End of the Battle of Charleroi
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Western Front
- Date:
- 24 August 1914
- Author:
- Natalia
- Battle:
- Battle of Charleroi
- Tags:
- Charleroi, France, Germany, Battle of the Frontiers
On 24 August 1914 General Charles Lanrezac’s French Fifth Army was retreating from the Sambre southwards, towards the French border. Thus ended the Battle of Charleroi, one of the most important Battles of the Frontiers on the Western Front.
The retreat of the Fifth Army
Lanrezac issued the order to retreat on the evening of 23 August. For three days his army had been fighting General Karl von Bülow’s German Second Army, which was attacking across the Sambre, and that day General Max von Hausen’s German Third Army had forced the Meuse near Dinant and threatened the French right flank. From the north-east, meanwhile, came news of the fall of the Namur forts. Staying put meant the risk of encirclement.
On 24 August the French corps, covered by rearguards, withdrew through the region between the Sambre and the Meuse towards a line from Maubeuge to Philippeville and on towards France. The Germans, themselves exhausted by three days of fighting, were unable to cut them off. Lanrezac’s army suffered heavy losses but escaped destruction.
On the morning of the same day the Commander-in-Chief, Joseph Joffre, admitted in a report to the Minister of War that the offensive had failed along the whole front. He laid the blame chiefly on commanders and soldiers who, in his view, had not shown the expected offensive qualities in the field. The French armies were now to go over to the defensive and gain time to regroup.
When did the battle end?
Most modern historians, both French and German, date the Battle of Charleroi to 21–23 August. They take Lanrezac’s evening order of 23 August as its end. The British chronicle of the war on which our calendar is based, however, gives 24 August as the day the battle ended. On that day the French troops finally broke contact with the enemy and left the battlefield. Both dates thus describe the same moment: the transition from battle to retreat.
What came next
The retreat of the Fifth Army exposed the right flank of the British, who on the same day also withdrew from Mons. On 25 August the last forts of Namur fell. The great retreat of the Allied armies towards the Marne began. At the end of August Lanrezac’s army halted once more to strike at the Germans at Guise.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 24 August 1914 · Asia and the PacificAustria-Hungary breaks off diplomatic relations with JapanOn 24 August 1914 Austria-Hungary broke off relations with Japan. The Emperor ordered the cruiser Kaiserin Elisabeth to defend Tsingtao alongside the Germans.
- 23 August 1914 · Asia and the PacificJapan declares war on GermanyOn 23 August 1914 Japan declared war on Germany. The war spread to the Far East and the Pacific, and Japan reached for Germany's possessions in Asia.
- 23 August 1914 · Eastern FrontHindenburg takes command of the Eighth ArmyOn 23 August 1914 General Paul von Hindenburg, recalled from retirement, took command of the Eighth Army in East Prussia, with Ludendorff as chief of staff.
- 23 August 1914 · AfricaGeneral Dobell to command the Kamerun expeditionOn 23 August 1914 General Charles Dobell was appointed commander of the Allied land forces against German Kamerun.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 21 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of Charleroi beginsOn 21 August 1914 the French 5th Army and the German 2nd Army clashed on the Sambre. The Germans seized the river crossings before the French could occupy them.
- 22 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of the Ardennes beginsOn 22 August 1914 French armies advancing through the Ardennes ran into strong German forces. It was the bloodiest day in the history of the French army.
- 6 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of the Frontiers beginsIn early August 1914 the Battle of the Frontiers began, a series of clashes between French and German armies that lasted until the Battle of the Marne.
- 29 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of Guise beginsOn 29 August 1914 Lanrezac's French Fifth Army broke off its retreat and counter-attacked Bülow's German Second Army on the river Oise.