The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-09-07


 Marne began in the late hours of tonight a year ago. yet some of it's details will be cleared up only when all official reports and documents are available.
 The respective strength of the arm ies during the battle of Charleroi and the retreat, the number and positi on of General Maunoury's forces during the retreat, and the preliminary maneuvers, and the number and ort- gin of the endorsements sent to him during the battle. are disputed dues- tions. The reasons for the sudden obliquing of von Kluck's forces on ap- preaching Paris are also in doubt Little by little, however, the principal developments of the battle have been established approximately.
 Though the execution of their plans had been retarded a fortnight by the resistance encountered in Belgium, the Germans in their vast circular movement, pivoting on Metz, reache d the line of the Sanbre and Mouse August 21 with at least 25 corps (soo. .o0o men) while the Allies had assembled only IT corps, (6So.00o men), including two British corps. The Allies, counting upon several days resistance by the fortress of Ma mur, took the offensive August 22, with the object of piercing the Ger
 
 bre and the Mouse and cutting the armies of won ,Kluck and von ,Buelow off from the rest of the German forces.
 s Namur fell in few hours; the army of General Foch (120,OOO men1 con- centratinge behind the center, Mae not yet ready to go into action, and the plan of the Allies was compromised. After partial successes around Char lerei and on the Mouse, the first divi- sion of reserves at Dinant was thrown back and the 3rd corps at Marchi- enhes sustained grave reverse, Weakening the center, held by the army of General Lanrezac. General LangIe de Gary on his right had been checked in the Ardennes, and Ruffey on the extreme right was in difficul-1 ties with the army Of the Crown Prince Of Prussia. at the frontier of Luxembourg. On the extreme left the British troops around Mons were violently engaged with greatly super for numbers, constantly increasing and igravely threatening their enveI- opments
 The French general was informed by General Joffre, August 23, that corps upon his left. General Smith Dorrien's End corps was already giv- ing ground. Such was the beginning of the fourteen days retreat, during which the Allies, covering 40 miles distance, on the left wing fought con- dnuaI rear guard actions and some important engagem ents- that checked the advance of the Germans. and pre- pared the Battle of the Marne ac- cording to tn plans said to have been definitely fixed August 27th by orders in Joffre's own hand.
 General I4angle de Cary obliged the Duke of Wuerttemberg to recross the Mouse and held him there twenty four hours, retiring only under orders from Joffre thatS he must be at Launois on thel29th At Launois and Bethel he held the same forces from August 28 to 31, before continuing his retreat. From his position fac ng the Ardennes to the front of the Ndarne, he had fought ten whole days and covered 60 miles with his forces ntact. H
 General Lanrezac attained a success at Guise, but was ordered not to< fol- low it up; the situation was not yet favorable for resuning a general of fensive-
 The retreat of General French was attended with the greatest difficulties The Germans, sending ever increas- Ing numbers of soldiers by forced marches against his left, necessitated and desperate counter attacks. At Cambrai he sustained the fire Of the artillery of four corps; he lost 6 poo men from the 23rd to the 26th before being dfsengaged by a heroic charge of General A11enbyis cavalry.
 The army of General Maunoury, af- .erward called the Army of Paris, partly constituted the 26th near Amiens and pouularly supposed not % have been in action until Septem- per 9th, appears to have gone to the support of the>British contingent the 29th, in the region of the Somme, -.1- o von Kluck's right. The superiority of numbers was too great, however; after every effort the Allies found in forces on their left, and the ines extended continually further west. The Germans occupied Amiens This strengthening of the line and he obiquing of the army of General Franchet d'Esperey (former1y the army of Lanrezac) to the left, created ] gap between that army anad the 1 army of General Lang1e de Gary, l vhch was filled by the new army un- | fer General Foch, in process of for naton during the battle of CharIeroi. l
 Von Kluckss army, whose objective l vas supposed to be Paris, was off1ci- lily reported September as obIiqu- l ng to- the southeast with the pa- .ent intention of neg1ecting Paris and | ,urusing his efforts to turn the Allies | eft At the same time the army of l he Grown Prince on the left de- | .ended along the western edge of the Argonne. There were two tories of | he sudden change in the direction of 1 ,on Kluck's march. One that he was pursuing the enveloping moVerne ent; | he other that he had discovered the l Ar Arny of Paris on his right flank and | " a clever dodge to the south east ,voided, the menace of being envel- | ped hfnselif. In the light of later disclosures the first theory seems to | e the good one. The oblique move 1 nent continued after the partial heck at Compiegne and Chantilly1 ,y way of Beauvais Denmartin, feaux Senlis and Compiegne were vacuated by them the 5th-the ad- ance guard reached the region of | 30 miles south east of Paris r nd 20 miles south of Meaux.
 The trough or ser1i-circ1e pre- ared by Joffre's orders was in posi-