nder Sir Douglas Haig, was in cantonments to the
north of Maubeuge, between that place and Givry. The 2nd Corps, under
Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, was to the north-west of Maubeuge, between
that place and Sars-la-Bruyere. The 19th Infantry Brigade was
concentrating at Valenciennes.

Turning to our Ally, the 6th and 7th French Reserve Divisions
were entrenching themselves on a line running from Dunkirk,
through Cambrai and La Capelle, to Hirson. The 5th French Army was on
our right, the 18th French Corps being in immediate touch with the
British Army. Three Divisions of French cavalry under General Sordet,
which had been operating in support of the Belgians, were falling back
behind the 18th Corps for rest and refit. The 3rd and 4th French
Armies, comprising 8-1/2 Corps, three Cavalry Divisions and some
reserve Divisions, were between Mezieres and Longwy. The French troops
further south had taken the offensive and marched into Alsace. Liege
still held out. Namur was intact. The Belgians seemed secure behind
the fortifications of Antwerp.

Before going further it would be as well to give some account of the
country in which the two opposing forces faced one another on the
night of Friday, August 21st, the area Conde--Cambrai--Le
Nouvion--Binche:--

_Distances._--Cambrai to Conde 24 miles.
Conde to Binche 26 miles.
Cambrai to Le Nouvion 26 miles.
Le Nouvion to Binche 31 miles.

This region forms part of the Belgian province of Hainault and the
French Departments of the Nord and the Aisne, lying approximately
between the upper valleys of the Rivers Scheldt and Sambre. Its
northern boundary is formed by the basin of the River Haine. This
river, formed from three streams which rise in the neighbourhood of
Binche, passes Mons and flows into the Scheldt at Conde after a course
of 30 miles. Close to its left bank, from Mons to Conde, a canal
connects the former place with the Scheldt. Prior to the construction
of this canal, the Haine was navigable by means of locks. Several
small parallel streams run into it from the south, along
sunken valleys in an undulating plateau, over which lie scattered the
various mines of the Berinage coalfield.

West of Mons the valley of the Haine forms a long, low plain, covered
with meadows, through which the river meanders in broad bends as far
as the Scheldt. Numerous water ditches, cut in the peaty soil and
marked out b