Celoron de Blainville, Paullouis
Celoron de Blainville, Paullouis
CELORON DE BLAINVILLE, PAULLOUIS. (1753–?). Canadian volunteer. Son of the celebrated French officer and explorer, Pierre-Joseph Celoron de Blainville (1693–1759), he was born at Detroit while his father commanded the garrison of Fort Pontchartrain. He became a gentleman cadet in the Rochefort regiment in 1774 and a sous-lieutenant in the Martinique regiment in 1775. On 16 October 1776 he volunteered for service in the American army and on 18 December became a lieutenant in James Livingston's First Canadian Regiment. At Schoharie, New York, until Burgoyne's offensive started, he marched under Arnold to the relief of Fort Stanwix and fought in Learned's brigade at Saratoga. In the second battle of Burgoyne's campaign on 7 October 1777, he received a bayonet wound in the leg and was hospitalized at Albany. Rejoining the regiment, he was with Varnum's brigade at Valley Forge and as part of this command was at Monmouth and Newport. On 29 July 1778 he became a chevalier in the Order of Saint Louis.
In 1779 Celoron became a captain in Pulaski's legion, a promotion that was the subject of complaint by Baron de Frey. He was engaged in combat at Charleston on 11 May 1779 and at Savannah, receiving a bullet wound to the head during the latter action on 9 October 1779. On 12 May 1780 he became a prisoner at Charleston and was exchanged on 26 November 1782. Congress retained him in the American service on 21 January 1782, but his resignation was accepted on 1 July 1782. Named capitaine aide-major in the French army, he served at Saint-Christophe and Guadeloupe until 1791. He emigrated to Trinidad in 1793. He became civil sous-commissaire of the National Guard of Abymes, Guadeloupe, on 20 June 1803 and commissaire commandant two years later. In 1807 he was capitaine adjoint on the general staff at Guadeloupe. His name was sometimes spelled "Seleron" or "Celeron."
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bodinier, André. Dictionnaire des officiers de l'armée royale qui ont combattu aux Etats-Unis pendant la guerre d'Indépendance, 1776–1783. Vincennes, France: Service historique de l'armée, 1982.
Contenson, Ludovic de. La Société des Cincinnati de France et la Guerre d'Amérique. Paris: Editions Auguste Picard, 1934.
revised by Robert Rhodes Crout