The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1914-09-30

L0ndon.-An account OF tnS opera
tions of the British. army in France
and the French armies in immediate
touch with it during the period from
September 10 to Is, written by an Of
fcer attached to Field Marshal Sir
John French's staff, has been issued
by the official press bureau. The &C
count follows:
& Since Thursday, September 10, the
British army, in cooperation with the
French, made steady progress in its
endeavor to drive back the enemy.
The country across which 1t had to
force its way and over which 1t Will
have to fight in the neal future is un-
dulating and covered with patches OF
thick wood.
within the area which faced the
British before the advance COM
menced, right up to Laon, the chief
feature of tactical importance is that
there are six rivers running across the
direction of the advance, at all OF
which it was possible the Germans
might make a stand. These are, IN
order from the south, the Marine,
Ourcq, Vesle, Aisne, Ailette and Disc.
Real Resistance at the Aisne.
"The enemy held the lines of the
Marine, which was crossed by our
forces on September 9, as a purely
rear guard operation. Our passage
OF the Ourcq, which here runs almost
due east and west, was not contested.
The Vesie was only lightly held, while
resistance along the Aisne, both
against the French and British, mas
been and still is Of a determined CHAR
acter.
ION Friday, September II, little op-
position was met along any part OF
our front and the direction Of the ad-
vance vas for the purpose Of cooper
ating with our allies turned slightly
to the northeast. The day was passed
in rushing forward and gathering in
various hostile detachments. BY night
fall our forces had reached a n
north of the Ourcq, extending from
Oulchy-Le-Chateau to Longpont.
ia@ General Advance of French.
"On this day there was also a gen.
eral advance of the French along their
whole line which ended in a substan-
tial success, in one portion Of the field
Duke Albrecht Of Wurtemburg's army
being driven back across the Saulx,
and elsewhere the whole OF the corps
artillery of a German corps being cap
tured. Several German colors also
were taken.
1T was only on this day that the
full extent of the victory gained by
the allies on September s was appre-
ciated by them and the moral effect
of this success has been enormous.
IAN order dated September 6 and
issued by the commander of the Ger
man Seventh corps was picked up. 1t
stated that the great object Of the
wal was about to be attained, since
the French were going to accept bat
tie, and that upon the result Of this
battle would depend the issue Of the
war and the honor Of the German ar
mics. .
Germans Make Heroic Effort.
1T seems probable that the Ger
mans not only expected to find that
the British army was beyond the pow
er Of assuming the offensive for some
time, but counted on the French hav-
/ ing been driven back on to the line
OF the Seine, and that, though sur
prised to find the latter moving for
ward against them after they had
crossed the Marine, they were in no
wise deferred from making a great
effort.
"On Saturday, September ~, the en-
envy were found to be occupying a for
midable position opposite us on the
north Of the line at scissors. They
had both sides of the river and an
e%ntrenched line on the hills to the
north Of the eight road bridges and
two railway bridges crossing the
Aisne, within our section of the front.
Seven of the former and both Of the
latter had been demolished.
Foes in Artillery Duel.
Working from the west to the east,
our Third army corps gained some
high ground south Of the Aisne, over
looking the Aisne valley, to the east
Of scissors.
Here a long range artillery duel
between our guns and those Of the
French on our left and the enemy's
artillery on the hills continued dur
ing the greater part of the day and
did not cease until nearly midnight.
The enemy had a large number Of
heavy howitzers in we'll concealed po-
sitions.
THE movement of this army corps
was effected in cooperation with the
French sixth army, on our left, which
gained the southern half of the town
during the night.
THE Second army corps did not
cross the Aisne. The First army corps
got over the river Vesle, to the south
Of the Aisne, after the crossing had
been secured by the First cavalry
division. 1t then reached a line south
of Aisne practically without fighting.
Battle of Braisne.
AT Braisne the first cavalry divi-
sion met with considerable opposition
from infantry and machine guns hold
ing the town and guarding the bridge.
With the aid of some Of our infantry,
it gained possession Of the town about