CASTELLANE-MAJASTRE, Henri-César.

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Journal d'Henri-César de Castellane Majastre, Commandant les Chébecs du Roi Le Caméléon & Le Singe, armés à Toulon le 23 juin 1773... A manuscript log of the anti-corsair patrols of Henri-César de Castellane-Majastre (1733-1789), a French naval officer who later distinguished himself at the Battle of the Chesapeake and participated in the Yorktown campaign. In 1773, as a lieutenant, he commanded the royal xebecs Le Caméléon and Le Singe from Toulon.The first 15 pages record navigation, weather, reconnaissance, and the identification of suspicious vessels along the Mediterranean coast between Sète and Villefranche-sur-Mer. On 3 July, following six tartanes, Castellane positions his vessels between the Tour Fondue, on the Giens peninsula, and Porquerolles, ready to intercept corsairs. Three days later, he fires on an approaching pink displaying no colours, then allows it to proceed after discovering it poses no threat. On 7 July he rescues the crew of a tartane drifting ablaze. On 15 July, questioning the master of a Spanish barque about corsair activity off Cap de Creus, he learns of four Spanish xebecs under Antonio Barceló, subsequently celebrated for his campaigns against Algerian corsairs. Le Caméléon had earlier been commanded by Pierre André de Suffren, later a celebrated admiral.The remaining 14 pages contain genealogical notes, apparently in Castellane's hand, assembled to establish his noble ancestry for admission to the royal orders of Notre-Dame du Mont-Carmel and S

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