Hans Axel von Fersen, known as Axel de Fersen in France , was born 4 September 1755 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was a Swedish Count, a Marshal of the Realm of Sweden, a General of Horse in the Royal Swedish Army, one of the Lords of the Realm, and aide-de-camp to Rochambeau in the American Revolutionary War.
In mid-September 1780, von Fersen accompanied Rochambeau to meet the American General George Washington in Hartford, Connecticut.
On meeting Washington, von Fersen remarked, “He has the air of a hero; he is very cold, speaks little, but is polite and civil. An air of sadness pervades his whole countenance, which is not unbecoming to him, and makes him the more interesting.”
On 15 August, von Fersen was tasked with conveying a letter from Rochambeau to Comte de Barras, who had been waiting for a signal to join Comte de Grasse's fleet on Chesapeake Bay. In early September, de Grasse defeated the British fleet in the Chesapeake, and by the end of the month Washington surrounded Cornwallis in Yorktown. On 19 October, the British surrendered - hastening the end of the war.
Following the Revolutionary War, and the French Revolution, Von Fersen returned to Sweden in 1791, where he entered politics. In 1801, von Fersen was appointed Marshal of the Realm, the highest official in the court of Sweden, next to the king.