Jean Isaac Timothée Chadeau, Sieur de la Clocheterie (1741–1782) was a French naval officer of the American Revolutionary War.
There he met the botanist Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, who described him as "a young man, with a dashing figure, very modest, who hardly spoke and was devoted to his duties".
As Lieutenant commanding the frigate Belle Poule, La Clocheterie fought the action of 17 June 1778 against HMS Arethusa, the casus belli that precipitated the French entry into the American Revolutionary War.
According to a widely circulated anecdote, the king informed him of his new commission during a game of piquet, taking him to task for his infidelity to his ship, and when de la Clocheterie expressed surprise saying "You are sure to abandon the Belle Poule to be captain of a ship with 64 guns.
"[8] Not only the engagement, but also La Clocheterie's reception at court and his reward were reported in British,[9][10] French,[11][12][13] Spanish,[14] German,[15] Swiss,[16] and Dutch[17] reviews of current affairs of the year 1778.