Napoleon rejects Dumanoir at Toulon

Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley first appears as the officer commanding the Toulon squadron in 1804. Napoleon's blunt assessment was that Dumanoir could neither maintain discipline in so large a force nor make the squadron act. The emperor urged the navy minister to replace him without delay and named Bruix, Villeneuve, and Rosily as the only plausible candidates. Napoleon distrusted the officer already in place but had only a very short list of alternatives. His judgment also provides the standard against which the later profiles of Villeneuve and Rosily can be read.