Charles Armand Tuffin, marquis de la Rouërie was born in Brittany, France on April 13, 1751. A French cavalry officer, he came to the United States as a volunteer to fight for the Continental Army in 1777. Appointed as a colonel, he originally commanded a group of foreign volunteers before being promoted to a general in 1778. In 1780 he led a cavalry force, sometimes called the light horse, under General Horatio Gates in the war's southern theater. He later led men during the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 and became a brigadier general before returning home to France. He died in Brittany, France on January 30, 1793.