Cosmao-Kerjulien

Julien Marie Cosmao-Kerjulien (27 November 1761 – 17 February 1825) was a French Navy officer best known for his actions during the Battle of Trafalgar.

Career

Early career

Completing his studies in Châteaulin, young Cosmao-Kerjulien joined the French Navy in 1776, against his parents' will. He served in ''Aigrette'' in the West Indies. Back in Brest, France in 1778, he served on ''Oiseau'' with Corentin de Leissegues. In September, after the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, he served on the ''Nymphe'', taking part in two battles against British privateers near Bordeaux and Belle-Isle.

Between January 1779 and April 1781, he served off Guyana aboard the brig ''Hirondelle'', fighting two more British privateers and capturing two British East Indiamen. He was promoted to lieutenant of a frigate in September 1781. He served successively aboard ''Pégase'' on February 1782 and the ''Protecteur'' in March before taking command of the fluyt ''Fidèle'' in Terre Neuve from May 1783 to April 1784. In January 1785 he served on ''Lourde'', on ''Vigilante '' on October and ''Dorade'' in April 1786. He was made a sub-lieutenant on a ship of the line in March 1786.

In September 1787, he was given command of the brig ''Vaneau'', and of ''Boulonnaise'' from November 1787 to March 1790. From October 1790 to January 1791, he was first officer aboard ''Précieuse''. From February 1791, he served aboard ''Orion'' of the squadron of Laurent Jean François Truguet in Toulon. He was made ship of the line full lieutenant in January 1792, and received command of the corvette ''Sincère'' in April. He took part in the landing at Cagliari in January 1793.

Captain

In the context of the lack of qualified officers due to the French Revolution, he was made ''Capitaine de Vaisseau'' in April 1793, serving aboard , ''Centaure'' and '' Duguay-Trouin'', under Rear-Admiral Trogoff de Kerlessy. In December 1794 he was transferred to the squadron commanded by Pierre Martin, where he commanded the 80-gun ship of the line . He took part in the Battle of Genoa in March 1795 (where the French lost two ships of the line) and Battle of the Hyères Islands (where the French lost the 74-gun ''Alcide'').

In June 1797, he was made chief of division, commanding the '' Jemmapes'' in the Mediterranean. From 1801 to 1803, he served under Dordelin in Saint-Domingue, commanding , the ''Alliance'' and the . Back to France, he assumed command of the 74-gun '' ''Pluton'''' in the squadron of Admiral Villeneuve in Toulon. He accompanied the squadron to the West Indies and took part in the capture of the Diamond Rock from the British, away from Martinique. Back to Europe, he took part in the Battle of Cape Finisterre, on 22 July, preventing one Spanish warship from being captured by the British.

Battle of Trafalgar

At the Battle of Trafalgar, ''Pluton'' was part of the reconnaissance squadron created by Villeneuve and commanded by Spanish Admiral Gravina. She followed the in the line of battle, in the rear. When Admiral Collingwood attacked, ''Pluton'' opened fire on , then manoeuvered in order to block HMS ''Mars'', damaged her with artillery fire and attempted to board and seize her. However, the arrival of in her stern forced her to turn. She engaged , already damaged by the fire of ''Fougueux''; another British ship, , forced her to disengage. She then helped the surrounded of Gravina, and succeeded in freeing her.

However, at this point, the battle was already lost for the French. At sunset, five French ships (, , , and and six Spanish ships tried to return to Cádiz, under dying Admiral Gravina. On 23 October, Cosmao, as one of the most senior officers present, jointly took command of the squadron with Spanish Commodore Enrique MacDonell, and set back to sea with five ships: ''Pluton'', ''Héros'', ''Neptune'', ''San Francisco de Asis'', and ''Rayo''. Cosmao later tried to claim sole credit for the sortie but this is not correct as both MacDonell and Cosmao both had Commodore pennants raised. He managed to retake ''Neptuno'' and ''Santa Ana'', as well as forcing the British to scuttle a number of their prizes. However, ''Neptuno'' and ''Rayo'' sank during the journey back and the ''Indomptable'' was wrecked with the loss of over a thousand men.

Late career

Cosmao-Kerjulien was made Rear Admiral on 29 May 1806. He took command of a division of the French Mediterranean Fleet, under Ganteaume from 1807. he took part in operations to resupply Corfu and to the landing in Sicily. His 4 ships, having sustained damage, retreated to Taranto.

In late 1809, Ganteaume was organising reinforcements to Barcelona. Cosmao set his flag on and took command of a squadron comprising , , and , as well as the frigates and , and a dozen of transports. The fleet departed Toulon on 24 April 1809, and returned on 1 May without incident.

Cosmao was made baron in 1810. In August 1811, he served under Admiral Missiessy in the Escaut Squadron, commanding a division, with his flag in the ship-of-the-line ''Tilsit''.

In 1813 he returned to the Mediterranean Fleet, where he commanded a 5-ship division, with his flag on the . At the action of 5 November 1813, he saved the 74-gun and the frigates ''Pénélope'' and ''Melpomène'' which were surrounded by superior British forces.

In February 1814, he set sail with three ships from Toulon to Genoa, threatened by the Austrians, to bring back the ''Scorpion''. He escaped the forces of Admiral Pellew and successfully returned to Toulon on the 10th with the ''Scorpion'' without losing a ship, though the , at the rear, did suffer some damage.

During the First Restoration, in April 1814, Cosmao-Kerjulien received command of the Mediterranean Fleet, and was appointed a Knight of the Order of Saint Louis. In 1815, upon the Emperor's brief return to power, he rallied to Napoleon, who made him ''préfet maritime'' of Brest in March, and a Peer of France in June, right before the Battle of Waterloo.

Cosmao-Kerjulien was retired on 1 January 1816, and for one year he did not receive a pension. At the time of his retirement, he was 55, with 25 year in campaigns, and 11 battles without once being wounded or captured. He died at 64, on 17 February 1825.

Five paintings of him can be seen in the town house of his home town of Châteaulin, in the Finistère

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases