Joseph Jacques François de Martelly Chautard (

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, 1734 —

Ollioules Ollioules (; oc, Oliulas) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a western suburb of Toulon. Population Notable people * Christophe Castaner (born 1966), lawyer and politici ...

1810) 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 ...

Biography

Martelly-Chautard was born to the family of Victoire de Villeneuve des Arcs and of Louis-Antoine de Martelly de Chautard, an official of Toulon. 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 Ad ...

on 6 July 1750. In 1755, he was promoted to Ensign. In 1756, he was made an artillery sub-lieutenant, and rose to lieutenant in 1760. He was promoted to Lieutenant de Vaisseau on 1 October 1764. In 1767, he commanded a company training gunners. In 1770, he was given command of the

bomb ship A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons ( long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounted ...

''Etna''. He took part in a raid against

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, where he earned the

Order of Saint Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis (french: Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis) is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a rewar ...

, awarded to him in 1771. In 1773, he captained ''Éclair''. In 1774, Chautard married Albertine Thierry de Ville d'Avray. In 1777, he was given command of the light frigate ''Pléïade'' for a mission to Algiers. On 4 April 1777, Martelly-Chautard was promoted to

Capitaine de Vaisseau Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide includ ...

. He was given command of the 50-gun ''Experiment'' and on 1 May 1780, he departed Marseille, escorting 33 merchantmen to Saint-Pierre de la Martinique. He arrived on 16 June and joined a squadron under Bouillé. He then took part in the

Invasion of Tobago The Invasion of Tobago was a French invasion of the British-held island of Tobago during the Anglo-French War. On May 24, 1781, the fleet of Comte de Grasse landed troops on the island under the command of General Marquis de Bouillé. By June 2, ...

in June 1781. He then sailed North to join with a division stationed off

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

and York River to secure communications channels between Grasse's squadron and Saint-Simon's expeditionary corps, along with ''Glorieux'', ''Triton'' and ''Vaillant'', and the frigates ''Andromaque'' and ''Diligente''. On 14 December 1781, Martelly-Chautard was promoted to the command of 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 ...

''Palmier'', and was made commanding officer of the station at

Saint Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the islan ...

. He took part 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. Oh her return to France, ''Palmier'' was lost in a storm on 24 October 1782. Martelly Chautard was acquitted by the subsequent

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

. On 16 August 1784, Martelly-Chautard was admitted in the

Society of the 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 ...

. In October 1784, he was promoted to Brigadier and retired. At the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, Martelly-Chautard was made President of the Toulon district, keepin the position until 31 July 1792. He then went to Paris as an envoy to the National Legislative Assembly. He was also in the

Garde nationale The National Guard (french: link=no, Garde nationale) is a French military, gendarmerie, and police reserve force, active in its current form since 2016 but originally founded in 1789 during the French Revolution. For most of its history the ...

from 1 December 1792 to 10 May 1793. On 25 June 1800, First Consul

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

appointed him Mayor of Toulon. From 1802 to 1806, he was

General Council General council may refer to: In education: * General Council (Scottish university), an advisory body to each of the ancient universities of Scotland * General Council of the University of St Andrews, the corporate body of all graduates and senio ...

for

Var Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran * Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...

Sources and references

Notes Citations References * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martelly Chautard, Joseph Jacques François de French Navy officers French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War 1734 births 1810 deaths