Sébastien Lespès
Encyclopedia
Sébastien-Nicolas-Joachim Lespès was a French admiral who played an important role in naval operations during the Sino-French War
(August 1884–April 1885), as second-in-command of Admiral Amédée Courbet
's Far East Squadron
.
(Basses-Pyrénées). He attended the École Navale
, passing out as a midshipman (aspirant) on 1 August 1846. In 1850, after serving successively on the warships Inflexible, Friedland, Océan and Psyché with the French Squadron of Evolutions (escadre d'évolutions), he took part in the Senegal
campaign aboard the brig Aigle. He received his promotion to enseigne de vaisseau during the course of this campaign, on 26 October 1850.
During the Crimean War
(1854-6) he saw service aboard the warship Valmy in the Black Sea
, and also distinguished himself ashore with the French naval batteries at the Siege of Sebastopol. He was promoted lieutenant de vaisseau on 2 December 1854, and was also decorated with the cross of a chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
He was posted to the Far East in 1857 and saw active service in the Second Opium War
and the Cochinchina campaign
, serving successively aboard the warships Audacieux, Némésis, Dordogne and Duchayla. He was present with Némésis at the attack on the Pei-ho forts and at the capture of Da Nang (September 1858), and with Duchayla at the capture of the Kien Chan forts during the Siege of Tourane (18 November 1859).
In April 1860 he was appointed to the command of the aviso Norzagaray and given the task of scouting the river routes of Cambodia
.
He was promoted capitaine de frégate on 27 January 1864 and took part in the Iceland campaign, for two summers, as second officer of Pandore. He was then appointed by Commandant d'Ariès as chief of staff of the West Coast naval division (division navale du littoral ouest de la France).
In 1869 he sailed for Shanghai with the corvette Dupleix as flag captain and chief of staff to Rear Admiral Krantz, who had recently assumed command of the China and Japan Seas naval division. He therefore saw no action during the Franco-Prussian War
(1870–71). In the early 1870s Dupleix left the division to undergo repairs, and was replaced by Montcalm. Lespès remained in command of Montcalm until 1876.
During this tour of duty in the Far East, on 20 May 1873, Lespès was promoted capitaine de vaisseau.
In 1876, following his return to Toulon, he assumed command of the frigate Revanche, one of the warships of France's squadron of evolutions (escadre d'évolutions). Revanche was seriously damaged by a boiler explosion in May 1877, and Lespès was subsequently given command of the ironclad Héroïne, also with the squadron of evolutions (May 1877–May 1878).
During the next five years Lespès held two important administrative posts on the Conseil des travaux de la marine and the Conseil d'Amirauté. He also held successive command of the first-class ironclads Redoutable and Amiral Duperré.
He was promoted rear admiral (contre-amiral) on 7 December 1881.
On 7 March 1884 Lespès arrived in Hong Kong aboard his flagship La Galissonnière to replace Admiral Charles Meyer in command of France's Far East naval division. After his arrival the naval division consisted of the ironclads La Galissonnière and Triomphante, the cruisers d'Estaing, Duguay-Trouin and Volta, and the gunboat Lutin.
The Tonkin Coasts and Far East naval divisions were both placed under Admiral Courbet's command in July 1884, as war with China loomed, and the two divisions were formally united into a Far East Squadron
in August 1884.
On 29 August 1884, while Courbet's squadron was fighting its way successfully down the Min River after its victory in the Battle of Fuzhou, Lespès came up from Keelung with his flagship La Galissonnière and attempted to force his way into the river. La Galissonnière came under fire from the Chinese forts at the entrance to the river, received several hits, and was forced to withdraw.
On 8 October 1884 Lespès was in overall command of the French attack on Tamsui, which was ignominiously repulsed by the Chinese. The Battle of Tamsui
was an embarrassing defeat for the French, and Courbet seems to have realised the limitations of his subordinate commander. Thereafter Lespès was given relatively unexacting duties. In February and early March 1885, while Courbet hunted down several Chinese ships of the Nanyang Fleet
and brought them to action in the Battle of Shipu
and the Battle of Zhenhai
, Lespès was left in command of the blockade of Formosa. In late March 1885, in the Pescadores Campaign
, Courbet took personal command of the naval expedition. Again, Lespès was left behind to direct the blockades of Formosa and the Yangzi River.
. He delivered a moving tribute to his predecessor at a memorial service for Courbet at Makung on 13 June attended by the sailors of the Far East Squadron and the marine infantry of the Formosa expeditionary corps that had fought the Pescadores Campaign
. His command lasted just over a month. On 25 July 1885 the French government reconstituted the traditional Far East naval division at close to its 1883 strength, and Lespès resumed command of his old division, with Admiral Adrien-Barthélémy-Louis Rieunier as his second-in-command. The postwar Far East naval division consisted of the ironclads La Galissonnière (Lespès' flagship), Turenne (Rieunier's flagship) and Triomphante, the cruisers Lapérousse, Primauguet, Champlain and Roland, and the gunboats Vipère and Sagittaire.
was invited aboard La Galissonnière in Keelung harbour and met Lespès. MacKay, who was accompanied by a Taiwanese student, was struck by the French admiral's humanity:
Lespès was a reflective and sensitive man, with a good deal of human sympathy. According to Captain Fournier of the French cruiser Éclaireur, who met George MacKay in Keelung on the eve of the French evacuation in June 1885, Lespès had made no secret of his distaste for Jules Ferry
's aggressive policy towards China, and believed that France should not have fought the Sino-French War
. This was also Fournier's view (he called the coercion of China 'a disgusting affair'), though it was not an opinion espoused by the majority of the officers of the Far East Squadron
.
Sino-French War
The Sino–French War was a limited conflict fought between August 1884 and April 1885 to decide whether France should replace China in control of Tonkin . As the French achieved their war aims, they are usually considered to have won the war...
(August 1884–April 1885), as second-in-command of Admiral Amédée Courbet
Amédée Courbet
Anatole-Amédée-Prosper Courbet was a French admiral who won a series of important land and naval victories during the Tonkin campaign and the Sino-French War .-Early years:...
's Far East Squadron
Far East Squadron
The French Far East Squadron was an exceptional naval grouping created for the duration of the Sino-French War .- Background :...
.
Early career
Sébastien Lespès was borne on 13 March 1828 at BayonneBayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
(Basses-Pyrénées). He attended the École Navale
École Navale
The École Navale is the French Naval Academy in charge of the education of the officers of the French Navy.The academy was founded in 1830 by the order of King Louis-Philippe...
, passing out as a midshipman (aspirant) on 1 August 1846. In 1850, after serving successively on the warships Inflexible, Friedland, Océan and Psyché with the French Squadron of Evolutions (escadre d'évolutions), he took part in the Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
campaign aboard the brig Aigle. He received his promotion to enseigne de vaisseau during the course of this campaign, on 26 October 1850.
During the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
(1854-6) he saw service aboard the warship Valmy in the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, and also distinguished himself ashore with the French naval batteries at the Siege of Sebastopol. He was promoted lieutenant de vaisseau on 2 December 1854, and was also decorated with the cross of a chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
He was posted to the Far East in 1857 and saw active service in the Second Opium War
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...
and the Cochinchina campaign
Cochinchina Campaign
The Cochinchina campaign , fought between the French and the Spanish on the one side and the Vietnamese on the other, began as a limited punitive campaign and ended as a French war of conquest...
, serving successively aboard the warships Audacieux, Némésis, Dordogne and Duchayla. He was present with Némésis at the attack on the Pei-ho forts and at the capture of Da Nang (September 1858), and with Duchayla at the capture of the Kien Chan forts during the Siege of Tourane (18 November 1859).
In April 1860 he was appointed to the command of the aviso Norzagaray and given the task of scouting the river routes of Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
.
He was promoted capitaine de frégate on 27 January 1864 and took part in the Iceland campaign, for two summers, as second officer of Pandore. He was then appointed by Commandant d'Ariès as chief of staff of the West Coast naval division (division navale du littoral ouest de la France).
In 1869 he sailed for Shanghai with the corvette Dupleix as flag captain and chief of staff to Rear Admiral Krantz, who had recently assumed command of the China and Japan Seas naval division. He therefore saw no action during the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
(1870–71). In the early 1870s Dupleix left the division to undergo repairs, and was replaced by Montcalm. Lespès remained in command of Montcalm until 1876.
During this tour of duty in the Far East, on 20 May 1873, Lespès was promoted capitaine de vaisseau.
In 1876, following his return to Toulon, he assumed command of the frigate Revanche, one of the warships of France's squadron of evolutions (escadre d'évolutions). Revanche was seriously damaged by a boiler explosion in May 1877, and Lespès was subsequently given command of the ironclad Héroïne, also with the squadron of evolutions (May 1877–May 1878).
During the next five years Lespès held two important administrative posts on the Conseil des travaux de la marine and the Conseil d'Amirauté. He also held successive command of the first-class ironclads Redoutable and Amiral Duperré.
He was promoted rear admiral (contre-amiral) on 7 December 1881.
Command of Far East naval division
The Tonkin Coasts and Far East naval divisions were both placed under Admiral Courbet's command in July 1884, as war with China loomed, and the two divisions were formally united into a Far East Squadron
Far East Squadron
The French Far East Squadron was an exceptional naval grouping created for the duration of the Sino-French War .- Background :...
in August 1884.
Sino-French War
Lespès did not possess Admiral Courbet's tactical brilliance, and his record as a naval commander during the Sino-French War was mixed. On 5 August 1884 he successfully destroyed the Chinese forts at Keelung, and landed a force of sailors to occupy the town. On 6 August the Chinese counterattacked, and Lespès was forced to re-embark his landing force.On 29 August 1884, while Courbet's squadron was fighting its way successfully down the Min River after its victory in the Battle of Fuzhou, Lespès came up from Keelung with his flagship La Galissonnière and attempted to force his way into the river. La Galissonnière came under fire from the Chinese forts at the entrance to the river, received several hits, and was forced to withdraw.
On 8 October 1884 Lespès was in overall command of the French attack on Tamsui, which was ignominiously repulsed by the Chinese. The Battle of Tamsui
Battle of Tamsui
The Battle of Tamsui , fought on 8 October 1884, was a significant French defeat during the Sino-French War.- Background :...
was an embarrassing defeat for the French, and Courbet seems to have realised the limitations of his subordinate commander. Thereafter Lespès was given relatively unexacting duties. In February and early March 1885, while Courbet hunted down several Chinese ships of the Nanyang Fleet
Nanyang Fleet
The Nanyang Fleet was one of the four modernised Chinese navies in the late Qing Dynasty. Established in the 1870s, the fleet suffered losses in the Sino-French War, escaped intact in the Sino-Japanese War, and was formally abolished in 1909....
and brought them to action in the Battle of Shipu
Battle of Shipu
The Battle of Shipu was a French naval victory during the Sino-French War . The battle took place on the night of 14 February 1885 in Shipu Bay , near Ningbo, China.- Background :...
and the Battle of Zhenhai
Battle of Zhenhai
The so-called Battle of Zhenhai was a minor confrontation on 1 March 1885 between Admiral Amédée Courbet's Far East Squadron and Chinese warships and shore batteries near the coastal city of Zhenhai, 12 miles downstream of Ningbo, during the Sino-French War...
, Lespès was left in command of the blockade of Formosa. In late March 1885, in the Pescadores Campaign
Pescadores Campaign
The Pescadores Campaign in late March 1885 was one of the last campaigns of the Sino-French War . It was fought to capture a strategically important island group off the western coast of Taiwan...
, Courbet took personal command of the naval expedition. Again, Lespès was left behind to direct the blockades of Formosa and the Yangzi River.
Command of the Far East Squadron
After Courbet's death on 11 June 1885, Lespès briefly assumed command of the Far East SquadronFar East Squadron
The French Far East Squadron was an exceptional naval grouping created for the duration of the Sino-French War .- Background :...
. He delivered a moving tribute to his predecessor at a memorial service for Courbet at Makung on 13 June attended by the sailors of the Far East Squadron and the marine infantry of the Formosa expeditionary corps that had fought the Pescadores Campaign
Pescadores Campaign
The Pescadores Campaign in late March 1885 was one of the last campaigns of the Sino-French War . It was fought to capture a strategically important island group off the western coast of Taiwan...
. His command lasted just over a month. On 25 July 1885 the French government reconstituted the traditional Far East naval division at close to its 1883 strength, and Lespès resumed command of his old division, with Admiral Adrien-Barthélémy-Louis Rieunier as his second-in-command. The postwar Far East naval division consisted of the ironclads La Galissonnière (Lespès' flagship), Turenne (Rieunier's flagship) and Triomphante, the cruisers Lapérousse, Primauguet, Champlain and Roland, and the gunboats Vipère and Sagittaire.
Personality and views
Lespès tended to make a good impression on those who made his acquaintance. On 9 August 1884, four days after the French bombardment of the Keelung forts, the Canadian missionary George MacKayGeorge Leslie Mackay
George Leslie Mackay was the first Presbyterian missionary to northern Formosa . He served with the Canadian Presbyterian Mission. Mackay is among the best known Westerners to have lived in Taiwan.-Early life:...
was invited aboard La Galissonnière in Keelung harbour and met Lespès. MacKay, who was accompanied by a Taiwanese student, was struck by the French admiral's humanity:
Four days after the bombardment, in company with an Englishman, I went around the coast in a steamship, and was allowed to go on shore to examine the smoking fortifications. Soldiers were lying on their faces, with bodies shattered. Evidently they had been fleeing when exploded shells ended their lives. These shells were sent with such terrific force as to cut off branches of a tree that were half a foot in diameter. A magazine that had exploded hurled masses of concrete to an incredible distance. The Englishman and myself, with one of my students, were invited on board the flagship La Galissonair and taken through every part of the vessel. When we went down below our attention was directed to three holes, nearly a foot in diameter, just above the surface of the water, made by shells from the Chinese fort. The vice-admiral spoke in the highest terms of the gunners who aimed so truly. Though he was a man of war, this officer was also a man of sympathy; for when my student looked afraid as the soldiers under drill and their officers dashed to and fro with swords dangling at their sides, he said, 'Poor fellow! Tell him not to be afraid. We have no pleasure in killing people.'
Lespès was a reflective and sensitive man, with a good deal of human sympathy. According to Captain Fournier of the French cruiser Éclaireur, who met George MacKay in Keelung on the eve of the French evacuation in June 1885, Lespès had made no secret of his distaste for Jules Ferry
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry was a French statesman and republican. He was a promoter of laicism and colonial expansion.- Early life :Born in Saint-Dié, in the Vosges département, France, he studied law, and was called to the bar at Paris in 1854, but soon went into politics, contributing to...
's aggressive policy towards China, and believed that France should not have fought the Sino-French War
Sino-French War
The Sino–French War was a limited conflict fought between August 1884 and April 1885 to decide whether France should replace China in control of Tonkin . As the French achieved their war aims, they are usually considered to have won the war...
. This was also Fournier's view (he called the coercion of China 'a disgusting affair'), though it was not an opinion espoused by the majority of the officers of the Far East Squadron
Far East Squadron
The French Far East Squadron was an exceptional naval grouping created for the duration of the Sino-French War .- Background :...
.