Sarrail attacked on the morning of 6 September, his right pivoting on Verdun whilst the main body of his force, 20km to the southwest, attacked in a roughly north-westerly direction. Joffre, the French commander-in-chief, had expected Sarrail to take the German Fifth Army on its eastern flank as it advanced south from the Argonne into the Revigny Gap, but instead Crown Prince Wilhelm was advancing south-east towards Bar-le-Duc, so his army and Sarrail’s clashed head on. Sarrail’s forces were again mauled by von Pritzelwitz’s VI Corps, which had beaten the French colonials so badly at Rossigny, earning Sarrail (6 September) a blistering written rebuke from Joffre. Joffre criticised Sarrail’s men for abandoning equipment and officers for poor leadership and demanded that he "re-establish order, taking whatever measures necessary".