Halen 21 – Third Charge – 1
Belgian 2nd Squadron/5 Lancers was repositioned between 3rd and 1st Squadrons/4 Lancers. It had arrived in position just in time to beat off the Dragoner Regt Nr 18 charges.
1340 Hours. The Third Charge would commence using the forces of Dragoner Regt Nr 18:
The regiment stands at the eastern perimeter of Halen. The village had been fairly shelled. Apart from the material traces of the fights, there are dead and wounded Belgians and Jäger. At the village square, the troopers dismounted. Then the order was given: dismounted attack. Just as the men started to comply, the counterorder was given: mounted attack with saber and lance. In Halen’s narrow streets, Dragoner Regt Nr 18 had followed Dragoner Regt Nr 17 toward the railroad crossing. As practically the whole of the 2nd Squadron had become prisoners of war near Waremme on August sixth, they now had only three squadrons left, some 500 cavalrymen. The regiment was to advance before it dismounts again. The squadrons are positioned in the order 4th; 1st; 3rd in the narrow Halen streets. This is a critical moment. The Belgian Artillery is not shelling the village, only east of Halen.
Who gave the order to remount? Why? Once again, this proves that at Halen, common sense and doctrine to operate as infantry gave way to senseless charges made with cavalry pride and tradition. This would make so little sense if one assumed that the Dragoner Regt Nr 18 saw Dragoner Regt will Nr 17 fail their mission. But clearly, there was a change: somebody made the decision to conduct a mounted attack. There are four prime suspects: HKK Commander, Gen.Lt von der Marwitz; Division Commander, Gen.Lt von Garnier; Brigade Commander, Gen.Maj. Graf von Schimmelmann; and Regimental Commander, Maj. Baron Digeon von Monteton.
Marwitz was in Herk-de-Stad, four kilometers from the battlefield. He was obviously receiving reports; but after the First Charge, he clearly had a different assumption than what was really going on. His Chief of Staff, Maj. Hoffmann von Waldau, arrived on the scene in an automobile, shouting (possibly astonished by the traffic situation in the village), “Nun aber vorwärts, vorwärts! [“Nothing but, forward, forward!”] His Excellency Marwitz expected the Division to be already in Diest.” It is easy to rule out Marwitz as having had direct responsibility for the order. However, based on the German method of auftragstaktik, he would have given the mission-type order to the division commander. The question is why the division interpreted his orders in such a way.
Garnier was in Halen. He seems to have been collocated with the 17th Kav Bde commander. One can only assume that he was able to see the charges personally. Schimmelmann did not even want to push into Halen. We know that Schimmelmann resisted moving the entire brigade into Halen, saying it was much too early. We could find no account, however, that either he or Garnier gave the order to charge mounted. It may have been the traditional cavalry way, but it seems almost inconceivable in light of those that went before them. Eventually, 3rd Kav Bde would also charge mounted. The Dragoner Regt Nr 17 history tried to explain that Garnier saw no other solution but to attack, considering the situation in the village. However, it did not say that he intended to attack mounted. As the senior officer on site, he certainly could have made such a decision.
