Louis-René Levassor de Latouche Tréville
Louis-René Madelaine Le Vassor comte de La Touche-Tréville | |
---|---|
Service/ | French Navy |
Years of service | 1758 — 1804 |
Rank | admiral |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | Commander of the Legion of Honour Name inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe |
Relations | Son to Louis-Charles Le Vassor de La Touche Nephew to Charles-Auguste Levassor de La Touche-Tréville |
Louis-René Madelaine Le Vassor, comte de La Touche-Tréville
Born into a noble family of naval officers, Latouche enlisted at the age of 13. He rose to become a competent frigate captain, battling several British ships during the
During the Revolution, Latouche, a
Returned to the Navy after a long period of unemployment, Latouche took command of the
Career
Latouche was born in
Early career
At the age of 13, Latouche joined the
After the
In September 1768, aged 23, he was promoted to ensign. Perhaps under pressure from his family, who hoped for quicker promotions,
In 1772, Navy Minister Boynes acceded to repeated requests from Latouche's family,[9] and he was reinstated in the Navy as "capitaine de brûlot".[1] Latouche was appointed to command the fluyt Courtier.[9] In 1774, Latouche put forward a proposition to the Ministry Navy for an exploratory expedition to circumnavigate Australia to see whether New Holland and New South Wales were separated by a channel; the plan was rejected, as the Ministry preferred using Île de France as the forward base for such an operation.[11] Latouche corresponded with Captain Cook on exploration plans in 1775 and 1776.[12]
Service on Hermione and the American War of Independence
In May 1777, he was promoted to lieutenant and was given command of the 20-gun corvette Rossignol,[1] which escorted convoys and ferried messages.[7] He captured two English privateers and three merchantmen.[1][9] His prizes saw him appointed Knight of the Order of Saint-Louis.[1][7] He was appointed commander of the 26-gun frigate Hermione.[7]
On 28 May 1779, Hermione spotted a British privateer, which she lured into a trap by feigning fleeing in the night. In order to induce a tiring chase, Latouche let his ship's beacon be glimpsed intermittently, before doubling back to attack his opponent in the morning. The privateer was the 18-gun Diffidence, of Falmouth.[13] The next day, another 18-gun privateer attacked and Latouche captured her too, using the same ruse.[13][Note 1] Latouche then returned to Rochefort with his two prizes and numerous prisoners.[13]
From 21 March to 28 April 1780,[14] Latouche carried General Lafayette as a passenger on a transatlantic voyage from France to Boston.[1][13] Then, joining the fleet under Rear-Admiral Destouches, and under orders from Barras and Ternay,[9] he directed the building of several artillery batteries for the defence of Rhode Island.[13]
After he had completed the batteries, Latouche was allowed to cruise off Long Island and intercept shipping to New York City.[13] He quickly captured two prizes, before spotting four sails on 7 June 1780: these were the frigate Iris and three lesser warships.[13] In the ensuing Action of 7 June 1780, Latouche was himself shot in the arm by a musket ball,[1] and Hermione suffered ten deaths and 37 wounded.[15][Note 2] His opponent, Captain James Hawker, later accused him of fleeing the scene, to which Latouche replied "In my poor state, I could not pursue you. Why then did you not continue the fight?"[Note 3]
On 16 March, Latouche-Tréville participated in the Battle of Cape Henry, which took place at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay.[16] This action has led to a commonly repeated, but erroneous, report that Latouche-Tréville engaged in a "battle against the Chesapeake (March 1781)".[Note 4]
On 13 April 1781, Latouche's father, Louis-Charles Le Vassor de La Touche, died in Paris. Latouche inherited his title, and thereafter was styled "Comte de Latouche".[17]
He then continued cruising off the coast of North America as part of a squadron under the command of Admiral Lapérouse, whose flagship was Astrée.[1]
On 21 July, the two frigates encountered a British convoy off the coast of
Service on Aigle
After returning to France, Latouche was promoted to captain on 20 June 1781.[18][Note 5] In 1782, he was tasked with ferrying officials, large sums of money[20][Note 6] and equipment to America, leading a two-frigate squadron comprising Aigle and Gloire, under Captain de Vallongue.[18]
Latouche assumed command of the frigate
Capture
The frigates continued on their journey when, on 12 September, they spotted a British squadron, comprising two ships of the line with a frigate, two corvettes and a
Despite the measures to disable Aigle, the British were able to recover her and took her into service as HMS Aigle.Admiral Vaudreuil wrote to the Minister of the Navy Castrie:
Mister de la Touche deserves your reprimand; he had on board with him a kept woman with whom he lived; the English, having captured her, have returned her to him as though she was his wife. This is known and cannot but make a bad impression in a country with good morals.[23][Note 7]
Latouche was taken as a prisoner to New York, and transferred from there to England.[17] He remained a prisoner until the Treaty of Paris in 1783.[2]
Service in France during the Revolution
Upon Latouche's return in France, he was appointed to direct Rochefort harbour.
His uncle, Charles-Auguste Levassor de La Touche-Tréville, died in 1788 and bequeathed him his name; henceforth, Latouche added "Tréville" to his name, becoming the "comte de Latouche-Tréville".[17]
At the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789, Latouche-Tréville was elected deputy of the Nobility[2] for the bailiwick of Montargis; he went on to sit at the National Constituent Assembly and held this position until it adjourned on 10 October 1791.[17] Latouche took a liberal posture and was among the first nobles to join forces with the Third Estate.[2] In September 1791, after king Louis XVI approved the new constitution, the National Constituent Assembly disbanded, and Latouche-Tréville resumed his naval activities.
Latouche had held the rank of rear-admiral since 20 December 1790 reform of the navy.
Latouche-Tréville was promoted to rear-admiral on 1 January 1793.
In March 1793, amid the War of the First Coalition, Latouche took command of the "Naval Army of the Ocean" (the Brest fleet), but as soon as he took up his position, revolutionary subordinates denounced him as an aristocrat. On 15 September,[26] at the height of the Reign of Terror, he was arrested as a "suspect" on orders of the Committee of Public Safety,[26] and cashiered on 3 October.[2][27] He spent one year in La Force Prison,[26] and was freed only on 20 September 1794,[26] after the Thermidorian Reaction.
Freed, Latouche returned to Montargis, where he was appointed chief of the Legion of the National Guard for the district.[26] A Freemason, he rose to Vénérable in the Lodge Les Disciples d’Heredom et de la Madeleine Réunis, of Montargis.[28] Latouche was rehabilitated under the Directoire and had his rank reinstated in December 1795,[2] but nonetheless was left for five years without a command in the Navy.[2] From 1797 to 1798, he managed equipment for the Navy with a ship-owner friend, and by 1799 he had grown so desperate that he advertised in Le Moniteur Universel for privateer captainships.[29] It was not until 1799 that he returned to active duty.[26]
Service at the Flottille de Boulogne
In 1799, Latouche was appointed to lead a naval division in Brest, with his mark on the 74-gun
Soon after, advised by Navy minister
Service at Saint-Domingue
During the
With
Service as commander of the fleet of Toulon
Latouche-Tréville was made a vice-admiral in December 1803. Returned to France, he was appointed general inspector of the coasts of the Mediterranean, before taking command of the fleet of Toulon,[32] with his flag on the brand-new 80-gun Bucentaure.[34] At the time, the squadron counted only seven ships of the line and four frigates, and discipline was much weakened;[32] in particular, Navy officers slept aboard their ships only when forced to do so by their duty.[32] Latouche-Tréville made a point to live on his ship, and morale quickly improved under his example and leadership.[32]
Latouche-Tréville decided to have one ship or frigate patrol for three days outside the harbour, in rotation, while another would always be ready to put to sail at the first signal.[35] Furthermore, the entire squadron regularly scrambled to support the cruisers whenever superior British forces ventured into Toulon harbour, preventing the British from conducting useful reconnaissance of French activities in the area.[35] Over the time, the squadron received three more ships of the line and three more frigates as reinforcements.[35]
In late June 1804, Latouche-Tréville suffered a relapse of a medical condition contracted at Saint-Domingue.[Note 9] However, he constantly refused to transfer ashore, stating "An admiral is only too glad when he can die under the flag of his ship."[Note 10][35] Indeed, after a 10-day struggle, on 19 August, Latouche-Tréville died aboard Bucentaure.[35] Lord Nelson later wrote:
The French papers say he died of walking so often up to the signal-post to watch us: I always pronounced that would be his death.[36]
Legacy
Latouche-Tréville was buried in Toulon graveyard. In 1810, a seven-metre-high pyramidal mausoleum was built at the Sémaphore de la Croix des Signaux, at Cape Cépet, from where Latouche-Tréville had observed the British in his last year.[37] On 14 October 1902, military authorities decided to move the mausoleum[Note 11] to the military graveyard of Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer; the body was transferred on 29 April 1903.[38]
French authors and historians often compared Latouche-Tréville to Nelson, partly because he fought and defeated him in the
The name Latouche was inscribed on the north face of the Arc de Triomphe in his honour.[40]
Three ships of the
-
The steam 2nd-class aviso Renard, similar to Latouche-Tréville (1860-1886)
-
The armoured cruiser Latouche-Tréville
-
TheLatouche-Tréville
Notes
- ^ Guérin (p.431) indicates that her name signified Resolution of the Ladies of London, possibly meaning Ladies' Resolution, of London.
- ^ In his biography of Latouche-Tréville, Hennequin (vol.2, p.108) gives a figure of 37 killed and 53 wounded. The figure of ten killed and 37 wounded comes from a lettre of Latouche-Tréville himself to his opponent, Captain James Hawker, quoted by Troude (vol.2, p.80).
- ^ "Délabré comme je l'étais, je ne pouvais vous poursuivre. Pourquoi dès lors n'avez-vous pas continué le combat?" Quoted in Levot, p.295
- ^ The error traces back to George Six's Dictionnaire Biographique des Généraux et Amiraux Français de la Révolution et de l'Empire 1792–1814 (1934). This is the usual source for the misattribution. For example, see: Granier, p.233
- ^ Latouche learned of his promotion in September, when Engageante arrived in America carrying the news. [19]
- 74-gunships of the line, for instance.
- ^ "Monsieur de La Touche mérite que vous lui fassiez une réprimande; il avait dans un bâtiment à sa suite, une créature avec laquelle il vit; les Anglais l'ayant prise la lui ont renvoyée comme sa femme. Cela s'est su et ne peut faire qu'un mauvais effet dans un pays aux bonnes mœurs."
- ^ Latouche-Tréville was not, however, the author of two treatises, one on political economy and the other on agriculture; the author of those works was probably Jacques Antoine Creuzé-Latouche. See Levot, p.298.
- ^ Hennequin (Biographie maritime, vol.2, p.112), Levot (Gloires maritimes de la France, p.297), Guérin (Marins illustres, p.629) and Taillemite (Dictionnaire des marins français, p.310) are all vague as to what exact medical condition is involved. Hennequin is the most precise on this question, stating that "around the last days of July, the symptoms of the disease that had required his return from Saint-Domingue to Europe became very obvious, and soon took an alarming turn." ("Vers les derniers jours du mois de juillet, les symptômes de la maladie qui avait nécessité son retour de Saint-Domingue en Europe se déclarèrent vivement, et bientôt elle prit un caractère alarment."). Levot states that Latouche "succumbed on Bucentaure to the consequences of the disease he had contracted at Saint-Domingue" ("Le 19 août 1804, il succombait sur le Bucentaure aux suites de la maladie qu'il avait contractée à Saint-Domingue").
- ^ "Un amiral est trop heureux lorsqu'il peut mourir sous le pavillon de son vaisseau." Quote in Hennequin, p.112
- ^ Allegedly, because they saw the mausoleum as a potential daymark for an enemy fleet. Emmanuel Davin, Les amis du vieux Toulon; quoted in Granier, p.249.
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Levot, p.295
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Levot, p. 296
- ^ Guérin, Les Marins illustres, p.429
- ^ Guérin, Les Marins illustres, p.426
- ^ Granier, p.232
- ^ a b Guérin, Les Marins illustres, p.428
- ^ a b c d e f g Guérin, Les Marins illustres, p.430
- ^ a b c Hennequin, p.107
- ^ a b c d e Hennequin, p.108
- ^ Granier, p.233
- ^ Day, pp.129-130
- ^ Lynn, p.272
- ^ a b c d e f g Guérin, Les Marins illustres, p.431
- ^ Roche, p.241
- ^ Troude, vol.2, p.80.
- ^ Taillemite, p.310
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guérin, Les Marins illustres, p.436
- ^ a b c d e f Guérin, Les Marins illustres, p.433
- ^ Monaque (2000), p. 71.
- ^ a b Hennequin, p.109
- ^ a b c d e f Guérin, Les Marins illustres, p.435
- ^ "No. 12388". The London Gazette. 12 November 1782. pp. 3–4.
- ^ Granier, p.234
- ^ a b c Hennequin, p.110
- ^ a b c d Granier, p.235
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Guérin, Les Marins illustres, p.437
- ^ Guérin, Histoire maritime de France, p.458
- ^ Van Hille, Jean-Marc (2011). Dictionnaire des marins francs-maçons, Gens de mer et professions connexes aux XVIIIe, XIXe et XXe siècles. L'Harmattan. p. 305.
- ^ Granier, p.236
- ^ Farrère, p.298
- ^ Granier, p.244
- ^ a b c d e f Hennequin, p.111
- ^ a b c d e Granier, p.246
- ^ Guérin, Les Marins illustres, p.438
- ^ a b c d e Hennequin, p.112
- ^ Bradford, last page of chapter 32.
- ^ Granier, p.248
- ^ "ville-saintmandrier.fr". Archived from the original on 16 April 2009.
- ISBN 2-901952-36-4
- ^ Thierry, J.; Coulon, G. (1838). Notice historique sur l'Arc de Triomphe et l'Étoile (in French). Paris: Rosselin. p. 24. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
References
- ISBN 0-333-18561-7.
- Day, Alan (2009). The A to Z of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810868106.
- Farrère, Claude (1956). Histoire de la Marine française (in French). Paris: Flammarion.
- Guérin, Léon (1845). Les marins illustres de la France (in French). Belin-Leprieur et Morizot.
- Guérin, Léon (1857). Histoire maritime de France (in French). Vol. 5. Dufour et Mulat.
- Hennequin, Joseph François Gabriel (1835). Biographie maritime ou notices historiques sur la vie et les campagnes des marins célèbres français et étrangers (in French). Vol. 2. Paris: Regnault éditeur.
- Levot, Prosper (1866). Les gloires maritimes de la France: notices biographiques sur les plus célèbres marins (in French). Bertrand.
- Lynn, Frank M. (2011). Captain Cook, Master of the Seas. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300184310.
- Monaque, Rémi (2000). Les aventures de Louis-René de Latouche-Tréville, compagnon de La Fayette et commandant de l'Hermione (in French). Paris: SPM.
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. OCLC 165892922.
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 2. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. OCLC 165892922.
- Taillemite, Étienne (2002). Dictionnaire des Marins français. Tallandier. ISBN 2-84734-008-4.