Pierre Douville

{{Short description|French naval officer (1745–1794)}} {{Infobox military person |name= Pierre Douville |image= Pierre Douville.jpg |caption= 1794 portrait of Douville |birth_date= August 7, 1745 |birth_place= Havre-Saint-Pierre, Saint John's Island |death_date= July 17, 1794 |death_place= Gosport, Hampshire |burial_place=Portsmouth, Hampshire |allegiance= United States France |branch=Continental Navy French Navy |service_years= 1776–1783 (Continental Navy) 1793–1794 (French Navy) |rank= Lieutenant (Continental Navy) Ship-of-the-line captain (French Navy) |unit= |commands= |battles={{tree list}} * American Revolutionary War ** Yorktown campaign * French Revolution ** Glorious First of June{{POW}} {{tree list/end}} |awards=*Medal for service after the War *Original Member of the Society of the Cincinnati |spouse= Cynthia Aborn (m. 1778) |children = Pierre Jr.,Cynthia, Lowrey Charles, Samuel Joseph, and Mary Douville }}

Ship-of-the-line Captain '''Pierre Douville''' (August 7, 1745 – July 17, 1794) was a French naval officer who served in the American Revolutionary War and French Revolutionary Wars.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/o/officers-continental-usnavy-mc-1775-1900/continental-navy-officers-1775-1785.html|title=Continental Navy Officers, 1775–1785|date=18 April 2014|website=Naval History and Heritage Command|access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref> Born on present day Prince Edward Island, Douville was deported to France in 1758 as part of the expulsion of the Acadians. He joined the French Navy and lived in Rhode Island during the American Revolutionary War. During the Revolutionary War, he served as a French military intelligence officer who provided General George Washington with British ship and troop movements. Douville also took part in a smuggling mission in 1775, when he brought weapons and gunpowder from the French West Indies to the United States. Douville was one of the original members of the Society of the Cincinnati. Douville died in 1794 after being captured by the British at the Glorious First of June.<ref name=":8">Robert Emlen, "Pierre Douville Portrait Collection," Portrait Collection, Brown University Office of the Curator, accessed October 29, 2016, library.brown.edu/cds/portraits/display.php?idno=262</ref>

==Early life==

Pierre Douville was born on August 7, 1745, in the French colonial village of Havre-Saint-Pierre, otherwise known as St. Peter's, on St. John Islant, present day Prince Edward Island.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance">{{cite web|url=http://museeacadien.org/lapetitesouvenance/?p=871|title=Pierre Douville: Un Illustre Fils de l'Île Saint-Jean|last=Arsenault|first=Georges|date=2008|publisher=La Petite Souvenance|language=fr|work=Museeacadian.org}}</ref> He was the youngest son and the tenth child of François Douville and Mary Roger.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> François was the first inhabitant of Havre-Saint-Pierre and came to the island in 1719.<ref name=":10">Georges Arsenault, "Honouring the memory of Francois Douville: Havre-Saint-Pierre, or St. Peter's Harbour, is an historical site of great significance". Guardian (Charlottetown. 1955) (0832-2708).</ref> Originally from Normandy, François was shipwrecked on the island in 1719, "farther to the east [from where Havre-Saint-Pierre would be settled], at Naufrage."<ref name=":11">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UAvyE0pN5akC&q=Pierre+Douville+Acadians|title=Place Names of Atlantic Canada|last=Hamilton|first=William Baillie|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0-8020-7570-3|location=Toronto, Canada|page=477}}</ref> In a 1752 census, François was one of the wealthiest inhabitants on the island, working as a "fisherman, navigator, and ploughman or farmer."<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" />

In 1758, Pierre's family was forced to leave Havre-Saint-Pierre as part of the expulsion of the Acadians. During the French and Indian War, the 1758 Ile Saint-Jean campaign by British forces resulted in deportation of all Acadians from St. John.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> The British placed Havre-Saint-Pierre's inhabitants on a transport ship bound for Saint-Malo, France before burning the empty village.<ref name=":11" /> The ship Pierre and his family were on arrived at Saint-Malo in January 1759 after three months at sea.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> Within a few months of arriving in France, three sisters and one brother of Pierre died from disease.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" />

Until 1763, Douville and his family lived in Saint-Servan.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5">{{cite web |title=Pierre Douville, Lieutenant |website=Continental Navy |date=September 5, 2016 |url=http://continentalnavy.com/archives/2016/pierre-douville-lieutenant/}}</ref> By 1763, the French and Indian War had ended. Even though France had ceded all of New France to Britain and Spain, the British returned Saint Pierre and Miquelon to the French.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> Douville and his family left Saint-Servan for Saint Pierre and Miquelon in June 1763 on ''Marie Charlotte''.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> When the Douville family arrived at Miquelon they were granted land on the Ile-aux-Chiens, which was located in the harbor of Saint Pierre.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /><ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" />

==Beginning of maritime career==

In 1764 Douville left his family for a life at sea.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> His first job was aboard the fluyt ''La Nounou.''<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> The ship was contracted by French authorities to transport "displaced Acadians from Europe to Cayenne in French Guiana."<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> In 1765, at the age of twenty, Douville was promoted to second lieutenant aboard the ship ''Deux Amis''.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> ''Deux Amis'' transported 45 Acadians to France from Saint Pierre and Miquelon in 1765.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> The Acadians were forced to leave the French colony due to its overpopulation.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> Between 1765 and 1770, Douville worked on merchant ships that traded goods between Saint Pierre and Miquelon and New England. Around 1770, Douville moved first to Pawtucket, and then to Providence, Rhode Island. He became "a shipmaster working for wealthy merchant houses" up until the American Revolution.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> Douville's knowledge of the New England coast would make him an important asset in the war.

==American Revolution==

In November 1775, Douville was involved in a mission with Nicholas Brown Sr. and Jonathan Clark Jr.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> In a collection of letters from the ''Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 1'', Pierre was referenced in a letter sent from Nicholas Cooke, the Governor of Rhode Island, to General George Washington, on September 9, 1776. The purpose of the operation was to import gunpowder into the United States from either France or the French West Indies. Referred to as "Mr. Du Ville", Cooke informed Washington that Douville "is esteemed a Person every Way well qualified, and to be depended upon, for the Execution of the Plan he proposes."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v02p01.pdf|title=Nicholas Cooke to George Washington|date=9 September 1775|website=Naval Documents of the American Revolution Volume 2|publisher=American Naval Records Society|location=Bolton Landing, New York|pages=57–58}}</ref> Douville's plan, Cooke explained, was to voyage to Bayonne, France, "where he is well acquainted, and there take in a load of [gun]powder" onto his ship.<ref name=":1" /> The plan would work, Cooke explained, because the ship "can be effected in Three Days," which would not be enough time for British "intelligence of the Vessel cannot be sent to England timely enough for any measures to be taken to intercept [the ship] upon her Return."<ref name=":1" /> In another letter to Washington, from September 14, 1775, Cooke stated that the Colony of Connecticut was meeting that day to discuss Douville's "Voyage to Bayonne".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v02p01.pdf|title=Nichoals Cooke to George Washington|date=14 September 1775|website=Naval Documents of the American Revolution Volume 2|publisher=American Naval Records Society|location=Bolton Landing, New York|pages=96–97}}</ref> He recommended that the operation happen now "and return upon this Coast in the Winter," because "the Enemy's Ships are unable to cruise" at that point.<ref name=":2" /> Washington approved of the voyage in a response letter to Cooke on September 18.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v02p02.pdf|title=George Washington to Nicholas Cooke|date=18 September 1775|website=Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 2|publisher=American Naval Records Society|pages=132|location=Bolton Landing, New York}}</ref>

On November 15, 1775, Nicholas Brown sent a letter to Charles Jovett, a shipowner and acquaintance of Douville's.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v02p08.pdf|title=Nicholas Brown to Pierre Douville and Jonathan Clark|date=15 November 1775|website=Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 2|publisher=American Naval Records Society|page=1032|location=Bolton Landing, New York}}</ref> The letter requested Jovett should take a "load of good merchtb codfish delivered [to Providence, Rhode Island] between this and the first of March... But above all that Most Wanting is Cannon and Pistle Powder."<ref name=":3" /> The codfish would hide the gunpowder that Douville planned to smuggle in from France. Brown sent a letter to Douville and Jonathan Clark on November 15, 1775, confirming the plan. The plan was for Jovett to send Douville and Clark a ship that will either take them to the French West Indies or France for gunpowder and other weapons.<ref name=":3" /> Jovett was under orders from Brown to "Make full Insurance, upon what interest [Brown] may have onboard his Vessel Agst all resques, in eigther passage from St. Peters here or, from France here."<ref name=":3" /> The ship "Must be Deld in this Colony before the first day of April next at furthest" because the Continental Congress would pay for the gunpowder "at half a [Dollar per pound]" if the ship arrived in the United States by that date.<ref name=":3" />

Unfortunately, Douville and Clark's efforts were for nothing. A letter from Major General Israel Putnam to Washington on May 21, 1776, revealed that a French ship, called ''L'Amiable Marie'', arrived in Long Island on May 20 with "12 Tonns powder-500 Small Arms and dry Goods" as its cargo.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v05p02.pdf|title=Major General Israel Putnam to George Washington|date=21 May 1776|website=Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 2|publisher=American Naval Records Society|pages=187–188|location=Bolton Landing, New York}}</ref> However, an "English Captn with a Boats Crew came on shore for Assistance to land his Goods, soon after the French Capt who was on Board-saw a small Sloop to Leward beating up to him, 'tis supposed he thot them friends" and the 'French Capt' "immediately weigh'd anchor."<ref name=":5" /> The 'French Capt' was Douville. Realizing that the boat was British and not American, Douville attempted to make it to the New Jersey Highlands, hoping he could "land his goods up one of the short rivers in proximity to" where American forces were located.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> However, the HMS ''Asia'' captured ''L'Amiable Marie'' on May 20, 1776. The capture of ''L'Amiable Marie'' was mentioned in a letter sent to Washington by Commodore Esek Hopkins on September 2, 1776.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-06-02-0163|title=To George Washington from Commodore Esek Hopkins|date=2 September 1776|website=Founders Online, National Archives|access-date=October 15, 2016}}</ref>

==Naval career==

In 1776, Douville was commissioned into the Continental Navy at the rank of lieutenant, serving on the 24-gun frigate USS ''Alfred'' as her third lieutenant; he was promoted to second lieutenant in 1777.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> In March 1778, ''Alfred'' was captured by the British navy near Barbados.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> Douville would have been sent to Forton Prison in England, but he was exchanged for a British officer held by the French in the West Indies in 1778.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> Gaining his freedom, Douville was able to be back in Rhode Island in time for his wedding to Cynthia Aborn. From July to August 1778, Douville served as a liaison officer on ''Languedoc'', the flagship of the French fleet at Rhode Island.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> The flagship was under the command of Vice-admiral Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing. It has been suggested by some sources that Douville was ordered to be stationed on ''Languedoc'' at Washington's request due to his extensive knowledge of the New England coast.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" />

In 1780, Douville served as a lieutenant onboard the 28-gun frigate USS ''Queen of France'' at Charleston, South Carolina, which was besieged by British forces. When the city was about to fall, ''Queen of France'' was scuttled in May before Douville and the rest of the Franco-American defenders of Charleston were captured.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AqyUvZlLIoEC&q=pierre+douville+1794 |title=The Papers of Robert Morris, 1781-1784 |last2=Catanzariti |first2=John |date=1984-06-30 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Pre |isbn=978-0-8229-7022-4 |language=en}}</ref> Douville was soon released by the British at the insistence of French Captain Louis-René Levassor de Latouche Tréville.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-02187|title=To George Washington from William Heath|date=21 June 1780|website=Founders Online|publisher=National Archives}}</ref> He and several other Continental Navy officers were released in mid-July.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> From August 16, 1780, to November 30, 1782, Douville served a liaison officer on the French ships of the line ''Duc de Bourgogne'', ''Neptune'', and ''Triomphant''.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=The Order of the Cincinnati in France|last=Gardiner|first=Asa Bird|publisher=[n.p.] The Rhode Island state society of Cincinnati|year=1905|pages=xiii}}</ref> When the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, Douville returned to Rhode Island to be with his family.{{fact|date=December 2025}}

==Postwar career==

On October 5, 1784, Douville became a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, an award given to those "who had distinguished themselves" during the Revolutionary War.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> In 1784, Douville resumed working in maritime trading.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> His work had him make numerous trips to the West Indies on the sloop ''Cynthia'' and the schooner ''Cynthia'', both of which were named after his wife.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> In 1787, Douville brought Cynthia and their son Peter to Saint Pierre and Miquelon to live while Douville continued his work in the West Indies.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> By 1789, the family had returned to Rhode Island.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> In December 1792, Douville traveled to France, intending on resuming his naval career.<ref name=":8" />

==French Revolution and death==

Douville, desiring to "be useful to his country", was commissioned into the French Navy in January 1793.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> He was assigned as lieutenant to the ship ''Achilles'', whose mission was to protect the coastline of Brittany and the Loire River.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> On February 25, 1794, Douville became the captain of ''l'Impeteux''.<ref name="PetiteSouvenance" /> Douville's ship was part of Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse's squadron, which was tasked with protecting a convoy transporting grain from the United States to France to stave off a looming famine resulting from the failure of that year's harvest, revolutionary chaos and the blockade of French ports and trade.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> A British fleet led by Admiral Earl Howe was tasked with destroying the convoy and the French squadron.{{fact|date=December 2025}}

Villaret and Howe's fleets sighted each other on May 28 and fought a major fleet action on June 1, 1794. At the Glorious First of June, ''Achilles'' dismasted the HMS ''Marlborough''.<ref name=":6" /> However, Douville was injured 18 times during the battle, and he and his ship were captured by the British. Douville died on July 17 while imprisoned in Forton Prison in Gosport, Hampshire.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> He was buried in Portsmouth with the honors of war.<ref name=":6" />

==Personal life==

Douville married Cynthia Aborn on July 26, 1778, in Providence, Rhode Island, a week after Cynthia turned eighteen years old.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://person.ancestrylibrary.com/tree/12279678/person/-297465841/story|title=Pierre Douville, 1745–1794|website=Ancestry.com|access-date=29 November 2016}}</ref> They had five children; Pierre in 1781, Cynthia in 1783, Lowrey Charles in 1786, Samuel Joseph in 1788, and Mary in 1789.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://person.ancestrylibrary.com/tree/12279678/person/-297465842/story|title=Cynthia Aborn, 1760–1806|website=Ancestry.com|access-date=November 29, 2016}}</ref> When Douville died, Cynthia Aborn received a pension from the French government until her death in October 1806.<ref name="ContinentalNavySept5" /> One of Douville's descendants was the actor Charles Coburn, an American film actor known for his role in the 1953 film ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''.<ref name=":10" /> Brown University has a painting of Douville. The painter is unknown, but it was completed in France before Douville's death. It was given to Brown University in 1887 by Douville's granddaughters, Miss Cynthia Douville and Mrs. Sarah A. Tinkham.<ref name=":8" />

==See also== *Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War *Intelligence operations in the American Revolutionary War *Society of the Cincinnati *:Category: French Canadians in the American Revolution *French Revolution *''Deportation of the Prince Edward Island Acadians'' by Earle Lockerby *''L'Odysée d'un Acadian dans les Marines Americains et Française'' by Raymond Douville

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography == ===English language=== * Cynthia Aborn, 1760–1806. Ancestry.com. Accessed 29 November 2016. http://person.ancestrylibrary.com/tree/12279678/person/-297465842/story. * Pierre Douville, 1745–1794. Ancestry.com. Accessed 29 November 2016. http://person.ancestrylibrary.com/tree/12279678/person/-297465841/story. * Brown, Nicholas. Nicholas Brown to Pierre Douville and Jonathan Clark, 15 November 1775. In ''Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 2'', edited by American Naval Records Society, 1032. New York: American Naval Records Society, 2012. http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v02p08.pdf. * Cook, Nicholas. Nicholas Cook to George Washington, 9 September 1775. In ''Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 2'', edited by American Naval Records Society, 57–58. New York: American Naval Records Society, 2012. http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v02p01.pdf. * Cook, Nicholas. Nicholas Cook to George Washington, 14 September 1775. In ''Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 2'', edited by American Naval Records Society, 96–97. New York: American Naval Records Society, 2012. http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v02p01.pdf. * Emlen, Robert. "Pierre Douville Portrait Collection." Brown University Office of the Curator. Accessed October 29, 2016. https://library.brown.edu/cds/portraits/display.php?idno=262. * Gardiner, Asa Bird. ''The Order of the Cincinnati in France.'' The Rhode Island State Society of Cincinnati, 1905, xiii. * Hamilton, William Baillie. ''Place Names of Atlantic Canada''. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press. 1996. 477. * Heath, William. To George Washington from William Heath, 21 June 1780. In ''Founders Online,'' National Archives. October 5, 2016. * Hopkins, Esek. To George Washington from Commodore Esek Hopkins, 2 September 1776. In ''Founders Online,'' National Archives. Original source: ''The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Volume 6,'' ''13 August 1776–20 October 1776'', edited by Philander D. Chase and Frank E. Grizzard Jr., 201–202. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1994. * Morris, Robert, and John Catanzariti. ''The Papers of Robert Morris, 1781–1784''. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1984. https://books.google.com/books?id=AqyUvZlLIoEC&dq=pierre+douville+1794&source=gbs_navlinks_s. * "Pierre Douville, Lieutenant." Continental Navy. 5 September 2016. http://continentalnavy.com/archives/2016/pierre-douville-lieutenant/. * Putnam, Israel. Major General Israel Putnam to George Washington, 21 May 1776. In ''Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 2'', edited by American Naval Records Society, 187–188. New York: American Naval Records Society, 2012. http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v05p02.pdf. * Washington, George. George Washington to Nicholas Cook,18 September 1775. In ''Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 2'', edited by American Naval Records Society, 132. New York: American Naval Records Society, 2012. http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v02p02.pdf.

===French language=== * Arsenault, Georges. "Pierre Douville: Un Illustre Fils de L'Île Saint-Jean." ''Museeacadian.org''. last modified 2008. http://museeacadien.org/lapetitesouvenance/?tag=1745 * Arsenault, Georges. "Honouring the Memory of François Douville: Havre-Saint-Pierre, or St. Peter's Harbour, is an Historical Site of Great Significance." ''The Guardian (Charlottetown. 1955) (''0832-2708). * Étienne Taillemite, Dictionnaire des marins français, Tallandier, 2002, p. 143 * Gérard Scavennec, Pierre Douville, Chronique d'histoire maritime, 2002, n°46, p. 34–62 * Gérard Scavennec, Pierre Douville, Racines et Rameaux Français d'Acadie, 1994, n°11, p 2-8 http://www.rrfa.fr/bull/11.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813091337/http://rrfa.fr/bull/11.pdf |date=2016-08-13 }} * Raymond Douville, L'Odyssée d'un Acadien dans les marines américaine et française, Cahiers des Dix, 18, 1953

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douville, Pierre}} Category:1745 births Category:1794 deaths Category:Continental Navy officers Category:French Canadians in the American Revolution Category:French Navy officers Category:Acadian people Category:American spies during the American Revolution