rgies in saving
themselves from destruction, and before the storm passed the French
ships were so scattered that all hope of success had to be abandoned.
D'Estaing found himself on the 13th of August separated from his
convoy, and his ship, Le Languedoc, bereft of rudder and masts, forced
to an encounter with three English vessels. His fleet rallied round
him, but it was too late after a disastrous action to do anything but
repair damages: in fact, Lord Howe had already reached Sandy Hook.
D'Estaing appeared off Newport on the 20th to announce that he should
be obliged by instructions to go to Boston for provisions and water,
and thus ended the first visit of the French to Newport, to the dismay
of the inhabitants. Sullivan criticised D'Estaing severely, but was
obliged by La Fayette to retract: indeed, it is a question whether the
fault of failure lay in Sullivan's procrastination or in want of
judgment on the part of the French commander, who nevertheless, on his
return to France, interested himself to induce the government to send
out twelve thousand men to America. La Fayette also, through his
friendship with Vergennes, exerted himself toward the same end, the
proposition being not unfavorably received by the government, which
merely demurred as to the number of troops required. Before leaving
France, however, La Fayette had secured full consent to the expedition,
and on him devolved the grateful task of bearing to Congress and
Washington the news of the co-operation of that country. The fleet was
prepared at Brest, and was placed under Admiral de Ternay, the command
of the troops being given to the comte de Rochambeau, not through court
favor, but in consideration of the affection of the army for him.

Jean Baptiste de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau and marshal of France, was
born in Vendome in 1725. At sixteen he served under the marechal de
Broglie, was afterward aide to the duc d'Orleans, and distinguished
himself in the battles of Crevelt, Minden, Closterkamp and Corbach,
being seriously wounded several times. A thorough soldier, Rochambeau
possessed not only courage, but a clear, practical eye, accompanied by
foresight and judgment. His memoirs show him to have taken more kindly
to the camp than the court, and outside of war to have been fond of the
sports of a country gentleman. His appearance in Trumbull's picture of
the surrender of Cornwallis shows us more of a Cincinnatus than of an
Alexander. He was reserve