Étienne Eustache Bruix
Encyclopedia
Étienne Eustache Bruix was a French sailor.
, he embarked as a volunteer on a slaving vessel commanded by captain Jean-François Landolphe
. Two years later, in 1778, he was made a garde de la marine
, seeing his first campaign on the frigate Fox, and his second on board the Concorde. He served in various French squadrons sent to the aid of the United States of America in the American War of Independence
, being made enseigne de vaisseau
.
Named as commander of the Pivert, he and Puységur
were charged with cruising round Saint-Domingue and re-mapping its coasts and harbors. Lieutenant de vaisseau
at the start of the French Revolution
, and becoming a member of the Académie de Marine
in 1791, he was made captain on 1 January 1793, but discharged from the service for being a noble in October 1794. Retiring to the outskirts of Brest, he produced his memoirs under the title Moyens d'approvisionner la marine par les seules productions du territoire français (Means of Provisioning the Fleet Solely by What Is Produced in French Territory). This advocacy of naval autarky
as a means of dealing with British blockades was read and appreciated by Napoleon and so Bruix was recalled to the navy in 1795 under the ministry of Laurent Truguet, which entrusted the Éole to him. He held this command up to the moment he was sent to join Villaret-Joyeuse
's squadron as a major general.
Eustache Bruix was put in command of a division attached to admiral Justin Bonaventure Morard de Galles during the 1796 French invasion of Ireland. Lazare Hoche
noticed him on that campaign and named him contre-amiral
in May 1797. He was made Ministre de la Marine from 28 April 1798. Le bulletin de loi n° 198 du 8 floréal an VI (7 May 1798) stated:
On taking office, he rushed to Brest to take personal command of a fleet that was about to sail for Egypt
in an attempt to extricate the French army trapped there since its invasion in 1798. With the help of the winds and fog he succeeded in evading the British blockade and sailed south with 25 ships of the line. Anticipating a possible landing in Ireland, still unsettled in the wake of the United Irishmen's rebellion
, the blockading fleet drew off north-westwards, giving Bruix a considerable headstart before it was discovered where he had gone. Off Cadiz
Bruix encountered a British blockading force of 15 ships of the line under Lord Keith
. Despite his numerical superiority and the presence of 28 Spanish ships of the line in Cadiz, Bruix ignored the opportunity to attack and continued into the Mediterranean.
Having made a detour to Toulon
for repairs, Bruix learned that André Masséna
was besieged in Genoa
and was ordered to assist. He rerouted the fleet to the Gulf of Genoa
to resupply the beleaguered army but was driven back by the weather. Meanwhile Keith had followed him into the Mediterranean and gathered together the scattered British squadrons in the area at Minorca
. Bruix abandoned his venture, eluded his pursuers and returned to the Atlantic. Collecting a Spanish squadron en route he re-entered Brest.
After this dramatic but fruitless expedition, known as the Cruise of Bruix
, he returned the navy portfolio on 11 July 1799, and took command of the fleet assembled at the île d'Aix ready to sail to Spain, but the British reinforced their blockade, the admiral fell ill and the peace of Amiens prevented the fleet from leaving port. A vice-amiral
from 13 March 1799, he was privy to the secret coup d'état
that occurred on 18 brumaire, year 8
(9 November 1799). Napoléon Bonaparte named him admiral
in 1801 and conseiller d'État
the following year.
War having broken out again, Napoléon conceived a plan for a new invasion of England
, and put Bruix in command of the flotilla based at Boulogne
that would carry the invasion troops across the English Channel
. Bruix deployed all his energies towards the preparations but was obliged to return to Paris, where he died of tuberculosis at only 45. The Boulevard de l'Amiral-Bruix
in Paris is named after him.
Life
From a distinguished family originating from BéarnBéarn
Béarn is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Basque provinces of Soule, Lower Navarre, and Labourd, the principality of Bidache, as well as small parts of Gascony, it forms in the...
, he embarked as a volunteer on a slaving vessel commanded by captain Jean-François Landolphe
Jean-François Landolphe
Jean-François Landolphe was a French naval commander.-Life:In 1786 he was sent to the coast of Africa to set up trading posts. He was defeated by a British force in the Action of 4 August 1800. He published his in 1823.-External links:*...
. Two years later, in 1778, he was made a garde de la 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...
, seeing his first campaign on the frigate Fox, and his second on board the Concorde. He served in various French squadrons sent to the aid of the United States of America in the American War of 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...
, being made 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....
.
Named as commander of the Pivert, he and Puységur
Puységur
Puységur or Puysegur may refer to:Places* Puységur, Gers is a French commune in the département of Gers* Puysegur Point, South Island, New Zealand* Puysegur Trench, an ocean trench off the New Zealand coastPeople...
were charged with cruising round Saint-Domingue and re-mapping its coasts and harbors. 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...
at the start of the French 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 becoming a member of the Académie de Marine
Académie de Marine
The Royal Naval Academy of France was founded at Brest by a ruling of 31 July 1752 by Antoine Louis de Rouillé, comte de Jouy, Secretary of State for the Navy...
in 1791, he was made captain on 1 January 1793, but discharged from the service for being a noble in October 1794. Retiring to the outskirts of Brest, he produced his memoirs under the title Moyens d'approvisionner la marine par les seules productions du territoire français (Means of Provisioning the Fleet Solely by What Is Produced in French Territory). This advocacy of naval autarky
Autarky
Autarky is the quality of being self-sufficient. Usually the term is applied to political states or their economic policies. Autarky exists whenever an entity can survive or continue its activities without external assistance. Autarky is not necessarily economic. For example, a military autarky...
as a means of dealing with British blockades was read and appreciated by Napoleon and so Bruix was recalled to the navy in 1795 under the ministry of Laurent Truguet, which entrusted the Éole to him. He held this command up to the moment he was sent to join Villaret-Joyeuse
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...
's squadron as a major general.
Eustache Bruix was put in command of a division attached to admiral Justin Bonaventure Morard de Galles during the 1796 French invasion of Ireland. 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...
noticed him on that campaign and named him contre-amiral
Counter 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...
in May 1797. He was made Ministre de la Marine from 28 April 1798. Le bulletin de loi n° 198 du 8 floréal an VI (7 May 1798) stated:
- By decree number 1814 a decision of the Executive DirectoryFrench DirectoryThe Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
names citizen Bruix to the ministry of the navy and the colonies. The Executive Directory decides that Citizen Bruix, the contre-amiral, is to be named minister of the navy and the colonies, to replace citizen Pleville Le Peley on his retirement. This present decision is printed in the bulletin des loisBulletin des loisThe Bulletin des lois was a publication created during the French Revolution, as an "official anthology of the laws, orders and regulations that govern" the people...
. For confirmation, Merlin, président of the executive directory, signed this. Signed by secretary general LagardeClaude François Chauveau-LagardeAlready a respected lawyers in Paris, Claude François Chauveau-Lagarde came into the public spotlight in the early stages of the French Revolution. In 1789, at the outset, when the Estates General were convoked, he published a hopeful Théorie des états généraux ou la France régénérée...
.
On taking office, he rushed to Brest to take personal command of a fleet that was about to sail for Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in an attempt to extricate the French army trapped there since its invasion in 1798. With the help of the winds and fog he succeeded in evading the British blockade and sailed south with 25 ships of the line. Anticipating a possible landing in Ireland, still unsettled in the wake of the United Irishmen's rebellion
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
, the blockading fleet drew off north-westwards, giving Bruix a considerable headstart before it was discovered where he had gone. Off 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....
Bruix encountered a British blockading force of 15 ships of the line under Lord Keith
George Keith Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith
George Keith Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith was a British admiral active throughout the Napoleonic Wars.-Career:Fifth son of the 10th Lord Elphinstone, he was born in Elphinstone Tower, near Stirling, Scotland...
. Despite his numerical superiority and the presence of 28 Spanish ships of the line in Cadiz, Bruix ignored the opportunity to attack and continued into the Mediterranean.
Having made a detour to 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....
for repairs, Bruix learned that André Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
was besieged in Genoa
Siege of Genoa (1800)
In the Siege of Genoa the Austrians besieged and captured Genoa but the smaller French force under André Masséna had diverted enough Austrian troops so that Napoleon could win the Battle of Marengo.-Background:...
and was ordered to assist. He rerouted the fleet to the Gulf of Genoa
Gulf of Genoa
The Gulf of Genoa is the northernmost part of the Ligurian Sea. The width of the gulf is about 125 km, from the city of Imperia in the west to La Spezia in the east. The largest city on the its coast is Genoa, which has an important port....
to resupply the beleaguered army but was driven back by the weather. Meanwhile Keith had followed him into the Mediterranean and gathered together the scattered British squadrons in the area at Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
. Bruix abandoned his venture, eluded his pursuers and returned to the Atlantic. Collecting a Spanish squadron en route he re-entered Brest.
After this dramatic but fruitless expedition, known as the Cruise of Bruix
Cruise of Bruix
Bruix' expedition of 1799, often called Croisière de Bruix in French sources, was a French naval operation of the French Revolutionary Wars, carried out in May 1799 by admiral Étienne Eustache Bruix. It aimed at sending the naval squadron of Brest to the Mediterranean, gathering Spanish ships on...
, he returned the navy portfolio on 11 July 1799, and took command of the fleet assembled at the île d'Aix ready to sail to Spain, but the British reinforced their blockade, the admiral fell ill and the peace of Amiens prevented the fleet from leaving port. A vice-amiral
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...
from 13 March 1799, he was privy to the secret coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
that occurred on 18 brumaire, year 8
18 Brumaire
The coup of 18 Brumaire was the coup d'état by which General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the French Directory, replacing it with the French Consulate...
(9 November 1799). Napoléon Bonaparte named him 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"...
in 1801 and conseiller d'État
Conseiller d'État
A French Councillor of State is a high-level government official of administrative law in the Council of State of France.-Under the Old Regime:...
the following year.
War having broken out again, Napoléon conceived a plan for a new invasion of England
Napoleon's invasion of England
Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom at the start of the War of the Third Coalition, although never carried out, was a major influence on British naval strategy and the fortification of the coast of south-east England. French attempts to invade Ireland in order to destabilise the...
, and put Bruix in command of the flotilla based at 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....
that would carry the invasion troops across the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. Bruix deployed all his energies towards the preparations but was obliged to return to Paris, where he died of tuberculosis at only 45. The Boulevard de l'Amiral-Bruix
Boulevard de l'Amiral-Bruix
The Boulevard de l'Amiral-Bruix is a boulevard in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It is named after admiral Étienne Eustache Bruix, making it one of three of the Boulevards of the Marshals which do not bear the name of a marshal of France...
in Paris is named after him.