CASTELNAU, kas-terno, Edouard de Curieres de, French general: b. Saint Affrique 1851. He entered the Saint-Cyr mili tary school in 1869, and in the following year, when the Franco-Prussian War broke out, he was given a commission. He served through the whole campaign and emerged with the rank of captain. During the Commune he took part in the street fighting. For over 40 years de Castelnau was one of that little band of French soldiers — Joffre, Gallieni, Foch, etc.— who devoted their entire strength to the prob lem of preparing the army against a repetition of the disasters of 1870-71. He rose through the successive grades, passed the Ecole do Guetre, was promotedgeneral in 1906 and be came chief of staff to General Joffre when the latter was designated (in 1913) as commander in-chief in case of war. The two men had long worked together and closely studied all possible aspects of a future war. At the com mencement of the European War de Casteluau was placed in command of the Army of Lor raine, charged with the defense of Nancy. His
forces were drawn up across the Gap of Nancy to prevent the army of the Crown Prince of Bavaria from turning the Allied front. The fiercest fighting on this sector began 6 Sept. 1914, when the Bavarians were incited to make a desperate, overwhelming assault. Without intermission the battle raged for three days. By the 12th the main fighting was over; Nancy was saved•, de Castelnau's resistance contrib uted directly to the victory of the Marne. In 1915 he commanded the French offensive in Champagne and was made chief of the gen eral staff when General Joffre was appointed commander-in-chief of all the armies of France. General de Castelnau lost three sons on the battlefield during the first two years of the war.