Battle of the Guise 1914

Battle of the Guise (1914 )

Military / Event
Subevent of: World War I

Wikipedia:

The Battle of St. Quentin is also called the Battle of Guise, and was fought during World War I.

On the night of 26 August 1914, the Allies withdrew from Le Cateau to St. Quentin.With retreat all long the line, the commander-in-chief of the French forces, Joseph Joffre, needed the Fifth Army under Charles Lanrezac to hold off the German advance through counterattacking, despite a four mile separation from the French Fourth Army on the right flank, and the continual retreat of the BEF on the left flank. The movement of Lanrezac's five corps took most of 28 August turning from facing the north, to facing west against St. Quentin.

On 29 August the French Fifth Army attacked St. Quentin with their full force. Due to the capture of orders from a French officer, Bülow was already aware of the counter-offensive, and had time to prepare. The attacks against the town by the XVIII corps met with heavy casualties, and little success, but the X and III corps on the right, was rallied by the commander of the I corps, Louis Franchet d'Esperey. Advances on the right were made successfully against Guise, and forced the Germans, including Bülow's elite, units of the Guard Corps, to fall back.

That night, Joffre issued orders for Lanrezac to resume his retreat and destroy the bridges to the Oise as he fell back. The orders did not reach the Fifth Army until the morning of 30 August, and the retreat began several hours late. However, this move went unmolested by the German Second Army, which neither attacked or pursued.

The German view of the battle was obscure, as Bülow reported the battle to OHL a...