Généreux was a French Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line. She was launched in 1785 at Rochefort. Under Louis-Jean-Nicolas Lejoille, she was one of only two ships to escape the British attack at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798, along with Guillaume Tell. Shortly after the battle of the Nile, on 18 August 1798, she fell in with a smaller British ship of the line, HMS Leander of 50 guns. After a long battle, the Généreux captured the Leander, with the Leander suffering 35 killed and 57 wounded and the Généreux suffered around 100 killed and 180 wounded.