Louis Rossel

Louis-Nathaniel Rossel was Minister of War (Delegate of War) in Paris Commune (1871).

He was born in 1844 in Saint-Brieuc (but his family was from Nîmes and Saint-Jean-du-Gard), educated at the Prytanée Militaire, and dead in 1871 in Satory (Versailles).

When Rossel began Minister of war (Louis Rossel replaces Cluseret, after Fort Issy is temporarily abandoned), 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.

On May 9, 1871, Rossel was replaced by Charles Delescluze. Fort Issy falls to the regular army.

Rossel was sentenced to death November 28, 1871.