Clément Gosselin
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| Clément Gosselin | |
|---|---|
| June 12, 1747 – March 9, 1816 | |
 Congress's Own Regiment |
|
| Place of birth | Sainte-Famille, Québec |
| Place of death | Beekmantown, New York |
| Service/branch | Army |
| Years of service | Continental Army: 1775-1783 |
| Rank | Captain and then Major for pension |
| Unit | Congress's Own Regiment |
| Battles/wars |
|
| Awards | Original Member of the society of Cincinnati[1] |
Clément Gosselin (June 12, 1747 – March 9, 1816) was a French Canadian soldier who fought on the U.S. side of the American Revolutionary War, serving in Moses Hazen's 2nd Canadian Regiment of the Continental Army. He was featured in the CBC Television series Canada: A People's History as one of a number of French-Canadians who not only sympathized with the American cause, but was willing to fight for them against the British.[2] Early in the war he spied for the Americans.
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[edit] Early life
Clément Gosselin was born in 1747. He was the youngest of a large family living in Saint-Famille, on the eastern side of Île d'Orléans east of Québec city. This island was a landing site for the French Army. At the time of the British invasion of 1759 Gosselin was twelve years old.
[edit] His participation in the American Revolutionary War
- Gosselin was a part of the attack on Quebec City December 31, 1775.
- He took part in the Battle of Saint-Pierre, March 25, 1776, against the pro-British Liénard de Beaujeu where 150 pro-American Canadians and 80 Americans defeated 150 pro-British Canadians. Gosselin played an important role.[3][4]
- He was taken prisoner on October 1777 and released six months later in June 1778. [5]
- Gosselin was in prison during 1777. He joined the Americans in April 1778.
- In May 1778, he rejoined his regiment with his father-in-law, Germain Dionne, and his older brother, Louis Gosselin.
- On November 28, 1778, Gosselin sent a report on the state of the British force in Canada to Washington. (a report that can be read in the Washington Paper)
- In April 1779, he went with Moses Hazen to build an invasion road to Canada, the Bayley-Hazen Military Road parallel to Lake Champlain in what is now northern Vermont
- In 1780, his regiment was sent to Albany to guard the frontier from Iroquois attack.
- In June 1781, he was in Fishkill east of the Hudson river, just below West Point. There his regiment received orders to proceed to Yorktown in the south.
[edit] Moses Hazen Regiment
James Livingston formed the 1st Canadian Regiment in Chambly to assist Shuyler and Ethan Allen during the Quebec campaign. Moses Hazen served in it briefly, but three weeks after the disastrous assault on Quebec, he formed the second Canadian Regiment. In March 1776 Clément became Captain in this regiment.
[edit] Wounded at Yorktown
On October 4, 1781 Moses Hazen's regiment was assigned to siege duty. On October 4th Clément Gosselin was wounded in the leg by a wood splinter caused by a cannon ball.
[edit] After the war
In January of 1782 Clément was stationed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to guard a British soldier captured at Yorktown. In 1783 he was discharged and given a Major's pension. He was also given a land grant at Chazy, near Lake Champlain in New York state.
He was with General von Steuben in Newburg, New York, to receive his membership in The Society of the Cincinnati.
[edit] External links
- Major Clément Gosselin
- Biography from the Gosselin Familly Web site
- Biography from Henri Gosselin, related to Clément
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- The Washington Letters contains letters from Clément
- Clément Gosselin home on Lake Champlain after the war
- Canadian TV Series speaking about him
