Jean François Renaudin
Jean François Renaudin (13 July 1750 in Le Gua - 29 April 1809, Le Gua) was a French admiral.
He joined the Navy at 12 and rose in rank through a number of actions against the British.
On 1 June 1794, during the Third Battle of Ushant, Renaudin commanded the Vengeur du Peuple, whose fight against HMS Brunswick became famous.
Renaudin was rescued by HMS Culloden[1] and abandonned his ship with the first British boat, leaving his men behind in disregard for military customs and the 1765 standing order that Captains had to be last to abandon ship[2], and though his account insinuates that he was on a boat close to Vengeur when she foundered[3], he was in fact dining in the mess of Culloden at the moment of the sinking[4]. Taken in captivity in Tavistock, he wrote an account of the fight of Vengeur on 1 Messidor an II (19 June 1794), signed and had it co-signed by his staff, comprising, Jean Hugine, Louis Rousseau, Pelet, Trouvée, Lussot and others[5].
In France, Renaudin was taken for dead, and posthumously promoted to contre-amiral on 29 August 1794[6]; his return therefore astonished the Convention on 10 September 1794, when Jean-Jacques Bréard stated:
I am very pleased to tell the Convention that the whole of the crew of Vengeur did not perish (applause). The captain has returned to Brest and has been promoted to the command of the Jemmapes. On this ship, he hopes to repair the loss of Vengeur (applause).[7]
Nevertheless, in 1847, Lamartine wrote a description where Renaudin was killed, cut in half by a cannon shot like Dupetit-Thouars[8], and Thiers later wrote an account repeating Barère's version, where Vengeur refused to surrender[9].
Indeed, quickly exchanged, Renaudin returned to France in August 1794 and was appointed to captain the Jemmapes. On 16 November 1794, he was promoted to contre-amiral, retroactivly taking effect on 5 October 1794[10]. Remarkably, neither the national Archives, nor the archives of the Navy, nor the archives of the War Council nor Renaudin's personal file mention the court-martial that should have been held automatically for the loss of the ship[10].
During the Croisière du Grand Hiver, Renaudin commanded a 6-ship squadron bound for Toulon. He eventually departed for Toulon on 22 February and arrived safely on 2 April.
He retired in Le Gua. He became a landowner and mayor of the town.
Honours
- Renaudin's name is engraved on the Arc de Triomphe (40th column).
- A number of ships of the French Navy were named after him.
Notes and references
- ^ 1er juin 1794: Le Vengeur livre son dernier combat
- ^ Diaz de Soria, p.27
- ^ Diaz de Soria, p.30
- ^ James Fraser, Critical and miscellaneous essays, 5, 1840, p. 365
- ^ Troude, op. cit., p. 357.
- ^ RENAUDIN Jean-François.Contre-Amiral
- ^ Réimpression de l'ancien Moniteur, vol.21, p.712
- ^ Alphonse de Lamartine, Histoire des Girondins, volume 2, pp.331-332
- ^ Adolphe Thiers, Histoire de la révolution française, Volume 10, p.53
- ^ a b Diaz de Soria, p.34
- Diaz de Soria, Ollivier-Zabulon (1954). Le Marseillois, devenu plus tard le Vengeur du peuple. F. Robert et fils.
- Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France. Vol. 2. Challamel ainé.
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