Justin Bonaventure Morard de Galles
Encyclopedia
Justin-Bonaventure Morard de Galles (30 March 1741, Goncelin
, Isère
– 23 July 1809, Guéret
) was a French admiral.
whose origins stretched right back to the end of the 11th century. His father was an infantry captain, and his elder brother Charles Morard de La Bayette de Galles was a général de Division
under the Revolution
and the Directory
.
On 22 December 1783 he married Louise Marie Victoire Henriette Fayd'herbe de Maudave at Port-Louis, Mauritius
. To this day there are many descendants of her siblings still living in Mauritius
Ecureuil and took part in many combats in the Mediterranean and the Americas as part of the Royal French Navy with the rank of garde de pavillon. He entered the service at the age of 11, in the gardes de la maison du roi.
In 1765, the comte de Grasse was charged with clearing the Mediterranean of its infestation of Barbary pirates. In 1765, on Héroïne as enseigne de vaisseau
, Morard de Galles participated in the bombardment of Morocco's Atlantic coast. The young Morard de Galles next became an ensign on board the frigate Hermine, and there received a mission to burn one of the corsairs which had taken refuge under the protection of the coastal batteries. Favoured by a cloudy night, he board the enemy vessel and attached a coat of sulphur to one of her sides - a terrible explosion half an hour later announced the success of this audacious enterprise.
Returning to France, he remained attached to the group directing the naval building works at Brest until 1776, when he took to sea again in Duchaffault's squadron. Named lieutenant de vaisseau
in 1777, he distinguished himself the following year at the Battle of Ushant
on board the Ville de Paris, and in the encounters of 17 April, 15 and 19 May 1780.
It was under de Suffren
's orders, however, principally at the battle of Praya, that Morard truly acquitted himself gloriously. On 16 August 1781, the French fleet met a larger English fleet off the coast of Senegal
, but de Suffren did not hesitate to attack. At the beginning of action, the vessel Morard was on found itself surrounded by five enemy vessels and his captain, de Trémoignon, was wounded and put out of action. Wounded himself, Morard nevertheless took command and, after a bloody struggle, managed to disengage and regain his position in the French line of battle. This conduct brought him praise from both the army and the admiral, who named him temporary captain (subject to confirmation later) and put him in command of the ship which he had so well defended.
La Cour ratified Morard's captaincy, and he continued to deserve it during the following campaigns on board the frigate Pourvoyeuse and the captured English vessel Annibal. He commanded her in the engagements of 17 February, 13 April, 6 July and 3 September 1784, receiving three new wounds which obliged him to seek recuperation. However, he had scarcely arrived in the île de France
when he was put on board the Argonaute and ordered to rejoin the squadron outside Gondelour. He then commanded various ships in the West Indies, then returned to France on the Vengeur
to move up to the rank of commandant en second
in 1785.
, with command of a division.
Named vice admiral
in 1793, with his flag on the Républicain
in the roads
of Brest, his fleet (made up of 3 ships of the line and 7 frigates) was to sail to Saint-Domingue
, where it would receive orders to cruise between Groix
and Belle-Île so as to ensure the safe passage of merchant shipping into France's ports past the English blockade. However, his crews, harassed and stripped of everything, mutinied and threatened their officers with death if the fleet did not return to the roads
off Brest. On his return, removed by the law which excluded nobles from employment in the civil and military services, he was arrested and remained a prisoner until 9 Thermidor.
He only received a new command in year V, to prepare an expedition to Ireland at Brest - 15 ships of the line, 12 frigates, 6 corvette
s or aviso
s, and 9 transport vessels were to transport 15000 soldiers, with Lazare Hoche
commanding the soldiers and Villaret
the ships. However, at the very moment of weighing anchor, Villaret was replaced by Morard who, on 25 frimaire
, year V (5 December 1796), gave the signal to depart, his flag on the frigate Fraternité
. This expedition was not a success, with the Séduisant
lost in the passe du Raz on the sail out of Brest and the fleet - before it had gained entry into Bantry Bay
- being forced by contrary winds to sail back into Rochefort
in disgrace.
at its formation (4 nivôse
year VIII, or December 25, 1799) and a member of the Légion d'honneur
on 9 vendémiaire
, year XII (2 October 1803). Napoleon also decorated him with the cordon of a Grand Officier of the Légion on 25 prairial
year XII (14 June 1804), gave him the titular lands of the sénatorerie
of Limoges
on 2 prairial (2 May 1804), and made him comte de l'Empire in 1808.
On his death at Guéret on 23 July 1809, the municipal council of that town voted funds to build a monument in his memory. His ashes were taken to the Panthéon.
Goncelin
Goncelin is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France....
, Isère
Isère
Isère is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region in the east of France named after the river Isère.- History :Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné...
– 23 July 1809, Guéret
Guéret
Guéret is a commune and the prefecture of the Creuse department in the Limousin region in central France.-Geography:A light industrial town, the largest in the department, with a big woodland and a little farming not far from the town centre...
) was a French admiral.
Family
de Galles was the issue of a noble family from DauphinéDauphiné
The Dauphiné or Dauphiné Viennois is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes....
whose origins stretched right back to the end of the 11th century. His father was an infantry captain, and his elder brother Charles Morard de La Bayette de Galles was a général de Division
Divisional General
Divisional General is a rank used in many armies to denote a rank of general, corresponding to command of a division. For convenience Divisional General is almost always translated into English as Major-General, the equivalent rank used by the UK, USA, etc., although this translation is, strictly...
under the Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and the Directory
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
.
On 22 December 1783 he married Louise Marie Victoire Henriette Fayd'herbe de Maudave at Port-Louis, 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...
. To this day there are many descendants of her siblings still living in Mauritius
Ancien Régime
de Galles began his naval career in 1757 on the brigBrig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Ecureuil and took part in many combats in the Mediterranean and the Americas as part of the Royal French Navy with the rank of garde de pavillon. He entered the service at the age of 11, in the gardes de la maison du roi.
In 1765, the comte de Grasse was charged with clearing the Mediterranean of its infestation of Barbary pirates. In 1765, on Héroïne as enseigne de vaisseau
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
, Morard de Galles participated in the bombardment of Morocco's Atlantic coast. The young Morard de Galles next became an ensign on board the frigate Hermine, and there received a mission to burn one of the corsairs which had taken refuge under the protection of the coastal batteries. Favoured by a cloudy night, he board the enemy vessel and attached a coat of sulphur to one of her sides - a terrible explosion half an hour later announced the success of this audacious enterprise.
Returning to France, he remained attached to the group directing the naval building works at Brest until 1776, when he took to sea again in Duchaffault's squadron. Named lieutenant de vaisseau
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in 1777, he distinguished himself the following year at the Battle of Ushant
Battle of Ushant (1778)
The Battle of Ushant took place on 27 July 1778, during the American War of Independence, fought between French and British fleets 100 miles west of Ushant, a French island at the mouth of the English Channel off the north-westernmost point of France...
on board the Ville de Paris, and in the encounters of 17 April, 15 and 19 May 1780.
It was under de Suffren
Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez
Admiral comte Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, bailli de Suffren , French admiral, was the third son of the marquis de Saint Tropez, head of a family of nobles of Provence which claimed to have emigrated from Lucca in the 14th century...
's orders, however, principally at the battle of Praya, that Morard truly acquitted himself gloriously. On 16 August 1781, the French fleet met a larger English fleet off the coast of Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, but de Suffren did not hesitate to attack. At the beginning of action, the vessel Morard was on found itself surrounded by five enemy vessels and his captain, de Trémoignon, was wounded and put out of action. Wounded himself, Morard nevertheless took command and, after a bloody struggle, managed to disengage and regain his position in the French line of battle. This conduct brought him praise from both the army and the admiral, who named him temporary captain (subject to confirmation later) and put him in command of the ship which he had so well defended.
La Cour ratified Morard's captaincy, and he continued to deserve it during the following campaigns on board the frigate Pourvoyeuse and the captured English vessel Annibal. He commanded her in the engagements of 17 February, 13 April, 6 July and 3 September 1784, receiving three new wounds which obliged him to seek recuperation. However, he had scarcely arrived in the île de France
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...
when he was put on board the Argonaute and ordered to rejoin the squadron outside Gondelour. He then commanded various ships in the West Indies, then returned to France on the Vengeur
French ship Vengeur (1765)
The Vengeur was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She saw action with Bailli de Suffren during the American War of Independence....
to move up to the rank of commandant en second
Second-in-command
The Second-in-Command is the deputy commander of any British Army or Royal Marines unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. He or she is thus the equivalent of an Executive Officer in the United States Army...
in 1785.
French Revolution
At last, after having assisted in diverse combats which covered the French Navy in glory in the last years of the French monarchy, his health (weakened by his wounds and the unhealthy climate of the West Indies) forced him in 1790 to demand a return to France. There, he found the fleet wholly disorganised due to the emigration of its officers from the nobility and - unlike his comrades - offered his services to the new government and was promoted to counter admiralCounter Admiral
Counter admiral is a rank found in many navies of the world, but no longer used in English-speaking countries, where the equivalent rank is rear admiral...
, with command of a division.
Named vice admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
in 1793, with his flag on the Républicain
French ship Royal Louis (1780)
The Royal Louis was a 106-gun ship of the line of the French Royal Navy.She was renamed Républicain in 1792. Under this name, she took part in the Third Battle of Ushant, being the last ship of the French rear...
in the roads
Roadstead
A roadstead is a place outside a harbor where a ship can lie at anchor. It is an enclosed area with an opening to the sea, narrower than a bay or gulf. It has a surface that cannot be confused with an estuary. It can be created artificially by jetties or dikes...
of Brest, his fleet (made up of 3 ships of the line and 7 frigates) was to sail to Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue
The labour for these plantations was provided by an estimated 790,000 African slaves . Between 1764 and 1771, the average annual importation of slaves varied between 10,000-15,000; by 1786 it was about 28,000, and from 1787 onward, the colony received more than 40,000 slaves a year...
, where it would receive orders to cruise between Groix
Groix
Groix is an island and a commune in the Morbihan department of the region of Brittany in north-western France.Groix lies a few kilometres of the coast off Lorient. Several ferries a day run from Lorient to Groix....
and Belle-Île so as to ensure the safe passage of merchant shipping into France's ports past the English blockade. However, his crews, harassed and stripped of everything, mutinied and threatened their officers with death if the fleet did not return to the roads
Roadstead
A roadstead is a place outside a harbor where a ship can lie at anchor. It is an enclosed area with an opening to the sea, narrower than a bay or gulf. It has a surface that cannot be confused with an estuary. It can be created artificially by jetties or dikes...
off Brest. On his return, removed by the law which excluded nobles from employment in the civil and military services, he was arrested and remained a prisoner until 9 Thermidor.
He only received a new command in year V, to prepare an expedition to Ireland at Brest - 15 ships of the line, 12 frigates, 6 corvette
Corvette
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...
s or aviso
Aviso
An aviso , a kind of dispatch boat or advice boat, survives particularly in the French navy, they are considered equivalent to the modern sloop....
s, and 9 transport vessels were to transport 15000 soldiers, with Lazare Hoche
Lazare Hoche
Louis Lazare Hoche was a French soldier who rose to be general of the Revolutionary army.Born of poor parents near Versailles, he enlisted at sixteen as a private soldier in the Gardes Françaises...
commanding the soldiers and Villaret
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse was a French admiral.-Early career:Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse was born in Auch, in the heart of Gascony. The Villaret de Joyeuse family figured among the minor nobility from Languedoc...
the ships. However, at the very moment of weighing anchor, Villaret was replaced by Morard who, on 25 frimaire
Frimaire
Frimaire was the third month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the French word frimas, which means frost.Frimaire was the third month of the autumn quarter . It started between November 21 and November 23. It ended between December 20 and December 22...
, year V (5 December 1796), gave the signal to depart, his flag on the frigate Fraternité
French frigate Aglaé (1788)
The Aglaé was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy.During the Revolutionary wars, she was used to ferry troops to the Caribbean, and spent two years on station at Saint Domingue...
. This expedition was not a success, with the Séduisant
French ship Séduisant (1783)
Séduisant was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.She was renamed Pelletier on 30 September 1793, in honour of Louis Michel le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau. Under Savary, she was one of the last ships of the line at the Glorious First of June.On 30 May 1795 her name...
lost in the passe du Raz on the sail out of Brest and the fleet - before it had gained entry into Bantry Bay
Bantry Bay
Bantry Bay is a bay located in County Cork, southwest Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km wide at the head and wide at the entrance....
- being forced by contrary winds to sail back into Rochefort
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:...
in disgrace.
Consulate and First Empire
The Consulate and First Empire, however, made up for the disgrace Morard had incurred on the Irish expedition, since he became a member of the Sénat conservateurSénat conservateur
The Sénat conservateur was a body set up in France during the Consulate by the Constitution of the Year VIII. With the Tribunat and the Corps législatif, it formed one of the three legislative assemblies of the Consulate...
at its formation (4 nivôse
Nivôse
For the frigate of the French Navy, see Nivôse Nivôse was the fourth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word nivosus, which means snow....
year VIII, or December 25, 1799) and a member 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...
on 9 vendémiaire
Vendémiaire
Vendémiaire was the first month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the French word vendange .Vendémiaire was the first month of the autumn quarter . It started on the day of the autumnal equinox, which fell between 22 September and 24 September, inclusive. It thus ended...
, year XII (2 October 1803). Napoleon also decorated him with the cordon of a Grand Officier of the Légion on 25 prairial
Prairial
Prairial was the ninth month in the French Republican Calendar. This month was named after the French word prairie, which means meadow. It was the name given to several ships....
year XII (14 June 1804), gave him the titular lands of the sénatorerie
Sénatorerie
The sénatoreries were the great properties distributed by Napoléon Bonaparte to senators in an implicit exchange for their docility towards his regime, as it became less and less democratic, starting on 4 January 1803...
of Limoges
Limoges
Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
on 2 prairial (2 May 1804), and made him comte de l'Empire in 1808.
On his death at Guéret on 23 July 1809, the municipal council of that town voted funds to build a monument in his memory. His ashes were taken to the Panthéon.