Gustave Paul Cluseret
| Gustave Paul Cluseret | |
|---|---|
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General Gustave Paul Cluseret, during the American Civil War
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| Born |
June 13, 1823 Suresnes, France |
| Died | August 22, 1900 Toulon, France |
| Place of burial | Suresnes Old Cemetery, Suresnes, France |
| Allegiance |
Second French Republic Second French Empire United States of America Union |
| Service/branch |
French Army United States Army / Union Army Communards |
| Years of service | 1843 - 1860 (France) 1861 - 1863 (USA) |
| Rank |
Captain (France) Brigadier General (USA) |
| Battles/wars |
American Civil War Paris Commune |
Gustave Paul Cluseret (13 June 1823 – 22 August 1900) was a French soldier and politician who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and Delegate for War during the Paris Commune.
Cluseret was born on 13 June 1823 in Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine. In 1841 he entered the Saint-Cyr military academy, and was commissioned in the French Army in 1843. He was made captain of the 23rd Mobile Guard battalion following the February revolution of 1848, and participated in the suppression of the June Days Uprising which was to later earn him hostility in certain socialist quarters. His support for an anti-Bonapartist demonstration on 29 January 1849 saw him demoted from command of his battalion, and he fled to London after Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte's December 1851 coup.
He was reinstated as a lieutenant in early 1853 and took part in several expeditions to Algeria. He served in the Crimean War, and was wounded during the siege of Sebastopol. It was at this time that he acquired the nickname of "Captain Tin Can", derived from his hoarding of canned meat and bread rations at the expense of his troops. He resigned from the army in July 1858.
After brief spells in Northern Algeria and New York City he travelled to Naples in 1860 and participated in the foundation of the De Flotte Legion, a French Corps to assist in the fight for Italian unification, of which he was soon given command. The legion was subsequently disbanded into the Piedmontese army and Cluseret lost his colonelship.
In 1861 Cluseret returned to America to 'participate in the triumph of freedom'. He served under Fremont and McClellan, and rose to the rank of brigadier general, but resigned in March 1863.
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