04 - Vengeur Du Peuple (4K)

Picture: The French ship Marseillois fought in the decisive Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September 1781. As part of Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse’s fleet, the 74-gun ship helped block the British Royal Navy from relieving General Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Although not among the most famous ships in the engagement, Marseillois contributed to the disciplined French line that forced the British fleet under Admiral Thomas Graves to withdraw. This French naval victory isolated British forces in Virginia and directly enabled the later surrender at Yorktown - a turning point that effectively secured American independence.

Vengeur Du Peuple /Marseillois/ (1766)

The vessel was originally built for the royal French Navy as Marseillois, a 74-gun ship of the line launched in 1766. The 74-gun type represented an effective balance between firepower, maneuverability, and endurance, making it the dominant capital ship of the late eighteenth century.

She was funded by a don des vaisseaux - donation from the Chamber of Commerce of Marseille.

In August 1778, the French fleet under Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing had sailed to challenge the British fleet commanded by Richard Howe near Rhode Island during operations connected with the American Revolutionary War.

There Marseillois took part in the naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, duelling HMS Preston in a single-ship action on 11 August 1778. Preston was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy.

While both fleets were maneuvering for battle on 11 August 1778, a powerful storm struck the area. The storm scattered both fleets and caused significant damage to several ships. During the storm, Marseillois suffered notable rigging damage - lost her mizzen mast, bowsprit was carried away, she became separated from the main French squadron. The crew had to erect temporary “jury rigging” in order to make the ship navigable again.

While still recovering from this damage, the ship encountered the isolated HMS Preston, that had been cut off from her squadron by the storm.

Despite the fact that Marseillois was the more powerful vessel (74 guns vs. 50), her damaged rigging limited maneuverability. Most historical accounts indicate that Preston deliberately attacked the damaged French ship, likely because the British captain believed the situation offered a rare opportunity to defeat a stronger opponent.

Because Marseillois had reduced maneuverability but intact firepower, the battle with Preston evolved into a cautious gunnery duel rather than a decisive action. Neither ship managed to obtain the positional advantage required for victory, and the engagement ended inconclusively. The two ships fought a short duel lasting roughly an hour, after which they separated without a decisive outcome. Marseillois later rejoined the French fleet on 14 August 1778.

After rejoining the fleet, Marseillois continued to serve actively in the French Navy during the wider conflict with Britain, taking part in several key engagements of the war.

At the Battle of St. Lucia (December 1778), fought shortly after France entered the war, she sailed with the fleet of Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing in the Caribbean. The French attempted to seize the strategically valuable island of St. Lucia before British reinforcements could consolidate their hold. However, the British fleet under Samuel Barrington had already anchored in a strong defensive position in Grand Cul-de-Sac Bay.

During the engagement, French ships of the line including Marseillois were committed to repeated but ultimately unsuccessful attacks against the well-protected British line. The British used a tight anchoring formation supported by shore batteries, which made direct assault extremely costly and tactically difficult. Although Marseillois would have brought her full broadside weight into action, the battle demonstrated the limits of attacking a properly defended fleet at anchor. The French eventually withdrew, and the island remained in British hands.

By 1781, the strategic focus had shifted to North America. Marseillois was part of the fleet commanded by François Joseph Paul, comte de Grasse during the decisive Battle of the Chesapeake (also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes). This engagement proved pivotal in the outcome of the American Revolutionary War.

In this battle, the French fleet successfully prevented a British relief force under Thomas Graves from reaching the besieged army of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. Ships like Marseillois, as part of the French line of battle, contributed to maintaining formation discipline and delivering coordinated broadsides. While not singled out in most accounts for dramatic individual action, her role as a 74-gun ship was critical: these vessels formed the backbone of the line, absorbing and delivering sustained fire. The French tactical success at sea directly enabled the Franco-American victory at Yorktown, effectively deciding the war.

Soon after, Marseillois also participated in operations in the Caribbean, including the Battle of Saint Kitts (January 1782). Here again serving under de Grasse, the French fleet confronted a British force led by Samuel Hood. Hood executed a bold maneuver, anchoring his fleet in a defensive line along the coast, echoing tactics seen earlier at St. Lucia.

Marseillois would have been engaged in the French attempts to dislodge the British from this position. The fighting consisted largely of long-range cannonades and maneuvering, with neither side achieving a decisive breakthrough. As at St. Lucia, attacking an anchored and well-handled British line proved extremely difficult. Although the naval engagement itself was tactically indecisive, the French ultimately secured control of the island through their land operations.

Marseillois later wartime service culminated in one of the most dramatic episodes of the conflict: the Battle of the Saintes (April 1782). In this decisive engagement in the Caribbean, the French fleet under de Grasse was defeated by the British fleet commanded by George Rodney.

During the battle, the massive French flagship Ville de Paris—also under de Grasse’s personal command—became the focal point of intense fighting. As the British fleet broke the French line, ships were thrown into confusion, and several French vessels were isolated and overwhelmed. The Ville de Paris, heavily engaged and battered, eventually found herself surrounded.

Ships like Marseillois, positioned within the French line, attempted to support and relieve the flagship as the situation deteriorated. However, the breakdown of formation—combined with damage, wind conditions, and the aggressive British maneuvering—made coordinated assistance extremely difficult. The very structure that made line-of-battle tactics effective in orderly combat became a liability once cohesion was lost.

Despite efforts by nearby ships to intervene, Ville de Paris was isolated and forced to strike her colors. The capture of de Grasse and his flagship marked a catastrophic blow to French naval power in the Caribbean.

Marseillois, though engaged and part of the wider struggle, was unable to alter the outcome and ultimately withdrew with the remnants of the fleet.

The transformation of Marseillois into Vengeur du Peuple reflects the sweeping political and cultural upheaval of the French Revolution, when even the names of warships were repurposed to serve ideology.

Originally launched as Marseillois—a name honoring the city of Marseille and its commercial patronage through the don des vaisseaux—the ship carried a distinctly royal-era identity. By the early 1790s, however, the French Navy was undergoing rapid and often chaotic change. Officers of noble birth were dismissed, fled, or executed, and ships associated with monarchy, provinces, or traditional institutions were systematically renamed to reflect revolutionary values.

In 1794, amid the radical phase of the Revolution often called the Terror, Marseillois was renamed Vengeur du Peuple (“Avenger of the People”). The new name was not incidental—it was a deliberate piece of propaganda. Revolutionary authorities, influenced by figures such as Maximilien Robespierre, promoted a language of moral struggle, sacrifice, and vengeance against the enemies of the Republic. Warships, as visible instruments of national power, became symbolic platforms for these ideals.

The renaming also coincided with efforts to politically “re-educate” the navy. Crews were encouraged—or pressured—to adopt republican identities, participate in civic rituals, and demonstrate ideological loyalty. Ships like Vengeur du Peuple were no longer just military assets; they were floating embodiments of revolutionary virtue, expected to inspire both sailors and civilians.

This new identity would become inseparable from the ship’s final chapter at the Battle of the Glorious First of June, where Vengeur du Peuple was lost in combat against the British fleet.

On 1 June 1794, the French Atlantic fleet under Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse engaged the British Channel Fleet commanded by Richard Howe far out in the Atlantic. The French objective was strategic rather than purely tactical: to protect a vital grain convoy coming from North America to famine-stricken France. To achieve this, the French fleet deliberately accepted battle to hold off the British.

During the engagement, Vengeur du Peuple, a 74-gun ship in the French line, became heavily involved in close combat. She was engaged by the British 74-gun ship HMS Brunswick, commanded by John Harvey. The two ships collided and became entangled—rigging, yards, and hulls locked together—turning the fight into a brutal, point-blank duel. At the time of her loss during the Vengeur du Peuple was commanded by Jean‑François Renaudin.

At such close range, cannon fire was devastating. Both ships battered each other relentlessly, firing into hulls rather than rigging. Vengeur suffered catastrophic damage: her sides were shattered, guns dismounted, and, most critically, her hull was holed below the waterline. She began to take on water rapidly.

Eventually, the ships separated, but by then Vengeur du Peuple was fatally damaged and sinking. With pumps overwhelmed and no realistic chance of saving the vessel, her crew faced collapse. Contrary to later revolutionary myth, most of the surviving crew did not choose to go down with the ship. British boats from nearby vessels—including those supporting Brunswick—were sent to rescue them.

Hundreds of French sailors were pulled from the water in a chaotic, urgent effort as the ship settled lower. Captain Renaudin himself was among those rescued—picked up by the British after the ship went down. Despite these rescues, many men were still aboard when Vengeur du Peuple finally heeled over and sank beneath the waves.

In the immediate aftermath, the event was transformed into powerful propaganda in Revolutionary France. Influenced by figures like Bertrand Barère, reports claimed that the crew had refused rescue and perished heroically, crying “Vive la République!” as the ship went down. This version, while dramatic, is not supported by British accounts or more critical historical analysis, which show that a large portion of the crew was in fact rescued.

The sinking inspired dramatic artworks, especially by Pierre Ozanne, depicting the ship going down amid flags, gestures, and noble defiance. These images helped cement the myth visually—turning a chaotic naval disaster into something closer to staged theater.

When Jean-François Renaudin returned from British captivity after the loss of Vengeur du Peuple, the situation was very politically delicate. The official narrative had already portrayed the ship as a symbol of total, collective martyrdom. According to that version, the crew had heroically refused rescue and all gone down. Renaudin’s very survival contradicted that story.

Instead of openly correcting the myth, revolutionary authorities largely avoided confronting it directly. The propaganda had already done its job—boosting morale and reinforcing revolutionary virtue—so there was little appetite to dismantle it publicly.

Renaudin’s survival was not denied, but neither was it emphasized in a way that would undermine the heroic narrative. By the time Renaudin returned, the most extreme phase of the Reign of Terror was ending or already over (especially after the fall of Maximilien Robespierre in 1794).

With the political temperature cooling, there was less pressure to enforce rigid, symbolic interpretations of events. That made it easier for someone like Renaudin to reintegrate without facing accusations of failing to live up to the myth.