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You’re visiting Paris.
Do you know that,
buried in the Paris Catholic Church of
Saint Roch,
is a hero of the Independance of the United
States :
The Amiral de Grasse
Saint Roch is
located
296 rue saint Honoré, Paris 1° (
metro : Tuileries)
01 42 44 13 20
François
Joseph Paul, Count de Grasse, was born on 13 September 1722 near the Provencal
town of Grasse, in the castle of Bar-sur-Loup, a village where
visitors are surprised to find a street named “rue de
Yorktown”. He died in Paris on 14 January 1788, less than
seven years after his crucial Chesapeake Bay victory over
twenty-seven British warships under the command of three
admirals. He was buried in church of Saint Roch on 16 January
1788.
Immediately after the victory at Yorktown,
in a letter to admiral de Grasse, Lieutenant General of the
French naval forces in America, George Washington wrote:
"The triumphant manner in which Your
Excellency maintained naval supremacy in American waters and
upheld the honor of the French flag leads our two nations to
see in you the true arbiter of the war".
“The true arbiter of the war"
A sailor since the age of twelve, de
Grasse enjoyed the reputation of being one of the ablest naval
tacticians of his time and had served in the Royal Navy for 47
years when king Louis XVI entrusted him with an assignment that
would prove decisive in the unfolding of the war between
Britain and the insurgents in the American colonies, whose
prospects were far from promising in March 1781, when de Grasse
took command. The French and American forces were paralyzed by
the British navy's control of the seas and of harbors along the
coast of the colonies.
Le Comte de Grasse
Count de Grasse
Once promoted to the rank of lieutenant
general of the naval forces, de Grasse sailed from Brest on 21
March 1781 with 28 ships of the line. Their mission was in
particular to escort 92 merchant vessels bound for the West
Indies. His flagship, the three-decker “Ville de
Paris”, carried 120 guns and was the pride of the French
navy.
Once at sea, de Grasse sent admiral de
Barras off to Newport with 660 new recruits as well as
additional equipment and supplies, along with a letter to
gene-ral de Rochambeau. After delivering some of his merchant
ships to Santo Domingo and Guadeloupe, on 30 April 1781 he
forced admiral Hood to lift the British blockade of Fort Royal
in Martinique, and provided the marquis de Bouillé's men
with fresh supplies. De Grasse and Bouillé then prepared
an attack on the island of Tobago, which they captured on 1
June.
Arriving in Santo Domingo on 16 July with
24 ships in order to mount a joint Franco-Spanish operation
against Jamaica, as ordered by Versailles, de Grasse found
messages from Rochambeau and Washington informing him of the
difficulties they had encountered, both in New York and
Virginia. Washington, the American leader, favored an attack on
New York, the key British position. The highly experienced
Rochambeau considered that an operation against Yorktown, which
the British had just recently occupied, would be more fruitful.
The final strategic choice belonged to admiral de Grasse, whose
support was essential. In the event, he opted for a landing in
Virginia's Chesapeake Bay. After a few unsuccessful attempts to
test New York's defenses, the French and American forces,
though war-weary, set out on their 400-mile southward march.
Battle of the Virginia Capes
The impending campaign, leading to the
surrender of the British under Lord Cornwallis, was exemplary
in several respects:
It was the first major combined operation
(infantry, cavalry, artillery, corps of engineers and navy) in
military history, an operation made possible, moreover, by the
coordinated efforts of men who, a few years earlier, had been
on opposite sides during the bitter French and Indian war,
which none had forgotten and whose wounds many still bore. (On
4 July 1754 the 21-year-old George Washington, serving in the
British army, had been captured by a French officer, captain
Louis Coulon de Villiers, at Fort Necessity in Pennsylvania).
With commendable selflessness, Washington,
Rochambeau and de Grasse made the most of their respective
areas of expertise in pursuit of the victory they all sought.
Confident that, with adequate support, his
American allies had the ability to turn several initial defeats
into ultimate success, de Grasse decided on his own to go
beyond the orders he had received from the Minister of the
Navy, the duc de Castries.
Thereupon Barras arrived from Newport with
14 ships. The British, with 13,000 men and 1,300 guns, were
confronted with no less than 19,000 men and 1,700 guns. After a
few hours of cannonading, the French gained the upper hand.
The day was 5 September 1781.
Following several days of desultory
maneuvering during which there was no further real action
between the two fleets, the British withdrew and set sail for
New York, leaving Cornwallis trapped in Yorktown.
Barras landed the heavy artillery, then
ferried Washington's and Rochambeau's forces from Annapolis to
Williamsburg.
Yorktown
Arriving on 14 September, Washington was
gratified to see that de Grasse's ships had secured the bay and
that the British garrison was completely cut off from any
possible reinforcements. On 18 September Washington, Rochambeau
and de Grasse conferred aboard the “Ville de
Paris”. De Grasse assured Washington that he would remain
until Cornwallis was forced to surrender.
Confined to Yorktown and Gloucester Point,
the British eventually had to capitulate, after withstanding a
one-month siege during which the three armies vied with each
other in bravery.
Document of the National Park Service
Counting both soldiers and sailors, 28,000
Frenchmen and 8,000 Americans on one side and 21,500 British on
the other (including 2,000 Hessians) were engaged in the
Chesapeake and Yorktown battles.
On 19 October the British formally signed
the act of capitulation in Moore House and surrendered their
weapons in a column more than a mile long.
Lord Cornwallis, refusing to acknowledge
that he had been defeated by independence-seeking insurgents,
did not attend the signing and was represented by his second in
command, general O'Hara. When the latter sought to give up his
sword to Rochambeau, the French commander, in a highly
significant political gesture, directed him to George
Washington.
The allies were victorious.
The Americans had won their independence.
-Note from Cornwallis to Washington
requesting a meeting to discuss
the terms of the British surrender
Document of the National Park Service
The victors gathered on the “Ville
de Paris” to celebrate, De Grasse would turn over to
Washington a captured British ship, which thus became the very
first vessel in the U.S.Navy.
At over 6/2 ft., de Grasse was a little
taller than Washington, and amused everyone by calling him
"my little general". Strangely enough, de Grasse
never set foot on American soil...
On 28 October, general Henry Clinton
arrived from New York within sight of Cape Charles with a large
squadron and 7,000 men. Upon learning that Cornwallis had
surrendered, he set sail back to New York in disgust.
Surrender of general Cornwallis at
Yorktown, by John Trumbull
In London Lord North, the Prime Minister,
when told that Cornwallis had been defeated, exclaimed
dejectedly: "Oh, God! It's all over!"
The Treaty of Paris, recognizing American
independence, was signed nearly two years later, on 5 September
1783.
By extending allied operations to the
Chesapeake, admiral de Grasse contributed decisively to the
achievement of this independence.
After victory at the Chesapeake
The following years were difficult ones
for admiral de Grasse. Returning to patrol the West Indies, he
once again faced admiral Hood in April 1782, off the islands of
Les Saintes, near Guadeloupe. Admiral Rodney, who had joined
Hood in the area, enjoyed a clear advantage (more and
especially faster ships newly fitted with guns more effective
in close combat).
After a first and indecisive encounter on
9 April and Bougainvillers's defection, de Grasse lost five
ships in the battle of Les Saintes, and among them the
“Ville de Paris”, captured by Rodney, who had
mounted a remarkably well-planned attack.
A prisoner in London, admiral de Grasse
played a constructive role in the Versailles peace
negotiations. In an unusual turn of events, after a short
period of captivity he was invited to Buckingham Palace, and
English crowds acclaimed him as a great sailor and navigator.
His sword was returned to him and he regained his freedom.
In France, however, he was courtmartialed
in Lorient. Though exonerated, he was banned from the court at
Versailles.
In these trying times, he found great
comfort in George Washington's faithful friendship. In
September 1783 de Grasse became a founding member of the
Society of the Cincinnati. The U.S. Congress sent him four
cannons captured in Yorktown, and they remained on display at
his chateau of Tilly until the French revolution, when they
were melted down. Admiral de Grasse died at Tilly on 14 January
1788.
At times history shows a short memory.
Both in France and America, the essential role played by
admiral de Grasse seems largely forgotten. No full-scale
biographies have been devoted to him, nor to general de
Rochambeau, admiral de Ternay, the duc de Lauzun or any other
of the many Frenchmen who were so instrumental in making
possible Washington's victory over the British. (Only the
marquis de Lafayette is widely remembered on both sides of the
Atlantic and has monopolized the glory of the allied victories.
Letter from admiral de Grasse,
written aboard the “Ville de
Paris”
march 26th, 1782
