Guy-Victor Duperré
Encyclopedia
Guy-Victor Duperré was a French
admiral
, Peer of France and thrice Naval Minister.
Duperré commanded the fleet at the Battle of Grand Port
, where he was wounded. From 1812 to 1814, he commanded the French and Italian naval forces. On February 5, 1830, Charles X
named him commander of the naval elements of the expeditionary force that carried out the Invasion of Algiers in 1830
.
to Jean Augustin Duperré, counselor of the king and financer for war, and Marie-Gabrielle Prat-Desprez. He spent a few years with the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri
at the Collège de Juilly, before enlisting at 16 on the Henri IV, a French East Indiaman.
Maire-Guiton, and later aboard the frigate Tortu. In May 1796, he was made an auxiliary ensign aboard the Virginie. In June, he was captured by the British during a night fight. He was exchanged two years later and made a full rank enseign, taking command of the corvette Pélagie.
In 1804, he was made a lieutenant de vaisseau, and later assistant of the préfet maritime
of Boulogne-sur-Mer
. In 1806, he served off Brazil aboard the Vétéran
, under Jérôme Bonaparte
. Back to France, he was promoted to capitaine de frégate on 28 September. In 1808, he led a troop convoy to Martinique
; returning to France, he was intercepted by a British blockade off Lorient
, and managed to escape by beaching his ship.
Napoléon made him a capitaine de vaisseau and knight of the Légion d'honneur
, before promoting him to Commodore. On 6 December 1810, Duperré was made Baron of the Empire.
Duperré was sent to the Île de France (now Mauritius
) aboard the frigate Bellone
, fighting several British ships in the process, notably the Action of 3 July 1810
. On 23 August 1810, he won the Battle of Grand Port
, completely destroying a British squadron. He was wounded in this battle. The naval victory made its way on the Arc de Triomphe. In recognition, Duperré was promoted to contre-amiral when he returned to France in September 1811.
From 1812 to 1814, Duperré commanded the Italian and French naval forces in the Mediterrean and the Adriatic. In 1814, he defended Venice against Austria.
Duperré was made Préfet maritime
of Toulon
during the Hundred Days
, and was retired during the Bourbon Restoration
. In 1818, he was brought back to active duty. He commanded the squadron which blockaded Cadiz
during the war which reinstated Ferdinand VII of Spain on the throne. In October 1823, he was made vice-admiral, grand officier de la Légion d'honneur
and Commander of the Order of Saint Louis
in 1824. In 1827, he was made Préfet maritime
of Brest
and inspector of the 5th arrondissement militaire.
Though Duperré was critical towards the expedition against Algiers
, Charles X
made him commander of the fleet which ferried troops under Bourmont
to depose the Algerian Regency. The fleet of the invasion of Algiers
was 103 warships strong, with 572 freighters ferrying 35 000 soldiers, 3 800 horses and 91 heavy guns. In recognition for his role, Duperré was made pair de France on 16 July 1830.
After the July Revolution
, all pairages were cancelled as a whole. Duperré was reinstated pair de France by Louis-Philippe on 18 August 1830, and promoted to Admiral in March 1831. Then in Africa, Duperré was called back to France and made chief of the council of the Admiralty.
On 18 November 1834, Duperré became Naval Minister in Mortier
's government. He retained the office in de Broglie
's and Thiers
' governments, and got out of office when Thiers' government collapsed on the 16 September 1836. Duperré came back to office on 12 May 1839 in Soult's second government. In 1840, a budget project for the Duke of Nemours
was rejected, which made the government collapse; Duperré then said: "The ministry has received a round shot in the belly, which has gone to hit the wood of the Crown". Duperré came back again to the ministry on the 29 October 1840 in Soult's third government, until he retired for health reasons on 6 February 1843.
Duperré died on 2 November 1846 in Saint-Servan
. Admiral Jean Tupinier said a eulogy in the chamber of the pairs de France.
Duperré was buried in the Invalides in a national funeral. His name is carved on the Arc de Triomphe
in Paris.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
, Peer of France and thrice Naval Minister.
Duperré commanded the fleet at the Battle of Grand Port
Battle of Grand Port
The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle between squadrons of frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy. The battle was fought during 20–27 August 1810 over possession of the harbour of Grand Port on Île de France during the Napoleonic Wars...
, where he was wounded. From 1812 to 1814, he commanded the French and Italian naval forces. On February 5, 1830, Charles X
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
named him commander of the naval elements of the expeditionary force that carried out the Invasion of Algiers in 1830
Invasion of Algiers in 1830
The Invasion of Algiers in 1830 was a large-scale military operation by which the Kingdom of France, ruled by Charles X, invaded and conquered the Ottoman Regency of Algiers...
.
Youth
Duperré was born in La RochelleLa Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
to Jean Augustin Duperré, counselor of the king and financer for war, and Marie-Gabrielle Prat-Desprez. He spent a few years with the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri
Oratory of Saint Philip Neri
The Oratory of Saint Philip Neri is a congregation of Catholic priests and lay-brothers who live together in a community bound together by no formal vows but only with the bond of charity. They are commonly referred to as Oratorians...
at the Collège de Juilly, before enlisting at 16 on the Henri IV, a French East Indiaman.
French Revolution
In November 1792, Duperré joined the Navy. He served against the Netherlands and Britain aboard the corvetteCorvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
Maire-Guiton, and later aboard the frigate Tortu. In May 1796, he was made an auxiliary ensign aboard the Virginie. In June, he was captured by the British during a night fight. He was exchanged two years later and made a full rank enseign, taking command of the corvette Pélagie.
In 1804, he was made a lieutenant de vaisseau, and later assistant of the préfet maritime
Préfet Maritime
The Préfet Maritime is a servant of the French State who exercises authority over the sea in one particular region . As a civil servant, he reports to the Prime Minister...
of Boulogne-sur-Mer
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....
. In 1806, he served off Brazil aboard the Vétéran
French ship Vétéran (1803)
The Vétéran was a development from the Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, one of two ships of a sub-class of which the other vessel was the Cassard...
, under Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort was the youngest brother of Napoleon, who made him king of Westphalia...
. Back to France, he was promoted to capitaine de frégate on 28 September. In 1808, he led a troop convoy to Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
; returning to France, he was intercepted by a British blockade off Lorient
Lorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
, and managed to escape by beaching his ship.
Napoléon made him a capitaine de vaisseau and knight 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...
, before promoting him to Commodore. On 6 December 1810, Duperré was made Baron of the Empire.
Duperré was sent to the Île de France (now 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...
) aboard the frigate Bellone
French frigate Bellone (1807)
The Bellone was an 44-gun frigate of the French Navy.She departed Saint-Malo on 18 January 1809, bound for the Indian Ocean, under Guy-Victor Duperré....
, fighting several British ships in the process, notably the Action of 3 July 1810
Action of 3 July 1810
The Action of 3 July 1810 was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, in which a French frigate squadron under Guy-Victor Duperré attacked and defeated a convoy of Honourable East India Company East Indiamen near the Comoros Islands...
. On 23 August 1810, he won the Battle of Grand Port
Battle of Grand Port
The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle between squadrons of frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy. The battle was fought during 20–27 August 1810 over possession of the harbour of Grand Port on Île de France during the Napoleonic Wars...
, completely destroying a British squadron. He was wounded in this battle. The naval victory made its way on the Arc de Triomphe. In recognition, Duperré was promoted to contre-amiral when he returned to France in September 1811.
From 1812 to 1814, Duperré commanded the Italian and French naval forces in the Mediterrean and the Adriatic. In 1814, he defended Venice against Austria.
Restoration
Préfet Maritime
The Préfet Maritime is a servant of the French State who exercises authority over the sea in one particular region . As a civil servant, he reports to the Prime Minister...
of 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....
during the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
, and was retired during the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
. In 1818, he was brought back to active duty. He commanded the squadron which blockaded Cadiz
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....
during the war which reinstated Ferdinand VII of Spain on the throne. In October 1823, he was made vice-admiral, grand officier de la 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...
and Commander of the Order of Saint Louis
Order of Saint Louis
The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis was a military Order of Chivalry founded on 5 April 1693 by Louis XIV and named after Saint Louis . It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, and is notable as the first decoration that could be granted to non-nobles...
in 1824. In 1827, he was made Préfet maritime
Préfet Maritime
The Préfet Maritime is a servant of the French State who exercises authority over the sea in one particular region . As a civil servant, he reports to the Prime Minister...
of Brest
Brest, 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...
and inspector of the 5th arrondissement militaire.
Though Duperré was critical towards the expedition against Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, Charles X
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
made him commander of the fleet which ferried troops under Bourmont
Louis-Auguste-Victor, Count de Ghaisnes de Bourmont
Louis-Auguste-Victor, Count de Ghaisnes de Bourmont emigrated from France soon after the outbreak of the French Revolution. A lifelong royalist, he fought with the counter-revolutionary Army of Condé for two years, then joined the insurrection in France from three more years before going into exile...
to depose the Algerian Regency. The fleet of the invasion of Algiers
Invasion of Algiers in 1830
The Invasion of Algiers in 1830 was a large-scale military operation by which the Kingdom of France, ruled by Charles X, invaded and conquered the Ottoman Regency of Algiers...
was 103 warships strong, with 572 freighters ferrying 35 000 soldiers, 3 800 horses and 91 heavy guns. In recognition for his role, Duperré was made pair de France on 16 July 1830.
July Monarchy
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
, all pairages were cancelled as a whole. Duperré was reinstated pair de France by Louis-Philippe on 18 August 1830, and promoted to Admiral in March 1831. Then in Africa, Duperré was called back to France and made chief of the council of the Admiralty.
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, 1st Duc de Trévise was a French general and Marshal of France under Napoleon I.-Biography:...
's government. He retained the office in de Broglie
Victor, 3rd duc de Broglie
Achille-Léonce-Victor-Charles, 3rd duc de Broglie, called Victor de Broglie was a French statesman and diplomat. He was twice President of the Council during the July Monarchy, from August 1830 to November 1830 and from March 1835 to February 1836...
's and Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
' governments, and got out of office when Thiers' government collapsed on the 16 September 1836. Duperré came back to office on 12 May 1839 in Soult's second government. In 1840, a budget project for the Duke of Nemours
Louis, Duke of Nemours
Prince Louis of Orléans was the second son of the future King Louis-Philippe I of France, and his wife Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. Under the reign of his father from 1830–1848, he was styled as Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours.-Childhood:He was born at the Palais Royal, in Paris...
was rejected, which made the government collapse; Duperré then said: "The ministry has received a round shot in the belly, which has gone to hit the wood of the Crown". Duperré came back again to the ministry on the 29 October 1840 in Soult's third government, until he retired for health reasons on 6 February 1843.
Duperré died on 2 November 1846 in Saint-Servan
Saint-Servan
Saint-Servan is a town of western France, in Brittany, situated 2 miles from the ferry port of St Malo. It is renowned for its lovely shops and restaurants....
. Admiral Jean Tupinier said a eulogy in the chamber of the pairs de France.
Honours
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...
in Paris.