★  Cluseret, Gustave Paul

Gustave Paul Cluseret

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Born: June 13, 1823

Birthplace: Sursnes, France

Education:

Attended Saint – Cyr Military Academy​

Occupation before War:

1843 – 1848: Served in the French Army​
1848 – 1849: Captain in the French Army​
1848: Participated in the June Days Uprising​
1849: Supporter of Anti – Bonapartist Demonstration​
1851: Fled to London England after Louis Napoleon Bonaparte’s Coup​
1853 – 1858: Served in the French Army​
1853: Served in the Expeditions to Algeria​
Served with the French Army during the Crimean War​
Wounded during the Siege of Sevastopol​
1858: Resigned from the French Army​
1858 – 1860: Traveled in Algeria and New York City New York​
1860: Participated in the Foundation of De Flotte Legion​

Civil War Career:

1862: Colonel and Aide to Major General George McClellan​
1862: Lobbied for his own promotion to Brigadier General​
1862: Served in the Battle of Cross Keys Virginia​
1862 – 1863: Brigadier General of Union Army Volunteers​
Co – Founder of New Nation Newspaper
Supporter of Radical Republican Party of the Republican Party​
Criticized President Lincoln on his stand on Slavery​

Occupation after War:

1866 – 1867: Participated in Finnian Insurrection​
1867: Escaped arrest on the collapse of the movement​
Proposed to start a civil war in England​
His call for Civil War was rejected by the Reform League in England​
Served two months at Sainte – Pelagie French Prison​
Attempted Unsuccessfully to gain a commission in French Army​
1871: Aptd. Delegate of War by Commune’s Executive Commission​
1871: He was arrested by the Commune on a false charge of betrayal​
1887 – 1888: Publisher of his Memoies of the Commune in Paris​
Some in Paris France thought him to be a spy for the Prussian Govt.​
1877: Departed from the Ottoman Empire​
Recruiter of Volunteers to found a Republic of Turkey​
Socialist in France Chamber of Deputies​
Sided with the Anti – Dreyfusards during the Dreyfus Affair​
Engaged in Anti – Semitic Diatribes​

Died: August 22, 1900

Place of Death: Toulon, France

Cause of Death: Unknown

Age at time of Death: 77 years old

Burial Place: Suresnes Old Cemetery, Suresnes, France

Article:
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Biography Except from The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, J. T. White, 1902.

CLUSERET, Gustave Paul, soldier, was born in Paris, France, June 13, 1823.

He entered the military school of St. Cyr in 1841, became lieutenant in January 1848, and was made a chevalier of the Legion of honor, for gallantry in suppressing the insurrection of June 1848. A few months later political exigencies caused his retirement, and he took up painting for a while, but he was soon replaced in the army, and served creditably in Algeria and the Crimean war, being promoted captain in 1855. He resigned his commission in 1858, joined Garibaldi in 1860, commanded the French legion in his army, and was brevetted colonel in November of that year for gallantry at the siege of Capua, where he was wounded.

He came to the United States in January 1862, offered his services to the Federal cause, and was appointed aide de camp to Gen. McClellan, with the rank of colonel. Subsequently, he served under Gen. Frémont, and commanded the advance guard. For conspicuous gallantry at Cross Keys, he was brevetted brigadier general of volunteers Oct. 14, 1862, and after continued service in the Shenandoah valley, he resigned from the army, March 2, 1863.

In 1864, establishing himself in New York City, he assumed the editorship of the "New Nation", a weekly journal advocating Frémont for the presidency, and strongly opposed to the renomination of Lincoln. Gen. Cluseret returned to France in 1867, took part in the Fenian agitation of that year, and wrote a series of articles for the "Courrier Français" on "The Situation in the United States". In 1868, he was imprisoned for two months on account of an obnoxious article in "L' Art" a journal with which he had become identified, and in 1869 he was again imprisoned because of public attacks on the organization of the French army, but as a naturalized American citizen was finally handed over to Minister Washburne, who sent him out of the country.

On the fall of the second empire, which he had predicted, he returned to Paris, began to assail the provisional government, and shortly afterward attempted to start insurrection in Lyons and Marseilles. In the ensuing spring, he became minister of war under the commune. On May 1, 1871, he was arrested for alleged treachery, but escaped to England, and after a brief visit to America, settled near Geneva, Switzerland in 1872. On Aug 30th of that year, he was condemned to death in his absence by a council of war, but the sentence could not be carried into effect. Gen. Cluweret has published a pamphlet on "Mexico, and the Solidarity of Nations" (1866) and "L' Armée et la Democratie" (1869).
 
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He was arrested soon after getting his brigadier star. This arrest was for an unspecified reason. The bio that I'm reading states that He was considered a troublemaker by the War Department.Any one know just why he was arrested and considered a trouble maker? I do know he was not a Lincoln backer in the 1864 election.
 
Interestingly enough, at one point, William S. Rosecrans considered having Cluseret assigned to him to make him his chief of staff after Julius Garesche, his favorite chief of staff, died. I'm paraphrasing, but this is pretty close to Halleck's actual response: "You can have him, but I'm not sure why you want him, and I suspect you will regret it if you do." Rosecrans settled on James A. Garfield instead. :cool:
 
He briefly held 1 command after becoming a brigadier and that was for only a week in the Febuary of 1863.He led the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 8th Corps, Middle Department from Feb. 5-12. He resigned on March 2, 1863.
 
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