Lanrezac finally spoke. He gave the order for a general retreat. He knew he would be taken for a "catastrophard" who must be got rid of-as indeed he was. His own account tells that he said to one of his officers: "We have been beaten but the evil is reparable. As long as the Fifth Army lives, France is not lost." Although the remark has the ring of memoirs written after the event, it may well have been spoken. Fateful moments tend to evoke grandeur of speech, especially in French.
( Barbara W. Tuchman )
[ The Guns of August ]
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