The recapture of Forts Vaux and Douamont in 1916 made him a national hero. It was Nivelle, not Petain who adopted the phrase “They shall not pass.” Nivelle’s aggression, optimism and tactical skill won praise. Nivelle followed Petain to Verdun as part of his Second Army, and took over the tactical command at Verdun from Petain. A rising star, he was promoted to command the 3 Army Corps in December 1915. This was based on a sudden and violent attack, supported by overwhelming artillery, followed by a lateral and forward exploitation. This introduced the form of the operations mounted at Verdun at the end of 1916 and of the Aisne in April 1917. Promotion to command the 61st Division Nivelle mounted a model operation in June 1915, the battle of Quennevieres. His brigade, closely supported by artillery managed to reach the sites. Promoted to command an infantry brigade, he did well in an otherwise failed attack north of Soissons above Crouy. Nivelle got away with something that ended badly for Colonel Long at Colenso and managed to avoid the fate of the British gunners at Le Cateau and Nery. Many actions of this era involving manoeuvre by horse drawn artillery ended badly for the gunners. This action alone made Nivelle a bit special as a horse gunner. Rather than fall back, he took half his regiment and galloped forwards, through the retreating troops and unlimbered his guns among the French skirmish line. Nivelle’s 5e régiment d’artillerie de campagne was outside Puiseux close by, on a ridge behind the retreating troops. On the Marne on 6th September 1914 part of the 63e division de réserve broke and fled while attacking towards the village of Vincy. He had already distinguished himself during the August battles.
But there is also much to admire about his performance that brought him to notice.įor a start, Nivelle was an outstanding field commander. Historians and soldiers find much to criticise in Nivelle’s performance as de facto Allied supreme commander on the western front. Nivelle was a man for whom the Peter Principle, that “Managers rise to the level of their incompetence,” might have been created. He fall was equally spectacular as his offensive in April 1917 failed to achieve the predicted gains, but instead cost 200,000 casualties. A meteoric rise from commanding an artillery Regiment in 1914 to command an Army at Verdun was followed by his appointment in late 1916 to command the French armies of the North and North East, over the heads of many more senior commanders. Robert Nivelle had a spectacular career trajectory.
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