Fernand de Langle de Cary

Fernand Louis Armand Marie de Langle de Cary (4 July 1849 19 February 1927)[1] was a French general during World War I. He commanded Fourth Army when the war began.

Fernand de Langle de Cary
Fernand de Langle de Cary with Joseph Joffre (left) and Adolphe Guillaumat (right).
Born(1849-07-04)4 July 1849
Lorient, France
Died19 February 1927(1927-02-19) (aged 77)
Pont-Scorff, France
Allegiance France
Service/branchFrench Army
Years of service1869–1916
RankGénéral de division
Commands heldFourth Army
Battles/warsFranco-Prussian War
World War I
AwardsGrand Cross of the Legion of Honor
Croix de guerre 1914-1918

Early life

Fernand Louis Armand Marie De Langle De Cary (1849-) was born at Lorient July 4 1849, entered the St. Cyr military school in 1867 and left at the head of his class in 1869, being commissioned to the Chasseurs d'Afrique. He participated in the Franco-Prussian War, during which he was wounded and given a medal for bravery. After the war he received army staff training and served for a time as a professor at the French military academy. He was promoted to brigadier general in 1900 and given the command of a cavalry brigade in Algeria.In 1912, he was made a member of the Conseil Supérieur de la Guerre which carried with it the command of an army in war. [2]

World War I

Commands

At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, de Langle de Cary was placed in command of the Fourth Army. In concert with general Pierre Ruffey and his Third Army and general Charles Lanrezac and his Fifth Army, he was ordered by Joffre to attack the approaching Germans advancing south through the heavily forested and ravined Ardennes. They were badly outnumbered by the Germans facing them attacking from above and were defeated with very heavy losses [3] in the Battle of the Ardennes but managed to withdraw and form a line of defense strong enough to halt the German counter-offensive. Unlike generals Ruffey and Lanrezac, Langle de Cary was not relieved of his command. He continued at the head of Fourth Army (though its strength was greatly reduced for the benefit of Foch's newly created Sixth Army) in the Marne and Aisne operations and in the trench warfare fighting of 1915. He commanded the French forces in the Second Battle of Champagne, another failed and costly French offensive ordered by Joffre.

Verdun blame and forced retirement

Nevertheless he replaced Edouard de Curieres de Castelnau as commander of the Central Army Group in December, 1915, when Castelnau was promoted as Joffre's second-in-command. [4] In this capacity, de Langel de Cary became responsible, among other duties, for overseeing the defensive readiness of Verdun. The German attack erupted onto Verdun in February, 1916, and the fears that he had expressed earlier about conditions there proved to be only too well founded, thus the army command was radically reorganized by Joffre who wanted more aggressive commanders, and Langle, who had already reached the age limit for retirement, was replaced by Petain. He had only been in command two months. The official reason for his being removed was his age, 66. He was retired (removed from the officer Active List) the following year.[5] He died on 19 February 1927[6]

Notes

  1. "Hôtel National des Invalides" (in French). apll-lachaise.net.
  2. Keegan, John: The First World War, Alfred Knopf, New York, 2001
  3. Hastings, Max: Catastrophe 1914, Europe Goes to War,p181; Quotation saying sarcastically to his commander in chief Joffre who urged further attacks: "On the whole, results very unsatisfactory," after 27,000 French casualties.
  4. Hastings. Max: Catastrophe 1914,Europe Goes to War, p310
  5. Strachan, Hew: "The First World War, Vol 1: 'To Arms.'" Oxford University Press, 2001.
  6. "Acceuil" (in French). larousse.fr.

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