Chevalier de Ternay
| Charles-Henri-Louis d'Arsac, chevalier de Ternay | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
27 January 1723 Angers, France |
| Died | 15 December 1780 (aged 57) Duc de Bourgogne, Newport, Rhode Island |
| Buried | Trinity Churchyard, Newport, Rhode Island |
| Allegiance |
 Sovereign Military Order of Malta Kingdom of France
|
| Service/branch |
 French Navy
|
| Years of service | 1738-1780 |
| Rank | Rear Admiral |
| Unit | Expédition Particulière |
| Battles/wars |
Seven Years' War American Revolutionary War |
Charles-Henri-Louis d'Arsac, chevalier de Ternay (27 January 1723 - 15 December 1780) was a French naval officer. Most active in the Seven Years' War and the War of American Independence, Ternay was the naval commander of a 1762 expedition that successfully captured St. John's Newfoundland. He was appointed commander of the Marine Royale, French naval forces, as part of the project code named Expédition Particulière that brought French troops to American soil in 1780. He died aboard ship off Newport, Rhode Island.
Ternay was born on 27 January 1723, probably in Angers, to Charles-François d'Arsac, Marquis de Ternay and Louise Lefebvre de Laubrière. He served as a page in the Knights of Malta beginning in 1737, and joined the French Navy the following year. He rose through the ranks, and received his first command, the Robuste, on 10 January 1761.
In 1762, late in the Seven Years' War, Ternay was chosen to lead a secret expedition against the British-controlled island of Newfoundland. With instructions to take and hold the island, and possibly also make an attack on Fortress Louisbourg, then in British hands, Ternay led a squadron of two ships of the line, one frigate, and two flutes through the British blockade of the French coast from Brest on 20 May 1762. Arriving at Bay Bulls on June 20, he landed 750 soldiers, led by Joseph-Louis-Bernard de Cléron d'Haussonville, who captured St. John's without resistance from its small British garrison. Ternay then oversaw the destruction of St. John's fishing stages and fishing fleet. British estimates of the damage ran to £1 million.
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