Bon Chrétien de Briqueville
Bon Chrétien de Briqueville (Bretteville, Manche, 2 October 1726—Valognes, 1 January 1803) [Note 1] was a French Navy officer. He served in the War of American Independence, earning membership in the Society of the Cincinnati,[1] and was one of the prominent figures of the Académie de Marine.[2] BiographyBricqueville was born to the family of Madeleine de la Motte de Pont-Roger and of Guillaume Antoine de Briqueville,[2] and a distant relative of Vice-Admiral Henri de Briqueville de La Luzerne .[3] He joined the Navy as a Garde-Marine in on 2 November 1743.[3] He served on the 32-gun frigate Perle and took part in Duc d'Anville expedition to Acadia under La Rochefoucauld.[2] He served on the 64-gun Lys and was taken prisoner by the British after Action of 8 June 1755, and released in January 1756.[2] Bricqueville was promoted to Lieutenant on 15 May 1756.[3] He then supervised construction of the 12-gun corvette Levrette and of the 22-gun frigate Guirlande.[2] Bricqueville was awarded the Order of Saint Louis in 1763.[1] He was Director of the Académie de Marine for the year 1771.[4] He was promoted to Captain on 18 February 1772.[1] In 1773, he was one of the rapporteurs on Kerguelen's work after his expedition to Kerguelen Islands.[5] From 1775, he commanded the 32-gun frigate Légère in the squadron under Guichen.[6][3] In 1775, he commanded the 18-gun corvette Hirondelle in the Escadre d'évolutions.[7] In 1778, he commanded the 64-gun Solitaire in the Third Division of the Blue squadron in the fleet of Orvilliers,[8] and took part in the Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778.[9] From 1779, Bricqueville commanded the 74-gun Northumberland.[7] From 1781, she was attached to the White squadron in the fleet under De Grasse.[10] He captained her at the Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September 1781, in the subsequent Siege of Yorktown,[1] and in the invasion of Saint Kitts.[9] Briqueville was relieved of duty on medical grounds on 19 February 1782 and returned to France on the 32-gun frigate Aigrette.[9] In 1782, Bricqueville was promoted to Brigadier des armées navales,[1] and on 20 August 1784 to Chef d'Escadre.[3] Sources and referencesNotes Citations
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