Jean-Marie de Villeneuve Cillart 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

Cillart was born in an aristocratic family. His father was captain in a dragoon unit, and two of his brothers, Étienne-François de Cillart de Villeneuve and

Armand-François Cillart de Suville Armand-François Marie Cillart de Suville (Séglien, 1 February 1730 — Jersey, 30 June 1801) was a French Navy officer. He served in the War of American Independence. Biography Cillart was born in an aristocratic family. His father was capta ...

, also served in the Navy. Cillart joined the Navy as 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 ...

on 19 March 1756. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 1 October 1773, and to Captain on 4 April 1780, effective 9 May 1781. Cillart captained the frigate 32-gun frigate ''Surveillante'', 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 ...

under Admiral Ternay, composed of 7 ships of the line, 3 frigates and 36 transports. ''Surveillante'', as vanguard of the squadron, arrived at Boston on 11 June 1780. From then on, ''Surveillante'' was attached to the Ternay's squadron as part of a frigate division Cillart, with his flag on ''Surveillante'', and also comprising ''Amazone'' and ''Hermione'', which had been at Boston since 27 April already. 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. On 5 June 1781, as ''Surveillante'' was arriving at Saint-Domingue from America, she encountered the 48-gun frigate HMS ''Ulysses''. A chased ensued and at 2130, ''Ulysses'' caught up with ''Surveillante''. After 2 hours and a half of battle, the frigates broke the engagement. On 24 October 1781, after the

Siege of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

, ''Surveillante'' brought Gontaut de Lauzun to France to bring the news of the victory. She arrived at Brest on 15 November. Cillart was killed at the Battle of Quibéron in July 1795. Two of his nephews, Étienne Cillart de Villeneuve and Armand Cillart de Villeneuve, were also killed with him.

Sources and references

Notes Citations Bibliography * * * * * French Navy officers French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War 1795 deaths {{France-mil-bio-stub