The Germans, coming from Creil, entered Chantilly on September 3, 1914, and occupied it for several days. The mayor was at once seized as hostage but did not suffer the same tragic fate as the Mayor of Senlis. The troops were billeted at the castle (_see p. 28_). After the victory of the Marne, Chantilly became the seat of General Joffre's headquarters and remained so until the end of 1916. [Illustration: CHANTILLY] VISIT TO THE TOWN _Arriving by the Paris road the tourist will pass under the railway bridge, then 600 yards further on turn to the right and come out on to the "Pelouse" (Lawn). Turning round the Grand Condé Hotel on the left, he follows the Boulevard d'Aumale as far as the =Maison de Joffre=, shown in the photograph below_. [Illustration: JOFFRE LEAVING GENERAL HEADQUARTERS] Joffre lived here until he was made Marshal of France. The hundreds of officers and secretaries employed in the tremendous work incumbent on the Generalissimo were lodged in the Grand Condé hotel, near which the tourist has just passed. In contrast with this buzzing hive, Joffre's house seemed the embodiment of silence and meditation. Only two orderly officers lived with the generalissimo, and his door was strictly forbidden to all unsummoned visitors, whoever they might be. On leaving his office Joffre had the daily relaxation of a walk in the forest near by. It was thanks to the strict routine to which he subjected himself that the generalissimo was able to carry the crushing weight of his responsibility without faltering. We shall see, however, when comparing the peace time photograph given _on p. 1_ with that _on p. 22_ that these years of war have counted as double. During the tragic hours of the Marne the general headquarters were first at Bar-sur-Aube and then at Romilly. The commander-in-chief's intense concentration of mind made him dumb and as though absent in the midst of his colleagues, who received all his orders in writing. In a few days his hair and moustache became perfectly white. The Allies' grand councils of war were held in this house, which has counted among its guests all the great actors of the war. The military functions were held on the lawn. The photograph on the next page was taken during a review. _After having seen Joffre's house we pass the few villas which separate it from the Rue d'Aumale and bear to the right, skirting the lawn; next we turn to the left into the Avenue de Condé, then to the right into the Rue du Connétable._ In front of the "Grandes Écuries" (great stables), which border the extreme end of the road on the right, stands the equestrian statue of the Duc d'Aumale, by Gérome (1899). [Illustration: JOFFRE HOLDING A REVIEW ON THE LAWN]