Henri Gabriel Putz (Metz, 26 January 1859 – Metz, 22 February 1925) was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

during

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 ...

Early years

He was born in Metz in 1859 as the son of military Jean-Baptiste Henry Putz (1824–1903), who became Brigade General in 1881 and Commander of the Légion d'honneur. When Metz became German after the Franco-German War, the Putz family applied for French citizenship. Despite being of German descent, they preferred to be French. Henri studied at the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

where he left in 1879 as 6th of his class, and opted for the artillery. He fought against Tunisian insurgents in 1881–1882. Later he was stationed in Asia, where he participated in the

Tonkin Campaign The Tonkin campaign was an armed conflict fought between June 1883 and April 1886 by the French against, variously, the Vietnamese, Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army and the Chinese Guangxi and Yunnan armies to occupy Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and ...

(1885–1887). He also fought in the Madagascar expedition (1896–1899) and the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion (1900–1901).

World War I

At the outbreak of World War I, as a Division general he received command of the 28th Infantry Division, which was part of the First Army under Auguste Dubail.
His division saw heavy fighting during August 1914 in the Battle of the Vosges. When the focus of the fighting moved west towards the Marne, Henri Putz was appointed on 7 September as commander of the Groupement des Vosges, later renamed ''Army Detachment of the Vosges'' and ''34th Army Corps''.
On 2 April 1915, he was put at the head of the ''Army Detachment in Belgium'', which defended the northern part of the

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient around Ypres in Belgium was the scene of several battles and an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War. Ypres district Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee ...

. It was here that, on 22 April 1915, the Germans launched their surprise gas-attack, starting the

Second Battle of Ypres During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pr ...

. Between 17 June 1915 and 19 December 1917 he commanded the 4th Army Corps, which fought on the Argonne, Aisne and Somme. From 23 December 1917 to 19 April 1918, he was head of the ''Commandement supérieur du Nord''.
After the War, he moved to his hometown Metz again and died here in 1925. He was buried at Les Invalides. On 20 July 1920 he had become Grand officer of the

Légion d'honneur 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Putz, Henri 1859 births 1925 deaths Military personnel from Metz French military personnel of World War I French generals Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur