to the west towards the south side of Nery. Heaing the familiar sounds of a camp and initially thinking it was another German regiment, Michael, exercising caution, dismounted, moved closer and after removing their helmets peered over a wall, and found himself within two meters of an English Corporal shaving. Carefully withdrawing and leading their horses for a safe distance, they remounted and raced to give the news to Garnier. At the same time, a second patrol under Sgt. Dittman of the 17th were shocked to meet a British Cavalry patrol, probably from the 11th Hussars. The German reports state that the British Officer was thrown and by the time he had caught his horse and returned to the Camp, the German artillery was already firing. Upon receipt of the reports from his patrols, von Garnier immediately decided to attack. Two of his mounted batteries were moved up to within 500 meters of Nery, and a platoon of mounted machine guns placed on each flank of the guns. Battle Néry is set in a north-south oriented valley around a small river, which feeds into the river Automne to the north; it is overlooked from the east and west by high bluffs. The main landmark was a sugar factory, just south of the village, where L Battery were billeted; the cavalry regiments were stationed in and around the village proper. Dawn on 1 September came with heavy fog lying in the valley; the force had been awakened and prepared for a move at 4.30 am, but due to the terrible visibility it was decided to wait an hour and a half for the mist to clear, and the men stood down to rest, water the horses, and prepare breakfast. The teams for the artillery were left harnessed to their guns, but with the limbers lowered to take the weight off the horses. At 5.25 am, a patrol from the 11th Hussars, which had been sent out to the south-east, encountered a strong force of enemy cavalry and escaped back to the village; the regiment quickly took up dismounted defensive positions along the eastern edge of the village, though the commander of the 5th Dragoon Guards refused to believe an attack was imminent. At 5.40 am, firing began from the heights overlooking the village from the east, supported by machine-guns and light artillery. This was the advanced guard of the 4th Cavalry