Blaise Boisselot was a French Army soldier and mercenary. A veteran of the Algerian War, Boisselot was one of 1,000 French Foreign Legion troops sent by President of France Charles de Gaulle to Katanga in 1961 as "security guards for mining companies", while they were really used as infantrymen by the government of Katanga under Moise Tshombe. Boisselot was a commander of the mercenaries during the Siege of Jadotville in 1961, taking part in the costly assaults on the ONUC peacekeepers.