Jean Isaac Timothée Chadeau, Sieur de la Clocheterie (1741–1782) was a French naval officer of the American Revolutionary War.
Biography Early career Chadeau de la Clocheterie entered the French naval service in 1754, at the age of thirteen, as an élève de la marine. He became an ensign in 1757Table ou abrégé des cent trente-cinq volumes de la Gazette de France, depuis son commencement en 1631 jusqu'à la fin de l'année 1765, vol. 2 (Paris, 1767), p. 267. and served in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763).James M. Volo, Blue Water Patriots: The American Revolution Afloat (Greenwood, 2007), pp. 99-101. On 2 November 1758 he was made a prisoner of war at the capture of the Belliqueux, returning to France in April 1759.A. Duplais des Touches, Les Chadeau de la Clocheterie, Bulletin de la Société des Archives Historiques de Saintonge et d’Aunis (1897), pp. 238-9.
In 1768 he was stationed at Mauritius. There he met the botanist Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, who described him as "a young man, with a dashing figure, very modest, who hardly spoke and was devoted to his duties".Bernardin De Saint Pierre, Journey to Mauritius, translated by Jason Wilson (Oxford: Signal Books, 2002), p. 124.
In 1775 he was made a Knight of the Order of Saint Louis.
Belle Poule
As Lieutenant commanding the frigate Belle Poule, La Clocheterie fought the action of 17 June 1778 against HMS Arethusa, the casus belli that precipitated the French entry into the American Revolutionary War.Théodore Ortolan, Règles internationales et diplomatie de la mer, vol. 2 (Paris, 1864), p. 21. Despite suffering heavy casualties, Belle Poule heavily damaged Arethusa before being towed to safety through the coastal shallows of Brittany.Jean Cornuault, Un panorama de la marine de Louis XV à Charles X (Paris, 2008), pp. 87-91.John Adolphus, History of England from the Accession to the Decease of King George the Third, vol. 3 (London, 1841), p. 5
La Clocheterie was received at the French court by Louis XVI and promoted to captain. He was given command of Triton, a 64-gun ship of the line. According to a widely circulated anecdote, the king informed him of his new commission during a game of piquet, taking him to task for his infidelity to his ship, and when de la Clocheterie expressed surprise saying "You are sure to abandon the Belle Poule to be captain of a ship with 64 guns."Pierre-Jean-Baptiste Nougaret, Anecdotes du règne de Louis XVI, vol. 4 (Paris, 1791), pp. 135-136.
Not only the engagement, but also La Clocheterie's reception at court and his reward were reported in British,The Scots Magazine, vol. 40 (1778), p. 327The Remembrancer; or, Impartial Repository of Public Events (1778), 231-232. French,Journal encyclopédique ou universel, vol. 5 (1778), part 3, pp. 557-559.Journal politique: ou Gazette des gazettes (July 1778), pp. 31-35.Mercure de France, July 5, 1778, pp. 106-109. Spanish,Mercurio Histórico y Politico, May–August 1778, pp. 226-230. German,Die neuesten Staatsbegebenheiten, vol. 4 (1778), pp. 1091-1094. Swiss,Nouveau journal helvétique, July 1778, 108-109. and DutchDe Maandelykse Nederlandische Mercurius, vol. 45, part 1 (July 1778), pp. 11-13. reviews of current affairs of the year 1778.
Subsequent career Captain de la Clocheterie became commander of Jason in early 1780,Mercurio histórico y politico, January–April 1780, pp. 158-159. and fought at the Battle of Cape Henry and the Battle of Saint Kitts,Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec, Relation des combats et des évènements de la guerre maritime (Imprimerie de Patris, 1796), pp. 175, 233. particularly distinguishing himself in the former engagement.Louis-Philippe de Ségur, Mémoires ou souvenirs et anecdotes vol. 1 (Paris, 1827), p. 216.Guillaume de Deux-Ponts, My Campaigns in America (Boston, 1868), p. 107.
He died in 1782, in the Battle of the Saintes, commanding Hercule.Adrien Richer, Les Fastes de la marine françoise (Paris, 1787), pp. 177-185.
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