The next section of the Allied armies, then, was General Foch's
Ninth Army, which encountered the German drive at Fere Champenoise,
and which resulted in the severe handling of General von Buelow's
forces. With characteristic perception of the difference between
a greater and a lesser encounter, General Foch called his share
of the battles of the Marne, the "Affair of the Marshes of St.
Gond." This did not culminate until Wednesday, September 9, 1914,
so that the German retreat there was one day later than the final
retreat of General von Kluck.
The clash between the armies of General von Buelow and of General
Foch began, as did the battle wrath along the whole front, at dawn
of that fateful Sunday, September 5, 1914. General Foch, a well-known
writer on strategy, had devised his army for defense. He was well
supplied with the famous 75-millimeter guns, holding them massed in
the center of his line. His extreme right and left were mobile and
thrown partly forward to feel the attack of the invading army. But,
in spite of all preparations, General Foch found himself hard-set to
hold his own on September 5, 6, 7, and 8, 1914. The battle continued
incessantly, by night as well as by day, for the artillerists had
found each other's range. There was comparatively little hand-to-hand
fighting at this point, General Foch only once being successful
in luring the Germans to within close firing range.
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