nt to Canada as captain of
dragoons and aide-de-camp to the marquis de Montcalm; and having
distinguished himself in the war against England, was rewarded with the
rank of colonel and the cross of St Louis. He afterwards served in the
Seven Years' War from 1761 to 1763. After the peace, when the French
government conceived the project of colonizing the Falkland Islands,
Bougainville undertook the task at his own expense. But the settlement
having excited the jealousy of the Spaniards, the French government gave
it up to them, on condition of their indemnifying Bougainville. He was
then appointed to the command of the frigate "La Boudeuse" and the
transport "L'Etoile," and set sail in December 1766 on a voyage of
discovery round the world. Having executed his commission of delivering
up the Falkland Islands to the Spanish, Bougainville proceeded on his
expedition, and touched at Buenos Aires. Passing through the Straits of
Magellan, he visited the Tuamotu archipelago, and Tahiti, where the
English navigator Wallis had touched eight months before. He proceeded
across the Pacific Ocean by way of the Samoan group, which he named the
Navigators Islands, the New Hebrides and the Solomon Islands. His men
now suffering from scurvy, and his vessels requiring refitting, he
anchored at Buru, one of the Moluccas, where the governor of the Dutch
settlement supplied his wants. It was the beginning of September, and
the expedition took advantage of the easterly monsoon, which carried
them to Batavia. In March 1769 the expedition arrived at St Malo, with
the loss of only seven out of upwards of 200 men. Bougainville's account
of the voyage (Paris, 1771) is written with simplicity and some humour.
After an interval of several years, he again accepted a naval command
and saw much active service between 1779 and 1782. In the memorable
engagement of the 12th of April 1782, in which Rodney defeated the comte
de Grasse, near Martinique, Bougainville, who commanded the "Auguste,"
succeeded in rallying eight ships of his own division, and bringing them
safely into St Eustace. He was created _chef d'escadre_, and on
re-entering the army, was given the rank of _marechal de camp_. After
the peace he returned to Paris, and obtained the place of associate of
the Academy. He projected a voyage of discovery towards the north pole,
but this did not meet with support from the French government.
Bougainville obtained the rank of vice-admiral in 1791; and