Count Armand Simon Marie Blanquet du Chayla (9 May 1759 – 29 April 1826) was an officer in 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 ...

, most famous as second in command of the French fleet during its defeat at the Battle of the Nile.

Early actions

Du Chayla was born in Marvejols in the

Lozère Lozère (; oc, Losera ) is a landlocked department in the region of Occitanie in Southern France, located near the Massif Central, bounded to the northeast by Haute-Loire, to the east by Ardèche, to the south by Gard, to the west by Aveyron, ...

department in southeast

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. As a young naval officer, he distinguished himself 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 ...

, serving under

Admiral d'Estaing Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing (24 November 1729 – 28 April 1794) was a French general and admiral. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the ...

. He was captured in 1778, and released two years later. He served under Admiral de Grasse aboard the ''Languedoc'' and took part in the Battle of Martinique. Du Chayla also fought at the

Battle of the Chesapeake The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American Revolutionary War that took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 17 ...

and at the

Battle of St. Kitts The Battle of Saint Kitts, also known as the Battle of Frigate Bay, was a naval battle fought on 25 and 26 January 1782 during the American Revolutionary War between a British fleet under Rear Admiral Sir Samuel Hood and a larger French fleet u ...

, and was wounded 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 ...

. After the war, Du Chayla was promoted to ''Lieutenant de vaisseau'', and later to ''capitaine de vaisseau'', obtaining command of the ''Tonnant''. During 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 ...

, he took part in the campaigns on the Italian coasts. In 1793, he was relieved from command because of his nobility, but was soon reinstated. He served as aide to the Minister of the Navy from 1795 to 1797, before being promoted to division commander in 1796, and to contre-amiral soon later.

Battle of the Nile, and aftermath

In 1798, as a rear admiral, Chayla hoisted his flag aboard the ''Franklin'' as second in command of the fleet under Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers during the campaign in Egypt. Chayla fought gallantly during the battle and tried in vain to persuade Brueys to order the fleet to set sail. He was severely wounded in the French defeat, and he and the ''Franklin'' were both captured by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. After his return to France, Chayla was a fierce critic of the tactics of Villeneuve, Decrès and Ganteaume, and resigned in 1803. He was later rehabilitated by Napoléon. He was made a

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

and honorary vice-admiral by

Louis XVIII of France 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 ...

. Chayla died in Versailles on 29 April 1826.

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EPOCHE NAPOLEON
French Navy admirals French sailors 1759 births 1826 deaths French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Knights of the First French Empire {{France-mil-bio-stub