François Jean de Beauvoir, Marquis de Chastellux (; 5 May 1734, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

– 24 October 1788, in Paris), was a military officer who served during the War of American Independence as a major general in the French expeditionary forces led by general Comte de Rochambeau. Being on general Rochambeau's staff for the duration of the war, Chastellux acted as the principal liaison officer between the French commander in chief and

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. The Chevalier de Chastellux was also widely recognized, at the time of his campaigns in America, as a highly talented man of letters and a member of the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

Early literary career

He first became known as a writer, historian and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. He was the third member elected to occupy Seat 2 of the Académie française in 1775.

Military career in America

After arriving in America in July 1780, Chastellux participated to 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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

as Major General in the French expeditionary force led by general Rochambeau. During the following year, he was third in command of the French forces engaged at the decisive

Siege of Yorktown The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender at Yorktown, was the final battle of the American Revolutionary War. It was won decisively by the Continental Army, led by George Washington, with support from the Ma ...

in 1781 where the British were ultimately defeated. Major General de Chastellux was fluent in English and with his strong ideological support of the American cause, he served the alliance well. During the latter part of the campaign he was the principal liaison officer between George Washington and French general Rochambeau. Thereafter, Chastellux remained a personal friend of

for life. Furthermore, the College of William and Mary and the University of Pennsylvania also awarded Chastellux with honorary degrees. After his return to France, Chastellux also remained in contact with

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

, now the American representative in Paris, whom he had previously visited on his Virginia estate at

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...

. He was elected both a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, and of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1781 (the latter honorary membership in the same year was bestowed upon Lafayette and François Barbé-Marbois, both of whom were fellow friends to the American Revolutionary cause).

His late literary career

Major General de Chastellux placed on record and published in 1786 his complete recollections of the American War of Independence. This included a description of his travels in America after the war had ended. Chastellux described

as an effective yet profoundly humane leader in wartime.

Bibliography

* ''Essai sur l'union de la poésie et de la musique'' (1765). Réédition : Slatkine, Genève, 1970. * ''De la Félicité publique, ou Considérations sur le sort des hommes, dans les différentes époques de l'histoire'' (1772). Réédition : Publications de la Sorbonne, Paris, 1989. * ''Iphigénie en Aulide, opéra'' (1773) * ''Éloge de M. Helvétius'' (1774) * ''Voyages de M. le Marquis de Chastellux dans l'Amérique septentrionale, dans les années 1780, 1781 et 1782'' in two volumes, chez Prault, Imprimeur du Roi (1788). Modern réédition : Tallandier, Paris, 1989. An English translation by Howard C.Rice was published in 1963 under the title:" Travels in North America in 1780,1781 and 1782" * "Chevalier de Chastellux at the Battle of Yorktown" in: "Yorktown Battlefield-Chevalier de Chastellux" (U.S.National Park Service) * ''Travels in North America in the Years 1780-81-82'' Marquis de Chastellux. BiblioBazaar LLC, Charleston, SC 2009 * Iris de Rode, ''François-Jean de Chastellux (1734–1788). Un soldat-philosophe dans le monde atlantique à l'époque des Lumières.'' Paris, H. Champion, 2022.

References

*Paul Mesnard. ''Histoire de l'académie française depuis sa fondation jusqu'en 1830''. Charpentier, Paris 1857. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chastellux, Francois Jean De 1734 births 1788 deaths Writers from Paris Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the American Philosophical Society 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights French people of the American Revolution Members of the Académie Française French military personnel of the Seven Years' War Knights of the Order of Saint Louis