urnished the German army with a vast quantity of heavy
artillery, which played a decisive role in the Battle of Morhange. The
French retreated, and during this rear-guard movement the frontier city
of Luneville was for some days occupied by the Germans.

Thus the First and Second Armies failed in their offensive and saw
themselves obliged to retreat, but their retreat was accomplished under
excellent circumstances, and the troops, after a couple of days of rest,
found themselves in a condition again to take the offensive. The First
Army gave energetic support to the Second Army, which was violently
attacked by the Germans in the second week of August. The German attack,
which was first arrayed against Nancy, turned more and more to the east.

The battle, at first waged in the Mortagne basin, was gradually extended
to the deep woods on the left bank of the Meurthe and on to Chipotte,
Nompatelize, etc. The battles that have been named the Battle of
Mortagne, the Battle of the Meurthe, the Battle of the Vosges, all waged
by the First Army, were extremely violent in the last week of August and
the first two weeks of September. These combats partly coincided with
the Battle of the Marne; they resulted, at the end of that battle, in
the German retreat. The Second Army renewed the offensive August 25,
1914; it decisively checked the march of the German army and commenced
to force it back.

The instructions issued to General de Castelnau directed him everywhere
to march forward and make direct attacks. The day of August 25, 1914,
was a successful day for the French; everywhere the Germans were
repulsed. From August 26 till September 2, 1914, the Second Army
continued its attacks.

At this point the commander in chief having need of important forces at
his center and at his right relieved the Second Army of much of its
strength. This did not prevent it from engaging in the great Battle of
Nancy and winning it. It was September 4, 1914, that this battle began
and it continued till the 11th, the army sustaining the incessant
assaults of the Germans on its entire front advanced from Grand
Couronne. The German emperor was personally present at this battle.
There was at Dieuze a regiment of white cuirassiers at whose head it was
his intention to make a triumphal entry into Nancy. Heavy German
artillery of every caliber made an enormous expenditure of ammunition;
on the Grand Mont d'Amance alone, one of the most important positions