Louis Ernest de Maud'huy (1857–1921) was a French

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

General and the first Chief Scout of

Scouts de France Scouts et Guides de France (''Scouts and Guides of France'', SGdF) is the largest Scouting and Guiding association in France. It was formed on 1 September 2004 from the merger of two Roman Catholic Scouting organizations: the Guides de France (f ...

Biography

His father was Pierre Adrien de Maud'huy, Battalion Chief in the Napoleon III Imperial Guard and his mother Thérèse Joséphine Olry. "

Lorrain Lorrain may refer to: * Claude Lorrain (1600–82), a 17th-century French artist of the baroque style * Lorrain language, a Romance dialect spoken in Lorraine region in France and Gaume region in Belgium See also * Lorain (disambiguation) * Lora ...

from

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

", he was haunted by the idea of driving the Germans out from Lorraine since the 1871 defeat. He was then 14. Louis de Maud'huy became an infantry officer graduating from Saint-Cyr, General Staff Course graduated, chasseur à pied until becoming colonel and assuming command of the 35th infantry regiment in Belfort in 1907. Dictionnaire Larousse du XXe Siècle, vol. 4, page 745, 1931 On 10 July 1913, he was

Brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in charge of the 80th Infantry Brigade. An Infantry Division Officer in 1914, he was placed in charge, after the Battle of the Frontiers, of the 18th Corps with which he fought in the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. It was fought in a collection of skirmishes around the Marne River Valley. It resulted in an Entente victory against the German armies in the ...

on the 5th Army left wing. He willingly supported the execution of deserters right from the beginning of the war, encouraging the killing of a man involved. M 75 10 Foch Maistre Joffre et Maud'huy

During the

First Battle of the Aisne The First Battle of the Aisne (french: 1re Bataille de l'Aisne) was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) and the Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated aft ...

, de Maud'huy crossed the Aisne at

Pontavert Pontavert () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aisne department *List of medieval bridges in France The list of medieval bridges in France comprises all b ...

on 13 September 1914 and captured Corbeny, Craonne and the eastern tip of Chemin des Dames. As a result of this, he was promoted to Divisional General, became

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

commander for his courage and was considered a specialist of night attacks. He assumed command of the

French Tenth Army The Tenth Army (french: Xe Armée) was a Field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II. World War I The Tenth Army, first called ''détachement d'armée Maud'huy'', was formed on 1 October 1914 during the Race to the Sea. It ...

on the 29 September 1914 to extend northward the de Curières de Castelnau Second Army in the beginning of the Race to the Sea. Then the French Tenth Army attacked the advancing German forces on 1 October, initially experiencing success until they reached the town of Douai. There, the German Sixth Army launched a counter-attack along with additional attacks from three corps of the German First, Second and Seventh Armies: de Maud'huy lost Lens and was forced to withdraw towards

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

. From 2 April to 3 November 1915, he was named to the head of the Seventh Army. From 2 April 1916 to 24 January 1917 he was in charge of the 15th Corps which meant a downgrading for him.First World War: Who's Who
/ref> On 25 January 1917, he was replaced by General de Riols de Fonclare and named to the head of the French 11th Army Corps involved in the

Third Battle of the Aisne The Third Battle of the Aisne (french: 3e Bataille de l'Aisne) was a battle of the German spring offensive during World War I that focused on capturing the Chemin des Dames Ridge before the American Expeditionary Forces arrived completely in ...

. As well as his chief General Duchêne, he was relieved of his command by French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau on 2 June 1918, when Germans were seemingly within reach of Paris, and replaced by General Niessel. With the liberation of

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

on November 1918, Marshal Foch appointed him its Military Governor. After the war he entered politics. From 16 November 1919 to his death, he was elected to parliament as a deputy of National Bloc for

. In July 1920, he became the first Chief Scout of Scouts de France. Legion of Honour Grand Cross, he died in Paris on 16 July 1921. His remains are commemorated in the Invalides.

Bibliography

References

External links

First World War com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maudhuy, Louis De 1857 births 1921 deaths Military personnel from Metz Republican Federation politicians Members of the 12th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French generals Scouting and Guiding in France People associated with Scouting French military personnel of World War I Foreign recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States) Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)