Covered by their gunners, but still under heavy fire of the German
artillery, the British began again to retire southward. Their retreat
was continued far into the night of August 26, 1914, and through
the 27th and 28th; on the last date--after vigorous cavalry
fighting--the exhausted troops halted on a line extending from the
French cathedral town of Noyon through Chauny to La Fere. There
they were joined by reenforcements amounting to double their loss.
Guns to replace those captured or shattered by the enemy were brought
up to the new line. There was a breathing space for a day, while
the British made ready to take part in the next great encounter.
This fourth week in August marked a decisive period in the history
of the Great War. All the French armies, from the east to the west,
as well as the British army, were in retreat over their frontiers.
To what resolution had the French commander in chief come? That
was the question on every lip. What at that moment was the real
situation of the French army? Certainly the first engagements had
not turned out as well as the French could have hoped. The Germans
were reaping the reward of their magnificent preparation for the
war. Their heavy artillery, with which the French army was almost
entirely unprovided, was giving proof of its efficacy and its worth.
The moral effect of those great projectiles launched from great
distances by the immense German guns was considerable.
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