François Joseph Paul de Grasse
| François Joseph Paul de Grasse | |
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| Nickname | Comte de Grasse |
| Born | 13 September 1723 Le Bar-sur-Loup, France |
| Died | 11 January 1788 (aged 65) Tilly, Yvelines, Île-de-France, France |
| Buried at | Church of Saint-Roch, Paris |
| Allegiance |  Ordre de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem Royaume de France |
| Years of service | 1734-1784 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Général des Armées Navales |
| Battles/wars |
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Lieutenant Général des Armées Navales François-Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasse Tilly, comte de Grasse (13 September 1722 – 11 January 1788) was a French admiral. He is best known for his command of the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, which led directly to the British surrender at Yorktown.
De Grasse was decisively defeated the following year by Admiral Rodney at the Battle of the Saintes, where he was captured. He was widely criticised for this. On his return to France, he demanded a court martial; he was acquitted of fault in his defeat.
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Early life [edit]
François-Joseph de Grasse was born and raised at Bar-sur-Loup in south-eastern France, the last child of Francois de Grasse Rouville, Marquis de Grasse[1] who earned his title and supported his Provençal family. At the age of eleven, he entered the Order of Malta as a page of the Grand Master.[citation needed]
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In 1734, de Grasse became an ensign on the galleys of the Knights Hospitaller.[citation needed] In 1741 at the age of 19, he entered the French Navy.[citation needed]
Following Britain's victory over the French in the Seven Years War, de Grasse helped rebuild the French navy in the years after the Treaty of Paris (1763).
American War of Independence [edit]
In 1775, the American War of Independence broke out when some of Britain's American colonists rebelled. France supplied the rebels with covert aid, but remained officially neutral until 1778. The Treaty of Alliance (1778) established the Franco-American Alliance and France entered the war.
As a commander of a division, de Grasse served under Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers at the First Battle of Ushant from July 23 to 27, 1778. The battle, fought off Britanny, was indecisive.
In 1779, he joined the fleet of Count d'Estaing in the Caribbean and distinguished himself in the battles of Dominica and Saint Lucia during 1780 and of Tobago during 1781. He contributed to the capture of Grenada and took part in the three actions fought by Guichen against Admiral Rodney in the Battle of Martinique (1780).
Yorktown campaign [edit]
He came to the aid of Washington and Rochambeau's Expédition Particulière, setting sail with 3,000 men from Saint-Domingue. De Grasse landed the 3,000 French reinforcements in Virginia, and immediately afterward decisively defeated the British fleet in the Battle of the Chesapeake in September 1781. He drew away the British forces and blockaded the coast until Lord Cornwallis surrendered, ensuring the independence of the United States of America.
Battle of the Saintes [edit]
He returned to the Caribbean, where he was less fortunate and was defeated at the Battle of St. Kitts by Admiral Hood. Shortly afterward, in April 1782, he was defeated and taken prisoner by Admiral Rodney at the Battle of the Saintes. He was taken to London, and while there briefly took part in the negotiations that laid the foundations for the Peace of Paris (1783), which brought the war to an end.
He returned to France, published a Mémoire justificatif. In 1784, he was acquitted a court-martial.
Later life [edit]
He died at Tilly (Yvelines) in 1788; his tomb is in the church of Saint-Roch in Paris.[2]
His son Alexandre Francois Auguste de Grasse published a Notice biographique sur l'amiral comte de Grasse d'après les documents inédits in 1840.
Memorials [edit]
There is a monument commemorating Admiral de Grasse and the sailors who helped the United States achieve its independence from the British Crown at the Cape Henry Memorial, Joint Expeditionary Base East, Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is maintained by the Colonial National Historical Park of the National Park Service. A statue of Admiral de Grasse is in the Place de la Tour of Le Bar-sur-Loup, the village where he was born and grew up and another statue is located in the riverwalk landing located in Yorktown, Virginia..
A. Kingsley Macomber, an American resident of France since the end of World War I, commissioned the monument of Admiral de Grasse at the Trocadero Palace in Paris in 1931. [2]
The Grasse River, which flows through St. Lawrence County, New York, is named for him.
Vessel names [edit]
The French Navy has had two vessels named in his honour:
- An anti-aircraft cruiser (1939–1974).
- A first-rank frigate of the F67 type.
The United States Navy has had three vessels named in his honour:
- USS Comte de Grasse (DD-974), a large multirole destroyer of the Spruance class. (commissioned 1978- decommissioned 1998)
- USS De Grasse (AP-164/AK-223), a Crater-class cargo ship used during World War II. (1943–1946)
- USS De Grasse (ID-1217) a yacht used in 1918.
A mid-sized French commercial ocean liner named SS De Grasse also operated during the 1920s. Ayn Rand claimed to have emigrated to America on this vessel.[3]
References [edit]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Bibliography [edit]
- G. Lacour-Gayet, La Marine militaire de la France sous le règne de Louis XV (Paris, 1902).
- Lewis, Charles Lee. Admiral de Grasse and American independence. Arno Press, 1980.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: François Joseph Paul de Grasse |
- Catholic Encyclopedia article
- 1782 Caricature of De Grasse, Admiral Rodney and King George III by James Gillray
- Spanish and Latin American assistance to de Grasse in the Yorktown Campaign
- National Park Service, Cape Henry, Yorktown, VA: Admiral Comte de Grasse Memorial
- William Cowper's poem, The Colubriad, refers to his queue of flatterers while a prisoner in London
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