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Thread: Glorious First of June. Ships of Villaret de Joyeuse's fleet.

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    Default Glorious First of June. Ships of Villaret de Joyeuse's fleet.

    Ships of Villaret de Joyeuse's fleet engaged on 28 May
    Ship Rate Guns Commander Casualties Notes
    Killed Wounded Total
    Révolutionnaire First rate 110 Captain Vaudangel ~400 Returned to France in a disabled state
    Audacieux Third rate 74 Captain Pilastre - - - Returned to France with Révolutionnaire
    Although other ships were engaged during the action, their names and details are unknown.
    29 May

    Ships of Villaret de Joyeuse's fleet engaged on 29 May
    Ship Rate Guns Commander Casualties Notes
    Killed Wounded Total
    Montagnard Third rate 74 Captain Jean-Baptiste-François Bompard Unknown Badly damaged, attached to Vanstabel's squadron.
    Éole Third rate 74 Captain Bertrand Keranguen
    Captain Bruix
    Unknown
    Terrible First rate 110 Captain Pierre-Jacques Longer
    Captain Bouvet
    Unknown
    Tyrannicide Third rate 74 Captain Alain-Joseph Dordelin Unknown
    Indomptable Third rate 80 Captain Lamesle
    Captain Nielly
    Unknown Returned to France in a disabled state.
    Mont Blanc ? Third rate 74 Captain Thévenard - - - Returned to France with Indomptable.
    Although other ships were engaged during the action, their names and details are unknown.
    1 June

    Vanguard (Rear-Admiral Bouvet)
    Ship Rate Guns Commander Casualties Notes
    Killed Wounded Total
    Convention Third rate 74 Captain Allary Unknown
    Gasparin Third rate 74 Captain Tardy Unknown
    America Third rate 74 Captain L'Héritier 134 110 244 Totally dismasted.
    Captured, subsequently HMS Impétueux.
    Téméraire Third rate 74 Captain Morel Unknown Attached from Nielly's squadron
    Terrible First rate 110 Rear-Admiral Bouvet
    Captain Longer[Note
    Unknown Lost main and mizen masts.
    Impétueux Third rate 74 Captain Douville 100 85 185 Totally dismasted.
    Captured, subsequently destroyed in a dockyard fire.
    Mucius Third rate 74 Captain Lareguy Unknown Totally dismasted.
    Éole Third rate 74 Captain Bertrand Keranguen Unknown
    Tourville Third rate 74 Captain Langlois Unknown
    Précieuse Frigate 32 Unknown
    Naïade Brig-Corvette 16 Unknown
    Ships ordered by position in the line of battle (Guérin, vol.6, p. 503-504)
    Battle corps (Rear-Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse)
    Ship Rate Guns Commander Casualties Notes
    Killed Wounded Total
    Trajan Third rate 74 Captain Dumoutier Unknown Attached from Nielly's squadron.
    Tyrannicide Third rate 74 Captain Dordelin Unknown Extensive damage to masts and rigging.
    Juste Third rate 80 Captain Blavet 100 145 245 Totally dismasted.
    Captured, subsequently HMS Juste
    Montagne First rate 120 Rear-Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse
    Représentant en mission Jean Bon Saint-André
    Flag Captain Bazire
    Captain Vignot
    ~300
    Jacobin Third rate 80 Captain Gassin Unknown
    Achille Third rate 74 Captain La Villegris 36 60 66 Totally dismasted.
    Captured, subsequently dismantled.
    Northumberland Third rate 74 Captain Étienne 60 100 160 Totally dismasted.
    Captured, subsequently dismantled.
    Vengeur du Peuple Third rate 74 Captain Renaudin ~200-600 Captured but sank due to severe damage.
    Patriote Third rate 74 Captain Lacadou Unknown Attached from Nielly's squadron.
    Proserpine Frigate 38 Unknown
    Tamise Frigate 32 Unknown
    Papillon Corvette 12 Unknown
    Ships ordered by position in the line of battle (Guérin, vol.6, p. 503-504)
    Rear guard
    Ship Rate Guns Commander Casualties Notes
    Killed Wounded Total
    Entreprenant Third rate 74 Captain Lefranq Unknown
    Neptune Third rate 74 Captain Tiphaine Unknown
    Jemmappes Third rate 74 Captain Desmartis
    Captain Le Roy
    Unknown Totally dismasted.
    Trente-et-un-Mai Third rate 74 Captain Ganteaume Unknown Attached to fleet 31 May.
    Extensive damage to masts and rigging.
    Républicain First rate 110 Rear-Admiral Nielly
    Captain Lebeau
    Captain Louger
    Unknown Totally dismasted.
    Sans Pareil Third rate 80 Captain Courand 260 120 380 Attached from Nielly's squadron.
    Totally dismasted.
    Captured, subsequently HMS Sans Pareil.
    Scipion Third rate 80 Captain Huguet 64 151 215 Totally dismasted.
    Pelletier Third rate 74 Captain Berrade
    Captain Raillard
    Unknown
    Galathée Frigate 32 Unknown
    Gentille Frigate 32 Unknown
    Rob.
    Last edited by Bligh; 03-21-2017 at 05:56.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart
    (Lorient, 1757 — Bagnols, 1842) was a French privateer, navy officer and admiral. He was related to the noted Admiral Maxime de Bompart.

    He took part in the American War of Independence as a young officer.
    He later captained the Embuscade. She encountered and fought HMS Boston off New Jersey at the Action of 31 July 1793.
    Promoted to admiral, he commanded the Expédition d'Irlande and was later defeated at the Battle of Tory Island.
    He retired in 1801 over political disputes.

    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    Captain Lhéritier.

    Early career.


    Lhéritier joined the Navy as a sailor in 1763, serving on the frigate Malicieuse, on Sceptre and Hirondelle the following year, before returning on Malicieuse until 1766. Promoted to helmsman, he embarked on Union in August 1766, and later on the frigates Légère and Indiscrète. Again promoted assistant pilot, he served on the fluyts Gave, Dorothée and Africain.

    From 1770, Lhéritier worked in the merchant Navy first as an officer on Bellecombe, Coureur and Concorde, and as 3rd captain on Solide, as ensign on Normande, and as first officer on Ville d'Arkhengelsk from 1776 and 1778.

    War of American Independence.


    He returned to the French Royal Navy for the War of American Independence with a rank of Frigate Lieutenant. He served on the fluyt Bricole from September to December 1778, the frigate Boudeuse until March 1779, and then joined the Guerrier, on which he was wounded during the Battle of Grenada. Between May and October 1780, Lhéritier served on Languedoc, and later on Séraphin and Pivert.

    After the war, Lhéritier returned to the merchant Navy, sailing as an officer on a number of ships before earning his commission as captain on Adolphe in April 1792.

    French Revolution.

    On 17 March 1793, Lhéritier was promoted to Lieutenant and joined the Navy on the Nymphe. Promoted to Captain, he was appointed to Convention (ex-Sceptre, on which he had served as a seaman) on 28 October 1793. On 5 May 1794, he took command of the America, which he commanded at the Glorious First of June where his ship and himself were captured by the British.

    Lhéritier was kept prisoner in England exchanged in April 1795, and appointed to Pluton, before being promoted to Chef de Division on 21 March 1796 and transferring on Constitution.

    .


    On 14 March 1798, Lhéritier took command of Hercule and was tasked to cruise to Brest, departing from Lorient on the 20th. The next day, Hercule was intercepted by HMS Mars, which led to the battle of the Raz de Sein. Lhéritier attempted to board Mars, and sustained himself a sabre blow to the head and had his leg spiked. After a two-hour fight, Hercule was captured and Lhéritier taken prisoner.

    Exchanged again, Lhéritier was court-martialed for the loss of Hercule, and unanimously acquitted. On 17 March 1799,] he was appointed to the 110-gun Invincible, on which he took part in Bruix' expedition of 1799. He later commanded Foudroyant from 5 May to 17 September 1803, before returning on Invincible from 23 September 1803 to 11 April 1807.

    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    Rear-Admiral Bouvet.


    Son of a captain in the service of the French East India Company, he went to sea at the age of twelve with his father aboard the Villevault in 1765. In 1780, Bouvet served in the East Indies in the famous campaign of 1781–83 under the command of Suffren. He was promoted to lieutenant (Lieutenant de vaisseau) in 1785.

    Naval career.

    On the outbreak of the French Revolution he very naturally took a Republican stance. In 1790, he became second officer aboard the Prudence. In 1790, he was promoted captain (capitaine de vaisseau) and received the command of the Audacieux (80) in the first great fleet collected by the Republic. In the same year (1793) he was promoted to rear-admiral, and command the Second Squadron of the fleet in Brest, which fought the Battle of the First of June (1794) against Lord Howe.


    Until the close of 1796 he continued in command of a squadron in the French Channel fleet. In the December of that year he was entrusted with the van division of the fleet which was sent from Brest to attempt to land General Hoche with an expeditionary force in the south of Ireland. The stormy weather scattered the French as soon as they left Brest. Bouvet, who found himself at daybreak on 17 December separated with nine sail of the line from the rest of the fleet, opened his secret orders, and found that he was to make his way to Mizen Head. He took a wide course to avoid meeting British cruisers, and on the 19th fell in with a considerable part of the rest of the fleet and some of the transports. On 21 December he arrived off Dursey Island at the entry to Bantry Bay. On 24 December he anchored near Bere Island with part of his fleet. The continued storms which blew down Bantry Bay made it impossible to land the troops he had with him. On the evening of 25 December the storm increased to such a pitch of violence that the frigate Immortalité in which Bouvet had hoisted his flag was blown out to sea. The wind moderated by 29 December, but Bouvet, being convinced that none of the ships of his squadron could have remained at the anchorage, steered for Brest, where he arrived on 1 January 1797.


    His fortune had been very much that of his colleagues in this storm-tossed expedition, and on the whole he had shown more energy than most of them. He was wrong, however, in thinking that all his squadron had failed to keep their anchorage in Bantry Bay. The government, displeased by his precipitate return to Brest, dismissed him from command soon afterwards. He was compelled to open a school to support himself. Napoleon restored him to the service, and he commanded the 2-ships of the line and 4-frigates squadron sent to occupy Guadeloupe during the peace of Amiens, hoisting his flag on the Redoutable.


    In 1803, he was promoted to military chief of Brest harbour, and later préfet maritime of Brest, in 1813. In December 1813, distrusted by Napoleon, he was replaced by Cosmao-Kerjulien.

    At the Restoration, he was made a baron by Louis XVIII, in July 1814. Promoted to vice-admiral in 1816, he was préfet maritime of Lorient, and left active service in November 1817. He died in 1832.

    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    Rear-Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse.


    Louis-Thomas Villaret was born in Auch, in Gascony, to the family of a fiscal officer.

    Unable to enter the elite naval schools, he entered the navy as a volontaire in 1768. Promoted to Lieutenant in 1773, he served as a lieutenant on the 32-gun frigate Atalante in the Indian Ocean. In 1778, unemployed in Pondicherry, he volunteered his services to the governor de Bellecombe during the siege of Pondicherry, earning the rank of capitaine de brûlot.

    Service under Suffren.

    In 1781, Villaret commanded the fireship Pulvérisateur in Suffren's fleet.
    He then served under Suffren, who made him his aide in 1782. He was later transferred to the frigate Dauphine, and became first officer aboard Suffren's ship of the line Brillant.


    After the battle of Cuddalore on 20 June 1783, Suffren gave him command of the frigate Bellone.

    A few months after, Suffren appointed Villaret to the 20-gun the corvette Naïade. He ordered him to sail to Madras and warn the French blockading squadron, composed of two ships of the line and two frigates, of the imminent arrival of a superior British force. Three days after her departure, on 11 April 1783, Naïade spotted the 64-gun HMS Sceptre, under Captain Graves; after trying without success to elude his much stronger opponent, Villaret was forced into battle, and struck his colours only after a five-hour fight. When Villaret surrendered his sword, Graves allegedly told him "Sir, you have given us a fairly beautiful frigate, but you made us pay dearly for her!"; some authors add that Graves returned Villaret his sword.


    Villaret was taken prisoner. Despite the loss of Naïade, the British squadron did not find the French cruisers, which had already departed. Naïade was not commissioned in the Royal Navy and was sold.

    Villaret was released in June 1783, after the Treaty of Versailles. Suffren awarded him the Order of Saint Louis.

    Villaret was promoted to Lieutenant in 1784 for his service. After the war, Villaret served in the harbour of Lorient.
    French Revolution.

    In 1791, Villaret was appointed to command the frigate Prudente to transport troops to Saint-Domingue. Arriving shortly before the slave revolt that launched the Haitian Revolution, he helped the governor transport troops around the island.

    On 14 March 1792, he swore the "civic oath" to the Republic, while his brother emigrated. Promoted to Captain in 1792, he was given the command of the 74-gun Trajan in 1793; in May 1793, part of a squadron under Morard de Galle, he was tasked with watching the coasts of Morbihan and Loire, to prevent the British from aiding the Vendéan Revolt.

    When the rest of the Brest fleet sailed to Belle-Isle and the Quibéron mutinies broke out among many ships in the fleet, Villaret was one of the few officers who maintained order aboard his ship.

    In 1794, Villaret was promoted to Rear-admiral, and Jeanbon Saint André appointed him to command the 25-ship Brest fleet. Setting his flag on the 120-gun Montagne, Villaret reorganised and revitalised the Brest fleet. Among other measures, Saint André and Villaret-Joyeuse founded a naval artillery school.

    Atlantic campaign of May 1794.

    The Glorious First of June.



    In the summer of 1794, Villaret sailed with 23 ships of the line and 16 frigates to protect a 170-ship food convoy under Rear-admiral Vanstabel, incoming from the United States.The convoy was necessary to relieve France from famine after a disastrous harvest, and the British Channel Fleet under Admiral Lord Howe had set out to prevent it from reaching France; the orders of the National Convention to the fleet were to stall the British forces and prevent them from intercepting the convoy at all costs.

    The Brest fleet departed and sailed to the Azores to wait for the arrival of Vanstabel's convoy. On 28 May, the French and British fleets came in contact 100 leagues off Ushant, and began seeking each other in the fog; the engagement culminated in the Glorious First of June. Although suffering severe losses, he rallied his remaining ships and rescued several of his ships; most importantly, the grain convoy reached Brest unmolested.

    Supported by Saint-André, Villaret-Joyeuse kept his command despite the defeat. He blamed his losses on the conduct of several of his captains who had failed to fulfil their duties. On 27 September 1794, Villaret-Joyeuse was promoted to Vice-admiral.

    Croisière du Grand Hiver.

    In December, the Committee of Public Safety ordered him to attack British commerce in the Croisière du Grand Hiver. Although the cruise did lead to the capture of a number of British merchant ships, the French fleet was battered by storms in which several ships were sunk and all the surviving ships suffered heavy damage.
    Battle of Groix.

    In June 1795, he sailed with nine ships to relieve a small squadron near Belle Île. During the First Battle of Île de Groix, Villaret-Joyeuse chased away the small British squadron blockading Belle Île. Unable to bring them to battle, Villaret attempted to return to Brest, but contrary winds forced him towards Lorient. Close to Lorient, Villaret-Joyeuse was discovered by British admiral Alexander Hood's fleet, guarding the expedition to Quiberon. During Second Battle of Ile de Groix, several of Villaret's ships disobeyed his orders and sailed away, abandoning three ships to the British.
    In 1796, Villaret-Joyeuse was appointed to command the fleet for the Expédition d'Irlande, an attempt to land General Hoche's army in Ireland; opposed to the project, Villaret was replaced with Morard de Galle.

    Political career.

    In 1796, Villaret was elected to the Council of Five Hundred as a representative of Morbihan. As a member of the Club de Clichy, then considered to constitute the Royalist party, he gave several speeches about the colonies, speaking against the emancipation of slaves. He also lobbied in favour of strengthening the Navy.

    After the Coup of 18 Fructidor, Villaret was sentenced to deportation to Cayenne; he went into hiding until the French Directory ordered those who had escaped deportation to Guyane exiled to the Île d'Oléron; then, Villaret willingly surrendered himself. He remained on Oléron until the advent of the French Consulate.

    Saint-Domingue expedition and Martinique.

    In 1801, Bonaparte ended Villaret-Joyeuse's exile and returned him to active command. Initially, Napoleon wanted Villaret-Joyeuse to prepare an expedition to capture the Cape of Good Hope, then head into the Indian Ocean. With the Peace of Amiens, Bonaparte decided to attempt to regain control of Haiti with the Saint-Domingue expedition. In December 1801, Villaret set out with ten French and five Spanish ships and nine frigates and corvettes, with his flag on the 120-gun Océan, ferrying 7000 of General Leclerc's expeditionary forces to Saint Domingue. Two further squadron, one from Lorient comprising one ship, two frigates and 1200 soldiers, and the other from Rochefort with six ships, six frigates, two corvettes and 3000 soldiers, joined his fleet off Brest. Conflicts over command led Villaret to return to France with the majority of the fleet.


    In April 1802, Bonaparte appointed Villaret him "Capitaine-General of Martinique and Sainte-Lucie". Taking control of Martinique in September in accordance with the Treaty of Amiens, he faced the threats of slave-uprisings, yellow fever and British invasion. On 3 November 1802, Villared founded a 94-strong force of Gendarmerie at Martinique, and on 8 July 1803, a company of black Chasseurs Volontaires de la Martinique.


    He cooperated with Admirals Missiessy and Villeneuve who sailed into the Caribbean in 1805 during the Trafalgar Campaign.
    In January 1809, a British expedition invaded Martinique and laid siege to the fortress at Fort-de-France. After the British were able to bring up their heavy artillery, the month-long siege ended on 24 February with the surrender of Villaret.


    Upon his return to France, Villaret's conduct was condemned by an inquiry council; he requested in vain a Court-martial to clear his name, and he lived in disgrace for two years. Napoleon granted him a pardon in 1811: "Bravery and fidelity plead in favour of the vice-admiral, did his faults lose the colony? At most, they shortened its keeping for a few days." As Napoleon prepared for the invasion of Russia, he appointed Villaret General governor of Venice in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, and commander of the 12th military division. Villaret retained this position until 24 July 1812, when he died of edema.

    To honour him, Napoleon had his name engraved on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

    Rob.



    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

  6. #6
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    This one is a bit different but does show how the French Marine got into the state that it was.

    Rob.

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    Représentant en mission
    Jean Bon Saint-André.


    He was born in Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne), the son of a fuller. Although his parents were Protestants, Saint-André was raised by the Jesuits at Marseille, and got baptized, as required by law. As a young boy, Saint-André had ambition to study the law, but his dream was crushed when the King prohibited Protestants and their children from getting involved in much of the public life, including getting the bar. When he was about sixteen years old, he enrolled in the merchant marine, and became lieutenant several years later and shortly after, captain. In 1771, after three shipwrecks and the loss of all his savings, he abandoned this career.

    He later turned Protestant, and became a prominent pastor in Southern France at Castres in 1773, and afterwards in Montauban in 1788. Saint-André studied theology in Geneva for three years, and married Marie de Suc in 1780. Right before the outbreak of the French Revolution, tension between Protestants and Catholics caused Saint-André to flee. During this time, he drafted an article entitled, "Considérations sur l'organisation civile des Eglises protestantes" (Thoughts on the civil organisation of protestants), which advocated for protecting Protestants' religious rights within France. He later returned around December, 1790. He then found The Society of the Friends of the Consitution, and started his political career.


    As a member of The Society of the Friends of the Constitution, he sat on The Mountain, led my Maximilien Robespierre. When Louis XVI of France was found guilty of plotting against the Convention and France, he, along with many members of the Convention, voted for the King's execution. In September 1792, he opposed the punishment of the authors of the September Massacres. In January 1793, he expressed his ideas in a speech called "Sur l'Education nationale," which demanded a variety of changes to the old Catholic-controlled education system. [8] Later that same year in June, when the Jacobins gained control of the Assembly Saint-André became a member of the Committee of Public Safety, and it was he who proposed Maximilien Robespierre for membership shortly afterwards. In July 1793, he was elected President of the National Convention, and in his capacity, he announced the death of Marat. That same month, he was sent on a mission to the Armies of the East fighting in the Revolutionary Wars.


    While working with the Committee of Public Safety, Jeanbon Saint-André played a pivotal role in the restoration of the naval fleet. He was a former Huguenot pastor and merchant sea captain who was considered the Montagnards’ expert on naval affairs. The Convention granted Saint-André an unlimited amount of power in order to preserve the fleet for the Republic, and to crush all forms of counter-revolutionary opposition.

    Reign of Terror and later missions.

    On the Committee of Public Safety, his main responsibility was the navy, which he took over from Bertrand Barère. During Saint-André's time in the Navy, he played a crucial role in dealing with France's foreign affairs, especially toward England. In the late 1700s, he confronted the English's government for trying to convince the Jews to terminate trading with France. On September 20, 1793, Saint-André obtained a vote of one hundred million francs for constructing vessels; from September 1793 to January 1794, he reorganized the military harbours of Brest and Cherbourg, in the northwestern coast of France. Saint-André noticed striking parallels between the situation in Brest and in the Committee’s occupation of Toulon after its siege in late 1793. Toulon became the stigma of dishonor and treason due to its defection in 1793. The city of Toulon, in revolt against the National Convention, was under British control. The revolt during this time period was a product of British influence over Toulon, as well as royalist ideologies being upheld by those in positions of power in Toulon. The parallels between Toulon and Brest with respect to British influence and revolt against the Republic was striking.


    In 1793, Federalist Revolt against the National Assembly in the port city of Brest was partly linked to Jeanbon Saint-André as its citizens viewed the Navy divided between the two major clubs, the Montagnards and the Girondins. He reported that the destruction of the French fleet was a form of conspiracy against the Republic.[18] His theory was clear: the parallels he was observing between the situations at Brest and Toulon were based on the conspiracy of ex-nobles and officers against the Republic, as well as the presence of British influence in both cities. Both problems contributed to the seemingly impossible task set before Saint-André - achieving unity within the French Navy. In response to the Quibéron mutinies, Jeanbon removed Captains Kerguelen, Thomas, Bonnefous, and Larichery from their positions. He also arrested six more officers, and sent them off to Paris for trial. He later established a Revolutionary Tribunal, which trialled and sentenced the death of ten naval officers. This caused anti-revolutionists, including Oscar Havard, to believe Jeanbon conspired to hand Brest to Britain; Jeanbon's true motives was to bring the downfall of the Navy in response to the dominance of Catholicism in French society.

    Under Saint-André's command, the Naval regime was reformed in such a way that the “lowest seaman could aspire to the rank of admiral”. He also expressed Jacobin ideas through a policy he created in which all Navy workers received equal benefits and treatments.

    The Western regions of France became problematic to the Revolution. The physical location of Brittany, a peninsula with poorly paved roads, and specifically Brest, made transport of provisions and travel difficult and time-consuming. Aside from the physical aspects of Brittany’s separation from the rest of the Nation, the gabelle (the salt tax) played a significant role in isolating the Province. This was a zone of the “redimes,” also known as a tax-free zone. Both of these aspects contributed to the separation of Brittany from the rest of the country. Brittany was, however, still of strategic significance to the Committee of Public Safety. The Committee believed that utilizing the city as a seaport for the French fleet would allow them to galvanize a fleet of ships to sail to the nearby southern peninsula of England in order to begin an offensive effort.


    Saint-André sought to regain control of Brittany by eliminating the easy-going and inattentive eyes of the old regime, emphasizing how “the negligence of a sleepy tyrant or of somnolent ministers does not agree with our [republican] principles.” On November 20, 1793, he and Jean-Jacques Bréard, another agent of the Committee, issued a decree with a regular naval penal code, a code which was later sanctioned by the Convention and applied to the entire navy.


    On 31 January 1794, on his return from Brest, he presented a report to the Convention on the state of the navy. Saint-André did away with the hierarchical system of the old regime’s navy, stripping officers of their traditional luxuries, such as food privileges, and emphasizing the need for officers to set an obedient example. An education system was also implemented, utilizing Jacobin propaganda and schoolmasters who taught the sailors to read and write so they could aspire to promotion. Saint-André also eliminated holidays, industrializing the coastal city into a system split into day and night shifts enforced by strict military rule. Royalist officers were imprisoned, discipline restored, and a new regime of training introduced across the navy. The officer corps and civilian administration of the navy were brought up to strength. Lighthouses were built at Penmarch and Groix, and new ships of the line were built. These changes sought to turn Brest into an absolute collectivist city, where all was at service to the Republic. Thanks to this reforming zeal, France was able to build and launch new frigates at three times the rate of the Royal Navy during the same period. By 1794, under Saint-André’s watch, fifty ships of the line had been placed into service under the control of the newly appointed fleet commander Villaret de Joyeuse.

    The Glorious First of June.


    Contributing to this success was the presence of Jacques-Noël Sané, a renowned ship engineer who built the 130 gun flagship of de Joyeuse known as The Mountain. Though the reformation of the navy has not had as much historical acclaim as the work other Committee members performed on the army, with many critics pointing to its losses in the battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794, the reforms that took place were nonetheless vital in ensuring France’s continued success in war.


    Saint-André later participated in a mission in the south, which lasted from July 1794 to March 1795, and in which he showed moderation in contrast to the directives of the Reign of Terror. Shortly after, he was arrested on May 28, 1795, but was released by the amnesty of the year IV.


    He was then appointed consul at Algiers and Smyrna (1798) and was kept prisoner by the Ottoman Empire for three years (during the Napoleonic Wars). Released in 1800, he subsequently became préfet of the départment of Mont-Tonnerre (1801) and commissary-general of the three départments on the left bank of the Rhine. Napoleon made him a member of the Légion d'honneur in 1804 and a Baron of the Empire in 1809. He died of typhoid in Mainz.

    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    Captain Renaudin.

    Renaudin was born to a modest family of Saint-Martin du Gua, and joined the merchant navy before enlisting in the French Royal Navy as a suppleant frigate lieutenant in 1779. He served on the fluyt Dorade, on which he took part in four battles.] He was promoted to Sous Lieutenant de Vaisseau on 1 May 1786.

    At the French Revolution, Renaudin was promoted to Lieutenant de Vaisseau on 1 January 1792, and to Captain on 1 January 1793; he was appointed to command the 20-gun corvette Perdrix, cruising off Belle-Ile and Rochefort. He later transferred to the frigate Andromaque, on which sustained a fight against a ship of the line and four Spanish frigates.

    The Vengeur du Peuple at the Glorious First of June.

    Renaudin commanded the Vengeur du Peuple in the fleet of Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse. Exiting Brest, Vengeur was separated from her fleet, which prevented her from taking part in the Action of 29 May 1794;] on the next day, however, she sustained fire from ten British ships while preventing them from cutting the French line of battle.


    On the next day, at the Glorious First of June, Renaudin led a fierce battle against HMS Brunswick, in which Brunswick and Vengeur disabled each other. As Vengeur could not be rescued by French frigates, Renaudin asked for help from the British.Renaudin was rescued by HMS Culloden and abandoned his ship with the first British boat, leaving his men behind in disregard for military customs and the 1765 standing order that Captains had to be last to abandon ship,. Though his account of the event insinuated that he was on a boat close to Vengeur when she foundered, he was in fact dining in the mess of Culloden at the moment of the sinking. Taken in captivity in Tavistock, he wrote an account of the fight of Vengeur on 1 Messidor an II (19 June 1794), signed and had it co-signed by his staff, comprising, Jean Hugine, Louis Rousseau, Pelet, Trouvée, Lussot and others.In France, Renaudin was assumed to be dead, and posthumously promoted to contre-amiral on 29 August 1794. His return astonished the Convention on 10 September 1794, when Jean-Jacques Bréard stated:


    "I am very pleased to tell the Convention that the whole of the crew of Vengeur did not perish (applause). The captain has returned to Brest and has been promoted to the command of the Jemmapes. On this ship, he hopes to repair the loss of Vengeur." (applause).
    Nevertheless, in 1847, Lamartine wrote a description where Renaudin was killed, cut in half by a cannon shot like Dupetit-Thouars, and Thiers later wrote an account repeating Barère's version, where Vengeur refused to surrender.Remarkably, neither the national Archives, nor the archives of the Navy, nor the archives of the War Council nor Renaudin's personal file mention any court-martial that should have been held automatically for the loss of the ship, in accordance with French law.

    Later life.

    Renaudin was promoted to Rear Admiral on 29 August 1794, purportedly a postumeous honour, before being exchanged. He was put in command of Jemmapes before obtaining command of the 3rd Squadron of the naval army of the Ocean (the Brest fleet under Admiral Martin), a 6-ship division, on 29 October 1794, with his flag on Jemmapes. In late February 1795, Renaudin's division left Brest to reinforce the naval forces of Toulon, where it arrived on 3 April 1795.


    On 24 March 1798, Renaudin was appointed to the 2nd squadron of the Brest fleet, succeeding Admiral Lelarge. From 21 March 1799, he commanded the naval forces of Napoli, before moving to Toulon to become the senior officer of the garrison on 25 May 1799, replacing Jean Gaspard Vence who had fallen in disfavour after an altercation with Bruix.On 23 September 1799, Renaudin became general inspector of oceanic harbours from Cherbourg to Bayonne.

    He retired on 4 April 1801, and died in Le Gua

    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    Captain Ganteaume.

    Ganteaume was born in La Ciotat, into a family of merchant sailors. He started sailing at the age of 14 on a merchantman commanded by his father, and by the time he reached the age of 22, Ganteaume had accomplished five campaigns in the Middle East and two in the Caribbean. He served on the Mississippi Company Indiaman Fier Rodrigue.

    Service in the American War of Independence.

    In 1778, with the intervention of France in the American Revolutionary War, Ganteaume enlisted in the French Royal Navy as an auxiliary officer, while Fier Rodrigue was purchased into naval service as a 54-gun ship of the line. Fier Rodrigue escorted a convoy to America, and attached to a division under Lamotte-Picquet in the fleet of Admiral d'Estaing.


    In the fleet of Admiral d'Estaing, Ganteaume took part in the Capture of Grenada and in the Siege of Savannah. In 1781, he was promoted to auxiliary Frigate Lieutenant, and appointed to command the fluyt Marlborough in a convoy bound for the Indies and escorted by Suffren.


    From 1781 to 1785, Ganteaume served on the frigate Surveillante He was promoted to Fireship Captain in 1784, and sub-Lieutenant in 1786.


    Upon his return at the peace, Ganteaume was granted permission to return to the service of the Mississippi Company. He successively commanded the Indiamen Maréchal de Ségur, bound for Chian, and Prince de Condé and Constitution, bound for the Indies. In 1793, he was captured on an Indiaman and imprisoned by the British; released, he returned to the Navy, with the rank of Lieutenant. He served on the 74-gun Jupiter for a campaign in the Atlantic Ocean.

    Service on Trente-et-un Mai.


    Ganteaume was promoted to Captain in 1794, and was appointed to command the 74-gun Trente-et-un Mai. During the Atlantic campaign of May 1794, he attempted to attach to the French fleet under Villaret-Joyeuse, but only joined late in the Glorious First of June; he took part in the last throes of the battle, where he was thrice wounded.

    In the winter, Geanteaume led Trente-et-un Mai in the Croisière du Grand Hiver, and notably rescued the crew of the stricken Scipion.


    In 1795, Trente-et-un Mai sailed to the Mediterranean, and cruised off Catalonia;] she sustained a two-hour battle against a Spanish ship of the line. On 18 April 1795, Trente-et-un Mai was renamed Républicain. She attached to the fleet under Vice-Admiral Martin, and took part in the Battle of Hyères Islands.


    In late 1795, Ganteaume was appointed to command a division, comprising one ship of the line, four frigates and four corvettes. He sailed to Smyrna, where he lifted the blockade on Villeneuve's squadron, and captured the frigate HMS Nemesis.

    In 1796, returned to the Ocean, Ganteaume successful ran the British blockade of Brest and sailed a convoy carrying munitions into the harbour.

    Service in Egypt.

    Appointed Chief of staff to Rear-Admiral and Navy Minister Bruix, Ganteaume took part in the French campaign in Egypt and Syria on the flagship Orient. He took part in the Battle of the Nile, where he was wounded, and narrowly escaped death when he left the burning Orient on a boat.Orient exploded soon after.


    Promoted to Rear-Admiral upon request of General Bonaparte, Ganteaume led the flotilla of small ships of the Nile River, taking part in the Siege of Jaffa, the Siege of Acre and the Battle of Abukir.


    On 22 August 1799, Ganteaume departed Alexandria with the frigates Muiron and Carrère, the aviso Revanche and a tartane, ferrying General Bonaparte back to France. Bonaparte ordered the ships to sail close to the shore of Africa to elude British squadrons, and landed in Corsica, to finally arrive at Fréjus on 2 October.

    After arriving in France, Bonaparte, as First Consul, appointed Ganteaume to the Council of State, in which he presided the section of the Navy.

    Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801.

    In 1801, Ganteaume was appointed to command a seven-ship division in Brest, tasked with ferrying supplies and 5000 soldiers to the French Army of Egypt. After successfully crossing British-held Gibraltar, Ganteaume cruised in the Mediterranean for six months to elude the British fleet.

    Ganteaume returned to Toulon to resupply and repair his ships. In the following months, he attempted three sorties, once arriving off Alexandria without landing: when he finally arrived near Egypt, actually Derna, Libya, in June 1800, the troops did not land, due to the hostility of the locals and the British naval threat.

    Ganteaume eventually renounced and defiantly returned to Toulon, after capturing Elba and four British ships, including the 38-gun frigate HMS Success, and in the Action of 24 June 1801, the 74-gun HMS Swiftsure, but failing his mission to supply the French armies in the Middle East.


    Ganteaume's tergiversations motivated the satirical poem:


    Vaisseaux lestés, tête sans lest,
    Ainsi part l'amiral Ganteaume;
    Il s'en va de Brest à Bertheaume,
    Et revient de Bertheaume à Brest.
    Loaded ships, head without weight,
    Thus departs Admiral Ganteaume;
    He sails off from Brest to Bertheaume,
    And sails back from Bertheaume to Brest.
    Service in Saint-Domingue and the Trafalgar Campaign.

    After the Treaty of Lunéville ended the War of the Second Coalition in early 1801, Ganteaume was tasked with supporting the French forces involved in the Saint-Domingue expedition. In 1802, Ganteaume was appointed Maritime Prefect for Toulon.

    At the outbreak of the War of the Third Coalition the year after, and with the Coronation of Napoleon I and the advent of the First French Empire on 2 December 1804, Ganteaume was promoted to Vice-Admiral, made a Count of the Empire, and appointed to command the fleet in Brest.


    In 1805, after the death of Vice-Admiral Latouche-Tréville and the outbreak of the Trafalgar Campaign, Napoléon briefly considered entrusting Ganteaume with an expedition to land an 18 000-man army in Ireland, in a move similar to what had been attempted in 1796 with the ill-fated Expédition d'Irlande; eventually, Ganteaume was ordered to the Caribbean to land reinforcements there and return to Europe with the fleets under Rear-Admiral Missiessy and Vice-Admiral Villeneuve.

    Adverse weather prevented Ganteaume from leaving Brest, and he finally departed one month after Missiessy. In transit, Ganteaume bumped into the British Channel Fleet under Admiral Cornwallis and retreated to Brest, where he ended up hermetically blocked. Informed of the Battle of Cape Finisterre, Ganteaume was ordered to break into the Ocean by force to make his junction with Villeneuve; however, Villeneuve's port call to Cadiz thwarted this plan.

    Later career.

    In 1808, Ganteaume took command of the French squadrons of Toulon and Rochefort, joined together at Toulon, with the aim to ferry supplies to Corfu, then blockaded by the Royal Navy. He departed Toulon in early February, successfully escorted his convoy into Corfu harbour, and returned to Toulon in April. In February on the following year, he authorised the frigates Pénélope and Pauline to chase HMS Proserpine, yielding the Action of 27 February 1809 in which Proserpine was captured and brought to Toulon.


    In June 1808, Ganteaume was appointed General Inspector of the Coasts of the Ocean. From 1809 to 1810, Ganteaume was appointed to command the fleet in Toulon, but attacks to gout kept him increasingly away from the sea. In 1810, he joined the Council of the Admiralty. On 1 August 1811, Napoléon appointed Ganteaume to command the battalion of the Marins de la Garde in the Imperial Guard as a Colonel. In 1813, he defended Toulon.


    In 1814, at the first Bourbon Restoration, Ganteaume supported the Acte de déchéance de l'Empereur, and in consequence did not return to command during the Hundred Days; immediately after the Battle of Waterloo, he ordered the Royalist white flag hoisted in Toulon; this act got him almost killed.


    Restored to power again, Louis XVIII made Ganteaume a Peer of France in recognition for his support. In December 1815, he was promoted to Commander in the Order of Saint Louis, and appointed General Inspector of the Classes. In his capacity of Peer of France, Ganteaume took part in the trial of Marshal Ney, and voted for his execution.


    Ganteaume died at his property of Pauline, near Aubagne, on 28 September 1818.

    Rob
    Last edited by Bligh; 03-21-2017 at 06:02.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    Rear Admiral Joseph-Marie Nielly.



    (1751–1833) was a French naval officer and admiral.

    Nielly was born and died in Brest. He began his career aged seven aboard the Formidable, and was wounded at the Battle of Quiberon Bay, on 20 November 1759. He sailed in the Caribbean until 1769, when he joined the merchant navy.


    In 1774, aged 23, he received his first command of a merchantman. In 1778, he joined the French Navy as lieutenant de frégate. During the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, he commanded the 20-gun Guyane, escorting convoys. On 17 August 1778, she fought against two ships of the line, two frigates and one cutter, yet managed to escaped.


    After war ended, he sailed again as a merchant, and joined the Navy again in 1787 after a reform of the status of officers from the ranks and files, as a sous-lieutenant de vaisseau. In 1789 and 1790, and commanded the cutter Pilote des Indes, escorting the fishing fleet from Granville. He later served on the fluyt Dromadaire as first mate, and as commanded between May and December 1791, replenishing outposts in the Carebeans.

    Promotion.


    In January 1792, he was promoted the full lieutenant de vaisseau, and to capitaine de vaisseau in January 1793. When the War of the First Coalition broke out, he took command of the frigate Résolue and raided commerce in the Atlantic, in the Bay of Biscay, and the Channel, both alone and within the frigate division commanded by Zacharie Allemand.


    A resolute Republican, Nielly had his crew sign a manifesto supporting the Constitution of the French First Republic, and sent it to the National Convention. In November 1793, he was promoted to contre-amiral.


    In April 1794, in the context of the Atlantic campaign of May 1794, he set his mark on the Sans Pareil and led a 5-ship and 2-frigate strong squadron to meet with the convoy led by Van Stabel. He failed to meet the convoy, but on 8 May, the squadron met and captured HMS Castor, as well as 30 merchantmen that she escorted. The frigate Unité also captured the 16-gun sloop HMS Alert.

    The Glorious First of June.

    He met with Villaret-Joyeuse's fleet. At the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2, Nielly commanded the rear with his mark set on Républicain.


    At the Action of 6 November 1794, Nielly's division captured HMS Alexander.


    Nielly was put in charge of the third squadron of the Brest fleet, and took part in the Croisière du Grand Hiver, under Villaret-Joyeuse, and in the Expédition d'Irlande, under Morard de Galles, with his mark on the frigate Résolue.The fleet was dispersed in tempests which destroyed the Séduisant and the frigate Surveillante

    He reached Bantry Bay, where the Redoutable accidentally collided with the Résolue, destroying her bowsprit, foremast, mainmast and mizzen. A shore party was sent on a small boat, and was captured by the British. Without hope of landing an army in condition to fight, the French fleet returned to Brest.


    Nielly later held the office positions of commandant d’armes in Brest and Lorient, and Préfet maritime in Dunkirk from 1800. Having bad personal relations to Denis Decrès, he resigned in 1803 and retired. In 1814, he was made Baron d'Empire, and died in 1833 with the dignitiy of honorary vice-admiral.


    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    This is all the information that I can find on the French Captains.
    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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