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Clarityfiend (talk | contribs) →Legacy: -Encyclopedia Britannica quote (how is that legacy?); -fact tag on sourced claim (also in Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe) |
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| branch =
| serviceyears = 1779–1806
| rank = [[Vice
| commands = {{plainlist|
* ''[[HMS Malta (1800)|Guillaume Tell]]''
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== Early career ==
Villeneuve was born in 1763 at [[Valensole]],<ref name=EB1911/> [[Alpes-de-Haute-Provence|Basses Alpes]], and joined the [[French Navy]] in 1779. He took part in [[
Despite his aristocratic ancestry, he sympathised with the [[French Revolution]], dropping the [[nobiliary particle]] from his name, and was able to continue his service in the Navy when other aristocratic officers were purged. He served during several battles, and was promoted to [[
At the [[Battle of the Nile]] in 1798 he was in command of the rear division. His ship, {{ship|French ship|Guillaume Tell|1795|2}}, was one of only two French ships of the line to escape the defeat.<ref name=EB1911/> He was captured soon afterwards when the British [[Siege of Malta (1798–1800)|took the island of Malta]], but he was soon released. He was criticised for not engaging the British at the Nile, but Napoleon considered him a "lucky man" and his career was not affected.
In 1804, [[Napoleon]] ordered Villeneuve, now a [[
== Battle of Trafalgar ==
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=== The battle ===
{{Main|Battle of Trafalgar}}
At Cádiz the combined French and Spanish fleets were kept under blockade by Nelson. In September, Villeneuve was ordered to sail for [[Naples]] and attack British shipping in the Mediterranean, but he was initially unwilling to move and continued in blatant disregard of
In mid-October he learned that Napoleon was about to replace him as commanding officer with [[François Étienne de Rosily-Mesros]] and order him to Paris to account for his actions. (Napoleon had written to the Minister of Marine, "Villeneuve does not possess the strength of character to command a frigate. He lacks determination and has no moral courage.") Before his replacement could arrive, Villeneuve gave the order to sail on 18 October.
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== Aftermath and death ==
[[File:The French Admiral on Board the Euryalus MET DP873751.jpg|thumb|''The French Admiral on board the Euryalus'', an etching from 1805]]
The British sent Villeneuve to [[England]]
On 22 April 1806, he was found dead at the ''Hôtel de la Patrie'' in [[Rennes]] with six stab wounds in the left lung and one in the heart.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4wkXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA77title|title=The French Review|volume=4|year=1835|publisher=Hoskin & Snowden|page=77|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> He had left a farewell letter to his wife.<ref name=OxfordReference>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803115853728|title=Villeneuve, Pierre Charles Jean Baptiste Silvestre, Comte de|publisher=[[Oxford Reference]]|accessdate=August 29, 2021|archivedate=August 30, 2021|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830010122/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803115853728}}</ref> A verdict of suicide was recorded.<ref name=EB1911/> The nature of his death ensured that this verdict was much mocked in the British press of the time and suspicions abounded that Napoleon had secretly ordered Villeneuve's murder.<ref>Adkins, Roy (2005), ''Trafalgar: The Biography of a Battle'', (Page 323) Abacus, {{ISBN|978-0-349-11632-7}}</ref> The question of whether Villeneuve committed suicide has been a source of contention among historians ever since.<ref name=OxfordReference/>
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