Amable Gilles Troude (Cherbourg, 1 June 1762 – Brest, 1 February 1824) was a French Navy officer, who served in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Early career

Troude joined the commerce navy in 1776. During the

American Revolutionary War 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 ...

, he joined the Navy, first serving ''Pluton'' in 1779, and the next year on ''Hercule'', both 74s. He 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 ...

, and later served aboard the 28-gun frigate ''

Crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

''. Troude returned to the commerce navy, but the

French revolutionary wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

called him back to active duty. He served on the ''Achille'' and on the ''Éole''. He took part in the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

. Troude attained the rank of

frigate captain Frigate captain is a naval rank in the naval forces of several countries. Corvette captain lies one level below frigate captain. It is usually equivalent to the Commonwealth/US Navy rank of commander. Countries using this rank include Argentin ...

on 21 March 1796Amable TROUDE
/ref> and took command of the ''Bergère''.

Battle of Algeciras

Beau fait d'armes du capitaine Troude 3895

In 1799, he was transferred on the 74-gun ''Tyrannicide'' as second in command. He took part in the Battle of Algeciras on 6 July 1801, and received command of the 80-gun ''Formidable'', whose captain, Landais Lalonde, had been killed in the action. The French fleet departed Algeciras on 12 July, with ''Formidable'' lagging behind due to the damage sustained in the previous battle. She soon found herself isolated, and chased by the frigate HMS ''Thames'' and the ships of the line HMS ''Venerable'' (74), HMS ''Caesar'' (80) and HMS ''Superb'' (74). Facing forces vastly superior combined, but at most equal taken separately, Troude let the 74-gun HMS ''Venerable'' catch on, and battered her with his 80 guns, leaving her dismasted and barely afloat. This forced the rest of the British squadron to abandon the pursuit in order to aid ''Venerable'', allowing ''Formidable'' to escape to

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

. She sailed into the harbour to the acclaim of the population, who had witnessed the fight. Troude was promoted to ''capitaine de vaisseau'' on 14 July 1801 and was received by Bonaparte, who dubbed him "the French Horatius".

Later career

In 1803, Troude took command of the ''Infatigable'', and later of the ''Suffren'' in the Caribbean. In 1805 he participated in Allemand's expedition. In March 1806, aboard the ''Armide'', Troude helped repel an attack led by

Robert Stopford Robert Wright Stopford, (20 February 1901 – 13 August 1976) was a British Anglican bishop. Early life and education Stopford was born in Garston, Merseyside (then in Lancashire), and educated at Coatham School in Redcar and Liverpool Coll ...

Les Sables-d'Olonne Les Sables-d'Olonne (; French meaning: "The Sands of Olonne"; Poitevin: ''Lés Sablles d'Oloune'') is a seaside town in Western France, on the Atlantic Ocean. A subprefecture of the department of Vendée, Pays de la Loire, it has the administ ...

. In April 1809, he led a squadron comprising 3 ships of the line and 2 fluyts to supply French positions in the Caribbean, with his flag on '' Courageux''. Meeting the British blockade off the

Îles des Saintes The Îles des Saintes (; "Islands of the Female Saints"), also known as Les Saintes, is a group of small islands in the archipelago of Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France. It is part of the Canton of Trois-Rivières and is divided in ...

on 15 April, he managed to break through but lost one of his ships of the line. Troude was promoted to ''contre-amiral'' in 1811 and given command of the flotilla based in Cherbourg. On 15 April 1814, following the Bourbon Restoration, he was tasked to ferry

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

from England to Calais, aboard the '' Lys''.

References

* H. Le Marquand, ''Vie Du Contre-Amiral Amable-Gilles Troude, L'Horace Français'', A. Broulet, Brest, 1934. 173 pages. {{DEFAULTSORT:Troude, Amable 1762 births 1824 deaths French Navy admirals French naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars History of Îles des Saintes People from Cherbourg-Octeville French people of the American Revolution Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe