During his career he served in the artillery. He participated in the
Pacification of Tunisia in 1881. During the offensive, Fayolle is credited with successfully using a combination of artillery resources and infantry tactics to push the less well-defended Germans back across an 8-mile (12.87 km) long segment of his front. In August, as the Battle of the Somme continued, General Foch, commander of French forces on the Somme, visited British General Haig at Val Vion. Foch appointed Fayolle, one of the most successful army commanders of July, to fight alongside the British forces between their right flank and the north bank of the River Somme. During the British and French Somme offensive from 1 August to 12 September, Fayolle decided without consulting the high command that his troops were too exhausted to launch a major offensive. He then reduced his command's participation in the battle to 1 division. The British had lost significant French support on their right during the offensive. In October, French forces led by Fayolle advanced almost to Sailly Saillisol by successfully using the artillery-barrage system. On 31 December 1916, Fayolle was transferred to command the
First Army. When
Philippe Pétain was appointed Chief of the General Staff in April 1917, Fayolle was put in command of the
Army Group Center, to the disappointment of Foch, who had hoped for the command himself;
Pétain replaced
Nivelle as Commander-in-Chief in May 1917. On 16 November 1917, after the Italians met disaster at
Caporetto, Fayolle was transferred to
Italy with six divisions and made Commander-in-Chief of the French troops supporting the Italians. on the
Plains of Abraham in
Quebec City, Canada. Fayolle had been sent to Canada on a gratitude mission for Canada's assistance during the
First World War. Fayolle stayed in Italy until March 1918, when he was recalled to France and put at the head of the 55 division-strong
Army Group Reserve, with which he played a role in stopping the last significant German offensives. After the allied victory in the
Second Battle of the Marne, he took part in the allied counteroffensive until the end of the war. From July until November Fayolle's command reduced the Marne Salient and drove towards the Rhine. He commanded occupation forces in the
Palatinat and
Rheinhessen, occupying Mainz and the left bank of the Rhine with Charles Mangin, from 14 December 1918. He was also a member of the Allied
Control Commission. == Marshal of France ==