Jean-Baptiste Louis Frédéric de La Rochefoucauld de Roye on:
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Jean-Baptiste Louis Frédéric de La Rochefoucauld de Roye (August 17, 1707 – September 16, 1746) was made the Duc d'Anville by King
Although he had been appointed lieutenant general of the French navy in January 1745, the duc d'Anville did not have the proper naval training necessary to command the French fleet, which was to take part in the grand expedition the following year.
In 1746, the grand expedition was organized in France under the command of the duc d'Anville.
The expedition was composed 20 warships, 21 frigates, and 32 transport ships, containing 800 cannons, 3,000 soldiers, and 10,000 marines. The expedition was to retake
Louis XV of France
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...
and pursued a military career in the French galley corps. He is best known for leading the French fleet on the disastrous Duc d'Anville Expedition to Acadia
Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and earl ...
.
Biography
D'Anville was born on 17 August 1709, the son of Louis de La Rochefoucauld, Marquis de Roye, a distant cousin of the Dukes of La Rochefoucauld and Marthe Ducasse. He married Marie-Louise-Nicole de La Rochefoucauld, daughter of Alexandre, Duke de La Rochefoucauld. Alexandre had no surviving sons and exceptionally gained the permission of the Pope and the French King to hand the ducal title through the female line, but one of the conditions was that his daughter must marry a La Rochefoucauld. Jean-Baptiste de La Rochfoucauld de Roye was created Duc D'Anville on 15 February 1732, a few days before the marriage. He was an officer in thegalley corps
A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be use ...
(''corps des galères''), transferring into the French navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
in 1734, and he was appointed lieutenant general of in January 1745.
D'Anville and Marie-Louise-Nicole had three daughters and one son, Louis Alexandre, who succeeded to the title Duc D'Anville in 1746 on his father's death. And on his grandfather's death in 1762, he became Duc de La Rochefoucauld.
Duc d'Anville Expedition
Although he had been appointed lieutenant general of the French navy in January 1745, the duc d'Anville did not have the proper naval training necessary to command the French fleet, which was to take part in the grand expedition the following year.
In 1746, the grand expedition was organized in France under the command of the duc d'Anville.
The expedition was composed 20 warships, 21 frigates, and 32 transport ships, containing 800 cannons, 3,000 soldiers, and 10,000 marines. The expedition was to retake Louisbourg
Louisbourg is an unincorporated community and former town in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia.
History
The French military founded the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1713 and its fortified seaport on the southwest part of the harbour ...
and then Port Royal
Port Royal is a village located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and ...
, then known as Annapolis Royal
Annapolis Royal, formerly known as Port Royal, is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Today's Annapolis Royal is the second French settlement known by the same name and should not be confused with the ne ...
.ARSENAULT, Bona, Histoire des Acadiens, Bibliothèque nationale du Québec. 1978. Lemaéac p. 140
The crossing was very difficult, and it lasted 86 days. Without enough supplies, hundreds of soldiers and sailors died of scurvy and other epidemics. The French fleet was dispersed by a storm between Sable Island
Sable Island (french: île de Sable, literally "island of sand") is a small Canadian island situated southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic Ocean. The island ...
off Nova Scotia to as far away as the Caribbean. Some ships returned to France.
Less than half of the total expedition of the duc d'Anville managed to reach Chibouctou Bay. After their arrival, the Acadiens
The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...
helped take care of the soldiers. However, 1,200 men died during the crossing, and more than 1,000 died of typhoid after their arrival at Chibouctou.
The duc d'Anville was not spared, and died of a terrible epidemic, on 27 September 1746. He was buried on Georges' Island, in the Chibouctou Bay, (in front of Halifax). Two days later, vice-admiral d'Estournelles, who was second in command, committed suicide because of high fever. The corpse of the duc d'Anville was transported to Louisbourg in 1748.
References