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François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, Marquis of Grasse-Tilly, KM (13 September 1722 – 11 January 1788) was a French Navy officer and nobleman. He is best known for his strategically decisive victory over the British while in command of the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781 in the last year of the American Revolutionary War.
Admiral de Grasse had the option to attack British forces in either New York or Virginia; he opted for Virginia, arriving at the Chesapeake at the end of August. Admiral Graves learned that de Grasse had sailed from the West Indies for North America and that French Admiral de Barras had also sailed from Newport, Rhode Island. He concluded that ...
British Vice-Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, who had been tracking de Grasse around the West Indies, was alerted to the latter's departure, but was uncertain of the French admiral's destination. Believing that de Grasse would return a portion of his fleet to Europe, Rodney detached Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood and 15 ships of the line with ...
On 9 April 1782 the copper-sheathed British fleet caught up with the French, who were surprised by their speed. Admiral de Grasse ordered the French convoy to head into Guadeloupe for repair, forcing him to escort two 50-gun ships (Fier and Experiment), and placing his fleet in line of battle in order to cover the retreat. [25]
Jacques-Melchior Saint-Laurent, Comte de Barras was an admiral in the French navy. He served under d'Estaing at the Battle of Rhode Island, and under de Grasse in the West Indies in 1782. His decision to remain in Newport in disobedience to orders enabled him to deliver the French siege train to Yorktown.
In August, Admiral Sir Thomas Graves led a fleet from New York to attack de Grasse's fleet. Graves did not realize how large the French fleet was, and neither did Cornwallis. [ 25 ] The British fleet was defeated by de Grasse's fleet in the Battle of the Chesapeake on September 5, and forced to fall back to New York. [ 25 ]
The ship sank in September 1782 with other vessels, including HMS Glorieux, when the 1782 Central Atlantic hurricane hit the fleet off Newfoundland under the command of De Grasse's enemy, Admiral Graves. Ville de Paris sank with the loss of all 500 hands but one, thereafter known as "Wilson of the Ville de Paris". [6]
The Battle of Saint Kitts, also known as the Battle of Frigate Bay, was a naval battle fought on 25 and 26 January 1782 during the American Revolutionary War between a British fleet under Rear Admiral Sir Samuel Hood and a larger French fleet under the Comte de Grasse.