Paul-Gustave Herbinger was a direct descendant of a brother of Joan of Arc[1][2] He graduated as a major from the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr.

Herbinger then became a professor of military tactics at the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr,[3] and commander of the 26th rifle battalion.

On March 24, 1885, Herbinger along with General Oscar de Négrier participated in the Battle of Bang Bo which concluded the success of the Lạng Sơn campaign of the previous month.

Herbinger then was acting commander of the 2nd Brigade and organized the extremely controversial Retreat from Lạng Sơn: not content to downgrade to Dong Song and Than Moï.

[4] Herbinger sent alarmist cables from Lang Son to Louis Brière de l'Isle who, without bothering to sift through the misleading information they contained, in concluded very hastily that the Red River Delta was in danger and who sent and on the evening of March 28, a pessimistic telegram to the French government which was the trigger for the end of the Tonkin Campaign and which also ended Jules Ferry's political career.