Étienne Eustache Bruix Étienne Eustache Bruix ( 1759 , Fort Dauphin on Saint - Domingue – 18 March 1805 , Paris ) was a French Navy admiral . Life . From a distinguished family originating from Béarn , 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 .