Alexandre de Thy was a French Navy officer. He served in the

War of American Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Biography

Thy was born to an aristocratic family. He was cousin to Nicolas-Christiern de Thy de Milly. Thy 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 8 January 1751. He was promoted to ensign in 1755, and Lieutenant on 1 October 1764. He spent most of his career in the Eastern Mediterranean. In 1733, he was made a Knight in the

Order of Saint Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis (french: Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis) is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a rewar ...

. On 13 March 1779, he was promoted to captain. He commanded the

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

''Citoyen'' in the Squadron under De Grasse, and took part in the

Battle of the Saintes The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...

, where he was wounded. He was acquitted in the subsequent inquiry into the battle. On 1 May 1786, he was promoted to

Chef de Division A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitch ...

. The year after, De Thy expressed strong reservations about Buor's treaty of naval tactics.

Sources and references

Notes Citations References * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thy, Alexandre French Navy officers French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War