Rochambeau, Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de, a Marshal of France; born in Vendome, France, July 1, 1725; entered the French army in 1742, distinguished himself in the Seven Years' War, and became Field-Marshal in 1761. In 1780-1782 he commanded the French forces sent to aid the revolted British colonists in America. He became governor of Artois and Picardy, and subsequently of Alsace, was made a Marshal in 1790, and commanded the Army of the North in 1792. During the Reign of Terror he narrowly escaped the guillotine. He died in Thori, May 10, 1807.
Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia,
1912.