Both General-in-Chief Joffre, and the German General Staff, foresaw that the great battle of the Marne must be decisive. General Joffre, in his order of the day of September 6, impressed upon his troops that "upon the coming battle the salvation of the country would depend," and admonished his soldiers that "if they should be unable to advance further, they must hold their ground or be killed on the spot, rather than retire." When the French cavalry made a sudden dash into Vitry-le-Francois and entered the house that had been occupied by the headquarters staff of the Eighth Army Corps, which had been hastily abandoned a few minutes before, they found, signed by Lieutenant-general Tulff von Tscheppe und Werdenbach, a general order which ran as follows: Vitry-le-Francois, September 7, 10.30 A.M.--The goal pursued by our long and painful marches is reached. The principal French forces have had to accept battle after withdrawing continually. The great decision is undoubtedly near at hand. To-morrow, therefore, the total forces of the German army, as well as all those of our army corps, will have to be engaged all along the line going from Paris to Verdun. To save the happiness and honor of Germany, I expect from each officer and soldier, despite the hard and heroic fighting of the last few days, that he will accomplish his duty entirely and to his last breath. All depends upon the result of to-morrow's battle. _Sunday, September 13._ Forty-second day of the war. Cloudy weather, with strong westerly wind. Temperature at five P.M. 19 degrees centigrade.