Francis Joseph Paul, Count de Grasse, Marquis de Grasse-Tilly, Count de
Bar, and Lieutenant-General of the marine forces of France, was born
in 1723, of a noble Provençal family, and was destined from childhood
to enter the order of Malta. At eleven years of age he went to sea in
the galleys of the Order, and made several cruises in the Levant. In
1740 the young sailor entered the French naval service, and in 1747
was serving in the frigate Emerald, in the squadron of La Jonquiere,
which was convoying to Pondichery twenty-five ships of the French East
India Company. The squadron, which consisted of six ships-of-the-line
and six frigates, was met off Cape Finisterre, by a fleet of seventeen
English ships, commanded by Anson. After a vigorous resistance most of
the French ships were captured, and De Grasse was taken a prisoner to
England, where he remained two years.
Upon his return home he was promoted, and continued to cruise in
various parts of the world, and was especially employed in surveying
the Guinea coast.
In January, 1762, he served in the West Indies, as captain of a
line-of-battle ship, and soon after his return was made a Chevalier of
St. Louis, and served in the French fleet which bombarded Sallee. In
1772 he commanded a ship in the squadron of the Count d’Orvilliers,
and about the time of the breaking out of the American Revolution
was present at a naval battle off Ushant, in which he particularly
distinguished himself.
In 1779 he went out to the West Indies, in command of four
line-of-battle ships and seven frigates, to join the fleet of Count
d’Estaing, off Martinique, and participated in the action of July 6th,
between d’Estaing and Admiral Byron. The following year he took part,
in the same latitude, in the three battles between the Count de Guichen
and Admiral Rodney, after the last of which he returned to France.
At the commencement of 1781 he was sent out with an important convoy,
to Martinique. He sailed from Brest on March 24th, with twenty-three
ships-of-the-line, carrying troops, and having on board a very large
sum of money, and a quantity of arms and ammunition, all intended for
the succor of the young and struggling Republic of the United States.
On the twenty-eighth of April De Grasse arrived off Port Royal,
Martinique, where he found eighteen English line-of-battle ships,
detached from Admiral Sir George Rodney’s fleet, and under the command
of Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, who was there to oppose the landing of
the convoy at Martinique.
Hood, recognizing the superior force of De Grasse, contented himself
with distant firing, and did not attempt to engage; De Grasse chased
him off to the westward of Saint Lucie, and then returned to Martinique
Road with his convoy.
Soon after he left there, to attack, in concert with the Marquis de
Bouillé, the English island of Tobago; and, on June 1st obtained
possession of the chief town of that island. De Grasse then sailed
for San Domingo, took on board three thousand soldiers; touched at
Havana, where he effected a loan; and then came through the Bahama
Channel, a route not then used by large ships, to the American coast;
which he followed up until he entered the Chesapeake. Here he, with
his fleet, and in concert with General Washington, made the well known
dispositions which led to the surrender of Cornwallis, at Yorktown.
On September 5th, hearing of the approach of the English fleet, De
Grasse left his anchorage in Lynnhaven Bay, just inside of Cape Henry,
and put to sea. Bougainville commanded the van division of his fleet,
in the Auguste, 80; De Grasse himself the centre, in the Ville de
Paris, 104; and the Chevalier de Monteil the rear division, in the
Languedoc, 80.
The English fleet, of twenty line-of-battle ships, was commanded by
Admirals Graves, Hood and Drake.
A partial engagement followed, which was mostly confined to the van
divisions of the two fleets, and which continued about two hours and a
half. Four or five days were consumed in manœuvres, De Grasse not being
able to bring Graves to a general engagement, and finally the French
fleet returned to their anchorage in Lynnhaven Bay; having, on the
return, captured two English frigates.
To De Grasse and his fleet certainly belong a considerable share in
the glory of the surrender of Cornwallis’ army, and of the consequent
firm establishment of American independence. In recognition of this,
Congress offered De Grasse four pieces of cannon, taken at Yorktown; of
which the French King authorized his acceptance; and they were placed
in his Chateau of Tilly, with a suitable inscription engraved upon them.
Returning with his fleet to Martinique, he made several expeditions
against the English islands; and had also several partial engagements
with Sir Samuel Hood, in none of which he was very successful.
Some months elapsed in this manner, and the month of April, 1782,
arrived. De Grasse was on his way to join a Spanish squadron, on the
coast of San Domingo, when he fell in with the English fleet again,
near Dominica.
In consequence of the junction of Rodney and Hood, the English now
numbered thirty-six ships-of-the-line, fourteen frigates, three
sloops-of-war, and two fire-ships. Admiral Rodney had his flag in
the Formidable, 90; Sir Samuel Hood was in the Barfleur, 90; and
Rear-Admiral Drake was in the Princessa, 70.
De Grasse at this time had about thirty line-of-battle ships, and a
proportion of frigates, but was hampered by a convoy of about one
hundred and fifty merchant vessels.
Sir Samuel Hood’s division was in the van of the English fleet, which,
having got the sea breeze early, stretched to the northward in chase,
while the centre and rear were still becalmed. The French, on the
starboard tack, observing the isolated position of the English van,
bore up, in hopes of cutting them off. De Grasse, in this evolution,
executed a novel and ingenious plan, which was done full justice to by
his adversaries.
The British van was, about 10 A.M., hove to, to enable their centre and
rear to close. In consequence, the French ships, by keeping under way,
were enabled to manœuvre as they chose. Hood kept his division well
closed up, however, opposing vigorous and well directed broadsides to
his enemy’s attacks. He thus resisted De Grasse until the sea breeze
reached the rest of the English fleet, when the French Admiral tacked
and stood inshore to rejoin his fleet and convoy. When the sea breeze
reached them the English were to windward; but the sailing of the
French ships was so superior that they could not come up with them.
This was the end of the operation, except some distant and ineffectual
cannonading.
The two succeeding days were occupied in chasing; but it was evident
that only a change in the wind, or some accident, would enable Admiral
Rodney to force an engagement; so superior were the French in sailing
qualities.
On the 12th of April the French were again seen, near the Saintes, and
one of their ships, having lost her foremast and bowsprit, was seen, in
tow of a frigate, standing in for Guadaloupe. Rodney made signal for
four ships to chase, which being perceived, De Grasse bore up, with his
fleet, to protect them. But finding that by persevering in this course,
he should give the British the weather-gage, he gave up his intention,
and formed line on the port tack. Rodney, perceiving an engagement
inevitable, recalled his chasing ships, and made signal to form line of
battle on the starboard tack, Rear-Admiral Drake’s division leading.
The two fleets gradually neared each other, the French only just
crossing the bows of the English, to windward.
At 8 A.M. the leading English ship, the Marlborough, 74, opened the
action, firing upon the French centre and rear. Sir George Rodney
then made signal for “close action,” and Drake’s division was at once
closely engaged. The rest of the English were nearly becalmed, as were
the French soon after. The wind then hauled to the southward, and while
this completely disarranged the French line, it did not so much affect
the English, and Rodney, perceiving an opening in his adversaries’
line, kept a close luff and passed through it, cutting off their rear.
It is not thought that Rodney deliberately planned this, but it was the
first time that the stiff notion of preserving a line-of-battle at all
hazards, and when advantage could be gained from departing from it, was
broken through.
This movement of Rodney’s was the main cause of the loss of the
battle to the French; and although many assert that the preservation
of his line would have rendered the victory more decisive, yet when
the sailing qualities of the two fleets are taken into account, it
is very doubtful. By pursuing the plan he did, Rodney separated his
ship, and the six ships which followed him, from the van, part of the
centre, and the rear. It is said that his manœuvre was inadvertently
performed; but this could hardly be, for the Formidable luffed out of
line, which could not have been done inadvertently and without distinct
intention, and it is, therefore, not fair to impute the movement, and
the consequent victory, to mere accident. A French writer distinctly
says that “Rodney’s able manœuvres completely got the better of De
Grasse.” With the fine and well trained fleet which the French Admiral
commanded, it is probable that no great advantage would have accrued
to the English under the old plan of fleet fighting. The advocates of
the theory that Rodney’s movement was an accident have some foundation
for what they allege, however, in that Sir Alan Gardner, who commanded
the Duke, 90, Rodney’s second astern, was heard to say, “the wind was
very light at the commencement of the action, but as it advanced it
fell calm; my ship _dropped through_ the enemy’s line, and I, thinking
I was wrong, and out of my station, did everything I could to get back
again, but was unable to do so.” The state of the wind prevented Hood
from following Rodney through the French fleet, and, by continuing his
course he soon became opposed to the French van, separated from the
centre, and here a warm and close action took place, and continued,
until at length the smoke and concussion of the firing, which had also
“killed” the wind, so completely enshrouded the ships of both fleets,
that a cessation of firing was necessary. About noon the smoke cleared
away, by which time the French ships, to effect a re-junction, all bore
up, and were seen to leeward, retreating, and in considerable disorder,
and a general chase succeeded. The English victory was complete, if
not overwhelming. Five French line-of-battle ships were taken or
destroyed; the Glorieux, Cæsar, Hector, Ardent, and the flag-ship Ville
de Paris. The English accounts say that three of their line-of-battle
ships concentrated upon the Ville de Paris; the French accounts say
five. Certain it is that she made a gallant fight for hours after the
battle was decided; and when, at last, she hauled down her flag, she
had one hundred and twenty killed, and almost all the rest more or less
wounded. Count De Grasse himself, although he had not left the deck,
escaped unscratched, as did a very few others on board.
The Ville de Paris was considered the finest ship afloat at that time.
She measured 2300 tons, and had been presented to Louis XV, by the
City of Paris, at the close of the preceding war. She is said to have
had a large amount of specie on board. She was towed to Jamaica by her
captors, but was so damaged that she foundered in an attempt to take
her to England; as did the Hector and Glorieux. The Cæsar, a very fine
ship, was burned on the night following her capture, and four hundred
of her crew, as well as an English lieutenant and fifty seamen who
were in charge, lost their lives. In fact, not one of the French ships
captured in this battle ever reached England.
The victory caused great exultation in England. Sir George Rodney
and Sir Samuel Hood were both made peers, and Rear-Admiral Drake and
Commodore Affleck made baronets. Public monuments were erected in
Westminster Abbey to those captains who were killed.
The French loss was very heavy, some reported it as 3000, in killed and
wounded. The English loss was reported as 253 killed and 816 wounded.
As for the French ships, twenty-four of which escaped, they were at
last collected, in a very damaged condition, under the Marquis de
Vaudrueil, but they were obliged to abandon the West India islands.
De Grasse was sent a prisoner to England, where he was most courteously
received by the King and court circles. Indeed, he was accused of
enjoying his popularity too much, and of lowering the dignity which
became a prisoner of his rank. He was instrumental in forwarding the
negotiations which led to the peace between England and the United
States, which was concluded at Versailles, in 1783.
Upon his return from captivity De Grasse was tried for the loss of the
battle of April 12th, and honorably acquitted; but he was never again
employed, and died in Paris, at the age of sixty-five.
The opinion concerning De Grasse, both in France and England, was that
he had brilliant courage, but a lack of judgment.
Sir George Bridge Rodney, the victor in the battle of April 12th, 1782,
was born in 1717, and survived the battle ten years. George the First
was his godfather, and with such patronage his advancement in the Navy
was rapid.
In 1759 he commanded at the bombardment of Havre; and two years
afterwards he captured the French West India islands of Saint Lucie,
Saint Pierre, Grenada and Saint Vincent. He was made an Admiral in
1771; but, in consequence of debts contracted in an election for
Parliament, he was obliged to take refuge on the Continent. While in
France he was, one day, at the table of the Marshal de Biron, and was
holding forth upon his hopes of one day defeating the combined French
and Spanish fleets. Biron jokingly offered to pay his debts, so as to
enable him to put his threat into execution.
Rodney, whose bravery and ability were equal to his arrogance and
self-conceit, justified what he had said in less than three years,
for, in February, 1780, he utterly defeated Don Juan de Langara, and a
Spanish fleet, off Cape St. Vincent, being the first naval battle of
that name; and in April, 1782, he defeated De Grasse. He received the
thanks of Parliament, the title of Baron, and a pension of two thousand
pounds, with reversion to his heirs.
[Illustration: LE SOLEIL ROYAL
(A famous French 120-Gun Ship, 17th Century, Built by Colbert.)]
[Illustration: HOWE’S ACTION OF JUNE 1ST, 1794.]