ty, though, for the most part, still contested
by Belgian infantry. A party of German hussars availed themselves of
some unguarded path to make a daring but ineffectual dash to capture
General Leman and his staff.

General Leman was consulting with his officers at military headquarters,
on August 6, 1914, when they were startled by shouts outside. He rushed
forth into a crowd of citizens to encounter eight men in German uniform.
General Leman cried for a revolver to defend himself, but another
officer, fearing the Germans had entered the city in force, lifted him
up over a foundry wall. Both Leman and the officer made their escape by
way of an adjacent house. Belgian Civic Guards hastening to the scene
dispatched an officer and two men of the German raiders. The rest of the
party are said to have been made prisoners.

The end being merely a question of hours General Leman ordered the
evacuation of the city by the infantry. He wisely decided it could be of
more service to the Belgian army at Dyle, than held in a beleaguered and
doomed city. Reports indicate that this retreat, though successfully
performed, was precipitate. The passage of it was scattered with arms,
equipment, and supplies of all kinds. An ambulance train was abandoned,
twenty locomotives left in the railway station, and but one bridge
destroyed in rear beyond immediate repair. After its accomplishment,
General Leman took command of the northern forts, determined to hold
them against Von Kluck until the last Belgian gun was silenced.

Early on August 7, 1914, Burgomaster Kleyer and the Bishop of Liege
negotiated terms for the surrender of the city. It had suffered but
slight damage from the bombardment. Few of the citizens were reported
among the killed or injured. On behalf of the Germans it must be said
their occupation of Liege was performed in good order, with military
discipline excellently maintained. They behaved at first fairly
impartial in establishing their rule in the city, and paid for all
supplies requisitioned. They were quartered in various public buildings
and institutions, probably to the number of 10,000. The German troops at
first seemed to present an interesting spectacle. They were mostly young
men, reported as footsore from their long march in new, imperfectly
fitting boots, and hungry from the lack of accompanying commissariat.
This is proof that the German's military machine did not work to
perfection at the outset. Later, allege