In World War I, Buat commanded first the 121st Infantry division and then the 2nd Army Corps. In January 1917, he became the head of the General Reserve of the Artillery. From February 1918, he commanded successively the 33rd Infantry division, the 17th Army Corps and from 12 June, the 5th Army.
Chief of Staff
Buat was appointed Chief of the Army Staff on 25 January 1920, and attended the first meeting of Conseil supérieur de la guerre following the armistice on 31 January. When asked by Alexandre Millerand whether the French Army had the capacity to occupy the Ruhr he replied that this would only be possible by mobilising the reserves.[3]
Death
He was buried in the Cemetery Miséricorde, Nantes. On 10 July 1927 Petain, Alexandre Millerand and Ragueneau attended the inauguration of a monument to Buat in Nantes.[4]
Publications
He wrote several books on military history specialising in artillery tactics:
Un voyage d'état-major de corps d'armée, (with General Henri de Lacroix), Paris, R. Chapelot, 1908.
Étude critique d'histoire militaire. 1809, de Ratisbonne à Znaïm, deux volumes, Paris, R. Chapelot, 1909, republished Paris, Teissèdre, 2008.
Les Méthodes de tir de la batterie d'infanterie, M. Imhaus et R. Chapelot, 1911, new edition, 1912.
Procédés de commandement du groupe de batteries sur le champ de bataille, Paris, R. Chapelot, 1912.
La Lutte d'artillerie et les méthodes de tir de la contre-batterie, Paris, M. Imhaus et R. Chapelot, 1912.
La Concentration allemande d'après un document trouvé dans un compartiment de chemin de fer, Paris, R. Chapelot, 1914 (published anonymously)
L'Armée allemande pendant la guerre de 1914-1918, grandeur et décadence, manœuvres en lignes intérieures, Paris, Chapelot, 1920 (German translation: Die Deutsche Armee im Weltkriege, ihre Grösse und ihr Verfall, ihr Manöverieren auf der inneren Linie. Herausgegeben und übersetzt von Hans Krause, Munich, Wieland Verlag, 1921).
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