Jean Gaspard de Vence facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jean Gaspard de Vence
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Portrait by Bourgeois (Musée du Louvre)
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| Born | 6 April 1747 Marseille, France |
| Died | 12 March 1808 (aged 60) Tonnerre, France |
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| Years of service | 1763 - 1803 |
| Rank | Rear admiral |
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| Other work | Maritime Prefect of Toulon |
Jean Gaspard de Vence (born April 6, 1747 – died March 12, 1808) was a brave French sailor who became a famous privateer and admiral. A privateer was like a legal pirate, allowed by a government to attack enemy ships. Vence was known for his courage and skill at sea, fighting for France and even for the United States during important wars. He later became a Maritime Prefect, which meant he was in charge of a major port.
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Jean Gaspard de Vence's Early Life and Career
Jean Gaspard de Vence started his sea adventures very young. In 1762, when he was just 15 years old, he joined the merchant navy in Bayonne, France. This meant he worked on ships that carried goods for trade. He sailed all the way to Saint-Domingue (which is now Haiti). After a few years, he became a captain of a merchant ship.
Later, he joined the Royal Navy, which was the official navy of France. He served on a large warship called the Protecteur, which had 74 cannons. While serving, he also studied important subjects like mathematics and navigation, which helped him become an even better sailor.
After some time, he went back to the merchant navy. In 1767, while sailing on a ship called Auguste along the coast of Africa, his ship was caught in a terrible storm and wrecked. He and his crew were stranded for over four months. They finally made it back to Marseille, but sadly, half of the crew had died from scurvy, a serious illness caused by a lack of Vitamin C.
Becoming a Privateer and Officer
In 1776, Jean Gaspard de Vence moved to Martinique, an island in the Caribbean. This was around the time the American War of Independence began. The American Congress gave him permission to become a privateer under the American flag. This meant he could legally attack British merchant ships.
He became the captain of a ship called Victoire. On May 17, 1777, he took command of a 14-gun privateer ship named Tigre. With this ship, he captured a large British merchant ship that had 24 cannons and a cargo worth a huge amount of money (500,000 pounds!).
For 18 months, he sailed around the Caribbean, fighting in about 40 battles. He captured 211 enemy ships! This made him famous as the most feared privateer in the Caribbean. The British Parliament even offered a reward of 2 million pounds for his capture!
When King Louis XVI of France declared war on Britain, Vence returned to serve the French king. He helped in the invasion of Dominica. There, he led 400 buccaneers (another type of privateer) and bravely captured Fort Cachacrou. For this act, he was promoted to lieutenant on September 20, 1778, and became the commander of a privateer ship called Truite.
He also fought in the Battle of St. Lucia. On January 1, 1779, he became the commander of another privateer, La Ceres. As a lieutenant on the 80-gun warship Le Languedoc, he showed great courage during the capture of Grenada on July 2, 1779. He led 80 soldiers and attacked a British position, even capturing the enemy's flag. For his bravery, he was promoted to captain. He also took part in the Siege of Savannah in America.
During this heroic time, a famous French scientist and sailor, Jean-Charles de Borda, created a slogan about Vence: "always in front of Vence!" (Vence toujours devance!). This meant Vence was always leading the way.
In 1780, he was put in charge of the port of Grenada. However, he faced some unfair accusations and had to leave his position. On his way back home, his ship was sunk by the British. Captain de Vence managed to get to Lisbon and then Cadiz, where he volunteered to join a combined French and Spanish fleet.
Admiral During the Revolution
When the French Revolution began, Jean Gaspard de Vence joined the National Guard in Paris. This was a citizen militia that helped keep order. On November 10, 1792, he was officially brought back into the French Navy as a captain. The old accusations against him were cleared, and he was paid back for his troubles.
He commanded a 74-gun battleship called Duquesne and a small group of naval ships. His mission was to sail to the Levant (eastern Mediterranean) and Tunisia to bring back wheat for France, which was suffering from a shortage of food. He successfully managed to get past the British blockade and bring the food to Toulon. There, he took command of another warship, the Heureux.
On November 16, 1793, he was promoted to Rear admiral. He served in Brest and escorted a group of ships carrying supplies along the Atlantic coast. However, they were attacked by a British fleet and had to find safety at Belle Île.
From June to December 1795, he was in charge of the Marine Division in Lorient. In 1796, he was the deputy commander of a squadron that tried to stop a French expedition led by General Lazare Hoche from going to Ireland.
After a political event called the Fructidor V-18 coup, Vence was put in charge of the port of Toulon. He played a very important role in getting the French fleet ready for the Egyptian expedition. He made sure there were enough supplies and support bases in Italy, on the island of Malta, and in Egypt. On May 25, 1799, he became the Commander of Arms at Rochefort.
On July 20, 1800, he became the Maritime Prefect of Toulon. In this role, he was responsible for putting together naval squadrons. He helped prepare the squadron of Admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume, which sailed to the Barbary Coast, and the squadron of Admiral Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois, which won a victory at the Battle of Algeciras on June 13, 1801.
In 1802, he commanded a squadron in Brest, and later a naval squadron at the Boulogne camp. On September 30, 1803, he retired from the navy.
Jean Gaspard de Vence passed away on March 11, 1808, in Tonnerre, at the age of 61. He was buried in the cemetery of Saint-Pierre parish. He received several honors during his life, including being made a Chevalier (Knight) of the Order of Saint Louis on January 24, 1780, and a member of the Society of Cincinnati in 1783.
Images for kids
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Gaspard Vence with Duquesne.
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Attack on a British merchant ship on 17 May 1777
