30 Facts About Charles Lanrezac

Charles Lanrezac was a French general, formerly a distinguished staff college lecturer, who briefly commanded the French Fifth Army at the outbreak of the First World War.

Charles Lanrezac is particularly remembered in British writing as his army fought on the right of the small British Expeditionary Force, with whose commander-in-chief, Sir John French, he had a poor relationship.

Charles Lanrezac was of swarthy appearance and was a native of Guadeloupe.

Charles Lanrezac fought with the Armee de la Loire at Coulmiers and in the campaign around Orleans.

Charles Lanrezac was promoted to colonel in 1902 and given command of the 119th Infantry Regiment.

Charles Lanrezac became a brigadier-general in June 1906, commanding the 43rd Infantry Brigade stationed in Vannes.

Charles Lanrezac served under Joffre with 6th Infantry Division and became Joffre's protege.

Charles Lanrezac was a brilliant lecturer, but caustic and ill-tempered.

Charles Lanrezac had the same doubts as Gallieni about Joffre's plans.

Charles Lanrezac was already sufficiently concerned about the German movement into Belgium to obtain permission to deploy one of his corps at Givet on the Meuse.

Charles Lanrezac received three reserve divisions, containing men from Bordeaux, Gascony and the Basque Country, and two extra divisions of French settlers from Algeria.

Not only did they form a mutual dislike, but Sir John believed Charles Lanrezac was about to advance further, whereas in fact Charles Lanrezac wanted to fall back from his strong position behind the angle of the Rivers Sambre and Meuse, but was forbidden to do so by Joffre.

Concerned at having to guard against a German Meuse crossing south of Sedan, at Mezieres, or at Namur north of Givet, Charles Lanrezac urged that he be allowed to retreat to Maubeuge to avoid being flanked.

Charles Lanrezac demanded to Joffre on morning of 18th that he have use of Sordet's corps.

Joffre believed that Liege was still holding out, and hoped that Charles Lanrezac would be able to link up with Namur, which was expected to hold out for even longer.

Charles Lanrezac asked for the BEF to attack the German Second Army in flank, although, contradicting himself, he reported that the BEF was still in echelon behind his own left flank, which if true would have made it impossible for the BEF to do as he asked.

Sir John, who had cancelled his own planned advance on news that Charles Lanrezac had asked to fall back, agreed to hold his position.

Charles Lanrezac vetoed an attack by XVIII Corps on his left to relieve pressure on the British.

Charles Lanrezac was impressed by the performance of the French 75mm guns, and devoted time to finding appropriate places to deploy them.

Charles Lanrezac wrote that in fact Lanrezac pulled back before receiving the message and answering it at 11.30pm.

Charles Lanrezac was only reluctantly persuaded by his chief of staff to attend, and before Joffre's arrival he was observed loudly criticising both GQG and the BEF, making a poor impression on the junior officer who witnessed it.

Charles Lanrezac objected strenuously, reluctant to undertake a 90-degree turn in the face of enemy forces.

Charles Lanrezac criticised Joffre's plan, without mentioning that he had already reordered his corps as Joffre had ordered.

At last Charles Lanrezac agreed to obey, at which point Joffre had his aide Major Gamelin draw up a written order and signed it in Charles Lanrezac's presence.

Joffre later wrote of the difference in aggression between Charles Lanrezac and de Langle de Cary, whose Fourth Army, originally intended to be the spearhead of the attack into the Ardennes, was a strong force and had made several counterattacks.

However, Charles Lanrezac's victory had left him in an exposed forward position, and he had a telephone conversation with General Belin at GQG, warning him that he had been directly ordered to hold his position and attack if possible, and that his army was in danger of being cut off and encircled.

Joffre and Spears both claimed in their memoirs that, whatever his intellectual accomplishments, Charles Lanrezac had been overwhelmed by the strain of command, Spears adding that he had done little to prepare the Charleroi position for defence and had never once in the entire campaign willingly engaged the enemy.

Charles Lanrezac stayed in retirement for the rest of the war, refusing an offer of re-employment in 1917.

The city of Paris honored Charles Lanrezac by naming a street after him near the Place de l'Etoile.

The Rue du General Charles Lanrezac, one block from the Arc de Triomphe, is a side street connecting Avenue Carnot with Avenue MacMahon.