cquaintance with this distinguished French commander for some years
before the war, and in that time I had learnt enough of his splendid,
soldierlike character, and great capabilities as a leader, to
experience no surprise when actual war revealed his ability.

Although de Castelnau and the Army he commanded were not
successful in actually turning the enemy's flank and compelling his
retreat, I believe that history will assign to this great General the
honour of commanding the Army which drove the first big nail into the
German coffin, for it was the Army which struck the blow that changed
the line of battle from "east and west" to "north and south." De
Castelnau, by the fine leading of that Army, built the first section
of the great besieging wall, which was destined to form an
impenetrable barrier between Germany and her main objectives.

In directing this great movement as he did, Marshal Joffre must once
again be credited with one of those flashes of military genius which
have never been surpassed in the annals of war.

A somewhat significant and rather amusing example of Haig's power of
resource was shown on the 19th, when he arranged with the Zouaves on
his right to give them 10,000 rations of bully beef in exchange for
the loan of two heavy guns.

It was estimated that the enemy's attacks against the 1st Corps up to
this time had cost him at least 7,000 men. The dead were lying thick
in front of our trenches.

The fighting on the 19th September will always remain memorable to the
French, because on this day the Germans practically destroyed Rheims
Cathedral by artillery fire.

On the 20th I had a long conference with Haig at his Headquarters, and
afterwards visited both his Divisional Commanders (Lomax and Munro)
and also some of the Brigadiers.

The 1st Corps was indeed hard pressed, but was gallantly repulsing
all attacks. Nevertheless, it was suffering heavy losses and
badly needed rest. I told Haig he could call upon the remaining two
brigades of the 6th Division (he already had the 18th Brigade in his
trenches) for reinforcement, if necessary.

Later in the day a violent attack on the 3rd Division (2nd Corps)
obliged me to place the 16th Brigade (1st Batt. the Buffs, 1st Batt.
Leicester Regt., 1st Batt. Shropshire L.I., and 2nd Batt. York and
Lancs Regt.) at Smith-Dorrien's disposal. This left only the 17th
Brigade and Gough's cavalry in general reserve.

I told Haig he could call upon them if abs