Louis Nathaniel Rossel

Born Sept. 9, 1844, m St. Brieuc; died Nov. 28, 1871, in Satory. French military and political figure.

Rossel received a military education. He fought in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 as an officer in the engineer troops. Appalled at the treasonous deeds of the reactionary generals, he submitted his resignation on Mar. 19, 1871. He arrived in Paris on March 20 and joined the side of the Paris Commune. He held the posts of commander of the Seventeenth Legion of the National Guard, chairman of the military tribunal, and chief of the main staff of the Ministry of War. On April 30 he became military delegate of the Commune. He worked out a plan for offensive operations against the Versaillais, but on May 9, not long after the fall of Fort Issy (Apr. 30, 1871), he submitted his resignation. He was arrested by order of the Commune, escaped, and went into hiding. After the Versaillais entered Paris, he was arrested, sentenced by a military court, and shot.