Charles-Marie Cunat ( Saint-Malo, 20 May 1789 [1] – Saint-Malo, 21 February 1862. [2]) was a French naval officer, privateer and naval historian.
Cunat started sailing at the age of 16 on the privateer Napoléon, on which he fought in two battles. [1] In 1808, he enlisted on the privateer Deux-Sœurs; during the campaign, he was appointed to the prize crew sent aboard a captured ship, which turned out to be so badly damaged that she had to make a port call in Tharangambadi for fear of sinking. [1] Cunat was taken prisoner and the British sent him to Puducherry. [1]
Released on parole in 1809, he returned to Mauritius. The year after, he enlisted as a chief gunner on the frigate Minerve, under Captain Bouvet. [1] He took part in all the battles of Minerve, and sustained two injuries at the shoulder and the eye. [1]
After the Invasion of Isle de France in late 1810, he returned to France, and obtained the rank of Ensign in 1811. [1] He was then appointed to a ship of the line in Antwerp. During the Siege of Antwerp in 1814, Bouvet fought ashore, leading a 25-man platoon. [1]
After the Bourbon Restoration, he settled in Mauritius, retired from the Navy, and became the ship-owner of the Latchimie [note 1] and sailed several journeys in the Indian Ocean. [2] In 1830, he was awarded the Legion of Honour. [2]
Returned to France to support his ailing wife, Cunat continued to sail merchantmen as captain of the Noémi. [2] After his wife's death, he remarried and settled in Saint-Malo in 1835 to raise his children. [2] From 1835 to 1862, he served as an aid to the major of Saint-Malo, and wrote History books in his spare time. [2]
Cunat furthermore contributed the articles on André Désilles, René Duguay-Trouin, Joseph Potier, Robert Surcouf and various others in the Biographie bretonne directed by Prosper Levot: [2]