Pierre-Nicolas, baron Rolland (; 29 April 1761 at

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

– 9 November 1825), was a French admiral noted for his participation at the battles of

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; ; ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like that of Finistère in France, derives from the Latin , mean ...

in 1805 and the Basque Roads in 1809 during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

Life

Rolland joined the

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 ...

at a young age, participating in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, on board ''Sibylle'' in 1778 in the squadron of

Louis Guillouet d'Orvilliers Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers (; 26 March 1710 – 1792) was a French admiral. Life Louis Guillouet d'Orvilliers was born on 26 March 1710 in Moulins, Allier. His parents were Claude Guillouet d'Orvilliers (), seigneur d'Orvilliers, and ...

, the ''Amphion'' in 1779, in the squadron of

d'Estaing d'Estaing is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Charles Henri Hector d'Estaing (1729–1794), French general and admiral * Guillaume-Hugues d'Estaing (died 1455), French Roman Catholic cardinal and bishop * See also ...

, the ''Amphitrite'' between 1779 and 1781, and the ''Emeraude'' in 1782, in which he was wounded at the

Battle of the Saintes The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...

. An auxiliary officer in 1782, as a lieutenant, Rolland was promoted captain en 1796 and was in command of 74-gun

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

''Atlas'' with Villeneuve's fleet in 1805, fighting at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in which he was badly wounded. In 1809 he was flag captain to

Zacharie Allemand Vice-Admiral Zacharie Jacques Théodore, comte Allemand (1 May 1762 – 2 March 1826) was a French Navy officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Biography Early career Allemand was born to a captain of the French Ea ...

on ''Océan'' during the

Battle of Basque Roads The Battle of the Basque Roads, also known as the Battle of Aix Roads ( French: ''Bataille de l'île d'Aix'', also ''Affaire des brûlots'', rarely ''Bataille de la rade des Basques''), was a major naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, fought in ...

, in which his ship was badly damaged and nearly destroyed. Rolland was promoted

Contre-amiral Counter admiral is a military rank used for high-ranking officers in several navies around the world, though the rank is not used in the English-speaking world, where its equivalent rank is rear admiral. The term derives from the French . Dependi ...

in 1814, after being distinguished by his command of ''Romulus'' at the action of 13 February 1814 off

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

, under the orders of Julien Marie Cosmao-Kerjulien. He was honoured as a commander of the

Legion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

and made a

Baron de l'Empire As Emperor of the French, Napoleon I created titles in a newly established ' (imperial nobility) to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution. Like many others, both befo ...

Bibliography

Théodore-Éloi Lebreton Théodore-Éloi Lebreton (1 December 1803 – 12 December 1883) was a 19th-century autodidact French poet, chansonnier and bibliographer. Biography Born as the child of a day laborer father and a washerwoman mother, Lebreton entered at age se ...

, ''Biographie normande: recueil de notices biographiques et bibliographiques sur les personnages célèbres nés en Normandie et sur ceux qui se sont seulement distingués par leurs actions ou par leurs écrits'', 1861 * Christian de La Jonquière, ''Les Marins français sous Louis XVI: guerre d'indépendance américaine'', 1996 * P. Lerot, ''Les gloires maritimes de la France: notices biographiques sur les plus célèbres marins'', 1866 * Joseph François Gabriel Hennequin, ''Biographie maritime ou notices historiques sur la vie et les campagnes des marins célèbres français et étrangers, Volume 1'', 1835

External links

Pierre-Nicolas Rolland, baron de l'Empire, Contre-amiral
* ''This article is based on a translation of an article from the

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia () is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has :fr:Special:Statistics, encyclopedia artic ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rolland, Pierre-Nicolas French Navy admirals 1761 births 1825 deaths Commanders of the Legion of Honour French naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War Knights of the Order of Saint Louis Barons of the First French Empire