The castle was built about the year 1230 by Robert de Dreux, Count of Braime. Pierre de Rieux, Marshal of France, was imprisoned there by Guillaume de Flavy in the 15th century, and murdered by his jailer.
[Illustration: DONJON AND ENTRANCE TO NESLES CASTLE.]
[Illustration: NESLES CASTLE SEEN FROM THE TOP OF THE DONJON.]
Guillaume de Flavy, who was notorious for his ferocious cruelty, turned the castle into a stronghold for his mercenaries. It was he who delivered Joan of Arc to the Burgundians at Compiègne, of which town he was governor.
The castle was captured by the Americans after three days’ fighting (July 28 to 31, 1918).
_Continue towards_ =Seringes=. _On the right of the road, rather more than a mile after_ Nesles, there is an American Cemetery.
The village, which is slightly to the north of the road, was taken by the Americans on July 31, 1918. Early in the morning of August 1 the Germans retook it during a counter-attack, only to lose it again. In this region the Americans encountered two picked German Divisions (4th Guards and 6th Bavarians), beating them soundly.
[Illustration: AMERICAN CEMETERY AT SERINGES.]
[Illustration: FÈRE-EN-TARDENOIS CHURCH.]
=Fère-en-Tardenois=, which is reached shortly afterwards, is very ancient, although tradition, according to which it was the “Fara” given by Clovis to St. Genevieve, and by the latter to St. Remi, is now generally admitted to be mythical.
On May 30, 1918, Fère was recaptured by the Germans, only to be reconquered by the Allies during their counter-offensive of July. Already on the 19th the French were within nine miles of the town, but on the following days the Germans made a determined stand in the outskirts. On the 25th the resistance of the enemy, who had been reinforced by a fresh division of Bavarian reserves, stiffened, but broke down on the 27th. The Germans were obliged to retreat, and the French occupied the town on the 28th.
On the 30th the enemy counter-attacked and retook the railway station to the north of the town, but on August 1, in spite of bitter resistance and the withering fire of countless machine-guns, the Allies continued to gain ground. In danger of being outflanked on the north-west, the Germans further retreated on August 2, which completely liberated the town.
