Louis Rossel
| Louis Nathaniel Rossel | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 9 September 1844 Saint-Brieuc, France |
| Died | 28 November 1871 (aged 27) Versailles, France |
| Buried | Protestant Cemetery of Nimes, Nîmes, France |
| Allegiance |
French Republic Paris Commune |
| Service/ |
French Army |
| Years of service | 1864 – 1871 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars |
Franco Prussian War Paris Commune |
| Other work | Minister of War |
Louis-Nathaniel Rossel (Saint-Brieuc, 9 September 1844- executed in Versailles, 28 November 1871 and buried in Nîmes). He was a French army officer and a politician. On 19 March 1871 he became the only senior French officer to join up with the Paris Commune, playing an important role as Minister of War.
He was born on 9 September 1844 in Saint-Brieuc, Côtes-d'Armor, but his father was a scion of a strongly republican Huguenot (Protestant) Nîmes family, and descended from Saint-Jean-du-Gard Camisards. His mother, born Sarah Campbell, was from Scotland. Rossel was educated at the Prytanée Militaire, and was executed on 28 November 1871 at the Satory military centre at Versailles.
When Rossel became Minister of War, replacing Gustave Paul Cluseret after the abandonment of Fort Issy, he immediately ordered the construction of a new ring of barricades within the existing ramparts in case the Government forces penetrated the first line of defense. Rossel also tried to concentrate and centralize the 1,100 artillery pieces scattered throughout the city. Many were out of commission with their breechblocks stored in arsenals elsewhere in Paris, so that the only readily available guns were light pieces that fared poorly against the Government's heavy artillery. Furthermore, Rossel began work within the city on three citadels: at the Trocadero, on Montmartre, and at the Pantheon on the Left Bank. Here, the Communards would be able to make a final stand if necessary. He put the defense of the city ramparts under the direct tactical command of a pair of his most talented Polish emigres, youthful veterans of the 1863 Polish rebellion. These were men accustomed to desperate fighting against hopeless odds. Recognizing that a purely passive defense would enable the Government forces to mass at any given point, Rossel developed a plan to organize National Guard battalions into "combat groups," each of five battalions, commanded by a colonel, and supported by some 40 guns. Unfortunately, the National Guard units remained suspicious of central direction and for the most part refused to serve in parts of Paris other than those in which they lived.
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