he French took the offensive. After an artillery duel of
terrific magnitude, they drove the Bavarian army from the forests
of Champenous and took Amance. The line of the Meurthe was then
found untenable by the Germans, and on September 12, 1914, General
de Castelnau reoccupied the town of Luneville, which had been in
the hands of the Germans since August 22, 1914.

With General von Kluck in retreat on September 7, 1914, General
von Buelow hastening to the rear on September 8, 1914, with the
Duke of Wuerttemberg falling back on September 9, 1914, and the
Imperial Crown Prince and the Bavarian Crown Prince retreating
to an inner ring of defense on September 10, 1914, the battles
of the Marne may, in a measure, be said to have concluded. As,
however, the new alignments were made mainly by reason of the
topographical relationships of the Marne and the Aisne Rivers and
the territory contiguous thereto, it is perhaps more in keeping
with the movement to carry forward the German retreat across the
Marne as a part of the same group of conflicts.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XVIII

OTHER ASPECTS OF THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE

In dealing with a battle as important as that of the Marne points
of view are valuable. We therefore follow with an account of its
general course and description of its main features by a French
military writer, whose knowledge is based on information that is
largely official.

"Before the German armies," he says, "became engulfed in the vast
depression that stretches from Paris to Verdun, General Joffre with
admirable foresight had brought together a powerful army commanded
by General Manoury and having as its support the fortified camp of
Paris. As soon as General von Kluck, turning momentarily from the
road to the French capital and bending his march to the southeast,
laid bare his right wing, General Joffre vigorously launched against
his flank the entire army of General Manoury. The brilliant offensive
of this army achieved success from the beginning; it threw back the
German forces. Von Kluck perceived the danger that threatened him,
and the danger was serious, for it only required that Manoury should
advance a little further and he would have been almost totally
defeated. Resolutely, energetically, and with a sang-froid to which
homage must be rendered, Von Kluck proceeded to circumvent this
danger. He ordered back to the north two of his army corps, recrossed
the Marne,