Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse

Vice-Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse (29 May 1747<ref name=granier87>Granier, p.87</ref><ref group=note>Some biographers give a date of 1750 (Levot, p.541). Granier quotes the registers of Sainte-Marie parish.</ref> – 24 July 1812<ref name="levot544">Levot, p.544</ref>) was a French Navy officer and politician who served in the American Revolutionary War and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Born in Auch, Gascony, after serving in the Indian Ocean under Suffren during the Revolutionary War he rose in rank during the early stages of the French Revolution. Villaret commanded the French navy at the Glorious First of June, where despite suffering a heavy tactical defeat at British hands he ensured the passage of a vital grain convoy to France.

Villaret led the French navy during the disastrous Croisière du Grand Hiver and failed to prevent a British fleet from successfully retreating, with his last battle being a defeat off Groix. He was relieved when he refused to serve for the disastrous French expedition to Ireland. Villaret was then elected at the Council of Five Hundred. He joined the Club de Clichy, a party which supported French colonialism and slavery and harboured Royalist sympathies. After the Coup of 18 Fructidor, Villaret was sentenced to be deported to Cayenne but went into hiding long enough for his sentence to be commuted to exile to Oléron, where he went willingly.

Reinstated in 1801, Villaret took command of the naval component of the Saint-Domingue expedition, and was appointed captain general of Martinique and Saint Lucia alongside the colonial prefect Charles-Henri Bertin. He served in this capacity until the British captured Martinique in 1809. Returned to France, Villaret fell in disfavour for his perceived weak defence during the invasion. After two years, Napoleon pardoned him and appointed him as governor of Venice. Villaret died there of edema in 1812.

Early life

Louis-Thomas Villaret was born in Auch, Gascony on 29 May 1747, the son of a fiscal officer.<ref name="levot544"/><ref group=note>"contrôleur du domaine royal", "controller of Royal domains" (Granier, p.87)</ref> Unable to enter the elite naval schools, he entered the French Navy as a volontaire in 1768. Promoted to frigate lieutenant in 1773,<ref name="levot544"/> he served as a lieutenant on the 32-gun frigate Template:Ship in the Indian Ocean.<ref name=hennequin213 /> In 1778, unemployed in Pondicherry,<ref name=hennequin213 /> he volunteered his services to Governor Guillaume de Bellecombe during the unsuccessful defence of Pondicherry against the British,<ref name="levot544"/> earning the rank of fireship captain.<ref name=hennequin214>Hennequin, p.214</ref>

Service under Suffren

In 1781, Villaret commanded the fireship Template:Ship in Vice-admiral Pierre André de Suffren's fleet.<ref name=hennequin214 /> He then served under Suffren, who made him his aide in 1782. He was later transferred to the frigate Dauphine, and became First Officer on Template:Ship in Suffren's squadron. After the Battle of Cuddalore on 20 June 1783, Suffren gave him command of the frigate Template:Ship.<ref name=hennequin214 />

A few months after, Suffren appointed Villaret to the 20-gun the corvette Template:Ship.<ref name=roche321>Roche, p.321</ref> He ordered him to sail to Madras and warn the French blockading squadron, composed of two ships of the line and two frigates, of the imminent arrival of a superior British force.<ref name=hennequin214 /> Three days after her departure, on 11 April 1783, Naïade spotted the 64-gun Template:HMS,<ref name="levot544"/> under Captain Samuel Graves;<ref name=london12509 /> after trying without success to elude his much stronger opponent, Villaret was forced into battle, and struck his colours after a five-hour fight.<ref name=hennequin214 /><ref name=london12509>Template:London Gazette</ref> When Villaret surrendered his sword, Graves allegedly told him "Sir, you have given us a fairly beautiful frigate, but you made us pay dearly for her!";<ref name=hennequin214 /><ref name=roche321 /> some authors add that Graves returned Villaret his sword.<ref name=roche321 />

Villaret was taken prisoner. Despite the loss of Naïade, the British squadron was unable to locate the French ships,<ref name=london12509 /> which had already departed.<ref>Troude, vol.2, p.227</ref> Naïade was not commissioned in the Royal Navy and was sold.<ref name=roche321 /> Villaret was released in June 1783,<ref name=hennequin214 /> after the Treaty of Versailles, and was awarded the Order of Saint Louis.<ref name=hennequin214 /> Villaret was promoted to Lieutenant in 1784 for his service. After the war, Villaret served in the harbour of Lorient.

French Revolution

In 1791, Villaret was appointed to command the frigate Template:Ship to transport troops to Saint-Domingue.<ref name="levot544"/> Arriving shortly before the 1791 slave rebellion that launched the Haitian Revolution,<ref name="levot544"/><ref name=hennequin215>Hennequin, p.215</ref> he helped Governor Philibert François Rouxel de Blanchelande transport troops around the island. On 14 March 1792, he swore the "civic oath" to the French First Republic, while his brother emigrated. Promoted to ship-of-the-line captain in 1792, he was given the command of the 74-gun Template:Ship in 1793;<ref name="levot544"/><ref name=hennequin215 /> in May 1793, part of a squadron under Morard de Galle, he was tasked with watching the coasts of Morbihan and Loire,<ref name="levot544"/> to prevent the British from aiding the War in the Vendée.

When the rest of the Brest fleet sailed to Belle Île and the Quibéron mutinies broke out among many ships in the fleet, Villaret was one of the few officers who maintained order aboard his ship.<ref name=levot542>Levot, p.542</ref> In 1794, Villaret was promoted to counter admiral,<ref name=hennequin215 /> and Jeanbon Saint André appointed him to command the 25-ship Brest fleet.<ref name=levot542 /> Hoisting his flag on the 120-gun Montagne,<ref name=hennequin215 /> Villaret reorganised and revitalised the Brest fleet. Among other measures, Saint André and Villaret-Joyeuse founded a naval artillery school.

Atlantic campaign of May 1794

HMS Defence at the Battle of the Glorious 1 June 1794, Nicholas Pocock

In the summer of 1794, Villaret sailed with 23 ships of the line and 16 frigates to protect a 170-ship grain convoy under Counter-admiral Pierre Jean Van Stabel, coming from the United States.<ref name=levot542 /> The convoy was necessary to relieve France from famine after a disastrous harvest, and the British Channel Squadron under Admiral Lord Howe had set out to prevent it from reaching France; the orders of the National Convention to the fleet were to stall the British navy and prevent them from intercepting the convoy at all costs.

The Brest fleet departed and sailed to the Azores to wait for the arrival of Van Stabel's convoy.<ref name=levot542 /> On 28 May, the French and British fleets came in contact 100 leagues off Ushant, and began seeking each other in the fog;<ref name=hennequin217>Hennequin, p.217</ref> the engagement culminated in the Glorious First of June. Although suffering severe losses, Villaret rallied his remaining ships and rescued several from being captured; most importantly, the grain convoy reached Brest unmolested.<ref name=levot543>Levot, p.543</ref> Supported by Saint-André, Villaret kept his command despite the heavy French tactical defeat. He blamed his losses on the conduct of several of his captains who had allegedly failed to fulfil their duties. On 27 September 1794, Villaret was promoted to vice admiral.<ref name=levot544>Levot, p.544</ref>

Subsequent campaigns and dismissal

In December, the Committee of Public Safety ordered him to attack British commerce in the Croisière du Grand Hiver. Although the cruise did lead to the capture of a number of British merchant ships, the French fleet was battered by storms in which several ships were sunk and all the surviving ships suffered heavy damage. In June 1795, he sailed with nine ships to relieve a small squadron near Belle Île. During Cornwallis's Retreat, Villaret-Joyeuse tried to engage the small British squadron blockading Belle Île. Unable to bring them to battle, Villaret attempted to return to Brest, but contrary winds forced him towards Lorient. Close to Lorient, Villaret-Joyeuse was discovered by British Admiral Alexander Hood's fleet, guarding the expedition to Quiberon. During the ensuing Battle of Groix, several of Villaret's ships disobeyed his orders and sailed away, with three ships of the line being captured by the British. In 1796, Villaret was appointed to command the fleet for the French expedition to Ireland, an attempt to land General Lazare Hoche's army in Ireland;<ref name=levot544 /> opposed to the project, Villaret was replaced with Justin Bonaventure Morard de Galles.<ref name=levot544 />

Political career

In 1796,<ref name=hennequin219>Hennequin, p.219</ref> Villaret was elected to the Council of Five Hundred as a representative of Morbihan.<ref name=levot544 /> As a member of the Club de Clichy,<ref name=levot544 /> then considered to constitute the council's Royalist party,<ref name=hennequin219 /> he gave several speeches about French colonies, arguing against the abolition of slavery. He also lobbied in favour of strengthening the French Navy. After the Coup of 18 Fructidor, Villaret was sentenced to deportation to Cayenne;<ref name=levot544 /> he went into hiding until the French Directory ordered those who had escaped deportation to Cayenne exiled to the Île d'Oléron; Villaret willingly surrendered himself.<ref name=levot544 /> He remained on the Île d'Oléron until the Coup of 18 Brumaire.<ref name=hennequin220>Hennequin, p.220</ref>

Revitalised career and death

1835 portrait of Villaret by Antoine Maurin

In 1801, First Consul Napoleon ended Villaret-Joyeuse's exile and returned him to active command. Initially, he wanted Villaret-Joyeuse to prepare an expedition to capture the British-occupied Dutch Cape Colony, then head into the Indian Ocean. With the Treaty of Amiens, Napoleon decided to attempt to regain control of Saint-Domingue from Toussaint Louverture with the Saint-Domingue expedition. In December 1801, Villaret set out with ten French and five Spanish ships and nine frigates and corvettes,<ref name=hennequin219 /> with his flag on the 118-gun Template:Ship,<ref name=hennequin220 /> ferrying 7000 of General Charles Leclerc's expeditionary troops to Saint Domingue.<ref name=hennequin220 /> Two further squadron, one from Lorient comprising one ship, two frigates and 1200 soldiers, and the other from Rochefort with six ships, six frigates, two corvettes and 3000 soldiers, joined his fleet off Brest.<ref name=hennequin220 /> Conflicts over command led Villaret to return to France with the majority of the fleet.

In April 1802, Napoleon appointed Villaret captain general of Martinique and Saint Lucia.<ref name=levot544 /> Taking control of Martinique in September in accordance with the Treaty of Amiens,<ref name=chartrand23>Chartrand, p.23</ref> he faced the threats of slave rebellions, yellow fever and the possibility of a British invasion. On 3 November 1802, Villaret founded a 94-strong gendarmerie force, and on 8 July 1803, a company of black chasseurs.<ref name=chartrand24>Chartrand, p.24</ref> He cooperated with Counter-admiral Édouard Thomas Burgues de Missiessy and Vice-admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve who sailed into the Caribbean in 1805 during the Trafalgar campaign.

In January 1809, a British expedition invaded Martinique and laid siege to the fortress at Fort-de-France. Once the British were able to bring up their heavy artillery, the month-long siege ended on 24 February with the surrender of Villaret.<ref name=levot544 /><ref name=hennequin220 /> Upon his return to France, Villaret's conduct was condemned by an inquiry council; he requested in vain for a court-martial to clear his name, and lived in disgrace for two years.<ref name=hennequin220 /> Napoleon granted him a pardon in 1811: "Bravery and fidelity plead in favour of the vice-admiral... did his faults lose the colony? At most, they shortened its keeping for a few days." As Napoleon prepared for the French invasion of Russia, he appointed Villaret governor-general of Venice in the Kingdom of Italy,<ref name=levot544 /> and commander of the kingdom's 12th Division.<ref name=hennequin220 /> Villaret retained this position until 24 July 1812, when he died of edema in Venice. To honour him, Napoleon had his name engraved on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.<ref name=levot544 />

Legacy

A number of legends have been reported as truths on Villaret-Joyeuse. He is often said to have come from a noble family;<ref name="levot544"/> this appears to be false.<ref name=granier87 /><ref name=ortholan>Ortholan</ref> Another legend holds that he enlisted in the Gendarmes before joining the Navy;<ref name=granier87 /><ref name="levot544"/> however, Villaret is listed on none of the lists of Gendarmes in the relevant years.<ref name=ortholan /> Some authors further state that Villaret had to leave the Gendarmes after killing an opponent in a duel, either at the age of 16<ref name=hennequin213>Hennequin, p.213</ref> or at the age of 18.<ref name=granier87 />

Honours

Villaret de Joyeuse's name inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe

• Knight of the Order of Saint Louis – 15 July 1783
• Knight of the Legion of Honour – 11 October 1803
• Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour - 14 June 1804
• Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour – 2 February 1805

Notes and references

Bibliography

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