François Hector d’Albert, comte de Rioms or Rions (19 February 1728,

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

– 2 October 1802, Saint-Auban-sur-l'Ouvèze) 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 ...

, earning a membership in the

Society of Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

Biography

Albert de Rions was born to the family of an Army general. He 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 A ...

on 26 December 1743. He started by escorting convoys in the Caribbean in 1746, and by cruising off Tripoli in 1752. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 15 May 1756. Albert de Rions was taken prisoner by the British at Louisbourg in 1755. Freed in 1757, he was again taken prisoner at the Battle of Cartagena on 28 February 1758. From 1768 he commanded the 20-gun xebec ''Séduisant'', cruising between Toulon and Livorno and taking part in the

French conquest of Corsica The French conquest of Corsica was a successful expedition by French forces of the Kingdom of France under Comte de Vaux, against Corsican forces under Pasquale Paoli of the Corsican Republic. The expedition was launched in May 1768, in the a ...

. He was promoted to Captain on 18 February 1772. In 1778, he commanded the 50-gun ''Sagittaire'' in the squadron under D'Estaing. He took part in the

Battle of Grenada The Battle of Grenada took place on 6 July 1779 during the American Revolutionary War in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy, just off the coast of Grenada. The British fleet of Admiral John Byron (the grandfath ...

on 6 July 1779 and in the naval part of the

Siege of Savannah The siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenan ...

. On 23 September 1779, he captured the 50-gun HMS ''Experiment'', which was subsequently taken into French service. He was promoted to the command of the 74-gun ''Marseillais'', before transferring on ''Pluton''. He took part in 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 ...

on 5 September 1781, the

Battle of Saint 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 ...

on 25 January 1782, and 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 ...

on 12 April 1782. He was promoted to

Chef d'Escadre ''Chef d'escadre'' (; literally "squadron commander") was a rank in the French Navy during the Ancien Régime and until the French Revolution. The rank was changed to '' contre-amiral'' by a law passed on 15 May 1791. History The first chefs ...

on 20 August 1784. From 1 January 1785, he was commander of the Navy in Toulon. The next year, he organised a simulated naval battle with the 74-gun ''Patriote'' for

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

's visit to Cherbourg. In January 1788, he was appointed commander of the naval forces of Toulon. The life of the workers of the arsenal was dire: their pay very low, they were liable find employment only one out of two or three days, and due to the financial crisis they were also often paid only with delay. The bad harvest of 1789 and harsh winter that year compounded the issue by raising prices, and the ensuing misery yielded unrest. Albert de Rions reacted with rigidity and scorn, notably forbidding them to wear

cockade A cockade is a knot of ribbons, or other circular- or oval-shaped symbol of distinctive colours which is usually worn on a hat or cap. Eighteenth century In the 18th and 19th centuries, coloured cockades were used in Europe to show the allegia ...

s. This further alienated the workers, and on 1 December 1789, workers of

Toulon arsenal The military port of Toulon (french: arsenal de Toulon) is the principal base of the French Navy and the largest naval base in the Mediterranean, sited in the city of Toulon. It holds most of France's force d'action navale, comprising the airc ...

rioted and seized him. The National Assembly had him released, and replaced by

Joseph de Flotte Joseph de Flotte d'Argenson ( Saint-Pierre-d'Argençon, 11 March 1734 – Toulon, 10 September 1792) was a French Navy officer. He served in the War of American Independence, earning a membership in the Society of Cincinnati and the Order of ...

. Albert de Rions was appointed commander of the Brest squadron, but failed to restore discipline there too. He was promoted to contre-amiral on 1 January 1792, but abandoned his port to become an

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followi ...

and joined the Armée des Princes. He returned in France in 1801 to retire.

Sources and references

Citations Bibliography * * * * * * * External links * * French Navy admirals Military personnel from Avignon 1802 deaths 1728 births French military personnel of the Seven Years' War French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War French Royalist military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars {{Authority control