The Frenchman Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau (1725-1807), commanded the French expeditionary force in the American Revolution. He was with Gen. George Washington at the Battle of Yorktown.

The Comte de Rochambeau was born at Vendôme on July 1, 1725. Educated for the Church, he entered the army at the age of 17 and fought with bravery and skill in the War of the Austrian Succession, serving in Bohemia, Bavaria, and along the Rhine. A colonel by 1747, he took part in the Seven Years War as a brigadier general and achieved distinction in the expedition to Minorca and battles in Germany.

As a lieutenant general, Rochambeau was named commander of the French forces sent to America, and in July 1780 he landed at Newport, R.I., with about 5,500 troops. Although he was to launch combined operations with the Americans against New York, he was blockaded by a...