Pierre Servan René Bouvet de Maisonneuve
Pierre Servan René Bouvet de Maisonneuve (Saint-Servan, 10 April 1750 — Paris, 25 May 1795) was a French naval officer. He served in several notable battles, notably the action of 17 June 1778, and the battles conducted by Suffren in the Indian Ocean. He was wounded at the Battle of Porto Praya. Biography. Bouvet de Maisonneuve was born to the family of a naval engineer. He joined the merchant navy at a young age and rose to sea captain. Service on "Belle Poule". In 1778, in a context of increasing tensions between France and  Britain due to the War of American Independence, Bouvet was recalled to serve in the French Royal Navy as an auxiliary Frigate Lieutenant, and appointed to the frigate "Belle Poule", upon request of her commanding officer, Chadeau de la Clocheterie. Bouvet took part in the Action of 17 June 1778 with the role of maneuver officer. In the opening of the action, he commanded the maneuver that freed "Belle Poule" from HMS "Arethusa" and prompted the British to open fire. During the battle, a piece of splinter ripped away part of his thigh, but he refuse to be carried below . In recognition of his behaviour in the action, Bouvet earned a full commission of Frigate Lieutenant. He was then promoted to "capitaine de brûlot", and appointed to the 64-gun "Sphinx" as first officer, under Captain du Chillau. Indian Ocean campaign under Suffren. "Sphinx" was part of a squadron under Captain Suffren, tasked to reinforce the Dutch Cape Colony against a foreseen British invasion after the outbreak of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War in 1780. The squadron also comprised 74-guns "Héros" (under Suffren himself) and "Annibal" (under Trémignon), and the 64-guns "Artésien" (under Cardaillac and "Vengeur" (under Forbin ), as well as the 16-gun corvette "Fortune" (under Captain de Lusignan), and seven transports carrying the Régiment de Pondichéry, under Brigadier General Thomas Conway. The squadron departed Brest on 22 March 1781. Bouvet took part in the Battle of Porto Praya on 16 April 1781, where he directed maneuver when "Sphinx" took "Annibal" in tow after she lost her rigging in the action. He then took part in the Battle of Sadras on 17 February 1782, and the Battle of Providien on 12 April 1782. On 3 September 1782, in the late stage of the Battle of Trincomalee, as  Suffren's flagship "Héros" was isolated, Bouvet broke discipline and took upon himself to move "Sphinx" next to "Héros" to support her, although Chillau approved retroactively. After the battle, "Sphinx" took "Héros" in tow, bringing her to the safety of Trincomalee harbour where they arrived in the evening of 7 September 1782. A few days after the battle, Suffren summoned Bouvet and after chastising him for his breach of protocol, he congratulated him for his maneuver and promoted him to the command of the 18-gun corvette "Fortune". He furthermore recommended him for the Cross of the Order of Saint  Louis, and presented him with a pair of luxurious British-made pistols that Hughes had gifted him. Bouvet took part in the rest of the campaign in the Indian Ocean under Suffren. On 13 April 1783, Suffren sent "Fortune" to carry despatches back to France. He sailed to the Cape of Good Hope before continuing to Europe. In late April, "Fortune" encountered a British corvette, which sent a boat bringing the news of the Peace of Paris. Revolutionary wars. Bouvet arrived in Lorient on 24 August 1783, and rode to Versailles with Suffren's despatches. Bouvet was promoted to Lieutenant , and made a Knight in the Order of Saint Louis. In 1786, Bouvet captained the fluyt "Nécessaire" to India. His 12-year-old son Pierre François Étienne Bouvet de Maisonneuve came along as an apprentice. When "Nécessaire" returned to France in 1789, the Revolution had broken out. Bouvet sympathised with its cause, and became one of the few officers of the Royal Navy to hold their commission through the Revolution. In 1792, he was promoted to captain and appointed to command the frigate "Aréthuse" The year after, Bouvet served as a Commodore, with his flag on the 74-gun "Patriote , and commanded a division also comprising Entreprenant", "Orion" and "Apollon", in Trogoff's fleet. During the Siege of Toulon in August 1793, after a royalist plot surrendered the city to the British, Bouvet threatened to fight and negotiated safe passage for his four ships. Two sailed to Rochefort, and he sailed to Brest with the two others, where he arrived on 13 October 1793. Bouvet was warmly received by Jeanbon Saint-André, but a few days later he was incarcerated. He was released after the Thermidorian Reaction put an end to the Reign of Terror. On 25 May 1795, after  a heated exchanged with Navy minister Jean Dalbarade, Bouvet fell acutely ill and died. Sources and references. Notes References