Theodore J. Crackel

In July 1780, a French fleet arrived at Newport, Rhode Island with some 5,000 French infantry and a number of marines under the command of Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, le Comte de Rochambeau. Although Rochambeau had been ordered to regard Washington as his superior officer, the result was a remarkable collaboration between the two men – one that led to the victory at Yorktown, Virginia that assured American independence.