Louis Antoine de Bougainville
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Louis Antoine de Bougainville | |
---|---|
Born | 12 November 1729 Paris, France |
Died | 31 August 1811 Paris, France | (aged 81)
Allegiance | Kingdom of France |
Service/ | French Navy |
Relations | Hyacinthe de Bougainville (son) |
Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (/ˈbuːɡənvɪl/, US also /ˌbuːɡæ̃ˈviːl/, French: [lwi ɑ̃twan də buɡɛ̃vil]; 12 November 1729 – 31 August 1811)[1][2] was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he took part in the Seven Years' War in North America and the American Revolutionary War against Britain. Bougainville later gained fame for his expeditions, including a circumnavigation of the globe in a scientific expedition in 1763, the first recorded settlement on the Falkland Islands, and voyages into the Pacific Ocean. Bougainville Island of Papua New Guinea as well as the Bougainvillea flower are named after him.
Biography
Early career
Bougainville was born in Paris, the capital of the Kingdom of France, the son of notary Pierre-Yves de Bougainville (1688–1756), on 12 November 1729. In early life, he studied law, but soon abandoned the profession.[citation needed]
In 1753, he entered the
In 1755 he was sent to England as secretary to the French embassy in London, where he was made a member of the Royal Society.[citation needed]
Seven Years' War (French and Indian War)
In 1756 Bougainville was stationed in Canada as captain of dragoons and
During the pivotal year of 1759 (see Seven Years' War and French and Indian War), Bougainville participated in the defence of fortified Quebec, the capital of New France. With a small elite troop under his command, among which were the Grenadiers and the Volontaires à cheval, he patrolled the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, upstream from the city; he prevented the British several times from landing and cutting communications with Montreal. He did not have sufficient time, however, to rally his troops and attack the British rear when they successfully ascended the Plains of Abraham and attacked Quebec on 13 September.
Following the death of the Marquis de Montcalm and the fall of Québec on 18 September 1759 – after the colonel's aborted attempt to resupply
Shipped back to Europe along with the other French officers, all deprived of military honours by the victors, Bougainville was prohibited by the terms of surrender from any further active duty against the British. He spent the remaining years of the Seven Years' War (1761 to 1763) as a diplomat, helping to negotiate the Treaty of Paris. Under this France ceded most of New France east of the Mississippi River to the British Empire.
Îles Malouines settlement
After the peace, the French decided to colonise the "Îles Malouines" (Falkland Islands). These islands were at that time almost unknown. At his own expense, Bougainville undertook the task of resettling Acadians who had been deported to France by the British because of their refusal to sign loyalty oaths.
On 15 September 1763, Bougainville set out from France with the frigate L'Aigle (Eagle) (captained by Nicolas Pierre Duclos-Guyot) and the sloop Le Sphinz (Sphinx) (captained by François Chenard de la Giraudais).[4] This expedition included the naturalist and writer Antoine-Joseph Pernety (known as Dom Pernety), the priest and chronicler accompanying the expedition, together with the engineer and geographer Lhuillier de la Serre.[5]
The expedition arrived in late January 1764 in French Bay (later renamed Berkeley Sound). They landed at
Although the French colony did not number more than 150 people, for financial motivations (Bougainville having paid for the expeditions) and diplomatic reasons (Spain feared that the Falklands would become a rear base to attack her Peruvian gold), Bougainville was ordered by the French government to dismantle his colony and sell it to the Spanish. Bougainville received 200,000 francs in Paris and an additional 500,000 francs in Buenos Aires. Spain agreed to maintain the colony in Port Louis, thus preventing Britain from claiming title to the islands.[4] Spain had claimed dominion before the French settlement in association with its colonies on the mainland. On 31 January 1767 at Río de la Plata, Bougainville met Don Felipe Ruiz Puente, commanding the frigate La Esmeralda and La Liebre ("the Hare") and future governor of Islas Malvinas, to transfer possession and evacuate the French population.
Bougainville wrote:
It was not before 1766, that the English sent a colony to settle in Port de la Croisade, which they had named Port Egmont; and captain Macbride, of the Jason frigate, came to our settlement the same year, in the beginning of December. He pretended that these parts belonged to his Britannic majesty, threatened to land by force, if he should be any longer refused that liberty, visited the governor, and sailed away again the same day.[6]
In 1766, Bougainville received from
Bougainville left
Tahiti
He saw islands of the
His expedition left Tahiti and sailed westward to southern
who had preceded Bougainville in discovering Tahiti.Return to France
On 16 March 1769 the expedition completed its circumnavigation and arrived at
Bougainville brought to France a Tahitian named
Voyage autour du monde
In 1771, Bougainville published his travel log from the expedition under the title Le voyage autour du monde, par la frégate La Boudeuse, et la flûte L'Étoile (a.k.a. Voyage autour du monde and A Voyage Around the World). The book describes the geography, biology and anthropology of Argentina (then a Spanish colony), Patagonia, Tahiti and Indonesia (then a Dutch colony). The book was a sensation, especially the description of Tahitian society. Bougainville described it as an earthly paradise where men and women lived in blissful innocence, far from the corruption of civilisation.
Bougainville's descriptions powerfully expressed the concept of the
American Revolutionary War
After several years of absence, Bougainville again accepted a naval command. In 1777, he was captain of the
At the
After Peace of Paris in 1783, Bougainville returned to Paris. He obtained the place of associate of the Académie de Marine. He proposed a voyage of discovery to the North Pole, but did not gain the support of the French government.
Promotion and retirement
In 1787, he became a member of the French Academy of Sciences. He obtained the rank of vice-admiral in 1791.
In 1794, having escaped from the
Legacy and honours
- Mallicollo and Espiritu Santo islands of the New Hebrides group. In the Falklands, Port Louis, and "Isla Bougainville" (Lively Island's Spanish name) commemorate him.
- The genus of South American climbing shrubs with colourful bracts, Bougainvillea, is named after him.
- 1804, he was made a Grand Officier de la Légion d'honneur in 1804.
- 1808, Napoleon gave him the title of count (the Comte de Bougainville).
- Thirteen ships of the French Navy have been named in his honour, see French ship Bougainville.
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Tomb of Louis Antoine de Bougainville, at the Panthéon in Paris
-
circumnavigator, was the son of Louis Antoine de Bougainville
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Posthumous bust of Bougainville, made in 1831 by Bosio Astyanax Scevola
Notes and references
Notes
References
- ^ Taillemite, Étienne (2003) [1983]. "BOUGAINVILLE, LOUIS-ANTOINE DE, Comte de BOUGAINVILLE". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. V (1801–1820) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ISBN 9781851097449. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- ^ Cave, p.11
- ^ ISBN 90-411-1534-X.
- ^ a b Essential Oceanic Expeditions from the beginning of Zoological binominal nomenclature until the 1950s. Archived 31 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine; accessed : 1 November 2010
- ^ Bougainville, Louis Antoine de (1772) [1771]. Voyage autour du monde [A Voyage Round the World Performed by Order of His Most Christian Majesty In the Year 1766, 1767, 1768, and 1769]. Translated by Foster, John Reinhold. London: J. Nourse. p. 32.
- ^ ISBN 9780520261143.
- ^ Roche (2005), p. 74, volume 1.
Bibliography
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 74. OCLC 165892922.
- Waggaman, Béatrice Élisabeth (1992). Le Voyage autour du monde de Bougainville: droit et imaginaire. Nancy: Presses universitaires de Nancy.
- Cave, Alfred A. (2004). The French and Indian War. New York: Greenwood Press.
- Dunmore, John (2007). Storms and Dreams: The Life of Louis de Bougainville. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press.ISBN 9781602230019.
- Louis-Antoine de Bougainville." French and Indian War. HighBeam Research. 2003. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018.
External links
- Works by Louis Antoine de Bougainville at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Louis Antoine de Bougainville at Internet Archive
- Louis Antoine de Bougainville: "Voyage around the world 1766–1769", London 1772 (A transcription of the translation of "Le voyage autour du monde, par la frégate La Boudeuse, et la flûte L'Étoile" into English by John Reinhold Forster)
- From the Warpath to the Plains of Abraham (Virtual exhibition)
- Louis-Antoine de Bougainville: Eighteenth Century French Sailor, Soldier, Statesman, Mathematician and leader of a Voyage around the world
- Gallica Digital Version Plates
- (in French) Voyage autour du monde, audio version
- (in French) Archives of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (Fonds Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, R6491) are held at Library and Archives Canada. The fonds consists of original records, photocopies and transcriptions.