Battle of Le Cateau

On 26 August 1914 at Le Cateau in northern France the British II Corps of General Horace Smith-Dorrien fought a day-long battle against the German 1st Army. Three days after the Battle of Mons the British stood and fought again, this time against the wishes of the commander-in-chief. It was one of the bloodiest days in the history of the British Expeditionary Force in 1914.

The retreat from Mons

After the Battle of Mons the Expeditionary Force retreated southwards, pursued by the army of General Alexander von Kluck. The extensive Forest of Mormal lay between the two British corps, so they had to march separately. I Corps under General Douglas Haig went down the eastern side of the forest and on the evening of 25 August fought a night action at Landrecies. It then moved on further south and lost contact with the rest of the force.

II Corps, made up of the 3rd and 5th Divisions, reached the area of Le Cateau late on the evening of 25 August, in pouring rain, after several days of fighting and marching. It was joined by the 4th Division of General Thomas Snow, newly arrived from England, and by the cavalry of General Edmund Allenby. The soldiers were utterly exhausted, the roads were choked with transport and refugees, and the German vanguard was close behind them.

Smith-Dorrien’s decision

During the night of 25–26 August Smith-Dorrien conferred with his commanders. Allenby reported that his cavalry was scattered and could not cover a further retreat, and the commander of the 3rd Division considered that his men could not set off before morning. Smith-Dorrien concluded that if the corps moved off in daylight, the Germans would catch it on the march and destroy it. At about 3.30 a.m. he therefore decided to stand and fight, to deal the enemy a heavy blow and then to continue the retreat.

The commander-in-chief, Field Marshal John French, meanwhile wanted the whole army to retreat without stopping. At about 7 a.m. the sub-chief of staff, General Henry Wilson, telephoned Smith-Dorrien with an order to continue the retreat. Smith-Dorrien replied that it was too late, because his men were already fighting. Wilson accepted this and wished him luck.

The course of the battle

The British took up positions along the road from Le Cateau to Cambrai, over a stretch of about 15 kilometres. On the right wing, right by Le Cateau, stood the 5th Division; in the centre, around Caudry, the 3rd Division; and on the left wing the 4th Division. The positions were chosen in haste and at night, and there was no time to prepare trenches. On the German side, units of IV Corps under General Friedrich Sixt von Armin, the cavalry corps of General Georg von der Marwitz and other formations of the 1st Army entered the fight one after another. Kluck believed that the British were fleeing westwards, towards the Channel ports, and did not at once grasp what he was facing.

At Mons the outcome had been decided by the rifle fire of the British infantry, but at Le Cateau the artillery played the most important part. The British placed many batteries in the open, only a few dozen to two hundred metres behind the infantry line, so that they could fire directly at the advancing enemy. The Germans, by contrast, used indirect fire from concealed positions. The British guns, in full view, were smothered with shells and their crews suffered enormous losses. Even so, the gunners kept firing to the end, and shrapnel cut down the German infantry advancing across open ground.

The heaviest fighting took place on the right wing, west of Le Cateau. The British positions there lay on an exposed slope, and the Germans, working round the town from the east, could enfilade them. A battalion of the Suffolks and a battalion of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI), ordered to hold their positions at all costs, were almost completely destroyed. Around midday the right wing began to give way, and after it the left as well.

The retreat

In the early afternoon Smith-Dorrien gave the order to retreat. In many places the order did not reach the fighting units, and those that did receive it withdrew under fire. The gunners tried to save their guns by bringing horse teams right up to the gun positions. For such an action in rescuing the howitzers of 37th Battery, the Victoria Cross was awarded to Captain Douglas Reynolds and Drivers Job Drain and Frederick Luke. From the KOYLI the decoration went to Major Charles Yate, who led the remnants of his men in a last counter-attack and died in captivity, and to Lance Corporal Frederick Holmes, who carried a wounded comrade out of the line of fire.

On the British left the French cavalry of General André Sordet and French territorial divisions fighting around Cambrai provided cover. Thanks to them the Germans were unable to outflank the British positions from the west. In the evening and during the night II Corps withdrew towards Saint-Quentin. The Germans, convinced that they had smashed the whole Expeditionary Force, did not at once take up a vigorous pursuit.

Losses

According to the British official history, of the roughly 40,000 British soldiers who fought at Le Cateau, 7,812 became casualties, including about 2,600 taken prisoner. The British also lost 38 guns, most of which their crews managed to disable before abandoning them. German losses are much harder to establish. The figure most often given is about 2,900 killed and wounded, although some historians estimate them lower.

Significance

Smith-Dorrien achieved his aim. The German pursuit of II Corps lost its momentum, and for the rest of the retreat the British were no longer seriously harassed. In his first dispatch Field Marshal French acknowledged that Smith-Dorrien had saved the left wing of the army. Later, however, he changed his mind and blamed him for disobedience and unnecessary losses. The quarrel between the two generals dragged on for years, and in 1915 Smith-Dorrien was recalled from France. Many historians now believe that the decision to accept battle at Le Cateau saved the Expeditionary Force from destruction, although the price was very high.