Thibaud Charbonneau

Thibaud Alexandre Charbonneau was a French admiral and later Lord Secretary of the Navy for France.

Early Life
Thibaud Alexandre Charbonneau was born into a poor family in Marseille. He did not have much prospect in life so he worked as a farmer first and later decided to join the French navy.

Life
In the navy, Charbonneau showed great courage and understanding of naval tactics. His ship captain Florentin Delaunay supported his talent and referred him to the Naval college, were Charbonneau received formal training.

Upon his graduation from the Naval College at the age of 25 in 1674, Charbonneau became the captain of a small warship in the French fleet.

After the First Battle of the English Channel in 1683, where Charbonneau prove to be an excellent naval commander, he was promoted to an admiral at age 34. Soon peace was made with Great Britain and Charbonneau remained mostly idle with his fleet, occasionally tracking down Barbary States pirates in the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1697, at the age of 48 he was named Lord Secretary of the Navy by the French king and therefore took up residence in Paris.

Charbonneau died in 1705, aged 55 from Typhoid fever.