page_title: Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte
section_title: American Revolutionary War
hierarchical_section_title: Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte / Biography / American Revolutionary War
context_page_description: Count Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte, also known as La Motte-Picquet was a French Navy officer and admiral. Over a career spanning 50 years, he served under Louis XV and Louis XVI and took part in 34 campaigns. He fought in the Seven Years' War and in the Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War, earning the ranks of Commandeur in the Order of Saint Louis in 1780, and of Grand Cross in 1784. He died during the French Revolution.
context_section_description: In June 1777, Lamotte-Picquet commanded the 74-gun Robuste. On 14 February 1778, he  fired a nine-gun salute for USS Ranger, marking the first time a foreign warship recognised the US flag.
  In 1778, as a Squadron Commander, he took part in the Battle of Ouessant on the Saint-Esprit, and then cruised the English seas. During one month, he captured thirteen ships.
  During the American Revolutionary War, Picquet de la Motte distinguished himself as a member of Admiral d'Estaing's squadron in Martinique, during the Battle of Grenada, and the Siege of Savannah.
  On 18 December 1779, he attacked a British squadron under the command of Admiral Hyde Parker that was attempting to blockade a French convoy off Martinique; in the ensuing Battle of Martinique, La Motte-Picquet so impressed Hyde Parker that he sent him a letter of congratulation:
  The conduct of your Excellency in the affair of the 18th of this month fully justifies the reputation which you enjoy among us, and I assure you that I could not witness without envy the skill you showed on that occasion. Our enmity is transient, depending upon our masters; but your merit has stamped upon my heart the greatest admiration for yourself.
  In 1781, as commander of a nine-vessel squadron that included three frigates, Picquet de la Motte intercepted the fleet of Admiral Rodney en route from St. Eustatius which the British had captured in February 1781. Picquet de la Motte captured 26 British ships, along with Rodney's plunder in the amount of 5 million sterling. Soon afterwards he was promoted to Lieutenant General of the Naval Armies.
caption: The 1779 "Combat de la Martinique", by Auguste-Louis de Rossel de Cercy.
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