In the history of the British Army, Mons takes its place beside Dunkirk and Corunna. All three were initial defeats, saved from disaster by the courage of the soldiers and the skill of some of the commanders in the field. In the context of the whole war, Mons was a small-scale affair, but its importance was crucial, partly because this was the first time for close on 100 years that a British Army had been engaged in warfare on the continent and partly because the army passed straight from the dejection of retreat to the exhilaration of the Battle of the Marne.