Cavalry patrols
had been thrown forward to Ligny and Gembloux, where they skirmished
with uhlans. Charleroi was made French headquarters. It was the
center of extensive coal-mining and steel industry. Pit shafts
and blast furnaces dominated the landscape. Historically it was
the ground over which Bluecher's Fourth Army Corps marched to the
support of the British at Waterloo. Now the British were supporting
the French upon it against their former ally.
On Thursday, August 20, 1914, the British took up their position on
the French left. Their line ran from Binche to Mons, then within the
French frontier stretched westward to Conde. From Mons to Conde it
followed the line of the canal, thus occupying an already constructed
barrier. Formerly Conde was regarded as a fortress of formidable
strength, but its position was not held to be of value in modern
strategy. Its forts, therefore, had been dismantled of guns, and its
works permitted to fall into disuse. But the fortress of Maubeuge
lay immediately in rear of the British line. In rear again General
Sordet held a French cavalry corps for flank actions. In front,
across the Belgian frontier, General d'Amade lay with a French
brigade at Tournai as an outpost.
Before proceeding to British headquarters, General French held
a conference with General Joffre, Commander in Chief of all the
French armies. Until the outbreak of the war, General Joffre was
practically unknown to the French people.
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