Edit filter log

'{{Infobox military person |name= François Joseph Paul de Grasse |birth_date = {{birth-date|df=yes|13 September 1723}} |death_date = {{death-date and age|df=yes|11 January 1788|13 September 1723}} |birth_place=[[Le Bar-sur-Loup]], [[Provence]], [[France]] |death_place=[[Tilly, Yvelines|Tilly]], [[Île-de-France (region)|Île-de-France]], [[France]] |placeofburial=[[Church of Saint-Roch, Paris]] |image= De Grasse painting.jpg |caption= |nickname= ''Comte de Grasse'' |allegiance={{flagicon|SMOM}} [[Knights Hospitaller|Order of Saint John]]<br>{{flag|Kingdom of France}} |branch ={{navy|Kingdom of France}} |serviceyears=1734–1784 |rank=[[Vice-Admiral|Lieutenant Général des Armées Navales]] |commands= |unit= |battles=<br> * [[War of the Austrian Succession]] ** [[Battle of Toulon (1744)|Battle of Toulon]] (1744) ** [[First Battle of Cape Finisterre (1747)|First Battle of Cape Finisterre]] (1747) * [[American Revolutionary War|American War of Independence]] ** [[Battle of Ushant (1778)|Battle of Ouessant]] (1778) ** [[Battle of Grenada]] (1779) ** [[Invasion of Dominica]] (1780) ** [[Battle of St. Lucia]] (1780) ** [[Battle of Martinique (1780)]] ** [[Battle of Fort Royal]] (1781) ** [[Battle of the Chesapeake]] (1781) ** [[Siege of Yorktown|Battle of Yorktown]] (1781) ** [[Battle of St. Kitts]] (1782) ** [[Battle of the Saintes]] (1782) |awards= |relations= |laterwork=}} [[Vice Admiral|Lieutenant Général des Armées Navales]] '''François-Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasse Tilly, comte de Grasse''' (13 September 1723 – 11 January 1788) was a [[French Navy|French]] [[admiral]]. He is best known for his command of the French fleet at the [[Battle of the Chesapeake]], which led directly to the [[Siege of Yorktown|British surrender at Yorktown]]. De Grasse was defeated the following year by [[Admiral Rodney]] at the [[Battle of the Saintes]], where he was captured. He was widely criticised for this. On his return to France, he demanded a [[court martial]]; he was acquitted of fault in his defeat. == Early life == '''François-Joseph de Grasse''' was born and raised at [[Bar-sur-Loup]] in south-eastern France, the last child of Francois de Grasse Rouville, Marquis de Grasse<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=aO0_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA19]</ref> who earned his title and supported his [[Provence|Provençal]] family. At the age of eleven, he entered the [[Knights Hospitaller|Order of Saint John]] as a [[Page (servant)|page]] of the Grand Master.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}} ==Naval career== In 1734, de Grasse became an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] on the [[galley]]s of the [[Knights Hospitaller]].<ref>{{cite web|title=François-Joseph-Paul Grasse|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06728a.htm|website=newadvent.org|accessdate=19 May 2015}}</ref> In 1741 at the age of 19, he entered the [[French Navy]].{{citation needed|date=April 2012}} Following [[Great Britain in the Seven Years War|Britain's victory over the French in the Seven Years War]], de Grasse helped rebuild the French navy in the years after the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)]]. == American War of Independence== {{main|Franco-American alliance}} [[File:Whitcombe, Battle of the Saints.jpg|thumb|left|The flagship [[French ship Ville de Paris (1764)|Ville de Paris]] during the [[Battle of the Saintes]] in 1782]] In 1775, the [[American Revolutionary War|American 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. The [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)]] established the [[Franco-American Alliance]] and France entered the war. As a commander of a division, de Grasse served under [[Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers]] at the [[First Battle of Ushant]] from July 23 to 27, 1778. The battle, fought off [[Britanny]], was indecisive. In 1779, he joined the fleet of [[Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing|Count d'Estaing]] in the [[Caribbean]] and distinguished himself in the battles of [[Dominica]] and [[Battle of St. Lucia|Saint Lucia]] during 1780 and of [[Tobago]] during 1781. He contributed to the [[Battle of Grenada|capture of Grenada]] and took part in the three actions fought by [[Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen|Guichen]] against [[George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney|Admiral Rodney]] in the [[Battle of Martinique (1780)]]. : [[File:Yorktown 1931 Issue-2c.jpg|thumb|right|250px|US Postage Stamp, 1931 issue, honoring [[Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau|Rochambeau]], [[George Washington]] and De Grasse, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the victory at [[Siege of Yorktown]], 1781.]] ===Yorktown campaign=== {{Main|Battle of Chesapeake|Yorktown Campaign}} De Grasse came to the aid of [[George Washington|Washington]] and [[Comte de Rochambeau|Rochambeau]]'s [[Expédition Particulière]], setting sail with 3,000 men from [[Saint-Domingue]]. De Grasse landed the 3,000 French reinforcements in Virginia, and immediately afterward decisively defeated the British fleet in the [[Battle of the Chesapeake]] in September 1781. He drew away the British forces and blockaded the coast until [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]] surrendered, ensuring the independence of the [[United States|United States of America]]. ===Battle of the Saintes=== {{Main|Battle of the Saintes}} He returned to the Caribbean, where he was less fortunate and was defeated at the [[Battle of St. Kitts]] by [[Samuel Hood, viscount Hood|Admiral Hood]]. Shortly afterward, in April 1782, he was defeated and taken prisoner by [[George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney|Admiral Rodney]] at the [[Battle of the Saintes]]. He was taken to London, and while there briefly took part in the negotiations that laid the foundations for the [[Peace of Paris (1783)]], which brought the war to an end. He returned to France, published a ''Mémoire justificatif.'' In 1784, he was acquitted a [[court-martial]]. ==Later life== He died at [[Tilly, Yvelines|Tilly]] ([[Yvelines]]) in 1788; his tomb is in the [[Church of Saint-Roch, Paris|church of Saint-Roch]] in [[Paris]].<ref>{{Find a Grave|6238923|Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse}}</ref> His son [[Alexandre Francois Auguste de Grasse]] published a ''Notice biographique sur l'amiral comte de Grasse d'après les documents inédits'' in 1840. == Memorials == [[File:De Grasse in Saint Roch.jpg|thumb|Tomb of de Grasse in the [[Church of Saint-Roch, Paris]]]] There is a monument commemorating Admiral de Grasse and the sailors who helped the United States achieve its independence from the British Crown at the [[Cape Henry Memorial]], [[Joint Expeditionary Base East]], [[Virginia Beach, Virginia]]. It is maintained by the [[Colonial National Historical Park]] of the [[National Park Service]]. A statue of Admiral de Grasse is in the Place de la Tour of Le Bar-sur-Loup, the village where he was born and grew up and another statue is located in the riverwalk landing located in [[Yorktown, Virginia]]. Sometime between 1829-1839, [[Heman Allen (of Colchester)|Heman Allen]] a former [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] and [[United States Ambassador to Chile|Ambassador to Chile]] named the [[Grasse Mount]] estate in [[Burlington, Vermont]] after Admiral de Grasse.<ref>{{cite news|title=Glimpses of Grasse Mount, Part II|url=http://cdi.uvm.edu/collections/item/vermontalumniweeklyv10n10|newspaper=Vermont Alumni Weekly, Vol. X, No. 10|last=Burridge|first=Pauline E.|date=December 3, 1930}}</ref> [[A. Kingsley Macomber]], an American resident of France since the end of [[World War I]], commissioned the monument of Admiral de Grasse at the [[Trocadéro|Trocadero Palace]] in [[Paris]] in 1931. [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=22644] The [[Grasse River]], which flows through [[St. Lawrence County, New York]], is named for him. ''De Grasse ''was the name of two medium-sized [[SS De Grasse|French Line passenger ships]], one built in 1924 in Scotland, and the other formally the 1956-built ''Bergensfjord ''of Norwegian America Lines, which was introduced in 1971. The first ship was famous world-wide, servicing the transatlantic route and later served the allies as a troop ship in World War II. Refitted, she was the first French Liner to inaugurate service after the war's end. After being supplanted by newer ships in the company, the liner was sold in 1952 to Canadian Pacific Lines as an emergency replacement for their fire-damaged ''Empress of Canada ''for the busy Coronation Year season, was sold again in 1956 to Grimaldi-Siosa Lines and then to another firm who modernized her further and renamed her ''Venezuela.'' After grounding near Cannes in 1962, she was scrapped later in the year. [[File:SS De Grasse 1 funnel.JPG|thumb|241x241px|The first ''De Grasse ''(1924) as she appeared following World War II, with one streamlined funnel instead of her original two. This ocean liner was among the most famous in the world at this time.]] [[Image:GrasseMount 20160508.jpg|thumb|right|[[Grasse Mount]] in Burlington, Vermont, named for Admiral de Grasse.]] The second ''De Grasse'' served the Le Havre-Southampton-West Indies service with little success, as the old colonial trades were being supplanted by the airlines. West Indies cruises, plus assignments to the Baltic, Mediterranean, and North Africa also suffered mixed profits, she was sold off in 1973, lived under a short string of new Israeli and Greek owners, and, after two fires in 1977 and 1980, was scrapped in Greece.<ref>William H. Miller Jr., ''Picture History of the French Line'', Dover Publishing, 1997.</ref> [[Ayn Rand]] claimed to have emigrated to America on the first ''De Grasse''.<ref>http://aynrandnovels.com/about-ayn-rand/timeline.html</ref> ===Other vessel names=== The [[French Navy]] has had two vessels named in his honour: * An [[French cruiser De Grasse (C610)|anti-aircraft cruiser]] (1939–1974). * A [[French frigate De Grasse (D 612)|first-rank frigate]] of the [[Tourville class frigate|F67 type]]. The [[United States Navy]] has had three vessels named in his honour: * [[USS Comte de Grasse (DD-974)|USS ''Comte de Grasse'' (DD-974)]], a large multirole destroyer of the [[Spruance class destroyer|''Spruance'' class]]. (commissioned 1978- decommissioned 1998) * [[USS De Grasse (AK-223)|USS ''De Grasse'' (AP-164/AK-223)]], a [[Crater class cargo ship|''Crater''-class]] [[cargo ship]] used during [[World War II]]. (1943–1946) *[[USS De Grasse (ID-1217)|USS ''De Grasse'' (ID-1217)]] a yacht used in 1918. {{Portal|United States|North America|France|Kingdom of France|Military of the United States|United States Army|United States Navy|Biography|American Revolutionary War}} == References == === Notes === {{Reflist}} {{EB1911|wstitle=Grasse, François Joseph Paul, Comte de|volume=12|page=369}} === Bibliography=== * G. Lacour-Gayet, ''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. == External links == {{commons category|François Joseph Paul de Grasse}} * [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06728a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia article] * [http://greatcaricatures.com/articles_galleries/gillray/galleries/html/1782_0602_rodney.html 1782 Caricature of De Grasse, Admiral Rodney and King George III by James Gillray] *[http://www.ouramericanhistory.com Spanish and Latin American assistance to de Grasse in the Yorktown Campaign] *[http://www.nps.gov/came/ National Park Service, Cape Henry, Yorktown, VA: Admiral Comte de Grasse Memorial] * [http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/cowper/colubriad.htm William Cowper's poem, The Colubriad, refers to his queue of flatterers while a prisoner in London] {{American Revolutionary War|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Grasse, Francois Joseph Paul, Marquis De Grasetilly, Comte De}} [[Category:1722 births]] [[Category:1788 deaths]] [[Category:People from Alpes-Maritimes]] [[Category:Burials at Église Saint-Roch]] [[Category:Counts of France]] [[Category:French Marquesses]] [[Category:French Navy admirals]] [[Category:French people of the American Revolution]] [[Category:History of Îles des Saintes]] [[Category:Knights of Malta]]'