
Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau
1781
This experienced, skilled, and very diplomatic soldier was sent to command French troops fighting alongside the Americans in 1780. He worked closely with George Washington, forming a team that succeeded in dealing the British a final defeat at Yorktown, which ended the military phase of the American Revolution. Rochambeau and Washington stopped at Mount Vernon on their way to the battle of Yorktown in 1781, and there is some indication that the two planned their strategy for the upcoming conflict in the New Room.