The papers of the Marquis de Castellane include brief, but significant documentation of French naval and military activity during the American Revolution. The manuscripts are comprised of miscellaneous items extracted from the papers of the Castellane family in France by a bookdealer.
Authorship of the Castellane documents has not been positively determined, however it is likely that they can be safely attributed to Henri César, marquis de Castellane Majastre. Castellane Majastre commanded the Marseillais in de Grasse's squadron in 1781 and 1782, and the collection includes commissions and legal documents relating to Castellane Majastre and his family. He may have kept some of these journals, or may have copied them from his fellow officers.
The collection includes two cahiers dealing with the siege of Yorktown (61 pp.); a description of the Battle of Saints' Passage (Battle of Îles des Saintes), April 9-12, 1782, (5 pp.); a notebook on route the French army took in traveling from Rhode Island to Yorktown and during their return to France (7 pp.); and a journal of the siege of Yorktown with brief descriptions of De Grasse's naval campaigns (41 pp.). While these are not extensive, they include some fine descriptions of the engagements, leavened on occasion with observations on the people and scenery.
Born into an ancient noble family in Riez, Basses-Alpes (Alpes de Haute Provence), Henry César, marquis de Castellane Majastre, was a career officer in the French naval service, and appears to have descended from a family with long connections to the navy. Among his most important contributions, at least from the American standpoint, Castellane Majastre served in the French fleet that sailed to the aid of the Americans in March, 1781.
As commander of the 74-gun vessel Marseillais, Castellane Majastre sailed from Brest with the fleet of Admiral François Joseph Paul, comte de Grasse, on March 22, 1781, bound for Martinique, and he subsequently took part in the decisive campaign leading to the capture of Cornwallis' army at Yorktown, including the actions on the Chesapeake in September, 1781, and at Yorktown itself in October. The marquis was singled out by de Grasse for special commendation for his part at the Chesapeake Capes.
Returning to the West Indies in November, 1781, Castellane Majastre led the Marseillais into action during the Battle of the Saints in April, 1782, forming part of the escadre blanche et bleu during this French naval disaster. In May, 1782, he was reported at Saint Domingue as part of the fleet under the marquis de Vaudreuil, and although his whereabouts for the next seven years are uncertain, at some point he returned home to Riez, where he died on May 5, 1789.
