François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers

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"Brueys" redirects here. For the French theologian and dramatist, see David-Augustin de Brueys.
François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers
Vice Admiral
Battles/warsAmerican Revolutionary War
French Revolutionary Wars

François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, Comte de Brueys (12 February 1753 – 1 August 1798) was a

Vice-Admiral. He was also a Freemason in the La Bonne Foi lodge at Montauban.[1]

Life

Pre-Revolution

Brueys was born to an aristocratic family in Rue Boucairie,

Saint Domingue campaign on the ship-of-the-line Actionnaire
, though he was forced to leave the latter due to sickness and return to France, where he served at shore establishments, mostly on France's Mediterranean coast.

He rose to enseigne de vaisseau in 1777 and lieutenant de vaisseau in April 1780, before serving on the ship-of-the-line Terrible then the Zélé in

Saint Kitts in February 1782. He then moved to the frigate Vestale, by chance he was not present at the battle of Les Saintes. He was made a chevalier de Saint-Louis
at the end of the war.

On the peace he was put in command of the

consul general in Algeria. She also carried dispatches for the naval station and French consuls in the Levant
.

Revolutionary Wars

He saw aristocratic family and friends killed during the

Truguet's fleet - the bombardment of Oneglia, the Naples operation led by Latouche-Tréville, and finally the attack on Cagliari on Sardinia
.

In the Toulon affair the town authorities arrested him. A decree of the

Bonaparte
's troops.

Egypt

Bust of François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers

Bonaparte noted Brueys's conduct in Italy and made him commander-in-chief of the fleet that would transport his army for the

Orient
. The fleet set sail from Toulon on 19 May 1798.

He succeeded in evading British attempts to prevent the French fleet reaching Egypt, reaching

Aboukir Bay to await the British.[2]

Knowing the poor quality of his ships and crews, he preferred to guard a defensive position than take the offensive and refused to weigh anchor when

Horatio Nelson attacked his fleet on the evening of 1 August 1798. In the ensuing Battle of the Nile, the Orient fought HMS Bellerophon, causing her major damage but receiving little support, especially from the rearguard under Denis Decrès and Villeneuve. Already wounded twice during the day, and almost cut in half by a cannon shot, Brueys died at his command post around 9 PM.[3] According to a British account, after a round shot had taken off both his legs, he had himself strapped to an armchair on deck so that he could continue to direct the fight.[4] His ship exploded one hour later after a fire on board reached the gunpowder stores. The resulting blast was seen from miles away and may have killed as many as 800 of the ship's crew.[5]

Brueys was criticised in France for remaining at anchor right up until the moment of the attack, but Bonaparte replied to such criticism by saying "If, in this disastrous event, he made mistakes, he expiated them by his glorious end". His name appears on the southern pillar (23rd column) of the

Arc de triomphe in Paris
.

Notes

  1. ^ (in French) Jean Marc Van Hille (ed.), Dictionnaire des marins francs-maçons, Gens de mer et professions connexes, Le Phare de Misaine, Nantes 2008
  2. ISBN 2-7178-3740-X
    .
  3. ^ "Document sans titre". Pagesperso-orange.fr. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  4. PMID 1098546
    . Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  5. ^ Battesti, Michèle. La bataille d'Aboukir, 1798: Nelson contrarie la stratégie de Bonaparte, op. cit. pp. 109–110.

Bibliography

  • (in French) Hubert Granier, Histoire des marins français 1789-1815, Marines éditions, Namtes 1998.
  • (in French) Michèle Battesti, La bataille d'Aboukir, 1798: Nelson contrarie la stratégie de Bonaparte, Economica, Paris 1998.

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Brueis d'Aigaïlliers, François Paul.
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