Charles Lanrezac

Charles Lanrezac
Born	31 July 1852 (1852-07-31) Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe
Died	18 January 1925 (1925-01-19) (aged 72) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Allegiance	France
Years of service	1869–1914
Rank	Général de Division
Commands held	11th Army Corps Fifth Army
Battles/wars	Franco-Prussian War World War I
Awards	Grand cross of the Légion d'honneur Grand cross of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)

Charles Lanrezac (31 July 1852 – 18 January 1925) was a French general, formerly a distinguished staff college lecturer, who commanded the French Fifth Army at the outbreak of the First World War.

His army, originally intended to strike the Germans on their western flank, faced the brunt of the German march, stronger and further west than anticipated, through Belgium at the Battle of Charleroi. He was frustrated by the reluctance of his superior, General Joseph Joffre, who was initially preoccupied by French attacks into Lorraine and the Ardennes, to appreciate the danger of the German march through Belgium. Forced to retreat, at Joffre's insistence he made a successful counterattack at the Battle of Guise, but his apparent reluctance to counterattack led him to be relieved of command prior to the Battle of the Marne.

He is particularly remembered in British writing as his army fought on the right of the small British Expeditionary Force, with whose commander-in-chief, Sir John French, he had a poor relationship.