Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (12 November 1729 – 31 August 1811) was a French
admiralAdmiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
and explorer. A contemporary of
James CookCaptain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
, he took part in the
French and Indian WarThe French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
and the unsuccessful French attempt to defend Canada from Britain. He later gained fame for his expeditions to settle the
Falkland IslandsThe Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
and his voyages into the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
Early career
Bougainville was born in
ParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the son of a notary, on either 11 or 12 November 1729. In early life, he studied law, but soon abandoned the profession, and in 1753 entered the army in the corps of
musketeerA musketeer was an early modern type of infantry soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern armies, particularly in Europe. They sometimes could fight on horseback, like a dragoon or a cavalryman...
s. At the age of twenty-five he published a treatise on the integral calculus, as a supplement to De l'Hôpital's treatise,
Des infiniment petits.
In 1755 he was sent to
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
as secretary to the French embassy, and was made a member of the
Royal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
.
Seven Years' War (French and Indian War)
In 1756 he went to Canada as captain of dragoons and
aide-de-campAn aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to the Marquis de Montcalm. He took an active part in the capture of Fort Oswego in 1756 and in 1757 at the
Battle of Fort William HenryThe Siege of Fort William Henry was conducted in August 1757 by French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm against the British-held Fort William Henry...
. He was wounded in 1758 at the successful defence of
Fort CarillonFort Carillon was constructed by Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, to protect Lake Champlain from a British invasion. The fort was not far from Fort Saint Frédéric. It was built to prevent an attack on Canada and slow the advance of the enemy long enough to send reinforcements...
. He sailed back to France the following winter, under orders from the marquis to obtain additional military resources for the colony; during this crossing, he continued familiarising himself with the ways of the sea, skills that would later serve him well. Having distinguished himself in the war against Britain, he was rewarded with the cross of St Louis and returned to Canada the following year with the rank of colonel, but with little supplies to show for his trip - the metropolitan authorities having decided that "When the house is on fire, one does not worry about the stables".
During the pivotal year of 1759 (see
Seven Years' WarThe Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
and
French and Indian WarThe French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
), he participated in the defence of the capital of
New FranceNew France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, the fortified
Quebec CityQuebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
. With a small elite troop under his command, among which the
Grenadiers and the
Volontaires à cheval, he patrolled the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, upstream from the city, all summer long stopping the British several times from landing and thus cutting communications with Montreal. He was not given sufficient time, however, to rally his troops and attack the British rear when they successfully climbed up to the
Plains of AbrahamThe Plains of Abraham is a historic area within The Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, that was originally grazing land, but became famous as the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place on 13 September 1759. Though written into the history books, housing and minor...
and attacked Quebec on September 13.
Following the death of the Marquis de Montcalm and the fall of Québec on 18 September - after the colonel's aborted attempt to resupply the besieged city - Bougainville was dispatched to the western front by his new commanding officer, the Chevalier de Lévis and attempted to stop the British advance from his entrenchments at Île-aux-Noix. He was among the officers who accompanied Lévis to
Saint Helen's IslandSaint Helen's Island is an island in the Saint Lawrence River, in the territory of the city of Montreal. It is situated immediately southeast of the Island of Montreal, in the extreme southwest of Quebec. It forms part of the Hochelaga Archipelago...
off Montreal for the last French stand in North America before the general capitulation of 1761. Of the war, Bougainville wrote in his journal: "It is an abominable kind of war. The very air we breathe is contagious of insensibility and hardness".
Shipped back to Europe along with the other French officers, all deprived of military honours by the victors, Bougainville was prohibited from taking up any further active duty against the British under the terms of surrender. He spent the remaining years of the Seven Years' War (1761 to 1763) as a diplomat and helped negotiate the
Treaty of ParisThe Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
that eventually conceded most of New France to the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
.
Falklands settlement
After the peace, the French government conceived the project of colonising the "Malouines" (
Falkland IslandsThe Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
). These islands were at that time almost unknown. Bougainville undertook the task at his own expense. He set out with the frigate "Eagle" (captain : Nicolas Pierre Duclos-Guyot ) and the sloop "Sphinx" (captain : François Chenard de la Giraudais). This expedition included the naturalist and writer Dom
Antoine-Joseph PernetyAntoine-Joseph Pernety, known as Dom Pernety was a French writer. At various times he was a Benedictine, and librarian of Frederic the Great of Prussia...
(1716–1801) and the engineer and geographer Lhuillier de la Serre.
But the settlement he established in 1763, Port St. Louis, excited the jealousy of Britain and the Spanish government. Even if the French colony was no more than 150 people, for financial motivations (he himself paid for many expeditions) and diplomatic reasons (Spain feared that the Falklands would become a rear base to attack her Peruvian gold), Bougainville was ordered by the French government to dismantle his colony, to sell the islands to the Spanish (the King of Spain paid him 603,000 pounds for the islands). On 31 January 1767, he met in Rio de la Plata Don Felipe Ruiz Puente, commanding the frigate La Esmeralda and La Liebre (the "Hare") and future governor of the Malvinas Islands (Falklands), to take possession of the islands, and to evacuate the French population. During this French time, British sailors tried to settle in the Port de la Croisade in 1766, that they renamed Port Egmont. Bougainville wrote: "In December 1766, the frigate HMS Japan dropped anchor in Port Louis opposite to the fort. Captain Mac Bride landed, uttered threats and went away on the same day."
Port LouisPort Louis is a settlement on northeastern East Falkland. It was established by Louis de Bougainville in 1764 as the first French settlement on the islands, but was then transferred to Spain in 1767 and renamed Puerto Soledad .-History:The settlement has seen several name changes...
is named after him.
Circumnavigation
In 1766 Bougainville received from
Louis XVLouis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
permission to
circumnavigateCircumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
the globe. He would become the 14th navigator in western history, and the first Frenchman, to sail around the world, and the completion of his mission would bolster the prestige of France following its defeats during the
Seven Years' WarThe Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
. This was the first expedition circumnavigating the globe with professional naturalists and geographers aboard.
Bougainville left
NantesNantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
on 15 November 1766 with two ships:
La BoudeuseThe Boudeuse was a frigate of the French Navy, famous for being the exploration ship of Louis Antoine de Bougainville between 1766 and 1769.- First French circumnavigation :...
(captain : Nicolas Pierre Duclos-Guyot ) and the
ÉtoileThe Étoile was a fluyt famous for being one of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's ships in his circumnavigation between 1766 and 1769, along with La Boudeuse. She was commanded by Francois Chenard de la Giraudais, and was the storeship of the expedition.She carried naturalist and physician Philibert...
(commanded by François Chenard de la Giraudais). This was a large expedition with a crew of 214 aboard
La Boudeuse and 116 aboard the
Étoile.
On board was the botanist
Philibert CommerçonDr. Philibert Commerçon was a French naturalist, best known for accompanying Louis Antoine de Bougainville on his voyage of circumnavigation in 1766–1769.- Background :...
, who named the flower
BougainvilleaBougainvillea is a genus of flowering plants native to South America from Brazil west to Peru and south to southern Argentina . Different authors accept between four and 18 species in the genus...
, and his valet, later unmasked by the ship's surgeon as
Jeanne BaréJeanne Baret was a member of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's expedition on the ships La Boudeuse and Étoile in 1766–1769. Baret is recognized as the first woman to have completed a voyage of circumnavigation.Jeanne Baret joined the expedition disguised as a man, calling herself Jean Baret...
, possibly Commerçon's mistress; she would become the first woman known to circumnavigate the globe. Other notable people on this expedition were Count Jean-François de Galaup de la Pérouse (member of the crew), the astronomer
Pierre-Antoine VeronPierre-Antoine Véron was a French expert astronomer and mathematician. He was was a disciple of astronomer and writer Jérôme Lalande at the Collège Royal. Véron is famous for having made a historical observation of the size of the Pacific Ocean...
, the surgeon of
La Boudeuse Dr. Louis-Claude Laporte, the surgeon of the Étoile Dr. François Vives, the engineer and cartographer abourd the Étoile Charles Routier de Romainville, the writer and historian Louis-Antoine Starot de Saint-Germain.
Tahiti
He saw islands of the Tuamotu group on the following 22 March, on 2 April saw the peak of Mehetea and famously visited the island of
OtaheiteTahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
shortly after and narrowly missed becoming their discoverer, unaware of a previous visit, and claim, by
Samuel WallisSamuel Wallis was a Cornish navigator who circumnavigated the world.Wallis was born near Camelford, Cornwall. In 1766 he was given the command of HMS Dolphin to circumnavigate the world, accompanied by the Swallow under the command of Philip Carteret...
in
HMS DolphinHMS Dolphin was a 24-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1751, she was used as a survey ship from 1764 and made two circumnavigations of the world under the successive commands of John Byron and Samuel Wallis. She was the first ship to circumnavigate the world twice...
less than a year previously. He claimed the island for France and named it
New Cythera.
They left Tahiti and sailed westward to southern
SamoaSamoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
and the
New HebridesNew Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
, then on sighting
Espiritu SantoEspiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....
turned west still looking for the
Southern Continent. On June 4 he almost ran into heavy breakers and had to change course to the north and east. He had almost found the
Great Barrier ReefThe Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...
. He sailed through what is now known as the
Solomon IslandsSolomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
that, due of the hostility of the people there, he avoided. He named
Bougainville IslandBougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...
for himself. The expedition was attacked by people from
New IrelandNew Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...
so they made for the Moluccas. At Batavia they received news of
WallisSamuel Wallis was a Cornish navigator who circumnavigated the world.Wallis was born near Camelford, Cornwall. In 1766 he was given the command of HMS Dolphin to circumnavigate the world, accompanied by the Swallow under the command of Philip Carteret...
and
CarteretPhilip Carteret, Seigneur of Trinity was a British naval officer and explorer who participated in two of the Royal Navy's circumnavigation expeditions in 1764-66 and 1766-69.-Biography:...
who had preceded Bougainville.
Return to France
On 16 March 1769 the expedition completed its circumnavigation and arrived at St Malo, with the loss of only seven out of 330 men, an extremely low level of casualties, and a credit to the enlightened management of the expedition by Bougainville.
The legend begins: Voyage autour du monde
In 1771, Bougainville published his travel log from the expedition under the title
Le voyage autour du monde, par la frégate La Boudeuse
, et la flûte L'Étoile (a.k.a.
Voyage autour du monde and
A Voyage Around the World). The book describes the geography, biology and anthropology of
ArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
(then a
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
colony),
PatagoniaPatagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
,
TahitiTahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
and
IndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
(then a
Dutch colony). The book was a sensation, especially the description of Tahitian society, which Bougainville depicted as an earthly paradise where men and women lived in blissful innocence, far from the corruption of civilisation.
Bougainville's descriptions powerfully illustrated the concept of the
noble savageThe term noble savage , expresses the concept an idealized indigene, outsider , and refers to the literary stock character of the same...
and influenced the utopian thoughts of philosophers such as
Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
before the advent of the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
Denis Diderot'sDenis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
book
Supplément au voyage de BougainvilleSupplément au voyage de Bougainville, ou dialogue entre A et B sur l'inconvénient d'attacher des idées morales à certaines actions physiques qui n'en comportent pas. is a philosophical dialogue published in 1772, and written...
retells the story of Bougainville's landing on Tahiti, narrated by an anonymous reader to one of his friends; this fictional approach to Bougainville's expedition, along with Diderot's description of the Tahitians as noble savages, was meant to criticise Western ways of living and thinking.
American War of Independence
After an interval of several years, Bougainville again accepted a naval command and saw much active service between 1779 and 1782, including participating in the
Battle of the ChesapeakeThe Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American War of Independence that took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 1781, between a British fleet led by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas...
.
Battle of the Saintes
In the memorable engagement of the
Battle of the SaintesThe Battle of the Saintes took place over 4 days, 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American War of Independence, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned...
, in which Admiral George Rodney defeated the Comte de Grasse, Bougainville, who commanded the
AugusteThe Auguste was a 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.In 1781 and 1782, she took part in the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, under Admiral de Grasse. She fought at the Battle of the Chesapeake under captain Bougainville....
, succeeded in rallying eight ships of his own division, and bringing them safely into
Saint EustaceSaint Eustace, also known as Eustachius or Eustathius, was a legendary Christian martyr who lived in the 2nd century AD. A martyr of that name is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, which, however, judges that the legend recounted about him is "completely fabulous." For that reason...
. He was promoted to
chef d'escadreIn the ancien Régime French Navy, the rank of chef d'escadre was equivalent to the present-day rank of rear admiral. It was replaced in 1791 by the rank of "contre-amiral" ....
and, on reentering the army, was given the rank of
maréchal de camp.
After the peace of 1783 he returned to Paris, and obtained the place of associate of the Academy. He projected a voyage of discovery towards the
North PoleThe North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
but this did not meet with support from the French government.
Promotion and retirement
In 1787, he became a member of the
French Academy of SciencesThe French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
. He obtained the rank of vice-admiral in 1791; and in 1794, having escaped from the
Reign of TerrorThe Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
, he retired to his estate in
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. Returning to Paris, he was one of the founding members of the
Bureau des LongitudesThe Bureau des Longitudes is a French scientific institution, founded by decree of 25 June 1795 and charged with the improvement of nautical navigation, standardisation of time-keeping, geodesy and astronomical observation. During the 19th century, it was responsible for synchronizing clocks...
. In 1799,
Napoleon INapoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
made him a senator, and in 1808, a 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 all served in the French army or navy.
Legacy
BougainvilleBougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...
's name is given to the largest eastern island of
Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
; and to the
straitBougainville Strait separates Choiseul Island from Bougainville Island, the next to the northward. It was first passed through in 1768 by Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who christened it. A Lieutenant John Shortland of the Royal Navy sailed through it in 1788, giving the name of Treasury Islands...
which divides it from the island of
ChoiseulChoiseul Island, native name Lauru, is the largest island of the Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands, at .-Description:This island is named after Étienne François, duc de Choiseul....
. It is also applied to the strait between Mallicollo and
Espiritu SantoEspiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....
islands of the
New HebridesNew Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
group. In the Falklands,
Port LouisPort Louis is a settlement on northeastern East Falkland. It was established by Louis de Bougainville in 1764 as the first French settlement on the islands, but was then transferred to Spain in 1767 and renamed Puerto Soledad .-History:The settlement has seen several name changes...
, and "
Isla BougainvilleLively Island is the largest of the Lively Island Group of the Falkland Islands, The island group lies east of East Falkland. Lively Island is the largest rat-free island in the Falklands, hence its importance to birdlife...
" (Lively Island's Spanish name) commemorate him.
The genus of South American climbing shrubs with colorful bracts,
BougainvilleaBougainvillea is a genus of flowering plants native to South America from Brazil west to Peru and south to southern Argentina . Different authors accept between four and 18 species in the genus...
, is named after him.
Thirteen ships of the
French NavyThe French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
have been named in his honour, see
French ship BougainvilleThirteen ships of the French Navy have been named in honour of Louis Antoine de Bougainville:* A privateer captured by on 14 February 1800, but the prize sank following a collision the next day.* A privateer captured by the frigate in June 1801...
.
External links