About: Action at Néry   Sponge Permalink

An Entity of Type : dbkwik:resource/krD_GSPHhNL2IejCI7diCQ==, within Data Space : 134.155.108.49:8890 associated with source dataset(s)

After the British and German armies first encountered each other at the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914, the outnumbered British Expeditionary Force had begun to fall back in front of a stronger German army. The two clashed again at the Battle of Le Cateau on 26 August, after which the British again retreated towards the River Marne. The retreat was orderly and disciplined; the German command mistakenly believed the British force was shattered and so neglected to aggressively harass them as they withdrew. As a result, the bulk of the Expeditionary Force was able to retreat for several days without engaging in any major fighting; the German pursuit was leisurely, and most engagements were skirmishes between rearguard units and cavalry patrols, rarely more than a battalion in strength.

AttributesValues
rdf:type
rdfs:label
  • Action at Néry
rdfs:comment
  • After the British and German armies first encountered each other at the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914, the outnumbered British Expeditionary Force had begun to fall back in front of a stronger German army. The two clashed again at the Battle of Le Cateau on 26 August, after which the British again retreated towards the River Marne. The retreat was orderly and disciplined; the German command mistakenly believed the British force was shattered and so neglected to aggressively harass them as they withdrew. As a result, the bulk of the Expeditionary Force was able to retreat for several days without engaging in any major fighting; the German pursuit was leisurely, and most engagements were skirmishes between rearguard units and cavalry patrols, rarely more than a battalion in strength.
sameAs
Strength
  • c. 2,000 men and six guns
  • c. 5,200 men and twelve guns
dcterms:subject
dbkwik:military/pr...iPageUsesTemplate
Partof
  • the Retreat from Mons
Date
  • 1914-09-01(xsd:date)
Commander
  • Charles Briggs
  • Otto von Garnier
Align
  • right
Caption
  • An artist's impression of the last gun of L Battery in action.
Width
  • 315(xsd:integer)
BGCOLOR
  • #c6dbf7
Casualties
  • 135(xsd:integer)
  • Unknown casualties; 78 prisoners.
Result
  • British victory
Place
  • Néry, Oise, northern France
Source
  • --09-17
Conflict
  • Action at Néry
Quote
  • --09-01
Units
abstract
  • After the British and German armies first encountered each other at the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914, the outnumbered British Expeditionary Force had begun to fall back in front of a stronger German army. The two clashed again at the Battle of Le Cateau on 26 August, after which the British again retreated towards the River Marne. The retreat was orderly and disciplined; the German command mistakenly believed the British force was shattered and so neglected to aggressively harass them as they withdrew. As a result, the bulk of the Expeditionary Force was able to retreat for several days without engaging in any major fighting; the German pursuit was leisurely, and most engagements were skirmishes between rearguard units and cavalry patrols, rarely more than a battalion in strength. On the 31 August, the Expeditionary Force continued falling back to the south-west, crossing the River Aisne between Soissons and Compiegne, with a rear guard provided by the brigades of the Cavalry Division. The day's march was cut short by the warm weather, which exhausted the already fatigued infantry, and they halted for the night just south of the Aisne. The I Corps bivouacked north of the forest around Villiers-Cotterets, with the II Corps to their south-west at Crepy-en-Valois, and the III Corps further to the west around Verberie. This left a gap of around five miles between the II and III Corps, which was filled by the 1st Cavalry Brigade, stationed at the village of Néry. The brigade had spent the day scouting for the German vanguard to the north-west of Compigne, and did not reach its rest area until dusk, around 8.30pm. The British plan for the following day was for a march of ten to fourteen miles southwards to a new defensive line, which called for an early departure from their rest areas; the III Corps rearguards were expected to pass through Néry by 6 am, which would already have been vacated by the cavalry. However, most units had reached their overnight stations quite late on the 31st, and so General Pulteney, the corps commander, ordered a later departure. Behind the retreating British forces, the German First Army on the right wing had begun to swing south, aiming to cross the river Oise around Compiegne, with the goal of cutting off the retreat of the French Fifth Army and isolating Paris. On the afternoon of the 31 August, the 5th Division was identified about eight miles north-west of Compiegne and heading southwards, whilst the leading cavalry divisions of the army crossed the Oise north of Compiegne around the same time. The German units were on a forced march, ordered to reconnoitre towards Paris with all possible speed, and had begun moving at 4 am that morning. Many would continue through the following night; some prisoners at Néry said that they had been travelling for twenty-six hours without sleep. However, they pressed on regardless of fatigue; one regimental commander responded to complaints that his men were being pushed too hard with the curt remark that "sweat saves blood". The first contact between the armies that evening was just after nightfall, when the 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers of III Corps encountered a patrol of the 8. Husaren-Regiment, of the 9th Cavalry Division, outside Verberie, on the extreme west flank of the British force.
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