t arrived. The German official dispatches point out
that General von Buelow's retreat was necessitated by the retreat of
General von Kluck. Of this there is no doubt, but even military
necessity does not quite explain why General von Buelow bolted so
precipitately. His losses were fearful, and the offensive of General
Foch rendered it necessary for the Germans to fall back on the Aisne.

The armies of the Duke of Wuerttemberg and of the crown prince may be
considered together, for they were combined in an effort to pierce the
French line near the angle at Bar-le-Duc. General Langle held on
desperately against the repeated attacks of the Duke of Wuerttemberg.
Ground was lost and recovered, lost again and recovered, and every
trifling vantage point of ground was fought for with a bitter intensity.
Though active, with all the other armies, on September 5 and 6, 1914, it
was not until September 7 that General Langle found himself strained to
his utmost nerve. If he could hold, he could do no more, and when night
fell on September 7, no person was more relieved than General Langle.
Yet the next day was even worse. Instead of slackening in the evil
weather, the German drive became more furious. The exhausted Fourth Army
fought as though in a hideous nightmare, defended their lines in a
sullen obstinacy that seemed almost stuporous, and countercharged in a
blind frenzy that approached to delirium. It was doubtful if General
Langle's army could hold out much longer. But, when General von Buelow
was compelled to retreat, when General Foch turned his attention to
General von Hausen's Saxon Army, and when General Joffre found himself
in a position to rush reenforcements and reserves to the aid of General
Langle, a new color was given to the affair. The defense stiffened, and
as rapidly as it stiffened, so much the more did it become patent that
the Duke of Wuerttemberg could not afford to be in an exposed position
far in advance of all the other attacking armies. Wednesday, September
9, 1914, revealed to the German center the need of falling back on the
crown prince's army, which was the pivot on which the whole campaign
swung.

Meantime, the crown prince's army had been steadily victorious. The weak
French army under General Sarrail had been pushed back, yielding only
foot by foot, back, back, along the rugged hill country of the Meuse. A
determined stand was made to protect the little fort of Troyon, ten
miles south of Verdun,