What is the name of the black Frenchman who plotted the overthrow of
Napolean, was sentenced to devel's island, escaped and ended up
fighting for the US Calvery at the Little Big Horn with Custer?

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Request for Question Clarification by rainbow-ga on 07 Sep 2005 15:41 PDT

Not a Frenchman, but an Italian, could this be who you are thinking of?

"Major (Count) Charles C. De Rudio, U.S.A. (Ret.), Italian by birth
and American by adoption, "gave his youth to the cause of Italian
liberty and spent thirty-two years of unblemished service in the
United States Army." As a teenager, De Rudio was one of numerous
conspirators working to liberate Italy and he participated in an
assassination attempt on Napoleon III by throwing a bomb at the king's
carriage. Sentenced to a term in French Guyana, he would later escape
the prison compound and eventually make his way to the United States.
He enlisted in the army and saw service in the American Civil War, at
the Little Bighorn Massacre, in the subjugation of the Nez Perce and
surrender of Chief Joseph, and patrol duty in the Black Hills. He
retired as a major and died in 1910."

Looking forward to your clarification.

Best regards,
Rainbow

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Clarification of Question by lionship-ga on 08 Sep 2005 09:37 PDT

I heard a reference to this individual on a Devils Island feature on
the History Channel.  He was referred to as a Black Frenchman.

This may interest you:

http://boards.historychannel.com/thread.jspa?threadID=300032808&messageID=100400479&start=0

Best regards,
Rainbow

I think I follow what is going on :

http://www.derudio.co.uk/PAGE%20one.htm

|Carletto di Rudio - nicknamed Moretto, "The Little Moor," because of
his dark complexion|

http://www.derudio.co.uk/PAGE%20two.htm

|Count di Rudio arrived in New York on February 22, 1864, penniless
and alone, but with the will to survive and to fight for the Union
cause. He met with Horace Greeley, the noted editor of the New York
Tribune, and with Army officers and politicians who supported the
antislavery movement. A passionate republican, he changed his name to
Charles C. DeRudio, enlisted as a private in the Seventy-ninth
Highlanders New York Volunteers Regiment, and distinguished himself in
the siege of Petersburg in Virginia. In the fall of 1864, he was
promoted second lieutenant

and transferred to the Second U.S. Colored Troops Regiment in Florida 

where he remained until the end of the Civil War.|


Around that time Continental Europe was a bit muddled up, nationality wise
- also he would certainly have spoken French which would have been a
lot more useful in Florida than Italian.

He sounds quite a character.

After a little digging I've found two pictures of him

Google Images search, page 2 of 2
http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=derudio&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=20&sa=N&filter=0

The 2nd and the 5th are both of him
The 2nd is no longer at its original source
The 5th takes you into a huge auction catalogue
- you need to search it for 'DeRudio' to find the relevant shot

|141. (CHARLES C. DERUDIO) Fine photograph, approx. 6" x 8" b/w, ca.
1900, a chest, up image of the old war-horse in unform in the original
photographer's presentation sleeve with printed description of
DeRudio's exploits on verso of folder. Photo by Barry, Superior, Wisc.
Very good. $500-700|

Finally I've managed to get a direct link:-

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/auctions/ebay/298053.html

Rainbow has definitely 'potted' the right guy.

I agree with Frde-ga's comment.  Swarthy or even just black-haired
persons could have been referred to as "black" in continental
languages.  The officers of the Colored Units in the Civil War were
white, so di Rudio's assignment definitely does not indicate that he
was a Negro.
Myoarin