Happy birthday, Rochambeau! – Part I

#MiddleburyCT #Rochambeau

This portrait of Comte de Rochambeau was painted from life by the famous Charles Wilson Peale. Peale also was the captain of a Pennsylvania militia company. (Dr. Robert L. Rafford scan)

By DR. ROBERT L. RAFFORD

Part I of III – “What’s with the French flag?” exclaimed someone examining the historical society’s online rendering of the Rochambeau Memorial to be placed June 27, 2026, in Meadowview Park here in Middlebury, Conn. Yes, Americans should celebrate our victory over the British in the Revolutionary War, but why do we celebrate the French? That’s a very good question, and the inquirer is not alone. The answer, I think, lies in grasping a more complete history of that immortal eight year, four month and 15-day conflict. Since we are habituated to remember dates in the study of history and try to celebrate the more memorable ones, that presents a good starting point.

July 1, 2025, marked the 300th anniversary of the birth of Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, a very important man to all Americans. Depending on where you attended school, you may or may not have been taught much about Rochambeau. Marquis de Lafayette (Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves Roch-Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette) got most of the attention in my schooling in Brooklyn, New York. My home was not far from a beautiful sculptural tableau of him, along with an African-American groomsman and steed, that is in Prospect Park, sculpted by Daniel Chester French, and on which I climbed as a youngster.

Comte de Rochambeau was born to nobility at Vendôme, Orléanais, France, to Joseph Charles De Vimeur, Marquis de Rochambeau (1698-1779) and his wife, Marie-Claire-Thérèse Bégon. He descended from a long line of soldiers who imbued him with characteristics of leadership. The family crest bore the words, “Vivre en preux, y mourir,” which translates to “To live and die valiantly,” or “To live valiantly and to die thus.” Nevertheless, he was destined for the priesthood as a teenager, but upon the sudden death of his brother, Césaire, when Rochambeau was 15, his aspirations turned toward becoming a soldier in his family’s tradition.

He displayed his military prowess at a young age, having attended the École Royale Militaire in Paris, attaining the rank of captain following his 18th birthday and became a colonel three years later. He commanded troops in the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748), and was wounded at the Battle of Laufeldt in 1747. Following the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ending that war, he was married to Jeanne-Thérèse Tellez d’Acosta in 1749. After becoming a father twice, he became engaged in the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) in Europe. This war, known as the French and Indian War (1754-1763) in the American colonies, pitted the Americans against the French and their Indian allies, who forced General George Washington to surrender!

Eighteen years later, as the world was still in upheaval among Spain, France and Great Britain, Spain and France would become our allies in a conflict pitting us against Great Britain in what some have seen as a “revenge” for events in the Seven Years’ War. In that conflict, the Revolutionary War, a seasoned military officer, Comte de Rochambeau, would become a key figure for Americans.

Over the course of a few years, Americans Ben Franklin and Silas Deane (of Connecticut), as well as Lafayette, had convinced the French government to aid the American cause. King Louis XVI, who had ascended to the throne of France in 1774, at the age of 19, agreed to a secret plan in 1780, called the expédition particulière, which would attack Great Britain on American soil. He appointed Admiral de Ternay to command a fleet of 121 ships of the line to carry French troops to America and appointed Rochambeau a lieutenant-general in command of approximately 7,000 French troops and ordered them to sail to America and there to cooperate with General Washington. Under the French and American flags, he would soon distinguish himself as one of the world’s most important military leaders.

Bob Rafford is the Middlebury Historical Society president and Middlebury’s municipal historian. To contact the society, visit MiddleburyHistoricalSociety.org or contact him at president@middleburyhistoricalsociety.org. Your membership and support are welcome.