#l'orient

[illustratus]

The Destruction of L'Orient at the Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798. British boats rescue French survivors as L'Orient sinks in flames by Peter Johann Nepomuk Geiger

[marryat92]

The conversation relative to the particulars of the battle of the Nile was resumed, and Anderson observed—

“What an awful sight it must have been to behold the blowing up of the L’Orient French three-decker, with upwards of a thousand men on board! Merciful Heaven! so many poor fellows launched into eternity in one moment! They say there were but seventy-three saved.”

— Frederick Marryat, Poor Jack

The Destruction of 'L'Orient' at the Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798, by George Arnald, 1825-1827. The ship's ammunition exploded and killed the Admiral on board and most of the ship's company. Both sides were so shocked by the disaster, that for some minutes firing ceased.

[ltwilliammowett]

Pocket compass from the French Flagship L' Orient, which exploded during the Battle of the Nile 1798. The compass was possibly made 1794 or earlier.

[thecircusgirl]

[mostly-history]

Jean Gabin, a French film actor, on the set of The Imposter (November 26th, 1943).  He wears the uniform of a special detachment of French colonial troops.  After filming was finished, he returned to the Free French, in which he served as a marine.  He served aboard a minesweeper at L'Orient before the Franco-German armistice.

[illustratus]

The Destruction of 'L'Orient' at the Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798

by George Arnald

[ltwilliammowett]

Casabianca,the 12 years old boy who stands beside his Father during the Battle of the Nile,1 August 1798  drawn by Lafitte, engraved by Pourvoyeur. 1807 (x)

During the Battle of the Nile, not only was a birth completed and a lieutenant saved his life, but a son also died alongside his father. This picture here shows the moment when the boy finds his dying father. The man was Admiral Luc-Julien-Joseph Casabianca commander of the French flagship L'Orient, the ship was under heavy attack during the battle and so Casabianca ordered his son, just 12 years old, to a safe part of the ship. He did this to protect him.

The death of Admiral Casabianca and his son at the Battle of the Nile, 1798, 19th century (x)

The boy Giocante Casabianca remained as ordered, unaware that his father had already died. Many pictures, however, always show the boy standing trampled by his father's side or on deck, never leaving his post. The ship caught fire from the hits, but Giocante stayed where he was and died in the explosion caused by the fire in the powder magazine. Their common fate was immortalised in a poem by Felica Dorothea Hemans in 1826. 

[ltwilliammowett]

The L’Orient Coffin

One of the most unusual battle trophies of all time must be the coffin made from the wreckage of the French flagship L’Orient that blew up at hte Battle of the Nile in 1798.

The Burning of L’Orient- 1798 by Edwin Galea

It was presented to Nelson by Captain Hallowell of HMS Swiftsure on 23 March 1799. Hallowell had retrieved a large section of her mainmast and instructed his carpenter to fashion it into a macabre gift. Nothing as used in its that had not come from L’Orient and an accompanying note certified to this fact. It is not clear why Hallowell had this coffin made in the first place, nor why he waited ten months before he sent it to Nelson. The two were friends who had seen service together, and perhaps Hallowell feared the effect of all the praise showered on Nelson after his celebrated victory at the Nile.

A covering letter sent with the coffin stated: “My Lord, herewith I send you a coffin made of of the L’Orient’s mainmast that when you are tired of this life you may be buried in one of your own trophies- may that period be far distant is the sincere wish of your obedient servant”

Nelson’s coffin, 1799

While his officers were appalled, Nelson was amused and for some time he had the coffin standing upright against the bulkhead of his cabin, behind the chair he sat on for dinner. Subsequently it accompanied him as part of his luggage during his long overland journey home to England with Emma and William Hamilton in 1800. In London it was stored with Nelson’s agents, Messrs Marsh, Page and Creed. During a brief period of leave in the autumn of 1805, just before the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson visited them and instructed that the certificate of authenticity be engraved on the lid, adding “ I think it is highly probable that I may want it on my return.” Was this cryptic comment a presentiment of his early death ?