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 s ...

. 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 on the 80-gun . He was at 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 ...

. 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 Republic at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast off the N ...

, 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 Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars (5 November 1758, Bournois – 12 May 1831, Paris) was an eminent French botanist known for his work collecting and describing orchids from the three islands of Madagascar, Mauritius and Réunion. Introd ...

(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 __NOTOC__ Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars (3 August 1793 – 16 March 1864) was a French naval officer important in France's annexation of French Polynesia. Early life He was born at the castle of La Fessardière, near Saumur. His uncle Aristide Aube ...

(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 Austra ...

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 ...

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 n ...

. *** 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