Bugeaud was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron after her completion in 1896 before being transferred to serve as the flagship of the Levant Division in the eastern Mediterranean. During that time, she participated in the International Squadron that intervened in the Cretan Revolt of 1897–1898. Bugead was sent to East Asia in 1900 in response to the Boxer Uprising in Qing China, where she remained for the next several years. Shipyard facilities were poor, and an overhaul conducted in 1903 took more than six months to complete; even afterward, Bugeaud was in poor condition, and she was struck from the naval register in 1907 and then broken up.
See main article: Friant-class cruiser.
In response to a war scare with Italy in the late 1880s, the French Navy embarked on a major construction program in 1890 to counter the threat of the Italian fleet and that of Italy's ally Germany. The plan called for a total of seventy cruisers for use in home waters and overseas in the French colonial empire. The Friant class was the first group of protected cruisers to be authorized under the program.
Bugeaud was long between perpendiculars and long overall, with a beam of and an average draft of . She displaced as designed. Her crew consisted of 331 officers and enlisted men. The ship's propulsion system consisted of a pair of triple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellers. Steam was provided by twenty-four coal-burning Belleville-type water-tube boilers that were ducted into three funnels. Her machinery was rated to produce 9000ihp for a top speed of 18.5kn, though the ship slightly exceeded those figures during initial speed testing, reaching a speed of from . She had a cruising range of 6000nmi at a speed of .
The ship was armed with a main battery of six 45-caliber guns. They were placed in individual pivot mounts; one was on the forecastle, two were in sponsons abreast the conning tower, and the last was on the stern. These were supported by a secondary battery of four guns, which were carried in pivot mounts in the conning towers, one on each side per tower. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried four 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and eleven 1-pounder guns. She was also armed with two torpedo tubes in her hull above the waterline. Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was thick, along with plating on the conning tower.
Bugeaud was ordered on 29 January 1891, and her keel was laid down at the Arsenal de Cherbourg in Cherbourg on 5 April 1892. Her completed hull was launched on 29 August 1893, and after completing fitting out, she was commissioned to begin sea trials on 25 March 1895. Her initial testing revealed the need for alterations to improve her ventilation. Successful trials were held in April, during which she reached a top speed of . She placed in full commission on 24 June 1896, the last member of her class to enter service. She joined the Mediterranean Squadron on 8 July, in time to participate in that year's fleet maneuvers with the rest of the unit. She served in the cruiser screen for the 1st Division, along with the armored cruiser and the torpedo cruisers and . The maneuvers for that year took place from 6 to 30 July.
Bugeaud was transferred to the Levant Division in 1897, but engine problems forced her to return to Toulon for repairs, her place in the division being taken by the cruiser . Bugeaud was reassigned to the Mediterranean Squadron after repairs were completed later that year. She was still in service with the squadron in 1898. Later that year, she was deployed to the coast of Ottoman Syria, where she relieved Amiral Charner as the flagship of the Levant Division. The unit at that time also included the torpedo cruisers,, and . The divisional commander at the time was Vice Admiral Édouard Pottier. During this period, she served with the International Squadron that intervened in the Cretan Revolt. She carried Prince George of Greece and Denmark to Crete, where he became the High Commissioner of the Cretan State, part of the negotiated settlement to the conflict. The International Squadron was thereafter disbanded.
Bugeaud was deployed to East Asia in February 1900, and both of her sister ships had joined her there by January 1901 as part of the response to the Boxer Uprising in Qing China; at that time, six other cruisers were assigned to the station in addition to the three Friant-class ships. She remained in East Asian waters in 1902, but with fighting over in China, the unit began to be reduced in size. By 1903, the unit consisted of the armored cruiser and the protected cruisers and . Later that year, Bugeaud underwent an overhaul in Saigon that lasted some six months; the lengthy period out of service resulted from the insufficient shipyard facilities in French Indochina. Despite the work, Bugeaud was still in poor condition by 1904, being unable to exceed 16to.
After arriving home in 1905, the ship was decommissioned at Rochefort on 26 October. She was struck from the naval register on 9 April 1906, and was eventually sold to the firm Dutch; Flemish: Frank Rijsdijk' Scheepssloperij of Dordrecht, Netherlands. Bugeaud was then towed to Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, where she was subsequently broken up.
. Theodore Ropp . The Development of a Modern Navy: French Naval Policy, 1871–1904 . Roberts . Stephen S. . 1987 . Annapolis . Naval Institute Press . 978-0-87021-141-6 . .