should be tried by a war tribunal. Although all of those men were inevitably sentenced to death for failing to obey the order to attack, 20 men were given stays of execution, while four othersall corporalswere executed by firing squad as an example to the entire regiment. One of those shot was Théophile Maupas, an exemplary soldier, who had simply been chosen by lot. Relieved of command Réveilhac continued to treat his men with scant regard. In another case he ordered his troops to relaunch an attack, asserting that the percentage of acceptable losses had not been reached for that day. In February 1916, he was relieved of duty and forced by the General Staff to take three months leave. According to a confidential letter from General Joffre, he "seem[ed] to have arrived at the limit of his physical and intellectual capacity". On his return to active service he was given a command in the reserves for the rest of the war. Post-war At the end of the war, General Réveilhac was made Grand Officier of the Légion d'honneur. He retired to his country estate in Nantes, and died in his bed on 26 February 1937. Reputation Réveilhac's actions in Souain were revealed in 1921 to much scandal, and he was condemned even in the military press. Réveilhac wrote a letter defending his actions, but it was censored by Minister of War Louis Barthou who believed publishing it would only increase the considerable notoriety of the affair. The widow of Théophile Maupas, one of the corporals executed, fought to restore her husband's reputation, and was successful after nineteen years. Humphrey Cobb's 1935 novel Paths of Glory and Stanley Kubrick's 1957 film with the same title are partly based on these events. Further reading Les damnés de la guerre – Les crimes de la justice militaire (1914–1918); Roger Monclin (1903 Reims – 1985 Saint Laurent du Var); Paris; Mignolet & Storz; 1934 Le Crapouillot; 1915. References External links "Géraud-François-Gustave Reveilhac". École supérieure de guerre. 1851 births 1937 deaths French generals French military personnel of World War I Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur