Born in Auxonne, Côte-d'Or on September 12, 1862, he graduated from the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1883 as a second lieutenant in the 1st Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment [fr].
In 1892, he was a captain in the 3rd Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment. When World War I broke out, he was a colonel, but from October 19, 1914, he was given the interim command of an infantry brigade. On December 18, 1914, he was appointed brigadier general, then promoted to division general on December 23, 1915.[1] He commanded the 30th Army Corps on January 19, 1916. On January 26, he alerted the high command to the deplorable state of the defenses in the Battle of Verdun.[2][3]
Chrétien was wounded twice, first disfigured by a bullet which hit him in the right ear during the Tonkin Campaign, then hit in the knee on September 6, 1914. General Chrétien was made Commander of the Legion of Honor on March 25, 1915.
In February 1916, when the Battle of Verdun broke out, he commanded the 30th Army Corps, whose headquarters was located at Fort Souville.[4]
He after the war, he retired to Harcourt in 1921. In 1932, he became president of the Free Society of Agriculture, Sciences, Arts and Belles-Lettres of Eure [fr] as well as a member of the Société d'émulation des Côtes-d'Armor [fr].
He married Marié à Jeanne Woitier and had one son, Marcel Adrien who was born on February 28, 1898, but was killed in action on August 8, 1918, during World War I as a member of the 3rd Zouave Regiment [fr].[5][6]
France
France
French Army
Divisional general
