French casualty totals are uncertain because books listing those aboard were destroyed during the fighting. Several ships consequently appear simply as having heavy casualties, without a reliable count. A working estimate of 350 to 400 casualties is inferred from the neighboring Aquilon and Franklin, whose losses are given as 300 and 400 respectively. The number aboard also differed from nominal complements: ships had roughly 500 men available while others were ashore foraging to replace stores taken by Napoleon.
Notable Point · 1:34:15-1:35:03
Lost muster books complicate French casualty estimates
Destroyed personnel records leave some French losses described only as heavy, requiring estimates from neighboring ships.