of the castle. The breaches in the wall increased, the railing collapsed in parts, and the interior of the castle became untenable. When the French renewed the attack at nightfall, they no longer met with resistance, for the garrison had fallen back on the marshes. The retreat had become general on the front of Von Hausen's and Yon Bulow's armies.

The bombardments devastated the interior of the Castle. The views on this page show to what a state were reduced the out-buildings from which came the terrible fire rendering the passage of the breach so difficult.

On September 6, 1917, the third anniversary of the Battle of the Marne was celebrated at the castle of Mondement. The President of the Republic, accompanied by the President of the Council and several ministers, as well as by Field-Marshal Joffre, General Foch, and General Pétain, stopped at Mondement on his way from Fère to Sézanne, after having visited the Plateau of Rochelle near Fère-Champenoise (see p. 188).