Vice-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez (7 August 1763 – 17 May 1845) was a French Navy officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Willaumez joined the French navy at the age of 14, and proved to be a competent sailor. Having risen to the rank of pilot, he started studying navigation, attracting the attention of his superiors and Louis XVI. Willaumez eventually became an officer and served under Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux in his expedition to find the comte de Lapérouse and explore the Indian Ocean and Oceania.
During the French Revolutionary Wars, Willaumez rose in rank and served in Saint-Domingue during the Haitian Revolution, where he commanded the frigate Poursuivante against the Royal Navy during the action of 28 June 1803. In 1806, Willaumez led a French squadron in the Atlantic campaign of 1806, sailing to Brazil and the West Indies and attacking British merchant shipping. However, Jérôme Bonaparte's insubordination led to Willaumez missing the chance to attack a valuable British convoy. Eventually, the 1806 Great Coastal hurricane damaged and dispersed his squadron, which was either sunk or limped back to France.
In May 1808, Willaumez attempted to regroup warships scattered in Brest, Lorient and Rochefort into an eighteen-ship squadron to defend the French West Indies; adverse weather and the poor state of the squadron thwarted the plan and he ended up being blockaded by the British in Rochefort, leading to a catastrophic defeat at the Battle of the Basque Roads and Willaumez falling out of favour with Napoleon. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars Willaumez served at the Council of Naval Constructions and was granted a peerage. He authored a dictionary of naval terms, sponsored a collection of ship models and commissioned the Roux family to paint portraits of all the ships on which he had served, a collection known as the Album de Willaumez.
Career Early life Willaumez was born to an infantry captainQuintin, (p. 367) says "artillery'; Levot (p.554) says "coast-guard". who died without fortune at the age of 68, leaving six orphan children. Jean-Baptiste being the older, he took upon himself to teach his younger brothers, all of whom would die in the service of the French Navy.Hennequin, p.237
In 1777, at the age of 14, he enlisted as an apprentice pilot boy on the 74-gun Bien-Aimé, under Captain de Bougainville,Levot, p.554 in the squadron under Admiral du Chaffault. The year after, he was appointed to the 56-gun Flamand, bound for Mauritius, as an apprentice helmsman. Upon his arrival, he transferred to the coastal schooner Fourmi. When Fourmi was condemned,Roche (p.213) states that Fourmi was captured by a British privateer in 1797. he transferred to the Louise, on which he was wrecked on the reef off Tamarin.Roche (p.286) states that Louise served as a fluyt at Rochefort from 1778 and was condemned in 1783. Possibly a different ship. Willaumez eventually returned to France on the corvette Les Amis.
Service on Amazone Arrived at Lorient, and finding no ship in need for his services, Willaumez went to Brest, where he was quickly enlisted as aid-pilot on the 90-gun Ville de Paris,Hennequin, p.238 which in late 1780 was being overhauled.La Ville de Paris (1764 – 1782), troisponts.wordpress.com Weary of his inactivity during the work on Ville de Paris, Willaumez requested a transfer on a departing ship, and was appointed as a pilot to the frigate Amazone, under La Pérouse, in January 1781.
Cruising in the Bay of Biscay, Amazone captured the twelve-gun privateer lugger Pitt; Willaumez was given command of a prize crew and sailed her to Lorient. He then rejoined Amazone, which was escorting a convoy to America.
Upon her arrival, Amazone was attached to the fleet of Admiral de Grasse, and took part in the Battle of the Saintes in April 1782. On 29 July, while sailing at the entrance of Chesapeake Bay, Amazone, then under Lieutenant de Moniguyot,Levot, p.555 met the British frigate HMS Santa Margarita; in the ensuing battle, Amazon lost her main mast, her foremast, struck her colours with half her crew dead or wounded. On the next day, the French squadron under Vaudreuil appeared and recaptured Amazon. Having stayed alone on the quarterdeck of Amazon, and twice seriously wounded, Willaumez was praised by the Admiral and promoted to first pilot.
Service on Astrée In 1784, returned to France, Willaumez enlisted as first officer on the 700-ton merchantman Tharon, on which he made two trips to Saint Domingue. On the second time, he saved his ship, which was in danger of being wrecked at the entrance of the Loire. The year after, he returned to the French Royal Navy and embarked as first pilot on the aviso Sylphe;Hennequin, p.239 there again, he saved his ship when she sprang a leak after sailing off harbour, and sailed her to Rochefort.
In Rochefort, Willaumez transferred on the fluyt Lionne, which sailed to the Caribbean. In 1786, he enlisted on the Forte, and transferred on the frigate Astrée, bound for the Indies.
In this period, Willaumez took upon himself to study navigation and astronomy, for which he displayed such passion that the chief of the station, Saint-Riveuil, offered him a sextant and a chronometer. Willaumez also received a Reflecting circle from Louis XVI inscribed "Donné par le roi à M. Willaumez, premier pilote".
Astrée was called back to France, ferrying Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, governor of Mauritius. When, upon his arrival, Entrecasteaux was appointed to command the Patriote, he took Willaumez with him.Hennequin, p.240
Service on Recherche in D'Entrecasteaux' expedition
When D'Entrecasteaux was tasked to investigate the fate of Lapérouse's expedition and given command of the Recherche, Willaumez, promoted to Ensign in 1791, followed him, and was tasked with navigation and chronometers. During the campaign, D'Entrecasteaux promoted him to Lieutenant, and appointed Knight of the Order of Saint Louis. In the course of the exploration, he also named the Willaumez Peninsula after him.
D'Entrecasteaux died of scurvy on 21 July 1793 and his ships sailed to Java, where they were interned by the Dutch, who were then at war with France. Willaumez was detained for some time before he was able to sail to Mauritius, where he enlisted on the frigate Prudente, under Jean-Marie Renaud. On Prudente, he took part in the Battle of Île Ronde, where he commanded the battery of the frigate and received a hand wound. In recognition of his conduct, the governor of Mauritius granted Willaumez command of the corvette Légère and tasked him to carry the documents of D'Entrecasteaux' expedition to France. Légère anchored in Brest two months later.
Command of Régénérée in Sercey's squadron In March 1795, Willaumez was promoted to captain; in May, he was appointed to arm the 74-gun Pluton, on which he perfected techniques of rigging and cargo arrangement. He then ferried the corvette Bergère from Brest to Rochefort, in spite of the British blockade, and took command of the 40-gun frigate Régénérée.Hennequin, p.241
Régénérée was part of a two-corvette and four-frigate naval division under Counter-Admiral Sercey, tasked to sail to Mauritius and prey on British merchantmen in the Indian Ocean. During the campaign, she captured nineteen of the 23 prizes captured by the squadron and took part in the action of 8 September 1796, where she suffered two killed and six wounded.
With dwindling support from the colony of Mauritius, Sercey had to send Régénérée and Vertu, under Captain Magon, back to France.Troude, vol.3, p.55 The frigates departed the Indian Ocean theatre in September sailing from Mauritius to RochefortRoche, p.460 and escorting two merchantmen of the Spanish Royal Company of the Philippines to Europe.Fonds Marine, p.215
En route, the two frigates and two merchantmen stopped at Îles de Los to effect repair and gather water;Troude, vol.3, p.130 they anchored at Tamara, Vertu disassembling her masts and yards to restore her rigging, while Régénérée sailed to the nearby island of Factori. On 24 April, the 32-gun HMS Pearl, under Captain James Ballard, attacked Vertu; one hour into the battle, Régénérée, attracted by the cannonade, intervened and forced Pearl to flee. Régénérée chased Pearl for 36 hours before abandoning the pursuit.
On 10 May 1798, the ships departed for Europe. Arrived at Tenerife, the merchantmen were put under the care of the governor, as they considerably retarded the travel of the frigates. On 27 July, as the frigates prepared to pursue their journey, they were observed by the 28-gun HMS Brilliant, under Henry Blackwood. At 6, the French frigates put to sail and started firing on Brilliant; Régénérée was closing in to her opponent when Vertu, which had sailed large, touched the wind; Régénérée imitated her manoeuver, but lost her mizzen and bowsprit, allowing Brilliant to flee. Vertu gave chase, but could not overhaul her opponent and returned to Tenerife. There, Régénérée replaced her rigging, and both frigates eventually arrived in Rochefort on 5 September.
Service in Saint-Domingue on Poursuivante
Promoted to Chef de Division in January 1799, Willaumez was ordered to Saint-Malo to lead a campaign of his own design with a three-frigate and one-corvette division. However, the expedition could not depart and Willaumez returned to Paris, where, along with Fleurieu, he documented D'Entrecasteaux' expedition.
In 1801, at the Peace of Amiens, Willaumez was appointed to command the 74-gun Duguay-Trouin, part of a squadron under Counter-Admiral Latouche-Tréville in Villaret de Joyeuse's fleet bound for Saint-Domingue;Hennequin, p.242 the squadron counted six ships of the line, six frigates and two corvettes, and was to ferry 3000 soldiers.
Willaumez was given command of the Southern station of Saint-Domingue, and although he had no troops at his disposal there, he managed to maintain order. He also gained the trust of the black population, to the extent that General Laplume entrusted him two millions francs to carry to Port-au-Prince. In November 1802, after Donatien de Rochambeau replaced the deceased Charles Leclerc as commander-in-chief of all French forces in Saint-Domingue, he began ordering Blacks to be executed by drowning. Rochambeau had the entire garrison of Fort Dauphin, all of whom were Black soldiers, transferred to Swiftsure and thrown overboard by her crew.Herpin, p.78 Rochambeau then ordered all French warships to carry out such executions; only Willaumez refused, stating that "The officers of the French Navy are not executioners. I will not obey!"Merrien, p.114Les officiers de la Marine française ne sont pas des bourreaux. Je n'obéirai pas!
After 18 months, Willaumez transferred his flag on the frigate Poursuivante, on which he served successively at the Western and Southern stations, and carried out a number of raids against the rebel Indigenous Army. On 27 June 1803, Poursuivante departed Les Cayes, bound for Cap‑Français, in the company of the sixteen-gun corvette Mignonne,Troude, vol.3, p.286 under Jean Pierre Bargeau.James, p.187
In the early morning of 28 June 1803, Poursuivante spotted a large convoy of about fifty ships, with three ships of the line for escort; they were the 74-gun HMS Hercules, Cumberland and Goliath, which detached and set a course to intercept. At eight, the 74-gun HMS Hercules came in range, hoisted the British flag, prompting Poursuivante to hoist the French colours,Hennequin, p.243 and opened fire at nine.
After two hours of mutual cannonade, the ships were close to shore and at eleven, the wind fell, favouring the shallower and more manoeuvrable frigate, which quickly came in position to rake Hercule and delivered a devastating broadside at her stern. Hercule, in order to avoid running aground,Troude, vol.3, p.287James, p. disengaged, allowing Poursuivante to reach the safety of Môle-Saint-Nicolas.James, p.188