François Aymar, chevalier de MONTEIL (1725-1787) naval offic - Lot 361

François Aymar, chevalier de MONTEIL (1725-1787) naval officer. Manuscript, Etat des Services du Cher de Monteil..., [1778]; 32-page folio (36.2x24.7cm), paperback with blue silk ribbon. Chevalier de Monteil's voyages to the Levant, the West Indies, India and North America. This manuscript covers the period from 1741 to 1778. Highly legible and neatly presented, it features calligraphic subtitles with dates inscribed opposite. Monteil first served in the Mediterranean, taking part in the battle of Cap Sicié on the Ferme (1744). In 1746, he served on the Volage, battling an English vessel, then on the Flore, escorting a convoy to the Levant (1747). Transferred to the Content in 1748, he sailed again to the Levant. In 1751, he sailed on the Sirène as an evolutions squadron, and the following year on the Protée along the African coast, then in 1754 on the Thétis to convoy French ships to the Strait of Gibraltar. In 1755, he commanded the Anémone on a mission to the West Indies. In 1757, he served as major of d'Aché's squadron on the Zodiaque during the Indian campaign, taking part in the two battles of April 29 and August 3, 1758, then commanding the Sylphide, with which he captured an English ship. After taking part in the battle of September 10, 1759, he returned to Brest on the Minotaure in 1762. Captain in 1762 (he had been commissioned in 1757), he commanded the Éveillé in Terray's division, which destroyed the English fishing establishments in Newfoundland. Sent to the West Indies in 1765 on the Licorne, he left for the Isle of France in 1771 on the Actionnaire. In 1774-1775, he commanded the Zephyr on a mission to Naples, then to the Greek archipelago to protect trade. Then, in 1776, he commanded the Renommée as an evolutions squadron. In 1758, he was knighted in the Order of Saint-Louis. Following the title are the following details: "born in the diocese of Vienne in 1725, appointed Garde de la Marine in Toulon on July 9, 1741. Enseigne de vaisseau on May 1, 1746. Lieutenant in 1756. Awarded captain's commission on December 17, 1757. Brigadier of the naval armies in December 1774. Commander of the Naval Guards in Brest on July 1, 1777". This chronology stops in 1778, when France entered the war. Monteil took part in the American War of Independence, and was appointed Lieutenant General in 1783.