Louis Antoine de Bougainville

Louis Antoine de Bougainville, Comte de Bougainville (November 12 1729 – August 20 1811) was a French navigator and military commander.

The first French circumnavigation

After the peace, when the French government conceived the project of colonising the Falkland Islands, Bougainville undertook the task at his own expense. But the settlement having excited the jealousy of Spain, the French government gave it up to them, on condition of the usage of the islands as a stepstone to the Pacific.

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In 1766 Bougainville received from Louis XV the mission to circumnavigate the globe. He would become the 14th navigator in history, and the first Frenchman, to achieve a round-the-world navigation, and the completion of his mission would bolster the prestige of France following its humiliating defeats during the Seven Years War. Bougainville left in 1766 with two ships: La Boudeuse and L'Étoile. He famously visited the island of Tahiti in April 1768 and narrowly missed becoming their discoverer, unaware of a previous visit by Samuel Wallis in HMS Dolphin less than a year previously. In March 1769 the expedition completed its circumnavigation and arrived at St Malo, with the loss of only seven out of upwards of 200 men, an extremely low level of casualty, and a credit to the enlightened management of the expedition by Bougainville. Bougainville's voyage of circumnavigation was also notable for being the first to include a woman, Jeanne Baré, who was the servant of the expedition's naturalist Philibert Commerçon.

Related Topics:
Louis XV - Circumnavigate - Seven Years War - 1766 - La Boudeuse - L'Étoile - Tahiti - 1768 - Samuel Wallis - HMS ''Dolphin'' - 1769 - St Malo - Jeanne Baré - Philibert Commerçon

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Describing Tahiti in his 1771 book Voyage autour du monde, Bougainville offered a vision of an earthly paradise where men and women live happily in innocence, away from the corruption of civilisation. He powerfully illustrated the concept of noble savage, and influenced the utopian thoughts of philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau before the advent of the French Revolution. Denis Diderot's book, Supplément au voyage de Bougainville, retells the story of Bougainville's landing on Tahiti, narrated by an anonymous reader to one of his friends : this fictional approach of Bougainville's expedition, along with the description of the Tahitians as noble savages, is meant to criticise Western ways of living and thinking.

Related Topics:
1771 - Voyage autour du monde - Noble savage - Utopian - Jean-Jacques Rousseau - French Revolution - Denis Diderot - Supplément au voyage de Bougainville

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After an interval of several years, he again accepted a naval command and saw much active service between 1779 and 1782, including participating in the Battle of the Chesapeake. In the memorable engagement of the Battle of the Saintes, in which Admiral George Rodney defeated the Comte de Grasse, Bougainville, who commanded the Auguste, succeeded in rallying eight ships of his own division, and bringing them safely into Saint Eustace. He was promoted to chef d'escadre, and on reentering the army, was given the rank of maréchal de camp. After the peace he returned to Paris, and obtained the place of associate of the Academy. He projected a voyage of discovery towards the North Pole, but this did not meet with support from the French government.

Related Topics:
1779 - 1782 - Battle of the Chesapeake - Battle of the Saintes - George Rodney - Comte de Grasse - Saint Eustace - North Pole

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Bougainville obtained the rank of vice-admiral in 1791; and in 1792, having escaped almost miraculously from the massacres of Paris, he retired to his estate in Normandy. He was chosen a member of the Institute at its formation, and returning to Paris became a member of the Board of Longitude. In his old age Napoleon I made him a senator, count of the empire, and member of the Legion of Honour. He died in Paris on the August 31, 1811. He was married and had three sons, who served in the French army.

Related Topics:
1791 - 1792 - Normandy - Napoleon I - Legion of Honour - August 31 - 1811

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