Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-02-21
GENERAL CLUsERET.
The Extraordinary Career or a
French Communist

"Give no quarter and expect none
when the next rising takes place soheil
is the opening paragraph OF the eode o.
! instructions issued to the Revolutionary
and Communist associations oil france,
| in the form of a widely-circulated pam
phlet by the extraordinary nun wh2m
| the electors of the Department OF me
| Var have Just returned by an over
whelming majority to represent taelr
| interests in the French Chamber OF
Deputies. The remainder OF this
precious document, which, according 70
the assertion of its author, General
Closeret, is based on personal expert
ence of practical nature, Is devoted TO
dissertation ON the most expeditions
and effective manner OF wreaKlhg
wholesale destruction OF life ana
property by means OF fire, dynamite,
bombs and other explosive con.
trivances. Nor is it possible to regard
the contents of the pamphlet IN ques-
ton as the mere vaporings OF an over
heated brain and badly balanced mind.
For Cluseret is no ordinary parsonage.
A Frenchman by birth, he fought under
the orders of Marshal Pelissier in the
Crimean war, and displayed such con.
spicuous gallantry at the siege OF
Sebastopol that he was not only pro-
noted to the rank of captain, but re-
warded with the Gross of the Legion OF
Honor, with the Turkish order of the
Medlidieh, and with the British war
medal. In 1857 he resigned his com
mission in the Imperial army, and three
years latar Joined the insurrectionary
- 4. ~, l,f a
into Naples after the overthrow OF the
Bourbon regime. His most trusted
friend and crony at that time was Signor
Crispi, the present Prime Minister OF
Italy. A few years later he was in the
United States holding the brevet rank |
of Maior-General IN the Union Army |
on the staff of General Mcclellan, |
and on terms of great intimacy with
the Orleans Princes then in camp,
the Comte de Paris and the Duo
de Charities. After taking part in the
Garibaldian campaign of 1867, in the
Fenian rising in Ireland, and in the
Cretan instruction, he arrived in Paris
q few days after the battle of Sedan and
placed his sword at the disposal of Gen.
Trochu, asking for a command. Both
his offer and his request were disconr-
teously ignored by the narrow-m minded
Governor of the beleaguered city, and,
deeply offended, Cluseret vowed to take
early revenge for the slight to which he
had been subjected. The opportunity
desired soon presented itself, aud few
months later, as generalissimo of the in
surgent forces and Minister of War to
the Commune. he caused Gen. Trochu
to regret bitterly the shortsighted re-
fusal OF his proilered sword. 1t is need
less to add that Cluseret is one of the
men primarily responsible for the de-
struction of the Tuilleries and other
public buildings during the reign OF the
Commune, and l have before me an or
der bearing his signature and dated
April il, 1871, which reads as follows:
Take all the necessary steps TO destroy
the Vendome Column without delay.
As soon rs everything is ready you are |
instructed to notify us thereof, in order |
that the members OF the Commune and
The Legions may be able to attend the
When the Versailles troops at length
possession of the capital,
Jluseret made his escape to Switzerland ,
md took up his residence on the shores {
~ NAit A-AhN Vi Nt1iAtNo Al a hAtlsA hu0Mu
is the Chateau Trompette. While there !
10 was frequently visited by we'll I
Known American picture dealer, from J
whom he received large sums for alleged ]
masterpieces, which according TO his ]
'wn account he had removed" from I
government picture galleries in the Lux {
mbourg and the Louvre. There is every Q
eason, however, to suppose that the s
FORKS Of art in question were due to v
'luseret's own clever brush, and that he
7as merely taking advantage of the cred
lily of the dealer For in the first
lace, the pictures which he claims to
ave stolen still figure on the walls of
he Luxembourg and the Louvre; and n
the General is renowned as d
eing an artist OF great talent. One of O
is paintings in particular, an Oriental Il
lndscape, attracted great attention at i,
ne last Salon. 1t would be interesting n,
} discover the fate of these pseudo-mas- N
.rpieces, and the prices for which they q
ere sold to their present possessors by n
American dealer. The story, n,
oweyer, may in n certain measure 81
rive to explain the peculiar fact that q,
.rtain famous pictures figure simulta- W
sously ON the walls of the French state h,
llleries and among collections in the o.,
nited States -Ne,c York Tribune. al
q,