The first French offensive of the war, known as the Battle of Mulhouse, began on 7 August. Joffre had directed the First and Second armies to engage as many German divisions as possible to assist French forces operating further north. The French VII Corps with the 14th and 41st divisions, under the command of General Bonneau, advanced from Belfort to Mulhouse and Colmar to the north-east. The French quickly seized the border town of Altkirch south of Mulhouse with a bayonet charge. On 8 August, Bonneau cautiously continued the advance and occupied Mulhouse, shortly after its German occupants had left the town. The First Army commander General Auguste Dubail preferred to dig in and complete the army mobilisation but Joffre ordered the advance to continue. With the arrival of two corps of the German 7th Army from Strasbourg, the Germans mounted a counter-attack on the morning of 9 August, at nearby Cernay. Mulhouse was recaptured on 10 August and Bonneau withdrew towards Belfort to escape a German encirclement.