Étienne-François de Cillart de Villeneuve was a French aristocrat and Navy officer, brother to Armand-François Cillart de Surville and

Jean-Marie de Villeneuve Cillart Jean-Marie de Villeneuve Cillart was a French Navy officer. He served in the War of American Independence. Biography Cillart was born in an aristocratic family. His father was captain in a dragoon unit, and two of his brothers, Étienne-Fran ...

Career

Cillart joined the Navy as a

Garde-Marine In France, under the Ancien Régime, the Gardes de la Marine (Guards of the Navy), or Gardes-Marine were young gentlemen undergoing training to be naval officers. The training program was established by Cardinal Richelieu in 1670 and lasted until Ad ...

on 19 March 1756. He was promoted to Ensign on 2 March 1762, to Lieutenant on 1 October 1773, and to Captain on 9 May 1781. In October 1781, Cillart was in command of the frigate ''Bellone'', escorting the transports ''Neker'' and ''Sévère'' off

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

. The squadron encountered the 50-gun HMS ''Hannibal'', which captured the transports and brought them to

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

. ''Bellone'' sailed on to Isle de France and reinforced the French squadron under Rear-Admiral

Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves Jean-Baptiste Barthélémy Thomas, comte d’Orves (1727 — ''Orient'', off Madras,Present-day Chennai 9 February 1782Cunat, p.103 ) was a French Navy officer, who rose to have flag officer rank. Biography Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves was born t ...

. On 9 February 1782, Estienne d'Orves and Suffren assumed command of the squadron. He re-appointed his captains and promoted Cillart to the command of the 64-gun ''Sévère'', while

Jean André de Pas de Beaulieu Jean André de Pas de Beaulieu (Montpellier, 14 January 1750 — Port-Louis, 11 August 1783) was a French Navy officer. Biography During the War of American Independence, Beaulieu served in the Indian Ocean in a squadron under Rear-Admiral Tho ...

took command of ''Bellone''. Cillart commanded ''Sévère'' at the

Battle of Sadras The Battle of Sadras was the first of five largely indecisive naval battles fought between a British fleet (under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes) and a French fleet (under Admiral Pierre Suffren) off the east coast of India during the Anglo-French ...

on 17 February 1782 and at the

Battle of Providien The Battle of Providien was the second in a series of naval battles fought between a British fleet, under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, and a French fleet, under the Bailli de Suffren, off the coast of India during the Anglo-French War. The ...

on 12 April 1782. At the Battle of Negapatam, on 6 July 1782, ''Sévère'' was opposed to HMS ''Sultan''. At the opening of the battle, First Officer Chevalier de la Salle (capitaine de brûlot) was wounded and had to be carried below, and Manoeuver officer De Gênes had a leg shot off. Seeing this, Villeneuve-Cillart panicked and attempted to

struck his colours Striking the colors—meaning lowering the flag (the "Colours, standards and guidons, colors") that signifies a ship's or garrison's allegiance—is a universally recognized indication of surrender (military), surrender, particularly for ships at ...

. Junior officers Dieu and Kerlero de Rosbo refused to accept to surrender and resumed their fire, raking ''Sultan'', and forcing Cillart to rehoist his flag. The day after the battle, HMS ''Rodney'' joined up as

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

with ''Héros'', carrying Captain James Watt of HMS ''Sultan'' with a letter from Hughes demanding that Suffren hand over ''Sévère'' after her surrender. Suffren answered that he was unaware that ''Sévère'' had surrendered and promised to launch an investigation, and also warned that without orders from his government he was not at liberty to give away his ships. In the evening, Suffren was fully appraised of Cillart's conduct, and had him brought on his flagship ''Héros''. He relieved him of duty on the spot and sent him back to Isle de France (

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

) and from there to France, to be

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

ed. Rather to stand trial, Cillart escaped on a neutral ship and went in exile. Suffren also relieved of duty captains Bidé de Maurville of ''Artésien'' and

Forbin Forbin is a French surname. Members of an ancient Provence family (which now has many branches, the principal ones being the ''Forbin des Lasarts'' branch and the ''Forbin Janson'' branch) bearing the name include: * Palamède de Forbin (died 150 ...

of ''Vengeur'', and sent several other officers to Isle de France.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cillart de Villeneuve, Étienne-François French Navy officers