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A short biography of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, 1729-1811

The French Sailor, Soldier, Statesman and Mathematician, Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, was one of the most interesting characters of the Eighteenth Century. Born in Paris in 1729, he started the first settlement in the Iles Malouines (Falkland Islands); he led a voyage around the world in the 1760s; he fought in the American War of Independence; he wrote mathematical treatises and was elected to scientific academies; and he survived a duel and the French Revoloution to become a friend of Napoleon and grow roses. After his death in 1811 he had islands, mountains and plants named after him. He was a Renaissance man in the Enlightenment.

Louis-Antoine de Bougainville was born on 12 November 1729, the youngest of the three children of Pierre-Yves de Bougainville and Marie-Francoise d'Arboulin. It is thought that the Bougainvilles originally came from the Picardy region of France, north of Paris, though when the family moved to Paris is uncertain. A small village a few kilometres east of Amiens is called Bougainville. The family lived at 21 Rue de la Barre du Bec (it later became part of the Rue du Temple) near the Chatelet where Pierre-Yves was a notary. Their first child was Jean-Pierre, born on 1 December 1722 and he was followed in 1727 by the only daughter, Marie-Francoise, named after her mother.

Bougainville's mother died in 1734 when he was only five and his father's sister, Charlotte, came to look after the children. Apparently Aunt Charlotte ran a strict household. Bougainville's uncle, on his mother's side, was Jean Potentien d'Arboulin, a man of standing in Paris Society. D'Arboulin occupied various positions in Government and was known to be a confidant of Madame de Pompadour (one story has d'Arboulin being referred to affectionately as "Boubou" by Pompadour). For a period he became Secretaire du Cabinet du Roi for King Louis XV and arranged for Bougainville to succeed him in this position. He would use his standing to help his nephew's advancement and was one of the major influences on Louis-Antoine. Later, they were close friends and d'Arboulin invested in Louis-Antoine's projects.

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  1756
The war (later known as the Seven Years War), which had broken out in North America, had, by 1756, spread to Europe, when Britain formally declared war on France on 18 May. The French, who were keen to protect their interests in North America, dispatched an army across the North Atlantic under the command of Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm. Bougainville secured a position as Aide-de-camp to Montcalm and they sailed from Brest on the Licorne on 3 April 1756. Bougainville quickly impressed Montcalm and they developed a close working relationship, becoming good friends.

In the middle of the eighteenth century, the European powers had ventured over most of North America but their permanent settlements were still small and usually close to the sea or the larger rivers. Spain claimed Florida and the far west, especially Texas and California. The British had established themselves on the east coast from Georgia up to Maine (in what would soon become the independent 13 colonies). The Appalachian mountain range, terrain and afforestation formed a barrier that had slowed advancement of the colonists to the west. The British also had tentative toeholds in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and, through the Hudson Bay Company, claims to vast areas of territory toward the Arctic Circle.

Between the British settlements, the French had established the colony of Nouvelle France or, as it was more often called, Canada. The St. Lawrence River was the lifeline for the French, being the principal artery for movement between the main centres, Montreal and Quebec, situated on its banks. Montreal had 4,500 inhabitants and Quebec 8,000 out of a total of approximately 60,000 people. Very few French settlements were more than a few kilometres from the river or one of its main tributaries. The long, hard, cold winters made life very difficult for the settlers and they remained dependant on assistance and supplies from France.

The other factor which was having a large effect on the European settlers was the presence of the earlier inhabitants of the continent, the Native Americans, or Indians as they were usually termed. The Indians, understandably, resented the arrival of the Europeans and much fighting had taken place over the years, restricting European expansion. The Indians were more used to, and, therefore, better able to fight in the conditions so the Europeans would attempt to form alliances with Indian tribes in the hope that they could use their fighting prowess against their own European foes. So it was that the Seven Years War was fought in North America by France, with its Indian allies, against Britain and its Indian allies.

At this time the French Government comprised the King and a Conseil d'Etat made up of a Chief Minister and six other Ministers. These Ministers were the Chancellor (and Keeper of the Seals), the Contoller General of Finances and the Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs, War, the Marine and the King's "House". The Marine Ministry, as well as controlling everything naval, also had responsibility for all of Frances colonies. This had a historical basis, as the French Navy had played the pivotal role in creating the colonies and had never relinquished its power over them. It meant though that at least two Ministries were primarily involved in the war in Canada. Montcalm and the army were answerable to the Secretary of State for War, the Comte d'Argenson, while the Governor was answerable to the Secretary of State of Marine, the Marquis de Peirenc de Moras. It was a situation bound to cause problems.

We have a good record of Bougainville's time in North America through letters he sent back to France and a journal in which he recorded all the events. He describes the relationship that developed between Montcalm and the officials of French Canada. The Governor at the time was Pierre-Francois Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, himself the son of an earlier Governor, and born and raised in Canada. Vaudreuil was based in Montreal while the Intendant General, Francois Bigot, was based in Quebec. Montcalm would soon be at odds with both these men. Vaudreuil expected the army and, therefore, Montcalm to be under his command, while Montcalm maintained that he should be in charge of all the French armed forces. The Troupes de la Marine and a local militia, both of which answered to Vaudreuil, were already based in Canada. This created antagonism and confusion in chains of command and, ultimately, contributed to the loss by France of Canada. Montcalm and Vaudreuil's rivalry was shown in a steady stream of letters back to their respective masters in France, in which they sought to gain ascendancy over the other.

On 12 May 1756 the Licorne reached Quebec. The crossing, which had been Bougainville's first real taste of sea travel, was a particularly rough one. Despite suffering on the crossing Bougainville showed great interest in the navigational and seamanship skills required to sail the ship. He talked extensively to the ship's captain, Chevalier de la Rigaudiere. Bougainville had a cousin in Quebec, Monsieur de Vienne, with whom he stayed when in the city. The son of de Vienne, Francois-Guillaume de Vienne, would later sail with Bougainville around the world as a pilot on the Boudeuse. At this stage, relations were still cordial between the army and the locals, and Bigot entertained the newcomers. On 22 May, Montcalm set off for Montreal to report to the Governor; Bougainville followed shortly after, reaching Montreal on 29 May. Much travel at the time was by canoe along the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries. In many places rocks, rapids or other obstacles required the canoes to be manhandled across land; these locations were called portages. Given that the rivers froze for several months each winter, travel was very difficult and most activity took place between March and October. The French usually retreated from their frontier posts to spend the winters in Montreal or Quebec.

In 1756, the French knew of British troop movements inland around the Ohio River valley and needed to protect themselves from attack from this quarter. It was determined that they should attack Fort Oswego, on the south side of Lake Ontario. Therefore on 21 July 1756 the army set off from Montreal up the St. Lawrence. They called briefly at Fort La Presentation (Ogdensberg) before moving on to Fort Frontenac (Kingston) on the north side of Lake Ontario, which was reached on 29 July. Two days later Bougainville set off to join the French advance troops under Rigaud (Governor Vaudreuil's younger brother) in Niaoure Bay (Sackett's Harbor) on the east side of Lake Ontario. He then returned to Frontenac and joined Montcalm and the rest of the army, which set off for Naioure Bay. On 9 August, the army moved south via Cabin Bay to land at La Petite Anse just to the east of Oswego.

Oswego was a small settlement at the mouth of the Oswego River, comprising three forts, Forts Oswego, Ontario and George. However, all three forts were in poor repair and only a small contingent of British troops had been left to defend them when the French began their assault on 11 August. The French began a barrage against the forts and soon had them in disarray. Bougainville had his first experience of warfare, as a member of an assault party that skirted the forts, fording the river and attacking from the south. The British were overrun in two days and as their commander, Colonel Mercer, had been killed by cannon fire, his second-in-command, Lieutenant-Colonel Littlehales, surrendered. Bougainville was deputed to negotiate for the French and he would be used in this role many times because of his ability to speak English. He then witnessed an aspect of the war that would disturb him. Both the French and the British used local Indians (Native Americans) in their armies and the Indians fighting on the French side at Oswego mutilated and killed most of the British survivors. No prisoners were taken. Montcalm commended Bougainville's part in the capture of Oswego. Bougainville left Oswego on 21 August to report the success to Vaudreuil in Montreal, which he reached on 26 August.

In early September, Bougainville went south with Montcalm along the Richelieu River and Lake Champlain to check the state of readiness of Fort St. Frederick (Crown Point) and Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga). The river and Lakes Champlain and St. Sacrement offered a possible route past the Ariondack Mountains for an attack by the British from Albany and the south. The two forts existed to prevent such an attack. They reached Fort St. Frederick on 9 September and Fort Carillon the next day. On 15 September Bougainville was part of a small group that went up Lake St. Sacrement (Lake George) to spy on Fort William Henry (Fort George) at the head of the lake. They climbed a mountain, thought to be Shelving Rock, next to the lake, from which they could see the whole expanse of the lake. Bougainville reported back to Montcalm in Carillon where the fortifications were being upgraded.

On 26 October, as winter approached, the French retreated north to Montreal, leaving a token force at Carillon. The British had made a similar withdrawal from their forward positions and no large scale attacks were expected. Both sides would undertake many small-scale scouting sorties but the bad weather ensured that no major warfare would take placefor several months. In early November 1756, Moncalm allowed Bougainville to go to Quebec where he spent the winter months at the house of his cousin, de Vienne. Bougainville had taken a library with him and he read extensively. This is demonstrated in his journals, both in Canada and from his voyage round the world, when he quotes extensively from authors such as Ovid, Vergil and Tacitus, among many others. As well as writing his daily journal, Bougainville was a regular letter writer to his brother and to Madame Herault de Sechelles. He also found time to write Memoires sur l'etat de la Nouvelle France, which he sent to the Minister of War in France via Madame Herault de Sechelles. He went on short trips around Quebec to St. Foix and Lorette and at other times he enjoyed the social life of the city, attending balls and gambling.

  1757
Bougainville set off back to Montreal on 31 January 1757, reaching that city on 2 February. Relations between Governor Vaudreuil and the Marquis de Montcalm continued to be very cool, with Vaudreuil reluctant to consult Montcalm or to inform him of his own plans. An example soon occurred when Vaudreuil dispatched his brother, Rigaud, to command an army comprising the Canadian militia and Indians, in an attack on the British outpost of Fort William Henry at the southern end of Lake St. Sacrement. Vaudreuil was intent on gaining status at the expense of Montcalm but this expedition was destined for failure. The French reached the fort and demanded its surrender but the British refused, leaving Rigaud to retreat to Fort Carillon. Meanwhile, Montcalm, Bougainville and the regular French army waited in Montreal for the weather to improve.

By early July, Montcalm was nearly ready and he decided to visit two of the local settlements of friendly Indians to ensure their continued support. On 9 July, together with Bougainville, he went to Lac des Deux Montagnes on the Ottawa River, west of Montreal. The next day they visited Sault-St. Louis (Caughnawaga) on the south side of the St. Lawrence, opposite Montreal, where Bougainville was initiated into the Iroquois tribe. He was given the name Garionatsigoa (Great angry sky). He also met Celuta, the daughter of one of the Iroqouis chiefs, and a relationship began between them. Three days later, the French set off from Montreal, in July 1757, to repeat the attack on Fort William Henry. Crossing the St. Lawrence first to La Prairie, the French continued east to St. Jean on the River Richelieu. Here they embarked into boats that would take them south to Fort Carillon, which they reached on 18 July.

Gradually the French army assembled and boats were transferred to Lake St. Sacrement to carry the army onwards. They were ready to move again on 1 August. By the 3rd they had traversed the length of the lake and Montcalm had made his camp at Artillery Cove, just northwest of the fort. The siege began but Colonel Munro, the British Commander refused to surrender. His immediate superior, General Webb, was at Fort Edward but was unable to come to Munro's aid. A letter from Webb, informing Munro of this news, was intercepted by the French and Bougainville was sent on the 7th to Munro to offer terms of surrender. He was led blindfold in and out of the fort but returned with the news that the British still refused to surrender. The siege ended on 9 August, when the British finally surrendered after suffering a long bombardment. Munro was dead so Colonel Young represented the British and Bougainville the French in the talks over the terms of surrender. Once resolved, Montcalm sent Bougainville off to give the good news to Vaudreuil in Montreal, which he reached on 11 August. In the meantime, the Indians on the side of the French committed another massacre of British prisoners.

Having reported the success to Vaudreuil, Bougainville returned south to rejoin Montcalm, who had moved back to Fort Carillon. On 25 August they left Carillon and reached Montreal on 1 September, via St. Jean, St. Therese and La Prairie. Bougainville was released from his duties on 10 September and went down the St. Lawrence to spend the 1757-1758 winter in Quebec. In late September and October he was walking by the river to Samos and Sillery and musing about the geology of the rocks he saw. In early October he went northeast along the north shore of the St. Lawrence as far as Cap Tourmente inspecting possible sites for forts to protect Quebec should the British attack from down river. Bougainville made another trip this way later in the month to see the Falls of Montmorenci.

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  1758
In mid-February 1758 Bougainville left Quebec for Montreal, which he reached on the 22nd. In early March, he paid another visit to his adopted Iroquois family in Sault St. Louis. The British were expected to attack on several fronts, including along the Richelieu valley where the French had captured Fort William Henry the previous year. Montcalm realised the need to defend the forts at the south end of Lake Champlain and, in late June, took his troops to Fort Carillon (this fort would later be known as Fort Ticonderoga). They arrived on 30 June and six days later the British army had negotiated Lake St. Sacrement to assemble outside the fort. In mid-1758, Bougainville learned that Celuta was pregnant and soon after a boy, their child, Lorimie-Nuage Lointain, was born.

On 8 July the British, poorly led by General Abercromby, attacked Fort Carillon but were repulsed decisively. Lord Howe, a charismatic General who might have led them to victory, had been killed in a skirmish a few days earlier. The French waited to see if there would be further attacks but the British were not in any shape to do so and returned down the lake. The French victory was not without cost as Bougainville was injured during the fighting, receiving a head wound from gunshot. Bougainville, when he had recovered, was sent by Montcalm to Montreal on 7 August to appraise Vaudreuil of the situation. The Governor immediately sent him back and on to the British camp to discuss the terms of prisoner exchange. While he was at the British camp, Bougainville met Captain Abercromby, the General's nephew and a friend from his London days. Both knew that the British were attacking the French fort at Louisbourg on Ile Royale and they had a bet on the outcome. Within a few days they heard that the British had taken the fort and Bougainville paid up on the bet.

Back at Carillon, the French were improving the defences of the fort. Bougainville had ideas for putting a small battery on Mouton Island, a tiny island in Lake St. Sacrement guarding the landing place near Carillon, and, at the beginning of September, he helped organise this installation. Bougainville was becoming a regular commuter between Carillon and Montreal and he made the journey twice more over the next few weeks. On 2 October he exchanged beer and wine with Captain Abercromby. Winter was fast approaching and Montcalm withdrew from Carillon on 18 October, reaching Montreal 3 days later.

So far Montcalm's forces had had success against the British but sieges and battles in which Bougainville had been involved were only a part of a much larger theatre of war. Overall, the French were making little impact upon the British who were far from beaten and were, in fact, regrouping. The French leaders back in Paris were far more concerned with the state of the war in Europe and were loath to commit resources to the campaigns in North America and India. Even when Montcalm had sailed for Canada he had only 1200 men with him. The British Royal Navy's supremacy in the North Atlantic ensured that the French remained largely isolated in Canada and this had been further compounded with the British capture of Louisbourg, near the mouth of the St. Lawrence. In late 1758, Montcalm and Vaudreuil for once agreed when they decided to send emissaries back to France to request more troops and aid. Bougainville and Anddre-Jean-Baptiste Doreil, the Financial Commissary of War and a man sympathetic to Montcalm were chosen. Doreil had reached the end of his term in Canada and sailed back separately landing in Spain before travelling to Versailles. Vaudreuil, knowing Bougainville's loyalty to Montcalm, had already sent his own man, Major Michel-Jean-Hugues Pean ahead of them to give Vaudreuil's version of the state of affairs.

Bougainville left Montreal on 3 November in a small boat to sail down the St. Lawrence. However, just above Quebec, near Les Ecureuils, the boat was wrecked and Bougainville had to finish the journey on foot. He boarded the Victoire on 11 November and the ship sailed the next day for France. He landed at Morlaix, on the north coast of Brittany, after an alarm when the ship sailed into British waters in the Bristol Channel. Bougainville made straight for Paris, which he reached in late December 1758. He soon met with Government ministers at Versailles and made the case for reinforcements and committment to the cause of French Canada. However, he found the ministers more concerned with Europe and his pleas were undermined by letters from Governor Vaudreuil.

When the war finished in 1763 the French were more concerned about retaining the island of Guadeloupe instead of Canada. However, the French preoccupation with Europe was not confined to Government Ministers. Voltaire wrote Candide in 1759 in which he said, "You know that two nations are warring for a few acres of snow in Canada and that they are spending for the war much more than Canada is worth". Canada would be effectively left to its fate in 1759 when the Royal Navy inflicted two crushing victories over their French counterparts at Lagos Bay, off the Portuguese coast, and later at Quiberon Bay near the mouth of the River Loire. The French navy was no longer able to support Canada properly and the French army was totally stranded.

Bougainville sailed from Bordeaux on the Chezine on 28 March 1759 bound for Quebec. The ship's captain was Nicolas Duclos-Guyot from St. Malo, whose brother Alexandre had sailed to the South Atlantic visiting the Iles Malouines, among other places. It is probable that the two men talked of these islands and that this would be another seed for Bougainville's future exploits. Meanwhile, Bougainville's present mission could only be counted a very partial success as only twenty supply ships and 300 troops had been dispatched with him. This number was far too small to make any impact in the future struggle. On a personal level though, he had been promoted to Colonel and made a Knight of St. Louis.

  1759
After a slow crossing the Chezine arrived at Quebec on 10 May just ahead of the storeships but, more importantly, just ahead of the British fleet that was coming to attack Quebec. Bougainville quickly went on to Montreal to inform Montcalm and Vaudreuil of the lack of success of his trip and the news about the British. Vaudreuil learned that he had to answer to Montcalm in all matters relating to the war.During his short stay at Montreal it is thought he crossed to Sault-St. Louis to see Celuta and the baby Lorimie. All the French leaders immediately hastened with their forces to Quebec and Bougainville was back there on 22 May. He was dispatched with Anne-Josephe-Hippolyte Maures de Malartic to check the defences along the north shore of the St. Lawrence as far as Cap Tourmente. In June the Ile d'Orleans was evacuated while Bougainville was placed in charge of the camp at Beauport, just northeast of Quebec city.

The British fleet under Vice-Admiral Charles Saunders arrived in late June 1759 to anchor near Pointe Levi on the 29th. The Royal Navy had transported part of the British army, which had captured Louisbourg the previous year. Its commander was General James Wolfe. The British began setting up camps on the south shore of the river opposite Quebec and attempting to discern how they would capture the city. On 18 July some British ships managed to sail up the river past the city and started attacking the small settlements along the river. Meanwhile, Wolfe, despairing of finding a way to attack Quebec, made an unsuccessful attempt at Montmorenci, east of Beauport on 31 July.

In early August Bougainville was put in command of the troops patrolling the north shore of the St. Lawrence upstream of Quebec for abot 30 kilometres as far as Jacques-Cartier. The British fleet had continued to harry along this stretch of river and Montcalm did not want to lose the line of communication to Montreal. Attempted landings were repulsed at Pointe-aux-Trembles and further up at Deschambault in mid-August. Bougainville had made his headquarters at Cap Rouge but his force of 3,000 men was spread out all along the river as Rear-Admiral Charles Holmes' ships taunted them sailing up and down the river.

News arrived in August of the loss of Forts Carillon and St. Frederick and Brigadier Francois-Gaston de Levis, Montcalm's second-in-command was sent to help defend the Richelieu. Quebec was already suffering badly from the bombardment by British guns and much of the city was in ruins.

Finally in September Wolfe found the way to defeat the French. While diversions were made at Beauport and upstream of Quebec, the British army landed at Anse au Foulon through the night of 12 September. It climbed up a steep, narrow path onto the Plains of Abraham, a plateau behind the city of Quebec and moved quickly into battle formation early in the morning. Montcalmwas informed and rushed from Beauport to defend the city. However, he made a fatal mistake by not waiting for possible reinforcements and rushed forward to attack the British. The French and Canadians were no match for the British in this form of fighting and were quickly routed. The battle had begun early in the morning and was all over well before noon. All was not well though for the commanders of the two armies. General Wolfe was killed on the battlefield while Montcalm was severely wounded and was carried back into the city where he later died. Vaudreuil appeared after the battle was lost and decided to retreat, taking what French forces that were left. They marched as far as Jaques-Cartier, reaching it on the 15th. Before leaving, Vaudreuil had instructed the Commandant of Quebec, Jean-Baptiste-Nicolas-Roch de Ramezay, to wait as long as possible but to surrender without fighting. De Ramezay waited until the 18th before surrendering.

Bougainville had heard about Wolfe's attack at 9.00am but by the time he had assembled sufficient of his men and marched them to Quebec, 2 hours away, the battle was already lost. Colonel George Townshend had now assumed charge of the British following Wolfe's death, and he was waiting for them so Bougainville avoided confrontation and retreated to Pointe-aux-Trembles.

Levis had been informed of the battle and of Montcalm's fate. He quickly returned to Jacques-Cartier to assume control of the French Army and determined to lead it back to recapture Quebec. He ordered Bougainville and his troops ahead of the main army and Bougainville marched via Lorette to be at Charlesbourg, 4 kilometres north of Quebec when it was learned that de Ramezay had surrendered the city. Meanwhile the main army had reached St. Augustin, just to the west of the city, when it too heard about the surrender. Bougainville was asked to negotiate with the British over the exchange of prisoners and sick and wounded. After a couple of days Levis led the French troops away from Quebec.

The British fleet soon sailed from Quebec taking some of the Army, including Townshend back to Britain. Colonel James Murray was left in charge of the beleaguered city. The British had only secured Quebec and a small ring of land a few kilometres around the city. Quebec itself was in ruins, supplies were in short supply and French skirmishers were patrolling in the countryside. The hospitals were full of sick and dying. Things became even worse when they experienced a very cold winter and it was a weak and vulnerable city that struggled to survive into 1760.

  1760
At the beginning of 1760 the French in Canada were expecting attacks from three fronts. The overall British commander, Major-General Jeffery Amherst was known to be in the Ohio Valley region and was expected to move via Lake Ontario. A second force under Brigadier-General William Haviland was assembling to the south near Albany. The third army under Murray was in Quebec, which it had taken the year before. The French were stretched to meet these challenges and they dug in to defend the region around Montreal. In March 1760 Bougainville was given command of Fort Ile-aux-Noix, the most southerly of three forts on the River Richelieu, guarding against attack from the south.

However, Levis was aware of the state of the British at Quebec and decided to attack them. On 20 April he led the army down the river and landed at Pointe-aux-Trembles from where they marched to St. Foy. On the 28th Murray marched his troops out and, in a near replica of the previous year's battle, attacked first only to be be routed and had to retreat into Quebec. Levis began a siege of the city until on 9 May a sole British ship, the Lowestoft arrived with news of a squadron following behind. It arrived and chased the small fleet of French ships that had accompanied Levis. The French Fireship Captain, Jean Vauquelin, managed to scupper his own ship, the Atalante before being taken. Levis led his army back to Montreal and after a short time Murray began his advance up the St. Lawrence.

Vaudreuil had sent word to France in late 1759 asking for reinforcements but Nicolas-Rene Berryer, Comte de la Ferriere, the Minister of Marine, was slow in responding. A few merchant ships with an escort by the Machault, commanded by Francois Chenard de La Giraudais (later to sail with Bougainville) reached the Gulf of St. Lawrence in mid-May to learn it was behind the British squadron. La Giraudais put into Baie de Chaleur and sent Ensign Antoine-Charles Saint-Simon (who also sailed later with Bougainville) from a local Acadian militia to inform Vaudreiul. Captain John Byron came looking for the Machault and on 8 July found and destroyed the ship. After Saint-Simon returned from Montreal, La Giraudais sailed a small Acadian schooner round Newfoundland and across the Atlantic back to France.

The mood amongst the French and its allies was in mid-1760 very despondent. The members of the local militias began drifting away to their farms while most of the Indian allies, including the Iroquois, changed their allegience to the British.

By early August the British Army under Haviland had negotiated Lake Champlain and on the 16th they began attacking Bougainville at Ile-aux-Noix. The French were in a poor state to defend the fort being short of powder and men able to fire the cannons. On 25 August the French support vessels were captured and Bougainville evacuated the fort two days later, retreating to Fort St.-Jean, a few kilometres to the north. Haviland quickly followed and Bougainville decided to move on to Montreal via La Prairie. Forts St.-Jean and Chambly were left to the British.

The pincer movement of the British had proved successful. Murray had passed Sorel and crossed to camp to the north of Montreal while Amherst had come down the St. Lawrence to reach Lachine on 6 September and pitch his camp to the south of Montreal the next day. Haviland was across the river from Montreal. The walled city of Montreal was full of soldiers from beaten armies, refugees as well as its normal inhabitants. The French leaders convened a Council of War and it was decided to sue for peace. On the 7th, Bougainville was sent to find out from Amherst what his terms were. Amherst informed him that he required total surrender and would not grant the French Army the "Honours of War" on account of the attrocities committed by allies of the French over the previous few years. Bougainville returned with this news, which angered the French officers, especially Levis, who demanded to be able to fight on. Vaudreiul overruled them and signed the surrender on 8 September 1760.

Gradually the French officers, including Bougainville, were transported back to France aboard British ships. The war in Europe was still happening and most of them were placed on parole whereby they could not take an active role in any part of the war.

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On his return to France in late 1760, the war in Europe was still being fought but Bougainville was under parole and could not take part in any miltary activity. It was also to a very different set of personal circumstances that Louis-Antoine returned. Both his parents were now dead and he found accomodation in the Rue Neuve-des-Bons-Enfants near his brother, Jean-Pierre, who was living in the Rue du Croissant. The brothers visited their sister, Marie-Francoise, who had married Louis-Honorat de Baraudin and was now living at Loches, near Tours in the Loire Valley.

Madame Herault de Sechelles was in mourning as Jean-Baptiste (Bougainville's best friend, Bonhomme) had been seriously wounded at the Battle of Minden, against the Prussians in August 1759, and had died shortly afterwards at Kassel. Before his death Jean-Baptiste had married Marie-Marguerite Magon de la Lande and two months after his death she had given birth to a son, Marie-Jean Herault de Sechelles. Marie-Jean would grow up to become one of the leading figures in the French Revolution, being one of the members of the Committee of Public Safety, before his downfall and execution in 1794.

  1763
At the beginning of 1763, Bougainville began to have ideas for a project that might restore some French pride. In his short stay in London seven years earlier he had met and talked with Admiral George Anson, who had led an expedition into the Pacific Ocean. Through his own brother, Jean-Pierre, and Charles de Brosses, Bougainville had read other works about the Pacific and the potential it offered for new lands to discover and settle. Then, in 1759, he had talked to Nicolas Duclos-Guyot about the Iles Malouines (known to the British as the Falkland Islands) in the South Atlantic Ocean. Bougainville saw these islands as the key to the Pacific in that, close to the Strait of Magellan and Cape Horn, they controlled the passage of ships from the Atlantic into the Pacific Ocean. If the French could start a settlement on these islands they would control the passage.

Bougainville sought out Duclos-Guyot and Benjamin Dubois, a St. Malo armourer, and together they made plans for such a venture. Bougainville produced a somewhat fanciful report to support the venture, in which he gave a long list of benefits to France that would result if it was approved. Many of the benefits could not be guaranteed, or were pure invention. Potential settlers were already to hand, as the British had forced out the Acadians, the French inhabitatants of Nova Scotia, and many of them were in France and still without homes. Bougainville approached the Government with his idea but, while the Minister and even the King were sympathetic to it, there was no money to finance it. If Bougainville wanted to proceed he would have to finance the project himself. To that end, he formed a company with his uncle d'Arboulin and a cousin, Michel-Francois Bougainville de Nerville. The Compagnie de St. Malo was funded largely by these three men while a Paris notary, Maitre Dupres, drew up the legal deeds for the company in early February 1763. At no point does it seem that any thought was given to the possibility of Spanish claims to the islands.

Bougainville now set about recruiting crews for the ships and firstly he signed on two important sailors. The Duclos-Guyot family from St. Malo had quickly developed a sailing reputation, including experience in the South Atlantic Ocean and Nicolas-Pierre was taken on as Bougainville's second-in command. Francois Chenard de la Giraudais was recruited to be the Captain of the second ship. It had been decided to take two ships and they would be new, purpose built vessels. Duclos-Guyot was given charge of having a frigate, the Aigle, and a corvette, the Sphinx, built in the Solidor yard at St. Malo. In May, the Duc de Choiseul gave the Government's agreement for the project to go ahead and to underwrite some of the costs.

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Bougainville was greatly disappointed that the French gave up the Iles Malouines but he soon had an idea for another project, an expedition around the world. The Ducs de Choiseul and Paslin both supported the new venture and Bougainville was given two ships and Government backing. The plans for the expedition were prepared with the assistance of Charles de Brosses. The storeship, the Etoile, had only just returned from the Malouines and was still being refitted and stocked so only one ship was ready at the beginning of November 1766. Bougainville set sail on 5 November from Nantes on the frigate, the Boudeuse, on a voyage that would last 28 months. The second vessel, the Etoile, would leave when it was ready and rendezvous with the Boudeuse at the Malouines. Many of the crew, including several of the officers, had sailed with Bougainville or on his ships to the South Atlantic.

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July 1767 - November 1767 Rio de Janeiro to Montevideo
The two ships left Rio de Jameiro on 15 July and sailed down to Montevideo. The Etoile was taking on water and was much slower than the frigate, which often had to wait for the storeship to catch up. En route, the astronomer, Veron, who had transferred on to the Boudeuse, predicted a solar eclipse and this was observed on 25 July. Five days later the ships anchored in Montevideo, where Bougainville learned that Spain and its colonies were expelling Jesuits. He also found that the ships that were to take the Acadian settlers back to Europe had been appropriated to transport the Jesuits, so the Acadians were still in the River Plate area. On 9 August, Bougainville crossed to Buenos Aires in a schooner to meet the Governor. He was in Buenos Aires from the 11th to the 19th before returning to Montevideo. Arriving back on the 23rd, he was informed that a Spanish ship, the San Fernando, had dragged its anchors in a storm and smashed into the neighbouring Etoile causing severe damage. The bowsprit was broken and there was a hole in the bow through which it was taking on water.

On 27 August Bougainville took the Etoile out into the estuary to confirm the damage. He had realised that Montevideo did not have the facilities to repair his storeship and wanted to know if it could reach Encenada de Baragan, near Buenos Aires, where there was a refitting yard. He needed permission to go there but this was slow in being granted so on 7 September Bougainville himself sailed the Etoile across without the aid of a pilot. It anchored at Encenada on the 10th but could not enter the anchorage for repairs until 8 October. A schooner was brought from Buenos Aires so that cargo could be offloaded and the lighter storeship could enter the dock. The repairs were then carried out and the Etoile sailed out to anchor off Punta Lara, where the cargo was reloaded. Bougainville was able to take the ship back on the 31 October, skirting the Ortiz Bank to reach Montevideo on 3 November.

November 1767 - December 1767 Montevideo to Strait of Magellan
Finally, on 14 November the two ships were able to leave Montevideo and the Rio Plata. It was virtually a year to the day since Bougainville had sailed from Nantes and yet he was still only in the South Atlantic. On the passage south past Patagonia a storm caused damage to the Etoile but, at last, in early December, they sighted the northern entrance to the Strait of Magellan, Cabo Virgenes. The ships entered the Strait two days later on 5 December. Bougainville and Duclos-Guyot were now in familiar territory, having visited the Strait three years earlier on a wood collecting trip from the Iles Malouines. They began a slow passage through the Strait and would take seven weeks to reach the Pacific Ocean. The ships anchored on the 7th by the north shore in Baie de Possession (Bahia Posesion). Sailing on, they passed through the Premier Goulet (Primera Angostura) to anchor, on the 8th, close to Cabo San Gregorio at the western end of Baie Boucault (Bahia Santiago). They met local Patagonian people.

They next negotiated the Segunda Angostura on the 11th, to anchor for two days on the north side of Ile St. Elizabeth (Isla Isabel). Bougainville sent men ashore using the small boats. The ships departed on the 13th and sailed south, keeping close to the coast of the Peninsula de Brunswick. They stopped for two days at a bay named Baie Duclos by Bougainville after his number two. Moving on, on the 16th they passed Point Sainte Anne (Punta Carreras) and Cape Round (Cabo San Isidro) to be off Cabo Froward, the southernmost point of the South American mainland. They returned northeast to anchor in Baie Francaise. Bougainville was unhappy with the anchorage and transferred the next day to a neighbouring bay, which he had visited in 1764 and was named after him, Baie Bougainville.

A camp was set up ashore and repairs began on the Etoile, which was still leaking. Veron, the astronomer, set up his instruments on a small offshore island, causing it to be called Observatory Island. A small boat was dispatched to inspect the coast between Capes Froward and Holland but bad weather forced its return. Bougainville then took the two longboats, on the 27th, across the Strait to the Tierra del Fuego shore. He first landed on Isla Dawson before crossing the entrance to a great inlet (Canal Magdalena) to reach a small bay, which he named Baie Beaubassin. This is situated at the northeastern corner of Isla Capitan Aracena, and the party spent the night here. The next day they rowed on to the west, circling Isla Peak before reaching the Baie de la Cormorandiere, where they passed the second night. The next night was spent at Bahia Cascada (Baie de la Cascade) after rowing past Les Deux Soeurs. On 30 December 1767, they crossed back to the north shore near Cabo Froward and on to reach the ships. Bougainville was pleased with the trip, having identified three suitable anchorages. The next day the ships set sail and rounded Cabo Froward to reach Baie Fortescue and Port Galant, where they anchored.

January 1768 Strait of Magellan
1768 began badly for Bougainville. The first few days were relatively fine and allowed some exploration to take place. On 1 January he sent one longboat out to investigate ahead along the north shore, hoping to reach Baie Elizabeth (Bahia Isabel), and another to examine the Isles Royales (Islas Carlos) in the middle of the Strait. Meanwhile, inspection of Port Galant revealed felled tree trunks, inscriptions on tree trunks and other signs of recent European visitors, probably most recently the British expedition of Wallis and Carteret. Bougainville dispatched another boat to the southern shore of the Strait, where he expected the entrance of the Canal Barbara to be located. On the 4th, some men climbed the mountain behind Port Galant, which afforded a good panorama of the Strait.

However, on 4 January the weather deteriorated and for the next two weeks Bougainville and his crew were stuck in Port Galant experiencing gale-force winds, much rain, below freezing temperatures and much snow. Local Patagonians visited the ships. Eventually, on the 16th, the ships were able to sail and headed for the channel on the northeast side of Isle Louis-le-Grande (Isla Carlos III) but while the Etoile was able to reach Baie Dauphine on that island, the conditions prevented the Boudeuse passing Isle Rupert (Isla Ruperto) and forced it even to return to Port Galant. Another nine miserable days were spent there before Bougainville sailed on 25 January.

Suddenly the conditions were favourable and the ships sailed quickly up Paso Ingles, past Isla Carlos III and the entrances to Riviere Batchelor and Baie St. Jerome (Canal Geronimo). Later that day they rounded Cap Quad to enter Long Reach, the final part of the Strait of Magellan. Conditions remained favourable and the two ships rounded Cap des Pilers (Cabo Pilar) and the 12 Apostles rocks to enter the Pacific Ocean on 26 January 1768. The final stretch from Port Galant to the Pacific had been negotiated without stopping.

January 1768 - April 1768 Strait of Magellan to Tahiti
Entering the Pacific, the ships sailed northwest. Bougainville instructed La Giraudais to sail the Etoile just behind and to the south of the Boudeuse but always keeping in sight so that they would cover as much ocean as possible. A British sailor, Davis, had reported land in the southeast Pacific and Bougainville attempted to verify the sighting but with no success. In fact, no land was sighted until late March. During March a water distillation machine was used successfully to supplement the water ration.

On 21 March small islands were sighted, which proved to be part of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Over the next week the ships threaded their way past the small reefs and atolls that Bougainville termed the Dangerous Archipelago. The first islands seen were a cluster that make up Vahitahi (Bougainville's Les Quatres Facardins). Bougainville, passing to the north, immediately saw another island just to the west and sailed on to inspect it. This was Akiaki (Ile de Lanciers) and while people could be seen ashore there was no apparent landing place. Sailing on, the ships next passed to the south of a much larger island, Hao (Bougainville's Ile de la Harpe), which could be seen to hold a large lagoon with canoes. Several more small islands, including Marokau, Ravahere and Hikueru, were seen over the next few days before they entered open seas again on 27 March. Without landing, Bougainville took possession of the islands he had just sailed past.

Soon another island loomed ahead, the tiny island of Mehetia, which was reached on 2 April. Bougainville gave it two names, Le Boudoir and the Pic de la Boudeuse, but did not attempt to land because he had already sighted a much larger landmass just beyond, to the west. Water, wood and other resources were in short supply aboard and the second island looked more likely to be able to replenish these supplies. For two days, the French ships tacked off the northeast coast of this island, often surrounded by canoes that had come out to meet the strangers. The greeting was very friendly and trading began immediately. Bougainville was able to observe that the land was effectively two islands joined by a low isthmus. While off the north coast he could also see another island (Moorea) further to the west. Finally, on the 6th, the two ships found a gap in the reef and managed to get through to anchor on the east coast of the northern part of the island.

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April 1768 Tahiti
The French called the island Nouvelle-Cythere and the group of islands, Archipel de Bourbon. Its local name was Tahiti and the anchorage was at Hitiaa on Tahiti-Nui. On 7 April Bougainville met Ereti, the Chief of the district, and received assent to set up a camp ashore. A building close to a stream was allocated to the French where they could take their sick ashore. They were also given permission to draw water from the stream. Bougainville used soldiers to guard the camp, especially against thieving, which seemed endemic among the Tahitians. The continued thieving would prove a problem between the two peoples. The French entertained the Tahitians with music and a fireworks display.

Some Tahitians were unhappy about the French presence but after Bougainville assured them that he would leave within 18 days good relations were restored. Ereti took the French around and indicated which trees could be felled. Commerson quickly collected many botanical specimens including some plants that were good antiscorbutics. It was while he was ashore with his valet that local men saw through the valet's disguise and "he" was revealed to be a woman, Jeanne Baret. On 10 April Toutaa, the Chief of the neighbouring district of Pare, visited Bougainville while that night a Tahitian was shot dead.

On the 12th strong winds began, which created problems for the anchored ships over the next few days. Cables and hawsers gave and anchors were lost. Fortunately for the French, the ships were not driven onto the surrounding coral. A problem of a different sort arose on the 13th when three Tahitians were killed or wounded but Bougainville avoided a situation by putting four soldiers in irons and giving peace offerings to the Tahitians. The time had come to leave and the French started loading the ships.

Bougainville took possession of the island for the French nation, erecting a sign on a tree near the beach and burying a bottle with a message asserting the action. The Etoile sailed out of the anchorage by a more-northerly passage on the 14th. The Boudeuse managed to raise its anchors and leave the next day. Just before the departure, Chief Ereti went on board to say farewell, good relations having been restored. He also persuaded the French to take one of his people (possibly his brother), Ahu-toru (Aotourou), away with them.

The French had only been on the island for nine days but it had a profound effect on all on board the two ships. In their writings and observations that they took home with them a picture of an earthly paradise was created. Coming closely after writers such as Rousseau had put forward the concept of the "Noble Savage" living outside the influence of Europe, the Tahitian people were depicted as proof of this state. Bougainville (who was reluctant himself to promote the Noble Savage theory) and others wrote descriptions of the climate, the vegetation, the ready supply of good food, the lack of a need to do much work, all of which combined to convey the sense that Tahiti was a Utopia.

April 1768 - May 1768 Tahiti to Vanuatu
The ships sailed north at first skirting the atoll of Tetiaroa before striking westward once more. Ahu-toru was soon able to demonstrate his knowledge of neighbouring islands and his ability to navigate using the stars and other natural phenomena. He told Bougainville which islands were friendly with Tahiti and he was keen for the ships to visit them. Bougainville, who was sick at the time, preferred to sail on. In doing so he missed the islands in the Leeward Group of what would be later known as the Society Islands.

They continued west for over two weeks until, early on 3 May 1768, they sighted a small but high, steep-sided island to their north. This was Ta'u, a member of the Samoan Group of islands (at first Bougainville called them Les Petits Cyclades but changed this name to the Archipel des Navigateurs). Bougainville had the ships stand off to the northeast and canoes came from the shore to inspect them. The French made no attempt to land and sailed along the northern side of the island. More canoes approached and sailed round the ships but Aho-toru was not able to understand their language. Beyond Ta'u were two smaller islands, Olosega and Ofu, which with Ta'u make up the Manua Group.

On 5 May another island was sighted off to the west and Bougainville steered the ships toward it. However, he kept a distance away from land as he ranged along the south coast of this island, Tutuila. It was on the north coast of Tutuila that crew from Laperouse's expedition had a violent fight with Samoans 18 years later that resulted in 40 deaths. Later that day, yet another island, Upolu, could be seen to the northwest but the weather worsened so that clouds obscured it the next day and Bougainville was not prepared to risk the ships to investigate. The Boudeuse and the Etoile sailed on leaving Samoa.

A few days later they approached land but Bougainville was not certain whether it was one or two islands. He decided it was one and called it La Solitaire but soon changed this to L'Enfant Perdu. Bougainville was incorrect as there are two islands separated by a very narrow passage, the Sain Channel. They are now known as Futuna and Alofi, the Hoorn Islands, a name given to them by the Dutch explorers Schouten and LeMaire who had visited early in the Seventeenth century. The peak on Alofi, Mt. Kolofau, has also been known as Mt. Bougainville. Bougainville, sailing past to the south without stopping, took possession of the Archipel des Navigateurs and L'Enfant Perdu.

Bougainville himself was recovered from his illness but both ships now had cases of scurvy and venereal disease. The source of the venereal disease would be the subject of much writing over the next years with both the French and British accusing the other of introducing it to the region. Some suggested the disease could have been endemic while others noted the similarity between the syphilis virus and that of yaws, a disease known in the Pacific. Whatever the origin of the disease, the sexual relations between European men and Pacific women ensured that it spread far and wide.

In 1605 the Spanish explorer Quiros had led an expedition to the area Bougainville was now entering. Quiros had located some islands to which he had given the name Austrialia del Espiritu Santo but their exact position was still in doubt. Bougainville hoped to find them and on 22 May his hopes were raised when two islands separated by a small strait were sighted. The ships headed for the strait but were forced north along the east coast of the northern island. He named this island Aurora (also known now as Aurore and Maewo) and its southern partner Pentecost (Raga). Rounding the northern point of Aurora, from where he saw a tiny island to the north (he called it Pic de L'Etoile though it is now called Mera Lava), Bougainville brought the ships south to anchor off Aoba. It was now 23 May and the ships were in need of water, wood and fresh vegetables so Bougainville sent two boats ashore to obtain supplies. Landing on the northern side of the island the French encountered people unlike any they had seen before. These people were Melanesian unlike the Polynesians who inhabited the other islands the French had visited in the Pacific. The Aoba people allowed the French, somewhat reluctantly, to land but stood, fully armed, observing all what the French did. A small exchange of goods took place.

From the ship, Bougainville could see no signs of houses though he could see smoke from fires in the forest. He also saw canoes but of a different type to those of Tahiti and Samoa. The canoes here were simpler and without sails. In the afternoon Bougainville went ashore himself. The people of the island had a skin disease, which caused Bougainville to call it L'Isle des Lepreux (Lepers Island). He also took possession for France. As the French left the Aobans threw stones and fired arrows and the French fired their guns.

The ships sailed but the winds dropped and they were becalmed. Land could be seen in most directions. By now Bougainville suspected that he had reached the islands described by Quiros but he did not realise that a much larger island that he now neared west of Aoba was in fact Quiros's Espiritu Santo. Had he sailed north he would have found the large bay of St. Phillip and St. James with the Jordan River flowing into it. Instead on 25 May the Boudeuse and Etoile veered south and entered a strait that separates Espiritu Santo from another island, Malekula, to the south. Several smaller islands were seen off the south coast of Espiritu Santo and Bougainville dispatched the small boats to search for good anchorages.

Afterwards the strait received the name, Bougainville Strait. Bougainville did not use Quiros's name for the islands but instead called them the Archipel des Grandes Cyclades. They would be later known as the New Hebrides before achieving their local name Vanuatu. On 29 May 1768 the French left land and sailed on to the west. Bougainville hoped to sail close to latitude 15°S and reach New Holand.

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June-July 1768 Australia to Solomon Islands
Late on 4 June crew on the Boudeuse heard the sound of breakers and cannons were fired to warn the Etoile. The next morning a low sandy island could be seen on which Bougainville bestowed the name, Le Bature de Diane (Diane Bank). The next day the ships arrived at a reef, which was the cause of concern to the French. Given the state of the ships Bougainville decided to turn and head northeast away from potential disaster. The reef, later called Bougainville Reef, was an outlier of the Great Barrier Reef that fringes the eastern coast of New Holland (later called Australia) and the sailors' concern was well founded. Some of the crew believed they had been able to see land from the mastheads away to the southwest.

In 1606 during the expedition of Quiros one the ships under the command of Torres had left the main party and sailed west, successfully finding a passage between New Holland and New Guinea that still bears his name. Bougainville, though, did not want to follow this route and was aiming to sail to the east and north of New Guinea. On 10 June the mountains of New Guinea loomed ahead to the north. The ships entered a bay, Cul-de-Sac de l'Orangerie, but did not land, deeming it unsafe. Instead they returned to deeper water and sailed east though the currents tried to take them west. The mainland of New Guinea soon finished but a string of small islands and fringing reefs would prevent Bougainville sailing north.

On 17 June a small island reminded Bougainville of Ouessant (Ushant) near Brest and he named the island accordingly. They passed Tagula Island before, on 22 June, reaching Rossel, the end of the island chain. With great relief they named the eastern point of the island Cap de la Deliverance. King Louis XV was honoured when the sea they had just sailed through was named Golfe de la Louisiade and the island chain was named Archipel de la Louisiade. Not all was well or harmonious aboard the ships. Supplies were in very short supply and Bougainville had to reduce rations further. The last goat and dog were killed to be eaten while several members of the crew were acquiring a taste for cooked rat. Saint-Germain, who kept a journal wrote of his suspicions that Bougainville had extra and better food than everyone else aboard. He also questioned the reasons for and success of the voyage. Bougainville, in his journal, recorded that he had the same food as the crew.

Sailing north the French saw land again on 28 June. Several small islands, Ranongga, Baga and Simbu, were seen to the northeast while more small islands, the Treasury Islands were seen in the distance to the northwest. They had reached the Solomon Islands, named by the Spanish explorer Mendoza nearly 200 years earlier but whose exact location had remained a mystery. The next day they passed Vella Lavella and approahed a much larger island trending southeast to northwest. The ships sailed northwest along the island's southern coast. Canoes full of armed men came offshore. They were seen to be Melanesian

The end of the island was reached on 30 June and Bougainville sent two longboats to inspect a bay and search for anchorages and supplies. In the bay the longboats encountered 10 canoes with 150 armed men who attacked the French with arrows and stones. The French replied with two rounds of gunfire, the second of which dispersed the locals. Two canoes with carved heads on their prows were captured along with their contents of nuts, fruit, coconuts, and bows and arrows. A good anchorage was identified but the ships had great difficulty in negotiating passages in the Raz Denys that protected the bay and stood off. The island and the bay were named Choiseul in honour of Etienne-Francois, Duc de Choiseul, the present French Minister of Marine. The River Sui from which the canoes had emerged was called Riviere aux Guerriers (Warriors' river).

July 1768 - August 1768 Solomon Islands and New Ireland
With the longboats back on board the ships sailed from Choiseul on 2 July 1768. Across a strait to the northwest was another island and both this island and the strait would be called after Bougainville. The Boudeuse and the Etoile sailed along the island's north coast. On the 3rd a prominent cape at the northern end of Bougainville Island was named Cap Laverdi. Beyond the cape was a smaller island from which canoes came out, full of men shouting "bouka, bouka, bouka", which occasioned Bougainville to call the island Bouka (It is now written as Buka). The word probably meant "come here". The island of Choiseul had not provided them with many supplies and Bougainville was still looking for somewhere to land. Once more Bougainville took possession for France of land they had just visited or passed.

The British buccaneer Dampier had visited this area 60 years earlier and described an anchorage on the island of what he called New Britain, north of New Guinea. Bougainville rounded Cape Hanpan, the northernmpost point of Buka and headed west looking for Dampier's island. The Nissan islands were seen in the distance to the north. On 6 July he reached a headland and sent Bouchage ashore to look for an anchorage. This was found and the ships dropped anchor safely in a sheltered bay just north of the headland, Cape St. George.

The bay, Port Praslin, proved to have good sources of fresh water and timber but little else. It rained continually for most of the 18 days they remained in the bay, ensuring a nearby waterfall always looked spectacular. Repairs were made to the ships and the sick were able to get ashore to help their recovery. However, there were no coconut palms or bananas or other fuits for the French to collect. Part of a metal plaque with writing in English was then found. A search revealed other signs of a recent visit to another bay, just to the north, by a British ship in the last few months. Bougainville speculated that it was Carteret in the Swallow. A solar eclipse on 13 July allowed Veron to fix the bay's position. An offshore island was named variously Ile Duclos and Isle aux Marteaux (after hammer oysters found there). They were finally able to sail on 24 July but only after experiencing an earthquake two days earlier.

The ships rounded the headland and sailed off to the north along the east coast of the island where they had been anchored. Bougainville did not realise that the land against which he had anchored was in fact an island separated from New Britain by a passage, St. George's Channel. This island was later called New Ireland. A smaller headland just northeast of Cape St. George is called Cape Bougainville. As they sailed up the coast Bougainville bestowed the names of some of his officers on offshore islands as they were passed. From south to north these were Bournand for Ambitle in the Feni Group, D'Oraison for Malendok on the Tanga Group, Du Bouchage for Lihir, and Suzannet for the joint islands of Tabar and Tatau. None of Bougainville's names have been retained.

The stay at Port Praslin had proved good for recuperation but poor as a source for provisions so food for everyone was still strictly rationed. As they were finally nearing again a part of the world with European contact, albeit the Dutch East Indies, Bougainville reasoned that the need to use tents had reduced considerably and he gave instructions to cut up the tent material to make new trousers for the crews. The men had been away for 18 months and their clothes were in poor condition.

On 29 July the ships were visited by visited by canoes manned by armed islanders who brandished bows and arrows. The next day more canoes appeared and the French speculated that the islanders were preparing for an attack by identifying which was the weaker vessel. Indeed, on the 31st the Etoile was attacked by a flotilla of canoes but cannon fire scattered the canoes, none of which returned. They reached the end of New Ireland on 2 August but another smaller island, New Hanover (called Kerhue after another French officer) was located off its northwestern point. Cape Entrance (Dampier's Cape Salomasner), the northern point of New Hanover was passed and on 3 August 1768 they were in open water with a tiny island, Tench (Le Corre) distant on the northern horizon. Dampier had located and named the St. Matthias Islands in 1700. Now, on the 4th, Bougainville sailed past to the north of Emira and the larger Mussau that make up the island group.

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August 1768 New Guinea to Ceram
On 8 August a small island appeared ahead. The Boudeuse and the Etoile passed to the south of the island but close enough to observe the presence of many coconut palms and houses. Numbers of canoes were out fishing but the occupants ignored the passing French completely. Bougainville named the island Ile de Anchorites (Hermits) on account of their seeming isolation and self-contentment. The island and some adjacent smaller ones are still called the Anchorites or the Kaniet Islands. One of the other islands was seen further west and Commerson called it Sae. (Strangely the name Hermit Islands is now applied tho Maron and Luf Islands, further south and not seen by Bougainville).

The ships were sailing just south of west when on 9 August two small islands appeared. They were followed by a cluster of many others. Bougainville called the group L'Echiquier (Chessboard) but the islands are now known as the Ninigo Group. Again, Bougainville was wary of grounding and did not attempt to land. Keeping the islands to his north, he passed between them and another isolated island, Liot, off to the south. Bougainville called Liot La Boudeuse after his own ship. The French headed southwest away from the islands.

By 11 August the ships could see the mainland of New Guinea. Between Vanimo in Papua New Guinea and the Irian Jaya border are situated Bougainville Bay and Mount Bougainville. On the 13th two mountains were especially clear, which Bougainville called the Two Cyclops. A coastal range of mountains running west from Jayapura on Humboldt Bay is still called the Cyclops mountains. A series of small islands lie off the north coast of New Guinea and over the next few days Bougainville sighted them but did not attempt to land. Progress was slow on account of the state of the Etoile.

A group of islands, Pulau Podena, in Teluk Walckenaer was called Iles des Falaises while Oger, the pilot of the Boudeuse, had his name bestowed on the next island they passed, though it has reverted to being called Pulau Jamna. On 15 August Bougainville could see a particularly high mountain, which he called Moulineau (it was probably a mountain of 2193 metres in the Foja Range). Another island, L'Isle d'Alie, one of the Pulau Koumamba islands, followed. The currents were against them and then the surface of the sea started to be covered with material such as tree trunks, leaves and fruit, denoting the outflow of a large river. Indeed, the River Mamberano enters the sea close by Tandjung D'Urville. On the 18th the much larger offshore island of Biak came into view.

Morale was low and food continued to be in extremely short supply causing them to kill and eat their last dog. They were now close to the Equator and the ships crossed the line several times. By the 21st, Bougainville had regained the coast of New Guinea in the form of the Doberai Peninsula but the next day the coast began trending to the south. He was aware that he was nearing the western end of New Guinea, off which there were many small islands and routes through them were hard to locate. While waiting once more for the Etoile to catch up Bougainville sent Suzannet to investigate two small islands, Pulau Su but no houses and people were seen or food obtained.

Bougainville could now see a wide passage (Dampier Strait) between New Guinea and an island, Waigeo, off to the west. He realised he had the choice of attempting to make the passage or go round to the north of Waigeo. A tentative effort was made at negotiating the strait but currents and winds forced the ships back and they steered for the north of Waigeo. Even then they were in danger as they were driven close to rocks and over reefs. On 24 August, sailing west, they saw canoes along the coast and could see the atolls of Pulau Ayu to the north. Their troubles were far from over as, the next day, approaching the western end of Waigeo, Bougainville was faced with three passages to choose from to get him through to the open seas to the southwest. He chose the southern passage between the islands of Waigeo and Kawe, off to its north. The French sailed through safely and called their route French Passage. It was later called Selat Bougainville (Bougainville Strait).

Passing to the west of Gag the Boudeuse and the Etoile pressed on toward the southwest. A string of islands stretched across their route. Bougainville called them the Five Isles and sailed between the Boo Islands and Pisang (called Le Gros Thomas by the French). Bougainville instructed La Giraudais to send out the Etoile's small boat to investigate Pisang but, other than one man, nothing of interest was found. On 30 August land was seen to the south.

On 31 August 1768 the French ships reached the north coast of the island of Ceram. They had reached the area under the control of the Dutch East India Company, which was a mixed blessing. It marked their return to a region influenced by "civilisation" and seas already charted but the Dutch would be wary of Bougainville's intentions and Bougainville could not know whether the French and the Dutch were friends or enemies. They sailed first into Boano Strait between the smaller island of Boano and Ceram, hoisted the Dutch colours and fired their cannon. What the French did not realise was that Ceram was in revolt against the Dutch.Therefore, the sight of a Dutch flag denoted the enemy so the local people remained hidden. The Dutch had ports nearby on the islands of Ambon, south of Ceram and on Buru (Boero), west of Ceram. Bougainville decided to go to Buru so he skirted Boano and the neighbouring islands of Kelang and Manipa and crossed the Manipa Strait to reach Buru

September 1768 Buru to Java
The Boudeuse and the Etoile entered Kayeli Bay, at the eastern end of Buru, and anchored on 1 September 1768. Dutch soldiers came on board to ask Bougainville the purpose of his visit and to inform him that only Dutch ships were allowed in the harbour. Bougainville told them they were in desparate need of provisions and that Buru was the first port they had reached. The Resident, Hendrik Ouman, asked for this in writing, which Bougainville immediately provided. The French were then able to spend six days ashore during which their sick were treated and they purchased oxen, sheep and poultry for the next leg of the voyage.

The ships left Buru on 7 September and headed west along the north coast of the island. The island of Sanana (Xulabelli) was visible to the north. Bougainville had been advised that the monsoons at that time of year would make sailing in open water between the islands of Sulawesi (Celebes or Macassar) and Flores impossible, especially around Kepulauan Tukangbesi. The recommended route involved sailing through the Buton Strait between the islands of Buton (Button), Wowoni (Wawoni), Muna (Pancassani) and Sulawesi. Bougainville headed for that strait. Wowoni was sighted and on the 12th the two ships entered the strait between Buton and Wowoni. A French sailor had been taken on board from a Dutch ship at Buru and he proved useful with his local knowledge, helping to navigate through these waters..

Sulawesi was sighted ahead of the ships but the strait turned south. Soon the island of Muna took over as the western shore and pirates were seen sailing north. The ships anchored near Bone, just north of a narrow passage. Both shores appeared fertile and populated and soon the ships were surrounded by canoes. Trading between the ships and canoes quickly started. Bougainville mused that the French should be making their presence felt in the region ahead of the British and exploiting the spice trade. The ships sailed on and on the 15th a pilot was taken aboard the Boudeuse to guide them through the last part of the strait. Currents were difficult and they proceeded very slowly. They made a brief visit to Baubau, the Dutch post near the strait's entrance before sailing out to the open sea on the 18 September.

The ships sailed west past the south coast of Muna and an adjacent island, Cambona. They were heading for another strait, the Selat Selayar, between the island of Selayar and the southern point of Sulawesi. On 19 September, after waiting for the Etoile to catch up, the ships passed through the narrow strait. They followed the south coast of Sulawesi, which looked beautiful and well populated but was known as the base for pirates. At the island of Tanakeke, off the southwestern point of Sulawesi, Bougainville turnesd southwest for Java. Various shoals and small islands were located in the area and Bougainville found his French charts untrustworthy but the French sighted the north coast of Java on the 23rd.

The twin headlands of Tanjung Bugel (Bougainville's Pointe Alang) and Puolo Mandalika (Isle Mandali) were observed on 23 September. Small islands, Karimandjava, were seen to the north on the next day. Batavia (Jakarta) was close and the French were keen to reach the port but they still had to sail between Telung Indramaya and Pulau Pakit (Isle Rachit). On the 27th Bougainville wanted to give Tanjung Karawang (Pointe Sidari) a wide bearth and in doing so he nearly overshot Batavia. However, on the morning of 28 September 1768 theBoudeuse and the Etoile sailed past the islands of Edam and Onrust to anchor in Batavia Roads.

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September 1768 - October 1768 Batavia, Java
The Governor General of Batavia, P. Van der Para, knew already of Bougainville's presence in Dutch waters. The Resident of Buru had sent word but the French had been seen before Buru. Everts Silvertien had seen the ships off Pulau Massavoy, a very tiny island on the north tip of Manipa, itself off Ceram. He had reported to Jan-Hendrik Knop, the Resident on the island of Manipa, who in turn informed the Governor of Amboin. Hendrik Breton, the Governor, passed the information on to Batavia.

Batavia and departure from Java still to be completed

October 1768 - December 1768 Java to Mauritius
Bougainville left Batavia on 17 October 1768 and the two ships wended their past the many islands that lie off the northwest Java coast. The next day they entered the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. Having signed off with a Dutch official who came on board the ships sailed to the north of Pulau Panaitan (Princes Island) and out into the Indian Ocean. The ships headed southwest seeing no sign of land until 4 November when they passed to the south of Rodriguez Island. Two days later, the Boudeuse and the Etoile approached the north point of the island of Mauritus, then a French possession and known as the Ile de France. They sighted Round Island, off the main island's north coast, and fired their cannon but this drew no immediate response from the battery on Pointe aux Canoniers. Disaster then nearly struck as, having taken on a local pilot, the Boudeuse just missed rocks near Baye des Tombeaux on the approach into Port Louis but finally anchored on the 7th. The Etoile anchored on the following day.

Several crew had fallen ill as a result of the stay at Batavia and shortly after arriving at Port Louis Du Bouchage died from dysentry. Several members of the voyage chose to disembark here while others such as the marines were instructed to join the local garrison. Among those electing to stay were Commerson, who had suffered badly from seasickness, and his valet Jeanne Baret. Before they parted, Commerson informed Bougainville that he would name a plant he had discovered in Brazil after the explorer. This plant is bougainvillea. The astronomer, Veron, was aware of an impending Transit of Venus and wanted to go to Pondicherry in southern India to observe the phenomonen. Romainville, who had drawn the charts for the voyage also decided to remain on the island. When the French had arrived in the Dutch East Indies they had realised that in sailing slowly around the world east to west they had "lost a day" and were a day behind. Bougainville chose to to remain in this state until Ile de France where they conformed to local time.

December 1768 - January 1769 Mauritius to Cape Town
The Etoile had been in need of much repair and Bougainville decided to leave without the storeship. It was no longer so necessary for the two ships to sail together and, as Bougainville was keen to press on, the Boudeuse sailed on 12 December. Joseph Hervel, a pilot, joined the ship and proved very valuable, amongst other things keeping a detailed journal. The ship sailed away from Mauritius sighting Morne Brabant, the island's southwest point, before passing to the south of the Ile de Bourbon (Reunion) but cloud prevented their seeing the island. On 22 December 1768 they approached the coast of southern Africa (just north of present-day East London) but their progress was slow over the next two weeks as they battled very bad weather. They rounded Cape Agulhas on 7 January 1769 and reached False Cape the 8th. After standing off the Cape of Good Hope, the ship anchored in Table Bay off Cape Town the next day.

Bougainville paid his respects to the Dutch Governor and arranged to purchase fresh supplies. He and his officers undertook some short trips including one to a vineyard at Constance (Constantia), between Cape Town and False Bay.

January 1769 - March 1769 Cape Town to France
They departed Cape Town after a brief stay of 8 days on 17 January 1769, sailing bewteen Robben Island and the coast. They headed northwest for St. Helena which they passed on 29 January, intent on reaching Ascension Island where they hoped to obtain turtles. On 4 February the Boudeuse anchored off Ascension's northwest coast at Clarence Bay by Cross Hill. Bougainville sailed on the 6th with 56 turtles on board.

Ever since Port Praslin, where he had first become aware of his existence, Bougainville had been following the British sailor, Phillip Carteret, and had been gaining on him. He had received news about him in Batavia and at the Cape. Now at Ascension he had read a note left in a bottle that informed the French that Carteret's ship the Swallow had departed from Ascension on 1 February, only five days ahead of them. On 25 February, the Swallow was sighted and Bougainville offered Carteret assistance, which was politely declined. The small British ship was in poor condition and sailed badly leaving Bougainville wondering how it had sailed so far and how miserable it must have been to be in the ship.

In early March they approached the Azores and sailed through the middle of the island group, passing just to the west of Terceira on 4 March. On the 14th the island of Ouessant (Ushant) off the west coasted of Brittany was sighted but conditions would not allow them to enter Brest and forced them north. The foremast then broke and Bougainville resolved to go to St. Malo, where the Boudeuse anchored on 16 March 1769. Bougainville left the ship and set off for Versailles. The Boudeuse sailed from St. Malo on 21 April and reached Brest two days later.

Meanwhile the Etoile had left Mauritius on 31 December 1768 and arrived at Cape Town on 31 January 1769. After a short stay of a week while they replenished their supplies, they sailed on 7 February up the Atlantic. Like the Boudeuse the ship stopped at Ascension Island to take turtles on board. Finally on 24 April the Etoile anchored back in France by the Ile d'Aix off Rochefort.

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March 1769 Back in France
Having arrived at St. Malo on 16 March, Bougainville set off for Versailles immediately with the Prince of Nassau-Siegen and Ahu-toru, the Tahitian. They arrived at Court on 19 March. and then moved on to Paris and Bougainville's house in the Rue Basse-du-Rempart. He soon learned of the death of his brother-in-law, Louis-Honorat de Baraudin. Returning to Versailles he met with the Duc de Choiseul and the Duc de Praslin before having an audience with King Louis XV where he told of the adventures that had befallen them on the voyage and of the seven acts of possession undertaken on Louis' behalf.

Bougainville was an immediate celebrity in Paris. Already known and well-connected, he was quickly the guest of every salon in Paris. Bougainville was justly proud that only seven men had died from illness on the Boudeuse and the Etoile had lost only two. The voyage marked the first successful French circumnavigation (in one vessel) and was the precedent for future journeys by Laperouse and others. It had been one of the first such voyages to carry scientists on board (pre-empting Cook's Endeavour voyage) and had brought back to France the Tahitian Ahu-toru. It had restored some pride to France.

Ahu-toru was a celebrity just as much as Bougainville. Having been presented to the King, Ahu-toru was taken under the wing of the Duchesse de Choiseul who showed him off in Paris society. He was a regular at Versailles and at the Opera and was often seen walking around Paris. He now referred to himself as Poutavery, his attempt at the name Bougainville. However, in late 1769, Bougainville sensed the need to return the Tahitian to his home and asked the Government to assist. In February 1770 passage on a ship, the Brisson was arranged and Ahu-toru sailed for Mauritius, which was reached in October. A year later another ship the Mascarin commanded by Marion Dufresne then began to carry him to Tahiti but Ahu-toru had contracted smallpox in Mauritius and died on 6 November off Madagascar.

The presence of Ahu-toru in Paris and the reports by members of the voyage of the utopia they had experienced in Tahiti were the catalyst for the debates and writings that ensued about the concept of the "Noble savage". Rousseau had written his "Discours sur l'origine de l'inegalite parmi les hommes" in 1754 and its themes had been taken up by many. Man was naturally good and it was only the society in which he grew that shaped him; European society was already debased whereas other places, for example, tropical islands offered a natural innocence with equality for all, wonderful climates and an abundance of food and other necessities. Commerson wrote a letter from Mauritius that was published in November 1769 in the "Mercure de France" in which he argued that Tahiti was confirmation of Rousseau's ideas. Diderot later wrote a "Supplement au voyage de Bougainville" in which he criticised Bougainville indirectly for introducing the evils of Europe to the utopian state of Tahiti and other Pacific islands.

Bougainville, himself, did not fully subscribe to Rousseau's idea of the Noble savage. He had previously seen some of the practices of the Native North Americans and he had also seen evidence in Tahiti that refuted that islnad being a paradise. There was a social stratification so everyone was not equal; various diseases were prevalent in the islands; war and slavery were common; and there had been evidence of cannibalism.

After the initial euphoria of his return to France, Bougainville began the work of writing up the record of the voyage. He firstly prepared a manuscript journal, together with charts, which he presented to the King on 28 October 1769. After that he began to write the version that was published in 1771, "Voyage autour du monde par la fregate du roi La Boudeuse et la flute L'Etoile". Unfortunately, the fact that Commerson and Veron had not returned to France seriously undermined the worth of Bougainville's book. It contained little or no scientific or astronomical information and Bougainville included a minimum of nautical data. However, these omissions did not reduce its general appeal and the work proved an immediate success in France. It was also soon translated into English and German.

While the initial evaluation of the voyage was that it had been very successful, a more careful assessment would show that it not been quite so successful or productive. It is true that the ships had completed the voyage and had returned intact with a healthy crew. It had also added to French prestige and the naturalists had discovered and described some new plants and animals. However, the first thirteen months (effectively half the voyage) had been taken up with the matter of handing over the Iles Malouines to Spain and problems with the ships in the Rio Plata. Only six months of the voyage had been spent crossing the Pacific. In some ways it was a voyage of missed opportunities. The island groups of Samoa and Vanuatu were visited but little or no attempt was made to land and look around (other than a brief water stop at Aoba in Vanuatu). Bougainville had determined to sail close to latitude 15S and rarely showed any inclination to deviate from this track. On Tahiti he made little attempt to visit other parts of the island or the neighbouring islands which showed a distinct lack of inquisitiveness.

The voyage had "discovered" or located very few new islands though it did confirm the location of several reported by earlier Spanish voyages. Romainville's charts of the voyage were adequate to show the general route taken by the ships but few detailed charts were produced. As noted before, Commerson's decision to remain at Mauritius meant that the scientific material and specimens were largely lost though some drawings and specimens did find their way to France several years later.

In November 1769 Bougainville was granted a life pension of 50,000 livres by the Government in recognition of the voyage and to offset some of his losses over the failed settlement in the Iles Malouines. It would have been more but the Government's finances were in crisis. A month later Bougainville proposed an expedition to the Pacific to return Ahu-toru and to make further explorations of the region but the Government could only afford to send Ahu-toru as a passenger on a scheduled trip to Mauritus.

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Bougainville was still busy early in 1770 writing up the account of the voyage but he needed to consider his future as he was only 41. In January he was admitted into the French Navy at the rank of Captain with tenure backdated to June 1763 when he had commandeered ships for the Iles Malouines venture. Dom Pernetty published his account of the French attempt at settling the Iles Malouines in April 1770 and Bougainville's reputation was further enhanced by the book.

In January 1771 the censors and the King gave approval for Bougainville's account of the voyage to be published. Copies appeared off the printing presses in mid May and the work sold so well that another printing was ordered in March 1772. As a result of the success of the book Bougainville was able to purchase a property, La Becquetiere, at Anneville-sur-Mer in Normandy, close to Coutances and not far from St. Malo. Bougainville travelled on to Brest in August in his new capacity of naval Captain. About this time he learned of the death in Port Louis on 1 June 1770 of Veron, the astronomer, from fever contracted in Timor. Pierre Poivre, the Intendant on the Ile de France, arranged for Le Gentil de la Galaiziere, a friend of Veron, to return Veron's papers to France.

Meanwhile Bougainville was turning his attention to other matters. He was still intent on France having a greater presence in the Pacific where there were still felt to be undiscovered lands. The theory of land in the Antipodes balancing the land in the Northern Hemisphere had not yet been disproved. However, the routes there via the south of America and Africa were difficult and controlled by other nations. Could there be another means of reaching the region? His old mathematics teacher, Clairaut, has visited northern Sweden in 1736 and had, no doubt, talked to Bougainville about the history of searching for northern routes to the Pacific. Bougainville began to consider the possibilities of finding such a route.

The Duc de Croy was also making plans in this area and the two men shared ideas. The Prince de Conti also contributed to the planning. Matters received a boost when Bougainville was introduced to Jean-Dominique Cassini, a member of the illustrious family of astronomers, who shared Bougainville's enthusiasm for the venture. The cold and ice would be the major obstacle but Bougainville had some experience of these conditions from his time in Canada. He felt that the scheme would be carried out over two years; in the first year preliminary reconnaissance would be carried out and base camps set up so that at the beginning of the second year, the search could start at the first opportunity when the ice began to melt. On 14 February 1772 Bougainville had an appointment with Pierre-Etienne Bourgeois de Boynes, the Minister of Marine to discuss the project but while the Minister was interested he was not prepared to commit the French Government into giving support. The Government was still critically short of money. Bougainville was advised to consult the Academie des Sciences. In March the King had been advised of the scheme and Bougainville read a letter to the Academie, which was endorsed. On 25 March De Boynes communicated that the scheme could proceed in principal but without committing financial support.

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Bougainville's uncle, Jean-Potentien d'Arboulin resigned as Secretaire du Cabinet du Roi in April and Bougainville succeeded him in the position, which gave him access to the King. Returning to his Polar project Bougainville began working with an engineer, Groignard, and together they drew up plans for ships that would be required for polar conditions. Submitting a more detailed proposition on 29 August to De Boynes, Bougainville was informed a week later on 7 September that the Government would not (or could not) support the scheme. He was devestated and sought a meeting with De Boynes but the Minister could not be swayed.

Shortly afterwards on 9 September Bougainville returned to Brest where he was elected a member of the Academie de Marine on the 24th. This was scant compensation for Bougainville who also now found himself in an awkward position with his fellow officers in the Navy. Officers in the French Navy either came from the Nobility and were referred to as "Officers of the Red" or they came from the Bourgeoisie and were known as "Officers of the Blue". A rivalry existed between the two groups, especially as the "Reds" invariably gained preference over the "Blues" because of their birth rite. Bougainville was a "Blue" but arrived in Brest as a celebrity because of his exploits and his reception in Paris Society and at Court. This status immediately caused the antipathy of the "Reds". He was provoked into fighting a duel with a "Red" officer who had insulted him by implying Royal patronage had advanced Bougainville's position. He won the duel by wounding the officer, De Montalais, in the arm.

Over the next few months Bougainville travelled regularly between Brest and Paris. The sailor Kerguelen had submitted plans for an expedition to Antarctic waters and, early in 1773, Bougainville was dismayed when the Government chose to back this expedition when it had rejected his own. He next submitted ideas for exploratory voyages either to Newfoundland or to the Baltic Sea. De Boynes turned both down and wrote in a letter that Bougainville was bored and restless after his circumnavigation and was dreaming up voyages for something to do. About this time Bougainville, having had some earlier communication with the British scientist, Sir Joseph Banks, heard that Constantine Phipps was planning to investigate polar regions, effectively acting upon Bougainville's own ideas. Phipps' expedition was a failure.

In July 1773 the news reached France of Commerson's death in Mauritius and of Marion Dufresne's voyage to the Pacific and his resulting death in New Zealand. Commerson had stayed on in Mauritius instead of returning to France and had lived at Flacq in the east of the island. He had attempted to describe the natural history of the island but his poor health had impeded this and also a completion of a catalogue and record of the material from the world voyage. The artist, Jossigny, had stayed with him and he had produced many drawings. Commerson was not to know that he had been elected an Associate Member of the Academie des Sciences. About the same time Diderot's "Supplement au voyage de Bougainville" with its implicit criticisms of Bougainville's actions was circulating in Paris.

Over the next few years Bougainville would continue to be involved in financial matters to do with the failed venture of settling the Isles Malouines. Some of the settlers and other persons involved with fitting out the ships still had not been recompensed fully and claims were being made. The French and Spanish Governments and Bougainville were all still debating who had paid what to whom and with whom the extant liabilities now rested. In August Bougainville was summoned to discuss the matter with De Malherbe, a senior official at the Bureau for Colonies. Further meetings took place in April and June 1775 when Bougainville was finally discharged of any financial obligations. Even then some parties continued to make claims.

Bougainville returned to Brest in October and in November he asked permission of the Minister of Marine for him to be allowed to see the journals from Marion Dufresne's voyage that Julien-Marie Crozet had brought back to France. He felt it was important to have them published so that they would provide evidence for France should France wish to claim possession of places visited by Marion Dufresne. He received the journals in January 1774 but found them disappointing and returned them to Paris, recommending that they were not ready for publication as they were.

In April Bougainville took up his duties at Court. However, at the end of the month the King, Louis XV, became seriously ill with smallpox and he died on 10 May. Everyone at court, including Bougainville, was quarantined until the end of May. The aadvent of a new king, King Louis XVI, marked a series of changes. Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot replaced De Boynes as Minister of Marine but he himself was quickly replaced in August 1774 by Antoine de Sartine. In November Bougainville was approached by the Minister to convene a small group to consider a proposal by Louis-Rene Le Vassor La Touche (later La Touche-Treville) to take an expedition to the Pacific. The expedition was not given the go-ahead.

On 24 May 1775 Bougainville joined the ship Terpsichore as Second-in-Command in the squadron of Luc-Urbain du Bouexic, Comte de Guichen and went out on manoeuvres. This lasted until 23 October. In 1776 he transferred to the Solitaire, under the captaincy of the Duc de Chartres in the squadron of Louis Charles, Comte du Chaffault de Besne. From 3 April until 27 August they were involved in more manoeuvres including a trip to Cadiz in southern Spain.

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The American Colonies of Britain were now in revolt and demanding independence. They unilaterally declared indepence on 4 July 1776 and dispatched Benjamin Franklin to France to seek French support and recognition. The French took a close interest in developments delighting in the discomfort of Britain. On 12 December 1776 Bougainville was appointed Captain of the Bien-aime, another ship in Du Chaffault's squadron. He took up his position on 26 January 1777 and remained with the ship until January 1778, once more taking part in manoeuvres. It was common for royalty to make tours of the Naval bases and during 1777 two such tours took place. On both occasion Bougainville was singled out for a personal meeting through his celebrity status following his circumnavigation. The Comte d'Artois visited first followed by Queen Marie-Antoinette's brother, Emperor Joseph II of Austria, who came pretending to be the Comte de Falkenstein.

Back in Brest on 23 February 1778, Bougainville was made a Freemason in the lodge of "Accord parfait de la marine, no.4". Meanwhile, the French Government had recognised the independence of the American colonies on 17 December 1777 and on 6 February it entered the war against the British on the American side. On 15 March Bougainville was instructed to travel from Brest to Toulon to take charge of the Guerrier. Sartine, the Minister of Marine, had convened a squadron of 12 ships under Vice Admiral Charles Henri Theodat, Comte d'Estaing to go to the aid of the Americans and to transport Gerard de Rayneval, the first French Ambassador to the United States. D'Estaing was an officer with whom Bougainville could identify as both had army backgrounds and were "Officers of the Blue".

Bougainville took over the Guerrier on 13 April and found both the ship and crew in poor readiness for a crossing of the Atlantic and possible fighting. The crew appeared to have little experience or skill and, coming from Provence, there was a communication problem between them and Bougainville. Bougainville's fears about the ship were borne out when it took five weeks to reach the Straits of Gibraltar on 15 May and he had already lost seven men. The squadron reached the American coast at Virginia on 6 July and were in Delaware Bay on the 7th but had just missed the British fleet, which Howe had taken to New York. D'Estaing followed and on 22 July found the British ships behind Sandy Hook at the mouth to Lower New York Bay. The French ships were unable to cross the bar at the entrance and moved on to be off Newport, Rhode Island, on the 29th. American troops were beseiging the British holed up in Newport. D'Estaing was indecisive and slow in helping the Americans. Some ships were burned and they destroyed some of the shore batteries before being able to land some troops on 9 August. A British fleet arrived the same day and an impasse arose. Part of the British fleet then left and D'Estaing gave partial chase but returned to Newport on the 20th. He changed his mind again and sailed on to Boston where they anchored on 22 August. Their reception was not good on account of the apparent reluctance to help at Newport and much friction resulted between locals and French troops and sailors ashore.

One of the French champions of the American cause had been the Marquis de la Fayette who had been actively fighting for them and had been made Major General. A cousin of D'Estaing, La Fayette appeared in Boston in late August with Montcalm's sword, which he presented to Bougainville. Then on 20 October Bougainville was visited by three Iroqouis from Sault-St. Louis outside Montreal, the tribe that had adopted him twenty years earlier. On 4 November 1778 the squadron, including the Guerrier left Boston and sailed south to the West Indies.

On 9 December 1778 they anchored at Fort-Royale (Fort-de-France) in Martinique, one of France's possessions in the Antilles. Bougainville was cheered to see the Boudeuse, his round-the-world ship, in the harbour, still in active service. The small islands in the region changed hands among the European powers on a regular basis and the Marquis de Bouille, the Governor of the Windward Islands had recently captured Dominica for the French. On 14 December the British, in their turn, had captured St. Lucia. D'Estaing immediately set about recovering St. Lucia and Bougainville was put in charge of reserves of marines for De Bouille. However, the British held the island and D'Estaing returned to Martinique on 30 December 1778.

The French stayed on in Martinique in early 1779 to recuperate and were soon joined by reinforcements from other squadrons of the French Navy. D'Estaing made a successful attack and captured St. Vincent before, on 30 June, he sailed south to attack Grenada. St. George's soon fell and Governor Macartney surrendered to the French on 4 July 1779. Two days later a British fleet under Admiral Byron appeared off the island. A fierce sea battle followed with heavy losses on both sides (the Guerrier was comparitively unscathed and lost only nine men) and no clear victor, though the French were marginally better off. The British retreated to Antigua while the French moved along the Grenadines chain of small islands claiming them for France. On 24 July the French fleet made a show off St. Kitts before sailing on to Cap Francais on Santo Domingo.

The British army had attacked and captured Savannah in Georgia, late in 1778, and D'Estaing had been ordered to transport troops there to take part in a siege hoping to recapture the town. Leaving Cap Francais on 16 August the French arrived at the mouth of the Savannah River on 31 August 1779 and landed 3,000 troops. Camps were erected at Savannah on the 15th. D'Estaing remained to take part in the assault on the town that commenced on 9 October but it was not retaken and all D'Estaing had to show were wounds in the arm and the leg. The siege was lifted on the 18th and D'Estaing decided to return to France, leaving Savannah on 25 October. The Guerrier continued to cause Bougainville problems and a very slow crossing resulted during which many of the crew, including Bougainville, showed signs of scurvy. Bougainville was also disillusioned by the tactics and lack of leadership by the French command. On 9 December he landed at Rochefort and proceeded to Paris where he learned he had been promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral.

He turned the promotion down on the grounds that a younger officer with less experience but of noble background had been promoted above him. Bougainville felt it was a blatant example of the preference shown to "Officers of the Red" and he had long made his feelings known about such inequality. On this occasion, Bougainville's action is difficult to understand because the officer he cited was Louis-Philippe, Marquis de Vaudreuil, a personal friend, older than himself with a longer service record in the Navy. Interestingly, this Vaudreiul was the nephew of Governor-General Vaudreiul who had been Montcalm's rival in Canada during the Seven Years War in the 1750s. In January 1780 Bougainville went even further and showed his displeasure with the navy by resigning from the service. The King reluctantly accepted the resignation on 16 January and offered Bougainville instead a commission in the army at the rank of Field Marshall. He was not expected to fight anywhere and settled down for a quiet period in Paris and at his house, La Becquetiere, in Normandy.

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In late 1780 Bougainville was successfully operated on to remove a scrotal tumour. Bougainville's sister, Marie-Francoise de Baraudin, prevailed upon her brother that, at his age (he was now 50), he should be married. During mid-1780 Bougainville had negotiations with the King and the navy and gained satisfaction so that he re-entered the Navy, travelling to Brest in August. Marie-Francoise accompanied him and through her, on 27 August, Bougainville met Flore-Josephe Longchamp de Montendre. Flore-Josephe came from a noble Breton family with naval traditions on both her father's and mother's sides (all had been "Officers of the Red"). Although she was twenty years younger than Bougainville, Flore-Josephe and Louis-Antoine fell in love and were married three months later. The ceremony took place on 27 November 1780 at Kerdreho near Plouay, just north of Lorient and was conducted by the Chaplain from Botderu, the Manor belonging to Flore-Josephe's mother's family. They went immediately to La Becquetiere but early in 1781 the honeymoon was halted when Bougainville was recalled to sea.

The Marquis de Castries had replaced Sartine as Minister du Marine in October 1780 and in March 1781 he summoned Bougainville to replace Toussaint-Guillaume Piquet de la Motte, Comte de la Motte-Piquet as head of a squadron of 8 ships in a fleet under the command of Francois-Joseph-Paul, Comte de Grasse. Bougainville hoisted his colours in the Auguste in the Blue Squadron. The fleet left Brest on 22 March and approached Martinique on the 29th to find Admiral Rodney and some of the British fleet waiting. A skirmish followed and Rodney backed off to Antigua leaving the French to enter Fort-Royal. In May preparations were made for attacks on St. Lucia and Tobago but Bougainville was not involved. De Grasse had received orders to sail to the United States via Santo Domingo and on 5 July 1781 he left Martinique escorting 200 transport vessels. They arrived at Cap Francais on 16 July and left again on 3 August now carrying 3,000 troops.

The French fleet anchored off Cape Henry at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 30 August 1781 and offloaded the 3,000 troops to assist the American and French armies already in place. The Americans, under George Washington and the French, under Comte Rochambeau had trapped the British, under Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown on a peninsula inside the bay. The French fleet completed the blockade by preventing aid and reinforcements arriving by sea. On 5 September the British fleet commanded by Hood and Graves appeared from the north and a battle commenced. There was little communication bewteen the two sections of the British fleet and the section under Graves was soon under fierce attack. Bougainville and the Auguste were in the thick of things and led the attack on the Terrible, Graves' flagship. On the 9th the British were defeated and Graves gave the signal to retreat to New York.

After the battle, De Grasse publically thanked Bougainville, in front of Washington and La Fayette, for his crucial contribution to the victory. The British army, without any support, soon capitulated and surrendered on 19 October 1781. It was one of the defining moments of the war, which finished shortly after. A small anecdote concerns the Auguste in the Battle of Chesapeake Bay: the ship had a parrot called Kokoly, which could say a repetoire of words. It disappeared when the fighting commenced and was absent for several days. When it reappeared it could only say "boom".

De Grasse took the French fleet back to Martinique, which was reached on 26 November 1781. The French were now in possession of most of the Windward Islands in the Antilles chain and now De Grasse turned his attention to the Leeward Islands further north. On 11 January 1782 he attacked St. Kitts and occupied Basseterre. The British retreated to Brimstone Hill. British ships under the command of Hood appeaared but when De Grasse raised anchor the British retired to Antigua. St. Kitts was finally captured on 26 January to be followed by Nevis on 13 February and Montserrat on the 22nd.

It is possible that Bougainville met Laperouse in Martinique at this time early in 1782. Laperouse was presently commanding the Astree.

The French now had their sights on Jamaica and De Grasse prepared to go there via Cap Francais with a fleet of over 100 transport ships. On 8 April De Grasse left Martinique but the British, under Rodney, were waiting and the transports took refuge on the 9th in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe while De Grasse kept the warships at sea off the Iles des Saintes. For two days the two fleets eyed each other until on 12 April a decisive engagement began at 8.30am. Bougainville (front), De Grasse and Vaudreuil (rear) were opposed by Drake, Rodney and Hood. At 11.00 De Grasse sent out signals that Bougainville and Vaudreuil did not understand and could not act upon. The British forced gaps in the French line and within two hours the French fleet was in total disarray. Ships had been destroyed and captured and Vaudreuil, in the absence of De Grasse who was among the captured, gave orders for the French to retreat to Guadeloupe.

The British fleet although it had won a decisive victory had done so at cost and Rodney sailed to Antigua. Laperouse was dispatched in the Astree to check on Rodney's departure and when this was confirmed the French fleet sailed for Santo Domingo where it was to meet up with a Spanish fleet. The attack on Jamaica was called off though. Meanwhile the Auguste was in poor shape and Bougainville could only make it to St. Eustatius, a Dutch island northwest of St. Kitts where some repairs were made. The Auguste then limped back across the Atlantic and anchored in Rochefort in May 1782.

De Grasse was taken prisoner on the Formidable and within a week was claiming that the French had lost the Battle of the Saintes through Bougainville's blatant disregard of his orders and not through inferior forces or his own leadership. De Grasse was released by the British in August 1782 and on his return to France wrote and had published a work, "Memoire justificatif" in which he strongly made his condemnations of Bougainville. The French Government established a Council of War to investigate the sea battle and this convened in Lorient from 1783 to 1784. De Grasse repeated his accusations and Bougainville defended his actions. Importantly for Bougainville, Vaudreuil, the other French Leader of a Squadron confirmed that De Grasse's signals had been unclear and confusing while Admirals Guichen and La Motte-Picquet admitted they would have taken the same actions as Bougainville. However, the members of the Council were not sailors and in a whitewash verdict given on 21 May 1784 De Grasse was cleared while Bougainville was admonished for not passing on the orders to his squadron. The King banished De Grasse to his country estate and banned Bougainville from Court for a period.

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Bougainville had been incensed at the accusations and now was angry at the sentences but took comfort from the fact it allowed him time to spend with his family. On his return to France in 1782 he had met his son, Hyacinthe, born on 25 December 1781 while he was in Martinique. The family divided their time between La Becquetiere in Normandy, Flore-Josephe's family home near Brest in Brittany, and Paris. The war had finished and peace established by the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1783. Louis-Antoine had time once more to be able to meet up with friends in the salons of Paris. He was also able to spend time on plans for exploration and he was brought in as one of the advisors to Laperouse, who had been chosen to undertake a French expedition to the Pacific.

The three Pacific voyages of James Cook had been of great interest to the French, including the King, and it was felt that French pride needed to be restored by a grand expedition. Jean-Francois de Galaup de la Perouse, a career sailor with experience in the Indian Ocean and the recent American War of Independence was chosen to lead the voyage. King Louis XVI played an active part in planning the voyage and it was also natural that Bougaiinville as the person with first-hand experience should be involved. On 1 August 1785 Bougainville was at Brest to see Laperouse sail off on his great adventure, from which he would never return.

The Bougainvilles remained in Brittany as Flore-Josephe gave birth to a second son, Armand, on 2 October 1785 at the family estate at Kerdreho outside Brest. Jean-Potentien d'Arboulin, Bougainville's uncle, had died in 178X and had left Louis-Antoine a considerable inheritance. In 1785 Bougainville used some of the money to buy a chateau at La Brosse near Fourches in Brie, just to the southeast of Paris. A third son, Alphonse, was born in 1788. In late 1788 Bougainville decided to apply to become a member of the Academie des Sciences and in January he began petitioning members. On 3 February he was elected to the Academie with the King's approval, the Battle of the Saintes now forgotten.

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Unrest had been building in France for some time before 1789 when the French Revolution began and Bougainville like all of France would become involved. The American War of Independence was one trigger and the return to France by people such as La Fayette, who had taken an active role in the overthrow of British rule helped fuel calls for a similar overthrow of the existing regime. The French Monarchy and Government had ruled as a form of dictatorship for centuries and the parliament, the Etats Generaux, had not been convened since 1614. Rule was by and for the privileged nobility while the vast proportion of the population lived in poverty. The country as a whole was nearly bankrupt after its involvement in the American war.

Bougainville found himself in a strange position. Many of his friends in the salons and Academies were supportive of or, at least, sympathetic to the calls for reform. Bougainville, so long as the calls concerned replacing an absolute monarchy with a constitutional one, was himself sympathetic but he remained fiercely loyal to the idea of the monarchy. Marie-Jean Herault de Sechelles, the grandson of Bougainville's chere mamam Madame de Herault de Sechelles and the son of Jean-Baptiste was of even more immediate concern for Louis-Antoine. Having trained as a lawyer and risen to be attorney to King Louis XVI, Marie-Jean became, in 1785, the Attorney-General for the Parlement of Paris, one of the High Courts of Justice. As the Revolution unfurled Marie-Jean embraced it with vigour alienating himself from his family and friends such as Bougainville.

Herault de Sechelles became a Deputy to the Legislative Assembly and joined the Jacobins. As the Revolution became more extreme so did Herault. In 1793 he became a member of the Committee of Public Safety and was responsible for drafting the Constitution adopted by the Convention. However, his noble past was his undoing and he was arrested together with Danton in March 1794 and guillotined on 5 April 1794.

The Etats Generaux met on 5 May 1789, the first time in 170 years but the "Third Estate", representing the populace, was not satisfied with its structure and broke away to form a National Assembly. This act angered the King and his reaction was to threaten to dismiss the Assembly. The situation escalated and the populace stormed the Bastille on 14 July 1789. Bougainville was a spectator with Hyacinthe, his eldest son, to this event. Subsequently, other uprisings occurred around France later that year. One such uprising near La Brosse was of personal concern to Bougainville.

Bougainville, however, attempted to carry on as normal. The expedition of Laperouse had disappeared, presumably in the Pacific and Bougainville, with the help of Benjamin de Laborde, tried to organise an expedition that would go to search for traces of Laperouse, his crew and ships. The events happening in France were proving far more important though meaning that no one else was interested and the scheme floundered.

Bougainville was soon drawn into the troubles. The sailors based at Brest had begun to question authority and in October 1790 the new Minister of Marine, the Comte de Claret de Fleurieu asked Bougainville to assume command at Brest and restore control. He agreed reluctantly and travelled to Brest in early November where he made the Majestueux his flagship. The choice of Bougainville was clever as he had been popular as a captain and, as an "Officer of the Blue", he was not necessarily identified with the nobility. However, even Bougainville was not able to quell the uprising with sailors refusing to take ships to Santo Domingo. After three months, Bougainville resigned and left Brest on 30 January 1791 returning to Paris on 11 February.

Back in Paris, Bougainville was pleased to learn that the National Assembly had agreed to fund an expedition to look for Laperouse. Bougainville helped organise the expedition that Bruni D'Entrecasteaux took from Brest on 28 September to the Pacific.

Pressures were building everywhere and Claret de Fleurieu resigned his post as Minister of Marine in May 1791. Two others briefly held the position before Bougainville was asked in September to become the Minister. He refused. In June 1791 the monarchy's status was badly undermined when the Royal Family fled Paris to the east only to be recognised and caught at Varennes whence they were returned to Paris. Next, the National Assembly dissolved itself and a new more radical Legislative Assembly was convened on 1 October 1791. Whereas the mood until now had not been to remove the monarchy altogether, the actions and statements of the King had alienated most people. Bougainville, however, remained loyal.

Bougainville was still living in Paris and had moved to another house at 56 Rue de Bouloi. At the beginning of 1792 the latest Minister of Marine, Bertrand de Molleville, offered Bougainville the position of Vice Admiral. Bougainville, as seemed to be his wont, declined and sent a letter explaining his reasons, centered on the present state of the navy and its sailors. The letter became public and Bougainville was denounced by Rouyer in the Legislative Assembly on 3 March. Bougainville was not overly concerned and turned, instead, to work with the Academie des Sciences on the development of the Metric system. He helped a new friend and colleague, Delambre, who was attempting to measure along the arc of meridian of Paris between Dunkirk and Barcelona so that the length of a metre could be set.

Once again though Bougainville soon found himself at the centre of things. The Paris populace, the "Sansculottes", stormed the royal palace, the Tuileries, on 20 June 1792 and Bougainville was among those there to protect the King. He was there in August when the Tuileries were again attacked and most of the Swiss Guard killed. In the autumn of 1792 Bougainville was regarded as suspect and since La Brosse was too near Paris he moved in November with the family to La Becquetiere in Normandy. Meanwhile, a new assembly, the Convention had declared France a republic on 22 September and condemmed the King to death. Louis XVI was executed on 21 January 1793.

Citoyen Bougainville and Citoyenne Montendre managed to spend 1793 in the relative quiet of La Becquetiere and Coutances. In 1793 the Covention had set up the Committee of Public Safety and this led to the "Reign of Terror" of 1794 during which hundreds of people were denounced, imprisoned and often executed usually without evidence and often without trial. Early in 1794 Bougainville was arrested and imprisoned in Coutances. He was accused of signalling to the British island of Jersey, just offshore from La Becquetiere despite Bougainville's protestations that he had spent much of his life fighting the British. Conditions were not too strict and Flore-Josephe and the family were able to visit him in prison. As the "Terror" heightened Louis-Antoine began to fear for Flore-Josephe's safety and told her to go to friends in St. Malo. In May 1794 Flore-Josephe was arrested crossing Mont St. Michel Bay trying to reach the home of Benjamin Dubois in St. Malo. In late July 1794 the excesses of the "Terror" came to an end with the arrest and death of Robespierre. On 4 September an order was signed for Bougainville's release and he was able to return to La Becquetiere. His troubles were nearly over but not quite and on 10 December the local Revolution committee passed an order that required Bougainville to return to Paris to within two weeks. He was required to report to the new Ecole normal de Paris. At the end of the month he was recorded as living in the Rue de Bouloi but his involvement with the Ecole is not known.

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Bougainville now entered a period of reward and acknowledgement. It began in 1795 when he was elected to be a member of the Bureau des Longitudes on 25 June and this was followed at the end of the year when he was elected to be a member of the new Institut National de France in the Class Science morals et politiques. The Bougainville's fourth son, Adolphe, was born in January 1796.

The Convention had ceased to be the Government on 26 October 1795 and was replaced by the Directory on 2 November of the same year. In April 1797 elections were held to replace some of the 5 Directors of the Directory and Bougainville was persuaded to stand to replace Letourneur. However, he was defeated by Francois, Marquis de Barthelemy even though he secured over 200 votes. (Barthelemy, a Royalist, was removed from office by his fellow Directors a few months later and exiled to Guyane in South America!) In July Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, one of the members of the Directory gave a speech in which he praised Bougainville's contribution to France. Later in the year Talleyrand became Foreign Minister and he gave a reception for Napoleon Bonaparte, who had just completed his successful campaign in Italy. Bougainville was invited to the reception and having been introduced to Napoleon the two men talked all evening and a firm friendship was formed.

The Directory was unnerved by Napoleon's presence in Paris and sought ways of getting him to leave. They formed the plan of sending him to Egypt to secure French interests in the region and with a view developing a link via Suez to the Red Sea, thus avoiding the trip round Africa. In 1798 Bougainville was asked to advise on scientific matters connected with the campaign. Bougainville then wrote an essay which he read to the Institut in June entitled "Essai historique sur les navigations anciennes et modernes". It was loosely based on work his brother, Jean-Pierre, had done many years before. He followed this with a piece about saving the lives of people stuck in burning buildings and in June 1799 another entitled "Notice historique sur le sauvages de l'Amerique septentrionale", which drew on his own experience in Canada.

Madame Herault de Sechelles died in June 1798. She had outlived her son, Jean-Baptiste, killed in the war with Prussia in 1759 and her estranged grandson, Marie-Jean, guillotined four years earlier

Bougainville became a member of a committee of the Institut evaluating Robert Fulton's prototype submarine in late 1798. The committee made favourable recommendations but nothing happened until Napoleon ordered the building of Nautilus some years later.

Napoleon continued his rise to power in 1799 and returned to Paris in the October ready to effect a coup d'etat on 9 November (18 Brumaire) in which the Directory was replaced by the Consulate. The Consulate would have three members or Consuls and Napoleon would be the most powerful or First Consul. Among Napoleon's first actions were to make Bougainville a Senator and to grant him a pension of 40,000 francs. Napoleon was wont to address Bougainville in familiar tones as "le vieux royaliste" (the old royalist). The Institut involved Bougainville in plans for a scientific expedition being formulated to investigate the coast of New Holland (Australia). The expedition was to be led by Nicolas Baudin and Bougainville had thoughts and hopes, for a very short time, of accompanying him. The expedition was given the go-ahead and Bougainville had the satisfaction of seeing his eldest son Hyacinthe chosen to go on the expedition, sailing on the Geographe when it left Le Havre on 19 October 1800.

The Bougainvilles had sold their property at La Brosse and purchased another one, De Suisnes, a few kilometres closer to Paris. Louis-Antoine turned his attention to the gardens of De Suisnes employing Christophe Cochet, a most skilled gardener, as his chief gardener. An Orangerie was created and tropical trees and fruits were cultivated, including palms, bananas, pineapples and sugar cane. Their most significant development though was the starting of rose cultivation in the Brie area. A trade grew up whereby Brie supplied roses to the flower markets of Paris. A variety of early rose was named after Bougainville.

It was at De Suisnes on 2 August 1801 that Flore-Josephe, walking by the River Yerres, discovered the body of her second son, Armand, drowned in the river. Both parents, but especially Flore-Josephe, were devastated by the discovery and became ill with grief. In fact, Flore-Josephe never really recovered from the loss.

In 1802 Napoleon had himself made First Consul for life, effectively confirming his status as sole ruler of France. Thirteen years after the Revolution began France had already reverted to a form of monarchy! The Bougainvilles had reason to celebrate on 7 June 1803 when the Naturaliste arrived at Le Havre bringing Hyacinthe safely back to France (he had changed ships at Port Jackson). Baudin brought the rest of the expedition home to Lorient in March 1804. Soon after on 18 May Napoleon completed his rise to power when he was made Emperor. One of his first actions was to initiate the Legion d'Honneur and on 21 May Bougainville became one of its first recipients, becoming a Grand Officer.

In October 1805 the French fleet was soundly defeated off Cape Trafalgar in southern Spain and Napoleon held his Minister of Marine, Denis, Duc Decres, reponsible. His first reaction was to replace Decres with Bougainville but he then informed Louis-Antoine that he was too old for such an office (Bougainville was 75 at the time). Bougainville would be used in an official inquiry into the Battle of Trafalgar.

Flore-Josephe had never fully recovered from the loss of Armand and she died on 7 August 1806. Bougainville could not bring himself to stay at De Suisnes because of the associations and sold the property. He installed himself in a small house in Paris in the Passage des Petits-Peres. He still busied himself in the various Academies of which he was a member and on 11 January 1808 he was elected President of the Classe de physique et de mathematiques de l'Institut. Napoleon continued to regard him with affection and on 26 April 1808 Bougainville was elevated to be Comte de Bougainville.

Bougainville had contracted dysentry on his round the world voyage and it had revisited him several times over the years. On 20 August 1811 he he fell ill again and ten days later he died at his home in Paris with his sons and sister at his bedside. He was given a state funeral on 7 September and his ashes were buried in the Pantheon (previously Sainte Genevieve). His heart, though, was removed and buried with Flore-Josephe and Armand in the cemetary of St. Pierre at Montmartre in northern Paris.

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Appendix 1: Geographical locations, named after Bougainville

Baie de Bougainville (Chile) - small bay on the southern coast of the Peninsula de Brunswick, on the Strait of Magellan.
Bougainville Bay (Papua New Guinea) - bay on north coast of island of New Guinea, just west of Vanimo.
Bougainville Island (Papua New Guinea) - island northwest of Solomon Islands.
Bougainville Reef (Australia) - small outlier reef off, east of Cooktown and the Great Barrier Reef.
Bougainville Selat (Indonesia) - strait on northern side of Waigeo Island.
Bougainville Strait (Solomon Islands) - stretch of water southwest of Choiseul Island and bewteen Shortland and Vella Lavella Islands.
Bougainville Strait (Vanuatu) - strait between the islands of Espiritu Santo and Malekula.
Cape Bougainville (Falkland Islands) - cape on north coast of East Falkland.
Mount Bougainville (Papua New Guinea) - mountain on north coast of island of New Guinea, just west of Vanimo.

Appendix 2: Geographical locations named by Bougainville where the name is still used

Aurora (Vanuatu) - island east of Espiritu Santo and north of Pentecost.
Buka Island (Papua New Guinea) - small island to north of Bougainville Island.
Choiseul Island (Solomon Islands) - island at northwestern end of Solomon Islands.
Louisiade Archipelago (Papua New Guinea) - island chain east of Milne Bay.
Orangerie Bay (Papua New Guinea) - bay on south side of Milne Bay.
Pentecost (Vanuatu) - island east of Espiritu Santo and north of Ambrym.

Appendix 3: Secretaries of State (Ministers) of Marine during the period Bougainville was in Canada and at sea, 1754 - 1787.

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