Comte De Grasse (DD 974) - Naval Cruise Book

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LIEUTENANT DE VAISSEAU EMERY FUSTIER LT, FN THE FRENCH CONNECTION

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COUNT ' S MEN 13

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THE COUNT Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse was a French admiral whose tactical success at the Battle of The Virginia Capes in 1781 made a major contribution to the American victory in the Revolutionary War. By inheritance, he was Marquis de Grasse -Tilly and Comte de Grasse. Born at Chateau de Bar, near Grasse, on September 13, 1722, he entered the Navy in 1738 and served with distinction throughout the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748), in which he was wounded, and the Seven Years War (1756-1763). During the American Revolution, de Grasse served in the West Indies against the British; in 1781 his fleet of 20 ships of the line escorted about 200 merchant ships to Cape Francois, Haiti. There he received a request from George Washington to cooperate in the Yorkto.wn campaign. On August 20, 1781, he arrived inside the Chesapeake capes with 28 ships and 3,300 troops. Meanwhile Admiral Thomas Graves with 19 ships had sailed from New York to rescue General Charles Cornwallis ' army, which had retreated to Yorktown from North Carolina. On September 5 de Grasse engaged Graves for two hours off the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, inflicting such heavy damages and casualties that the British were forced to return to New York. On September 14 Washington began the siege that forced Cornwallis to surrender about 8,000 men on October 19, a decisive victory made possible by de Grasses aid. De Grasse returned to the West Indies. While his fleet of 35 ships was escorting 150 merchantmen, the convoy was attacked in Saints ' Passage on April 12, 1782, by Admiral George B. Rodneys fleet of 36 ships. A sudden change of wind caused confusion in the French column, permitting Rodney to break through and win a decisive victory. De Grasse himself and his flagship VILLE DE PARIS were captured. De Grasse was treated with honor in London, but on his return to Paris he found public opinion and the court so critical that he retired to the Chateau de Tilly, near Mantes. He wrote a defense of his command, ' Memoire justificatif (1782). In 1783 he was awarded a gold medal by the Society of the Cincinnati. He died at the chateau on January 11, 1788. 15