This book, first published in 1919, represents a study undertaken by former Royal Artillery Major Archibald Frank Becke on the action fought by General Sir H. Smith-Dorrien and the troops under his command on August 26th, 1914 at Le Cateau—a critical day that proved not only a triumph for the British arms, but had a most important bearing on the whole retreat. The book served to show Officers of the Regiment the use that will be made of their War Diaries, and the nature of the information that is required for historical work, and also to encourage all Officers who were present at the battle to submit any further information that was in their possession. Lastly, Becke intended the book to be of scholarly use.

Excerpt from The Royal Regiment of Artillery at Le Cateau, Wednesday, 26th August, 1914 The V. French Army had suffered a reverse at Charleroi and with their right, (or E.) ank threatened no recovery was possible in the advanced position on the Sambre, therefore the Generalissimo wisely decided to fall back until he could meet the crushing tide of the German advance with the certainty not only oi staying it but 3f forcing it back.4 the royal artillery AT LE cateau. John French ordered a retirement of the b.e.f. Which would other wise have been exposed to an annihilating defeat in detail}. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The stand of the Field Artillery, 1914 Although Europe was at peace for the first half of 1914, plans for the invasion of France by tens of thousands of German soldiers, supported by a huge resource of material and artillery, were well in place. By contrast the small standing army of Great Britain languished in its garrisons. When war broke out the B. E. F was hastened to the continent in little more than a week. That the British were not annihilated in the first days of conflict demonstrates the quality of every aspect of the British Army, which many at that time believed to be the best army-man for man-in the world. However, no force of its size could stop the inexorable advance of the enemy, German superiority in numbers began to tell and the retreat from Mons was ordered. By the 25th of August the First German Army was so hard on the heels of the British II Corps that, despite orders to the contrary, Smith-Dorrien, the corps commander, realising that he could not rely on support while his corps retreated, defied Sir John French and ordered his men to stand and fight at Le Cateau, east of Cambrai. There the British fired shrapnel shells into the advancing Germans, inflicting and sustaining terrible casualties, but ensuring that the B. E. F would exist to fight another day. Angry at the time, Sir John French later freely acknowledged that Smith-Dorrien's action had saved the army from destruction. Published to coincide with the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, this unique Leonaur book contains two accounts of the fighting at Le Cateau, an iconic example of the British Army performing at its very best. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

Le Cateau (26–27 August 1914) was the second major action fought by the BEF in the Great War. His men exhausted after fighting at Mons and by the subsequent speedy retreat, Lieutenant-General Horace Smith-Dorrien (commanding II Corps) decided that he had to make a stand in the vicinity of Le Cateau.There his men took on elements of four German corps in an action that succeeded in giving the BEF a respite, but at considerable cost. Amongst other elements of controversy in the conduct of the battle was the handling of the Royal Artillery.The battle also undermined the already fraught relationship between Smith-Dorrien and the BEF's commander, John French. The battlefield today remains largely as it was, open countryside, and it is an ideal location to view one of the most significant British battlefields of the early days of the war.In this action no less than five Victoria Crosses were won, three of them in one howitzer battery and two by men of the 2nd King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.