Michel-Joseph Maunoury

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Michel-Joseph Maunoury

Michel-Joseph Maunoury (17 December 1847 – 28 March 1923) was a commander of French forces in the early days of World War I

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. He was recalled from retirement at the age of 67 in August 1914 to lead the so-called 'Army of Lorraine

Lorraine (province)

Lorraine is a historical area in present-day northeast France. Some of the main cities are Metz, France, Nancy and Verdun....
'. But his place in history would be made in a quite different sector of the front, much closer to home near Paris

Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
, during the First Battle of the Marne

First Battle of the Marne

Artillery

Artillery is a military Combat Arms which employs any apparatus, machine, an assortment of tools or instruments, a system or systems used as weapons for the discharge of large projectiles in combat as a major contribution of fire power within the overall military capability of an armed force....
officer by training, Maunoury was handed command of the seven reserve divisions that formed part of the Army of Lorraine.

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Encyclopedia

Michel-Joseph Maunoury (17 December 1847 – 28 March 1923) was a commander of French forces in the early days of World War I

World War I

Lorraine (province)

Paris

First Battle of the Marne

Artillery

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between Second French Empire and Kingdom of Prussia, while Prussia was backed by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Grand Duchy of Baden, History of W?rttemberg#The Kingdom...
.

The main plank of Plan XVII

Plan XVII

Plan XVII was the name of the battle plan adopted by the French General Staff in 1913, to be put into effect by the French Army in the event of war between France and Germany....
(the French pre-war strategy for avenging this humiliating defeat and equivalent of the Schlieffen Plan

Schlieffen Plan

The Schlieffen Plan was the German General Staff's early 20th century overall strategic plan for victory both on the Western Front against France and against Russia in the east, taking advantage of expected differences in the three countries' speed in preparing for war....
) focused chiefly around the recapture of the coal-rich regions of Alsace-Lorraine

Alsace-Lorraine

Alsace-Lorraine was a territorial entity created by the German Empire in 1871 after the annexation of most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War....
.

Maunoury's seven reserve divisions began to assemble on 21 August (seven days after Ferdinand Foch

Ferdinand Foch

Ferdinand Foch . Order of Merit List of honorary British knights was a France soldier, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French Army" in the early 20th century....
and Auguste Dubail launched their invasion of Lorraine in accordance with Plan XVII). His divisions were briefly attached to the retreating First and Second Armies

Second Army (France)

The Second Army was a Field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II. The Army became famous for fighting the Battle of Verdun in 1916 under Petain....
in Lorraine before being quickly redeployed by rail on 26 August further northwest to form the new Sixth Army

Sixth Army (France)

The Sixth Army was a Field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II....
north of the Western Front

Western Front

Western Front was a term used during the World War I and World War II world war to describe the "contested armed frontier" between lands controlled by Germany to the East and the Allies to the West....
. Once there his troops helped the newly-arrived British Expeditionary Force to escape encirclement at the Battle of Le Cateau

Battle of Le Cateau

The Battle of Le Cateau occurred on 26 August 1914, after the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, France and Belgium retreated from the Battle of Mons and set up defensive positions in a fighting withdrawal against the German advance at Le Cateau-Cambr?sis on 26 August....
, before being again redeployed to a position near Paris on 1 September.

The decision to redeploy Maunoury's army was made by General Joseph Gallieni

Joseph Gallieni

Joseph Simon Gallieni was a French soldier, most active as a military commander and administrator in the French colonial empires and finished his career during the World War I....
, Military Governor of Paris, so they could attack German General Alexander von Kluck

Alexander von Kluck

Alexander Heinrich Rudolph von Kluck was a Germany general during World War I.Kluck was born in M?nster, Province of Westphalia. He saw service during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War....
's First Army in its exposed flank (a plan devised by Gallieni himself). Gallieni further reinforced Maunoury by ferrying troops to the front in a fleet of Parisian taxi cabs. With Maunoury's attack on 6 September (as ordered by French Commander in Chief Joseph Joffre

Joseph Joffre

Joseph Jacques C?saire Joffre was a France general who was Commander-in-Chief of the French Army between 1914 and 1916 during the First World War....
) the First Battle of the Marne

First Battle of the Marne

The First Battle of the Marne was a World War I battle fought between the 5th and 12th of September 1914. It resulted in a France-United Kingdom victory against the German Empire Wehrmacht under Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke the Younger....
commenced, which almost certainly saved Paris from being lost to the Germans.

Maunoury himself was severely wounded by being shot through the eye and rendered partially blind while touring the front on 11 March 1915, thereby ending his active career. He died in 1923, and was posthumously promoted to Marshal of France

Marshal of France

The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements....
.