[1] He was born in Metz in 1859 as the son of military Jean-Baptiste Henry Putz (1824–1903), who became Brigade General in 1881 and Commander of the Légion d'honneur.

When Metz became German after the Franco-German War, the Putz family applied for French citizenship.

Henri studied at the École Polytechnique where he left in 1879 as 6th of his class, and opted for the artillery.

On 2 April 1915, he was put at the head of the Army Detachment in Belgium, which defended the northern part of the Ypres Salient.

Between 17 June 1915 and 19 December 1917 he commanded the 4th Army Corps, which fought on the Argonne, Aisne and Somme.