nly showed signs of considerable disorganization during the
earlier days of their retirement phase.

Whether it was originally intended by them to defend the position they
took up as strenuously as they have done, or whether the delay, gained
for them during the 12th and 13th by their artillery, has enabled them
to develop their resistance and force their line to an extent not
originally contemplated cannot yet be said.

So far as we are concerned the action still being contested is the
battle of the Aisne. The foe we are fighting is just across the river
along the whole of our front to the east and west. The struggle is not
confined to the valley of that river, though it will probably bear its
name.

The progress of our operations and the French armies nearest us for the
14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th will now be described:

On Monday, the 14th, those of our troops which had on the previous day
crossed the Aisne, after driving in the German rear guards on that
evening, found portions of the enemy's forces in prepared defensive
positions on the right bank and could do little more than secure a
footing north of the river. This, however, they maintained in spite of
two counter-attacks delivered at dusk and 10 P.M., in which the fighting
was severe.

During the 14th, strong reinforcements of our troops were passed to the
north bank, the troops crossing by ferry, by pontoon bridges, and by the
remains of permanent bridges. Close co-operation with the French forces
was maintained and the general progress made was good, although the
opposition was vigorous and the state of the roads, after the heavy
rains, made movements slow. One division alone failed to secure the
ground it expected to.

The First Army Corps, after repulsing repeated attacks, captured 600
prisoners and twelve guns. The cavalry also took a number of prisoners.
Many of the Germans taken belong to the reserve and Landwehr formations,
which fact appears to indicate that the enemy is compelled to draw on
other classes of soldiers to fill the gaps in his ranks.

There was a heavy rain throughout the night of Sept. 14-15, and during
the 15th. The situation of the British forces underwent no essential
change. But it became more and more evident that the defensive
preparations made by the enemy were more extensive than was at first
apparent.

In order to counterbalance these measures were taken by us to economize
our troops and to secure protection from the ho