Jean Dalbarade (or d'Albarade; 31 August 1743 – 31 December 1819) was a French naval officer who became an extremely successful corsair.
[1] At the age of sixteen, on 14 March 1759 he joined the royal ship Outarde as an apprentice seaman in a voyage to Quebec.
He then joined Minerve, armed with four cannon and 14 swivels, and then was made first lieutenant on Triomphante, a frigate with a crew of 160.
The port was recovered by forces under General Jacques François Dugommier, but the English caused great damage before retiring.
Vice-admiral Morard de Galles, based on Brest with a fleet of twenty ships of the line and four frigates, received orders to cruise the dangerous waters between the islands of Groix and Belle-Isle to prevent the English from assisting the royalists in Brittany and the Vendée.
[10] He and Kerguelen, commander of one of the divisions of the fleet, proposed to Dalbarade that a better way to prevent the enemy from considering a descent on the coasts of France would be to go out and cruise.
[10] The crews wanted to return to Brest because they had no chance of taking prizes, had been eating almost nothing but salt meat for four months and were poorly clothed.
[10] Unable to maintain discipline, Morard de Galles ordered the fleet back to Brest.
[7] On 27 September 1793 Sonthonnax proclaimed the abolition of slavery on the whole of Santo Domingo, including the Spanish portion.
[14] Dalbarade remained at his post with the new title of Commissaire en charge de la Marine et des Colonies.
[1] Dalbarade left the ministry on 1 July 1795, and the next day was named military commander of the port of Lorient, a post he held for twenty five months.
The fire, which raged on board the naval vessel Quatorze Juillet, threatened to spread to the town.
[16] On 19 Brumaire year VIII the council of maritime law, sitting in Paris, acquitted Jean d'Albarade from the charges of negligence.
He finally left the navy on 1 Vendémiaire year IX (22 September 1800) and retired to Saint Jean-de-Luz.
[17] Later he wrote two letters to Citizen Bonaparte, First Consul, asking for employment suitable to his experience and knowledge, but these went unanswered.