The Guns of August (83 page)

German wireless garbled and channels clogged: Bauer, 47; Kuhl, qtd.
AQ,
January, 1921, 346.

Von Stein, rude, tactless, Berlin Guards’ tone: Sturgkh, 24.

Tappen’s “odious manner”: Bauer, 34

Moltke forbade champagne and Kaiser’s meager fare:
ibid.,
46.

OHL weighs shift of strategy to left wing: Tappen, 103–4.

Arguments of Rupprecht and Krafft in favor of attack: Rupprecht, 13–21; these and the following account of events at Sixth Army Hq., visits of Zollner and Dommes, conversations with them and OHL are from Krafft, 12–22.

Greetings to Sir John French and Poincaré’s reactions: Guard, 23; Poincaré, III, 51.

“Waiting attitude”: French, 39.

“Choose his own hours for fighting”: Poincaré, III, 225.

Clausewitz, “the most enterprising”: qtd. Poincaré, III, 169.

Sir John’s visit to Joffre: Joffre, 161; French, 34–5.

“
Au fond
they are a low lot”: qtd. Magnus, 302.

Sir John “favorably impressed”: to Kitchener, August 17, French, 39–40.

“At last you’re here”: Huguet, 51.

Meeting of Sir John French and Lanrezac and the conversation about Huy: Besides the accounts of the two principals, which are of little interest, there are four eyewitness reports of this encounter: Wilson’s in Callwell, 164; Spears, 72–82; Huguet, 51; and a postwar speech by Captain Fagalde, Intelligence officer of Lanrezac’s staff, to the Forum Club, London, qtd.
AQ,
April, 1925, 35.

Misunderstandings about cavalry and date and Lanrezac’s report to Joffre: Spears, 80–81; Annexe No. 430.

“Please do as I ask you in this matter”: French, 40.

French and Smith-Dorrien never got on: Bridges, 80.

“One of the most unfortunate books”: J. W. Fortescue,
Quarterly Review,
October 1919, 363.

King Albert’s talk with De Broqueville: Galet, 103, 116–19.

Germans west of the Meuse a “screen”: Galet, 106.

“Incredulous dismay”: Galet, 122.

Col. Adelbert’s outburst: Klobukowski,
Résistance belge;
D’Ydyewalle, 109; Galet, 122.

Special Instruction No. 13: Annexe No. 430.

“Throw them back into the Sambre”: Spears, 92.

Bethelot to Messimy, “So much the better”: Briey, March 28, evidence of Messimy.

Commandant Duruy: Spears, 87–8, 94.

“They always managed to escape”: Kluck, 32.

Kluck’s cavalry report British at Ostend: Kluck, 18.

Kluck’s extreme annoyance: Kluck, 22; Bülow, 37.

Density figures for German armies: Edmonds, 44.

Kluck disputed Bülow’s orders: Kluck, 29–30.

“Severe and inexorable reprisals”: ibid., 25–6.

Aerschot, 150 killed: Whitlock, 209; Dinant: Gibson, 326–29. Method of procedure: Gibson, 151; Whitlock, Cobb,
et al.,
see Notes to Chap. 16.

Quotations from Hausen: Hausen, 25, 135, 141. 152–3.

German proclamations quoted: Whitlock, 70–71; 162.

“Slow in remedying the evil”: Kluck, 26.

Rag doll seemed a symbol: Cobb, 79.

German entry into Brussels: Gibson, 115; Whitlock, 113, 124–6, 138.

A “fierce joy” in Berlin: Blücher, 20.

General Pau’s farewell:
La France héroïque et ses alliés,
Paris, Larousse, 1916, I, 44. Joffre’s speech at Thann: Hinzelen, Emile,
Notre Joffre,
Paris, Delagrave, 1919, 39.

Berthelot, “No reason to get excited”: Annexe No. 587.

“I understand your impatience”: Annexe No. 589.

“There is reason to await with confidence”: Annexe No. 585.

14. Debacle: Lorraine, Ardennes, Charleroi, Mons

“It is a glorious and awful thought”: Wilson, 165.

Field Regulations and “gymnastics so painfully practised”: qtd. Lt.-Col. Fliecx,
Les Quatre Batailles de la France,
Paris, 1958, 12–13.

Plan 17’s most passionate critic: Engerand, 473.

Dubail’s “repugnance”: Dubail, 57. Battles of Morhange-Sarrebourg:
AF,
I, I, 176–265,
passim.

Nothing visible but corpses and “God teaches the law to kings”: Engerand, 473.

“To attack as soon as we are ready”: qtd. Edmonds, 507.

“We will continue, gentlemen”: Giraud, 535.

“I went to Nancy on the 21st”: Aston,
Foch,
115.

OHL lured by the left wing: Tappen, 15 (German ed.).

Case 3 and Krafft’s call to Tappen: Rupprecht, 37, n.; Krafft, 47

Joffre’s order for attack in Ardennes: Annexes Nos. 592 and 593. Battle of Ardennes:
AF,
I, I, 351–432,
passim.

“Await artillery support”: Annexe No. 352.

Ardennes favorable to side lacking heavy artillery: Joffre, 66.

Joffre’s memoirs: Messimy (88) says they were written by “a group of faithful and devoted officers.”

“Only ordinary mental calibre”: Wile,
Men Around the Kaiser,
69.

“Only by relying on the sword”: Grelling, 46.

“Gave me theoretical grounding”: Crown Prince,
War Experiences,
3.

“Wilde jagd nach dem Pour le Mérite”:
qtd. Goerlitz, 158.

“Grave and gloomy faces”: Crown Prince,
War Experiences,
12.

Poète du canon
and “too much imagination”: Engerand, 483, 488–9.

“Tout ça c’est du sport”:
qtd. Monteil, 34.

Fourth Army reconnaissance officer is judged “pessimistic”: Engerand, 491.

“We who were surprised”: Langle, 137.

GQG ignored Ruffey’s reports: Briey, April 15, evidence of Ruffey.

“Might as well have been blindfolded”: Commandant A. Grasset,
Un Combat de rencontre, Neufchâteau, 22 Août, 1914,
qtd.
AQ,
January, 1924, 390.

“Battlefield unbelievable spectacle”: qtd. Engerand, 499, 504.

French sergeant’s diary: qtd. W. E. Grey,
With the French Eastern Army,
London, 1915, 49.

German officer’s diary: Charbonneau, 54,

“prodigies of valor” and remainder of paragraph: Crown Prince,
War Experiences,
26, 29–37.

Ruffey loses three divisions: Joffre, 166; Briey, April 15, evidence of Ruffey.

“You people at GQG … ignorant as an oyster”: Briey,
ibid.

Langle’s “anguish”: Langle, 137. “Serious check at Tintigny”: Annexe No. 1098.

“Advantage of numerical superiority”: Annexe No. 1044.

Germany could not have fought without Briey ore: A memorandum addressed to the German Supreme Command by Dr. Reichert of the Iron and Steel Association in December 1917 supported a plea for annexation of Briey with the argument that without the ores of this region “the continuation of the war would have been impossible. If we had not possessed Briey we would have been defeated long ago.”
Wirtschaftzeitung der Zentralmaechte,
December 17, 1917, qtd. Engerand, 486. The subject is fully discussed in Engerand’s
Rapport
on Briey,
première partie.

“Every effort to renew the offensive”: qtd. Isaac,
Joffre at Lanrezac,
87.

“Do as he tells you”: qtd.
AQ,
April, 1923, 37.

Telegram from Papa William: Crown Prince, War
Experiences,
37.

“Dazzling white tunic”: Sven Hedin, qtd. Gardiner, 223.

Iron Cross could only be avoided by suicide: Sturgkh.

Joffre orders Lanrezac to attack and BEF to “cooperate”: Annexe No. 695. Battle of Charleroi:
AF,
I, I, 433–480,
passim.

Kitchener’s telegram of August 19: Arthur, 29.

“Give battle alone”: Spears, 127. “I leave you absolute judge”: Annexe, No. 705.

No trenches or fixed defenses: Spears, 105; Engerand, 530–31.

“With bugles blowing”: Spears, 132.

“Long singing scream”: Sutherland, 36–9.

“There must be a band”: Spears, 128.

“I know the situation thoroughly”: Arthur, 30.

“Information … exaggerated”: Spears, 137, n.

Cavalry encounter at Soignies: Bridges, 77.

Orders to Smith-Dorrien: Edmonds, preface to Bloem, viii.

Kluck intended to “attack and disperse”: Kluck, 33.

Kluck protests, Bülow insists: Kluck 37–8, 41–2.

“No landings of importance”: Bülow, 50.

Bülow’s and Hausen’s complaints: Bülow, 58; Hausen, 165–6, 191–3.

General Boë: Spears, 144.

IIIrd Corps “terrible” losses: Annexe No. 894.

2.25 shots per minute: Lanrezac, 135.

“Forced to fall back … suffered severely”
et seq.:
Annexe No. 876.

Lanrezac’s request to Sir John French and his reply: Spears, 149–50; Edmonds, 92, n. 2.

“Il plut des marmites”:
Engerand, 537.

“Prey to extreme anxiety” and all quotations on these pages: Lanrezac, 181, 183–4, 196. General Spears has stated (173) that the retreat of the Fourth Army “was not the reason” for Lanrezac’s decision because, according to Spears, Lanrezac did not know of it until next morning, a direct contradiction of Lanrezac’s own statement that he had “received confirmation” of it before he made his decision. Writing after Lanrezac was dead, Spears states (173 n.), “There is not the least trace of such a communication.” In view of the fact that, as Messimy testified at the Briey hearings, the archives contained 45,000 to 50,000 files of 500 to 1,000 documents each, a probable total of 25 to 30 million pieces, Spears’ negative is hardly proof. His verdict was conditioned less by the evidence than by his feeling that Lanrezac’s retreat “left the British in the lurch” (176).

“Thinking himself menaced on his right”: Lanrezac, 185; Pierrefeu,
Plutarque,
74.

“Owing to the retreat of the Fifth Army”: Edmonds, 68, 72. For the battle of Mons, see also Maurice, 58–76.

Smith-Dorrien’s orders on bridges: Edmonds, 72, n. 1.

“Most perfect targets”: Smith-Dorrien, 386.

“Stubborn resistance”: Edmonds, 77.

Efforts to blow the bridges: Hamilton, 28; Edmonds, 86.

“You are my sole support”
et seq.:
Bloem, 72–73.

Wilson made a “careful calculation” and “persuaded”: Wilson, 165.

Telegram from Joffre: French, 64; Wilson, 167.

Sar-la-Bruyère difficult to find: Smith-Dorrien, 388; and experience of the author in 1959.

Wilson blames lack of six divisions: Wilson, 167.

“Defense of Havre”: Arthur, 36.

“Over all lay a smell”: qtd. Mark Sullivan,
Our Times,
V, 26.

Joffre blames executors and all quotations from following four paragraphs: Joffre, 178, 181, 183–5, 187.

Deuxième Bureau discovery about reserves: Joffre, 187.

Joffre’s postwar testimony: Briey, July 4, evidence of Joffre.

Anonymous British spokesman: editor of
Army Quarterly,
April, 1925, 35.

Fall of Namur a “distinct disadvantage”: NYT from London, August 26, 1:3.

“We must make up our minds”: Poincaré, III, 88.

15. “The Cossacks Are Coming!”

Chief sources for military operations in this chapter are Golovin (all references are to his
Campaign of 1914
), Gourko who was with Rennenkampf’s Army, Knox who was with Samsonov’s Army, Hoffmann and François who were with the Eighth Army, Danilov and Bauer who were at Russian and German Headquarters, respectively, and finally, Ironside who assembled material from both sides. (Hoffmann’s two books are referred to in the Notes as
WLO
and
TaT.
)

“William to St. Helena!”: Paléologue, 65.

Czar, “Our proper objective”: Golovin, 89.

“I entreat Your Majesty”: Paléologue, 61.

Grand Duke’s message to Joffre: Joffre, 140.

Grand Duke’s tears: The colleague who reported them was General Polivanov, War Minister in 1915–16, qtd. Florinsky,
Russia,
New York, 1958, II, 1320.

Tears of Messimy and Churchill: Poincaré, III, 3 and Wilson, 163.

Russian mobilization orders: Ironside, 39–50.

General Reinbot: Gardiner, 132.

“Gentlemen, no stealing”:
ibid.,
133.

“Never since the dawn of history”: qtd. Florinsky,
End of the Empire,
38.

Rumors in Frankfort of 30,000 refugees: Bloem, 13.

Faulty schedule of war games repeated in war: Golovin, 38–9.

Russians used wireless in clear: Danilov, 203; Hoffmann,
TaT,
265.

Characteristic odor of a horse: Julius West,
Soldiers of the Tsar,
London, 1915, 8.

Two German divisions equal to three Russian: McEntee, 90.

“Only 25 shells per gun”: Golovin,
Army,
144.

“Kosaken kommen!”:
Gourko, 33.

“Psychological dangers”: Hoffmann,
WLO,
17.

“How to get the Kaiser’s ear”: Lt.-Gen. Kabisch,
Streitfragen des Weltkrieges,
qtd.
AQ,
July, 1925, 414.

“Japan is going to take advantage”: qtd. Stephen King-Hall,
Western Civilization and the Far East,
London, 1924, 160.

Prittwitz’s orders and François’s protest: François, 156; Hoffmann,
WLO,
17.

Scene in the steeple: François, 170–76.

Rennenkampf’s halt and his reasons: Danilov, 192–3; Golovin, 155.

German professor of mathematics: François, 276.

Moltke’s last words to Prittwitz: François,
Tannenberg, Das Cannae des Weltkrieges,
qtd.
AQ,
January, 1927, 411–13.

Prittwitz orders François to retreat to Vistula: François, 190.

“You can take your clothes off now”: Knox, 88.

“The whole weight of all that is sensuous”: Clausewitz, I, 224.

“Lost command of their nerves”: Hoffmann,
WLO,
20–22.

Prittwitz and Hoffmann dispute retreat to Vistula: Hoffman,
TaT,
248.

Prittwitz telephones OHL: from Prittwitz’s papers, found after his death and published in
Militär Wochenblatt,
April 22 and May 7, 1921, qtd.
AQ,
October, 1921, 88–92.

Moltke aghast and his orders: Bauer, 45.

Hoffmann proposes maneuver to meet Samsonov: Hoffmann,
WLO,
23.

“They are not pursuing us at all”: Hoffmann,
TaT,
250.