Battle of Charleroi

The Battle of Charleroi (Bataille de Charleroi) or the Battle of the Sambre, was fought on 21 August 1914, by the French Fifth Army and the German 2nd and 3rd armies, during the Battle of the Frontiers. The French were planning an attack across the Sambre River, when the Germans attacked first, forced back the French from the river and nearly cut off the French retreat by crossing the Meuse River around Dinant and getting behind the French right flank. The French were saved by a counter-attack at Dinant and the re-direction of the 3rd Army to the north-west in support of the 2nd Army, rather than south-west. Battle of Dinant and Battle of Mons By 20 August, the Fifth Army (General Charles Lanrezac) had begun to concentrate on a front along the Sambre, centred on Charleroi and extending east to the Belgian fortress of Namur. The Cavalry Corps (General André Sordet) covered the Fifth Army's left flank and the concentration of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) at Mons. The French had 15 divisions, after transfers of troops to Lorraine, facing 18 German divisions from the 2nd Army (General Karl von Bülow) and 3rd Army (Colonel-General Max von Hausen) moving south-west from Luxembourg towards the Meuse. On the morning of the 21st, the French Commander-in-Chief, the head of Grand Quartier Général (GQG), Joseph Joffre, communicated to Lanrezac and to the BEF that German troops were moving west. In accordance with Plan XVII, the Third and Fourth armies further south were to move towards, respectively, Arlon and Neufchâteau, then attack German forces in Belgian Luxembourg. The Fifth Army was ordered to cover the Meuse up to Namur and the British were to conform by moving in the general direction of Soignies, north-east of Mons. Lanrezac positioned the Fifth Army on the Sambre and reported his actions to Joffre later in the day, around 12:30. Unbeknownst to him, German elements had clashed with his vanguards between Namur and Charleroi. Lanrezac was informed by General Augustin Michel, the commander at Namur, at 14:00.