"
(Signed) J. JOFFRE.
The object of this maneuver is thus already on August 25, 1914,
clearly indicated; it looked not to a defensive, but to an offensive
movement, which was to be resumed as soon as circumstances appeared
favorable. Much is made clear in these orders of General Joffre,
which are characterized by perspicuity, foresight, and precision.
The retreat was effected; but it was only a provisional retreat.
Whenever an occasion presented itself to counterattack the enemy
for the purpose of delaying his advance, that occasion was to be
taken advantage of. And that is, in fact, what took place.
Two days later, on August 27, 1914, General Joffre brought together,
using army corps and divisions recruited elsewhere, a supplementary
army, the Ninth Army, which was detailed to take its place between
the Fourth and Fifth Armies. He intrusted its command to a general,
who, while commanding the Twentieth Corps, had distinguished himself
by his brilliant conduct in Lorraine, General Foch.
The establishment of the army of Manoury on the left of the French
armies so as to fall on the right flank of the Germans when they
marched on Paris; the establishment of a strong army under one
of the best French generals at the center for the purpose of
encountering the main weight of the German army; such were the
two decisions of the French commander in chief, taken on August
25 and 27, 1914, which contained in germ the victory of the Marne,
waged and won two weeks later.
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