Maxime-Julien Émeriau de Beauverger

Maxime-Julien Émeriau de Beauverger , rare Maxime Julien Émeriau de Beauverger (born October 20, 1762 in Carhaix , † February 2, 1845 in Toulon ) was a French admiral.

Life

At the age of fourteen, Émeriau de Beauverger joined the Royal Navy in 1776 and was soon able to prove his bravery. On the "Sylphe" he took part in the war of independence against the British. He later switched to the "Intrepide" under the command of Louis-André de Beaussier de Châteauvert and fought valiantly at Ushant (July 27, 1778). After further promotions he came to the staff of Admiral Charles Henri d'Estaing and took part in the naval battle of Grenada (July 6, 1779). He was wounded in the process and did not return to active service until the siege of Savannah (September / October 1779).

Then Émeriau de Beauverger moved to the staff of Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte and fought valiantly in the naval battle of Martinique (December 18, 1779). He also served on the staff of Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse and fought a. a. in Chesapeak Bay (September 5, 1781), at Les Saintes (April 12, 1782) and at St. Kitts (June 25/26, 1782). He was wounded several times during these fights.

After the Peace of Paris (September 3, 1783), Émeriau de Beauverger left the royal navy and signed up with a large trading house. After three years he returned to the royal navy with the rank of sous-lieutenant and served successively on the ships "Chameau", "Mulet", "Patriot" and "Fine" until 1791. On January 1, 1792, Émeriau de Beauverger was promoted to lieutenant and in the following year he was entrusted with the management of the "Cerf". Napoleon became aware of him when he brought the survivors to New York in his ship in 1793 after the fire disaster in Cap Français .

Then Émeriau de Beauverger moved to the staff of Admiral Pierre Jean Van Stabel and fought a. a. in the naval battle of the 13th Prairial (June 1, 1794). In December of the same year he was appointed captain. With his ship "Conquérant" he was assigned to Admiral Pierre Martin . He fought in the Mediterranean a . a. at Cape Noli (May 14, 1795) and the Hyèrian Islands (July 13, 1795).

In December 1796 General Lazare Hoche was commissioned to carry out the Irish expedition planned by Napoleon . The aim was to support the Society of United Irishmen under the leadership of Theobald Wolfe Tone in their struggle for independence against the British with an expeditionary army (15,000 men) (→ Irish Rebellion of 1798 ). Émeriau de Beauverger acted as a troop transport with his ship "Jemmappes".

When Napoleon was planning his campaign to Egypt in 1798 , Commodore Émeriau de Beauverger and his ship "Spartiate" became the Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers' naval association . He brought General Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois to Malta on June 9, 1798 to take this island. The very next day the Order of Malta handed over the capital Valletta and with it the entire island without a fight .

Émeriau de Beauverger took part with his ship "Spartiate" in the sea ​​battle at Abukir (1/2 August 1798) and also took part in direct combat with Admiral Nelson's ship "Vanguard".

In July 1802, contre-admiral Émeriau de Beauverger was assigned to the staff of General Charles Victoire Emmanuel Leclerc , who set up an expeditionary army to fight an army of insurgents led by Toussaint Louverture on Saint-Domingue ( Hispaniola ) (→ Haitian Revolution ).

After Leclerc d'Ostin's death, Émeriau de Beauverger returned to France in 1803. From the autumn of the same year he was appointed to Préfet maritime of Toulon and held this office until 1811. During this time he married Marie-Anne Lemaistre there in October 1809.

In the autumn of 1811 he was brought back to the Mediterranean fleet with the rank of vice-admiral. When Napoleon left the island of Elba and his " rule of the hundred days " began, Émeriau de Beauverger immediately rejoined his emperor. After the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815) on half-pay set, it was at the beginning of the restoration officially retires. He settled in Toulon and died there on February 2, 1845.

Émeriau de Beauverger was a Freemason and a member of the Mère Loge Écossaise lodges in Toulon and Amis Fidèles de Saint Napoléon in Marseille .

Honors

• Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor
• Grand Cross of the Ordre de la Réunion
• Chevalier des Ordre de la couronne de fer
• Chevalier des Ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis
• Comte de l'Émpire
• Member of the Society of the Cincinnati
• His name can be found on the southern pillar (21st column) of the triumphal arch on Place Charles-de-Gaulle in Paris .
• The Émeriau Point in Beagle Bay ( Western Australia ) bears his name.
• The Rue Emeriau in the 15th arrondissement in Paris has been named after him.

literature

• David G. Chandler : The campaigns of Napoleon . Weidenfeld, London 1993, ISBN 0-297-81367-6 (reprinted by Asug. London 1966).
• Jean M. van Hille (Ed.): Dictionnaire des marins francs-maçons . Phare de Misaine, Nantes 2008, ISBN 978-2-9506837-9-3 .
• François Jaffrennou: Histoire d'Émeriau de Carhaix. Le mousse qui devint admiral . La Presse de Bretagne, Rennes 1929.
• Bernard Le Nail: Le vice-admiral Émeriau. Gloire carhaisienne . In: Bulletin de l'Association bretonne , Vol. 110 (2002), pp. 237-243, ISSN  0755-7760 .
• Charles Mullié: Biography of the célébrites militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850 . Poignavant, Paris 1851 (2 vols.).
• Georges Six: Dictionnaire biographique des généraux & amiraux français de la Révolution et de l'Émpire. 1792-1814 . Saffroy, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-901541-06-2 (reprint of the Paris 1934 edition).