Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing

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Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing (24 November 1729 – 28 April 1794) was a French military officer and writer. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the British during the Seven Years' War. Naval exploits during the latter war prompted him to change branches of service, and he transferred to the French Navy. Following France's entry into the American War of Independence in 1778, Estaing led a fleet to aid the American rebels. He participated in a failed Franco-American siege of Newport, Rhode Island, in 1778, and the equally unsuccessful 1779 Siege of Savannah. He did have success in the Caribbean before returning to France in 1780. His difficulties working with American counterparts are cited among the reasons these operations in North America failed. Although Estaing sympathized with revolutionaries during the French Revolution, he held a personal loyalty to the French royal family. Because...

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