The Battle of Le Cateau was a military engagement of World War I. It was fought between the British Expeditionary Force, under Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, and the Imperial German Army, on August 26, 1914, near Le Cateau-Cambresis, France. Although the British infantry fought bravely, trying to stop the German advance, they were forced to fall back and abandon their positions to the enemy. Thus, the result of the battle was a German victory, with the British suffering 8,100 casualties. It took place right after the Battle of Mons, which had been fought on August 23.
The German 1st Army's IV Corps, led by Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin, launched a vicious assault on the British and French positions on August 26, 1914. To cover the retreat of the Anglo-French troops, the BEF's II Corps, under the command of Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, counter-attacked to delay the German offensive. The British II Corps was composed of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th division, which had been deployed at the center, on the left, and on the right flank respectively, in a sector between Le Cateau and Cambrai.
To stop the German infantry, the British made massive use of their artillery units, with their ordnance firing shrapnel shells that rained down on the advancing enemy. However, the German howitzers undertook counter-battery action, attacking the positions of the British artillery pieces. This action allowed the German IV Corps to keep advancing. Although the troops of German IV Corps had already taken part in the Battle of Mons three days before, their attack was powerful and unrelenting.
Although they managed to hold their positions at the beginning, by early afternoon the British front line had already started to cave in, with several gaps having been torn out by the ferocious German attack. At sunset, when it was getting dark, the British were ordered to retreat to Saint-Quentin.
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| Above, a map shows the German IV Corps attack (in red arrow) on the British II Corps positions between Cambrai and Le Cateau (printed in red). |