As we all know the exploits of the French navy during the French Revolutionary & Napoleonic wars are lamentable to say the least, particularly as for most of the conflict the Royal Navy successfully bottled up the French fleet in their ports, leaving many Senior French naval officers in awe of the British Royal Navy. Therefore from what I've read of the exploits of Admiral Zacharie Allemand, is this the closest the French get to a Cochrane of the French navy ? who from all accounts was a bit of a rough diamond and in conflict with many of his superiors during his career in the French navy but nevertheless scored some notable successes against the Royal Navy when given a free rein.
Are you referring to British Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane who along with his subordinate Vice Admiral Sir George Cockburn carried out a 'strategy' of terror in the Chesapeake in 1813-1814?
Cockburn was 'an expert and courageous sea captain...an enthusiastic arsonist and souvenir collector' in the Chesapeake. His immediate superior, Cochrane, was 'able, imaginative, arrogant, and exceeding hard-handed.'
Cochrane 'required and directed' his squadrons in the Chesapeake 'to destroy and lay waste such towns and districts...as you may find assailable.'
Before Cochrane arrived in the Chesapeake in 1814, Cockburn had laid waste to the Maryland villages of Frenchtown, Havre de Grace, Fredericktown, Georgetown and others were 'plundered and burned.' American Commodore John Rodgers' home was burned by Cockburn and his 'jolly jacks' when Havre de Grace went up in smoke and flame.
So, is this the Cochrane to whom you refer?
Hi Kevin, Thanks for your interesting post - a couple of things: 1) where do these interesting comments in quotation marks come from - I'd be interested in following it up 2) John was really asking about Allemand, and certainly was not suggesting that Cochrane was a perfect individual. Your question is a fair one - my assumption was that that he was referring to Thomas Cochrane, but either way, there isn't any need to bite his head off.
The comments on Cochrane and Cockburn are from John Elting's Amateurs, To Arms! A Military History of the War of 1812, page 79 for Cockburn and page 201 for Cochrane.
The War of 1812, which is part of the Napoleonic period as one of the main belligerents in that series of wars was also one of the main belligerents in the War of 1812.
What I failed to do was to name a French naval officer who was outstanding and Napleon's best admiral was Latouche-Treville, who defeated Nelson twice when Nelson operated against the Boulogne Flotilla. Unfortunately, he died in 1804.
There were a few other French naval successes in the wars such as the battle of Grande Port in the Indian Ocean where a French frigate squadron destroyed a Royal Navy frigate squadron. Admiral Missiessy conducted a successful small campaign in the West Indies in 1805 and there were ship-to-ship victories by the French, such as the one between the French frigate La Venus and the British ship Ceylon in the Indian Ocean in September 1809. Charles Durand de Linois defeated six British ships with three French at Algeciras in 1801. Those actions are usually overlooked in the long view of the naval war.
And it should be noted that the French Navy contributed significant troops to the Grande Armee on land-infantrymen, artillerymen, and combat engineers especially in Spain, Austria in 1809, Russia and in 1813.
Hi Kevin, then perhaps it is worth thinking about tone when posting comments? If i have read it and come to the wrong conclusion about the intent and tone, then it may well be the case that others do the same - after all they say that up to 90% of tone is lost through the process of writing something down.
If there is interest in the French admirals of the period, the recent book, Napoleon's Admirals: Flag Officers of the Arc de Triomphe, 1789-1815 by Richard Humble might be helpful.