Auguste Dubail
| Augustin Dubail | |
|---|---|
General Dubail wearing his “Kepi over one eye with the chic exquis (exquisite chic) of the Second Empire”.
|
|
| Born |
15 April 1851 Belfort, France |
| Died |
7 January 1934 (aged 82) Paris, France |
| Allegiance |
 France
|
| Years of service | 1870–1916 |
| Rank | General de Division |
| Commands held | 14th Infantry Division 9th Army Corps First Army (France) Army Group East |
| Battles/wars |
Franco-Prussian War World War I |
| Awards |
Grand cross of the Légion d'honneur Médaille militaire |
Augustin Yvon Edmond Dubail (15 April 1851 – 7 January 1934) was a French Army general. He commanded the First Army and Army Group East during World War I.
Augustin Dubail graduated from the military school of Saint-Cyr in 1870 and was commissioned an officer in the infantry. During the Franco-Prussian War Dubail fought at Saarbrücken, Spicheren, Borny before being captured at Metz. After the war Dubail served as a professor at Saint-Cyr, as an officer on the border and in Algeria, where in 1901 he became colonel of the 3rd Zouaves.
In 1904–1905 Dubail served twice as chief of staff of the French Minister of War Maurice Berteaux. Promoted to brigadier general, Dubail commanded the 53rd Infantry Brigade, the 5th Infantry Brigade and the 14th Infantry Brigade and was commandant of Saint-Cyr (1906–1908) before being appointed to the technical committee of the infantry.
During the Agadir Crisis in 1911 Dubail was Chief of Staff of the Army, reporting to the new War Minister, Adolphe Messimy. Messimy and Dubail tried to have the Army adopt 105mm heavy guns, but French generals saw them as a drag on the offensive (preferring to use the lighter and more mobile "Soixante-Quinze" gun) and better used as a defensive weapon like machine guns, so only a few were in use by 1914. General Victor Michel, Vice-President of the Supreme War Council and commander-in-chief designate, later claimed that Dubail had privately agreed with his plans to deploy reservists in the front line and to adopt a more defensive war plan; however Michel had to resign when no senior general backed him. Dubail's post was abolished in Messimy's reforms.
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