The Comte de Rochambeau commanded the French expeditionary force that allied with George Washington at Yorktown.
Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, led approximately 5,500 French soldiers sent to support the American Revolution. In 1781, his troops joined Washington’s Continental Army and marched south from the Hudson Valley toward Virginia. Their coordinated movement helped trap the British army commanded by Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown.
Rochambeau and Washington shared command of the allied land forces, while the French fleet under the Comte de Grasse played a crucial naval role. De Grasse’s victory at the Battle of the Chesapeake prevented British relief and made the Yorktown siege possible.
Rochambeau is sometimes confused with the Marquis de Lafayette, a French-born American general who also served in Virginia. The Comte de Grasse was the French admiral at sea. Distinguishing the land commander from the naval commander clarifies the allied chain of command.