BAZAINE, FRAN cOIS ACHILLE ( 1 SI 1 SS ) . A marshal of France. Entering the army in 1831, he served with distinction in Algeria, in Spain, in the Crimea, and in the Italian cam paign of 1859. He took part in the French expe dition to Mexico in IS62, and from 1 SO till the end of the war held supreme command of the French forces. Ilis behavior toward Maximilian was insolent, and he *ought to throw on him all blame for the failure of the French plans. At the outbreak of the great war with Germany, Bazaine was at the head of the Third Army Corps. near Metz. After the battles of Worth and Spichern he took command of the main French armies, and on August 14, 1870, began a retreat from Metz. Defeated at Vionville, Mars-la-Tour, and Gravelotte, he retired within the fortifications of Metz, which was immediately invested by Prince Frederick Charles. Attempts to escape tailing. Bazaine capitulated October 27, when 173,000 men, including three marshals and over 6000 officers, laid down their arms and be came prisoners of war, In 1573 Bazaine was tried by a court-martial and sentenced to degradation and death for having failed to do his duty. The sentence was commuted to twenty years' im prisonment. But in 1874 Bazaine contrived to
escape from the fortress on the Ile Sainte-Mar guerite, on the southern coast, where he was con fined, and ultimately made his way to Madrid, where he died, 188S. The bitterness of defeat, which rankles deep in the hearts of Frenchmen, makes it difficult to formulate a just estimate of Bazaine. Accused as a traitor by the general voice of the nation, he has also found apologists. His bravery was undeniable; but he was open to blame for his dilatoriness and his mingling of politics with war. It was probably political rea sons that kept him in Metz until it was too late to break through. His condemnation was partly at least a concession to the national cry for ven geance. In his own defense Bazaine published Rapport sommaire su• les operations de l'annee du Rhin du 13 Aout au '29 Oetobre 1870 (Geneva, 1871) ; and Episodes de la guerre de 1870 et le bloeus de Metz (Madrid, 1S83). Consult also: La Brugere, L'affairc Bazaine (Paris, 1874), for an official account of the court-martial: and Comte d'Herisson, La legende de Metz (Paris, 18SS), for a vindication of Bazaine.