Rawlinson were not sent to France till after the end
of September, 1914. It contained besides about one division and a half
of cavalry under General Allenby. A British division varies from 12,000
to 15,000 men (three infantry brigades of four regiments each; three
groups of artillery, each having three batteries of six pieces; two
companies of sappers, and one regiment of cavalry). The force totaled
some 75,000 men, with 259 guns. The whole was placed under the command
of Field Marshal Sir John French, with Lieutenant General Sir Archibald
Murray, Chief of Staff.

Field Marshal French was sixty-two and was two years younger than Lord
Kitchener. His responsibilities were great, how great no one at the
beginning of the war realized his capabilities for the developing scope
of the task untried, but as a serious and courageous officer he fully
merited the honors he had already won.

By August 7, 1914, Admiral Jellicoe was able to guarantee a safe passage
for the British army across the English Channel. A fortunate
mobilization of the British Grand Fleet in the North Sea for maneuvers
shut off the German Grand Fleet from raiding the Channel. There was
nothing to criticize in the manner in which the Expeditionary Army was
thrown into France. Its equipment was ready and in all details fully
worthy of German military organization. From arms to boots--the latter
not long since a scandal of shoddy workmanship--only the best material
and skill had been accepted. Its transport proved the genius of Lord
Kitchener in that brand of military service. The railways leading to the
ports of embarkation, together with passenger steamships--some of them
familiar in American ports--were commandeered as early as the 4th of
August.

During the night of August 7, 1914, train after train filled with troops
steamed toward Southampton, and some other south-coast ports.
Complements were also embarked at Dublin, Avonmouth, and the Bristol
Channel. In the middle of the night citizens of small towns along the
route were awakened by the unceasing rumble of trains. They had no
conception of its import. They did not even realize that war had
actually burst upon the serenity of their peaceful lives. Each transport
vessel was placed in command of a naval officer, and guarded in its
passage across the channel by light cruisers and torpedo destroyers. The
transport of the whole Expeditionary Army was completed within ten days,
without the loss of a man and