Hippolyte de Bouchard
| Hippolyte Bouchard | |
|---|---|
Hippolyte Bouchard, oil on canvas
by José Gil de Castro |
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| Born |
André Paul Bouchard 15 January 1780, Bormes-les-Mimosas, France |
| Died | 4 January 1837 (aged 56) Peru |
| Parent(s) |
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Hippolyte Bouchard, or Hipólito Bouchard (15 January 1780 – 4 January 1837), was a French Argentinesailor and corsair who fought for Argentina, Chile, and Peru.
During his first campaign as an Argentine corsair he attacked the Spanish colonies of Chile and Peru, under the command of the Irish-Argentine Admiral William Brown. He was the first Argentine to circumnavigate the world. During his voyage around the globe he blockaded the port of Manila. In Hawaii, he recovered an Argentine privateer which had been seized by mutineers. He also met the local ruler, King Kamehameha I. His forces occupied Monterey, California, then a Spanish colony, raised the Argentine flag and held the town for six days. After raiding Monterey, he plundered Mission San Juan Capistrano in Southern California. Toward the end of the voyage Bouchard raided Spanish ports in Central America. His second homeland remembers him as a hero and patriot; several places are named in his honour.
Bouchard was born in a small village close to Saint-Tropez, Bormes-les-Mimosas, in 1780 The son of André Louis Bouchard and Thérèse Brunet was baptized as André Paul but eventually went by the name Hippolyte. He initially worked in the French merchant fleet, then served in the French Navy in their campaigns against the English, thus starting his life at sea. After many campaigns in Egypt and the Saint-Domingue expedition, disillusioned with the direction of the French Revolution, Bouchard went to Argentina in 1809 and, to aid the May Revolution, became a part of the National Argentine Fleet, led by Azopardo. On 2 March 1811 he fought for the first time under the Argentine Flag when the Spanish Captain Jacinto de Romarate defeated the first Argentine flotilla at San Nicolás de los Arroyos, and in July and August of that year he played a major role in defending the City of Buenos Aires from a Spanish blockade. In March 1812 Bouchard joined the Mounted Grenadiers Regiment led by José de San Martín and took part in the Battle of San Lorenzo in 1813, where he captured a Spanish flag and therefore was granted Argentine citizenship. Some months later he married Norberta Merlo.
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Wikipedia