Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau

Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1 July 1725 – 10 May 1807) was a French Royal Army officer who played a critical role in the American victory at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 during the American Revolutionary War. He was commander-in-chief of the Expédition Particulière, the French expeditionary force sent to North America during the conflict. He worked closely and well with George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.

Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, or Rochambeau, was born in Vendôme, in the province of Orléanais, and he was educated at the Jesuit college in Blois. 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 and became governor of Vendôme in 1749. He distinguished himself in the Battle of Minorca on the outbreak of the Seven Years' War and was promoted to brigadier general of infantry. In 1758, he fought in Germany, notably in the Battle of Krefeld and the Battle of Clostercamp, receiving several wounds at Clostercamp.

In 1780, Rochambeau was appointed commander of land forces as part of the project code-named Expédition Particulière. He was given the rank of lieutenant general in command of 7,000 French troops and sent to join the Continental Army under George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. Axel von Fersen the Younger served as his aide-de-camp and interpreter. The small size of the force at his disposal made him initially reluctant to lead the expedition.

He landed at Newport, Rhode Island, on 10 July but was held there inactive for a year because he did not want to abandon the French fleet blockaded by the British in Narragansett Bay. The college in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (now Brown University) served as an encampment site for some of Rochambeau's troops. The college edifice was converted into a military hospital, now known as University Hall. In July 1781, the force left Rhode Island and marched across Connecticut to join Washington on the Hudson River in Mount Kisco, New York. The Odell farm served as Rochambeau's headquarters from 6 July to 18 August 1781.

Washington and Rochambeau then marched their combined forces to the Siege of Yorktown and the Battle of the Chesapeake. On 22 September they combined with the Marquis de Lafayette's troops and forced Lord Cornwallis to surrender on 19 October. The Congress of the Confederation presented Rochambeau with two cannons taken from the British in recognition of his service. He returned them to Vendôme, and they were requisitioned in 1792.

Upon his return to France, Rochambeau was honored by King Louis XVI and was made governor of the province of Picardy. He supported the French Revolution of 1789, and on 28 December 1791 he and Nicolas Luckner became the last two generals created Marshal of France by Louis XVI.

When the French Revolutionary Wars broke out, he commanded the Armée du Nord for a time in 1792 but resigned after several reversals to the Austrians. He was arrested during the Reign of Terror in 1793–94 and imprisoned in the Conciergerie. He narrowly avoided the guillotine, with his execution being scheduled mere days away when the Thermidorian Reaction occurred, ending the Reign of Terror.

After his imprisonment and subsequent release, Rochambeau met with Napoleon in 1801 and was given a pension. He later received the Légion d'honneur in 1804 after Napoleon's ascension as emperor. Rochambeau died in 1807 at Thoré-la-Rochette during the First French Empire. His son Donatien was also a French general.