Auguste Dubail was born in 1851. He joined the French Army and by 1911 he had become its chief of staff. On the outbreak of the First World War he returned to field command and led the First army into Lorraine in August 1914.

In 1915 Dubail was placed in command of the Eastern Army on the Western Front. Convinced that the German Army was planning for a major offensive at Verdun, Dubail called for more heavy artillery to defend that part of the front-line. His warnings were ignored by the Commander-in-Chief, Joseph Joffre and Dubail was therefore thought to be unfairly treated when he was dismissed after Germany's successful offensive at Verdun.

Dubail became military governor of Paris, a post he held until the spring of 1918. Auguste Dubail, who retired from public life after the war, died in 1934.