Decrès Denis — French Naval Minister

STUB — Added to Research Queue 2026-05-05

Discovered via: Villeneuve Pierre-Charles — French Admiral See RESEARCH_QUEUE for priority.

What We Know So Far

Born 18 June 1761, Châteauvillain (Haute-Marne); died 7 December 1820, Paris (from injuries in an explosion at his home).
Vice-Admiral and French Naval Minister under Napoleon, 1801–1814 and again during the Hundred Days, 1815.
Old friend and protector of Villeneuve Pierre-Charles — French Admiral — they had served together as junior officers.
Author of the 18 October 1805 letter to Villeneuve announcing Rosily-Mesros’s appointment to relieve him — the trigger for the sortie that became Trafalgar.
After Villeneuve’s death wrote: “This Villeneuve business is heart breaking for me … I do not believe it is a question of cowardice, but rather, simply of his having lost his head.”