TheSpecial Expedition (French:Expédition Particulière) was anexpeditionary force deployed byFrance to North America to support theUnited States againstGreat Britain during theAmerican Revolutionary War. Arriving at Newport, Rhode Island on 11 July 1780 under the leadership of theComte de Rochambeau, it numbered up to 5,500 troops and played a decisive role in the final battles of the war. Another 2,500 troops were intended to join the force but could not escape the Britishblockade ofBrest, France.
After remaining inactive for almost a year, Rochambeau marched his troops south to rendezvous withGeorge Washington'sContinental Army for a planned attack onNew York City. At Rochambeau's urging, Washington abandoned the operation and both forces were marched toVirginia to join the French fleet of AdmiralFrançois de Grasse in trapping British Lieutenant-GeneralCharles Cornwallis's armyat Yorktown; the subsequent Franco-American siege ended in Cornwallis surrendering in October 1781, which hastened negotiations towards a peace treaty ending the war.[1]
France had been in contact with AmericanPatriots as early as 1774 and by 1776 was sendinglarge amounts of covert financial aid and military supplies to their cause. Following theloss of a British army during theSaratoga campaign of 1777, France signed aTreaty of Alliance in February 1778 recognising American independence. The subsequentFranco-American alliance legitimised the American cause while securing direct French aid in the war. Shortly thereafter, a French fleet underCharles Hector, comte d'Estaing sailed out to coordinate with American allies against the British, with the aim of helping bring a swift end to the war.
The initial attempts to seek victory were beset by problems. Anoperation against Newport miscarried in 1778; the following year, the Franco-Americansiege of Savannah ended in defeat. D'Estaing and his ships then sailed for home, with relations between the allies severely strained.
On 2 May 1780[2] AdmiralTernay d'Arsac departedBrest with a seven-ship and three-frigate squadron, escorting 36 transports carrying troops to support theContinental Army in theAmerican Revolutionary War. The squadron comprised the 80-gunDuc de Bourgogne, under Ternay d'Arsac (admiral) andMédine (flag captain); the74-gunNeptune, underSochet Des Touches, andConquérant, underLa Grandière; and the 64-gunProvence underLombard,Ardent underBernard de Marigny,Jason underLa Clocheterie andÉveillé underLe Gardeur de Tilly, and the frigatesSurveillante underVilleneuve Cillart,Amazone underLa Pérouse, andBellone.[3]Amazone, which constituted the vanguard of the fleet, arrived at Boston on 11 June 1780.[4] Perhaps the most famous ship of all was theFrench frigate Hermione (1779), which ferried both the Marquis de Lafayette and his cousin the Marquis de Chastellux from Rochefort to Boston to support the war of independence.
The Special Expedition contained four regiments of foot:[5]
One battalion of artillery:[5]
One combined-arms legion:[5]
In July 1781, Rochambeau's army leftRhode Island and marched acrossConnecticut to join Washington's army on theHudson River atDobbs Ferry, New York. From there the combined forcesmarched overland to Virginia. During this time, Admiral de Grasse managed to defeat a British fleet sent from New York City to evacuate British GeneralCharles Cornwallis at theBattle of the Chesapeake on 5 September, trapping Cornwallis on the Yorktown peninsula. On September 22, Rochambeau and Washington combined forces with those of themarquis de Lafayette and began thesiege of Yorktown. The siege ended with the surrender of Cornwallis on 19 October 1781.[7]
Rochambeau's force wintered in Virginia. The following year they moved north towardsNew England. Washington again tried to interest Rochambeau in an attack on New York City,Charleston, orCanada, but the Frenchman rejected the proposals. Orders instead arrived for his expedition to go to theWest Indies, and in late 1782 it sailed from Boston forPort-au-Prince. However, by then thePeace of Paris had been agreed, and the planned 1783 campaign in the Caribbean never took place. In late April the French sailed for home, reaching Brest andToulon in June and July 1783.[8]
The expedition has been described as the only substantial force of foreign allies ever to serve on United States soil for an extended period.[9]