26th August
Western Front
Elements of the newly forming French 6th Army begin to arrive in Amiens, on the far left of the Allied line
Smith-Dorrien decides that he is compelled to make a stand against the advancing Germans - the Battle of Le Cateau: British II Corps briefly checks the advance of Kluck’s 1st Army in hard fighting, loosing 8,000 men but managing to safely withdraw - scratch French forces block Kluck’s attempts to outflank the BEF to the west - Kluck believes that the BEF has been shattered
Louvain destroyed by the Germans.
Stunned by Haig’s excited report from Landrecies, John French has I Corps retreat south, away from II Corps; Chief of Staff Murray suffers a mental collapse
Joffre, Sir John French and Lanrezac hold a confused meeting at St. Quentin
Showing signs of panic, John French moves his headquarters to Noyon
The French liaison officer reports to GQG that the BEF has been crushed
German forces completely invest the bypassed fortress of Maubeuge
The Battle of the Meuse: de Langle’s French 4th Army holds off the German 4th Army along the Meuse south of Sedan
A gap opens between the French 4th and 5th Armies
End of French attempt to recover Alsace-Lorraine: French fall back in St. Die region.
Joffre disbands the Army of Alsace
Two German corps are transferred from the Western to the Eastern Front
Eastern Front
In East Prussia, the German 8th Army retook Soldau: Samsonov's communications cut, thus forcing an ever widening gap between the Russian 1st and 2nd Armies. This set the stage for the Battle of Tannenberg, 40 km southwest of Allenstein.
Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich visited General Zhilinskiy's NW Front HQ at Bialystok.
Galicia: Beginning of operations against Lemberg.
Southern Front
Novi Bazar evacuated by the Austrians.
Naval and Overseas Operations
In the Baltic Sea, the German cruiser Magdeburg ran aground in heavy fog on Odensholm island at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. Unable to re-float her, the German Captain was forced to abandon ship. Russian destroyers soon found the ship, captured the commander and 56 crew. The boarding party discovered an invaluable German naval signal code book and cipher table, which were quickly copied and sent to the British.
Action between H.M.S. "Highflyer" and German armed merchant cruiser "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" off the Rio de Oro: latter sunk
Togoland conquered by the Allies: town of Atakpame occupied.
Politic, etc.
Messimy refuses to resign as War Minister, forcing the government to fall
M. Delcassé succeeds M. Doumergue [Appointed August 3rd, 1914.] as French Foreign Minister.
Michel is removed; Gallieni becomes Military Governor of Paris.
Ship Losses:
Admiral Sampson ( United States): collided with Princess Victoria ( United Kingdom) and sank in Puget Sound off Point No Point, Washington.
Holmwood ( United Kingdom): was captured and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 180 nautical miles (330 km) east of Pernambuco, Brazil by SMS Dresden ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse ( Germany): Battle of Río de Oro: The ocean liner was scuttled off Rio de Oro, Spanish Sahara following a battle with HMS Highflyer ( Royal Navy)
SMS Magdeburg
SMS Magdeburg ( Kaiserliche Marine): The Magdeburg-class cruiser ran aground in the Baltic Sea off Odensholm, Estonia. She was subsequently attacked by Admiral Makarov and Gromoboi (both Imperial Russian Navy) and sank with the loss of 15 lives.
Skeatti Sogeli ( Denmark): The coaster struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 30 nautical miles (56 km) off Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, United Kingdom.
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