Jean Dornal de GuyThe name is sometimes written "Dornaldegu /ref> (13 October 1771 – 10 May 1855) was a
French Navy
The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...
officer.
Career
In 1803, Commander Dornal de Guy was serving in the flotilla at the Camp de Boulogne. On 7 August, a British brig and a cutter anchored off Boulogne; and the next day, Dornal de Guy received the order from Bruix to attack the ships with five boats. Due to the tides, he couldn't set sail until 3:00 a.m. the next day. The British put to sail and exchanged gun fire with the boats, before retreating.
In 1805, de Guy captained the frigate ''Félicité'', in the Brest squadron. In 1806, he ferried troops, weapons and ammunitions from Brest to
San Domingo
Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...
, where he arrived in time to take part in the
Battle of San Domingo
The Battle of San Domingo was a naval battle of the War of the Third Coalition fought on 6 February 1806 between squadrons of First French Empire, French and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British ships of the line off the southern ...
. ''Félicité'' was among the three French ships that survived the battle, and she returned to Lorient on 26 March 1806.Fonds marine
In 1807, Dornal de Guy was appointed captain of the ''Manche'' at Cherbourg. Along with the brig ''Cygne'' under Menouvrier Defresne, ''Manche'' had several encounters with HMS ''Uranie'', under Captain Christopher Laroche. On 20 June, ''Uranie'' made a lukewarm attack on the brig, to which the French hardly reacted. The incident later led to the court-martial and eventual dismissal of Laroche.
''Manche'' captured the 16 gun
brig-sloop
During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all ...
on 27 September 1808 near
Bengkulu
Bengkulu (), historically known as Bencoolen, is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the area of the historic Bencoolen Residency from the province of ...
.
In 1809, ''Manche'' was dispatched from Cherbourg to Port-Louis at Ile de France to replace the aging ''Sémillante'', which had been decommissioned and sold to
Robert Surcouf
Robert Surcouf (; 12 December 1773 – 8 July 1827) was a French privateer, businessman and slave trader who operated in the Indian Ocean from 1789 to 1808 during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Capturing over 40 prizes, he ...
. De Guy arrived on 6 March, and after a one-month leave, ''Manche'' undertook her first cruise in the
Mozambique Channel
The Mozambique Channel (, , ) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about long and across at its narrowest point, and reaches a depth of about off the coa ...
. Along with ''Vénus'', she took part in the action of 18 November 1809, capturing three large Indiamen. Dornal de Guy eventually returned to Ile de France after an eight-month patrol, along with ''Créole'' and two of the prizes.
After the capture of Jacques Hamelin at the action of 18 September 1810, Dornal de Guy became the senior naval officer of the French forces in the Indian Ocean. In November, seeing that the British forces received sustained reinforcements, he moored his ships ( ''Manche'', ''Astrée'', ''Bellone'' and ''Minerve'') and disembarked the crews to reinforce the garrison of
Port Louis
Port Louis (, ; or , ) is the capital and most populous city of Mauritius, mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's financial and political centre. It is admi ...
. The Invasion of Île de France occurred in November, and the island surrendered the next month.Troude, ''op. cit.'', vol. 4, p. 115