Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, 
Comte de Rochambeau 

b. Vendome, France, July 1, 1725 
d. Thore, Loir et Cher, Vendome, France,  May 10, 1807


Lieutenant General, Commander of the French expeditionary forces in America. 
Headquarters of Rochambeau was the Vernon house. While in residence, an officers' club was built on Vernon's garden. 

George Washington's week long visit with Rochambeau commencing on March 6, 1781 has become one of the most chronicled events in Newport history. It featured a procession, dinner, ball and illumination of the city. Although never proven, plans of the final assault against the British in the Battle of Yorktown were made between the two leaders in the Vernon house. This can be considered Newport folklore. 
 

Rochambeau's house in Newport
The Vernon house still stands, at the northeast corner of Clarke and Mary Streets. The statue, honoring Rochambeau, originally located on Broadway, is now overlooking Newport Harbor at King's Park. 

Thought highly of by his men and always concerned with their welfare, he also maintained a courteous but firm relationship with George Washington. 
As instructed by Washington, Lafayette comes to Newport the last week of July 1780 to confer with Rochambeau. Lafayette visits this area four times over the course of his life. 

The French bring a printing press to Newport during the fight for freedom. This propaganda machine produced the Gazette Francoise - the first newspaper ever published abroad by an expeditionary force and the first French language newspaper in the U.S. 
The Gazette Francoise is considered the ancestor of "Stars and Stripes", the newspaper of the American armed forces during the two world wars. A plaque commemorating the existence of this enterprise is on the outside garden wall of the Hunter House. 
Without the assistance, support, and the expertise in military warfare from Rochambeau and his expeditionary forces, it is possible the outcome of the War of Independence could have been vastly different. 
The French, as allies, are the only foreign land and naval forces ever to establish themselves in America. 

Bibliography


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