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Concept
Albin Roussin
Summary
Albin Reine Roussin (21 April 1781 – 21 February 1854) was a French admiral and statesman.
His father was a lawyer who was arrested during the French Revolution when Roussin was aged twelve. He left home in Dijon and travelled to Dunkerque where he enlisted as a cadet in the French Navy in December 1793. He served from 1794 to 1797 on various frigates. In 1801 he sat and passed the midshipman's exam following to lessons from the hydrographer Jean Petit-Genet.
His first posting as an officer was to command a gunboat at Antwerp, part of the "National Flotilla" of coastal ships, collecting in various Channel ports for Napoleon's projected invasion of England. By 1803 he was promoted to ensign and embarked aboard the frigate Sémillante under the command of Captain Léonard-Bernard Motard. They would spend six years in the Indian Ocean, based on Réunion, preying on British shipping bound to and from India.
The worn-out Sémillante was paid off at Mauritius in 1808 after sustaining damage in a fight with the Royal Navy frigate Terpsichore. Roussin was promoted to lieutenant and posted to the corvette Iéna. A cruise in the Persian Gulf and the Bay of Bengal ended when the Iéna encountered the 46-gun Royal Navy frigate Modeste off Calcutta and was captured after a two-hour engagement on 8 October 1808. Roussin and his captain, Lieutenant Maurice, were exchanged at the end of 1809 and returned to Réunion. Roussin was appointed second in command to Bouvet de Maisonneuve aboard the frigate Minerve, a prize taken by Guy-Victor Duperré. Roussin received a mention in Bouvet's dispatches for his conduct during the battle of Grand Port in August 1810. However, the French success at Grand Port was only a temporary setback to British plans to conquer Mauritius and Réunion, and Governor Comte Decaen finally signed a capitulation in December.
Roussin was repatriated to France where he met the Emperor, who confirmed his promotion to Captain and presented him with the légion d'honneur. Roussin was posted to command the frigate Gloire fitting out at Le Havre.
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