bread, 50 tons of oats, 15,000 gallons of petrol, besides straw and hay, and insisted on the immediate payment of a million francs as a guarantee that their requirements would be met.

THE TEMPORARY GERMAN OCCUPATION OF SEPT. 1914
German troops in front of the Cathedral. The scaffolding of the latter was set on fire on Sept. 19.

This sum was paid in the course of the afternoon, under threats by the enemy. From the 6th onwards the German soldiers gave themselves up to plundering. The tobacco warehouse at 21 Rue Payen was ransacked, and more than 700,000 francs worth of cigars and tobacco stolen. On the following days pillaging, especially of the food-shops, continued. On the 9th, the Kommandantur requisitioned civilians to bury the dead in the Rethel, Epernay and Montmirail districts. On the 11th, the Crown Prince arrived and took up his quarters at the Grand Hôtel, where he was joined by Prince Henry of Prussia, brother of the Kaiser. On the morning of the 12th, the Germans, alarmed at the approach of the victorious French troops from the Marne, arrested the Mayor (Dr. Langlet), Mgr. Neveux, coadjutor of Rheims, and the Abbé Camus. They then drew up a list of a hundred hostages and threatened to hang them at the first attempt at disorder. They also threatened to burn the city, wholly or partially, and to hang the inhabitants, if any of them molested the German soldiers. All that day the Germans, instead of organising defences, left the town in haste, after first pillaging it. In the afternoon the Crown Prince left the Grand Hôtel with his suite. At 5 p.m., after setting fire to the forage stores, the Kommandantur left Rheims by the Rethel road in drenching rain, followed by the hundred hostages, who were only released at the level-crossing at Witry-les-Reims. When the latter returned to Rheims, a patrol of French mounted Chasseurs had already entered the town by the suburb of St. Anne. The next morning, at about 6 o'clock, the French troops, with the 6th mounted Chasseurs at their head, entered Rheims by the Rue de Vesle. At 1 p.m. General Franchet d'Espérey, commanding the French 5th Army, entered the city.

The Battles for Rheims, 1914-1918

Although evacuated by the Germans, Rheims had yet to remain for nearly four years under enemy fire. With equal obstinacy the adversaries disputed the town, the French seeking to disengage it and the Germans to recapture it.

On September 12, on the approach of the victorious French Army from the Marne, the Germans entrenched themselves to the south-west of the town, and established a line of resistance passing through Thillois, Ormes, Bezannes and Villers-aux-Noeuds.

In spite of the very unfavourable weather, the 3rd Corps (Gen. Hache) vigorously engaged the enemy at Thillois, and forced them to abandon the position in the evening. The 1st Corps (Gen. Deligny), on the right, had orders to push forward advance-guards into Rheims, but as a matter of fact they reached the suburb of Vesle. The 10th Corps (Gen. Defforges) attacked at Puisieulx and forced the enemy across the Vesle.

On the 13th, the left of the 3rd Corps arrived in front of Courcy and Brimont, where the Germans were strongly entrenched. A desperate battle took place, with the result that Courcy was taken before noon. Loivre likewise fell into the hands of the French, but the passage of the Aisne Canal was fiercely disputed. The attack on Brimont failed, in spite of the great valour of the troops, who sustained heavy losses. Meanwhile, the 1st Corps crossed Rheims, with orders to debouch at Bétheny. Just outside the town they were met with violent artillery fire, which, however, did not completely check their advance. La Neuvillette, Pierquin Farm and Bétheny were occupied, and the 1st Corps linked up on its left with the 3rd Corps, on the outskirts of Soulain Woods. The advance continued during the night, and Modelin Farm was reached by advance-guards. General Deligny took up his headquarters in the suburb of Vesle. The 10th Corps crossed the Vesle, engaged the enemy at St. Léonard and reached the railway.

On the 14th, the fighting greatly increased in violence. The 3rd Corps, in spite of repeated efforts, was unable to advance; on the left it failed to drive the enemy from the St. Marie Farm, while on the right it was held up before Brimont. The 1st Corps was likewise checked; the 1st Division (Gen. Gallet) attempted unsuccessfully to support General Hache in his attack on Brimont. The 10th Corps, although strongly engaged towards the Fort of La Pompelle, made but little progress. Farther away, on the right, the battle extended along the front of the 9th Army.

On the 15th, at 5.30 a.m., the 5th Army resumed a general offensive. Fierce fighting took place at St. Marie Farm, to the left of the 3rd Corps, and also further north, near Hill 100. Despite heavy sacrifices, however, the enemy held their positions; but, on the right, the 36th Infantry Regiment captured the Château of Brimont at day-break. General Deligny, less fortunate, was driven out of Soulains Woods, but stood firm at the Champ-de-Courses and Bétheny. The 10th Corps continued to advance slowly, and at certain points reached the high-road to Suippes.

On the 16th, the 3rd Corps attacked Brimont again, but failed. At the château the situation became more and more critical, by reason of the retreat of the 1st Corps on the previous day. This Corps had again to face a powerful enemy counter-offensive, which, however, failed to drive it from the Modelin Farm and the "Cavaliers de Courcy."

On the 17th, the Germans counter-attacked all along the line. In the afternoon the 3rd Corps, which stood firm at Godat Farm and Loivre, was elsewhere compelled to cross to the west bank of the canal and fall back on Courcy.

After a heroic defence the isolated garrison of Brimont Castle, weakened by heavy losses, surrendered during the night, after having spent all its ammunition. The 1st Corps, the greater part of which had left for the region of Berry-au-Bac, held its positions with its last available units. The 10th Corps extended its front westwards to Bétheny, while one of its regiments, the 2nd Infantry, occupied La Pompelle Fort.

On the 18th, the enemy increased their efforts against the front held by the 3rd Corps and the reserve units further west. Loivre, which had so far resisted, fell. The French withdrew to the west of the road to Laon. The situation was considered critical at this point of the front. The 10th Corps, which had been withdrawn from the east of Rheims, in favour of another sector, was stopped on the way and sent for a few days in support of the 3rd Corps.

On the 19th, one of its brigades counter-attacked Courcy Mill. On the other side, the Moroccan Division (Gen. Humbert), which had relieved the 10th Corps, continued to hold La Pompelle Fort.

Gradually the front became fixed. Desperate, indecisive fighting still took place, but finally the front stabilised on the line extending from the foot of the Berru and Nogent-l'Abbesse Hills, along the road from Rheims to Suippes, on the east, and along the western bank of the Aisne Canal on the north.

EXPLANATORY MAP OF THE MILITARY OPERATIONS IN 1914
(See pp.