Charles Hector , comte d ' Estaing Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector , comte d ' Estaing ( 24 November 1729 – 28 April 1794 ) was a French general , and admiral . He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession , briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the British during the Seven Years ' War . Naval exploits during the latter war prompted him to change branches of service , and he transferred to the French Navy . Following France ' s entry into the American War of Independence in 1778 , he led a fleet to aid the American rebels . He participated in a failed Franco - American siege of Newport , Rhode Island in 1778 and the equally unsuccessful 1779 Siege of Savannah before returning to France in 1780 . His difficulties working with American counterparts are cited among the reasons these operations failed . Although he sympathized with revolutionaries during the French Revolution , he held a personal loyalty to the French royal family . Because of this he came under suspicion , and was executed by guillotine in the Reign of Terror . Early years . He was born on 24 November 1729 at the Château de Ravel in Auvergne to Charles - François , the Marquis de Saillant and Marie - Henriette Colbert de Maulevrier , a descendant of Jean - Baptiste Colbert . His father was a lieutenant general in the French Army from a family with a long history of service to the French crown . The young d ' Estaing was educated alongside Louis , the Dauphin ( father of the future Louis XVI ) , who was born at about the same time . D ' Estaing thus became close friends with the Dauphin and served in his retinue . In May 1738 he joined the musketeer s , and rose through the ranks , eventually joining the Regiment de Rouergue as a lieutenant in 1746 . That same year he married Marie - Sophie , granddaughter of the celebrated Marshal Château - Renault . His regiment was also called to serve in the War of the Austrian Succession . D ' Estaing served as aide - de - camp to Marshal Saxe throughout the Flanders campaigns of 1746 - 48 . During these years he was promoted to colonel in command of Regiment de Rouergue , and was wounded at the 1748 Siege of Maastricht . Following the war King Louis XV embarked on a program to modernize his army on the successful model of Frederick the Great ' s Prussian army . D ' Estaing became one of the leading reformers , and after a few years , the Regiment de Rouergue was viewed " as a model of the infantry " . Seeking to gain experience in diplomacy , he accompanied the French ambassador to England for a time . Seven Years ' War in India . When hostilities broke out between the British and French colonies in North America , d ' Estaing considered joining the forces of Louis - Joseph de Montcalm that sailed in 1755 , but his family dissuaded him from doing so . When an expedition to the East Indies was organized , he applied to participate without consulting his family . His participation was ensured when he was offered a back - dated promotion to brigadier - general , provided he could transfer command of his regiment to someone else , which he did . In early January 1757 , shortly before embarking , d ' Estaing was awarded the Order of Saint Louis . Lally ' s campaigns . After a lengthy journey , the fleet of the comte d ' Aché , carrying the expeditionary forces whose land commander was the count de Lally , arrived off British - occupied Cuddalore in southern India on 28 April 1758 . Lally disembarked his troops , established a blockade around the town , and then traveled to Pondicherry to organize the delivery of siege equipment . On 4 May French forces occupied the town and partially blockaded Fort St . David . The siege equipment was delayed in its arrival , but the garrison was eventually compelled to surrender after 17 days of siege operations . D ' Estaing commanded Lally ' s left , overseeing the approaches and placing of batteries . He continued to serve under Lally in his campaigns against the British in southern India . He opposed Lally ' s decision to lift the siege of Tanjore ( the only one in Lally ' s war council to do so ) following the British seizure of Karikal . When Lally began to besiege Madras in December 1758 , d ' Estaing ' s division was positioned in the center of the French line . When the British made a sortie against that sector , d ' Estaing advanced alone to reconnoiter their movements . He was surrounded by British troops , unhorsed , and twice wounded by bayonet before surrendering . D ' Estaing was taken into Madras , where he was confined by the order of Governor George Pigot . Pigot offered to release him on parole , but d ' Estaing refused , preferring instead to be exchanged so that he could resume fighting . The arrival of a British fleet off Madras in February 1759 convinced d ' Estaing to accept the offer of parole , which was conditioned on his not fighting against the British in the East Indies . In May 1759 he sailed for Île - de - France ( present - day Mauritius ) . French East India Company service . While d ' Estaing was at Île - de - France , word arrived of a prisoner exchange agreement between France and Britain . D ' Estaing , however , was excluded from this agreement because he had been paroled before its date . While requests were forwarded to India to negotiate his inclusion in the cartel , d ' Estaing decided to enter the service of the French East India Company , leading a naval expedition to gather resources for Île - de - France . D ' Estaing thought he would finesse his parole status by declaring himself to be a " spectator " in case the force came into conflict with the British or their allies , permitting his second in command to lead such operations . In command of a two vessel company fleet ( the 50 - gun " Condé " and the frigate " l ' Expédition " ) , d ' Estaing sailed for the Persian Gulf in September 1759 . From an Arab convoy captured at the end of the month he learnt of a British ship at Muscat . In a daring commando operation , 50 of " Condé " men entered the well - fortified harbour and boarded the ship , taking it without resistance . In their haste to depart , the men cut lines necessary for towing the ship , and alarm was eventually raised in the port . A swarm of small boats was driven off by precision fire from " Condé " , allowing a new line to be attached to the prize so that she could be towed out of the harbour . He then destroyed the British factory at Bandar - Abbas , before sailing for Sumatra . While en route he detached his accumulated prize ships , sending them to Île - de - France . D ' Estaing ' s success was notable : in three months he had acquired significant prizes at the expense of only five casualties ( although he also lost 28 men to smallpox ) . After a slow crossing ( retarded by calms and contrary winds ) , d ' Estaing ' s fleet reached the coast of Sumatra in early February 1760 . There he captured the British factory at Natal , which he eventually turned over to the Dutch , and then sailed for the British outpost at Tappanooly ( present - day Tapian Nauli ) . Its commander put up stiff resistance , fleeing into the hills when it was clear the French would be victorious . D ' Estaing consequently decided to destroy the fortifications rather than hunt down the British . He next sailed for Padang , a major Dutch settlement , where he supplemented his forces with local recruits and resupplied . He then sailed for Bencoolen , the main British settlement on Sumatra . The town was defended by Fort Marlborough and a garrison of 500 Europeans and local sepoy s , with the potential to raise over 1 , 000 additional Malay militia . Although these forces were alerted to the French arrival by a ship that d ' Estaing chased into the harbour , the first broadside directed at the fort panicked its defenders , who fled into the surrounding jungle . D ' Estaing spent a day in pursuit of some of these troops . He then used Fort Marlborough as a base to subdue the remaining lesser British settlements on the west side of Sumatra . He returned to Île - de - France ten months after his departure . Ordered back to France , he boarded a westbound company ship . Just off the French coast the ship was captured by British patrols . He was imprisoned at Plymouth , charged with violating his parole , before being granted limited freedom from a house in London . He was able to successfully defend himself against the charges , and was allowed to return to France . Upon his arrival he found waiting a commission as field marshal , the reward for his service in the East Indies . Interwar years . Governor of the Leeward Islands . In the early months of 1762 France made preparations for a major expedition against Portuguese territories in South America . Promoted to lieutenant general of the army on July 25 , 1762 , he was also given the rank of chef d ' escadre ( rear admiral ) in the French Navy in recognition for his exploits , a rank lesser than that he held in the army . In order to clarify his command role in the expedition , the king formally removed him from the army and gave him the rank of lieutenant general in the navy . The expedition was called off when preliminary peace terms were agreed . In 1764 King Louis appointed d ' Estaing governor general of the French Leeward Islands , a post he held until 1766 . Based principally in Saint - Domingue ( present - day Haiti ) , he recruited Acadians , who had been expelled from their homeland by the British during the war , to settle there . These efforts were largely unsuccessful , with many settlers dying of disease , and others seeking to resettle elsewhere because of the climate and poor land . Home service . D ' Estaing returned to France in 1767 . At this time he was called upon to deal with the formal separation from his wife , which they had agreed to in writing in 1756 , before his departure for India . The division of their properties was somewhat contentious , leading to court proceedings and appeals that ultimately failed to actually divide their estates . In 1772 d ' Estaing was appointed naval inspector and governor at Brest , the country ' s principal Atlantic naval station . In 1777 he was promoted to vice admiral of the Asian and American seas ( " vice - amiral des mers d ' Asie et d ' Amérique " ) . American War of Independence . At the entry of France into the American War of Independence in 1778 , he left Toulon in command of a fleet of twelve ships of the line and four frigate s with the intention of assisting the American colonies against Great Britain . He sailed on 13 April , and , between the 11th and the 22nd of July , blockaded the smaller British fleet of Lord Howe at Sandy Hook , the entrance to New York harbour . D ' Estaing did not enter the harbour because his largest ships were believed to be unable to clear the bar at its mouth . Newport . In cooperation with the American generals , he planned an attack on Newport , Rhode Island , preparatory to which he compelled the British to destroy some war vessels that were in the harbor . Before the concerted attack could take place , he put to sea against the British fleet , under Admiral Howe . Owing to a violent storm , which arose suddenly and compelled the two fleets to separate before engaging in battle , many of his vessels were so shattered that he found it necessary to put into Boston for repairs . He then sailed for the West Indies on 4 November . West Indies . He arrived in the West Indies in December 1778 , shortly after the British began operations to capture St . Lucia . He sailed in an attempt to relieve the place , but he was defeated in both land and naval efforts to prevent its capture . In June 1779 , his fleet reinforced by arrival of ten ships of the line , he took advantage of the temporary absence of his British opponent , Admiral John Byron , to take action against nearby British possessions . He first detached forces that captured St . Vincent on 18 June , and then set sail with his entire fleet , intending to capture Barbados . When he was unable to make progress against the prevailing westerly trade winds , he turned his sights on Grenada . On 2 July he arrived off the island , which his forces took by storm two days later . Admiral Byron had been alerted to the capture of St . Vincent , and was sailing with a force to retake it when he learned that d ' Estaing was at Grenada . He changed course , making all sail for Grenada , and arrived there early on 6 July . Even though d ' Estaing had been alerted to Byron ' s progress , and his fleet outnumbered Byron ' s , he still scrambled to embark soldiers and sail away from the island . Byron , unaware that d ' Estaing had been reinforced , ordered a general chase , which resulted in a somewhat disorganized battle . D ' Estaing refused to press his numerical advantage , and both fleets ended up retiring to their bases for repairs . In August d ' Estaing sailed for Savannah , Georgia to join forces with the Americans who wanted to recapture the British - held city . Siege of Savannah . The siege consisted of a joint Franco - American attempt to retake Savannah from 16 September 1779 to 18 October 1779 , with d ' Estaing in overall command of the combined forces . After weeks of fruitless bombardment , on 9 October 1779 , a major assault against the British siege works failed . During the attack , d ' Estaing was twice wounded . When the assault failed , d ' Estaing lifted the siege . British forces remained in control of coastal Georgia until they withdrew near the end of the war . Return to France . D ' Estaing returned to France in 1780 on crutches . He fell into disfavour at the court , and was strongly criticised by his subordinates . Friends of Benjamin Franklin jokingly suggested that the French court at Versailles should provide America with the names of other gifted admirals . In 1781 France sent a fleet under de Grasse , along with an expeditionary force , which enjoyed more success and was credited with contributing to the surrender of the British army at Yorktown in 1781 . Three years later , however , d ' Estaing was placed at the head of the Franco - Spanish fleet assembled before Cádiz , but the peace was signed and no operations took place . After the American war , his chief attention was devoted to politics . He was made a grandee of Spain and , in 1787 , he was elected to the Assembly of Notables . When the French Revolution broke out , he supported the revolutionary cause . In 1789 , he was appointed to the National Guard at Versailles and , in 1792 , he was chosen admiral by the National Assembly . Though in favour of national reform , he remained loyal to the royal family , and , in the trial of Marie Antoinette in 1793 , bore testimony in her favour . On this account , and because of certain friendly letters which had passed between him and the queen , he was himself brought to trial , charged with being a reactionary . He was sent to the guillotine on 28 April 1794 . Before his execution , he wrote " After my head falls off , send it to the British , they will pay a good deal for it ! " In his moments of leisure , he wrote a poem , " Le Rêve " ( 1755 ) , a tragedy " Les Thermopyles " ( 1789 ) and a book on the colonies .