Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Governor of Saint Lucia | |
| In office 1792–1793 | |
| Preceded by | Jean-Joseph Sourbader de Gimat |
| Succeeded by | Nicolas Xavier de Ricard |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse 6 September 1760 |
| Died | 10 September 1829 (aged 69) |
| Occupation | Soldier |
Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse (6 September 1760 – 10 September 1829) was aFrench Navy officer and colonial administrator who served as thegovernor of Saint Lucia from 1792 to 1793.
Lacrosse joined theFrench Navy in 1779 as a Garde marine. He rose to enseign in 1782, to lieutenant in 1786, and tocapitaine de vaisseau in 1792. He was military governor ofSaint Lucia in 1792 to 1793.[1]
In 1795, he was sent toMartinique andGuadeloupe to crush revolts. On his return to France, Lacrosse was arrested.
Freed, he was attached to the planned invasion of Ireland in late 1796, commanding the 74-gunDroits de l'Homme. The invasion failed, and on her journey back, theDroits de l'Homme fought theaction of 13 January 1797 against two British frigates, theIndefatigable underSir Edward Pellew and theAmazon. Lacrosse was wounded and his ship was lost when she ran aground.
Despite the loss of his ship, Lacrosse was madecontre-amiral. In 1799, he was sent as ambassador to Spain and notably negotiated the forcible return ofémigrés to France. He was offered theMinistry of Marine, which he declined.
In 1802,First ConsulNapoleon Bonaparte made him general captain of Guadeloupe. On 1 November 1801, Lacrosse was captured by rebels, as he was leading a reconnaissance out ofPointe-à-Pitre. Pelage, the leader of the rebels, brought him aboard a Danish ship. Lacrosse set out forDominica, where he joined the expedition led by GeneralAntoine Richepanse, and returned with it to Guadeloupe. When Richepanse died, Lacrosse took command and continued to fight against the remaining insurgents and gradually restrict the rights of free people of colour as the first step in restoring slavery.[2]
On 8 May 1803, Lacrosse sailed back to France aboard the frigateDidon. He did not know that thePeace of Amiens had ended and that hostilities had resumed with the British. Off Brest, he ran into twelve British ships of the line blockading the port. He managed to evade the blockading fleet and captured the corvetteLaurier in the process. He reached Spain, left his prize in Santander and returned to France.
Napoleon made himpréfet maritime and gave him command of the flotilla intended to ferry troops for an invasion of England. Lacrosse was made commander of theLégion d'Honneur at the founding of the Order. When AdmiralÉtienne Eustache Bruix died in 1805, Lacrosse succeeded him as commander-in-chief of the French Navy.
Lacrosse retired in 1815 and died in his hometown of Meilhan on 10 September 1829.
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