Donatien-Marie-Joseph Rochambeau

Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau (April 7, 1750 Chateau Rochambeau, France - October 18, 1813 Leipzig, Germany) French General and landowner in Saint-Domingue. In 1802, he was appointed to lead an expeditionary force against Saint-Domingue after General Leclerc's death. Historians of the Haitian Revolution credit his brutal tactics for uniting black and mulatto soldiers against the French. After Rochambeau surrendered to the rebel general Dessalines in November 1803, the former French colony declared its independence as Haiti, the second independent state in the Americas. On his way home, Rochambeau was captured by the English and returned to England as a prisoner on parole, where he remained interned for almost nine years.

His father Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (July 1, 1725 – May 10, 1807), fought in the American Revolution with the younger Rochambeau as his aide-de-camp.

Rochambeau was a Governor-General of Saint-Domingue from 21 October 1792 to 2 January 1793 and from 2 November 1802 to 30 November 1803.

See also

• Crète-à-Pierrot - An important battle of the Haitian revolution, fought in 1802 between Rochambeau's troops and that of [[Toussaint Louverture, led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

References

• Encyclopædia Britannica: Eleventh Edition (1911-1912).
• Vicomte de Rochambeau. (2005, November 10). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:26, December 7, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vicomte_de_Rochambeau&oldid=27888916.