Étienne Eustache Bruix

Étienne Eustache Bruix
Portrait by Jean-Baptiste Paulin Guérin, 1837
Born(1759-07-17)17 July 1759
Fort-Dauphin, Saint-Domingue
Died18 March 1805(1805-03-18) (aged 45)
Paris, France
AllegianceKingdom of France
French First Republic
First French Empire
Branch
French Navy
French Imperial Navy
Service years
1778–1805
Rank
Admiral
Conflicts
French Revolutionary Wars (Ireland), Napoleonic Wars

Admiral Étienne Eustache Bruix (17 July 1759 – 18 March 1805) was a French Navy officer and politician who served as Minister of the Navy and the Colonies from 1798 to 1799.

Life

Bruix was born to a family from Béarn. He started sailing as a volunteer on a slave ship commanded by captain Jean-François Landolphe.

Early career

In 1778, he joined the Navy as a Garde-Marine (officer cadet).[1] He served on the frigates Fox and Concorde,[2] taking part in the Battle of Fort Royal on 29 April and 30 April 1781, in the Invasion of Tobago in May–June, in the Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September, in the Battle of Saint Kitts on 25 January 1782, and in the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782.[1] He was promoted to Ensign in November 1781.[2]

Bruix was given command of the 10-gun aviso Pivert, and tasked with surveying the coasts and harbours of Saint-Domingue.[2] He was aided in the task by Puységur.

Bruix was promoted to Lieutenant in May 1786.[2] He was elected member of the Académie de Marine in 1791, and promoted to Captain on 1 January 1793, and given command of the 80-gun Indomptable.[2] However, he was dismissed from the service in October 1794. Retiring to the outskirts of Brest, he wrote a memorandum titled Moyens d'approvisionner la marine par les seules productions du territoire français (Means of Provisioning the Fleet Solely by What Is Produced in French Territory). This advocacy of naval autarky as a way to defeat British blockades attracted notice, and Navy Minister Laurent Truguet recalled Bruix in 1795 to appoint him to the command of the 74-gun Éole.[2] He held this command up to the moment he was sent to join Villaret-Joyeuse's squadron as Chief of Staff (major general).[2]

Appointment as naval minister

Bruix commanded a squadron in the fleet of Vice-admiral Justin Bonaventure Morard de Galles during the failed French expedition to Ireland in 1796. This led to Bruix coming to the attention of Lazare Hoche, who promoted him to counter admiral in May 1797. Bruix was appointed Minister of the Navy and the Colonies on 27 April 1798 and held the office until 4 March 1799. He was promoted to vice admiral on 13 March 1799 and during this period also became commander of the Atlantic Squadron in Brest. In early 1799, the French Directory ordered Bruix to sail the Atlantic Squadron into the Mediterranean to end British naval dominance there and relieve the trapped Army of the Orient in Egypt. Favourable winds and fog allowed him to evade British blockaders and Bruix sailed southwards with 25 ships of the line. Fearing Bruix planned to land in Ireland, which was still unsettled in the wake of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the blockading British fleet drew off to the north-west, giving Bruix a considerable head start before realising his true destination.[3]

Off Cádiz Bruix encountered a blockading British fleet of 15 ships of the line under Lord Keith. Despite his numerical superiority and the 28 Spanish ships of the line in Cádiz, Bruix did not attack Keith's fleet and continued into the Mediterranean. Having made a detour to Toulon for repairs, Bruix received orders to assist the French garrison in Genoa under André Masséna, which was under siege by the Austrians. He rerouted his fleet to the Gulf of Genoa to resupply Masséna's beleaguered garrison but was driven back by poor weather. In the meantime, Keith had followed him into the Mediterranean and gathered together the scattered British squadrons in the area at Minorca. Bruix abandoned his venture, eluded the Royal Navy and returned to the Atlantic. He linked up with a Spanish Navy squadron that joined forces with his fleet and returned to Brest. Following this expedition, known as the Croisière de Bruix, he took command of a fleet at the Île-d'Aix which was intended to sail to Spain, but the British reinforced their blockade, Bruix fell ill and the Peace of Amiens between France and Britain in 1802 prevented the fleet from leaving port.[3]

Later career and death

Bruix was privy to the secret coup d'état of 18 Brumaire (9 November 1799). After seizing power, Bonaparte promoted Bruix to admiral in 1801, and appointed him as Conseiller d'État the following year.

War having broken out again, Napoléon conceived a plan for a new invasion of England, and put Bruix in command of the flotilla based at Boulogne that would carry the invasion troops across the English Channel. Bruix undertook the work but in July 1804 refused to obey Napoleon's personal order to take the fleet out of harbour for a review, in the face of a developing storm. The furious Emperor reprimanded Bruix and came close to striking him. A subordinate carried out Napoleon's instruction but at the cost of 200 lives.[4]

Following this incident Bruix fell ill and had to return to Paris, where he died of tuberculosis, aged only 45.

Legacy

Boulevard de l'Amiral-Bruix in Paris is named in his honour.

Citations

  1. ^ a b Vergé-Franceschi (2002), p. 255.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Taillemite (2002), p. 77.
  3. ^ a b Taillemite (2002), p. 78.
  4. ^ Whipple, A.B.C. (1978). Fightins Sail. Time-Life Books. pp. 123–124. ISBN 0-7054-0621-0.

References

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