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Foch's attack made only slow progress during September 6-7, as his troops' advance was hotly contested by the German defenders, while action elsewhere along the line was limited to long-range artillery duels across the marshes. By the night of the 7th, though, General Max von Hausen, commanding the Third Army, had decided upon a night attack, which he believed the French would not be expecting. In the predawn hours of September 8, he sent four divisions forward along the few accessible routes through the marshes, taking Foch's troops by surprise and pushing them back as much as three miles in places.
Foch's attack made only slow progress during September 6-7, as his troops' advance was hotly contested by the German defenders, while action elsewhere along the line was limited to long-range artillery duels across the marshes. By the night of the 7th, though, General Max von Hausen, commanding the Third Army, had decided upon a night attack, which he believed the French would not be expecting. In the predawn hours of September 8, he sent four divisions forward along the few accessible routes through the marshes, taking Foch's troops by surprise and pushing them back as much as three miles in places.
Despite the shock and the near-breaking of his lines, though, Foch refused to panic or to yield the initiative to Hausen. With the German advance still in progress, he drafted a message to send to Joffre's headquarters, reading "My center is giving way, my right is in retreat, situation excellent. I attack." Though it was probably never sent, the words added to Foch's reputation as a fighter, and during the following day, with reinforcements sent from d'Esperey, he was able to stabilize his front and indeed even launch a small counterattack. By the afternoon of September 9, then, the Battle of the Marshes had ended in at worst a stalemate for the French, though the issue further west was still in doubt.
Despite the shock and the near-breaking of his lines, though, Foch refused to panic or to yield the initiative to Hausen. With the German advance still in progress, he drafted a message to send to Joffre's headquarters, reading "My center is giving way, my right is in retreat, situation excellent. I attack." Though it was probably never sent, the words added to Foch's reputation as a fighter, and during the following day, with reinforcements sent from d'Esperey, he was able to stabilize his front and indeed even launch a small counterattack. By the afternoon of September 9, then, the Battle of the Marshes had ended in at worst a stalemate for the French, though the issue further west was still in doubt.
==Withdrawal==
From the time the Battle of the Marne opened, Moltke had been relatively out of touch with his army commanders; Kluck and Bülow received no orders from him at all on September 6th or 7th despite the importance of their position. This was due partly to the German high command's habit of allowing its army commanders relative latitude in their operations, and partly to the great distance between Moltke's headquarters (in [[Luxembourg]]) and the actual front, almost 150 miles away. In light of this, Moltke sent one of his intelligence officers, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hentsch, to visit the headquarters of the five attacking German armies and determine the overall situation.
Over the course of September 8, Hentsch, moving from east to west, visited in turn the headquarters of the Fifth, Fourth, Third, and Second Armies. Though the first three were, he judged, in fair condition, Bülow told Hentsch that evening that the gap between his and Kluck's lines had made their position untenable and that they ought to withdraw north of the Marne to avoid being outflanked and overwhelmed. By the following morning, Hentsch had come to agree with Bülow and his staffers and, visiting Kluck later that day, advised him to disengage and withdraw north in order to close ranks with the rest of the German line. Though Kluck was initially opposed to this policy--his IX Corps had already begun to overlap the French northern flank and threatened to sweep into their rear--Bülow had already begun his retreat, and by mid-afternoon Kluck had instructed his corps commanders to follow suit.
[[Category:World War I]]
[[Category:World War I]]