Leaders and Volunteers
French military leaders on land, in the Caribbean and at sea, and volunteers sent to America (1778-1783)
France’s participation in the American War of Independence (1778–1783) mobilized exceptional military leaders, on land and at sea, as well as numerous volunteers who came to fight alongside the insurgents. This page presents the principal French actors of a conflict that sealed the Franco-American alliance.
On Land
- Count de Rochambeau – Commander of the French Expeditionary Corps, he landed at Newport in 1780 with 5,500 men and played a decisive role at Yorktown. Made Marshal of France in 1791.
- Count de Vaux – Commander of the land forces intended for the planned invasion of England.
- Duke de Lauzun – Commander of the Lauzun Legion, the cavalry unit of the Expeditionary Corps.
In the Caribbean
The French Antilles were a major theater of operations during the war.
- Marquis de Bouillé – Governor General of the French West Indies, he led military operations in the Caribbean and recaptured several islands from the British.
- Claude-Charles de Damas, Viscount de Marillac – Governor of Martinique, he assisted Bouillé in the defence and reconquest of the Antilles.
- Jean-Baptiste de Tastes de Lilancour – Governor of Saint-Domingue, he coordinated the war effort from France’s largest Caribbean colony.
At Sea
- Admiral d’Orvilliers – Commander of the French fleet at the Battle of Ushant (1778) and of the combined Franco-Spanish fleet (1779).
- Admiral du Chaffault – Second-in-command to d’Orvilliers at Ushant.
- Admiral Count d’Estaing – First French admiral sent to America (1778), he fought at Grenada and Savannah.
- Count de Grasse – His intervention in the Chesapeake Bay in September 1781 was decisive for the victory at Yorktown.
- Count de Guichen – Fought Rodney in the Caribbean in 1780.
- La Motte-Picquet – Defender of French convoys in the Atlantic.
- Chevalier de Ternay – Commanded the squadron that transported Rochambeau’s Corps to Newport. Died at Newport in December 1780.
- Sochet des Touches – Successor to Ternay, commanded at the first Battle of the Chesapeake (March 1781).
Volunteers Sent by France to America
Commander Lasseray (Les Français sous les treize étoiles – 1935) identified approximately 230 officers or engineers from France who fought in American units; Colonel Bodinier added forty more. Among them:
Officers of the Royal Armies
- Gilbert, Marquis de La Fayette
- Pierre-Charles, Major L’Enfant
- Jean, Baron de Kalb
- Pierre Landais
- Louis Le Bègue du Portail
- Armand Tuffin, Marquis de La Rouërie
Officers from Foreign Armies
- André Kosciuszko
- Casimir, Count de Pulawski
- Friedrich, Baron de Steuben