Which French commander led the army forces supporting Washington at Yorktown?

The Comte de Rochambeau led the French army forces supporting George Washington at Yorktown.

Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, commanded the French expeditionary force sent to aid the American Revolution. French military assistance became especially important after France formally allied with the United States in 1778. Rochambeau’s troops arrived in North America in 1780 and cooperated with Washington’s Continental Army.

In 1781, Washington and Rochambeau moved their combined forces south from the New York area toward Virginia. The maneuver helped conceal the allied objective and brought the army to Yorktown, where Cornwallis’s British force was trapped. Rochambeau’s French soldiers fought alongside American troops during the siege and the final assault on the British defenses.

Rochambeau should not be confused with the Comte de Grasse, who commanded the French fleet that controlled the Chesapeake Bay and helped prevent British relief. The Marquis de Lafayette was another important French-born officer, but he commanded American forces in Virginia rather than the main French expeditionary army.