Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume
French admiral
Died when: 63 years 106 days (759 months)Star Sign: Aries
Count Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume (13 April 1755 in La Ciotat – 28 July 1818 in Aubagne) was a French Navy officer and Vice-admiral.Ganteaume started sailing on Indiamen, before serving during the American War of Independence in the fleets of Admiral d'Estaing and Suffren.
At the French Revolution, he was promoted to command the 74-gun Trente-et-un Mai, taking part in the Glorious First of June and the Croisière du Grand Hiver.
Ganteaume took part in the Expedition to Egypt, narrowly escaping death during the Battle of the Nile.There, he formed a personal relationship with General Bonaparte, who supported his promotion.
He was made a Rear-Admiral and given command of a squadron to supply the Army of Egypt, but in Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801, he engaged in months of complicated manoeuvres to elude the Royal Navy and eventually failed his mission.
He supplied the French forces of the Saint-Domingue expedition.During the Trafalgar Campaign, Ganteaume was to lead his squadron to the Caribbean to reinforce Villeneuve and Missiessy, but he was blockaded by British squadrons.
Ganteaume held various offices during the late First French Empire, and gave his loyalty to Louis XVIII at the Bourbon Restoration.