(formerly part of Third Army) on 7 September. Maunoury enjoyed a numerical superiority of 32 infantry battalions and 2 cavalry divisions. 63 Reserve Infantry Division was broken by German bombardments and infantry charges, but the day was saved by Colonel Robert Nivelle, then commanding 5th Artillery Regiment of 45th Reserve Infantry Division, who first attracted attention to himself by having his 75mm guns fire directly onto the enemy. On the night of 7/8 September, Sordet, commander of the French cavalry, had joined Deprez's 61st Infantry Division in falling back from the French left wing, instead of raiding into von Kluck's rear at La Ferte-MIllon. Maunoury sacked Sordet. By time of the Battle of the Ourcq Maunoury had been strengthened by Trentinian's 7th Infantry Division (formerly part of Fourth Army). Much of the division's infantry, artillery and staff of left Paris by train and truck on night of 7/8 September. Gallieni sent 103 and 104 Infantry Regiments (five battalions) by taxicab. Police commandeered 1200 black Renault cabs and shuttled 500 of them from Les Invalides west to Gagny, where each picked up 4 or 5 soldiers then drove to Nanteuil-les-Meaux overnight. The execution was less successful. Dimmed lights, and few maps, resulted in collisions and flared tempers. Some soldiers were forced to walk the final 2km to the front. For 8 September Joffre ordered Maunoury to “gain ground towards the north on the right bank of the Ourcq. Instead Maunoury aimed to retake the ground lost during the night and again attempt to outflank the German First Army. Herwig calls this “a poor decision”. Two assaults were beaten back by the Germans. It was very hot and food and water ran short. Late on the day, sensing von Kluck's imminent counterattack, Gallieni urged Maunoury to hold his ground “with all your energy”. Maunoury informed Joffre that his “decimated and exhausted” troops were holding their positions. By the evening of 8 September, Rudolf von Lepel's brigade, marching southwest from Brussels, aimed to take Maunoury's left flank. Battle of the Ourcq: Germans break off, Allies advance By 9 September Lepel was engaging Maunoury's left flank at Baron, northwest of Nanteuil-le-Haudoin. During the fighting on the Ourcq and aware of the BEF advance from aviators’ reports, Lt-Col Hentsch of the German General Staff, concerned at the threat faced by Bulow's Second Army further south, ordered the battle broken off. Von Kluck was not concerned