Battle of St. Quentin (1914)

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Battle of St. Quentin

Part of the Great Retreat on the Western Front (World War I)

German troops advancing to St. Quentin.

Date	August 29 - 30, 1914
Location	St. Quentin, France
Result	Tactical German Victory, offensive repulsed

Combatants

Commanders

Strength

Casualties

Unknown

Retreat to the Marne
Maubeuge – Le Cateau – Guise – 1st Marne – 1st Aisne

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 August 28, turning from facing the north, to facing west against St. Quentin.

On August 29 the French Fifth Army attacked St. Quentin with their full force. Due to orders from a captured 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, with the Germans falling back, units of the Guard Corps, Bülow's elite.

That night, Joffre issued orders for Lanrezac to retire and destroy the bridges to the Oise as he retreated. The orders did not reach the Fifth Army until morning of August 30, beginning the retreat several hours late. However, this retirement 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 as a victory, yet sent a staff officer to the German First Army, and Alexander von Kluck to report that the army was too tired to follow the French retreat.

The stunned German armies recovered and changed their course to push south towards the Marne and Paris.

[edit] References

Evans, M. M. (2004). Battles of World War I. Select Editions. ISBN 1-84193-226-4.
Tuchman, Barbara W. (1962). The Guns of August. Ballantine Books- New York. ISBN 0-345-38623-X.