Adrien Paul Alexandre Chrétien was a French general who participated in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He spent the war commanding the 30th Army Corps at throughout several battles of the Western Front.

Biography

Born in

Auxonne Auxonne ( or ) is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Auxonne is one of the sites of the defensive structures of Vauban, clearly seen from the train bridge as it enters the train s ...

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or () is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.

on September 12, 1862, he graduated from the

École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (, , abbr. ESM) is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ''Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre'', litera ...

in 1883 as a second lieutenant in the . In 1892, he was a captain in the 3rd Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment. When

broke out, he was a colonel, but from October 19, 1914, he was given the interim command of an infantry brigade. On December 18, 1914, he was appointed brigadier general, then promoted to division general on December 23, 1915. He commanded the 30th Army Corps on January 19, 1916. On January 26, he alerted the high command to the deplorable state of the defenses in the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun ( ; ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in French Third Republic, France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

. Chrétien was wounded twice, first disfigured by a bullet which hit him in the right ear during the Tonkin Campaign, then hit in the knee on September 6, 1914. General Chrétien was made Commander of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

on March 25, 1915. In February 1916, when the Battle of Verdun broke out, he commanded the 30th Army Corps, whose headquarters was located at

Fort Souville Fort Souville, briefly called Fort Lemoine, was one of the forts of the Verdun Fortification District, situated in the commune of Fleury-devant-Douaumont. Constructed between 1876 and 1879 at an altitude of 396m, it is a Séré de Rivières system, ...

. He after the war, he retired to Harcourt in 1921. In 1932, he became president of the as well as a member of the .

Personal life

He married Marié à Jeanne Woitier and had one son, Marcel Adrien who was born on February 28, 1898, but was killed in action on August 8, 1918, during World War I as a member of the .Annuaire des contemporains; notices biographiques

Awards

, Grand Officer (December 10, 1921) **Commander on March 25, 1915 **Officer on December 30, 1906 **Knight on July 5, 1887 *

Croix de guerre 1914–1918 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

(1 Palm) *

Tonkin Expedition commemorative medal The Tonkin Expedition commemorative medal () was awarded to all the French soldiers and sailors who took part in the battles of the Tonkin campaign and the Sino-French War between 1883 and 1885. The medal, decreed by a law of 6 September 1885, wa ...

1914–1918 Inter-Allied Victory medal The 1914–1918 Inter-Allied Victory medal () was a French commemorative medal established on 20 July 1922. It was the French version of a common allied campaign medal where each allied nation issued a Victory Medal to their own nationals, all i ...

1914–1918 Commemorative war medal World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Foreign Awards

Croix de guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...

, Grand crown and grand cross *:

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross () was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit Cross was reissued in 1957 ...

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

, Knight Commander *

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

: Nichan Iftikhar (July 28, 1900)

References

Bibliography

* ''Annuaire officiel de l'armée française'', Berger-Levrault, Paris, 1897, p. 103 * « Le général Chrétien », in ''

Le Pays de France ''Le Pays de France'', subtitled ''Organe des états généraux du tourisme'' (''The Country of France - Organ of the Estates General for Tourism''), was a French newspaper of the First World War. It originated in a monthly paper edited by '' Le M ...

'', no. 171, January 24, 1918, p. 3 * ''Les armées françaises dans la grande guerre'', Imprimerie nationale, 1934 * * G. Douare, ''Verdun sauvé par le général Chrétien et le 30e corps d'armée, 21-25 février 1916'', Berger-Levrault, Paris, 1953, p. 144 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chrétien, Paul 1862 births 1948 deaths French military personnel of the Sino-French War French Army generals of World War I People from Côte-d'Or French generals École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni Knights of the Legion of Honour Officers of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Legion of Honour Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Italy) Recipients of the War Merit Cross (Italy) Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium)