Western Front: Aisne & Oise. French folding postcard map of the Aisne and Oise, number 3 from the series Les Cartes du Front. The map includes the Champagne front from Compiègne in the west to Chalons-sur-Marne in the east including Soissons, Chemin des Dammes, Laon, Reims, and Château Thierry.
Les Cartes du FrontNo. 3 — Aisne & OiseMaps of the FrontAisne & OiseEn vente chez tous les librairesLes Cartes du Fronttirées en 5 couleursFormat Dble. Carte-PostaleNo 1. Les Flandres- 2. Artois, Picardie- 3. Aisne & Oise- 4. Argonne — Côte de Meuse- 5. Lorraine- 6. Vosges et AlsaceA. Hatier. Editeur.8.Rue d'Assas, Paris.Outer front:Correspondence of the ArmiesMilitary Franchise
"[von der Lancken ] said he had just received a telegram that Reims is in flames, cathedral and all. It is a terrible thing to think of, and it may turn out to be another Louvain before we get through. Von der Lancken explained it on the ground that French troops had come up and occupied the town, and that it was necessary to take it by storm — that troops could never operate against a position of that sort until artillery had cleared the way. I don't know just how far that sort of explanation explains."
From the entry dated September 19, 1914 in the journal of Hugh Gibson, Secretary to the American Legation in Brussels, Belgium. The entry covers several days, and the date of his conversation is likely September 20, 21, or 22. Von der Lancken was head of the Political Department in occupied Brussels. Like Louvain, Belgium, Reims, France had been occupied by German forces in their initial invasion. In both cases they were then driven out of the city, by the Belgian Army from Louvain, by the French from Reims. After retaking the university town of Louvain, German troops had claimed citizens had shot at them. From August 25 to 30, 1914, the soldiers executed civilians and set the city ablaze, destroying the Library including its collection of irreplaceable manuscripts. Cardinal Mercier of Louvain wrote of 176 persons killed. Soldiers burned over 1,100 houses and the main University buildings.
A Journal from our Legation in Belgium by Hugh Gibson, page 245, copyright © Copyright, 1917, by Doubleday, Page & Company, publisher: Doubleday, Page & Company, publication date: 1917
Gibson, 1914, September, Reims, Rheims, cathedral
