The offensive of this entire movement was intrusted to the First Corps.  The artillery strength of the armies of General von Kluck and Von Buelow was such that it was almost impossible for the Second and Third British Army Corps to assail them by a charge up the bluff.  But, meantime, the French had not been idle.  On September 13, 1914, General d’Esperey’s Fifth Army crossed the Aisne east of Bourg, and on the following day commenced the assault on the Craonne plateau.

The next day, Tuesday, September 15, 1914, was a day of several small victories for the Germans.  General von Zwehl was a hard hitter and a quick hitter.  Having disposed of his artillery where he thought it could be of the most use, he aided Field Marshal von Heeringen with counsels of counterattack, counsels that the Field Marshal fully indorsed.  The Sixth French Army under General Manoury, at the extreme west of the line, was the chief point of attack.  Though well placed on a strong position at Nampcel, the Germans drove the French before them like clouds before the wind, recaptured the spurs, forced the French backward through the Morsain ravine and back to their original crossing place of the Aisne between Viv and Fontenoy.

The Third Corps of the British suffered heavy loss of life without any opportunity to retaliate, for it was too thoroughly and completely dominated by the guns of Vregny.

The lull of Wednesday, September 16, 1914, was a foretaste of the deadlock which was gradually forming.  The French Fifth Army had been compelled to abandon all idea of a direct attack upon the Craonne plateau, the natural position being far too strong.  The Second and Third Corps of the British army could do nothing.  Sir John French, though eager to push the advantage, secured by his position on the heights, was well aware that such a move was not possible unless the entire French line was ready to cooperate with him, for, if he tried to drive down upon the ridge of the Aisne, or, for that matter, tried to flank it, the line of the Duke of Wuerttemberg would bend back upon him and nip him in a way which would render escape difficult.

A sudden recrudescence of activity on the western front gave rise to the hope that the deadlock might yet be avoided, that the two great armies might come to handgrips again.  Bolstered up by reenforcements, General Manoury checked the German attack and regained all the ground that had been lost.  Concentrating on the need of driving the invaders out of the quarries of Autreches, the French succeeded.  This eased the western end of the line, and the Second and Third British Army Corps were left in peace.