Born in Brest, Linois joined the French Navy as a volunteer in 1776, when he was 15 years old, serving aboard the ships Cesar and Protée in his home port.

[1][2] In August 1778, during the American War of Independence, he joined Bien-Aimé , part of d'Orvilliers' fleet in the Caribbean where, after only eight months service, he was temporarily appointed, lieutenant de frégate pour le campagne.

He served aboard the newly built Scipion from May 1779 to January 1781, when his two-year probationary period expired and he was confirmed, ensigne de vaisseau.

This was a short-lived appointment; on 1 March 1787, Linois left for home on the same storeship that had conveyed him to the Isle de France two years earlier.

[3] Another position ashore, as lieutenant de port at Brest, ended a period of unemployment that had lasted until 1 May 1789 and was followed, on 12 October 1790, by a posting to the ship-of-the-line, Victoire.

Levrette; managed to evade her pursuer, St Albans during the night but Atalante was unable to shake off Swiftsure which continued her chase throughout the following day.

[8] On 8 August, the expedition returned to Brest where Linois continued as Chief of Staff until 28 October 1800, when he was posted to Toulon as second in command to Admiral Ganteaume.

[9] Linois did not join Ganteaume in the unsuccessful attempt to bolster the French forces in Egypt but instead commanded the remainder of the Toulon fleet at the Siege of Porto Ferrajo and orchestrated the attack on Elba in May 1801.

[10] Aboard Formidable and in company with Desaix, Indomptable and Muiron, he set sail on 13 June, passing Gibraltar on 3 July and capturing the British brig Speedy.

After hearing from Speedy's captain, Thomas Lord Cochrane, that a powerful squadron under Sir James Saumarez was blockading Cadiz, Linois sought shelter beneath the Spanish guns of Algeciras.

[10] Linois' squadron was thus able to prevail during the first part of the Battle of Algeciras, aided by a lack of wind which prevented Saumarez' force arriving as one and left the British ships drifting helplessly.

Flying his flag aboard the 74-gun-ship Marengo, Linois left Brest on 6 March with only three frigates in company; much of the French fleet still being occupied at Saint-Domingue.

[14] Leaving half the troops to defend the Ile de France, Linois left with the remainder and his squadron for Batavia on 8 October; raiding a British trading station on Sumatra on the way, capturing eight merchant vessels, destroying three others and setting light to three stocked warehouses.

Setting out in Marengo with the 44-gun Atalante and Semillante, Linois first scoured the channel between Mozambique and Madagascar, before crossing the Indian Ocean to patrol the waters around Ceylon.

The French squadron arrived on 15 September to find two British east indiamen loading in the roadstead, under the protection of the 50-gun HMS Centurion and 3 guns on the shore.

[18] On the return journey, Linois' ships took another prize, and arrived at Ile de France on 1 November, to find Belle Poule with a capture of her own.

[19] With Brunswick under a prize crew, the squadron sailed for the Cape of Good Hope and at 16:00 on 6 August it encountered a convoy of ten east indiamen, accompanied by the 90-gun HMS Blenheim.

Unable to scatter the convoy and pick off prizes piecemeal, Marengo and Belle Poule sailed along its flank, engaging Blenheim for 30 minutes, on the way.

[19] By the time Belle Poule and Marengo had completed their pass at 18:00, they both required repairs; the former had received two holes in the hull and the latter, damage to the mainmast and foreyard.

Two further attacks were made during the day but the French were unable to make an impression and with ammunition supplies dwindling, Linois gave the order to withdraw.

[19] On 11 November, Marengo and Belle Poule left on a cruise of the west coast of Africa, travelling as far as Cape Lopez, Gabon, but only managing to secure a ship and a brig.

Realising his best chance of catching them was to scout around choke points, in December, his small squadron sailed for the popular British stop over of St Helena.

[20] On the return journey to France, Marengo and Belle Poule encountered a large British squadron under Admiral Warren off Cape Verde.