François Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasetilly, comte de Grasse
| François Joseph Paul de Grasse | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nickname(s) | Comte de Grasse |
| Born |
13 September 1723 Le Bar-sur-Loup, Provence, France |
| Died | 11 January 1788 (aged 64) Tilly, Île-de-France, France |
| Buried | Church of Saint-Roch, Paris |
| Allegiance |
 Order of Saint John (1734–1741) Kingdom of France (1741–1784)
|
| Service/branch |
 French Navy
|
| Years of service | 1734–1784 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Général des Armées Navales |
| Battles/wars |
War of the Austrian Succession
|
War of the Austrian Succession
Lieutenant Général des Armées Navales François-Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasse Tilly, comte de Grasse (13 September 1723 – 11 January 1788) was a French admiral. He is best known for his command of the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, which led directly to the British surrender at Yorktown.
Admiral Rodney defeated, and captured de Grasse the next year, at the Battle of the Saintes. de Grasse was widely criticised for this. On his return to France, he demanded a court martial; it acquitted him of fault in his defeat.
François-Joseph de Grasse was born and raised at Bar-sur-Loup in south-eastern France, the last child of Francois de Grasse Rouville, Marquis de Grasse who earned his title and supported his Provençal family.
At the age of eleven (1734), de Grasse entered the Order of Saint John as a page of the Grand Master. He served as an ensign on the galleys in wars against the Turks and the Moors. In 1740 at the age of 17, he entered the French Navy.
Following Britain's victory over the French in the Seven Years War, de Grasse helped rebuild the French navy in the years after the Treaty of Paris (1763).
In 1775, the American War of Independence broke out when American colonists rebelled against British rule. France supplied the colonists with covert aid, but remained officially neutral until 1778. The Treaty of Alliance (1778) established the Franco-American alliance and France entered the war.
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