ave to
continue to do so, is undulating and covered with patches of thick wood.

"Within the area which faced the British before the advance commenced,
right up to Laon, the chief feature of tactical importance is the fact
that there are six rivers running across the direction of the advance,
at all of which it was possible that the Germans might make resistance.
These rivers are, in order from the south, the Marne, Ourcq, Vesle,
Aisne, Ailette and Oise.

"The Germans held the line of the Marne, which was crossed by our forces
on September 9, as a purely rearguard operation. Our passage of the
Ourcq was not contested. The Vesle was only lightly held, while
resistance along the Aisne, both against the French and the British, has
been and still is of a determined character.

"On Friday, September 11, but little opposition was met with along any
part of our front, and the direction of the advance was, for the purpose
of co-operating with our allies, turned slightly to the northeast.
The day was spent in rushing forward and gathering in various hostile
detachments. By nightfall our forces had reached a line north of the
Ourcq, extending from Oulchy-le-Chateau to Longpont.

"On this day there was also a general advance of the French along their
whole line, which ended in a substantial success, in one portion of the
field Duke Albrecht of Wuerttemburg's army being driven back across the
Saulx, and elsewhere the whole of the artillery of a German corps being
captured. Several German colors also were taken.

"It was only on this day that the full extent of the victory gained by
the Allies on September 8 [at the Marne] was appreciated by them, and
the moral effect of this success has been enormous. An order dated
September 6 and 7, issued by the commander of the German Seventh Corps,
was picked up. It stated that the great object of the war was about to
be attained, since the French were going to accept battle, and that upon
the result of this battle would depend the issue of the war and the
honor of the German armies.

"On Saturday, the 12th, the enemy were found to be occupying a very
formidable position opposite us on the north of the line at Soissons.
Working from the west to the east, our Third Army Corps gained some high
ground south of the Aisne overlooking the Aisne valley, to the east of
Soissons. Here a long-range artillery duel between our guns and those of
the French on our left and the enemy's artillery on the