Antoine Marie François Montalan

Captain Antoine Marie François Montalan (19 March 1767 – 22 March 1818) was a French Navy officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Early life Montalan was born to Marguerite Gastaldy and Jean-François Montalan, an industrialist of Lyon, on 19 March 1767. He started sailing in the Compagnie de Calonne in 1787 as a volunteer. By 1792, Montalan has risen to the rank of Second Captain in the merchant navy.

French Revolutionary Wars

On 12 February 1792, Montalan joined the Navy as an enseigne de vaisseau non entretenu (junior ensign), serving on the corvette Vanneau and later on the frigate Résolue. the 74-gun Pégase took Résolue in tow and returned with her to Brest, where they arrived on 30 December;

In 1797, Montalan took command of a frigate division comprising Sémillante, Fraternité and the corvette Berceau, with his flag on Sémillante, ferrying General Gabriel, comte d'Hédouville to Saint Domingue. along with Vengeance and Cornélie, encountered and fought and off Belle Île. The engagement was indecisive, with the French ships escaping up the Loire. The British suffered three men killed and 35 wounded.

After the decommissioning of Sémillante on 19 July 1802, Montalan was appointed to captain Vertu in September. Commanding a frigate division, he was sent to Saint Domingue to recapture Gonaïves from Black rebels. He was promoted to Captain 2nd Class on 24 September 1803. After the British blockade of Saint-Domingue resulted in the capitulation of General Donatien de Rochambeau in December 1803, Montalan was taken to Jamaica as a prisoner of war, and eventually returned to France the next year.

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