Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume
Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 April 1755 La Ciotat, Provence |
| Died | 28 July 1818 (aged 63) Aubagne, Provence |
| Allegiance | Kingdom of France French First Republic First French Empire |
| Branch | French Navy |
| Rank | Vice-Admiral |
| Battles / wars | |
Vice-Admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume (13 April 1755 – 28 July 1818) was a French Navy officer. He started his career at sea on East Indiamen, before serving during the American Revolutionary War under Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing and Pierre André de Suffren. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he was promoted to command the 74-gun Trente-et-un Mai, taking part in the Glorious First of June and the Croisière du Grand Hiver.
Ganteaume took part in the French invasion of Egypt and Syria, narrowly escaping death during the Battle of the Nile. There, he formed a personal relationship with Napoleon, who supported his promotion. He was made a Rear-Admiral and given command of a squadron to supply the Army of Egypt, but in Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801, he engaged in months of complicated manoeuvres to elude the Royal Navy and eventually failed his mission.
He supplied the French forces of the Saint-Domingue expedition. During the Trafalgar campaign, Ganteaume was to lead his squadron to the Caribbean to reinforce the ships of Pierre-Charles Villeneuve and Édouard Thomas Burgues de Missiessy, but he was blockaded by the British navy. Ganteaume held various offices during the late First French Empire, and gave his loyalty to Louis XVIII during the Bourbon Restoration in France.