Great as it was, the effort proved vain. If the attack was heroic, the defence was super-heroic. When, for the last time, the lines of the Guards swept forward, withering the retreating and now disordered foe with their volleys, charging into them in what seemed a lightning-like energy, terrible alike in their forgetfulness of danger and in the irresistible impetus of victory, the Germans must have realised that their hopes of conquest were shattered. This was but one out of similar scenes in that fierce night.[27] After it the cold, grey morning broke in strange silence. For a space the artillery had ceased to speak. Many and many a hero, unknown to fame, but faithful unto death, lay with face upturned on those hillsides. Never had duty been more valiantly done. Sir John French realised the qualities of his soldiers. He had been compelled to demand from them a herculean energy. They had not failed him in any place nor in any particular. They had been in truth magnificent, and he could not but embody his admiration in a Special Order of the Day. That historic document ran:-- Once more I have to express my deep appreciation of the splendid behaviour of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the army under my command throughout the great battle of the Aisne, which has been in progress since the evening of the 12th inst. The battle of the Marne, which lasted from the morning of the 6th to the evening of the 10th, had hardly ended in the precipitate flight of the enemy when we were brought face to face with a position of extraordinary strength, carefully entrenched and prepared for defence by an army and a staff which are thorough adepts in such work. Throughout the 13th and 14th that position was most gallantly attacked by the British forces, and the passage of the Aisne effected. This is the third day the troops have been gallantly holding the position they have gained against the most desperate counter-attacks and a hail of heavy artillery. I am unable to find adequate words in which to express the admiration I feel for their magnificent conduct. The self-sacrificing devotion and splendid spirit of the British Army in France will carry all before it. (Signed) J. D. P. FRENCH, Field Marshal, _Commanding-in-Chief the British Army in the Field_. The enemy had been shaken. Of that there could be no doubt. Following his experiences in the battle of the Marne this fighting was beginning to prove too much for him. A considerable amount of information about the, enemy has now been gleaned from prisoners (says the official record). It has been gathered that our bombardment on the 15th produced a great impression. The opinion is also recorded that our infantry make such good use of the ground that the German companies are decimated by our rifle fire before a British soldier can be seen.