A general captured during both World Wars, General Henri Giraud took command of French troops in Operation Torch, directing them to join the Allies. He retired in late 1944 after failing to reach an agreement with Charles de Gaulle.
This is false in almost every thing after the first comma.
In 1942, a faction in Vichy French North Africa conspired to bring North Africa over to the Allies by a coup d'état combined with Allied invasion. This group was
not connected to De Gaulle's "Free France" organization; they were army commanders and officials in the Vichy administration, and some civilian political players. Their goal was to gain control of Algeria (then legally a part of France, as much as Brittany or Burgundy) and be recognized as the lawful government of France, superseding both the Pétain government in Vichy
and De Gaulle. As such they would then reap various political and fiscal rewards.
This group was in close contact with American Consul Robert Murphy and through him with the Allies. They were supposed to assist TORCH by having troops they commanded make no resistance, but this failed (in part because at Casablanca the Allies blew the timing and came in guns blazing, so to speak). In Algiers they organized a paramilitary force which seized most of the city the night before; Allied troops did get there before the Vichyites had recovered, and that's also how Darlan got grabbed.
Giraud was a senior (four-star; De Gaulle was only two-star) French General who was picked by the plotters to be the figurehead of their group; the Allies agreed. Giraud was in Vichy France at this time, having escaped from Germany. Both groups imagined that Giraud had sufficient prestige to be obeyed by all the French forces in North Africa.
However, Giraud had accepted the position in the belief that he would be in actual command of all troops involved (including American troops), and that there would be
no British troops involved; he also expected Allied landings in southern France. When he was brought from France to Gibraltar the night before the landings, and learned the true situation, he refused to participate in any way.
After the landings, the Allies induced him to order the French to submit, but his orders had no effect - fighting at Casablanca and Oran continued. The Allies then made the famous (notorious?) deal with Darlan, who became head of French forces and government in North Africa. Giraud then became military commader under Darlan.
When Darlan was assassinated two weeks later, Giraud succeeded him. By this time there was intense pressure from De Gaulle and his supporters to put Free France in charge. In early 1943, Giraud reached an agreement with De Gaulle to be co-presidents of the "
Comité français de la Libération Nationale", with Giraud as military chief. De Gaulle maneuvered for complete political control while Giraud ran the Free French forces. Giraud was pushed out in late 1943, and retired soon after.