Charles-Marie de La Grandière (

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

, 17 February 1729 — Rennes, 22 March 1812) was a French Navy officer. He served in the

War of American Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Biography

La Grandière was born to the family of a Navy Lieutenant. He joined the Navy as a volunteer on ''Saint-Michel'' in 1741, and became a

Garde-Marine In France, under the Ancien Régime, the Gardes de la Marine (Guards of the Navy), or Gardes-Marine were young gentlemen undergoing training to be naval officers. The training program was established by Cardinal Richelieu in 1670 and lasted until A ...

in 1745. He was promoted to Ensign in 1751. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1757. He was promoted to Captain in 1772. He took part in the Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778, where he commanded the 64-gun ''Indien''. He captained the

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

''Conquérant'' as part of the

Expédition Particulière ''Expédition Particulière'' (English: Special Expedition) was the codename given by the Kingdom of France for the plan to sail French land forces to North America to support the colonists against Britain in the American Revolutionary War. Numberi ...

. He took part in the

Battle of Cape Henry The Battle of Cape Henry was a naval battle in the American War of Independence which took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 16 March 1781 between a British squadron led by Vice Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot and a French fleet under Admiral ...

on 16 March 1781, where ''Conquérant'' was especially exposed and sustained severe damage to her masts. He also took part in the

Battle of the Saintes The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...

on 12 April 1782. La Grandière was admitted in the Society of the Cincinnati for his participation in the

. He was promoted to Brigadier in 1782, and to

Chef d'Escadre ''Chef d'escadre'' (; literally " squadron commander") was a rank in the French Navy during the Ancien Régime and until the French Revolution. The rank was changed to '' contre-amiral'' by a law passed on 15 May 1791. History The first chefs ...

in 1784. In 1785, he was made a Commander in the Order of Saint Louis. In 1791, he was made commander of the squadron of Brest. On 1 January 1792, La Grandière was promoted to contre-amiral. He retired in 1805.

Sources and references

Notes Citations Bibliography * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:La Grandière, Charles-Marie French Navy officers French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War