Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur

Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, was a French general who commanded the French expeditionary army in the American Revolutionary War and helped secure victory at Yorktown in 1781.

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Siege of Yorktown: The 1781 siege in Virginia that ended with the surrender of British forces under Charles Cornwallis. Rochambeau commanded French troops in the allied operation that compelled Cornwallis’s surrender.
Expédition Particulière: The French expeditionary force sent to aid the American Revolution, arriving in 1780 under Rochambeau’s command. It was the army Rochambeau led from Newport toward the decisive campaign in Virginia.
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette: A French aristocrat and officer who served as a major general in the Continental Army. Lafayette helped keep Rochambeau informed about British movements in Virginia before Yorktown.
War of the Austrian Succession: A European war fought from 1740 to 1748 over the Habsburg succession and the balance of power. Rochambeau gained early military experience in this conflict.
Battle of the Chesapeake: The 1781 naval battle in which a French fleet prevented British relief of Yorktown. French control of the Chesapeake helped trap the army Rochambeau besieged with Washington.
Siege warfare: Military operations that surround a fortified place to compel its surrender or capture it by force. Yorktown depended on the methodical encirclement Rochambeau helped organize.
Louis XVI: King of France from 1774 until the monarchy was abolished during the French Revolution. He authorized the French military intervention that placed Rochambeau in command overseas.
Seven Years' War: A global conflict from 1756 to 1763 involving Britain, France, and several European powers. Rochambeau served in the war that shaped his generation of French officers.
Comte de Grasse: A French admiral whose fleet helped secure the allied victory at Yorktown. His naval forces closed the escape and resupply routes while Rochambeau’s army advanced on Yorktown.
French-American alliance: The military and diplomatic alliance between France and the United States during the American Revolution. Rochambeau’s command operated within the alliance’s shared strategy and political commitments.