Time Astra

Schematic plan · World War I (Western Front 1914)

Marshes of St.gond

All battlesFirst Battle of the Marne: engagement 5 of 7The event in the chronicleWikipedia
A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Flat, Mixed groundCentreLeft wingRight wingCentreReserveLeft wingRight wingReserve010 km20 kmN

One of the 7 engagements of the First Battle of the Marne recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 5 in date order). Germany (Ger 2nd(-) & 3rd Armies, 101,000 men under Gen Hausen) attacked France (Fr 9th Army, 141,000 men under Gen Foch) in France. The CAA Database of Battles records 72 hours of fighting on a front of 42 km, a frontal attack, double envelopment against hasty defense, and that France held. Losses: Germany 25,000 (25%), France 29,000 (21%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

Germany

Gen Hausen

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry24,240
Germany centreInfantry32,320
Germany right wingInfantry24,240
Germany reserveInfantry20,200
Gen HausenCommander—
In this plan101,000

France

Gen Foch

UnitArmMen
France left wingInfantry33,840
France centreInfantry45,120
France right wingInfantry33,840
France reserveInfantry28,200
Gen FochCommander—
In this plan141,000

What the sources report

GermanyFrance
Strength, this plan101,000141,000
Losses, this plan25,00029,000

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 274, “Marshes Of St.Gond”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
72 hours
Winner
the defender
Terrain
Flat, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Autumn, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
42 km (attacker), 42 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Germanyattacker101,00025,0000—Frontal attack; Double envelopment; Repulse; Withdrew
Francedefender141,00029,0000—Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack

Attacker’s advantages none recorded

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.