George Albert Bazaine-Hayter
Encyclopedia
George Albert Bazaine-Hayter (December 4, 1843, Amiens
, Somme
– February 2, 1914), known as Albert, was a French General, son of Pierre-Dominique (Adolphe) Bazaine and nephew of Marshal Bazaine, on whose General Staff
he served in the French intervention in Mexico
and during the Franco-Prussian War
. He described the French position in 1870: "We had no preparation: no horses to haul the artillery reserves and the bridge equipment, no tools to dig the trenches; our machine guns arrived directly from the factories and those using them were not properly trained in their use; our artillery was inferior in number, in effectiveness and in reach, in summary, we were powerless against the Prussian artillery. Our battle formations, already old in 1859, were old-fashioned and stuck in a rut; our procedures and regulations had not been reviewed for over 30 years; our orders, brave beyond doubt, were ignorant, without doctrine and without initiative. These were the causes of our defeats, of all our defeats".
Despite his familial connection with the unfortunate Marshal, he had a successful military career of his own and co-wrote a number of works on infantry tactics and the use of attacking tactics in infantry doctrine. He was also an early critic of the lack of effective French military preparation to counter the increasing threat posed to France by the German Empire. He was one of the early pioneers of military aviation and a keen supporter of the Wright brothers when they visited Camp d'Auvours, Le Mans in 1908. He adopted his mother's maiden name Hayter as part of his surname in recognition of the support the Hayters gave to his unfortunate uncle Marshal Bazaine in escaping from his prison on Île Sainte-Marguerite
and in his later life in exile.
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
, Somme
Somme
Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
– February 2, 1914), known as Albert, was a French General, son of Pierre-Dominique (Adolphe) Bazaine and nephew of Marshal Bazaine, on whose General Staff
General Staff
A military staff, often referred to as General Staff, Army Staff, Navy Staff or Air Staff within the individual services, is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units...
he served in the French intervention in Mexico
French intervention in Mexico
The French intervention in Mexico , also known as The Maximilian Affair, War of the French Intervention, and The Franco-Mexican War, was an invasion of Mexico by an expeditionary force sent by the Second French Empire, supported in the beginning by the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Spain...
and during the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
. He described the French position in 1870: "We had no preparation: no horses to haul the artillery reserves and the bridge equipment, no tools to dig the trenches; our machine guns arrived directly from the factories and those using them were not properly trained in their use; our artillery was inferior in number, in effectiveness and in reach, in summary, we were powerless against the Prussian artillery. Our battle formations, already old in 1859, were old-fashioned and stuck in a rut; our procedures and regulations had not been reviewed for over 30 years; our orders, brave beyond doubt, were ignorant, without doctrine and without initiative. These were the causes of our defeats, of all our defeats".
Despite his familial connection with the unfortunate Marshal, he had a successful military career of his own and co-wrote a number of works on infantry tactics and the use of attacking tactics in infantry doctrine. He was also an early critic of the lack of effective French military preparation to counter the increasing threat posed to France by the German Empire. He was one of the early pioneers of military aviation and a keen supporter of the Wright brothers when they visited Camp d'Auvours, Le Mans in 1908. He adopted his mother's maiden name Hayter as part of his surname in recognition of the support the Hayters gave to his unfortunate uncle Marshal Bazaine in escaping from his prison on Île Sainte-Marguerite
Île Sainte-Marguerite
The Île Sainte-Marguerite is the largest of the Lérins Islands, about half a mile off shore from the French Riviera town of Cannes. The island is approximately 3km in length and 900m across....
and in his later life in exile.
Works
- La Nation Armée: Leçons Professées a L'École des Hautes Études Sociales Bazaine-Hayter et al. (Paris) Felix Alcan 1909
- L'Infanterie à la Guerre (Paris) Chapelot & Cie 1911