François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, Marquis of Grasse-Tilly,SMOM(13 September 1722 – 11 January 1788) was aFrench Navyofficer and nobleman. He is best known for his strategically decisive victory over the British while in command of the French fleet at theBattle of the Chesapeakein 1781 in the last year of theAmerican Revolutionary War.It directly led to the Franco-American victory at thesiege of Yorktownand helped secure the independence of theUnited States.
François Joseph Paul de Grasse | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname(s) | Comte de Grasse |
| Born | 13 September 1722 Le Bar-sur-Loup,Provence |
| Died | 11 January 1788(aged 65) Tilly,Île-de-France |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Order of Saint John(1734–1741) Kingdom of France(1741–1784) |
| Service |  French Navy |
| Years of service | 1734–1784 |
| Rank | Lieutenant général des armées navales |
| Battles / wars | |
| Signature |  |
After this action, de Grasse returned with his fleet to the Caribbean. In 1782, a British fleet under AdmiralGeorge Rodneydefeated 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-martialexonerated all of his captains, effectively ending his naval career.
Early life
editFrançois-Joseph de Grassewas born and raised atBar-sur-Loupin south-eastern France, the last child of Francois de Grasse Rouville, Marquis de Grasse.[1]He earned his title[clarification needed]and supported hisProvençalfamily.
Marriage and family
editDe 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 Grassewas 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.
Naval career
editAt the age of eleven (1734), de Grasse entered theOrder of Saint Johnas apageof the Grand Master. He served as anensignon thegalleysin 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).
American War of Independence
edit
In 1775, theAmerican War of Independencebroke out when American colonists rebelled against British rule. France supplied the colonists with covert aid, but remained officially neutral until 1778. TheTreaty of Allianceestablished 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'Orvilliersat theFirst Battle of Ushantfrom July 23 to 27, 1778. The battle, fought offBrittany,was indecisive.
In 1779, he joined the fleet ofComte d'Estaingin theCaribbeanas commander of a squadron;[7]they were operating to counter the Royal Navy of Britain. He contributed to thecapture of Grenadathat year, and took part in the three actions fought byGuichenagainstAdmiral Rodneyin 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 Hoodand takingTobago.[7]
Battle of the Chesapeake and Yorktown campaign
editDe Grasse responded toGeorge WashingtonandComte de Rochambeau'sExpédition Particulièrewhen 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 decisively defeated the British fleet in theBattle of the Chesapeakein September 1781. He drew away the British forces and blockaded the coast until Lieutenant GeneralCharles Cornwallissurrendered at Yorktown, ensuring the independence of the newUnited States of America.[7]
Battle of the Saintes
editDe Grasse returned his fleet to the Caribbean. He was less fortunate in 1782 and was defeated at theBattle of St. KittsbyAdmiral Hood.Shortly afterward, in April 1782, Admiral de Grasse was again defeated, and taken prisoner byAdmiral Rodneyat theBattle of the Saintes.He initially sailed with the British fleet toPort Royal, Jamaicabut after a period of only around one week was permitted to leave on the first convoy to England. Here he was landed onSouthseabeach, allegedly to much applause. In August he was granted an audience withKing George IIIand 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 justificatifand 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]
Later life
editDe Grasse was a Commander of theOrder of St. Louisand a Knight of theOrder of St. John of Jerusalem.He was also a member of the AmericanSociety of the Cincinnati.
Admiral de Grasse died atTilly(Yvelines) in 1788; his tomb is in thechurch of Saint-RochinParis.
Family trials
editHis 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 feverin 1799. Silvie, the youngest, married and moved with her husband to New York City.
After returning to France in the early 1800s afterNapoleoncame 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.
Memorials and honors
edit
- A monument was installed to commemorate Admiral de Grasse and his sailors at theCape Henry Memorial,Joint Expeditionary Base East,Virginia Beach, Virginia.It is maintained by theColonial National Historical Parkof theNational Park Service.
- A statue of Admiral de Grasse was installed at the riverwalk landing inYorktown, Virginia.
- A statue of Admiral de Grasse is in the Place de la Tour of Le Bar-sur-Loup, the French village where he was born and grew up.
- Sometime between 1829 and 1839,Heman Allen,a formerU.S. RepresentativeandAmbassador to Chile,named theGrasse Mountestate inBurlington, Vermontafter de Grasse.[10]
- A. Kingsley Macomber,an American resident of France since the end ofWorld War I,commissioned a monument of Admiral de Grasse in 1931 to be placed at theTrocadero PalaceinParis.[11]
- TheGrasse River,which flows throughSt. Lawrence County, New York,and the hamlet ofDegrassein the Town ofRussell, New York,are named for him.
- De Grassewas the name of two medium-sizedFrench Line passenger ships,one built in 1924 in Scotland, and the other formally the 1956-builtBergensfjordof Norwegian America Lines, which was introduced in 1971. The first ship was famous world-wide, serving the transatlantic route; it later was used by the Allies as a troop ship in World War II.
- The secondDe Grasseserved the Le Havre–Southampton–West Indies service with little success, as ships were being replaced by the airlines. She was sold off in 1973.[12]
Other vessel names
editTheFrench Navyhas named two vessels in his honour:
- Ananti-aircraft cruiser(in service from 1956 to 1973).
- Afirst-rank frigateof theF67 type.
TheUnited States Navyhas had three vessels named in his honour:
- USSComte de Grasse(DD-974),a large multi-role destroyer of theSpruanceclass.(commissioned 1978, decommissioned 1998).
- USSDe Grasse(AP-164/AK-223),aCrater-classcargo shipused duringWorld War II(1943–1946).
- USSDe Grasse(ID-1217),a patrol boat used in 1918.
References
editCitations
- ^Shea, John Gilmary (1864)."The Operations of the French Fleet Under the Count de Grasse in 1781-2: As... - Google Books".Retrieved15 January2017.
- ^Shea, John Gilmary (1864).Notice+biographique+sur+l'amiral+comte+de+Grasse+d'apr%C3%A8s+les+documents+in%C3%A9dits.&pg=PA24The Operations of the French Fleet Under the Count de Grasse in 1781-2: As Described in Two Contemporaneous Journals.Bradford Club.
- ^John Gilmary Shea,The Operations of the French Fleet Under the Count de Grasse in 1781-2: As Described in Two Contemporaneous Journals,Bradford Club, 1864, pp. 22-23
- ^abP. Kanakamedala, "George DeGrasse a South Asian in Early African America",inIndia in the American Imaginary, 1780s–1880s,ed. by Anupama Arora & Rajender Kaur; Springer, 2017, pp. 228-243
- ^abStewart (2008), p.95.
- ^"François-Joseph-Paul Grasse".newadvent.org.Retrieved19 May2015.
- ^abcd"François-Joseph-Paul, count de Grasse",Encyclopædia Britannicaonline, 2003/2018
- ^London magazine - August 1782
- ^Miles, A. H. (January 1929)."A Great Forgotten Man".Proceedings, U.S. Naval Institute.
- ^Burridge, Pauline E. (3 December 1930)."Glimpses of Grasse Mount, Part II".Vermont Alumni Weekly, Vol. X, No. 10.
- ^"Herbert Hoover: Message to Dedication Ceremonies for a Monument of Admiral Comte de Grasse at the Trocadero Palace in Paris, France".Presidency.ucsb.edu. 4 May 1931.Retrieved15 January2017.
- ^William H. Miller Jr.,Picture History of the French Line,Dover Publishing, 1997.
References
- Lacour-Gayet, Georges,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.
- Stewart, William (2009)Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present.(McFarland).ISBN9780786482887
External links
edit
- "Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse",Catholic Encyclopedia
- Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)..Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 369.
- "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,Our American History
- "Admiral Comte de Grasse Memorial",National Park Service, Cape Henry, Yorktown, VA
- William Cowper poem, "The Colubriad",published 1806