Claude Gabriel, Marquis de Choissey (french: Claude Gabriel de Choisy) was a French general who served in Poland in the 1770s, and then in North America during the

American Revolutionary War 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 ...

. De Choissey was at 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 ...

in command of

Lauzun's Legion The 5th Hussar Regiment (''5e régiment de hussards'' or ''5e RH'') was a French Hussar regiment. Formation under the Ancien Régime The 5th Hussar Regiment was formed under the Ancien Régime. It was the last regiment created under the monarch ...

and General George Weedon's Virginia militia, and at

Gloucester, Virginia Gloucester Courthouse is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Gloucester County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,951 at the 2010 census. History The Gloucester County Courthouse Square Historic District, Glou ...

, under the command of Rochambeau, opposite

Banastre Tarleton Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, GCB (21 August 175415 January 1833) was a British general and politician. He is best known as the lieutenant colonel leading the British Legion at the end of the American Revolution. He later served in Portug ...

. Awarded the '' Libertas Americana'' medal for his service, he returned to France in 1783 and retired from active duty in 1793.

Capture of Cracow

France was allied with Poland against Russia, in the

Bar Confederation The Bar Confederation ( pl, Konfederacja barska; 1768–1772) was an association of Polish nobles ( szlachta) formed at the fortress of Bar in Podolia (now part of Ukraine) in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Poli ...

. On 2 February 1772, he led 270 men, in the capture of

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

Poland, from 1,500 Russians. A small party entered through a sewer, surprised the guard, and opened the

postern gate A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often located in a concealed location which allowed the occupants to come and go inconspicuously. In the event of a siege, a postern ...

. Not being reinforced in time, they retreated to the

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

Wawel Castle The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established on ...

. They held it through a

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

of several weeks against 18,000 Russians, until it fell to

Suvorov Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Суво́ров, Aleksándr Vasíl'yevich Suvórov; or 1730) was a Russian general in service of the Russian Empire. He was Count of Rymnik, Count of the Hol ...

on 28 April 1772. On 24 March 1772, he was appointed Brigadier General of Infantry, and in 1779 appointed to be Mestre of the Camp for the Fourth Regiment Chasseurs a Cheval.

Joining the ''Expédition Particulière''

Competition was fierce among French officers to join the expedition to America, to gain fame and promotion. Marquis de Choisy arrived at Brest with five others officers to join the Army, but was turned away. Then he sailed, with ten officers, on the ''Sybille'' for Santo Domingo, changing ships to ''La Gentille'', arriving at Newport on 29 September 1780. Tensions ran high among officers in camp; he sought to reconcile officers who had fought a duel. On 29 October, Rochambeau sent Brigadier General Choisy with

, as they marched from Rhode Island to Head of Elk, Maryland, traveled by water to

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. Th ...

, and marched to Gloucester Courthouse.

Battle of Gloucester, VA

Gloucester point was an obvious escape route from Yorktown. Marquis de Choisy was assigned the Virginia militia,

, and 800 French Marines. Opposite them was Tarleton's Legion, Simcoe's Rangers, the 80th Foot regiment, and the Erb Prinz (Prince Hereditaire) regiment. On 4 October 1781, Marquis de Choisy was marching towards Gloucester by the Severn road ( Route 17), while John Mercer, with the Virginia militia, "veterans", took the York River road. Tarleton, who had crossed the river the night before, led a covering force for a "grand forage", for supplies. Lauzun and Tarleton charged and countercharged over the open ground. Tarleton was unhorsed, and Lauzun's Legion skirmished allowing the infantry to fire upon the British. Tarleton withdrew within his lines, and the French pursued, before being ordered to withdraw by the Marquis de Choisy. This clash between Tarleton and Lauzun marks the largest Cavalry engagement in the American Revolution. The British lost killed or wounded one officer and eleven men; the French lost two officers and fourteen hussars. Marquis de Choisy wrote Washington:

Sir, I have the hounor to inform you that by our arrival at Saoul's Tavern we have met with the ennemi who was in number about 500 men Cavalry and Infantry, that the Cavalry of the Duc of Lauzun has attaqued them, pierced through and that we have had a great advantage on them We can esteem they have 30 men killed or wounded The 200 men grenadier Americans who were the only Infantry advanced enough to have part in the affair and who have behaved excedingly well have killed one officer who was at the head of the Infantry of the ennemi. T'is a general report that Tarleton has been wounded. The ennemi have retired to Gloucester and we are quickly in our Camp where I expect you will join to morrow as we have already agreed. I have the hounor to be your Most humble servant, Choisy

After the battle

Washington corresponded with him about captured horses after the battle. There was some controversy, about horses and lodging, and returning runaway slaves. He returned to France with the Comte de Rochambeau, from Annapolis, sailing in January, 1783. He was presented the medal, '' Libertas Americana'', by

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intel ...

. He was promoted to ''

Maréchal de Camp ''Maréchal de camp'' (sometimes incorrectly translated as field marshal) was a general officer rank used by the French Army until 1848. The rank originated from the older rank of sergeant major general ( French: ''sergent-major général''). Se ...

'' (major general) on 5 December 1781, and commander of the Armee du Nord in 1791. He was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Saint Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis (french: Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis) is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a rewar ...

. He was promoted to be Lieutenant General, 20 May 1791, and honorably retired on 4 February 1793.

Général of the French Révolution

The revolutionary government, which had just published, on 26 October 1791 the decree cementing

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label= Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune ha ...

and

Comtat Venaissin The Comtat Venaissin (; Provençal: , Mistralian norm: , classical norm: ; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the for short, was a part of the Papal States (1274‒1791) in what is now the region of France. The entire region was an enclave ...

with France, dispatched "civil police chiefs" who were escorted by troops placed under the command of the general Choisy (with the 9th regiment of

dragoons Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

).Antoine-Vincent Arnault, Antoine Jay, Etienne de Jouy, Norvins, ''New biography of the contemporaries, or historical and reasoned Dictionary of all the men who, since the French revolution, acquired of the celebrity by their actions, their writings, their errors or their crimes, either in France, or in the foreign countries'', Paris, historical Bookshop, 1822, p 181 Arriving on the spot, they ordered, after the Massacres of La Glacière, arrests, but on 19 March 1792, a general amnesty was voted by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

putting a rest to the inquiry.

References

External links

*
''Dynastie de L'Hôpital'', Genealogie Free Fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choisy, Marquis De Military personnel from Moulins, Allier 1723 births 1800 deaths French generals French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Louis French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French military personnel of the War of the Polish Succession