François Étienne de Rosily-Mesros
Encyclopedia
François Étienne de Rosily-Mesros (3 June 1748, Rochefort
- 19 August 1832, Toulon
) was a French naval commander of the French Revolutionary Wars
and Napoleonic Wars
. He is notable as being chosen by Napoleon
to succeed Villeneuve
as commander of the combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Cádiz
fleet, arriving to take up his appointment just after its defeat at . His name is inscribed
on the east side of the Arc de Triomphe
.
fleet in 1762 when he admitted François as a garde de marine
. From 1762 to 1769 François completed his apprenticeship at sea in several varied campaigns, visiting Rio de Janeiro
, Newfoundland, Hispaniola
and the Antilles
. He became an enseigne de vaisseau in 1770, on a ship commanded by Kerguelen. Under Kerguelen he then went on a surveying trip along the French coast before setting out on a circumnavigation of the globe whose aim was to research the unknown 'Terra Australis
' for France. On 13 February 1772 it was believed he had discovered it and Rosily was sent out in a launch to reconnoitre it. On the launch's return, however, Kerguelen's frigate had disappeared. Miraculously rescued by the fluyt
Gros-Ventre, Rosily travelled on her for 8 months and finally reached France in 1773. He left immediately afterwards to rejoin Kerguelen, who was by then once again on his way out east in an attempt to find the 'Terra Australis' and rescue Rosily. Rosily caught up with Kerguelen at Mauritius
, where he was put in command of the corvette Ambition : this voyage lasted 14 months.
On Rosily's next return to France, at the end of 1774, he rushed to visit the ports of Great Britain, Scotland and Ireland, bringing back several inventions and materials of use to the French navy, such as chain pumps. He rose to lieutenant de vaisseau in 1778 on the lugger
Coureur, with which he patrolled the English channel under the command of la Clocheterie, commander of the frigate Belle-Poule
. On 17 June that year Belle-Poule was attacked by the Royal Navy
frigate Arethusa
and the 14-gun cutter Alert. Rosily did not hesitate to attack the Alert and saved the Belle-Poule despite the Coureur being completely dismasted, holed on all sides and finally forced to surrender. He was awarded the croix de Saint-Louis for this action and returned to Brest in February 1780. In May 1780 he took command of the frigate Lively. He then served as lieutenant en pied, in 1781, on board the ship of the line Fendant, before exchanging this command for that of the frigate Cléopâtre and rallying to the bailli de Suffren's squadron at Trincomalee
. When peace and American independence
came, hostilities in the Indian Ocean
ceased and the bailli de Suffren's fleet returned to France. The following year Rosily was promoted to capitaine de vaisseau.
, Indian Ocean and the seas off China
. In his funeral elogy for Rosily in 1830, the hydrographic engineer M. Beautemps-Beaupré
witnessed to Rosily's hydrographic work during this time, though this work was superseded by that of others by the end of the 19th century. This work did, however, gain Rosily the rank of contre-amiral and (on 22 August 1795) that of director and inspector general of the naval charts and plans department.
Rosily then commanded the forces in the port of Rochefort before being made vice-admiral on 22 September 1796 and carrying out various missions to Genes
, La Spezia
, Boulogne
and Antwerp. It was in between these voyages that he provided Bonaparte
with information for the latter's Egyptian expedition. It is claimed Bonaparte even offered him supreme command of the fleet carrying his forces to Egypt, but that he refused as he was unwilling to leave his young family. Later, wishing to get the Toulon squadron out of Dumanoir
's hands, Napoleon wrote to naval minister Decrès
on 28 August 1804 "It seems to me that, for commanding a squadron, only three men will do: Bruix
, Villeneuve and Rosily. As for Rosily, I believe he is of good will, but he has done nothing for 15 years, and I don't know whether he is a good sailor and what commands he has had. However, it is very urgent that I take a position on that."
on 29 April 1805:
Even if Napoleon did not judge Rosily right for being entrusted with active service at sea, he at least did not refuse him employment on certain mapping trips useful to his projects. On 14 August 1805 he commanded minister Decrès to order Rosily to make "a highly-detailed Mémoire
about the coast of Africa".
by the British. Unhappy with Villeneuve's inability to break out, Napoleon sacked him and replaced him with Rosily. On 18 October 1805, Villeneuve received a letter from the naval minister Decrès informing him that Rosily had arrived in Madrid with orders to take over the Cádiz command and advising "Break out, beat the enemy, and all will be righted". Stung by the prospect of being disgraced before the fleet, Villeneuve resolved to go to sea before his successor could reach Cádiz. However, this break-out ended in disaster at Trafalgar and then in a storm which wrecked yet more of the fleet, and so when Rosily arrived in Cádiz after the battle he found only five French ships of the line remaining rather than the 18 he was expecting Such damage proved irreparable and though Rosily was able to make the surviving small fleet ready for sea, he remained blockaded in Cadiz by the British for two-and-a-half years until Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808 and the outbreak of the Peninsular War
.
On 26 May 1808 the British fleet manoeuvred to force the Bay of Cádiz
and, at the same moment, the citizens of Cádiz heard of the political events in the rest of the Iberian peninsula and rose up against the French. Adding to Rosily's problems, the six Spanish vessels remaining in the combined fleet departed and on 9 and 10 June fired over 1,200 shot on the French ships. On 11 June Rosily made preparations to pass between the Spanish and British fleets, but contrary winds kept him in port. The citizens of Cádiz threatened to kill any Frenchmen remaining onshore, Rosily had no news of the arrival of the relief fleet he had been promised would arrive on 7 June and general Dupont
's army's advance to relieve Rosily by land had been held up (and was finally defeated at Bailén
on 18/19 July). On 14 June, Rosily entered into negotiations with the Spanish general Thomas de Morla. Rosily's ships were seized for use against the French and only Rosily and his chief of staff were then allowed to return to France, where he went to resume his duties as director of the dépôt de la marine.
, the commissioner in command of French Guiana
, who was accused of surrendering without a fight. He replaced Bougainville
at the bureau des longitudes
on 28 October 1811. Also in 1811 he was made president of the council on naval architecture and in 1813 he, Tarbé
(inspector of bridges and roads) and Beautemps-Beaupré
were commanded to choose the site for a new naval arsenal at the mouth of the Elbe
. It was under his leadership, that the corps of hydrographic engineers was given its first definitive structure (in 1814) and began surveying the coast of France (in 1816). On 25 July 1816 Louis XVIII made him a grand officer of the Légion d'honneur
, granting him the "grand cordon" of the order the following 27 December. Also in 1816, on 26 May, he was made a free associate of the Académie des sciences. He was made president of the electoral college of Finistère
on 26 September 1818 and, despite having little success in that role, was made Commander of the Order of St Louis on 21 October 1818 and Grand-Cross of that order on 17 August 1822. He finally retired in 1827 and, to show how he valued his services, the king granted him the title of honorary director general of the dépôt de la marine. Having also been awarded the Grand Cross of the Danish Order of the Dannebrog
(date unknown), he died in 1832.
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
- 19 August 1832, Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
) was a French naval commander of the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. He is notable as being chosen by Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
to succeed Villeneuve
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve was a French naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of the French and Spanish fleets defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar....
as commander of the combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Cádiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
fleet, arriving to take up his appointment just after its defeat at . His name is inscribed
Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe
The following is the list of the names of the 660 persons inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris. Most of them are generals who served during the First French Empire with additional figures from the French Revolution ....
on the east side of the Arc de Triomphe
Arc de Triomphe
-The design:The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin , in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture . Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot; François Rude; Antoine Étex; James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire...
.
Early service
His father the comte de Rosily was a chef d’escadre and was commanding the BrestBrest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
fleet in 1762 when he admitted François as a garde de marine
Gardes de la Marine
In France, under the Ancien Régime, the Gardes de la Marine , or Gardes-Marine were young gentlemen picked and maintained by the king in his harbours to learn the navy service, and to train to be officers. They were organized in companies, divided up between the harbors of Brest, Toulon, and...
. From 1762 to 1769 François completed his apprenticeship at sea in several varied campaigns, visiting Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Newfoundland, Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
and the Antilles
Antilles
The Antilles islands form the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. The Antilles are divided into two major groups: the "Greater Antilles" to the north and west, including the larger islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico; and the smaller "Lesser Antilles" on the...
. He became an enseigne de vaisseau in 1770, on a ship commanded by Kerguelen. Under Kerguelen he then went on a surveying trip along the French coast before setting out on a circumnavigation of the globe whose aim was to research the unknown 'Terra Australis
Terra Australis
Terra Australis, Terra Australis Ignota or Terra Australis Incognita was a hypothesized continent appearing on European maps from the 15th to the 18th century...
' for France. On 13 February 1772 it was believed he had discovered it and Rosily was sent out in a launch to reconnoitre it. On the launch's return, however, Kerguelen's frigate had disappeared. Miraculously rescued by the fluyt
Fluyt
A fluyt, fluit, or flute is a Dutch type of sailing vessel originally designed as a dedicated cargo vessel. Originating from the Netherlands in the 16th century, the vessel was designed to facilitate transoceanic delivery with the maximum of space and crew efficiency...
Gros-Ventre, Rosily travelled on her for 8 months and finally reached France in 1773. He left immediately afterwards to rejoin Kerguelen, who was by then once again on his way out east in an attempt to find the 'Terra Australis' and rescue Rosily. Rosily caught up with Kerguelen at Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, where he was put in command of the corvette Ambition : this voyage lasted 14 months.
On Rosily's next return to France, at the end of 1774, he rushed to visit the ports of Great Britain, Scotland and Ireland, bringing back several inventions and materials of use to the French navy, such as chain pumps. He rose to lieutenant de vaisseau in 1778 on the lugger
Lugger
A lugger is a class of boats, widely used as traditional fishing boats, particularly off the coasts of France, Scotland and England. It is a small sailing vessel with lugsails set on two or more masts and perhaps lug topsails.-Defining the rig:...
Coureur, with which he patrolled the English channel under the command of la Clocheterie, commander of the frigate Belle-Poule
French ship Belle Poule (1765)
Belle Poule was a French frigate of the Dédaigneuse class, designed and built by Léon-Michel Guignace, famous for her duel with the English frigate Arethusa on 17 June 1778, which began the French involvement in the American War of Independence....
. On 17 June that year Belle-Poule was attacked by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
frigate Arethusa
HMS Arethusa (1759)
The Aréthuse was a French frigate, launched in 1757 during the Seven Years' War. She was subsequently captured by the Royal Navy and became the fifth-rate HMS Arethusa.Aréthuse was built at Le Havre for privateer warfare, as Pélerine...
and the 14-gun cutter Alert. Rosily did not hesitate to attack the Alert and saved the Belle-Poule despite the Coureur being completely dismasted, holed on all sides and finally forced to surrender. He was awarded the croix de Saint-Louis for this action and returned to Brest in February 1780. In May 1780 he took command of the frigate Lively. He then served as lieutenant en pied, in 1781, on board the ship of the line Fendant, before exchanging this command for that of the frigate Cléopâtre and rallying to the bailli de Suffren's squadron at Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
. When peace and American independence
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
came, hostilities in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
ceased and the bailli de Suffren's fleet returned to France. The following year Rosily was promoted to capitaine de vaisseau.
Hydrographic work
Put at the head of various political, commercial and scientific missions, he set out from Brest once again in February 1785 and spent the next seven years on difficult and perilous voyages in the Red SeaRed Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
, Indian Ocean and the seas off China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. In his funeral elogy for Rosily in 1830, the hydrographic engineer M. Beautemps-Beaupré
Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré
Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré was a French hydrographer, hydrographic engineer and cartographer. He was a member of the Académie des sciences and the Bureau des Longitudes and is held to be the father of modern French hydrography...
witnessed to Rosily's hydrographic work during this time, though this work was superseded by that of others by the end of the 19th century. This work did, however, gain Rosily the rank of contre-amiral and (on 22 August 1795) that of director and inspector general of the naval charts and plans department.
Rosily then commanded the forces in the port of Rochefort before being made vice-admiral on 22 September 1796 and carrying out various missions to Genes
Gênes
Gênes is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Italy, named after the city of Genoa. It was formed in 1805, when Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Republic of Genoa. Its capital was Genoa, and it was divided in the arrondissements of Genoa, Bobbio, Novi Ligure, Tortona and...
, La Spezia
La Spezia
La Spezia , at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the Liguria region of northern Italy, is the capital city of the province of La Spezia. Located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and hosts one of Italy's biggest military...
, Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
and Antwerp. It was in between these voyages that he provided Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
with information for the latter's Egyptian expedition. It is claimed Bonaparte even offered him supreme command of the fleet carrying his forces to Egypt, but that he refused as he was unwilling to leave his young family. Later, wishing to get the Toulon squadron out of Dumanoir
Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley
Vice-Admiral Count Pierre-Etienne-René-Marie Dumanoir Le Pelley was a French Navy officer, best known for commanding the vanguard of the French fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar.- Early career :...
's hands, Napoleon wrote to naval minister Decrès
Denis Decrès
Denis Decrès, , was an officer of the French Navy and count, later duke of the First Empire.-Early career:...
on 28 August 1804 "It seems to me that, for commanding a squadron, only three men will do: Bruix
Étienne Eustache Bruix
Étienne Eustache Bruix was a French sailor.-Life:From a distinguished family originating from Béarn, he embarked as a volunteer on a slaving vessel commanded by captain Jean-François Landolphe...
, Villeneuve and Rosily. As for Rosily, I believe he is of good will, but he has done nothing for 15 years, and I don't know whether he is a good sailor and what commands he has had. However, it is very urgent that I take a position on that."
Relations with Napoleon
Rosily knew the emperor had considered him for the Egyptian post and, hoping to be given some other command soon afterwards, he asked to be promoted to a rank within the Légion d’Honneur more worthy of his past services. (He had already been made a member of the Légion on 11 December 1803 and a commander in it on 14 June 1804.) Unhappy with Rosily's request, Bonaparte wrote to Decrès from StupiniStupini
Stupini may refer to several villages in Romania:* Stupini, a village in Sânmihaiu de Câmpie Commune, Bistriţa-Năsăud County* Stupini, a village in Hida Commune, Sălaj County* Stupinii Prejmerului, a village in Prejmer Commune, Braşov County...
on 29 April 1805:
Even if Napoleon did not judge Rosily right for being entrusted with active service at sea, he at least did not refuse him employment on certain mapping trips useful to his projects. On 14 August 1805 he commanded minister Decrès to order Rosily to make "a highly-detailed Mémoire
Mémoire
In French culture, the word mémoire, as in un mémoire is used for a piece of writing allowing the author to show his or her opinion on a given subject, logically approaching a series of facts in order to arrive at a recommendation or conclusion...
about the coast of Africa".
Cádiz
Finally Rosily received a major command. The combined French and Spanish fleets, totalling 33 ships of the line and under Villeneuve's overall command, was blockaded in CádizCádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
by the British. Unhappy with Villeneuve's inability to break out, Napoleon sacked him and replaced him with Rosily. On 18 October 1805, Villeneuve received a letter from the naval minister Decrès informing him that Rosily had arrived in Madrid with orders to take over the Cádiz command and advising "Break out, beat the enemy, and all will be righted". Stung by the prospect of being disgraced before the fleet, Villeneuve resolved to go to sea before his successor could reach Cádiz. However, this break-out ended in disaster at Trafalgar and then in a storm which wrecked yet more of the fleet, and so when Rosily arrived in Cádiz after the battle he found only five French ships of the line remaining rather than the 18 he was expecting Such damage proved irreparable and though Rosily was able to make the surviving small fleet ready for sea, he remained blockaded in Cadiz by the British for two-and-a-half years until Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808 and the outbreak of the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
.
On 26 May 1808 the British fleet manoeuvred to force the Bay of Cádiz
Bay of Cádiz
The Bay of Cádiz is a body of water adjacent to the southwestern coast of Spain. It touches the following municipalities in the province of Cádiz: Cádiz, San Fernando, Puerto Real, El Puerto de Santa Maria, and Rota...
and, at the same moment, the citizens of Cádiz heard of the political events in the rest of the Iberian peninsula and rose up against the French. Adding to Rosily's problems, the six Spanish vessels remaining in the combined fleet departed and on 9 and 10 June fired over 1,200 shot on the French ships. On 11 June Rosily made preparations to pass between the Spanish and British fleets, but contrary winds kept him in port. The citizens of Cádiz threatened to kill any Frenchmen remaining onshore, Rosily had no news of the arrival of the relief fleet he had been promised would arrive on 7 June and general Dupont
Pierre Dupont de l'Étang
Pierre-Antoine, comte Dupont de l'Étang was a French general of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as well as a political figure of the Bourbon Restoration.-Revolutionary Wars:...
's army's advance to relieve Rosily by land had been held up (and was finally defeated at Bailén
Battle of Bailén
The Battle of Bailén was contested in 1808 between the Spanish Army of Andalusia, led by Generals Francisco Castaños and Theodor von Reding, and the Imperial French Army's II corps d'observation de la Gironde under General Pierre Dupont de l'Étang...
on 18/19 July). On 14 June, Rosily entered into negotiations with the Spanish general Thomas de Morla. Rosily's ships were seized for use against the French and only Rosily and his chief of staff were then allowed to return to France, where he went to resume his duties as director of the dépôt de la marine.
1809 to death
In 1809, he was made comte de l'Empire and a member of the council of enquiry set up to examine the conduct of Victor HuguesVictor Hugues
Victor Hugues was a French politician and colonial administrator during the French Revolution, who governed Guadeloupe from 1794 to 1798, emancipating the island's slaves under orders from the National Convention.-Early life and appointment:Hugues was born in Marseille's salesmen family and was a...
, the commissioner in command of French Guiana
French Guiana
French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
, who was accused of surrendering without a fight. He replaced Bougainville
Louis Antoine de Bougainville
Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of James Cook, he took part in the French and Indian War and the unsuccessful French attempt to defend Canada from Britain...
at the bureau des longitudes
Bureau des Longitudes
The Bureau des Longitudes is a French scientific institution, founded by decree of 25 June 1795 and charged with the improvement of nautical navigation, standardisation of time-keeping, geodesy and astronomical observation. During the 19th century, it was responsible for synchronizing clocks...
on 28 October 1811. Also in 1811 he was made president of the council on naval architecture and in 1813 he, Tarbé
Jean Bernard Tarbé de Vauxclairs
Jean Bernard Tarbé de Vauxclairs was a French engineer. He was made a Commander of the Légion d'honneur....
(inspector of bridges and roads) and Beautemps-Beaupré
Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré
Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré was a French hydrographer, hydrographic engineer and cartographer. He was a member of the Académie des sciences and the Bureau des Longitudes and is held to be the father of modern French hydrography...
were commanded to choose the site for a new naval arsenal at the mouth of the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
. It was under his leadership, that the corps of hydrographic engineers was given its first definitive structure (in 1814) and began surveying the coast of France (in 1816). On 25 July 1816 Louis XVIII made him a grand officer of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
, granting him the "grand cordon" of the order the following 27 December. Also in 1816, on 26 May, he was made a free associate of the Académie des sciences. He was made president of the electoral college of Finistère
Finistère
Finistère is a département of France, in the extreme west of Brittany.-History:The name Finistère derives from the Latin Finis Terræ, meaning end of the earth, and may be compared with Land's End on the opposite side of the English Channel...
on 26 September 1818 and, despite having little success in that role, was made Commander of the Order of St Louis on 21 October 1818 and Grand-Cross of that order on 17 August 1822. He finally retired in 1827 and, to show how he valued his services, the king granted him the title of honorary director general of the dépôt de la marine. Having also been awarded the Grand Cross of the Danish Order of the Dannebrog
Order of the Dannebrog
The Order of the Dannebrog is an Order of Denmark, instituted in 1671 by Christian V. It resulted from a move in 1660 to break the absolutism of the nobility. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the Danish monarch, and his sons...
(date unknown), he died in 1832.