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Stephen Rochefontaine (born Étienne Nicolas Marie Béchet, Sieur de Rochefontaine; February 20, 1755 – January 30, 1814) was a French-born American military engineer who served as the Commandant of the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers from 1795 to 1798.

Military career

Born in Aÿ, France, Rochefontaine came to America in 1778 after failing to gain a position in the French Royal Corps of Engineers. He volunteered in General Washington's Continental Army on May 15, 1778 and was appointed captain in the Corps of Engineers on September 18, 1778. For his distinguished services at the siege of Yorktown, Rochefontaine was given the brevet rank of major by Congress, November 16, 1781.

He returned to France in 1783 and served as an infantry officer, reaching the rank of colonel in the French Army. He came back to the United States in 1792 and anglicized his first name to Stephen. President Washington appointed him a civilian engineer to fortify the New England coast, in 1794.

After the new Corps of Artillerists and Engineers was organized, Washington made Rochefontaine a lieutenant colonel and commandant of the new Corps on February 26, 1795. Rochefontaine started a military school at West Point in 1795, but the building and all his equipment were burned the following year. He left the United States Army on May 7, 1798, and lived in New York City, where he died January 30, 1814. He is buried in the churchyard of St. Paul's Chapel in New York.

References

This article contains public domain text from "Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Rochefontaine". Portraits and Profiles of Chief Engineers. Archived from the original on April 4, 2005. Retrieved May 9, 2005.

External links

Media related to Stephen Rochefontaine at Wikimedia Commons
Stephen Rochefontaine at Find a Grave

Military offices
Preceded by Major-General Louis Duportail as Chief Engineer of the Continental Army	Commandant of the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers 1795 – 1798	Succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Burbeck

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Stephen Rochefontaine'''  (February 20, 1755 &ndash; January 30, 1814) was an American military engineer who served as such in the [[Continental Army]], during the [[American Revolutionary War]], and later as the [[Chief of Engineers]] of the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]]. He was born '''Étienne Nicolas Marie Béchet, Sieur de Rochefontaine'''.
+'''Stephen Rochefontaine''' (born '''Étienne Nicolas Marie Béchet, Sieur de Rochefontaine'''; February 20, 1755 &ndash; January 30, 1814) was a French-born American military engineer who served as the [[Commanding officer|Commandant]] of the [[Early U.S. Artillery formations#Corps of Artillerists and Engineers|Corps of Artillerists and Engineers]] from 1795 to 1798.
+==Military career==
-Born in [[Ay, Marne]] [[France]], Rochefontaine came to [[United States|America]] in 1778 after failing to gain a position in the French Royal Corps of Engineers. He volunteered in [[George Washington|General Washington's]] [[Continental Army]] on May 15, 1778 and was appointed captain in the [[US Army Corps of Engineers|Corps of Engineers]] on September 18, 1778. For his distinguished services at the [[Battle of Yorktown (1781)|siege of Yorktown]], Rochefontaine was given the brevet rank of major by Congress, November 16, 1781.
+Born in [[Aÿ]], [[France]], Rochefontaine came to [[United States|America]] in 1778 after failing to gain a position in the French Royal Corps of Engineers. He volunteered in [[George Washington|General Washington's]] [[Continental Army]] on May 15, 1778 and was appointed captain in the [[US Army Corps of Engineers|Corps of Engineers]] on September 18, 1778. For his distinguished services at the [[Battle of Yorktown (1781)|siege of Yorktown]], Rochefontaine was given the brevet rank of major by Congress, November 16, 1781.
 He returned to France in 1783 and served as an infantry officer, reaching the rank of colonel in the French Army.   He came back to the United States in 1792 and [[anglicized]] his first name to Stephen. President Washington appointed him a civilian engineer to fortify the [[New England]] coast, in 1794.
-After the new [[Early U.S. Artillery formations|Corps of Artillerists and Engineers]] was organized, Washington made Rochefontaine a lieutenant colonel and [[Chief of Engineers|commandant]] of the new Corps on February 26, 1795.   Rochefontaine started a military school at [[West Point, New York|West Point]] in 1795, but the building and all his equipment were burned the following year.   He left the Army on May 7, 1798, and lived in [[New York City]], where he died January 30, 1814.   He is buried in the [[Trinity Church, New York|Churchyard of St. Paul's Chapel]] in New York.
+After the new [[Early U.S. Artillery formations#Corps of Artillerists and Engineers|Corps of Artillerists and Engineers]] was organized, Washington made Rochefontaine a [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] and [[Chief of Engineers|commandant]] of the new Corps on February 26, 1795. Rochefontaine started a military school at [[West Point, New York|West Point]] in 1795, but the building and all his equipment were burned the following year. He left the [[United States Army]] on May 7, 1798, and lived in [[New York City]], where he died January 30, 1814. He is buried in the churchyard of [[St. Paul's Chapel]] in New York.
 ==References==
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 {{cite web | title=Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Rochefontaine
  | work=Portraits and Profiles of Chief Engineers | url=http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/coe.htm#4 | accessdate=May 9, 2005  |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20050404183705/http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/coe.htm#4 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = April 4, 2005}}
+==External links==
+<!--
+  ===============================================================================
+   WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A COLLECTION OF LINKS. Only a limited number of new links
+   should be added to this article. PLEASE DO NOT ADD external links to sites with
+   information already in the article or in its sources.
+   See [[Wikipedia:External links]] and [[Wikipedia:Spam]] for further details
+  ===============================================================================
+-->
+* {{Commons category-inline}}
+* {{Find a Grave}}
+<!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please follow the [[WP:EL]] guideline where possible and consider discussing on the talk page. Thank you. -->
 {{s-start}}
 {{s-mil}}
+{{s-bef|before=Major-General [[Louis Lebègue Duportail|Louis Duportail]]|as=[[List of United States Army Corps of Engineers Chiefs of Engineers|Chief Engineer]] of the [[Continental Army]]}}
-{{succession box
+{{s-ttl|title=[[Commanding officer|Commandant]] of the<br>[[Early U.S. Artillery formations#Corps of Artillerists and Engineers|Corps of Artillerists and Engineers]]|years=1795 – 1798}}
-| title  = [[Chief of Engineers]]
+{{s-aft|after=Lieutenant Colonel [[Henry Burbeck]]}}
-| before = [[Louis Lebègue Duportail]]
-| after  = [[Henry Burbeck]]
-| years  = 1795–1798
-}}
 {{s-end}}
+{{Portal bar|Biography|Engineering|France|New York City}}
 {{Authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rochefontaine, Stephen}}
-[[Category:Continental Army officers from France]]
 [[Category:1755 births]]
 [[Category:1814 deaths]]
+[[Category:American military engineers]]
+[[Category:Continental Army officers from France]]
+[[Category:Burials at St. Paul's Chapel]]
 [[Category:French emigrants to the United States]]
-[[Category:Burials at Trinity Church Cemetery]]
 [[Category:People from Marne (department)]]
+[[Category:United States Army Corps of Engineers Chiefs of Engineers]]

Authority control databases
International	VIAF FAST
National	United States France BnF data