Géraud Réveilhac Géraud François Gustave Réveilhac ( 16 February 1851 – 26 February 1937 ) was a French career officer , Général de division during World War I . After trying unsuccessfully to take a German position , he ordered artillery to fire on his own troops to force them to attack , and after being refused , he had four Corporal s executed for cowardice to set an example . He was made Commandeur of the Légion d ' honneur at the end of the war . His actions were one of the inspirations for the Humphrey Cobb novel " Paths of Glory " and the Stanley Kubrick film of the same name . Early life and career . Born on 16 February 1851 in Aurillac , France , Réveilhac went on to pass through the Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint - Cyr in August 1870 , as a Sub - lieutenant . He became a prisoner of the Prussia ns in December the same year , but was released on 8 January the following year . He took part in putting down the uprising in Limoges in April 1871 , garnering praise from his superiors . Réveilhac was regularly promoted , being sent to Indochina to command a company in 1889 , and was made Général de brigade on 21 December 1909 as commanding officer of the 42nd Infantry Brigade . He was preparing for retirement by 1914 when World War I broke out . World War I . At the beginning of World War I , Réveilhac was commanding the 119th Infantry Brigade , part of the 60th Infantry Division , under General Joppé , whom he replaced on 25 September 1914 as commanding officer of the division , and was temporarily promoted to Général de division on 6 October 1914 . In February 1915 , after three attempts to take a strong German position near Souain - Perthes - lès - Hurlus failed , showing disregard of the life of his men , he ordered artillery to shell a French trench , to force his troops to attack . However , the artillery commander refused to obey without a written order . In retaliation , Réveilhac summoned thirty men before a council of war , which condemned four Corporals to death to set an example , including Théophile Maupas , an exemplary soldier chosen by lot . On another occasion , he ordered his troops to relaunch an attack , asserting that the percentage of acceptable losses had not been reached for that day . He was relieved of duty in February 1916 , 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 he was given command of a reserve section 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 twenty years . Humphrey Cobb ' s 1935 novel " Paths of Glory " , and Stanley Kubrick ' s 1957 film of the same name , were partly based on these events .