Gaspard de Ligondès 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

Retz was born to a family from Auvergne. He 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 ...

in 1741. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1756, to Commander in 1767, to Captain in 1772. In 1779, Retz captained the 64-gun ''Vengeur'', part of the division under De Grasse sent to D'Estaing as reinforcement. Retz was wounded at the

Battle of Grenada The Battle of Grenada took place on 6 July 1779 during the American Revolutionary War in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy, just off the coast of Grenada. The British fleet of Admiral John Byron (the grandfath ...

on 6 July 1779, and took part in the

Siege of Savannah The siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutena ...

in September and October 1779. He also fought in the Battle of Martinique on 17 April 1780, where ''Vengeur'', along with ''Destin'' and ''Saint Michel'', directly engaged the much stronger ''Sandwich'', under Rodney, HMS ''Cornwall'' and HMS ''Suffolk''. In 1781, Retz 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 ...

''Zodiaque'' in Brest. In 1782, he transferred to ''Robuste''. The same year, he was promoted to

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

. Retz retired from the Navy with the rank of

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 1786.

Sources and references

Notes Citations Bibliography * * * External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ligondès, Gaspard French Navy officers French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War