Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume

Vice-Admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume (13 April 1755 – 28 July 1818) was a French Navy officer who served in the American Revolutionary War and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Born in La Ciotat, Provence, he began his career at sea on East Indiamen before joining the Navy in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War and serving under Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing and Pierre André de Suffren. During the French Revolutionary Wars, Ganteaume was promoted to ship-of-the-line captain and served in the Glorious First of June and Croisière du Grand Hiver.

In 1798, Ganteaume took part in the French invasion of Egypt and Syria, narrowly escaping death during the catastrophic French defeat at the Battle of the Nile. In Egypt, he formed a personal relationship with Napoleon, who supported his career. Ganteaume was subsequently promoted to counter admiral and given command of a squadron to resupply the Army of the Orient. However, in Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801 he engaged in months of complicated manoeuvres to elude the Royal Navy and eventually failed in his mission.

Following a successful 1801 supply mission to French troops engaged in the Saint-Domingue expedition, Ganteaume was appointed as the maritime prefect of Toulon. During the Trafalgar campaign, he was ordered to lead his squadron to the Caribbean to reinforce the fleet of Admirals Pierre-Charles Villeneuve and Édouard Thomas Burgues de Missiessy, but was prevented from doing so by a British blockade. Ganteaume held various offices during the final years of the First French Empire before switching his loyalties to Louis XVIII during the Bourbon Restoration in France. He refused to support Napoleon during the Hundred Days in 1815, and died at his Provence estate in 1818.

Early life

Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume was born on 13 April 1755 in La Ciotat, Provence into a family of merchant sailors. He began his career at sea at the age of 14 on a merchantman commanded by his father, and by the time he reached the age of 22 Ganteaume had sailed on five voyages in the Middle East and two in the Caribbean. During his merchant career, he sailed on Fier Rodrigue, an East Indiaman of the Mississippi Company . He was promoted to fireship captain in 1784, and ship-of-the-line sub-lieutenant in 1786. In 1795, Trente-et-un Mai sailed to the Mediterranean, and cruised off Catalonia, fighting an inconclusive two-hour battle against a Spanish Navy ship of the line. Ganteaume eventually gave up and returned to Toulon after having captured Elba and four British ships, including the 38-gun frigate HMS Success and on 24 June the 74-gun HMS Swiftsure.

In 1808, Ganteaume took command of the French squadrons at Toulon and Rochefort, which had been joined together at Toulon, with the intention of escorting a supply convoy to Corfu, then under a British naval blockade.

In 1814, during the Bourbon Restoration in France, Ganteaume supported the Acte de déchéance de l'Empereur, which deposed Napoleon. As a result, he did not return to active duty when Napoleon returned from exile and was briefly restored to power during the Hundred Days. Immediately after the Battle of Waterloo, Ganteaume ordered the Royalist white flag to be hoisted in Toulon, which nearly got him killed by Napoleon's supporters. Following his second return to power, Louis XVIII granted Ganteaume a peerage in recognition for his loyalty. In December 1815, he was promoted to Commander of the Order of Saint Louis, and appointed General Inspector of the Classes. In his capacity as a peer, Ganteaume took part in the trial of Michel Ney, and voted for his execution. Ganteaume died at his estate, located near Aubagne, on 28 September 1818. The Boulevard Amiral Ganteaume in Aubagne is named after him, as is Gantheaume Point near Broome, Western Australia, which was named in 1801 by the explorer Nicolas Baudin.

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