François Joseph Paul de Grasse

Common card · No. 291789

Lieutenant général des armées navales François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, Marquis of Grasse-Tilly, KM (13 September 1722 – 11 January 1788) was a French naval officer. He is best known for his crucial victory over the Royal Navy at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781 during the American Revolutionary War. The battle directly led to the Franco-American victory at the siege of Yorktown and helped secure the independence of the United States. After the battle, de Grasse returned with his fleet to the Caribbean. In 1782, a British fleet under Admiral of the White Sir George Rodney defeated and captured de Grasse with his flagship Ville de Paris at the Battle of the Saintes. De Grasse was widely criticised for his defeat in the battle. On his return to France in 1784, he blamed his captains for the defeat. A court-martial exonerated all of his captains, effectively ending his naval career.

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