La Motte-Picquet a little-known sailor

The numerous land battles of the time of Louis XV and Louis XVI make us forget that the sea was also the scene of heroic actions. La Motte-Picquet, a little-known 18th-century sailor, led a tumultuous life; lieutenant, division commander then squadron leader, he lived from frigate to frigate, braving the seas of the West Indies or the Indies and the Royal Navy until the end of his days.

By Lionel Marquis, journalist

Jean-Guillaume Toussaint Picquet de La Motte, better known by the abbreviated name of La Motte-Picquet, was born in Rennes into a family of the poor Breton gentry, on November 1, 1720. His father, Guy Picquet, lord of La Motte, and advisor to the Parliament of Brittany from 1701 obtained from the king in 1726 the erection of the land of Launay-du-Han into a lordship and the change of the name of Launay-du-Han to Launay-Picquet. The next day, Jean Guillaume Toussaint was baptized in the Saint-Étienne church. The newborn is held on the baptismal font by Guillaume de Rosnyvinen, Marquis of Piré, and Pélagie Jeanne Robert, lady of Melesse.

Rennes 1720: terrible year

Since 1716, the intendant of Brittany has been Paul-Esprit Feydeau de Brou – he remained until 1728 and played an important role after the fire of Rennes. At the time when the man who would become La Motte-Picquet was born, the governor of Brittany was none other than the legitimized son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon who, in 1695, exchanged with the Count of Vermandois his title of governor of Guyenne against that of Brittany following the resignation of the Duke of Chaulnes – who had governed the province since 1670. Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon exercised the function until December 1736 – except for the port of Brest where, according to the ordinance of 1644, all authority belongs exclusively to the admiral of France.

Rennes then had Toussaint François Rallier du Baty as mayor (1). Two months after the birth of La Motte-Picquet, that is to say on the night of December 22 to 23, a gigantic fire broke out in the Breton capital. The alarm was only given around midnight: too late to extinguish this already blazing fire “[…] where the glow of the flames already illuminates the sky, driven by a stormy wind”. Panic sets in and there is no one to organize the fight against the fire. It is a Sunday and people celebrate it by eating and drinking. In addition, Rennes does not have a professional fire brigade (2). Only the bourgeois militia, an association of notable citizens who can be called upon in an emergency, can therefore intervene. There is of course also the night patrol, but on this winter evening, she is warming up in her guardhouse.

On December 25, Feydeau de Brou wrote his first report: “The fire is currently so big that almost the entire part of the upper town in which all the people of consideration live, is burned, or at least on the verge of being burned. ; we no longer know which way to take the remedy, everyone is on edge and very tired from having spent the days and nights working and I cannot yet say when the fire will go out or which way it will go. will throw the hardest. »(3) Parliament was spared, thanks to the destruction of the houses adjacent to it and the efforts of the rescuers who raised large quantities of water to continuously spray the roof.

On December 27, around four o'clock in the afternoon, it started to rain. Exhausted, residents and soldiers finally managed to stop the progression of the fire. The toll is heavy: the ten most densely populated hectares are destroyed and the richest inhabitants are affected, i.e. around 40% of the city. According to Gauthier Aubert (4), 945 buildings spread over 32 streets were destroyed – including 33 stables and shops and ten hotels of nobles or parliamentarians, leaving 8,000 homeless and between 10,000 and 13,000 victims out of the total population. of approximately 49,000 inhabitants. To rehouse the victims, "248 huts were hastily built on the squares, along the ramparts and on all the empty land available to accommodate the most modest victims." The nuns of the Visitation described them as “almost all of no value, all built of wood and an irregular shape.” Fortunately, the deaths were few: around ten, were killed in their sleep, the first night. The fire was not brought under control until December 29. The father's house in La Motte-Picquet seems to have been spared by the fire.

First commitments

Curiously, nothing is known about La Motte-Picquet's first fifteen years. What his biographer (5) tells us is that our character has two brothers and a sister: the eldest, Louis Jacques, knight and Lord of Montreuil (1719-1786), lawyer then advisor to Parliament, died without issue despite two marriages; Guy-François, vicar general of Vannes from 1750 to his death in 1757 and Judith Marie Picquet de la Motte (1725-1777) who married, on October 11, 1743, Guy-Jean Aubert, knight lord of Lou and Trégomain, advisor to the king and civil and criminal lieutenant-general of the seneschal at the presidial of Rennes.

In July 1735, at the age of fifteen, La Motte-Picquet entered the navy as a guard on a ship in Duguay-Trouin's squadron (6). In 1737, he transferred to a frigate, intended to cruise against the corsairs of Salé (7), and made several campaigns in the Mediterranean, until 1738. The following year, he campaigned for four months in the Baltic this time. It is 1740 and La Motte-Picquet is sent to the West Indies to protect the French colonies against the English because the War of the Austrian Succession is near. La Motte-Picquet was then placed under the orders of the Marquis d'Antin (8) who commanded a large fleet divided into three squadrons. He took his place in the third squadron which set sail at the same time as the first, on September 2, 1740.

On October 1, 1741, La Motte-Picquet embarked as an ensign for Lisbon to bring back diamonds from the crown of Portugal and a sum of 800,000 pounds. The journey will not be the most peaceful. On his return, the Count of Kersaint (9) had to stop at Falmouth, in England, after having weathered a storm. Five days later, Kersaint had to hastily leave Falmouth, having risked having his ship confiscated. For the first time, mention is made of the intervention of La Motte-Picquet to prevent this from happening.

Until 1744, La Motte-Picquet was employed on various missions; one of them was to escort, in January 1744, the pretender to the British crown, Charles Edward Stuart. Two months later, on March 15, France entered the war against England. La Motte-Picquet played an important role in this war. On February 6, 1745, he left Brest with the first mission to carry packages to Louisbourg, the "capital" of Île Royale, in the northeast of Nova Scotia, in Canada, then besieged by the English. There, he faced two British frigates and six privateers. On October 21, La Motte-Picquet returned to Brest.

From one war to another

On January 1, 1746, La Motte-Picquet was appointed ensign. On July 13, La Motte-Picquet's ship encountered an English frigate and an English menu (10). A violent six-day battle ensued, leaving forty dead on board and almost as many wounded. On September 18, Kersaint’s squadron reached Chibouctou where d’Anville had been since the day before. The rest of the squadron arrived on September 27, the day d'Anville died of a stroke. D'Estourmel, one of his officers, then took command and decided, during a war council, to attack Annapolis Royal on the east coast of Nova Scotia and detach Jonquière for Canada. On the night of the 29th to the 30th, this project was abandoned and d'Estourmel (11) attempted to kill himself. But he survived and handed over command to de la Jonquière (12). On October 24, the squadron – at least what remained of it – left Chibouctou to attack Annapolis but, faced with the risk of running out of provisions, preferred to take the road to France, which it reached on November 30.

On January 24, 1748, La Motte-Picquet left Brest with the squadron of Albert (13) composed of three vessels. Destination Pondicherry, threatened by the English. Three ships are waiting in India to reinforce the squadron.

On February 7, a gale separated La Motte-Picquet's ship from the rest of the fleet, forcing it to stop for repairs in La Coruna; a city ​​that he will not leave until March 25. He only arrived in Île-de-France on September 20, after a stopover at Île Bourbon (Reunion). On January 17, 1749, La Motte-Picquet and the squadron of Kersaint (14) finally left Île-de-France for Pondicherry. Off the coast of Madras, they captured a Dutch vessel and an English vessel; both were sent to Île-de-France. Finally, on February 9 of that same year, Kersaint dropped anchor in Pondicherry.

The state of "non-war" that followed led La Motte-Picquet to the West Indies, then, after an "interlude in the army in 1753", he returned to Brest since he had been appointed lieutenant of the navy. on May 23, 1753. In 1756, the conflict resumed. It's the Seven Years' War. England, allied with Prussia, and France, allied with Austria, clashed. In 1757, La Motte-Picquet was sent to Canada for the third time before returning to the West Indies, first in 1758-1759, then in 1761-1762 for a fourth campaign. On January 15, 1762, he was appointed captain. In the meantime, after two lost naval battles, the Royal no longer has the initiative while the Royal Navy has control of the seas.

On all fronts

At the end of October 1763, La Motte-Picquet received orders to lead a new campaign against the Saletins, these Barbary pirates who were harming maritime trade in North Africa. A frigate is assigned to La Motte-Picquet. A second frigate and a ship accompany them. At Cape Saint-Vincent, they must be joined by two other frigates to then go to the Moroccan coast. Following this eventful campaign, La Motte-Picquet was assigned to the port of Brest where he was given administrative tasks. He did not return to sea until eight years later, with the rebirth of the royal navy.

In 1776, after a stay in Versailles where he had the opportunity to meet Louis XVI, he returned to Brest for a second evolution campaign made up of vessels from Brest, Rochefort, and Toulon. A third evolution campaign the following year involved thirteen ships and La Motte-Piquet was, for the occasion, promoted to commander of a division.

During 1777, relations with England became increasingly tense. Every day, French ships cruising offshore are shelled, their crews injured and often counting dead. On October 11, La Motte-Picquet commanded a squadron of eight ships that had to make changes. A week later, the squadron suffered a strong gale which damaged all the buildings. However, La Motte-Picquet decides to continue his cruise. Finally, on November 10, he returned to Brest; four days later he was given command of the harbor police. He did not return to sea until February 1778.

The new conflict which allowed the "Royale" to take its revenge and La Motte-Picquet to show its qualities, was the American War of Independence which, in 1777, was already in its first year, and its first success for the “insurgents”. Boston surrendered in March 1776, and on July 4, the independence of the United States was proclaimed. In 1777, however, the British regained much of the lost ground. On October 17, they were in Saratoga. The fate of the insurgents hangs in the balance there. During this interval, Louis XVI received Benjamin Franklin who came to ask him for help in arms, men, and ships. The king procrastinates, and secretly, he encourages private initiatives that go in the direction requested by Franklin.

At the beginning of 1778, La Motte-Picquet commanded a squadron which was to leave to monitor the coasts of Brittany. On February 6, Louis XVI signed a treaty of commerce and friendship with the insurgents: on March 17, the King of England recalled his ambassador – Louis XVI did the same. On June 1, La Motte-Picquet was appointed squadron leader. On the 17th, an English squadron attacked a frigate which defended itself and damaged one of the attackers. Louis XVI then declared war on England. The first naval combat of this new conflict took place in Ushant on July 27. The 30 French ships of the line have, for the first time in fifteen years, the upper hand over their British rival, forced to withdraw and counting 407 dead in its ranks against 163 on the French side.

In the spring of 1779, La Motte-Picquet was at the head of a squadron for the Antilles. For the siege of Savannah, he commanded a division of five ships at the beginning of September. He is responsible for disembarking troops, equipment, and ammunition. On September 12, operations began, but the next day they were hampered by bad weather. On September 16, d'Estaing sent a summons to General Prevost (15), defender of Savannah, which made him languish, knowing that the bad weather forecast would not allow d'Estaing to hold out for long. On September 20, La Motte-Picquet was given command of the naval forces, weakened by scurvy and the exhaustion of their water reserves. The armada must also face the arrival of English reinforcements. Despite the persistence of bad weather, d'Estaing launched the attack on October 9. It is a failure and we must resolve to return to France. This operation was costly: 63 officers were killed, 579 men killed or wounded (19). As for La Motte-Picquet, he was ordered to set sail, with two vessels and one in tow, to Martinique, where he arrived on November 25. On December 18, while he was stranded at Fort Royal, he covered himself with glory.

The end of the adventure

In 1780, La Motte-Picquet entered its sixtieth year. He is an old man for his time. His health is dilapidated – “gout in the kidneys and left arm”, as he wrote on July 28 to Sartine. In addition, he suffered an injury sustained during a naval combat on March 14. And yet, he nonetheless continued to roam the oceans and confront the Royal Navy (battle of Cape Spartel, October 20, 1782). In an October 4 letter addressed to the new Secretary of the Navy, he spoke of his “47 years of distinguished service, 30 long campaigns, 12 combats, 6 wounds […]”. On April 1, 1783, for the last time, La Motte-Picquet's squadron anchored in the harbor of Brest. It was in this city – where, in 1781, he had bought a hotel – that he died on June 10, 1791. Three months later the ephemeral constitutional monarchy was created.

1• Toussaint Rallier du Baty (1665-1734) was mayor of Rennes from July 1695 to his death on March 25, 1734, i.e. for 39 years.

2• It was in the 19th century that the professional fire brigade was created.

3• Gauthier Aubert and Georges Provost, Rennes 1720. The fire, Rennes, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2020, p. 32 (Gauthier Aubert is a professor of History at the University “Rennes 2”).

4• Ibid.

5• Alain Gaillard, La Motte Picquet, Hero of the War of Independence, Memoirs and Documents, Aix-en-Provence, 2018.

6• René Trouin (1673-1736), sieur du Gué, is Breton like La Motte-Picquet. Born in Saint-Malo, in 1691 he received command of a ship. In 1728, he was lieutenant general of the naval armies, in 1736 he commanded the port of Toulon after having led a squadron responsible for bombarding Tripoli (1731).

7• Salé is a city in Morocco where Muslim refugees from Spain settled in the 17th century. Driven by some with a spirit of revenge against the Christians, they embarked on a racing war and constituted a powerful political entity known as the Republic of Bouregreg leading expeditions as far as Cornwall. In 1765, Louis

8• Antoine-François de Pardaillan de Gondrin (1709-1741), Marquis d'Antin, was vice-admiral of France and commanded the Brest fleet from 1737 to 1741. Sent to the West Indies to fight the English at the start of the War of Succession from Austria, he failed in this mission and died shortly after.

9• Guy-François Coëtnemprem (1703-1759), Count of Kersaint, joined the navy in February 1722. In 1731 he was promoted to ensign, then lieutenant in May 1741. In January 1747, he was captain. In 1756, at the head of a division, he destroyed English factories in Guinea before leaving for the Caribbean where he was wounded during the battle of Cap-Français (October 21, 1757). In 1759, aboard the Thésée, he participated in the Battle of Quiberon (November 20) during which his boat sank, leading to his death.

10• A senau is a building with two masts supplemented by a mast placed immediately behind the main mast.

11• Constantin-Louis d'Estourmel (1691-1765) joined the navy in 1707. He was lieutenant in 1712 then captain in 1727. In 1746, he was promoted to squadron leader. After his suicide attempt, he returned to France. Louis XV authorized him to withdraw from the service while retaining his salary.

12• Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de la Jonquière (1685-1752) participated in the capture of Rio de Janeiro in 1711. From 1715 to 1719, he campaigned on the west coast of America. In 1746, he was named governor-general of New France. Taken prisoner at the naval battle of Cape Finisterre (1747), he was released the following year and landed in Quebec in 1749 where he died three years later.

13• Charles-Antoine d'Albert, Marquis du Chesne (1686-1751) was an ensign in 1707 and participated in the naval campaigns of the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1724, he worked for the Compagnie des Indes. He was a lieutenant in 1727 and a captain in 1731. In 1734, he was appointed to the management of the depot of maps and plans of the Navy, while being on active service. Squadron leader in 1747, he received command of the Magnanime, a 74-gun vessel with which he escorted a convoy destined for the French East Indies. His vessel separated from the group by the storm, part of its mast lost, and must return to Brest. But he was intercepted by Hawke's squadron and the marquis was taken prisoner after an unequal fight. The Magnanime was launched in 1744, captured by the Royal Navy in 1748, and broken up in 1775. On November 20, 1759, she played an important role at the Battle of the Cardinals,  forcing the Hero to surrender.

14• Figures cited by Alain Gaillard, op. cit., p. 225.

15• Augustin Prévost (1723-1786) was born in Geneva and began his career as an officer in the service of the King of Sardinia and then the United Provinces. In 1756, he joined the British army with the rank of major. He became lieutenant-colonel in 1761, after the French-Indian War, part of the Seven Years' War. Colonel in 1774, he was appointed inspector general of the British forces in Jamaica, successfully defended Savannah, and forced the French to retreat (October 16).

16• Figures cited by Alain Gaillard, op. cit., p. 225.

France in 1720

When La Motte-Picquet was born, Louis XIV had been dead for five years and his great-grandson, the future Louis XV, was only ten years old. He therefore cannot reign alone (A). It was the time of the Regency, exercised by Philippe II of Orléans, nephew of the Sun King. The nobility then made its great return, having been excluded from power under the previous reign in favor of the bourgeoisie. Polysynody – a new system of government in which ministers and state councilors were replaced by eight councils headed by large families – lasted only three years, from 1715 to 1718. But this polysynody functioned poorly, plagued by personal quarrels. and, in financial matters, the situation was disastrous: the debt amounted to two and a half billion pounds and the revenues of 1717 and 1718 were absorbed in advance. In addition, the annual debt repayment burden reaches 165 million pounds when revenues do not exceed 69 million. In 1718, tired of these permanent internal quarrels, Philippe d'Orléans dissolved the polysynody and replaced it with a single minister, Dubois (B). From 1720, the Regent returned to the policies of Louis XIV, both internally and externally.

Dubois was a sort of Prime Minister until his death in August 1723, a few months before that of the Regent (December 2). Louis

A• In 1375, Charles V, by law, decided to increase the royal majority to thirteen years.

B• Guillaume Dubois (1656-1723) was, under Louis XIV, responsible for the education of the future Regent.

C• André Hercule de Fleury (1653-1743) was chaplain to Louis XIV in 1678 then bishop of Fréjus from 1698 to 1715, tutor to Louis XV (1716), member in 1720 of the Council of Conscience. In 1720, he entered the Council of State. In 1726, after the dismissal of the Duke of Bourbon, he obtained the office of Prime Minister; a position which he retained until his death.