Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers (26 March 1710 – 1792) was a French

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Life

Louis Guillouet d'Orvilliers was born on 26 March 1710 in

Moulins, Allier Moulins (; oc, Molins) is a Communes of France, commune in central France, capital of the Allier Departments of France, department. It is located on the river Allier (river), Allier. Among its many tourist attractions are the Maison Mantin, t ...

. His parents were

Claude Guillouet d'Orvilliers Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etch ...

(), seigneur d'Orvilliers, and Claude de Vict de Pongibaud (–1759). His older brother was

Gilbert Guillouet d'Orvilliers Gilbert Guillouet, seigneur d'Orvilliers ( – 11 May 1764) was a French soldier who was commander of French Guiana from 1730 to 1763, and governor of French Guiana from 1749 to 1763. At the time the colony was struggling for survival, dependent o ...

, ( – 11 May 1764), governor of French Guiana from 1749 to 1763, D'Orvilliers spent most of his childhood in

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...

, capital of the French colony

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

, where his father was governor. In 1723, aged fifteen, he joined the colony's infantry regiment and quickly rose to the rank of Lieutenant. In 1728, he transferred to the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

and, by 1756, had become a captain, commanding one of the ships sent to

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...

under the direction of

La Galissonière LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

. He later took part in action near

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

and 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 ...

and was rewarded with a promotion to rear admiral in 1764.

Franco-American alliance

In 1777, France began assisting the American colonies in their fight for independence from

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. D'Orvilliers was appointed Vice Admiral (Lieutenant-General of the Navy) and prepared to engage 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 F ...

in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

Combat d'Ouessant juillet 1778 par Theodore Gudin

His greatest success came in July 1778 during the

First Battle of Ushant The Battle of Ushant (also called the First Battle of Ushant) took place on 27 July 1778, and was fought during the American Revolutionary War between French and British fleets west of Ushant, an island at the mouth of the English Channel off ...

, when his fleet managed to fend off an attack from a similarly-sized

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

fleet led by Admiral Augustus Keppel. The following year, however, he led an unsuccessful attempt to raid the English ports of

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and

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. Although the weather and crew sickness played a part, he was censured for not making better use of the forces under his command. As a consequence, he resigned his command. The death of his wife in 1783 affected d'Orvilliers greatly and he withdrew to the Saint-Magloire

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He later returned to the town of his birth, Moulins, where he died in 1792. The name "Guillouet" comes from the Breton language, a form of Celtic, and means "Man from the wood".

Descendents

The admiral encouraged his grandson,

Hugues Duroy de Chaumareys Hugues Duroy de Chaumareys, (born December 20 1763, in Vars-sur-Roseix, died 23 November 1841 at Bussière-Boffy) was a French naval officer, the "incompetent and complacent" captain of the frigate La Méduse when it ran aground off the coast ...

, to enter Naval service. He did not live to witness the court-martial, disgrace and label of "incompetent and complacent" that was triggered by the sinking of the frigate

French frigate Méduse (1810) ''Méduse'' was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1810. She took part in the Napoleonic Wars during the late stages of the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 and in raids in the Caribbean. In 1816, following the Bourbon Restor ...

and loss of circa 150 lives, plus the notoriety of the painting by

Théodore Géricault Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French painter and lithographer, whose best-known painting is ''The Raft of the Medusa''. Although he died young, he was one of the pioneers of the Romantic ...

of the shipwreck scene ''

The Raft of the Medusa ''The Raft of the Medusa'' (french: Le Radeau de la Méduse ) – originally titled ''Scène de Naufrage'' (''Shipwreck Scene'') – is an oil painting of 1818–19 by the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault (1791� ...

'' which hangs in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

.The Wreck of the Medusa by Jonathan Miles

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orvilliers, Louis Guillouet, Comte D 1710 births 1792 deaths Military personnel from Moulins, Allier French Navy admirals French people of the American Revolution