François Achille Bazaine (Versailles, February 13, 1811 - Madrid, 23 September, 1888), Marshal of France. He served in Algeria, Crimea and Mexico, but he remained famous above all for having failed in his task as Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Rhine and for having thus contributed to the French defeat during the Franco-French war. German of 1870. Officer Louis-Nathaniel Rossel was the first to openly denounce the marshal by trying to bring him before a military tribunal (in vain).
Having failed the entrance examination for the École Polytechnique in 1830, he enlisted in the 37th Line Infantry Regiment, then served alternately in the Foreign Legion from 1832 to 1837, first in Algeria then in Spain. /P>
On June 4, 1850, he was appointed colonel in the 55th Line. On February 4, 1851, he took command of the 1st Foreign Legion Regiment and the following month command of the Sidi-bel-Abbès subdivision.
On October 28, 1854, he was appointed brigadier general and commanded two regiments of the Legion in the Army of the East. On September 10, 1855, he became military commander of Sevastopol and major general on the following September 22.
On his return to France, he held positions as an infantry inspector and then commanded the 19th military division in Bourges.
Commanding the 3rd Infantry Division of the 1st Corps of Baraguey d'Hilliers, he was close to the line of battle at Melegnano on June 8, 1859, and at Solférino on June 24.
He commanded French troops during the Battle of Puebla of the Mexico Expedition. He is appointed head of the expeditionary force to replace Forey. His relations with Maximilian are strained. On November 12, 1867, he obtained command of the 3rd Army Corps in Nancy and the following year he commanded the camp of Châlons then replaced Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély at the head of the Imperial Guard.
On August 12, 1870, in the middle of the war, Bazaine was appointed commander-in-chief of the Army of the Rhine which, beaten, tried to withdraw to Châlons-sur-Marne to join the reserves and face the German troops. However, when an opportunity was offered to him to destroy several bodies of the enemy army following the battle of Mars-la-Tour, on August 16, he decided to the general astonishment of his retinue to withdraw his army from 180,000 men in Metz, thus allowing themselves to be cut off from Free France and therefore from its reserves.
Bazaine should never have locked himself in Metz and he should have tried by all means to retreat to join the imperial troops to counter the Prussian forces with his 180,000 men. Metz would have suffered a siege but it would not have capitulated so quickly because the city could not sustain a siege with 180,000 troops, it was impossible because food would run out after a few months. If Bazaine had not locked himself in the city, Metz would not have capitulated for at least 2 to 3 years. The city had defense military garrisons so it could sustain a very long siege and it had food warehouses to sustain long sieges. This opinion is given by a resident of Metz who knows the history of the siege of the city in 1870. Source book "History of Metz"
Leading the only real organized army in France at this time, he seems convinced of its importance for the future of France and tries to forge intrigues, in particular with the Empress, probably to restore the empire fallen since September 4. He also negotiated with the Germans for authorization for his army to leave “to save France from itself”, that is to say from the republican, even revolutionary thrust. It is on this point that he vigorously opposes Captain Louis Rossel who wants to continue the war and not betray his country (the latter will be the only officer to join the Paris Commune on March 19, 1871). Finally, the negotiations desired by Bazaine drag on and food runs out in the city of Messina.
Whereas since the fall of Sedan, on September 2, he represents the last hope of the French camp, Bazaine gives up pursuing the fight and capitulates on October 27. This surrender is often explained by Bazaine's lack of motivation to defend a government that corresponded less and less to his political ideals.
The news of this surrender afflicted France, as General Trochu failed to loosen the German grip around besieged Paris. Léon Gambetta, gone to Tours in the hope of gathering an army of liberation, understands that his attempt is now in vain and he issues a proclamation in which he explicitly accuses Bazaine of treason.
Bazaine's defection freed the German siege army just in time, which rushed to Orléans to confront the initiative being raised by a Republican army. It is therefore easy to make bear the moral weight of the defeat to Bazaine, who is brought before the military courts on his return from captivity in 1873. Sentenced to death, his sentence is commuted to 20 years in prison, without ceremony of degradation , by the new Marshal-President Mac-Mahon, who himself had been beaten at Sedan.
Benefiting from a few accomplices, he managed to escape on the night of August 9 to 10, 1874 and flee to Spain. He took refuge in Madrid where, on April 17, 1887, a French traveling salesman, Louis Hillairaud, stabbed him in the face. François Bazaine died of a stroke on September 23, 1888