Battle of the Ardennes
Battle of the Ardennes | |||||||
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Part of the First World War | |||||||
Battle of the Ardennes, 1914 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
France | Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Pierre Ruffey Fernand de Langle de Cary |
Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Fourth Army |
4th Army 5th Army | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
42,557 | 14,940 | ||||||
The Battle of the Ardennes took place during the
Background
Belgium
Belgian troops were to be massed in central Belgium, in front of the
Schlieffen–Moltke Plan
The German left flank in occupied Alsace would tempt the French into attacking there, drawing the French forces away from Paris and the German right.[5] In its 1906 version, the Schlieffen Plan allocated six weeks and seven eighths of the Imperial German Army (a force of 1.5 million men) to overwhelm France while the remainder fought against the Russian Army in East Prussia.[6] Helmuth von Moltke the Younger succeeded Schlieffen in 1906 and was less certain that the French would conform to German assumptions. Moltke adapted the deployment and concentration plan to accommodate an attack in the centre or an enveloping attack from both flanks as variants to the plan, by adding divisions to the left flank opposite the French frontier, from the c. 1,700,000 men expected to be mobilised in the Westheer (western army). The main German force would still advance through Belgium and attack southwards into France, the French armies would be enveloped on the left and pressed back over the Meuse, Aisne, Somme, Oise, Marne and Seine, unable to withdraw into central France. The French would either be annihilated or the manoeuvre from the north would create conditions for victory in the centre or in Lorraine on the common border.[7] Moltke planned for a force of about 320,000 men to defend Alsace-Lorraine south of Metz, 400,000 men to invade France and Luxembourg through the Ardennes and 700,000 more troops to invade Belgium.[8]
Plan XVII
After the defeat in the
Under Plan XVII, the French peacetime army was to form five field armies of about two million men, with groups of Reserve divisions attached to each army and a group of reserve divisions on the flanks. The armies were to concentrate opposite the German frontier around Épinal, Nancy and Verdun–Mezières, with an army in reserve around Ste. Ménéhould and Commercy. Since 1871, railway building had given the French General staff sixteen lines to the German frontier against thirteen available to the German army and the French could afford to wait until German intentions were clear. The French deployment was intended to be ready for a German offensive in Lorraine or through Belgium. The French expected that the Germans would use reserve troops but also assumed that a large German army would be mobilised on the border with Russia, leaving the western army with sufficient troops only to advance through Belgium, south of the rivers Meuse and Sambre. French intelligence had obtained a 1905 map exercise by the German general staff, in which German troops had gone no further north than Namur and assumed that plans to besiege Belgian forts were a defensive measure against the Belgian army.[12]
A German attack from south-eastern Belgium towards Mézières and a possible offensive from Lorraine towards Verdun, Nancy and St. Dié was anticipated; the plan was a development of Plan XVI and made more provision for the possibility of a German offensive through Belgium. The First, Second and Third armies were to concentrate between Épinal and Verdun opposite Alsace and Lorraine, the Fifth Army was to assemble from Montmédy to Sedan and Mézières and the Fourth Army was to be held back west of Verdun, ready to move east to attack the southern flank of a German invasion through Belgium or south against the northern flank of an attack through Lorraine. No formal provision was made for joint operations with the
Declarations of war
At midnight on 31 July/1 August, the German government sent an ultimatum to Russia and announced a state of Kriegsgefahr (threat of war) during the day; the Turkish government ordered mobilisation and the London Stock Exchange closed. On 1 August, the British government ordered the mobilisation of the navy, the German government ordered general mobilisation and declared war on Russia. Hostilities commenced on the Polish frontier, the French government ordered general mobilisation and next day the German government sent an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding passage through Belgian territory and German troops crossed the frontier of Luxembourg. Military operations began on the French frontier, Libau was bombarded by the German light cruiser SMS Augsburg and the British government guaranteed naval protection for French coasts. On 3 August, the Belgian Government refused German demands and the British Government guaranteed military support to Belgium, should Germany invade. Germany declared war on France, the British government ordered general mobilisation and Italy declared neutrality. On 4 August, the British government sent an ultimatum to Germany which expired at midnight on 4–5 August, Central European Time. Belgium severed diplomatic relations with Germany and Germany declared war on Belgium. German troops crossed the Belgian frontier and attacked Liège.[14]
Prelude
French preparations
French commander-in-chief
Battle
Joffre issued instructions on 18 August but held back the Third and Fourth armies because air and cavalry reconnaissance found few German troops opposite the two armies, only a large force moving north-west 25–31 mi (40–50 km) away. On 19 August the Fourth Army (General Fernand de Langle de Cary) was ordered to occupy the bridges over the Semois but not to advance into Belgium until the German offensive began. A premature attack would advance into a trap rather than give time for the Germans to empty Luxembourg of troops before the French advanced. On 20 August the German armies in the south attacked the French First and Second armies and next day the Third and Fourth armies began their offensive. The Fourth Army crossed the Semois and advanced towards Neufchâteau and the Third Army (General Pierre Ruffey) attacked towards Arlon, as a right flank guard for the Fourth army. South of Verdun, the Third army was renamed Army of Lorraine and was to watch for a German offensive from Metz, which left the remainder of the Third Army free to concentrate on the offensive into Belgium. The French armies invaded Belgium with nine infantry corps but ten German corps and six reserve brigades of the 4th and 5th armies lay between Metz and the north of Luxembourg.[15]
The German
Aftermath
Analysis
Charbonneau explained that the defeat of the Colonial Corps was caused by faulty reconnaissance, the ineffectiveness of advanced guards in causing delay to advancing German units and that French offensive tactics neglected the importance of obtaining a superiority of fire, which had led to reckless attacks. The quality of the German opponents was not mentioned but German reconnaissance had been effective, communication between commanders and subordinates had not broken down, mutual support between neighbouring units had occurred and German artillery had provided continuous close fire support.[17] At Neufchâteau, the French colonial infantry had been out-gunned and outnumbered by German units, which had been able to engage all their forces quickly. The French XII Corps had a greater number of guns but was not able to overcome two German infantry battalions. German artillery had engaged the Colonial Brigade from close range but when in a hastily occupied defensive position, the French had nullified much of the German artillery-fire; French troops caught in the open had been annihilated. Both sides had attempted to gain fire superiority before advancing and once this had been achieved by the Germans, they had been able to manoeuvre without severe casualties.[18]
The French commanders were ordered by Joffre to continue the offensive on 23 August as early as possible, since his strategy depended on the success of the Third and Fourth armies. Ruffey replied in the morning that the attack could not begin until his divisions had reorganised and in the early afternoon found that the Germans had forestalled another advance, by pushing the V Corps in the centre back for 5.0 mi (8 km), which led to the rest of the army falling back level. In the Fourth Army area, the 33rd Division of XVII Corps was routed and the rest of the corps had retired during the night of 22/23 August. The 5th Colonial Brigade withdrew from Neufchâteau before dawn on 23 August, exposing the right flank of XII Corps, which also fell back. By the end of 23 August, the survivors of the Third and Fourth armies were back to their jumping-off positions except for the XI and IX corps on the northern flank.[19]
Casualties
At Rossignol German casualties were c. 1,318 and French casualties c. 11,277 men.[20] The French 4th Division had c. 1,195 casualties at Bellefontaine against c. 1,920 German casualties. At Neufchâteau the 5th Colonial Brigade had c. 3,600 casualties against units of the German XVIII Reserve Corps, which suffered c. 1,800 casualties.[21] At Bertrix the artillery of the 33rd Division was destroyed and c. 3,181 casualties suffered against c. ⅓ of the number of German casualties, which were noted to be greater than all of the casualties in the Franco-Prussian War.[22] At Massin-Anloy, the French 22nd Division and 34th Division lost 2,240 men killed and the 34th Division was routed. German casualties in the 25th Division were c. 3,224, of whom 1,100 men were killed.[23] At Virton the French 8th Division was "destroyed" and the 3rd Division had c. 556 casualties; German losses were c. 1,281.[24]
In the fighting around Éthe and Bleid, the French 7th Division lost 5,324 men and the German 10th Division suffered c. 1,872 casualties.[25] At Longwy the French V Corps with the 9th and 10th divisions had c. 2,884 casualties and German units of the 26th Division had c. 1,242.[26] South of Longwy, German casualties in the 9th and 12th Reserve and 33rd divisions were c. 4,458 men against the French 12th 40th and 42nd divisions, of which the 40th Division was routed.[27] In 2009, Holger Herwig recorded 19,218 casualties from 21 to 31 August in the 4th Army and 19,017 casualties in the 5th Army. Herwig also recorded 5,500 casualties in the French 8th Division at Virton and wrote that at Ethe, the 7th Division had been "stomped". At Ochamps the 20th Infantry Regiment lost 1,300 men (50 per cent) and the 11th Infantry Regiment lost 2,700 of 3,300 men. The 5th Colonial Brigade lost 3,200 of 6,600 men.[28]
Notes
- title of nobility.
- Barbara Tuchman's work The Guns of August records a visit made in 1913 by the military governor of Lille, one General Lebras, to General de Castelnau, the Deputy Chief of the French General Staff, to dissuade him from revoking Lille's status as a fortress city. Lebas argued that Lille, 10 mi (16 km) from the Belgian border and 40 mi (64 km) inland from the English Channel, would be in the path of any enemy army moving through Flanders into France. Castelnau disagreed and explained the distance between the German border and Lille was too vast for a decisive German offensive.[11]
Footnotes
- ^ a b Strachan 2001, pp. 209–211.
- ^ Tuchman 2014, p. 21.
- ^ Tuchman 2014, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Humphries & Maker 2013, pp. 66, 69.
- ^ Tuchman 2014, pp. 23, 25.
- ^ Tuchman 2014, pp. 23–24.
- ^ Strachan 2001, pp. 190, 172–173, 178.
- ^ Tuchman 2014, p. 31.
- ^ Tuchman 2014, pp. 34–39.
- ^ Tuchman 2014, p. 34.
- ^ Tuchman 2014, pp. 33–34.
- ^ Strachan 2001, p. 194.
- ^ Strachan 2001, pp. 195–198.
- ^ Skinner & Stacke 1922, p. 6.
- ^ Doughty 2005, pp. 64–65.
- ^ Doughty 2005, pp. 65–67.
- ^ Zuber 2009, pp. 126–127.
- ^ Zuber 2009, pp. 142–143.
- ^ Doughty 2005, pp. 67–68.
- ^ Zuber 2009, pp. 123–124.
- ^ Zuber 2009, p. 142.
- ^ Zuber 2009, p. 150.
- ^ Zuber 2009, pp. 158–159.
- ^ Zuber 2009, pp. 179–180.
- ^ Zuber 2009, p. 209.
- ^ Zuber 2009, pp. 227–228.
- ^ Zuber 2009, pp. 241–262.
- ^ Herwig 2009, p. 151.
References
- ISBN 978-0-674-01880-8.
- Herwig, H. (2009). The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle that Changed the World. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6671-1.
- Humphries, M. O.; Maker, J. (2013). Der Weltkrieg: 1914 The Battle of the Frontiers and Pursuit to the Marne. Germany's Western Front: Translations from the German Official History of the Great War (Part 1). Vol. I (1st ed.). Waterloo, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 978-1-55458-373-7.
- Skinner, H. T.; Stacke, H. Fitz M. (1922). Principal Events 1914–1918. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents (online scan ed.). London: HMSO. OCLC 17673086. Retrieved 6 March 2014 – via archive.org.
- ISBN 978-0-19-926191-8.
- ISBN 978-0-345-38623-6.
- Zuber, T. (2009) [2007]. The Battle of the Frontiers. Ardennes 1914 (2nd pbk. ed.). Stroud: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-5255-5.
Further reading
- Foley, R. T. (2007) [2005]. German Strategy and the Path to Verdun: Erich von Falkenhayn and the Development of Attrition, 1870–1916 (pbk. ed.). Cambridge: CUP. ISBN 978-0-521-04436-3.
- Foley, R. T. (2006) [2003]. Alfred von Schlieffen's Military Writings. London: Frank Cass. ISBN 978-0-7146-4999-3.
- Foley, R. T. (1999). Attrition: Its Theory and Application in German Strategy, 1880–1916 (PhD thesis). London University. OCLC 53555612. uk.bl.ethos.322708. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
- House, Simon J. (2017). Lost Opportunity: The Battle of the Ardennes 22 August 1914. Solihull: Helion. ISBN 978-1-91-109642-9.
- Spears, E. (1999) [1968]. Liaison 1914 (2nd ed.). London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN 978-0-304-35228-9.
- Tyng, S. (2007) [1935]. The Campaign of the Marne 1914 (pbk. repr. Westholme, Yardley, PA ed.). New York: Longmans, Green and Co. ISBN 978-1-59416-042-4.