Jean-François Lemaresquier

Jean-François Lemaresquier (; Heugueville-sur-Sienne, 4 March 1767Battle of Tamatave, 18 May 1811) was a French naval officer.

Career

Commanding ''Teazer''

In 1806, Lemaresquier commanded the 14-gun brig ''Teazer'',Captured from the Royal Navy in 1805 and brought into French service. stationed at the entrance of the Gironde estuary at Le Verdon-sur-Mer. On 15 July, at 1:30 in the morning, twelve boats from the British blockade slipped into the estuary and boarded the 16-gun ''César'', anchored nearby, capturing her without a fight. Lemaresquier, however, alerted his crew who repelled the British boats with small-arms fire. The next morning, ''César'' sailed away, to the surprise of Lemaresquier, who thought that she too had repelled the British; ''Teazer'' gave chased, but ''César'' was too quick and escaped after an exchange of fire that wounded Lemaresquier.

Commanding ''Diligente''

On 11 August 1808, Lemaresquier commanded the 20-gun corvette ''Diligente'', which sailed with the corvettes ''Sylphe'' and ''Espiègle'' from France with supplies for the island of Martinique. The 26-gun HMS ''Comet'', under Featherstone Daly, chased the French squadron through the Bay of Biscay. The squadron changed course to avoid the stronger British corvette, which focused her attention on ''Sylphe'', the weakest of the three French ships. Even though ''Sylphe'' made all sail and jettisoned part of her cargo, ''Comet''caught up with her at 15:30; ''Sylphe'' and surrendered after a one-hour fight. On 16 August, ''Espiègle'' encountered the 38-gun HMS ''Sybille''. When ''Sybille'' caught up with ''Espiègle'', ''Espiègle'' struck after a pro-forma discharge of her guns. ''Diligente'' being faster than her consorts, Lemaresquier out-sailed both the British ships and his companions, and sailed West.Troude, ''op. cit.'', vol. 3, p. 512

On 6 September, off Barbados, ''Diligente'' encountered the 18-gun HMS ''Recruit'', under Commander Charles Napier. The two corvettes came in range at 8:30 and both fired their broadsides, with the French fire wounding Napier. Both ships attempted to rake the other, but followed a parallel course, exchanging cannon fire until around 11:00, when ''Recruit''s mainmast collapsed. ''Diligente'' was however prevented from pressing her advantage as ''Recruit''s fire had left her hull in such a battered state that Lemaresquier had to order his gun crews to man the pumps to keep her afloat. By the time water was pumped out and the holes in the hull had been sealed, ''Recruit'' had retreated. Although the wind fallen so much that ''Diligente'' could catch up with ''Recruit'' before nightfall, by next morning, she had lost contact with ''Recruit''.

James claims that ''Recruit'' kept fighting after her mast had fallen, and counter-attacked at 2 in the morning, forcing ''Diligente'' to flee;James (1837), pp.88-9. Troude disputes this account.

Commanding ''Néréide''

In 1810, Lemaresquier was captain of the 38-gun frigate ''Néréide''. On 9 February, inbound from Saint-Servan, he reached Guadeloupe. Before sailing into harbour, Lemaresquier ordered a boat to launch and reconnoitre the island. In the morning, Lemaresquier spotted a British ship of the line, three frigates and one corvette, which gave chase; he succeeded in outrunning them and breaking contact; he assumed that such a concentration of ships meant Guadeloupe had fallen to the British. Indeed, the Invasion of Guadeloupe had been completed three days earlier.Troude, ''op. cit.'', vol. 4, p. 99-100

On 15 March, ''Néréide'' was chased by the 28-gun HMS ''Rainbow'', under James Woolbridge, and the 18-gun HMS ''Avon'', under Henry Fraser. Mistaking ''Rainbow'' for a frigate, Lemaresquier fled to separate the two British ships, but stopped to engage ''Rainbow'' after ''Avon'' had fallen back. He soon had reduced ''Rainbow'' to a battered state, but ''Avon'' resolutely came in support and put a 30-minute fight against the much stronger ''Néréide'' before herself retreating. Damage on ''Néréide'' prevented her from giving chase. Lemaresquier therefore continued on his course, reaching Brest on 30 March.

On 3 February 1811, Lemaresquier departed Brest with a squadron under François Roquebert, bound for Île de France. In addition to ''Néréide'' and the flagship '' Renommée'', the squadron comprised ''Clorinde'', under Jacques Saint-Cricq. On the very day of their departure, an 18-day storm broke out, damaging the rigging of the frigates and breaking a gun port on ''Clorinde'', through which she took in so much seawater that part of her food and gunpowder were flooded. The squadron arrived off Ile de France in the night of 6 May. Roquebert ordered boats to reconnoitre the island to ascertain whether the planned Invasion of Île de France by the British had already taken place; in fact, the island had fallen on 3 December 1810. The forts of Île de la Passe hoisted French flags, but their failure to answer codes convinced Roquebert that he had a British trap before him, and the squadron departed for Réunion, after unsuccessfully chasing a British squadron.Troude, ''op. cit.'', vol. 4, p. 127-133

On 12, the French arrived at Réunion, but the state of the sea prevented them from reconnoitring the island, and they diverted to Madagascar. They arrived at Tamatave on 19 May, where the next day the British squadron that they had chased earlier arrived, having received reinforcements.

The French and British engaged in the Battle of Tamatave. Lemaresquier was killed on ''Néréide'' around 17:30.

Sources and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

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* Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations; divisions et stations navales; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier : BB4 1 à 482 (1790-1826

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemaresquier, Jean-Francois
French Navy officers
1767 births
French naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
1811 deaths