The Good The Bad and the Ugly

BRITISH COMMANDERS

Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1^st Earl of Ypres (28 September 1885 – 22 May 1925)

Sir John French distinguished himself by commanding the Cavalry Division during the Second Bore War. He became Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) in 1912, before serving for two years as the first Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force during World War I.

 Even thought promoted to field marshal on 3 June, 1913, French had neither staff experience nor had studied at Staff College in order to excel in his position. As CIGS he forced through some controversial changes to infantry battalions, first changing the composition of a battalion from eight small companies commanded by captains, to four large companies commanded by majors.[1] 

He also ensured that cavalry would continue to be trained to fight with sword and lance rather than fight dismounted with firearms. These changes caused concerns regarding French’s lack of intellect and knowledge for the position he held. [2]

Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1^st Earl Haig

(19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928)

Douglas Haig was a British senior officer during World War I, commanding the 1^st Corps, until he replaced Sir John French as commander-in-chief of the BEF.

Some have criticized him for the number of British casualties that occurred during his command, and regarded him as representing class-based incompetent commanders unable to grasp modern tactics and technologies.[3]

General Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien

(26 May 1858 – 12 August 1930)

Smith-Dorrien commanded the British II Corps during World War I and is best known for his successful defensive action in the Battle of Le Cateau. He commanded the British Second Army at the Second Battle of Ypres before being relieved of command by Sir John French.[4]

FRENCH GENERALS

Marshal Joseph Jacques Cesaire Joffre

(12 January 1852 – 3 January 1931)

Joseph Joffre was the French general and commander-in-chief of the Allied army during World War I, best known for regrouping the retreating allied armies in order to defeat the Germans at First Battle of the Marne in 1914.

Joffre was a career officer who saw active service in different theaters. While serving in the colonies he was asked to returned to France to be appointed commander-in-chief of the French Army in 1911.

He purged French officers who were “defensive-minded” and replaced them with those believing in the offensive “Plan XVII”.[5]

Like French, Joffre was selected to command despite the fact he never commanded an Army, and was labeled as “having no knowledge what so ever of how a General Staff works.”

Charles Lanrezac 

(July 31, 1852 – January 18, 1925)

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

At the Battle of Charlerol he intended to strike the Germans on their western flank, but before he could act, the German 2^nd Army struck first. After experiencing heavy casualties, he ordered the French Army to retreat. He recovered from his embarrassment at Chalerol by launching  a successful counterattack at the Battle of Guise. He was relieved of his command by Joffre before the Battle of the Marne.[6]

Ferdinand Foch was born in 1851. He fought in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 and became an artillery specialist in 1907. When war broke out in 1914, Foch commanded the French Second Army until the Battle on the Marne, after which he headed the French Ninth Army.[7]

GERMAN GENERALS

Alexander Heinrich Rudolph von Kluck

(1846-1934)

Von Kluck was born in Munster on 20 May 1846. During the First World War he commanded the German First Army. He was known as an aggressive commander and grew impatient with his counterpart, Second Army commander von Bulow, who was unwilling to allow gaps between the two armies. This eventually led to failure of the infamous “Schlieffen Plan” when von Kluck advanced his army south and east of Paris instead of north and west as planned.[8]

FIELD MARSHAL KARL von BULOW

(1846-1921)

Karl von Bulow was born on 24 April, 1846. At the start of the First World War von Bulow was given the command of the German Second Army and to ensure that the German invasion of Belgium went according to the Schlieffen Plan, he was also given control over both the First and Third Armies. However, his control was rescinded when he and, the aggressive, von Kluck clashed over Bulow’s cautious nature.

Bulow’s greatest success was capturing the Belgian fortress of Namur and defeating the French General Lanrezac’s Firth Army at the Battle of Charleroi on 23-24 August, 1914.[9]

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