François Joseph Paul de Grasse | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname | Comte de Grasse |
| Born | (1722-09-13)13 September 1722 |
| Died | 11 January 1788(1788-01-11) (aged 65) |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Order of Saint John(1734–1741) Kingdom of France(1741–1784) |
| Branch |  French Navy |
| Years of service | 1734–1784 |
| Rank | Lieutenant général des armées navales |
| Battles / wars | |
| Signature | .png) |
François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, Marquis of Grasse-Tilly,KM (13 September 1722 – 11 January 1788) was aFrench Navy officer. He is best known for his crucial victory over theRoyal Navy at theBattle of the Chesapeake in 1781 during theAmerican Revolutionary War. The battle directly led to the Franco-American victory at thesiege of Yorktown and helped secure the independence of theUnited States.
After the battle, de Grasse returned with his fleet to the Caribbean. In 1782, a British fleet under AdmiralGeorge Rodney defeated and captured de Grasse at theBattle of the Saintes. De Grasse was widely criticised for his defeat in the battle. On his return to France in 1784, he blamed his captains for the defeat. Acourt-martial exonerated all of his captains, effectively ending his naval career.
François-Joseph de Grasse was born and raised atBar-sur-Loup in south-eastern France, the last child of Francois de Grasse Rouville, Marquis de Grasse.[1] He earned his title[clarification needed] and supported hisProvençal family.
De Grasse married Antoinette Rosalie Accaron in 1764, and they had six children who survived to adulthood, among them his eldest sonAlexandre Francois Auguste de Grasse. Auguste had a career in the French army and inherited his father's title as count in 1788. His younger brother Maxime died young in 1773. They had four sisters: Amélie Rosalie Maxime, Adélaide, Melanie Veronique Maxime, and Silvie de Grasse. Silvie married M. Francis de Pau inCharleston, South Carolina, and raised a family with him in New York City.[2]
After his wife Antoinette died young, de Grasse married again, to Catherine Pien, widow of M. de Villeneuve. She also died before him. Thirdly, he married Marie Delphine Lazare de Cibon.[3]
In addition, while in service in India during and after theSeven Years' War, de Grasse is believed to have fathered amixed-race, French-Indian boy with an Indian woman inCalcutta. The boy, born about 1780, was known as Azar Le Guen. De Grasse brought the boy back to Paris with him for his education and formally adopted him, naming him George de Grasse. After his father's death, the young man went to the United States by 1799, where he settled in New York City. He worked for a time forAaron Burr, likely meeting him through a connection of his father's. Burr gave him two lots of land in Manhattan, and George de Grasse became a naturalized citizen in 1804.[4]
George de Grasse married well and educated his three children: his sonJohn van Salee de Grasse was the first African American to graduate from medical school and became a respected physician inBoston; he served as a surgeon in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The eldest son,Isaiah George DeGrasse, became a Protestant Episcopal minister, and daughter Serena marriedGeorge Downing, who became a renowned restaurant entrepreneur and civil rights activist.
At the age of eleven (1734), de Grasse entered theOrder of Saint John as apage of the Grand Master. He served as anensign on thegalleys in battles against the Turks and the Moors.[5][6] In 1740 at the age of 17, he formally entered theFrench Navy.[5]
He participated in French naval action in India during the Seven Years' War. He was intermittently stationed inCalcutta (now Kolkata), India, from the 1760s to 1781.[4]
FollowingBritain's victory over the French in the Seven Years' War, de Grasse helped rebuild the French navy in the years after theTreaty of Paris (1763).
In 1775, theAmerican War of Independence broke out when American colonists rebelled against British rule. France supplied the colonists with covert aid, but remained officially neutral until 1778. TheTreaty of Alliance established theFranco-American alliance, and France entered the war on behalf of the rebels and against Great Britain.
As a commander of a division, Comte de Grasse served underLouis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers at theFirst Battle of Ushant from July 23 to 27, 1778. The battle, fought offBrittany, was indecisive.
In 1779, he joined the fleet ofCharles Henri Hector d'Estaing in theWest Indies as commander of a squadron;[7] they were operating to counter the Royal Navy of Britain. He contributed to thecapture of Grenada that year, and took part in the three actions fought byLuc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen against AdmiralGeorge Rodney in theBattle of Martinique. De Grasse was promoted to lieutenant-general of the Navy (equivalent to vice-admiral) in March 1781, and was successful in defeating AdmiralSamuel Hood and takingTobago.[7]
De Grasse responded toGeorge Washington andComte de Rochambeau'sExpédition Particulière when they appealed for his aid in 1781, setting sail with 3,000 troops fromSaint-Domingue, where the French Caribbean fleet was based.[7] De Grasse landed the French reinforcements in Virginia. Immediately afterward he defeated a British fleet at theBattle of the Chesapeake in September 1781. He drew away the British forces and blockaded the coast until Lieutenant GeneralCharles Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, ensuring the independence of the newUnited States of America.[7]
De Grasse returned his fleet to the Caribbean. He was less fortunate in 1782 and was defeated at theBattle of St. Kitts by AdmiralSamuel Hood. Shortly afterward, in April 1782, de Grasse was again defeated, and taken prisoner by Rodney at theBattle of the Saintes. He initially sailed with the British fleet toPort Royal, Jamaica but after a period of only around one week was permitted to leave on the first convoy to England. Here he was landed onSouthsea beach, allegedly to much applause. In August he was granted an audience withKing George III and was re-presented with his own sword, surrendered to Rodney at The Saintes.[8]
He was taken to London for a time. While there, he briefly took part in the negotiations that laid the foundations for thePeace of Paris (1783), which brought the American Revolutionary War to an end. It also realigned control of some of the Caribbean islands.
De Grasse was released to return to France, where he was strongly criticized for his defeat in the Caribbean. He published aMémoire justificatif and demanded acourt-martial. An inquiry into the events of the battle started in 1783, ending in 1784 in acquittal for most of the officers involved, including de Grasse.[9]
De Grasse was a Commander of theOrder of St. Louis and a Knight of theOrder of St. John of Jerusalem. He was also a member of the AmericanSociety of the Cincinnati. De Grasse died atTilly (Yvelines) in 1788; his tomb is in thechurch of Saint-Roch inParis.
His grown children from his marriages all emigrated toSaint-Domingue. His eldest son,Auguste de Grasse, inherited the title of Comte de Grasse-Tilly. He was stationed in Saint-Domingue in 1789 as a naval officer, and acquired a large plantation and 200 slaves. He was joined by his stepmother and sisters.
After the Royal Navy defeated the French fleet there in 1793, during theHaitian Revolution, Auguste de Grasse was among the officers who surrendered and were allowed to leave. He migrated with his family (including his four sisters, who had joined him) and settled for several years inCharleston, South Carolina. Two sisters died there ofyellow fever in 1799. Silvie, the youngest, married and moved with her husband to New York City.
After returning to France in the early 1800s afterNapoleon came to power, Auguste de Grasse resumed his military career, this time in the army.
In his later years, he wrote a memoir about his father and his own travels in the New World, published in 1840 asNotice biographique sur l'amiral comte de Grasse d'après les documents inédits.
TheFrench Navy has named two vessels in his honour:
TheUnited States Navy has had three vessels named in his honour:
Citations
References
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