ipal effort might be
directed to the north.

From the first week in August it was apparent that the length of time
required for the British Army to begin to move would delay our action in
connection with it. This delay is one of the reasons which explain our
failures at the end of August.

[Sidenote: Mulhouse occupied.]

Awaiting the moment when the operations in the north could begin, and to
prepare for it by retaining in Alsace the greatest possible number of
German forces, the General in Chief ordered our troops to occupy
Mulhouse, (Muelhousen,) to cut the bridges of the Rhine at Huningue and
below, and then to flank the attack of our troops, operating in
Lorraine.

This operation was badly carried out by a leader who was at once
relieved of his command. Our troops, after having carried Mulhouse, lost
it and were thrown back on Belfort. The work had, therefore, to be
recommenced afresh, and this was done from August 14 under a new
command.

[Sidenote: Enemy losses.]

Mulhouse was taken on the 19th, after a brilliant fight at Dornach.
Twenty-four guns were captured from the enemy. On the 20th we held the
approaches to Colmar, both by the plain and by the Vosges. The enemy had
undergone enormous losses and abandoned great stores of shells and
forage, but from this moment what was happening in Lorraine and on our
left prevented us from carrying our successes further, for our troops in
Alsace were needed elsewhere.

On August 28 the Alsace army was broken up, only a small part remaining
to hold the region of Thann and the Vosges.

The purpose of the operations in Alsace was, namely, to retain a large
part of the enemy's forces far from the northern theatre of operations.
It was for our offensive in Lorraine to pursue still more directly by
holding before it the German army corps operating to the south of Metz.

This offensive began brilliantly on August 14. On the 19th we had
reached the region of Saarburg and that of the Etangs, (lakes,) and we
held Dieuze, Morhange, Delme, and Chateau Salins.

[Sidenote: French offensive stopped.]

On the 20th our success was stopped. The cause is to be found in the
strong organization of the region, in the power of the enemy's
artillery, operating over ground which had been minutely surveyed, and,
finally, in the default of certain units.

[Sidenote: German reinforcements.]

On the 22d, in spite of the splendid behavior of several of our army
corps, notably that of N