DECISIVE MOMENTS IN BATTLE.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume VIII, Issue 216, 14 August 1918, Page 3

DECISIVE MOMENTS IN BATTLE.

DEFEAT TURNED TO VICTORY. SOME HISTORIC EXAMPLES. The greatness and the success of a leader of troops depend perhaps less on his ability to pi epare plans of battle than his resource in dealing with the unexpected incidents which arise in the execution of plans made before the comineneement of the fight. The decisive moment is that when unanticipated emergency arises. YPRES.

An unexpected incident in the first battle ot Ypres in the present war led to one of the most dramatic and decisive movements in that epic struggle and in the war as a whole. During those dreadful days of October, 1914, the German hordes were pressing in overwhelming st’ength against our thin, undergunned, khaki line, and at last, in the Gheluvelt region they had to all intents and purposes broken through. Au officer, whoso name was not discovered for some months, was seized with an inspiration, and at his behest part of a battalion of the Worcesters were launched to a counter-attack. This was carried out with such gallantry and success that its effect was felt all along the line, and the British commanders at General Headquarters, almost resigned to making the best of a very bad job. were as delighted as surprised when tlie reports coining in went to show that the army was saved and was regaining ground. As our field-marshal put it, “The charge of the Wercesters, saved the day.” But an even more dramatic and decisive, moment had preceded this great battle. It will be remembered by all who have studied the events of the war that when Sir John French took his army from the Aisne in the autumn of 1914 the Second Corps, under Sir. H. Smith-Dorrien was heavily engaged northward as far as La Basse, while the First Corps, under Sir Douglas Haig, was coming up across the rear. Smith-Dorrien’s forces were vastly outnumbered. and all the men were fighting without rest. The British Commaii-der-in-Chief had suddenly to make one of tlios decisions on which the fate of campaigns rest. Should lie use the First Corps to strengthen the overtaxed Second, or should he stretch it out to form a thin line further to the left to meet any flanking movement by the eremy? It was a moment fraught with almost paralysing responsibility. What if the Second Corps could not hold But the British general never lacked courage. On this occasion ’ T was like his generalship—superb. He lengthened the line. Events proved his prescience. The First Corps stopped the Germans in their effort to reach the Channel ports via Ypres. If Sir Doug las Haig’s .Army Corps had not been there, the whole course of the war would have been altered, and with the enemv on the French coast all sorts ol dreadful things might have happened. i THE MARNE.

Let us go back still further in this o-reat war—back to the battle of the Ma rue. General Foeh, whose brilliant work under Castelnau beyond the frontier in the first two or three weeks of the campaign had been noted by the eagle-eved Joffro. commanded the arm.' opposed to the German centre in that great series of encounters known as the Battle of the Marne. Converging German armies struck heavily. “My left wing is broken: my right wing is bro ken ; I am still hammering away at tic centre.’’ he wired to Joffre, and at the critical moment, def'ing military convention. and acting according to the dictates of his own genius, he struck brilliantly at one of the German flunks smashing it and bringing about a situation from which the Germans could extricate themselves with comparative safety onlv bv acknowledging defeat and hurrying back to the line of the Aisne. Tn.e decisive movement at Valmy set the fate of Europe. France was in the throes of the Revolution —or was emerging therefrom —and was invaded by Germans and Austrians, who imagined that the raw levies of the now republic woii’d not ho able to withstand their trained troops. But the seasoning _of French veterans and a consistently improving discipline enabled the trooplimb'* Kellermaiiii the elder firmly t<* withstand the famous “cannonade of Valin v,” and when the invaders marched to the subsequent iufantry at tack they were astounded that the Gallic ar’mv obeyed the orders of their leaders and did not break up in revolutionary confusion. This was the decisive moment. The Austrians and Brunswiekers, tired with marching over stickv ground, came to a standstill before getting to grips with the French. They came, they saw; —and they re iron tod. On neither side was the loss ’considerable, but Valmy is looked upon [ lastly as one of the decisive battles of ihistory. The French, hitherto without | bon*.' that their army could He cohesive laud fight, came at once to the conclu- | don that all military glory was possible I for them. They were inspired to injT (..)«o effort in preparing for the cam- | coigns thev saw mud- come, and, under ' Napoleon in the following years, they I performed deeds which have been the j studv of historians ever since. Had it not been for the almost inexplicable, volte face and slow, solemn retreat of the attacking column at Valmy, the course of events in Europe might have been anything but of the nature, they wore. KELLERMANN'S CHARGE.

A charge by a small body of cavalry was one of the most dramatic events in all the campaigns waged by Napoleon. Il made the moment decisive —and won the Corsican one of his greatest victories. We refer to Kellermann’s feat at Marengo, on June 4. 1800. In the campaign which led to tho battle Napoleon had been caught at a disadvantage. Tho Austrians, under Alelas, had, consciously or by accident, rather bewildered their brilliant opponent, who had lost signt of them and weakened bis army by sending out strong detach merits in various directions to lim! tho enemy. Thus, when the. Austrian Army advanced into the great plain ot Marengo, and came upon the main French Army, they were vastly superior to the latter in men and guns. The French, as usual, fought with great skill and dauntless valour, but as the day wore on they were beaten back at all points, and a great Austrian T ictorv seemed so assured that Meias left his’ chief of staff to organise the pursuit. The deputy, Zach, formed his troops into a deep column for that purpose. But meanwhile one of the irantis messages recalling Napoleon’s detachments had reached Desais, who, in reply to the request, ‘‘Return, in tho name of God,” brought back a division at top speed. It was not a strong unit, but it arrived m the nick of time, and it attacked the great Austrian column with spirit. The attack, however, was almost spent in force when Kellermann, with only 40P cavalry, joined in. The French infantry were being hurled back, and what was left of the artillery iiad hi ed almost the very last round of ammunition available when the cavalry leader and his men dashed out on what seemed a forlorn hope. Racing ahead at great speed the horsemen wheeled in due time, and crashed into the flank of the Austrian column, and cut through it again and again. Not content with this, they hurled themseh e.s on the enemy cavalry ami brought them into confusion. The whole effer i was electric, it inspired the French troops like magic, while on the other hand, the Austrians, taken by surprise, gave way to panic. Ihus, what had been a defeat was turned into one of the most remarkable I* return victories on record. i SEDAN. ! A last example, from a modern war. Had a right decision been taken at Sedan, the victory gained by the Germans might well have been vastly less complete/ Moitke had made his plans for surrounding the French, but there was still a hazardous way out. and when, during the battle, Marshal Mac-

Mahon was wounded, and the command was assumed by Ducrot, the latter determined to retreat and save two-thirds of his army. It had to be done quickly. He had actually given his orders when Wimpffen sent word that he had been appointed Commander-in-Chief by the French War Minister. And Wimpfien stupidly ignored all the realities of the situation. In that decisive moment, when he might have agreed with Ducrot. he took the wrong line. And the French Army was doomed.