Time Astra

Schematic plan · World War I (Western Front 1914)

Vitry le Francois

All battlesFirst Battle of the Marne: engagement 6 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.
Rolling, 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 6 in date order). Germany (Ger 3rd(-) & 4th Armies, 113,000 men under Dk of Wuerttemburg) attacked France (Fr 4th Army, 170,000 men under Gen Langle de Cary) in France. The CAA Database of Battles records 72 hours of fighting on a front of 64 km, a frontal attack, double envelopment against hasty defense, and that France held. Losses: Germany 26,000 (23%), France 27,000 (16%).

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

Dk of Wuerttemburg

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry27,120
Germany centreInfantry36,160
Germany right wingInfantry27,120
Germany reserveInfantry22,600
Dk of WuerttemburgCommander—
In this plan113,000

France

Gen Langle de Cary

UnitArmMen
France left wingInfantry40,800
France centreInfantry54,400
France right wingInfantry40,800
France reserveInfantry34,000
Gen Langle de CaryCommander—
In this plan170,000

What the sources report

GermanyFrance
Strength, this plan113,000170,000
Losses, this plan26,00027,000

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 275, “Vitry Le Francois”, 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
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Autumn, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
64 km (attacker), 64 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Germanyattacker113,00026,0000—Frontal attack; Double envelopment; Repulse; Withdrew
Francedefender170,00027,0000—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.