Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve (31 December 1763 – 22 April 1806) was a French naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of the French and Spanish fleets defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Villeneuve was born in 1763 at Valensole, Basses Alpes, and joined the French Navy in 1778. Although of aristocratic ancestry, he sympathised with the French Revolution, dropping the aristocratic "de" from his...
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Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve (31 December 1763 – 22 April 1806) was a French naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of the French and Spanish fleets defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Villeneuve was born in 1763 at Valensole, Basses Alpes, and joined the French Navy in 1778. Although of aristocratic ancestry, he sympathised with the French Revolution, dropping the aristocratic "de" from his name and was able to continue his service in the Navy when other aristocratic officers were purged. He served during several battles, and was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1796 as a result of this.
At the Battle of the Nile in 1798 he was in command of the rear division. His ship, Guillaume Tell, was one of only two French ships of the line to escape the defeat. He was captured soon afterwards when the British took the island of Malta, but he was soon released. He was criticised for not engaging the British at the Nile, but Napoleon considered...
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