Aristide Aubert du Petit-Thouars (31 August 1760 – 2 August 1798) was a French naval officer, and participant of the humiliating French defeat at the
Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; french: Bataille d'Aboukir) was a major naval battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the Navy of the French Republic at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast off the ...
, where he was killed in action.
Biography
He was born on 31 August 1760, in Boumois Castle, near
Saumur
Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.
The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur statio ...
. He studied at the
Collège Royal de La Flèche, and entered the
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
in 1778. He participated that same year in the
Battle of Ouessant.
He then served in the
Antilles
The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...
, under
Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen
Luc or LUC may refer to:
Places
* Luc, Hautes-Pyrénées, France, a commune
* Luc, Lozère, France, a commune
* Le Luc, France, a commune
* Luč, Baranja, Croatia, a settlement
People and fictional characters
* Luc (given name)
* Luc (surname)
...
, against
George Brydges Rodney
Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB ( bap. 13 February 1718 – 24 May 1792), was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the ...
on the 80-gun . He was at the
Battle of the Saintes.
He was promoted to lieutenant in 1792. He left that year on board the 12-gun brig ''Diligent'', in search of
Jean-François de La Pérouse
Jean-François is a French given name. Notable people bearing the given name include:
* Jean-François Carenco (born 1952), French politician
* Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832), French Egyptologist
* Jean-François Clervoy (born 1958), Fre ...
. In Brazil, he was imprisoned by the Portuguese, but released in 1793. After that he lived for three years in the United States.
Back in France, he was reintegrated—he had become destitute as an aristocrat—and was promoted to captain, commander of the at the
Battle of Aboukir Bay
The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; french: Bataille d'Aboukir) was a major naval battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the Navy of the French First Republic, French Republic at Aboukir Bay on the Medite ...
, where he died on 2 August 1798. During the battle, his men heavily battered , inflicting casualties of 50 killed, including Captain
George Blagdon Westcott
George Blagdon Westcott (Floruit, fl. 24 April 1753 – 1 August 1798) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American Revolutionary War, American Revolutionary and the French Revolutionary Wars, eventually rising to the rank ...
, and 143 wounded. After having lost both legs and an arm, he continued to command from a bucket filled with wheat until he died.
His last order was allegedly to
nail the flag of the ''Tonnant'' to her mizzen-mast and never to surrender the ship.
Aristide Aubert du Petit-Thouars
archivesdefrance.culture.gouv.fr The ''Tonnant'' was eventually captured by the British.
Family
* brother:
** Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars (1758–1831), French botanist
* Their nephew:
** (1769-1829), aide-de-camp to General Vignolle, later deputy prefect of Saint-Malo
* Their grandnephew and Abel Ferdinand Aubert's son:
** Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars (1793–1864), was a French Navy admiral and botanist, took possession of Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...
for France.
* Their great-grandnephew and Abel Ferdinand's grandson (by his daughter Sidonie):
** Abel-Nicolas Bergasse du Petit-Thouars (1832–1890), a French Navy admiral who participated to the Boshin War
The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...
in Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
*** note that Abel-Nicolas Bergasse was Abel Aubert's nephew, but also became his adopted son
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:du Petit-Thouars, Aristide Aubert
1760 births
1798 deaths
Dupetit Thouars family
French Navy officers
French Republican military leaders killed in the French Revolutionary Wars