Jean Jacques Étienne Lucas
Jean Jacques Étienne Lucas (28 April 1764 – 6 November 1819) was a French Navy officer, famous for his role in the Battle of Trafalgar. Career. Born in Marennes, he joined the French Navy at the age of 14. From 1779 to 1782 he sailed on the . During this period, he fought at the battle off Cape Breton (21 July 1781), part of the American Revolutionary War. The Battle of Trafalgar. He is primarily remembered for his role in the Battle of Trafalgar. By 1805, Lucas was a "capitaine de vaisseau", the French title for captain. He  commanded the French ship of the line . On 21 October 1805, at Trafalgar, "Redoutable" was located just off the port side of the , flagship of Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve. As a result of this positioning, Lucas and his crew found themselves between the two columns of British ships commanded by Nelson and in the heat of battle from very early on in the conflict. They engaged , Nelson's flagship, and through use of heavy artillery they came astern of "Victory" and sought to board her. The battle aboard "Victory" was bloody, costing both sides many lives and ultimately resulting in  stalemate. Admiral Nelson himself was mortally wounded by a musket shot fired from atop one of the masts of the "Redoutable", but before the boarding was successful, intervened and opened fire on the starboard side of "Redoutable", resulting in the deaths of over two hundred French sailors. At 2:30 p.m., "Redoutable" surrendered to "Temeraire" after having lost 522 men out of their total 643. Of this number, 300 were killed and 222 were wounded. Lucas himself was injured, and the ship had suffered damage which had led to the hold taking on several feet of water. The masts had been  broken and there was substantial damage to the rest of the ship, including the artillery. Lucas was received in England with great courtesy. After his release from capture, he was personally awarded the rank of Commandeur of the Legion of Honour by Napoleon for his role during the battle. Battle of the Basque Roads. In 1809, he was in command of , a 74-gun ship of the line part of admiral Zacharie Allemand's squadron. The French squadron was at first blockaded, and then attacked on 11 April 1809 by a British fleet, near Île-d'Aix, in what would become  known as the Battle of the Basque Roads. After breaching the boom that defended the anchored French fleet, the British sent in fireships, "Régulus" being the first to be hit. The French ship cut its anchor cables and managed to escape from one of the fireships, after a half-hour struggle. "Régulus" ran aground and it was in danger of capsizing. Trying to save his ship, Lucas had to throw overboard most of his cannons, keeping only 16 of them, together with ammunition and supplies for one month. He managed to refloat his ship, but it ran aground a second  time, on the shoals of Les Palles. On 13 April, several smaller British ships tried to destroy the grounded French vessel, as they had done to several others, but after a six-hour fight Lucas repelled them. On 20 April, the British tried again, only to be repulsed a second time. During the next fight, on 24 April, not being able to bear his guns on the enemy because of "Régulus" ' list, Lucas cut new portholes in the hull for six of his cannons and managed to drive away the British vessels after an 8½ hours fight. After being grounded  for two weeks, repelling four attacks, being bombarded and firing almost 1,400 cannon shots, "Régulus" was in a bad shape, but on the night of 25 April the British retreated after having destroyed four ships of the line, one frigate and severely damaged the other French ships. Four days later, on 29 April, Lucas managed to patch and refloat his ship, which entered Rochefort to the cheers of the population. Later life and death. During the Hundred Days, Lucas sided with Napoleon. After the second Restoration of the Bourbons, Lucas retired from the Navy, in 1816, and died on 6  November 1819, in Brest.