the defence of visé
from the account given by deputy staff major collyns of the 12th line regiment[1]
in order that the reader may have a connected idea with regard to the episodes related in the following chapters, the main lines of the preliminaries of the war must be remembered. on the 2nd of august, 1914, at 7 p.m., germany presented an ultimatum to belgium. the belgian government replied at 7 a.m. the following day that "it would resist, by all means within its power, any attempt to violate the rights of belgium."
on the morning of the 4th of august, the german extreme right, composed of 12 regiments of cavalry and of battalions of chasseurs, brought in motor-cars, crossed the frontier and endeavoured to seize the visé bridge. this attempt did not succeed. the enemy then extended its movement in a northerly direction, crossed the meuse at the lexhe ford and endeavoured to crush the resistance of the fortified place of liége. on the 5th of august, troops of the 3rd, 4th, and 7th corps made an assault on that part of the defence front comprised between the meuse and the vesdre. before the barchon, evegnée, and fléron forts, the assailants were driven back with sanguinary losses.[pg 2] between the barchon fort and the meuse, the 7th corps broke through the lines, but it was counter-attacked by the 11th brigade with a bayonet charge, and thrown back in absolute disorder in the direction of the dutch frontier.
fresh assaults began in the night between the 5th and 6th of august. fresh troops belonging to the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th corps took part, and the attack extended over the whole ground between the liers fort and the meuse, above liége, that is on a front of about 22 miles.
the belgian troops had to face danger on every side at the same time and, after a most heroic defence, the 3rd division fell back, exhausted. the forts continued to resist and the last one fell on the 17th of august.
during the night of august 1-2, 1914, lieutenant-general leman, military governor of the fortified position of liége, entrusted to me the defence of the visé and argenteau bridges. it was an important mission, as german forces were massed at the frontier and were preparing to violate our neutrality.
i hurried to the barracks, called up my battalion[2] of about four hundred men, and started for visé, where i arrived at seven in the morning. the whole day was taken up in organising the defence. a company was placed at each of the bridges of visé and argenteau, which are about two miles apart; a platoon of about thirty men were told off to guard the lixhe ford, about six miles to the north; outposts were sent to the right bank of the river, with instructions to send out patrols and reconnaissances in the direction of the frontier. the rest of the battalion remained in reserve at haccourt. the soldiers were[pg 3] enthusiastic and had perfect confidence. most of them looked upon the war as a kind of pleasure party, which would relieve the monotony of their barrack life, and their good humour increased, thanks to the cordial welcome they received from the population.
in the evening, captain chaudoir arrived with about sixty men. he was in command of the mounted chasseurs of the liége civic guard. they were all brave fellows, courageous and ready for anything, but their equipment was very defective and they were even short of rifles. i accepted their services, nevertheless, and entrusted them with the surveillance of the valleys of the meuse and the geer.
the inhabitants of visé also offered their help.
"i am a good shot," said a lawyer, "and i want to do my share. put me in the firing line."
"no, i cannot have any civilians," i replied, categorically, and i sent them all away.
on the following day, august 3rd, m. delattre arrived. he is an engineer, a specialist in explosives, and he had been sent by the staff to attend to the obstruction of the right bank of the river and the destruction of the bridges. groups of workmen, under his orders, felled trees with which to bar the roads, placed mines in the piles and, in short, put everything in readiness for the blowing up of the bridges, if necessary.
this fresh responsibility did not by any means lessen my anxiety. it was very difficult to realise what the situation really was. the most extraordinary rumours circulated and were believed, no matter how improbable they might seem. the staff of the 3rd army division announced to me, by telephone, that german troops had crossed the netherlands[pg 4] and were advancing through limbourg. thanks to the telephonic communication i had established with the gendarmerie stations, and with lieutenant de menten, who was on the watch with a platoon of the 2nd lancers, near the dutch frontier, i obtained exact information with regard to the enemy's movements, and was able to let the commander of the division know that the rumours were inexact. they had been invented by boche spies, and circulated by scaremongers. towards evening, general leman warned me that two divisions of the enemy's cavalry had invaded our territory. he ordered me to blow up the visé and argenteau bridges. i transmitted the order to delattre and, whilst he was making his final arrangements, i withdrew my outposts from the right bank of the river and, for fear of accidents, proceeded to evacuate the houses in the vicinity. when everything was quite ready, delattre came to me.
"you can make your mind easy," he said, "we have taken the precaution to put a double charge, so that whatever——"
the sound of an explosion interrupted his speech and we both hurried away full of confidence. our disappointment can easily be imagined, for great blocks of macarite had not exploded. the visé bridge was weakened, but it was still practicable for carriages. at argenteau, i was told, the result was no better.
"bad work!" declared a sergeant, who appeared to be as mortified as i was. several civilians were jeering. i pitched into them and that soothed my nerves.
we made use of the telephone at once and asked the[pg 5] staff at liége to send us fresh explosives immediately. the delay seemed to us interminable and we wondered whether we should be surprised by the enemy.
the motor-cars arrived at last. we placed the powder, and by six o'clock all the necessary measures were taken. this time the explosion was formidable. great blocks of stone, a cubic yard in diameter, were flung two hundred yards away. the middle of the bridge, about fifty yards in length, fell into the meuse.
a most unfortunate accident now happened. the shock produced by the explosion destroyed the telegraphic and telephonic lines and interrupted all communications. i wondered what was to be done. was my mission ended, as the bridges no longer existed? ought i to return to our fortified position of liége or stay and defend the passages of the river?
none of the couriers i sent to general leman came back. i was therefore obliged to decide for myself. i was there and i determined to stay there. at daybreak, on the 4th, i endeavoured to complete the defence by utilising the houses overlooking the bridges, as from them it would be possible to fight the enemy on the opposite bank of the river. my information service left much to be desired. from time to time, my soldiers crossed the river, in two little boats which we had discovered by chance, and went in search of news. it was in this way that i learnt the fact that an important corps of the enemy's cavalry was at berneau and that it was followed, at a short distance by a strong force of infantry.
suddenly, we heard a buzzing overhead and a taube appeared in the sky. for a few minutes the sinister bird hovered over us, flinging down general von emmich's proclamations. it then returned to[pg 6] the enemy's lines, taking back very inexact information. in the first place, it could not see my troops hidden behind the houses, and it is very possible, thanks to its height, that it did not see that the bridge was destroyed, as the middle part was lying downwards in the meuse.
warned by the a?roplane i modified my arrangements and collected all my forces at visé, with the exception of one company which i had left at argenteau. it was very fortunate that i acted in this way, as, at one o'clock, some death's head hussars appeared in sight and, without any hesitation, made straight for the bridge. my soldiers watched them anxiously, their fingers on the triggers of their guns. "wait," i said, "wait, let them come nearer." as soon as i saw them on the first part of the bridge, i yelled out "fire!" "piff! paff! piff! paff!" ... with the sudden crackling sound of the firing, the terrified horses reared, kicked, and struggled, and the horsemen rolled into the river; others, turning quickly around, rushed into the ranks that were following, collided with them and, in wild flight, escaped through the fields of clover and oats. all was helter-skelter! just at this moment, heavy firing began from the houses on the right bank near the river. unseen by us, some germans had entered these buildings and were now protecting the retreat of their cavalry. from one bank to the other, the firing continued at intervals, but without much damage on either side. during a lull, i called out to my brave men: "permission to grill one!" ah, how joyfully they revelled in that cigarette! the baptism of fire had not produced the least emotion. they were all smiling and joking with each other, and as soon as the enemy[pg 7] recommenced the firing, the combat continued as gaily as possible.
sheltered by a wall, their jerseys unbuttoned, the men of my reserve contingent were fortifying themselves by devouring bread and butter. the idea suddenly occurred to me to try an experiment. "well," i said, "are you not proud to take part in the firing? as you see, we have stopped the boches. it is not finished, though, and just now i shall want three of you, three of the bravest, who fear nothing. who volunteers?" before i had finished speaking, every one of them shouted: "i do, major."
the german artillery had now come into line. two or three batteries on the slopes of fouron, to the north-east of visé, had opened fire. in spite of my men's courage, i felt it was necessary to stimulate them a little. they were only four hundred strong and, without artillery or machine-guns; they were fighting an enemy infinitely superior. i went to all the different shelters and affected the most hilarious gaiety.
"we are going to have fine fun," i said to them. "the boches have never yet managed to fire straight with their cannons, and their projectiles will fall everywhere except in the houses we are occupying." this succeeded very well and the men greeted the german shrapnels, which were bursting at tremendous heights, with laughter. my joy was great, for if the artillery had fired straight into the houses, our position would have been impossible and we should have been obliged to retreat. ah, if we had only had a few guns, how many of our adversaries we should have brought down!
during the combat, some of the horsemen of the[pg 8] civic guard told me that a huge infantry column had crossed the meuse, north of visé and that a battery was already directing its firing on us. this news seemed all the more probable, as we heard a cannonading which appeared to be coming from a height on the left bank. isolated as we were, and not having received any instructions, my situation was extremely disquieting. in order to protect my retreat, i gave orders to the 2nd company to prevent, by its firing, any movement of the enemy southwards. to the 1st company, i gave orders to go towards hallembaye and strengthen the outpost at lixhe and, at the same time, to observe how the land lay towards the north.
presently the 2nd company had to undergo such violent firing from musketry and machine-guns that captain fran?ois, who was in command, was obliged to evacuate certain houses along the meuse, as the walls were pierced by the balls. captain burghraeve, too, in command of the 1st company, sent me word that the german artillery was sending a veritable storm of shells of every calibre on to the troops that were defending the lixhe ford, and that the men, lying down under each fresh burst, were unable to reply, and still more unable to observe the country round. it was, therefore, possible for the germans to cross the meuse without being seen by them so that he could not warn me. "hold out," i replied, "it is all right!" at the same time, i continued encouraging my brave men who were resisting energetically at visé.
by 4.30, the development of the enemy's front was getting more and more extensive. the weakness of my forces, part of which could do nothing on account[pg 9] of the adverse firing, made me decide to evacuate my position, under cover, at the different points occupied, of our rear-guard. this retreat took place in perfect order, without the enemy being aware of it. the 1st company, in spite of its dangerous situation, also succeeded in withdrawing, group by group. the lixhe post was now the only one to cause us any anxiety.
crouching down in the beet-root fields, our comrades awaited a lull in the steel whirlwind, in order to get up and make a rush forward. fifty yards farther on, they threw themselves down again. the german artillery increased its firing, the earth shook, and clouds of dust flew about everywhere. with intense emotion, i watched this terrible race. finally, thank god, they were all there with us. the soldiers had their coats, shakos, and kits pierced with balls. two men saw the bicycles they were holding shattered by shells. by the most unheard-of good luck, not one of them was wounded.
our total losses amounted to two men killed and ten wounded. the inhabitants of visé told us afterward that the enemy had suffered greatly, and that a number of carts took away their wounded.
footnotes:
[1] now lieutenant-colonel, commander of the 1st line regiment.
[2] the battalion, at the moment, consisted of four contingents of militia, as the general mobilisation, decreed on july 31st, was not yet complete.
