Chapter I: Front Matter

[Frontispiece: GENERAL SIR H. SMITH-DORRIEN. _From the Painting by Arnold Mountford._]

The
Retreat from Mons

BY ONE WHO SHARED IN IT

BY
A. CORBETT-SMITH
(_Major, R.F.A._)

_With Three Plates and Map_

For who is he, whose chin is but enrich'd
With one appearing hair, that will not follow
These cull'd and choice-drawn cavaliers to France?

CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD
London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne
1916

To

GENERAL SIR H. L. SMITH-DORRIEN,
G.C.M.G., G.C.B., D.S.O., ETC.

DEAR GENERAL SMITH-DORRIEN,

When, some few months ago, you honoured me by your acceptance of this dedication I had in mind to make a single volume which should trace the course of the War during the period of your command of the Second Army, the unforgettable days from Mons to Ypres.

Since then I have found that there is one phase of the operations which has gripped the imagination of the public more than any other event of the past two years: the "Retreat from Mons." It is, indeed, almost incredible how little the people know of this, and how splendidly they respond to the telling of the story.

But it seems to me that the story can never be told as it should be. Only those who actually experienced the horror and the splendour of those ten days could hope to tell it, and for them the facts are blurred and distorted by the nightmare through which they passed.

Still, I am rashly making the attempt, and in doing so I try to write of the big, human side of things. For it is the trivial, homely incidents in the daily life of the British soldier, and the stories of noble devotion and chivalry of gallant gentlemen like Francis Grenfell and Bradbury, which fire the imagination. I know that you will understand and appreciate my motives.

For the rest, should the public be kind to this trivial volume I shall hope later to continue the narrative as I had originally intended.

Will you, then, accept my book, not in tribute of a Command which must remain indelibly scored in letters of gold on the page of our country's history so long as Britain endures, but as a memory of the two or three years of peace when I was privileged to work with you and of the year of war when I had the honour of serving, one of that "band of brothers," in your Command?

I am,
Very faithfully yours,
A. CORBETT-SMITH.

THE MIDDLE TEMPLE,
LONDON.

AUTHOR'S ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I tender my very grateful thanks to GENERAL SIR HORACE SMITH-DORRIEN for his kindness in reading the proof-sheets of the book and for several most valuable items of information.

My thanks are also due to CAPTAIN C. T. ATKINSON, of the Historical Section, Committee of Imperial Defence, for his courteous help in the task of compiling the Roll of Honour. Also to the SECRETARY, K.A. Institution, for the loan of material for the same purpose.

I have availed myself to some extent of the researches of MR. HILAIRE BELLOC in my estimates in Chapter V.; while my details of the German Army are taken from German sources, "Deutsche Land- und Seemacht," by Rabenau, and other volumes.

To my comrades-in-arms (few, alas! remain), whose deeds and experiences have contributed to the writing of the story, I hold out a hand of greeting. I salute in reverence the immortal souls of the gallant dead.

A. C.-S.

CONTENTS

Roll of Honour

CHAPTER

1. Mobilisation
2. The Sailing of the Force
3. The Landing of the Force
4. Up Country
5. The Marshalling of the Armies
6. Mons
7. Mons (_continued_)
8. The Retreat Begins
9. The Second Day
10. An Interlude
11. Wednesday, the 26th of August
12. Wednesday, the 26th of August (_continued_)
13. The Retreat Continues
14. Past Compiègne
15. The Final Stages

Appendix I.

Appendix II.

LIST OF PLATES

General Sir H. Smith-Dorrien . . . _Frontispiece_

Field-Marshal Viscount French

General Sir Douglas Haig

Map of Country from Mons to Paris

The Roll of Honour

OF THE

FIRST EXPEDITIONARY FORGE

_General Officer Commanding-in-Chief the British Forces:_
FIELD-MARSHAL SIR J. D. P. FRENCH.

_Chief of the General Staff:_
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR A. J. MURRAY.

_Adjutant-General:_
MAJOR-GENERAL SIR C. F. N. MACREADY.

_Quartermaster-General:_
MAJOR-GENERAL SIR W. R. ROBERTSON.

_FIRST ARMY CORPS_

_General Officer Commanding-in-Chief_--
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR DOUGLAS HAIG.

1st DIVISION

_General Officer Commanding_--MAJOR-GENERAL S. H. LOMAX.

1st Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL F. I. MAXSE.
1st Batt. Coldstream Guards.
1st Batt. R. Highlanders.
1st Batt. Scots Guards.
2nd Batt. R. Munster Fusiliers.

2nd Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL E. S. BULFIN.
2nd Batt. R. Sussex Regt.
1st Batt. Northampton Regt.
1st Batt. N. Lancs. Regt.
2nd Batt. K. R. Rifle Corps

3rd Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL H. J. S. LANDON.
1st Batt. R. W. Surrey Regt.
1st Batt. Gloucester Regt.
1st Batt. S. Wales Borderers.
2nd Batt. Welsh Regt.

CAVALRY (attached)
C Squadron 15th Hussars.

ROYAL ENGINEERS
23rd and 26th Field Companies.

ROYAL ARTILLERY
R.F.A. Batteries--113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 46, 51, 54;
(Howitzer) 30, 40, 57.
_Heavy Battery R.G.A._--26.
An Ammunition Column and an Ammunition Park.

2nd DIVISION

_General Officer Commanding_--MAJOR-GENERAL C. C. MONRO.

4th Infantry Brigade

_Brigade-Commander_--GENERAL R. SCOTT-KERR.
2nd Batt. Grenadier Guards
3rd Batt. Coldstream Guards
2nd Batt. Coldstream Guards
lst Batt. Irish Guards.

5th Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL R. C. B. HAKING.

2nd Batt. Worcester Regt.
2nd Batt. Highland L.I.
2nd Batt. Oxford and Bucks L.I.
2nd Batt. Connaught Rangers

6th Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL R. H. DAVIES.
1st Batt. Liverpool Regt.
1st Batt. R. Berks Regt.
2nd Batt. S. Staffs. Regt.
lst Batt. K. R. Rifle

CAVALRY (attached)
B Squadron 15th Hussars.

ROYAL ENGINEERS
5th and 11th Field Companies.

ROYAL ARTILLERY

_R.F.A. Batteries_--22, 50, 70, 15, 48, 71, 9, 16, 17;
(Howitzer) 47, 56, 60.
_Heavy Battery R.G.A._--35.
An Ammunition Column and an Ammunition Park.

CAVALRY

_A Division_ (_Four Brigades_)

General Officer Commanding--MAJOR-GENERAL E. H. H. ALLENBY.

1st Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL C. J. BRIGGS.

2nd Dragoon Guards.
5th Dragoon Guards.
11th Hussars.

2nd Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL H. DE B. DE LISLE.

4th Dragoon Guards.
9th Lancers.
18th Hussars.

3rd Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL H. DE LA POER GOUGH.

4th Hussars.
5th Lancers.
16th Lancers.

4th Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL HON. C. E. BINGHAM.

Household Cavalry (composite Regiment).
6th Dragoon Guards.
3rd Hussars.

And--

the 5th Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL SIR P. W. CHETWODE.
12th Lancers.
20th Hussars.
2nd Dragoons.

ROYAL HORSE ARTILLERY
_Batteries_ "D," "E," "I," "J," "L."

SECOND ARMY CORPS

_General Officer Commanding-in-Chief_--
GENERAL SIR H. L. SMITH-DORRIEN.

3rd DIVISION

_General Officer Commanding_--MAJOR-GENERAL H. I. W. HAMILTON.

7th Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL F. W. N. McCRACHEN.

3rd Batt. Worcester Regt.
1st Batt. Wilts Regt.
2nd Batt. S. Lancs. Regt.
2nd Batt. R. Irish Rifles.

8th Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL B. J. C. DORAN.

2nd Batt. R. Scots.
4th Batt. Middlesex Regt.
2nd Batt. R. Irish Regt.
1st Batt. Gordon Highlanders.

9th Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL F. C. SHAW.
1st Batt. Northumberland Fusiliers.
1st Batt. Lincolnshire Regt.
1st Batt. R. Scots Fusiliers.
4th Batt. R. Fusiliers.

CAVALRY (attached)
A Squadron 15th Hussars.

ROYAL ENGINEERS
56th and 57th Field Companies.

ROYAL ARTILLERY

_R.F.A. Batteries_--107, 108, 109, 6, 23, 49, 29, 41, 45;
(Howitzer) 128, 129, 130.
_Heavy Battery R. G. A._--48.
An Ammunition Column and an Ammunition Park.

5th DIVISION

_General Officer Commanding_--MAJOR-GENERAL SIR C. FERGUSSON.

13th Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL G. J. CUTHBERT.
2nd Batt. K. O. Scottish Borderers.
1st Batt. R.W. Kent Regt.
2nd Batt. Yorks L.I.
2nd Batt. W. Riding Regt.

14th Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL S. P. ROLT.
2nd Batt. Suffolk Regt.
1st Batt. Duke of Cornwall's L.I.
1st Batt. East Surrey Regt.
2nd Batt. Manchester Regt.

15th Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL COUNT A. E. W. GLEICHEN.

1st Batt. Norfolk Regt.
1st Batt. Cheshire Regt.
1st Batt. Bedford Regt.
1st Batt. Dorset Regt.

CAVALRY (attached)
A Squadron 19th Hussars.

ROYAL ENGINEERS
17th and 59th Field Companies.

ROYAL ARTILLERY
_R.F.A. Batteries_--11, 52, 80, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124;
(Howitzer) 37, 61, 65.
_Heavy Battery R.G.A._--108.
An Ammunition Column and an Ammunition Park.

19th Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--MAJOR-GENERAL L. G. DRUMMOND.
2nd Batt. R. Welsh Fusiliers.
1st Batt. Middlesex Regt.
1st Batt. Scottish Rifles.
2nd Batt. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

ROYAL FLYING CORPS

Aeroplane Squadrons Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5.

ARMY SERVICE CORPS

Horsed and Mechanical Transport.

ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS

There came into line at Le Cateau on August 25th the--

4th DIVISION

_General Officer Commanding_--MAJOR-GENERAL T. D. O. SNOW.

10th Infantry Brigade

Brigade Commander--BRIGADIER-GENERAL J. A. L. HALDANE.
1st Batt. R. Warwickshire Regt.
1st Batt. R. Irish Fusiliers.
2nd Batt. Seaforth Highlanders.
2nd Batt. R. Dublin Fusiliers.

11th Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL A. G. HUNTER-WESTON.
1st Batt. Somersetshire L.I.
1st Batt. Hampshire Regt.
1st Batt. E. Lancs. Regt.
1st Batt. Rifle Brigade.

12th Infantry Brigade

_Brigade Commander_--BRIGADIER-GENERAL H. F. M. WILSON.
1st Batt. R. Lancs. Regt.
2nd Batt. R. Inniskilling Fusiliers.
2nd Batt. Lancashire Fusiliers.
2nd Batt. Essex Regt.

CAVALRY (attached)
B Squadron 19th Hussars.

ROYAL ENGINEERS
7th and 9th Field Companies.

ROYAL ARTILLERY

_R.F.A. Batteries_--39, 68, 88 (xiv. Brigade); 125, 126, 127 (xxix
Brigade); 27, 134, 135 (xxxii. Brigade); 31, 35, 55 (xxxvii. Brigade).

_Heavy Battery R.G.A._--31.

LINES OF COMMUNICATION AND ARMY TROOPS

1st Batt. Devonshire Regt.
1st Batt. Cameron Highlanders

The Retreat from Mons