{
 "slug": "le-cateau-1914",
 "title": "Battle of Le Cateau (1914)",
 "status": "draft",
 "era": "1900–1918",
 "date_text": "26 August 1914",
 "start": "1914-08-26",
 "end": "1914-08-26",
 "war": "World War I",
 "cdb90_war": "WORLD WAR I (WESTERN FRONT 1914)",
 "place": {
  "name": "Le Cateau–Cambrai road, from Le Cateau west through Troisvilles, Caudry and Ligny to Esnes, Nord, France",
  "lat": 50.1042,
  "lon": 3.5444,
  "wikidata": "Q2003949"
 },
 "lede": "On 26 August 1914, three days after Mons, Smith-Dorrien's II Corps turned to fight Kluck's pursuing First Army at Le Cateau against Sir John French's wishes. It lost 7,812 men and 38 guns, then slipped away unpursued.",
 "result": "German tactical victory: II Corps was driven from its position with heavy loss, but broke contact and continued the retreat unpursued",
 "result_cdb90": "attacker win",
 "belligerents": [
  {
   "role": "attacker",
   "name": "German Empire (First Army: IV Corps and Marwitz's II Cavalry Corps engaged, with parts of III and IV Reserve Corps arriving)",
   "commanders": [
    "General Alexander von Kluck",
    "General Friedrich Sixt von Armin",
    "General Georg von der Marwitz"
   ],
   "strength": {
    "value": 55000,
    "low": 55000,
    "high": 55000,
    "source": "s12"
   },
   "casualties": {
    "value": 2900,
    "low": 2000,
    "high": 9000,
    "source": "s1"
   }
  },
  {
   "role": "defender",
   "name": "British Empire (II Corps: 3rd and 5th Divisions; 4th Division; 19th Infantry Brigade; Cavalry Division)",
   "commanders": [
    "General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien",
    "Major-General Sir Charles Fergusson",
    "Major-General Hubert Hamilton",
    "Major-General Thomas Snow",
    "Major-General Edmund Allenby"
   ],
   "strength": {
    "value": 40000,
    "low": 40000,
    "high": 40000,
    "source": "s1"
   },
   "casualties": {
    "value": 7812,
    "low": 7812,
    "high": 8077,
    "source": "s2"
   }
  }
 ],
 "sections": {
  "background": "Three days after Mons, the British Expeditionary Force was still falling back south-west, with Lanrezac's French Fifth Army on its right and Kluck's First Army trying to get round its western flank. On 24 and 25 August the Forest of Mormal split the BEF: Haig's I Corps went down the eastern side, Smith-Dorrien's II Corps down the western, under steady pressure from the west. GHQ had first meant both corps to stand on a position near Le Cateau, then ordered the retreat to go on. Haig, attacked at Landrecies on the night of the 25th, never reached the high ground east of Le Cateau that the plan had given him, and II Corps' right was left open.\n\nThe II Corps units came in after dark, in rain, worn out. Snow's 4th Division, just arrived from England without its cavalry, cyclists or heavy battery, had covered the retreat near Solesmes and came in on the left. After 11 p.m. Allenby reported that the Germans held the high ground north of Viesly, and that unless the troops could march before daylight they would have to fight. At 2 a.m. Hamilton told Smith-Dorrien that the 3rd Division could not be formed up to move before 9 a.m.\n\nSmith-Dorrien decided to stand, to 'strike the enemy hard' and then continue the retreat. GHQ heard at 5 a.m. Sir John French's reply gave him 'a free hand as to method' but wanted every endeavour made to retire; on the telephone Henry Wilson warned of 'another Sedan'. Smith-Dorrien answered that the action had already begun.",
  "forces": "Smith-Dorrien had about 40,000 men: II Corps (Hamilton's 3rd and Fergusson's 5th Divisions), Snow's 4th Division, the 19th Brigade as his only reserve, and Allenby's Cavalry Division, scattered and exhausted. They were the long-service regulars and reservists of Mons, tired after two days of marching. Few units had seen the position by daylight, and the only map was the unfamiliar French 1:80,000 hachured sheet. Most dug in with small entrenching tools; on the right some batteries could only mask their guns with corn-sheaves. The field guns were placed close behind the infantry, often in the firing line, to support it with direct fire.\n\nKluck believed he faced the whole BEF of six divisions and planned to envelop it on both flanks. In the event only Sixt von Armin's IV Corps (7th and 8th Divisions) and Marwitz's II Cavalry Corps (three cavalry divisions with Jäger battalions and many machine guns) fought for most of the day, and Sixt von Armin had no authority over the cavalry. III Corps arrived late on the right, IV Reserve Corps in the afternoon on the left, and II Corps was held near Cambrai by the French 84th Territorial Division. The German advantage was artillery: Edmonds counts the guns of five infantry and three cavalry divisions, plus sixteen 5.9-inch howitzers, firing from concealed positions.",
  "course": "**The right turned (6 to 11 a.m.).** The day dawned hot and misty. The 5th Division's right, the 14th Brigade, lay on the open spur just west of Le Cateau, with the 2nd Suffolk in front and the 2nd King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry beside them, and the XV and XXVIII Brigades RFA and the 37th Howitzer Battery in close support. Some battalions got the order to stand only at 6 a.m.; those east of the town never got it. Shortly after 6 a.m. German troops entered Le Cateau, and at 6.30 a.m. the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and half the East Surrey, waiting in column in the town, were fired on from houses; they cut their way out south-east. About a dozen German batteries opened from near Forest, and more from Rambourlieux Farm enfiladed the line. About 10 a.m. German guns reached the heights east of the town, so the batteries west of it were raked from both flanks; the 11th Battery was soon down to one gun. Massed German infantry advanced along a two-mile front and was shot down by the field guns and the 108th Heavy Battery's 60-pounders, but kept coming.\n\n**The centre and left (6 a.m. to noon).** On the left, the 4th Division's 1st King's Own were caught resting in quarter-column near Longsart soon after 6 a.m. by machine guns, then shelled, losing about 400 men. Against Marwitz's cavalry and Jäger, the 12th Brigade fell back across the Warnelle to the line Ligny–Haucourt–Esnes; by 11 a.m. the attack there had been stopped. The 3rd Division, better posted, held Caudry, a salient attacked from 7 a.m., and Audencourt without difficulty.\n\n**The guns and the Suffolks (noon to 4.30 p.m.).** By noon German howitzers on the Montay spur were firing on the Suffolk at close range, and machine guns in a cutting on the Cambrai road were enfilading them. At 1.20 p.m. Fergusson asked to retire. In a lull the teams came up: the 11th, 80th and 37th Batteries got most guns away, the 52nd lost theirs, and the 122nd's teams galloped through the cheering West Kents, saving two guns. Twenty-four field guns and a howitzer were lost here, breech-blocks removed. With German infantry 200 yards off, Captain Douglas Reynolds and volunteer drivers of the 37th Battery limbered up the last two howitzers and brought one away; Reynolds and Drivers Luke and Drain won the VC. Between 2.30 and 2.45 p.m. the Suffolk, Manchester and Argylls were overrun from front, flank and rear. The 2nd KOYLI, who never got the order to retire, held until about 4.30 p.m.; Major Charles Yate won a posthumous VC there, and Lance-Corporal Frederick Holmes another.\n\n**Withdrawal (2 to 6 p.m.).** About 2 p.m. 5.9-inch howitzers shelled Caudry; the brigadier was stunned and the village largely given up. The 11th Brigade withdrew to Ligny and threw back two attacks. At 3.47 p.m. II Corps reported that the retreat had begun. From about 4 p.m. Sordet's French cavalry, sent back into the fight at Joffre's request, shelled the flank of IV Reserve Corps as it came up from Cambrai, covering the 4th Division as it pulled out from 5 p.m.\n\n**Left behind (night).** The Gordons, with parties of the Royal Scots and Royal Irish, never got the order to retire and held Audencourt until dark. At 12.30 a.m. they marched off, ran into Germans near Bertry and Clary about 2 a.m., and were overpowered. Kluck ordered no pursuit until 4 a.m. on the 27th.",
  "aftermath": "II Corps and its attached troops lost 7,812 men and 38 guns, by one account more than in any British battle since Waterloo; about 2,600 were taken prisoner. German losses were never published, and estimates run from about 2,000 to nearly 9,000. The retreat went on to St Quentin and beyond. Kluck reported a victory over nine divisions, rested his troops, and lost contact: II Corps had nearly twelve hours' start.\n\nThe argument began at once. French was furious that Smith-Dorrien had fought and accused him of putting the BEF at risk; Haig wrote of an 'ill-considered decision'. French later criticised him in print, and in 1915, after Second Ypres, relieved him of command. The British official historian, Edmonds, judged him 'fully justified' in fighting, and Terraine and Spencer Jones argue that the stand slowed the Germans and secured the retreat; Jones calls it 'a crucial, albeit bloody, victory for the BEF'.\n\nZuber's *The Mons Myth* (2010) takes the other side. Working from German regimental histories, he argues that the odds were roughly even, that the British positions had poor fields of fire and no covered line of retreat, that the planned delaying action never happened, and that German losses were about 2,900, far below British claims. The regimental historian of the German 93rd Regiment wrote that it had proved itself the British regulars' superior. Zuber's critics say he takes German accounts on trust.",
  "wargaming": "Le Cateau is a rearguard battle where the real question is when to leave. A front of about ten miles from Le Cateau to Esnes suits battalions or batteries as units with half-hour or hourly turns from 6 a.m. to dusk. The fight on the 5th Division's right, from the Selle valley to the Roman road, makes a tight company-level game over eight hours.\n\nThe British player has open stubble fields, sunken roads and small valleys that let attackers get close unseen, guns placed among the infantry, and orders that may not arrive: several battalions never got the word to stand or to go. Message delays and a chance that an order fails to reach a unit are essential. Getting the guns out should be costly, and the right flank above Le Cateau should be open.\n\nThe German player has superior, concealed artillery but arrives piecemeal: cavalry and Jäger on the left at dawn, IV Corps in the centre, III Corps and IV Reserve Corps only in the afternoon, with no single commander. Victory conditions should reward pinning and enveloping before dark, not ground taken.\n\nWhat-ifs: Haig on the heights east of Le Cateau; Smith-Dorrien retiring at the 1 p.m. lull, which Edmonds thought would have invited a close pursuit; III Corps arriving on time; no Sordet or 84th Territorial on the left. Treat British rifle fire with the same caution as at Mons."
 },
 "images": [
  {
   "file": "File:Area of BEF operations, August 1914.jpg",
   "kind": "map",
   "caption": "The country of the retreat from Mons: Mons, the Forest of Mormal, Solesmes, Le Cateau, Caudry and Cambrai.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Area_of_BEF_operations%2C_August_1914.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Area_of_BEF_operations%2C_August_1914.jpg/960px-Area_of_BEF_operations%2C_August_1914.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Area_of_BEF_operations,_August_1914.jpg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "The Times",
   "credit": "Genre/Form: Periodicals Additional Physical Format: Online version: Times (London, England) Times history of the war. v. 1-22 (pts. 1-273) London, \"The Times\" [1914]-21 (OCoLC)558550086 Document Type: Book OCLC Number: 642276 Notes: Vols. 1-21 were issued in weekly parts from August 25, 1914, to July 27, 1920; v. 22, published in 1921, forms general index. Parts 1-63 have title: The Times history of the war; pts. 64-273: The Times history and encyclopædia of the war. No more published. Description: 22 v. illus. (incl. ports.) maps. 31 cm. Other Titles: Times (London, England)",
   "width": 1013
  },
  {
   "file": "File:British casualties at Le Cateaua.jpg",
   "kind": "photo",
   "caption": "Dead horses and abandoned field guns, said to be British, after Le Cateau.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/British_casualties_at_Le_Cateaua.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/British_casualties_at_Le_Cateaua.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_casualties_at_Le_Cateaua.jpg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "",
   "credit": "",
   "width": 493
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Horace Smith-Dorrien.jpg",
   "kind": "portrait",
   "caption": "General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, commander of II Corps, who chose to stand at Le Cateau.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Horace_Smith-Dorrien.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Horace_Smith-Dorrien.jpg/960px-Horace_Smith-Dorrien.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Horace_Smith-Dorrien.jpg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "Harris & Ewing",
   "credit": "This image is available from the United States Library of Congress 's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID hec.04763 . This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing .",
   "width": 3898
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Alexander von Kluck (ca. 1914).jpg",
   "kind": "portrait",
   "caption": "General Alexander von Kluck, commander of the German First Army.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Alexander_von_Kluck_%28ca._1914%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Alexander_von_Kluck_%28ca._1914%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_von_Kluck_(ca._1914).jpg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "Mayer, Dresden Published as a postcard in the Kingdom of Prussia by Gustav Liersch, Berlin, card#95.",
   "credit": "Private collection - Wartenberg Trust",
   "width": 467
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Friedrich Sixt von Armin.png",
   "kind": "portrait",
   "caption": "General Friedrich Sixt von Armin, whose IV Corps did most of the German fighting.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Friedrich_Sixt_von_Armin.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Friedrich_Sixt_von_Armin.png/960px-Friedrich_Sixt_von_Armin.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Friedrich_Sixt_von_Armin.png",
   "licence": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
   "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0",
   "artist": "Unknown author Unknown author",
   "credit": "Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz [1]",
   "width": 1214
  },
  {
   "file": "File:J.H.C.Drain VC, Royal Field Artillery.jpg",
   "kind": "portrait",
   "caption": "Driver Job Drain, 37th Howitzer Battery, who won the VC helping to save a howitzer at Le Cateau.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/J.H.C.Drain_VC%2C_Royal_Field_Artillery.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/J.H.C.Drain_VC%2C_Royal_Field_Artillery.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:J.H.C.Drain_VC,_Royal_Field_Artillery.jpg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "W D &H O Wills Ltd, Bristol",
   "credit": "Cigarette card, 1915",
   "width": 519
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Lance Corporal Frederick William Holmes.jpg",
   "kind": "portrait",
   "caption": "Lance-Corporal Frederick Holmes, 2nd King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, VC at Le Cateau.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Lance_Corporal_Frederick_William_Holmes.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Lance_Corporal_Frederick_William_Holmes.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lance_Corporal_Frederick_William_Holmes.jpg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "IWM Collections",
   "credit": "Flickr : Lance Corporal Frederick William Holmes",
   "width": 504
  }
 ],
 "sources": [
  {
   "id": "s1",
   "title": "Battle of Le Cateau (Wikipedia)",
   "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Le_Cateau",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s2",
   "title": "J. E. Edmonds, History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium, 1914, vol. I, 3rd edition (Macmillan, 1933), chapters VI–IX, note 'German Accounts of Le Cateau' and ch. X note IV 'British Losses 23rd to 27th August' (Internet Archive scan)",
   "url": "https://archive.org/details/3edmilitaryopera01edmouoft",
   "kind": "book"
  },
  {
   "id": "s3",
   "title": "Horace Smith-Dorrien (Wikipedia)",
   "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Smith-Dorrien",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s4",
   "title": "Terence Zuber, The Mons Myth: A Reassessment of the Battle, author's book page",
   "url": "https://terencezuber.com/mons.php",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s5",
   "title": "Terence Zuber, The Mons Myth: A Reassessment of the Battle (The History Press, 2010); not read by me: arguments and figures taken via s1 and s4",
   "url": null,
   "kind": "book"
  },
  {
   "id": "s6",
   "title": "Antony Bird, Gentlemen, We Will Stand and Fight: Le Cateau 1914 (Crowood Press, 2008); not read by me: figures taken via s1 and the publisher's description as quoted in search results",
   "url": null,
   "kind": "book"
  },
  {
   "id": "s7",
   "title": "A. A. Nofi, review of Bird, Gentlemen, We Will Stand and Fight (StrategyPage)",
   "url": "https://www.strategypage.com/bookreviews/513",
   "kind": "article"
  },
  {
   "id": "s8",
   "title": "J. Rickard, 'Battle of Le Cateau, 26 August 1914' (History of War, 2007)",
   "url": "https://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_le_cateau.html",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s9",
   "title": "Nigel Cave and Jack Sheldon, Le Cateau (Pen & Sword, Battleground Europe, 2008); not read by me: figure taken via s1",
   "url": null,
   "kind": "book"
  },
  {
   "id": "s10",
   "title": "Douglas Reynolds (Wikipedia), with the London Gazette VC citation",
   "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Reynolds",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s11",
   "title": "Frederick William Holmes (Wikipedia), with the London Gazette VC citation",
   "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_William_Holmes",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s12",
   "title": "Schlacht bei Le Cateau (German Wikipedia), infobox",
   "url": "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlacht_bei_Le_Cateau",
   "kind": "web"
  }
 ],
 "cdb90": [
  267
 ],
 "order": 122,
 "url": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/le-cateau-1914/",
 "oob": [],
 "oob_lwtv": [],
 "scenarios": [],
 "orbat": null,
 "orbat_lwtv": null,
 "reading": {
  "prose": [
   {
    "work_id": "ia:fortydaysin191400mauruoft",
    "title": "Forty days in 1914",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Sir Frederick Maurice",
    "life": "1871–1951",
    "year": 1919,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/fortydaysin191400mauruoft",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 15,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/forty-days-in-1914-ef6c6b/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "gutenberg:24538",
    "title": "1914",
    "in": null,
    "author": "John Denton Pinkstone French",
    "life": "1852–1925",
    "year": null,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Project Gutenberg",
    "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24538",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 5,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/1914-e699fe/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "gutenberg:44451",
    "title": "A Company of Tanks",
    "in": null,
    "author": "William Henry Lowe Watson",
    "life": "1891–1932",
    "year": null,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Project Gutenberg",
    "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44451",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 4,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/a-company-of-tanks-45d27f/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:britishsoldierhi00harduoft",
    "title": "The British soldier, his courage and humour",
    "in": null,
    "author": "E. J. Hardy",
    "life": "1849–1920",
    "year": 1915,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/britishsoldierhi00harduoft",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 2,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-british-soldier-his-courage-and-humour-18be0a/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:britishsoldierhi00hardrich",
    "title": "The British soldier",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Edward Joseph Hardy",
    "life": "1849–1920",
    "year": 1915,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/britishsoldierhi00hardrich",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 2,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-british-soldier-5da5a4/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:greatwar1914191800fletuoft",
    "title": "The great war, 1914-1918, a brief sketch",
    "in": null,
    "author": "C. R. L. Fletcher",
    "life": "1857–1934",
    "year": 1920,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/greatwar1914191800fletuoft",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 2,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-great-war-1914-1918-a-brief-sketch-4abc7f/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:infiringlinestor00adcouoft",
    "title": "In the firing line, stories of the war by land and sea",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Arthur St. John Adcock",
    "life": "1864–1930",
    "year": 1914,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/infiringlinestor00adcouoft",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 1,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/in-the-firing-line-stories-of-the-war-by-land-and-sea-309471/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:adventure0000unse_r7b6",
    "title": "Adventure",
    "in": null,
    "author": "John Edward Bernard Seely, Baron Mottistone",
    "life": "1868–1947",
    "year": 1930,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/adventure0000unse_r7b6",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 1,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/adventure-cfbb10/"
   }
  ],
  "history": [
   {
    "work_id": "ia:militaryoperatio01edmouoft",
    "title": "Military Operations, France and Belgium 1914, vol. 1",
    "in": null,
    "author": "James E. Edmonds",
    "life": null,
    "year": 1922,
    "kind": "official history",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/militaryoperatio01edmouoft",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": false,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 22,
    "official": true,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/military-operations-france-and-belgium-1914-vol-1-dd5b78/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:order-battle-divisions-p-1",
    "title": "Order of Battle of Divisions, part 1 — regular divisions",
    "in": null,
    "author": "A. F. Becke",
    "life": null,
    "year": 1935,
    "kind": "official history",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/order-battle-divisions-p-1",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": false,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 5,
    "official": true,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/order-of-battle-of-divisions-part-1-regular-divisions-7d412f/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:warinairbeingsto01raleuoft",
    "title": "The War in the Air, vol. 1",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Walter Raleigh",
    "life": null,
    "year": 1922,
    "kind": "official history",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/warinairbeingsto01raleuoft",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": false,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 3,
    "official": true,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-war-in-the-air-vol-1-978d16/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:warinairbeingsto06rale",
    "title": "The War in the Air, vol. 6",
    "in": null,
    "author": "H. A. Jones",
    "life": null,
    "year": 1922,
    "kind": "official history",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/warinairbeingsto06rale",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": false,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 2,
    "official": true,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-war-in-the-air-vol-6-a10e5d/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:warinairbeingsto04rale",
    "title": "The War in the Air, vol. 4",
    "in": null,
    "author": "H. A. Jones",
    "life": null,
    "year": 1922,
    "kind": "official history",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/warinairbeingsto04rale",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": false,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 0,
    "official": true,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-war-in-the-air-vol-4-a7ea66/"
   }
  ],
  "fiction": [
   {
    "work_id": "gutenberg:3249",
    "title": "The Major",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Ralph Connor",
    "life": "1860–1937",
    "year": null,
    "kind": "novel",
    "library": "Project Gutenberg",
    "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3249",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 1,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-major-3177c5/"
   }
  ],
  "poetry": [
   {
    "work_id": "ia:cu31924013292515",
    "title": "War ballads and broadsides of previous wars, 1779-1795",
    "in": null,
    "author": "H. Ling Roth",
    "life": "1854–1925",
    "year": 1915,
    "kind": "poem",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/cu31924013292515",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 1,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/war-ballads-and-broadsides-of-previous-wars-1779-1795-9be3e9/"
   }
  ]
 },
 "reading_lwtv": {
  "prose": [],
  "poetry": []
 },
 "photos": [
  {
   "file": "File:THE GLORIOUS CHARGE OF THE NINTH LANCERS DURING THE GREAT RETREAT FROM MONS TO CAMBRAI.png",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/THE_GLORIOUS_CHARGE_OF_THE_NINTH_LANCERS_DURING_THE_GREAT_RETREAT_FROM_MONS_TO_CAMBRAI.png/500px-THE_GLORIOUS_CHARGE_OF_THE_NINTH_LANCERS_DURING_THE_GREAT_RETREAT_FROM_MONS_TO_CAMBRAI.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:THE_GLORIOUS_CHARGE_OF_THE_NINTH_LANCERS_DURING_THE_GREAT_RETREAT_FROM_MONS_TO_CAMBRAI.png",
   "caption": "A magnificent feat of the Ninth Lancers, recalling the famous Balaclava charge, was accomplished during the retreat of the Allied left from Le Cateau on 25th August, 1914",
   "year": 1914,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "Charles Mills Sheldon",
   "collection": null
  }
 ],
 "photos_kind": "photographs",
 "newspapers": {
  "slug": "le-cateau-1914",
  "query": "Cateau",
  "from": "1914-08-26",
  "to": "1914-09-09",
  "total": 151,
  "rights": "Library of Congress, Chronicling America: newspapers published before 1931, in the public domain. Text machine-read from the scanned page.",
  "pages": [
   {
    "date": "1914-08-27",
    "paper": "The sun (New York [N.Y.])",
    "place": "New York, New York",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030272/1914-08-27/ed-1/?sp=1",
    "snippet": "... linn from C'nmbral to I.e [[tag]]Cateau[[/tag]] Is favorable. I.e [[tag]]Cateau[[/tag]] Is twenty-flvo miles within tho French frontier and behind the Valenciennes and Maubeuge positions, to which the Hrltlsh nnd French retired nfter Satur day's battle at Charlcroi. This would Indicate that tho Germnns have man aged to advance their position at this point upon French territory. The report from Iorralne la that the German offen sive in that section has been absolutely repulsed. Premier Vlvlanl nnd his entire CabT net resigned yesterday afternoon. M. Vlvlanl was nuked to retain his post as Premier and he succeeded In forming a new Cabinet with Theophlle Delcasse as Foreign Minister and two members of the unified Hoclnllsts In ..."
   },
   {
    "date": "1914-08-28",
    "paper": "Evening star (Washington, D.C.)",
    "place": "Washington, District Of Columbia",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1914-08-28/ed-1/?sp=2",
    "snippet": "... of Cam brai and l?e [[tag]]Cateau[[/tag]], our troops were exposed to the attack of five German army corps, two divisions of cavalry and a reserve corps of cavalry and a second cavalry division. \"Our second corps In the fourth divi sion bore the brunt of the cavalry at tack. while our first army corps was attacked on the right and inflicted a very heavy loss on the enemy. Behavior of Troops Admirable. \"I regret to say that our casualties were heavy, but the exact numbers are not yet known. The behavior of our troops was in all respects ad mirable. \"Gen. Joffre, the French commander in-chief, in a message published this morning conveys his congratulations ..."
   },
   {
    "date": "1914-08-28",
    "paper": "The Anderson intelligencer (Anderson, S.C.)",
    "place": "Anderson, South Carolina",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn93067658/1914-08-28/ed-1/?sp=5",
    "snippet": null
   },
   {
    "date": "1914-08-31",
    "paper": "The Bennington evening banner (Bennington, Vt.)",
    "place": "Bennington, Vermont",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn95066012/1914-08-31/ed-1/?sp=3",
    "snippet": "... of Cambria Landrecios and Le [[tag]]Cateau[[/tag]] (Cambria is a fotifird town in (lie department of the north. miles southeast of Lille on t he river Scheldt. Le [[tag]]Cateau[[/tag]] is It! miles south east of Camrai. \"it had been intended to resume the battle at daybreak on the 2Hlli but the German attack, in which no less than live army corps were en gaged, was so close and lie ce that it was not possible to carry out this in tention until the afternoon. \"The battle on this day, the Stith, was of a most severe and desperate character. The troops offered a su perb and most stubborn resistance to tho t emendous odds with which ..."
   },
   {
    "date": "1914-09-01",
    "paper": "Webster City freeman (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa)",
    "place": "Webster City, Iowa",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85050913/1914-09-01/ed-1/?sp=4",
    "snippet": "... Cambrai, Land recies and Le [[tag]]Cateau[[/tag]]. (Cambrai is a fortified town in the department of the north, thirty-two miles southeast of Lille on the river Schiedt. La [[tag]]Cateau[[/tag]] is fourteen miles east by southeast of Cambrai). \"It had been intended to resume the retirement at daybreak on the 26th, but the. German attack, in which no less than five army corps were engaged was so close and fierce that it was not possible to carry out this intention until the afternoon. WAS DESPERATE BATTLE. \"The battle on this day, the 26th, was of a most severe and desperate character. The troops offered a su perb and most stubborn resistance to the tremendous odds with which ..."
   },
   {
    "date": "1914-09-02",
    "paper": "The Adair County news (Columbia, Ky.)",
    "place": "Columbia, Kentucky",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn86069496/1914-09-02/ed-1/?sp=8",
    "snippet": null
   },
   {
    "date": "1914-09-04",
    "paper": "The Kadoka press and Kadoka reporter (Kadoka, S.D.)",
    "place": "Kadoka, South Dakota",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn96090237/1914-09-04/ed-1/?sp=6",
    "snippet": "... Cam brai, I.andrecies and Le [[tag]]Cateau[[/tag]]. (Cam brai is a fortified town in the depart ment of the north, thirty-seven miles southeast of Lille, on the River Scheldt. Le [[tag]]Cateau[[/tag]] is fourteen miles east by southeast of Cambral.) “It had been intended to resume the retirement at daybreak on the 26th, but the German attack, in which no less than five army corps were en gaged, was so close and fierce that it was not possible to carry out this in tention until afternoon. “The battle on this day, the 26th, was of a most severe and desperate character. \"The troops offered a superb and most stubborn resistance to the tre mendous odds with which ..."
   },
   {
    "date": "1914-09-05",
    "paper": "The diamond drill (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.)",
    "place": "Crystal Falls, Michigan",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn96076817/1914-09-05/ed-1/?sp=6",
    "snippet": null
   }
  ]
 }
}