Charles René Dominique Sochet, Chevalier Destouches, also often spelled Des Touches, (; 7 October 1727 – 23 December 1793) was a

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 chef ...

in the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. He is most widely known for his participation in the War of American Independence, where he saw action in the Battle of Cape Henry in 1781 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 ...

in 1782.

Biography

Destouches was born in

Luçon Luçon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Vendée Departments of France, department, Pays de la Loire Regions of France, region, western France. Its inhabitants are known as Luçonnais. Luçon Cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Luço ...

, in

Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

, and by 1767 was a Captain. In 1770 he married a young woman from Luçon; they had a son, Adrien, in 1772. His wife died while he was away at sea. After France entered the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

1778, Destouches commanded 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 ...

''Neptune'', part of a fleet led by the Comte de Grasse that eventually occupied

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

. In 1781, now a

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

and in command of the Newport fleet, he led an attempt to deliver troops to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

to oppose those of the British general

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold (#Brandt, Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American-born British military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of ...

, who was engaged in the raids against economic and military targets there. This effort failed when he encountered the fleet of Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot in the Battle of Cape Henry, and drew away after several of his ships sustained significant damage. He served in 1782 under de Grasse in the

, a decisive naval victory for the British in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

in which de Grasse was captured. Returning to France after the war, Destouches married again in 1785, to Aimée-Prudence-Geneviève de Racodet. He was promoted to

in 1788, having spent 46 years at sea. When the French Revolution broke out, Destouches sided with the Royalists, and was drawn into counter-revolutionary activities in the Vendée in 1793. Briefly imprisoned, he was released by Royalist supporters, and he served as an advisor in the Battle of Savenay. He died during the winter in late 1793.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Destouches, Charles Rene Dominique Sochet 1727 births 1794 deaths People from Luçon French Navy admirals French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royalist military leaders of the War in the Vendée