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Count de Rochambeau

Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur de Rochambeau
Rochambeau Versailles.jpg
Rochambeau wearing the sash of the Order of Saint Louis
Born (1725-07-01)1 July 1725
Vendôme, Orléanais, France
Died 30 May 1807(1807-05-30) (aged 81)
Thoré, Loir-et-Cher, France
Buried Thore Cemetery, Thore-la-Rochette
Allegiance  Kingdom of France
 Kingdom of the French
Service/branch French Army
Years of service 1742–1792
Rank Marshal of France
Battles/wars War of the Austrian Succession
Seven Years' War
American Revolutionary War
French Revolutionary Wars
Awards Ordre du Saint-Esprit Chevalier ribbon.svg Order of the Holy Spirit
Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis Chevalier ribbon.svg Order of Saint Louis
Society of the Cincinnati

Marshal Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (French pronunciation: ​[ʁɔʃɑ̃bo]; 1 July 1725 – 10 May 1807) was a French nobleman and general who played a major role in helping the Thirteen Colonies win independence during the American Revolution. During this time, he served as commander-in-chief of the French Expeditionary Force that embarked from France in order to help the American Continental Army fight against British forces.

Rochambeau was born in Vendôme, in the province of Orléanais (now in the département of Loir-et-Cher). He was schooled at the Jesuit college in Blois. However, after the death of his elder brother, he entered a cavalry regiment, and served in Bohemia, Bavaria, and on the Rhine, during the War of the Austrian Succession. By 1747 he had attained the rank of colonel.

He took part in the siege of Maastricht in 1748 and became governor of Vendôme in 1749. After distinguishing himself in the Battle of Minorca (1756) on the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, he was promoted to Brigadier General of infantry. In 1758, he fought in Germany, notably in the battles of Krefeld and Clostercamp, receiving several wounds during the latter.


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