all either been put out of action or had retreated and had
ceased to fire. [This dispatch was evidently, therefore, written toward
the end of the second day, on Monday, September 7, 1914, when General
von Kluck realized that his forward drive had failed and that he must
fall back.]

"The enemy's airmen flew above us, describing two circles, which means,
'there is infantry here.' The enemy's artillery mowed the ground with
its fire. In one minute's time I counted forty shells. The shrapnel
exploded nearer and nearer; at last it reached our ranks. I quickly
hugged a knapsack to my stomach in order to protect myself as best I
could. The shrieks of the wounded rang out on all sides. Tears came to
my eyes when I heard the poor devils moaning with pain. The dust, the
smoke, and the stench of the powder were suffocating.

"An order rang out, and bending as low as possible, we started up. We
had to pass right in the line of fire. The men began to fall like
ninepins. God be thanked that I was able to run as I did. I thought my
heart would burst, and was about to throw myself on the ground, unable
to continue, when your image and that of Bolli rose before my eyes, and
I ran on.

"At last we reached our batteries. Three guns were smashed to pieces,
and the gun carriages were burned. We halted for a few seconds to take
breath. And all the time that whistling and banging of the shells
continued. It is a wonder one is not driven mad."

Admiration cannot be withheld from General von Kluck for his splendid
fight at the battle of Coulommiers. He was out-generaled, for one thing,
because of his plan--or his orders--to strike a southeasterly blow; he
was outmaneuvered by the presence of a vastly larger British force than
he had any reason to expect, and he was outnumbered almost two to one.

Through the apple and pear orchards of La Tretoire the battle was
sanguinary; the British (reenforced on September 7, 1914, by some French
divisions) swept through the terrain in widely extended lines, for close
formation was not to be thought of with artillery and machine guns in
front. It was bitter fighting, and the German right contested every inch
of ground stubbornly. Once, indeed, it seemed that General von Kluck
would turn the tables. He rapidly collected his retreating troops, and
with unparalleled suddenness hurled them back upon the advancing First
Corps under Sir Douglas Haig. Aeroplane scouts decided the issue. Had
the British been