Farther to the east the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh German Armies, making about twelve active army corps, four reserve corps, and numerous Ersatz companies, were in contact with the French troops (Fourth and Fifth Armies) between Vouziers and Verdun, the others from Verdun to the Vosges.  Such was the situation.

It may be seen, if a map is consulted, that the Fifth French Army, commanded from August 30 by General Franchet d’Esperey, would have found itself in grave peril following on the backward bending of the British and French forces operating on its left, if the French had accepted the challenge of a decisive battle.  The French commander in chief resolutely chose the alternative that obviated such a risk, that is, he decided on a postponement of the offensive and the continuation of the retreat.

Already on September 1, 1914, he prescribed as the extreme limits of the retreat the line running through Bray-sur-Seine, Nogent-sur-Seine, Arcis-sur-Aube, Vitry-le-Francois, and the region north of Bar-le-Due.  That line would have been reached had it been necessary.  On the other hand, it was his intention to attack before it was reached if the forces could be offensively arrayed, allowing of the cooperation of the British army and the army of Manoury on the left, and on the right that of the divisions of reserve that had been held on the heights of the Meuse.

Meanwhile, late in the afternoon of August 29, 1914, the British retirement began afresh, and 10,000 French troops also withdrew from the Somme, blowing up the bridges as they went.  Everywhere along the roads were crowds of country folk and villagers with wagons and carts piled high with household goods or carrying aged persons and children, all in panic flight before the dreaded invaders, fleeing for refuge in Paris.  At various places these stricken multitudes joined the army ambulances, taking the shortest routes.  Rumors of the coming of the uhlans ran along the straggling lines with tales of the grievous havoc and ruin which these horsemen, vanguards of the German columns, had wrought in the land.  Hardly had the retirement begun, when a body of uhlans entered Amiens and demanded from the mayor the surrender of the town.  This was formally given, and the civilians were ordered, on pain of death, not to create the slightest disturbance and not to take part in any action, overt or covert, against the soldiery.  Afterward, cavalry, infantry, and artillery took possession of the town on August 30, 1914.  On the same day a German aeroplane dropped bombs on Paris.

While retiring from the thickly wooded country south of Compiegne, the British First Cavalry Brigade were surprised while dismounted and at breakfast in the early morning of September 1, 1914.  Moving figures on the distant skyline first attracted the attention of those who had field glasses, but in the dim light their identity was not at first revealed.  Suddenly all doubt was resolved by a rain of shells on the