Everything about Ren Duguay-trouin totally explained
René Trouin, Sieur du Gué, usually called
Réné Duguay-Trouin, (
Saint Malo,
10 June 1673 - 1736) was a famous
French corsair of
Saint-Malo. He had a brilliant
privateering and naval career and eventually became "Lieutenant-General of the Naval Armies of the King" (for example
admiral) (French:
Lieutenant-Général des armées navales du roi), and a Commander in the
Order of Saint-Louis.
Early career
His family operated a shipping business in
Saint Malo, a port favoured by
corsairs.
At sixteen he joined the navy aboard the
Trinité, under Captain Legoux, on the
16 December,
1690. The
Trinité subsequently captured the
François Samuel and
Seven Stars of Scotland. Duguay-Trouin displayed such bravery that he was handed command of the
Danycan, soon after he turned 18.
On
6 June,
1692, the King handed him command of a forty-gun ship, the
Hermine. He captured five ships at the entrance of the Channel.
Nobility
Louis XIV handed him a sword of honour in 1694, and made him a nobleman in 1709, with the motto
Dedit haec insignia virtus ("Bravery awarded these honours"). At the time, he'd captured 16 warships and over 300 merchantmen from the English and Dutch.
On
12 April 1694, Duguay-Trouin, aboard the ship
Diligente, covered the escape of a convoy which he was escorting but was defeated by a six-ship squadron commanded by Admiral
David Mitchell. The
Diligente, barely afloat and having lost most of her men, was forced to strike her colours and surrender. He was taken as prisoner to Plymouth.
The English admiralty, upon learning that Trouin had fired upon the
Prince of Orange while flying the English flag, had him locked in an iron room. On
19 June 1694, he made an adventurous escape, by capturing a small ship to which he'd had bought by a friendly Swedish captain whose ship was lying nearby. He was accompanied by Lieutenant Nicolas Thomas, surgeon Lhermite, Pierre Legendre and the quartermaster. He landed in Brittany and returned to Saint-Malo.
In 1697, the
Peace of Ryswick put a halt to the privateers and Duguay-Trouin spent his time in Saint-Malo with women. He was involved in a duel with a gentleman, Charles Cognetz, who had allegedly cheated in a game of cards. Both were taken to the police officer, M de Vauborel, who explicitly forbade any further violence.
War of the Spanish Succession
In 1702, as the
War of the Spanish Succession broke out, Duguay-Trouin commanded the
Bellone and the
Railleuse. He became an officer in the French Royal Navy.
On
October 21 1707, together with
Claude de Forbin, he won a great victory against an English convoy in the
Battle at the Lizard.
On
21 September 1711, in an 11-day battle, he captured
Rio de Janeiro, then believed impregnable, with seventeen ships and 6 000 men, in spite of the defence consisting of seven ships of the line, seven forts and 12 000 men; he held the governor for ransom. Investors in this venture doubled their money, and Duguay-Trouin earned a promotion to
Lieutenant général de la Marine.
Late career
In his late career, he commanded the fleet based in Saint-Malo, then the fleet based in
Brest, the fleet for the East and eventually
Toulon harbour. He died in 1736, after having written to Fleury to ask Louis XV to support his family.
Trivia
Duguay-Trouin is mentioned in Volume II, "Within A Budding Grove", of Marcel Proust's early twentieth century Masterpiece of French Literature, "In Search of Lost Time" (previously published as "A Remembrance of Things Past"). The reference occurs in an interlude section of the work entitled "Place Names: the Place" juxtaposed with other Impressionistic images. This reference specifically compares the brave image of the warrior's statue with the banal image of ordinary people eating sorbets in a bakery, illustrating that at the time, Duguay-Tourin's influence on French society was still so pervasive that statues of his form were commonplace. These statues were easily identifiable and even taken for granted throughout France, and they were instantly recognizable to the French citizenry fully two hundred years after his life.
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