Baton

General Maurice Sarrail, who commanded the Third Army in France during the War, has many friends; these friends started a verbal rumpus to have him made a Marshal of France. The friends of General Michel de Castelnau, also numerous, heard the faint hubbub of Sarrailites and started a campaign to have their hero made a Marshal of France. When Generals Fayolle and Franchet d'Esperey were given the batons of a marshal, General de Castelnau was one of the disappointed Generals. His friends declared that the authorities had slighted him be cause of his well-known Royalist sympathies. At the same time, they were able to prove that the able General had served brilliantly and faith fully Republican France. However, there was no sign that the French War Office was taking any notice of the agitation that was shaking its windows.

At present six men hold batons of Marshals of France: Generals Joffre. Foch, Lyautey, Fayolle, Franchet d'Esperey, Petain.