Joseph Joffre, the WWI French Generalissimo, is said to be a General who led with his gut. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the French Armies from 1914-16 and is credited with saving the French war effort. But, some accounts of Joffre almost make him sound dumb and lazy.
Famed British journalist and historian, Alistair Horne, calls Joffre a "true viscerotonic." Meaning, he thought intuitively, not intellectually. Horne also says Joffre read very little military theory before WWI, and after, read zero books on the war in which he played such a massive part. He simply had no interest. He was there when it happened, so why read about it? British Field Marshal and Commander of the BEF, Douglas Haig, said of Joffre: "The poor man cannot argue, nor can he easily read a map." Horne says both Haig and Joffre were horrible communicators, but that "where with Haig this was due to inarticulateness, with Joffre it was more often than not that there was simply nothing in his mind." Joffre's own friend and biographer, General Desmaze, made many comments on "his extraordinary lack of intellectualism."
Joffre's judgment was questionable at times as well. He even passed up on a project to issue troops steel helmets in 1914 because he didn't think they'd be needed.
Joffre seemed to care more about never missing a meal or a night's rest than he did the war that was tearing apart his Armies. He never let even the worst disasters interrupt his comfortable routine. He got up in mid-morning, signed some papers at 11, and had lunch at 12. Joffre had an incredible appetite. He would often eat a whole chicken in one sitting. A stroll and a nap followed lunch. After his nap, he took visitors, signed more papers at 5, had dinner at 7, and after dinner, he went straight to bed. When Joffre slept, his quarters were guarded by two orderlies who were not to disturb him under ANY circumstances. And he slept like a baby.
All this while his troops suffered in the trenches.
How did a man who comes across as lazy, stupid, fat, and slow save France?
Historians say it was his unshakeable nerve. He never lost his cool. At the Battle of the Marne, he didn't get over-excited and attack early, nor did he hesitate. He attacked at the exact right moment. He was a ruthless decision-maker. He replaced generals in a heartbeat. By the time of the Marne, he had fired more than half of the generals under his command. And he never let the emotion of war interfere with his thinking. In fact, he avoided traveling to the front in order to keep from seeing the horrors of war. Once, after pinning a medal on a blinded soldier, Joffre said:
I mustn't be shown any more such spectacles... I would no longer have the courage to give the order to attack.
Joffre was eventually relieved. After several disastrous performances In 1916, he moved to an advisory role which he quickly resigned from. His unsuccess in 1916 raises the question; was his success from 1914 to 1915 because of his steel nerve? Or was it just luck? Was he a secret genius who rose to the moment during the Marne? Or was he really a horrible officer who gets undeserved praise in the history books?