Jean-Anne Christy de la Pallière, also written "Christy-Pallière", (18 September 1755 – 29 July 1829) was a French Naval officer.

Biography

Born in

Dinan Dinan (; ) is a walled Breton town and a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in northwestern France. On 1 January 2018, the former commune of Léhon was merged into Dinan. Geography Its geographical setting is exceptional. Instead of n ...

, Côtes-du-Nord, to

Jean Baptiste Christy de La Pallière Jean Baptiste Christy de La Pallière (6 May 1719, in Saint-Malo – 8 September 1787, in Inzinzac-Lochrist) was a French Navy officer. He notably he captained the 74-gun ''Orient'' at the Battle of Sadras on 17 February 1782, at the Battle of ...

, a captain of the

French East India Company The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in the ...

, Christy-Pallière began his sailing career in 1773, as an apprentice on an

East Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

. He was ensign in 1774 and voyaged to China and to India in 1776-1777. On 8 May 1778, Christy-Pallière joined the

French Royal 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 ...

, serving as a Frigate Lieutenant aboard the frigate and taking part in the Battle of Ushant. In February 1779, he was promoted to Ensign, and appointed to the 64-gun ''Sévère'', under his own father. La Pallière followed his father on the

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

''Orient'' when he was promoted to that command. On ''Orient'', he took part in the

Battle of Sadras The Battle of Sadras was the first of five largely indecisive naval battles fought between a British fleet (under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes) and a French fleet (under Admiral Pierre Suffren) off the east coast of India during the Anglo-French ...

on 17 February 1782, in the

Battle of Providien The Battle of Providien was the second in a series of naval battles fought between a British fleet, under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, and a French fleet, under the Bailli de Suffren, off the coast of India during the Anglo-French War. The ...

on 12 April 1782, in the Battle of Negapatam on 6 July 1782 and in the

Battle of Trincomalee A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

from 25 August to 3 September 1782. On 8 September 1782, ''Orient'' ran aground at Pointe de Sale, near

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

, while La Pallière was on watch. She became a total loss. Ensign La Pallière consequently was dismissed from the Navy. On 1 March 1793, Christy-Pallière was reinstated into the Navy and promoted to Captain. He took command of the , and later of the ''Scévola''. In January 1794, as a nobleman, Christy-Pallière was removed from duty, but reinstated in November. From the ship '' Dix-août'', he commanded a frigate division, and later captained the ship '' Convention''. In 1799, he was general adjutant of the , supervising the general staff of Admiral Bruix during the expedition to the Mediterranean. He then went on to command the 74-gun ship , which was renamed ''Desaix'' in 1801. On 3 July 1801, ''Desaix'' captured , captained by Lord Cochrane; brought aboard, Cochrane handed over his sword, which Christy-Pallière refused in recognition of Cochrane's achievements. Christy-Pallière took part in the ensuing Battle of Algeciras Bay. In 1803, Christy-Pallière was put in charge of the military harbour of Brest. From 1805 to 1815, he commanded the harbour of Toulon. He also periodically relieved the ''

préfet maritime A maritime prefect ( French: ''Préfet maritime'') is a servant of the French State who exercises authority over the sea in a particular region under French jurisdiction, known as a maritime arrondissement (''Arrondissement maritime''). His admini ...

'', Jean-Marthe-Adrien l'Hermite, who was often too ill to serve. Christy-Pallière was retired on 31 December 1815, was reinstated in March 1816, and retired again at the Bourbon Restoration in July 1816, with the honorary rank of '' contre-amiral''. He died in Toulon in 1829.

Honours

Officer of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

* Knight of the Order of Saint Louis

In popular culture

Christy-Pallière is a recurring character in the Aubrey-Maturin series by

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...

. Some of the exploits of the hero of the books, Jack Aubrey, are closely modelled on

Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Marquess of Maranhão (14 December 1775 – 31 October 1860), styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a British naval flag officer of the Royal Navy, mercenary and Radical politician. He was a ...

in the first book ''

Master and Commander ''Master and Commander'' is a 1969 nautical historical novel by the English author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1969 in the US and 1970 in the UK. The book proved to be the start of the 20-novel Aubrey–Maturin series, set largely in th ...

'' and he encounters Christy-Pallière in similar circumstances when his ship, the ''Sophie'' is captured. Christy-Pallière appears again in later books in the series.

Sources and references

Notes References Bibliography * * * * (1671-1870) {{DEFAULTSORT:Christy De La Palliere, Jean-Anne 1755 births 1829 deaths People from Dinan French Navy admirals Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Knights of the Order of Saint Louis French naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars