Louis-Antoine-Cyprien Infernet

Who was Louis-Antoine-Cyprien Infernet?

Louis-Antoine-Cyprien Infernet was a French Navy officer, famous for his bravery at the Battle of Trafalgar. He was born of humble origins near Toulon, a relative of André Masséna, he was rough and spoke in a strong Provencal accent. He joined the French navy as a cabin boy and performed 'powder monkey' duties too. He was a tall man for the time 5'10" and of open, agreeable personality.

Infernet captained the Intrépide, a Spanish-built 74-gun, at the Battle of Trafalgar. She was part of Dumanoir's six-ship vanguard squadron; Nelson's plan left these ships downwind and away from the fight, and Dumanoir did not answer Villeneuve's calls to tack and return to engage the English. Eventually, Infernet outraged at Dumanoir's lack of hunger for a fight ordered his ship turned. This was a difficult manouevre as the wind had died, but Intrepide was turned after a pulling was lowered, and eventually enough way was gathered to enter the battle. Intrepide engaged the HMS Leviathan and Africa, soon rejoined by Agamemnon, Ajax, Orion and Conqueror. Pressed to surrender, Infernet answered in Nice dialect:

By then, Intrépide had lost all her masts, half her crew and was filled with 8ft of water.