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'{{Infobox military person | name = François Joseph Paul de Grasse | image = De Grasse painting.jpg | image_size = | caption = | nickname = ''Comte de Grasse'' | birth_date = {{Birth date|1723|09|13|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Le Bar-sur-Loup]], [[Provence]], [[France]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1788|01|11|1723|09|13|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Tilly, Yvelines|Tilly]], [[Île-de-France (region)|Île-de-France]], [[France]] | placeofburial = [[Church of Saint-Roch, Paris]] | allegiance = {{flagicon|SMOM}} [[Knights Hospitaller|Order of Saint John]] <small>(1734–1741)</small><br />{{flag|Kingdom of France}} <small>(1741–1784)</small> | branch = {{navy|Kingdom of France}} | serviceyears = 1734–1784 | rank = [[Vice-Admiral|Lieutenant général des armées navales]] | unit = | commands = | battles = [[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 (1778)|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 = }} '''François Joseph Paul de Grasse''' (September 13, 1723 – January 11, 1788) was a [[French Navy|French]] [[admiral]], also known as the Comte de Grasse. 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]] in the [[American Revolutionary War]]. British [[George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney|Admiral Rodney]] defeated and captured de Grasse the next year, at the [[Battle of the Saintes]] in the Caribbean. De Grasse was widely criticised for his loss in that battle. On his return to France, he demanded a [[court martial]]; it acquitted him 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>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aO0_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA19 |title=The Operations of the French Fleet Under the Count de Grasse in 1781-2: As ... - Google Books |publisher=Books.google.com |date= |accessdate=2017-01-15}}</ref> He earned his title and supported his [[Provence|Provençal]] family. ==Marriage and family== De Grasse married Antoinette Rosalie Accaron in 1764, and they had six children who survived to adulthood, among them his son [[Alexandre Francois Auguste de Grasse]]. He inherited the title and had a career in the French army. His younger brother Maxime became a Knight of Malta and died in 1773. They had four sisters: Amélie Rosalie Maxime, Adelaide, Mélanie Veronique Maxime, and Silvie de Grasse. Silvie married Francis de Pau in Charleston, South Carolina, and had a family with him in New York City. After Antoinette died young, de Grasse married again, to Catherine Pien, widow of M. de Villeneuve. She also died before him and lastly, he married Marie Delphine Lazare de Cibon.<ref name="shea">[https://books.google.com/books?id=hkNHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=%27%27Notice+biographique+sur+l%27amiral+comte+de+Grasse+d%27apr%C3%A8s+les+documents+in%C3%A9dits.%27%27&source=bl&ots=08EPWKVEIy&sig=iS_FWA-LnD92GpOxAanfd36r-F4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5stjf3ZLZAhXqzVkKHa0EBcgQ6AEIRzAE#v=onepage&q=''Notice%20biographique%20sur%20l'amiral%20comte%20de%20Grasse%20d'apr%C3%A8s%20les%20documents%20in%C3%A9dits.''&f=false 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</ref> In addition, during his times in India, de Grasse is believed to have fathered a [[mixed-race]], French-Indian boy with an Indian woman in [[Calcutta]]. The boy, born about 1780, was known as Azar Le Guen. De Grasse brought his natural son 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 for [[Aaron Burr]], likely meeting him through a connection of his father's. Burr gave him two lots of land.<ref name="kanaka">[https://books.google.com/books?id=3x0-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=Francois+Joseph+Paul+de+Grasse+in+Calcutta&source=bl&ots=tBNndKZyHI&sig=mTqhaycl3Q1RXMDK1ElzYAOBEXs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7g8-z3ojZAhUKnFkKHdRNC24Q6AEIWjAL#v=onepage&q=Francois%20Joseph%20Paul%20de%20Grasse%20in%20Calcutta&f=false P. Kanakamedala, "George DeGrasse a South Asian in Early African America"], in ''India in the American Imaginary, 1780s–1880s'', ed. by Anupama Arora & Rajender Kaur; Springer, 2017, pp. 228-243</ref> He married and educated his three children: son John van Salee de Grasse became a respected physician in Boston and served as a surgeon during the American Civil War. ==Naval career== At the age of eleven (1734), de Grasse entered the [[Knights Hospitaller|Order of Saint John]] as a [[Page (servant)|page]] of the Grand Master. He served as an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] on the [[galley]]s in wars against the Turks and the Moors.<ref name=Stewart>Stewart (2008), p.95.</ref><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 1740 at the age of 17, he entered the [[French Navy]].<ref name=Stewart/> 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)]]. He was intermittently stationed in [[Calcutta]] (now Kolkata), India, from the 1760s to 1781. ==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 on behalf of the rebels and against Great Britain. 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{{Clarify|reason=Both battles' articles show 1778, not 1780.|date=December 2016}} 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 the 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}} De Grasse 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 and published a ''Mémoire justificatif.'' In 1784, he was acquitted by 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 and honors== [[File:De Grasse in Saint Roch.jpg|thumb|Tomb of de Grasse in the [[Church of Saint-Roch, Paris]]]] *A monument was installed to commemorate 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 stands at the riverwalk landing located in [[Yorktown, Virginia]]. *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. *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 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. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=22644 |title=Herbert Hoover: Message to Dedication Ceremonies for a Monument of Admiral Comte de Grasse at the Trocadero Palace in Paris, France |publisher=Presidency.ucsb.edu |date=1931-05-04 |accessdate=2017-01-15}}</ref> *The [[Grasse River]], which flows through [[St. Lawrence County, New York]], and the hamlet of [[Russell, New York#Communities and locations in Russell|Degrasse]] in the township of Russell, New York, are 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, serving the transatlantic route; it later was used by 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 {{RMS|Empress of Canada|1928|2}} for the busy [[Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II|Coronation Year]] season. It 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. <!-- [[WP:NFCC]] violation: [[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 ships were being replaced 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. After service 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> ===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}}, a large multi-role destroyer of the {{sclass-|Spruance|destroyer|4}}. (commissioned 1978, decommissioned 1998). * [[USS De Grasse (AK-223)|USS ''De Grasse'' (AP-164/AK-223)]], a {{sclass-|Crater|cargo ship}} used during [[World War II]] (1943–1946). *{{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== '''Citations''' {{Reflist|30em}} '''References''' * 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. * Stewart, William (2009) ''Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present''. (McFarland). {{ISBN|9780786482887}} {{EB1911|wstitle=Grasse, François Joseph Paul, Comte de|volume=12|page=369}} ==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 De Grasse's queue of flatterers while the admiral was 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:Grasse]] [[Category:French Marquesses]] [[Category:French Navy admirals]] [[Category:French people of the American Revolution]] [[Category:History of Îles des Saintes]] [[Category:Knights of Malta]]'