gmm^Hm
^r
©f ilie
Ciocinoa
Ml
France
I
^>r-
Gc ML!
973.3406 '^*-^
SaSaf
1564450
BBNHALOGY COLLECTION
V
UNTY PUBLIC L|BRARy
3 1833 01076 2216
THE ORDER OF THE CINCINNATI
IN
FRANCE.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
GENERAL AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF ALLIED ARMIES.
PRESIDENT GENERAL OF THE ORDER OF THE CINCINNATI.
illf
(§rhn at tlj^ Olteinnatt
ttt
("SI'®rbr? ht Qltnrtttttatua.")
WITH THE MILITARY OR NAVAL RECORDS OF THE FRENCH MEMBERS WHO BECAME
SUCH BY REASON OF QUALIFYING SERVICE IN THE ARMY OR NAVY OF
FRANCE OR OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE WAR OF THE
REVOLUTION FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.
ASA BIRD GARDINER, LL.D., L.H.D.. /ID. lb.,
President of the Rhode Island State Society, and
Secretary-General of the Order.
PUBLISHED BY
THE RHODE ISLAND STATE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI.
1905-
Copyright, 1905,
The Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Rhode Island
AND Providence Plantations.
LIMITED EDITION of 350 Copies.
/;^umber iO^-.
/ for Publisition Committee. /
1564450
COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION.
JAMES M. VARNUM.
GEORGE W. OLNEY.
'TpHB following memorial, comprising Part II
of the Register of the Order of the Cincin-
nati in the State of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, has been prepared wholly from offi-
cial sources, including the Archives of the Order
and Records of the Republic of France, which
have, with the most cordial assistance of that
Government, been thoroughly examined for in-
formation bearing upon the subject.
For the first time is now given a record of the
Order in France and a Roster of the eminent
French Cincinnati, whose public services illu-
mined their country's history at a most interest-
ing and eventful epoch and added to the renown
of the illustrious Military Society of which they
were members.
ASA BIRD GARDINBR.
State House, Newport, R. I.,
4th July, 1904.
The artotypes in this Memorial have been taken Irom the Gallery of Marshals of France at Versailles
and from other authentic portraits, of which a number belong to the collection of Henry Russell Drowne, Esq.,
an Hereditary Member of the Order in Rhode Island.
CONTENTS.
Introduction. page.
The Order of the Cincinnati in France xiii
Chapter I.
The Institution of the Order of the Cincinnati, with List of the
General Oflficers from 1783, and present State OfiBcers i
Chapter II.
Organization of the Society in France 7
Chapter III.
Definition of Ser\-ices which Qualified for Original Membership
in France, and Description of Particular Grades in the French
Army and Na^'y 28
Chapter IV.
Heritable Succession in the Society of the Cincinnati in France . . 36
Chapter V.
Honorary Membership — How Conferred in the Society of the
Cincinnati in France 38
Chapter VI.
Applications for Membership made after the Restoration of 18 14
by French Officers who had Served in the American War .... 40
Chapthr VII.
The Effect of the AlUance of 1 778-1 783 on the subsequent Public
Services of the French Cincinnati 43
Chapter VIII.
Records of Services of French Army Officers showing the Veteran
Character of the Regiments in the American War 51
Chapter IX.
Dispersion of the Society in France and Efforts to Revive it 57
Chapter X.
The Auxiliary French Army in Rhode Island, 17S0-1781 and 1782 59
Chapter XI.
List of Original Members of the Society of the Cincinnati in
France from the French Army 65
Chapter XII. pagb.
List of Original Members of the Society of the Cincinnati in
France from the French Navy no
Chapter XIII.
List of Original Members of the Society of the Cincinnati in
France from the American Army 146
Chapter XIV.
List of Hereditary Members of the Society of the Cincinnati in
France 184
Chapter XV.
List of Honorary Members of the Society of the Cincinnati in
France from the French Army 191
Chapter XVI.
List of Honorary Members of the Society of the Cincinnati in
France from the French Navy 213
Chapter XVII.
List of Applications from the French Army for Honorary Member-
ship recommended to Louis XVI and Approved by him in 1792. 221
Appendix.
Proceedings of the Cincinnati in relation to the Inntations for and
Reception of the French Governmental Commissions of 188 1
and 1902 231
ILLUSTRATIONS.
General George Washington,
General and Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies,
President General of the Society of the Cincinnati. . Facing
ClNCl NNATDS.
(After the statue by Thomas Ball)
Insignia of the Order of the Cincinnati
(in colors)
Louis XVI., King of France,
Patron of the Order of the Cincinnati in France. ......
Count de Rochambeau,
Marshal of France, French Army, Vice-President Society
of the Cincinnati in France
Marquis de Viomenil,
Marshal of France, French Army
Duke de Lauzun et de Biron,
General-in-Chief, French Army
Count de Custine-Sarrkck,
General-in-Chief, French Army
Count de Dillon,
I<ieutenant General, French Army
Duke de Damas d'Antigny,
Lieutenant General, French Army
Prince de Broglie,
Marechal de Camp, French Army
Count de Segur,
Marechal de Camp, French Army, Secretary Society of
the Cincinnati in France
Count d'Estaing,
Admiral of France and Lieutenant General French
Army, President Society of the Cincinnati in France.
Bailli de Suffren,
Vice Admiral of France
Count de Bougainville,
Vice Admiral of France
Viscount de Marigny,
Vice Admiral of France
Chevalier Pleville-Le-Peley,
Vice Admiral of France
Count de Grasse,
Lieutenant General, French Navy ,
Count de la Motte-Picquet de la Vinoybre,
Chef d'Escadre, French Navy
Marquis de Vaudreuil,
Lieutenant General, French Navy Facing page 128
Marquis de la Poype-Vertribux,
Chef d'Escadre, French Navy " " 130
Count de la Perouse,
Chef d'Escadre, French Navy " " 134
Count Maurice Julikn Emeriau,
Vice Admiral of France " " 138
Chbvalibr de Sercey,
Vice Admiral of France " " 144
Marquis de Lafayette (1781),
Major General, American Army " " 146
Marquis de Lafayette (182^),
General-in-Chief, French Army " " 150
Diamond Insignia of the Order of the Cincinnati
(Presented to President General Washington by the
French Naval Members of the Order, in May, 1784) " "212
M. Emile Loubet,
President of the French Republic, Honorary Member
of the Order of the Cincinnati " " 230
INTRODUCTION.
The Cincinnati in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
have ever recognized the potential services of France in the War of the Revolu-
tion for American Independence under the Alliance of the 6th February, 1778.
During that War the Commissioned Officers of the Regular Rhode Island
Continental Line were more intimately associated with their French Brethren
than were the American officers from other parts of the United States.
Of these French Officers, several served under Continental Commissions
at the siege of Newport and Battle of Rhode Island.
Several also married in that State.
In 1778 the Co-operating Army of Vice Admiral and Lieutenant General
Count d'Estaing landed on Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay, Rhode
Island.
Lieutenant Pierre Douville, of Providence, Rhode Island, who belonged
to the Continental Navy and afterward became a Member of the Rhode Island
State Society of the Cincinnati, served as an additional Lieutenant de Vaisseau
in July and August of that year on le Languedoc of eighty guns, the Flagship
of Count d'Estaing, and later, from the i6th August, 1780, to 30th November,
1782, served successively in like capacity on le Due de Bourgogne of eighty
guns, le Neptune of seventy-four guns, and le Triomphant of eighty guns.
Afterward he became a Capitaine de Vaisseau in the French Navy and
commanded I'lmpetueux of seventy-four guns in the naval action off Ushant
1st June, 1794, against Earl Howe, in which he dismasted the British ship of
the line, Marlborough, of seventy-four guns, but was mortally wounded,
receiving eighteen wounds, and his ship, after a heroic resistance, was captured
by the British Fleet.
On his decease he was buried at Portsmouth, England, with the honors of
war.
For these services his widow received a pension from the French Govern-
ment until her decease in Providence, Rhode Island.
Three descendants, in succession, have since represented him in the Society
of the Cincinnati in that State.
When the Auxiliary Army of France came to Newport in 1780 the Rhode
Island Continental Line was, for many months, under the immediate orders
of Lieutenant General Count de Rochambeau and subsequently marched with
the American and French Armies to the Siege of Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781,
and later was in the memorable encampment of the allied armies at Verplanck's
Point on the Hudson in 1782.
In consequence of this intimate association between the Original Members
of the Order of the Cincinnati in the State of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations and in France, a number of proper descendants of Original French
Members, who were unable to acquire their hereditary membership in France
because of the dispersion of that State Society, have applied in Rhode Island
and there obtained their membership.
Note: The Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati was preliminarily org-anized
by the commissioned officers of the Rhode Island Continental Line while stationed at Sara-
toga Barracks (now Schuylerville) on the upper Hudson river, State of New York, 24th
June, 1783. Permanent organization was effected at the Senate Chamber, State House,
Providence, R. I., 17th December, 1783, with the Honorable Major General Nathanael Greene,
A. M., as President.
THE ORDER OF THE CINCINNATI
IN FRANCE.
Instituted by American and French Commissioned Officers under His
Excellency General George Washington, Commander in Chief, as President
General, in the cantonments of the American Army on Hudson river in the
State of New York, loth May, 1783.
Institution formally sanctioned by Louis XVI in Council at Versailles,
i8th December, 1783, with the Head of the French Government as Patron of
the Order in France.
Provisionally Organized at Paris, 7th January, 1784, as a State Society,
by the Commissioned Officers of the French Army and Navy who had been
found qualified for Membership under the Institution and duly admitted thereto
by the King on recommendation respectively of the Ministers of War or
Marine.
Permanent Organization effected 4th July, 1784.*
Rendered dormant and members dispersed by the Reign of Terror, loth
August, 1792.
• Wherever, in the following pages, this sign *J« is placed next to the name of an officer, it signifies
that such officer was a Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis.
The expression "Continental Line" wherever used refers exclusively to the Regular
American Army. The Continental officers were those who held commissions from the Con-
grress of the United States in the Regular American Land or Naval forces.
CHAPTER I.
INSTITUTION OF THE ORDER OF THE CINCINNATI.
On 19th April, 1783, eight years after the beginning of the War of the
Revolution for American Independence by the battles of Lexington and Con-
cord, His Excellency General Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied
American and French Armies, pursuant to instructions of the Continental Con-
gress, announced in General Orders from Army Headquarters at Newburg on
the Hudson River to the main Continental Army, then paraded, the cessation
of hostilities with Great Britain.
Congress having resolved that a considerable portion of the American Army
should be allowed to go to their homes on furlough until the definitive Peace
should be announced and arrangements having been made to carry this resolve
into effect, the officers of the army then stationed in cantonments, among whom
were a number of French Officers, decided to perpetuate the friendships formed
in active service and to enunciate certain great principles by instituting a
Military Society or Order like the Order of Maria Theresa of Austria.
For this purpose on the loth May, 1783, the general officers and delegates
from the several line and staff corps in cantonments met at the Temple, which
had been erected by the soldiers for military purposes, and there instituted the
Society of the Cincinnati.
Its aims and objects were expressed in the Institution as follows:
"It having pleased the Supreme Governor of the Universe, in the disposition of human
affairs', to cause the separation of the Colonies of North America from the domination of
Great Britain, and, after a bloody conflict of eight years', to establish them free, inde-
pendent and sovereign States, connected, by alliances founded on reciprocal advantage,
with some of the great princes and powers of the earth.
"To perpetuate, therefore, as well the remembrance of this vast event, as the mutual
friendships which have been formed under the pressure of common danger, and, in many
instances, cemented by the blood of the parties, the officers of the American Army do
hereby, in the most solemn manner, associate, constitute and combine themselves into
one Society of Friends, to endure as long as they shall endure, or any of their eldest
male posterity, and, in failure thereof, the collateral branches who may be judged worthy
of becoming its supporters and members.
"The officers of the American Army, having generally been taken from the citizens of
America, possess high veneration for the character of that illustrious Roman, Lucius
QuiNTius CiNciNNATUS ; and being resolved to follow his example, by returning to their
citizenship, they think they may with propriety denominate themselves —
THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINN.\TI.
•As this Volume II. of the Register is quite distinct in its subject matter from Volume
I., and is somewhat in the nature of an Appendix, a brief account of the Institution of the
Order is set forth so as to render reference to Volume I. unnecessary in this behalf — in
relation to the French Cincinnati.
"The following Principles shall be immtitable and form the basis of The Society of
the Cincinnati:
"An incessant attention to preserve inviolate those exalted rights and liberties
OF human nature for v/hich they fought and bled, and without which the high
RANK of a rational BEING IS A CURSE INSTEAD OF A BLESSING.
"An unalterable determination to promote and cherish, between the respec-
tive States, that union and national honour so essentially necessary to their
happiness, and the future dignity of the american empire.
"To RENDER PERMANENT THE CORDIAL AFFECTION SUBSISTING AMONG THE OFFICERS : ThIS
SPIRIT WILL DICTATE BROTHERLY KINDNESS IN ALL THINGS, AND PARTICULARLY EXTEND TO THE
MOST SUBSTANTIAL ACTS OF BENEFICENCE, ACCORDING TO THE ABILITY OF THE SOCIETY,
TOWARD THOSE OFFICERS AND THEIR FAMILIES, WHO UNFORTUNATELY MAY BE UNDER THE
NECESSITY OF RECEIVING IT."
At that time in the United States of America the number of good highways
over which a carriage could pass were very few and only extended for short
distances.
Travel between the States was difficult and took much time.
For the sake of frequent communications, therefore, and in order that offi-
cers, who were entitled to membership and who had gone to their homes in one
of the several reductions of the army before the conclusion of the war, could
obtain their membership, the General Society was, for convenience, sub-divided
into State Societies or Meetings which were required to meet on every Fourth
of July, the anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence, at which
time and at every meeting the Principles of the Institution were to be fully
considered and the best measures to promote them adopted.
In everyone of the thirteen States of the United States of America and in
France a State Society was formed, that in France being under the immediate
patronage of His Most Christian Majesty Louis XVI.
The General Society, which represents the Order in its collective capacity,
was, by the terms of the Institution, declared to consist of the General Officers,
namely, the President-General, Vice-President-General, Secretary-General,
Treasurer-General, Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Treasurer-General,
and five delegates from every State Society and was required to meet triennially
or oftener if desired.
Every State Society was required, under the Institution, to have a Presi-
dent, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer, to be
chosen annually by the State Meeting and every such meeting was required to
write annually and oftener if necessary, a circular letter to the other State
Societies noting whatever they might think worthy of observation respecting the
good of the Society, or the general union of the States and giving information
of the officers chosen for the current year, copies of which letters were required
to be regularly transmitted to the Secretary-General of the Order.
To these State Societies was remitted, consistent with the general maxims
of the Cincinnati, the consideration and determination of the qualifications of
the hereditary and honorary members who might be proposed.
Original membership was limited to American and French Continental
Officers who had served with honor and had resigned after three years' service
as Commissioned Officers or who had been rendered supemumary and honorably
discharged in one of tlie several reductions of the American Army or who had
CINCINNATUS.
continued to the end of the war and to all French Officers who had served in the
Co-operating Army under Count d'Estaing or Auxiliary Army under Count de
Rochambeau and had held or received the rank of Colonel or superior rank
for such services or who had commanded a French Fleet or ship of war on the
American coast.
Membership was extended to these French Officers because the Society,
as declared in the Institution, was deeply impressed with the sense of the gener-
ous assistance America had received from France and was desirous of perpetuat-
ing the friendships which had been formed and had so happily subsisted between
the officers of the Allied Forces in the prosecution of the war.
A limited number of Honorary Members for life was authorized to be taken
from those eminent for their abilities and patriotism and whose views were
directed to the same laudable objects as those of the Cincinnati, but the number
of honorary members was limited so as not to exceed a ratio of one to four of
the officers or their descendants.
In this honorary list may be found a number of the Presidents of the
United States and Army and Navy Officers and civilians of the highest distinc-
tion.
A number of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence also became
Honorary Members, several of whom were admitted immediately upon the
organization of their respective State Societies.
In the original lists, besides General Washington, who became in 1783 the
first President-General of the Order and continued as such until his decease in
1799, President James Monroe was an Original Member while President Frank-
lin Pierce was an Hereditary Member.
All the historic names of the War of the Revolution for American Indepen-
dence are to be found on the Roll of Original Members.
Hereditary membership was limited to the eldest lineal male descendant at
common law of Original Members and in failure thereof the nearest collateral
relative who should be judged worthy and also to the eldest lineal male descen-
dant of any officer who had died or been killed in service.
In 1854 the General Society ruled that where a Commissioned Officer of the
War of the Revolution, who had served honorably in manner and time stated
and with the prescribed rank, had been unable through fortuitous circumstances
to acquire Original Membership, his proper descendant might be admitted to
Hereditary Membership in his right but upon such terms in the way of contri-
bution to the Permanent Fund as the State Society might determine.
In order to obtain funds which would be respectable for the expressed
benevolent purposes of the Order, every Original Member was required to
place with the Treasurer of his State Society one month's pay, which would
remain forever to the use of the State Society.
Foreign Officers, not resident in any of the States, who served under Amer-
ican Commissions, made their individual contributions to the Treasurer-General,
and had their names enrolled by the Secretary-General, and were to be consid-
ered as Members in any of the States in which they might happen to be.
In the Institution it was prescribed that :
"The Society shall have an Order; which shall be a Bald Eagle of gold,
bearing on its breast the emblems hereafter described, suspended by a deep blue
ribbon edged with white, descriptive of the union of America and France :
"The principal figure
CINCINNATUS :
Three Senators presenting him with a sword and other military ensigns — on a field
in the background, his wife standing at the door of
their cottage — near it
OMNIA RELIQUIT SERVARE REMPUBLICAM.
On the reverse.
Sun rising — a city with open gates, and vessels entering the port.
Fame
Crowning CINCINNATUS with a wreath.
Inscribed,
VIRTUTIS PREMIUM.
Below,
Hands joined, supporting a heart.
With the Motto,
ESTO PERPETUA.
Round the Whole,
•Early in 1784 the OfBcers of the French Navy who were members of the Society of the
Cincinnati united in subscribing for the fabrication and preparation of the Order of the
Cincinnati consisting of the riband and bald eagle containing the emblems as established,
elaborately set in diamonds.
His Excellency Count d'Estaing, then the ranking Naval OflScer for duty in the
French Navy and Lieutenant General in the Army, sent the Order to General Washington
by the packet ship "Washington" from Havre, with the following letter of transmittal:
"Paris, 26th February, 1784.
"Sir: It is in the name of all the French Navy that I take the liberty to request
Tour Excellency to accept an American Eagle, expressed rather than embellished by a
French artist.
"Liberty (of which it is the happy and august symbol) has risen of itself, supported
by wisdom, talents, and disinterestedness; by every virture; by General Washington. Ob-
stacles have only served to increase its strength.
"The efforts of a patriotic army were irresistable when seconded by the King's
troops, who have shown themselves by their discipline and conduct worthy of the choice of
his Majesty. Those with his navy made everything possible.
"It appears then to be proper in one of those who unites the titles of soldier and
sailor, and whom you inspire with the sentiments of the most profound admiration and
attachment, to entreat you to receive with indulgence an homage which must cease to be
unimportant when it shall appeal to your sensibility.
"One who has had the happiness to be the first of those whom the King sent to
America, and who has been the last of those who were designed to lead thither the forces
of two great monarchs. thereby acquiring the happy prerogative of being entitled to express,
though faintly, the sentiments of all his fellow sailors and soldiers.
"I have the honor to be, with respect, sir,
"Tour Excellency's most obedient and
"Most humble servant,
"ESTAING."
This was received by His Excellency President General Washington while in Philadel-
phia, Penn.. attending the sessions of the General Society of the Cincinnati and was duly
acknowledged by him in a communication dated 15th May, 1784.
Thenceforward, instead of his ovfxi, he wore the Order, thus transmitted, on all suitable
occasions.
After his decease his widow, Mrs. Martha Washington, transmitted the Order to Major
General the Honorable Alexander Hamilton, who had succeeded to the office of President-
General, and upon the latter's decease his wife, a daughter of Major General Philip Schuyler,
duly delivered it to Major General the Honorable Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, who had in
turn succeeded to that office.
The latter at the meeting of the General Society, held in Philadelphia, 8th August,
1811, presented a "memorandum." in which he suggested that this diamond insignia of the
Order, which had thus been confided to him. ought to be thereafter considered as apperti-
nent to the office of President-General, which suggestion, was, on motion, unanimously
acceeded to.
Since then this particular Order has been worn on suitable occasions by every succeed-
ing President General and is ever a reminder of the great Alliance between France and
America and of the perfect friendship which subsisted between the French and American Cin-
cinnati.
The Institution also decreed that every Member should be entitled to receive
a diploma on parchment.
While General Washington was President General, he and Major General
Henry Knox, Secretary General, authenticated by their signatures, the diplomas
of the Original and Honorary Members in the Order of the Cincinnati in France.
The Institution of the Cincinnati has never been altered nor amended, and
continues as originally formed in 1783.*
GENERAL OFFICERS OF THE ORDER FROM ITS INSTITUTION
IN 1783.
PRESIDENTS GENERAL.
1783. His Excellency General George Washington, LL. D., of Virginia.
1800. Major-General the Honorable Alexander Hamilton,
LL. D., of New York.
1805. Major-General the Honorable Charles Cotesworth
Pinckney, LL. D., of South Carolina.
1825. Major-General the Honorable Thomas Pinckney,
A. M., of South Carolina.
1829. Major-General the Honorable Aaron Ogden, LL. D., of New Jersey.
1839. Major-General the Honorable Morgan Lewis, A. M., of New York.
1844. Brevet Major William Popham, of New York.
1848. Brig.-General H. A. Scammell Dearborn, A. M., of Massachusetts.
1854. Honorable Hamilton Fish, LL. D., of New York.
1896. Honorable William Wayne, A. M., of Pennsylvania.
1902. Honorable Winslow Warren, A. M., of Massachusetts.
VICE-PRESIDENTS GENERAL.
1784. Major-General the Honorable Horatio Gates, LL. D., of Virginia.
1787. Major-General the Honorable Thomas Mifflin, A. M., of Penftsylvania.
1799. Major-General the Honorable Alexander Hamilton,
LL. D., of New York.
1800. Major-General the Hon. Charles Cotesworth Pinck-
ney, LL. D., of South Carolina.
1805. Major-General the Hon. Henry Knox, A. M., of Massachusetts.
1811. Brig.-General the Hon. John Brooks, M. D., LL. D., of Massachusetts.
1825. Major-General the Hon. Aaron Ogden, LL. D., of New Jersey.
1829. Major-General the Hon. Morgan Lewis, A. M., of New York.
1839. Major the Honorable William Shute, of New Jersey.
1844. Honorable Horace Binney, LL. D., of Pennsylvania.
1848. Honorable Hamilton Fish, LL. D., of New York.
1854. Honorable Charles Stewart Davies, LL. D., of Massachusetts.
1866. Mr. James Warren Sever, A. M., of Massachusetts.
1872. Honorable James Simons, A. M.. of South Carolina.
1881. Mr. William Armstrong Irvine, M. D., of Pennsylvania.
1887. Honorable Robert Milligan McLane,u. S. Mil. Acad., of Maryland.
1896. Honorable Winslow Warren, A. M., of Massachusetts.
1902. Honorable Jamefe Simons, 2d, LL. D., of South Carolina.
nber of members constituting the Order in the year 1904 amounted to 6S3.
SECRETARIES GENERAL.
1783. Major-General the Honorable Henry Knox, A. M., of Massachusetts.
1799. Major the Honorable William Jackson, of Pennsylvania.
1829. Mr. Alexander W. Johnston, of Pennsylvania.
1857. Mr. Thomas McEuen, A. M., M. D., of Pennsylvania.
1875. Mr. George Washington Harris, of Pennsylvania.
1884. Honorable Asa Bird Gardiner, LL. D., L. H. D., of Rhode Island.
ASSISTANT SECRETARIES GENERAL.
1784. Brig.-General the Honorable Otho Holland Williams, of Maryland.
1787. Brevet Major the Honorable George Turner, of South Carolina.
1790. Brig.-General William MacPherson, A. M., of Pennsylvania.
1799. Mr. Nathan Dorsey, M. D., of Pennsylvania.
1802. Colonel the Honorable William Dent Beall, of Maryland.
1825. Brevet Captain John Markland, of Pennsylvania.
1829. Mr. Thomas McEuen, A. M., M. D., of Pennsylvania.
1857. Mr. George Washington Harris, of Pennsylvania.
1875. Mr. Richard Irvine Manning, of South Carolina.
1890. Mr. Thomas Pinckney Lowndes, of South Carolina.
1896. Honorable Nicholas Fish, A. M., LL.B.,* of New York.
TREASURERS GENERAL.
1783. Major-General the Honorable Alexander McDougall, of New York.
1796. Major the Honorable William Jackson, of Pennsylvania.
1799. Brig.-General William MacPherson, of Pennsylvania.
1825. Captain the Honorable Allan McLane, of Pennsylvania.
1832. Brevet Captain John Markland, of Pennsylvania.
1838. Honorable Joseph Warren Scott, LL. D., of New Jersey.
1872. Honorable Tench Tilghman, u. S. Mil. Acad., of Maryland.
1875. Mr. Alexander Hamilton, Jr., of New York.
1881. Mr. John. Schuyler, C. E., of New York.
1896. Honorable Richard Meredith McSherry, LL. D., of Maryland.
1899. Mr. Frederick Wolcott Jackson, A. M.,t of New Jersey.
ASSISTANT TREASURERS GENERAL.
1825. Mr. Alexander W.t Johnston, of Pennsylvania.
1829. Brevet Captain John Markland, of Pennsylvania.
1832. Honorable Joseph Warren Scott, LL. D., of New Jersey.
1838. Honorable William Jackson, Jr., of Pennsylvania.
1851. Mr. John Henry Markland, of Pennsylvania.
1863. Mr. John McDowell, of New Jersey.
1872. Mr. William Berrian Dayton, A. M., of New Jersey.
1881. Mr. Herman Burgin, A. M., M. D., of New Jersey.
1893. Mr. Henry Thayer Drowne, A. M., of Rhode Island.
1899. Mr. John Cropper, A. M., LL. B., of Virginia.
*Died at New York City. 16th September, 1902.
tDied at Newark, N. J., 14th June, 1904.
jThis was merely a distinguishing letter and not a name.
CHAPTER
ORGANIZATION OF THE SOCIETY IN FRANCE.
The Institution of the Cincinnati, as primarily agreed upon by the Ameri-
can and French officers in their cantonments on the Hudson river, in the
United States of America, loth May, 1783, declared that "the Society, deeply
impressed with a sense of the generous assistance this country has received
from France, and desirous of perpetuating the friendships which have been
formed, and so happily subsisted, between the officers of the allied forces in
the prosecution of the war, direct that the President General transmit, as soon
as may be, to each of the characters hereafter named, a medal* containing the
Order of the Society, viz. :
"His Excellency the Chevalier de La Luzerne, Minister Plenipotentiary.
"His Excellency the Sieur Gerard, late Minister Plenipotentiary.
"Their Excellencies the Count d'Estaing, the Count de Grasse, the Count
de Barras, the Chevalier Des Touches.
"Admirals and Commanders in the Navy.
"His Excellency the Count de Rochambeau, Commander in Chief, and the
generals and colonels of his army, and acquaint them that the Society does
itself the honor to consider them members."
The last remaining detachment of the "Auxiliary Amiy" was about to
depart from the United States, after having assisted in securing recognition of
American independence and territorial sovereignty. Consequently the French
officers did not, by delegates, participate in forming the Order, any more than
the Continental Lines of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Dela-
ware, Virgina, North Carolina, and South Carolina, which were at other sta-
tions of duty than the cantonments on the Hudson.
At the convention of officers which adopted the Institution of the Cincin-
nati, on the loth May, 1783, Major General Frederick-William-Augustus-
Henry-Ferdinand, Baron de Steuben, Inspector General Continental Army,
and Knight of the Order De la Fidelite, acted as President pro tempore.
He wrote to His Excellency M. le Marechal de Camp le Chevalier de la
Luzerne, Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States, acquainting him of
his admission to the Order, and received the following reply :
Philadelphia, 3d June, 1783.
Sir : I have received, with much gratitude, the Iiibtitution of the honorable Order
that the officers of the American Army have founded.
If courage, patience, and all the virtues that this brave Army have so often displayed
in the course of this War could ever be forgotten, this Memorial alone should recall them.
*On the 19th June, 17S3, the Convention of Officers which had, on the 10th May. 1783,
adopted the Institution, again met in the cantonments on the Hudson, and amended the
same by establishing in lieu of a medal, the American bald Eagle, carrying the emblems
on its breast, as the Order of the Society.
I confidently assure you, sir, that all the Officers of my Nation, that you have been
pleased to admit in your Society, will be infinitely honored by it. I pray you to be fully
persuaded I feel, for my part, most deeply the honor the officers of the Army have done
me in deigning to think of me upon this occasion.
I expect to pay my respecti' to His Excellency General Washington as soon as the
Definitive Treaty shall be signed, and I shall have the honor of personally assuring him
of my respectful acknowledgment.
I avail myself with great eagerness this occasion of expressing to you the sentiments'
of the most perfect and most respectful attachment with which
I have the honor to be, sir.
Your very humble and very obedient servant.
Le Chevalier de la Luzerne.
To Baron de Steuben,
Major General in the service of the United States,
Headquarters.
On the 29th October, 1783, from Army Headquarters, Rocky Hill, N. J.,
President General Washington wrote to each of those above named, except the
Chevalier de la Luzerne, who had previously been written to by the Baron de
Steuben when acting President General, acquainting them with their admission
as members and enclosing to each a copy of the Institution.
In his letter to the Count de Rochambeau, which was almost identical in
terms with those to the others, President General Washington said :
"The officers of the American Army in order to perpetuate those friend-
ships which have been formed during a time of common danger and distress,
and for other purposes mentioned in the Institution, did, before their separa-
tion, associate themselves into a Society of Friends under the name of the
'Cincinnati,' and having honored me with the office of their President General,
it becomes a pleasing duty to acquaint you that the Society have done them-
selves the honor to consider you and the Generals and Colonels of the Army
you commanded in America as Members. * * *"
On the 30th October, 1783, from the same Headquarters, President Gen-
eral Washington wrote to Major General the Marquis de Lafayette, then at
Paris, as follows:
"I do myself the honor to transmit you herewith a copy of the Institution of
the Cincinnati, a Society formed by the American Officers before they separated
and retired to private life.
"The principles of the Society, the purposes for which it was formed and
the qualifications necessary to become Members will fully appear by the Institu-
tion.
"Should any of the Foreign Officers, who are qualified by serving three
years in our army, wish to become members, I must take the liberty to request
you to let them sign the Institution and pay the necessary sum into your
hands.* . . ."
Brevet Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant, Continental Corps of Engineers,
having been charged by President General Washington with these communica-
•Prior to General Washington's acceptance of the Presldent-Generalcy, like requests,
with copies of the Institution had been sent, by the acting President-General, Baron de
Steuben, to Brig. General Armand. Marquis de la Rouerie. who commanded the Conti-
nental Corps of cavalry, and by Major General "Wm. Heath, second in command in
the Main Army, (as required by the Institution,) to Major Genl. Nathanael Greene, who
commanded the Southern Continental Army, and to the senior Continental ofBcer in each
of the several States, including the Hon. John Sullivan of New Hampshire, late Major
General, and also to the commanding officer of the Rhode Island Continental Linp +hen
stationed in Northern New York.
tions, departed in the packet ship Washington and arrived at Havre on the
8th December, 1783, and proceeded immediately to Paris.*
Upon receipt of President General Washington's letter, the Count de
Rochambeau addressed M. le Marechal Philippe-Henri, Marquis de Segur,
Minister of War, as follows :
Paris, 14th December, 1783.
MONSEIGNEUR :
I have the honor to send you a translation of the letter which I have received from
General Washington and the "Institution" of the Society of the Cincinnati.
I have translated it literally, yet in a manner to be intelligible to His Majesty, whose
orders I beg of you to take for my government.
I am, with respect, Monseigneur,
Your very humble and very obedient servant,
Le Comte de Rochambeau.
Vice Admiral and Lieutenant General Count d'Estaing, at the same time,
wrote to the same effect to M. le Marechal Charles-Eugene-Gabriel de la Croi.K,
Marquis de Castries, Minister of the Marine and Colonies.
The Marquis de Lafayette addressed the following communication to M.
le Comte Gravier de Vergennes, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prime Min-
ister :
Paris, i6th December, 1783.
Monsieur Le Comte :
After having seen the noble cause triumph which collected them together, the Ameri-
can officers laid down their arms to return to their peaceable occupations, but just on their
being about to separate, willing to give assurance of their brotherly affection, and wish-
ing to perpetuate their gratitude to France, with a remembrance of the obligations they
were under to them, it was in this disposition. Monsieur le Comte, that the Society of
the Cincinnati was formed.
You know the Reg\ilations of it and I only fulfill the instructions of General Wash-
ington, President of the Association, who has sent to me Major L'Enfant.
This gentleman was charged to prepare the design of the Order and to have the
same executed.
The General has instructed me to receive the subscriptions and signatures, and to
distribute the marks of distinction to all the officers in Europe who have fulfilled in the
Army of the United States the necessary conditions.
I beg of you, then, Monsieur le Comte, to obtain the King's consent for those of
us who are French and who are by the rules entitled to admission.
The Society flatter themselves, Monsieur le Comte, that the distinction of the Order
will be accepted by the Generals, Admirals and Colonels of the French forces who acted
in concert with the Americans.
All the American Army unite in requesting this permission of the King, and if he
will, in his great goodness accord it, the near departure of the packet ship "Washing-
ton" will give me an early opportunity to communicate the same.
The Society are much interested. Monsieur le Comte, that these, their intentions,
may be clearly known in Europe and in America.
Their Regulations will be published in the foreign gazettes, but you will truly oblige
the Association in having the article herewith enclosed inserted in the Gazette de France,
under the principal article of Paris.
I have the honor to be, etc., etc., etc.,
Lafayette.
♦Brevet Major L'Enfanfs credentials from His Excellency, the President General,
were as follows.
"I do hereby certify that Mr. L'Enfant of the Corps of Engineers in the Service of
the United States has acquired by his service during the War the right of being acknowl-
edged a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, and having obtained permission to return
to France on his own private affairs, he has at the same time undertaken to transact some
necessary business relative to the Order of the said Society.
Given under my hand
this 16th day of October, 1783.
GEORGE WASHINGTON,
President General."
On Thursday, i8th December, 1783, at a Council of His Most Christian
Majesty held at Versailles, these communications were duly read and consid-
ered and a decree entered and promulgated authorizing all qualified officers of
the French Land and Naval Services to accept Membership under the Institu-
tion, the Sovereign as Head of the Government to be the patron of the Order
in France and all claims to Membership to be finally passed upon by him the
same as for the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis. The following
reply was accordingly sent to Lieutenant General Count de Rochambeau by the
Marquis de Segur :
Versailles, l8th December, 1783.
I have informed the King, sir, of the contents of the letter which His Excellency
General Washington has written to you, and of the proposal, which, in the name of the
American Army, he makes to you as well as to the general officers and colonels who
served in America under your orders to join the Association which has lately been
formed under the title of the Cincinnatus, to preserve the names of those who aided
most actively in the establishment of independence and fo perpetuate the memory of the
alliance of France and the United States.
His most Christian Majesty directs me to inform you that he consents to your
acceptance of this honorable invitation.
He wishes you, also, on his behalf, to assure His Excellency General Wash-
ington that he will always regard with extreme satisfaction everything which may tend
to maintain and strengthen the ties formed between France and the United States.
The successes which have resulted from this union and the glory which has been
the fruit of it has shown its advantages.
You may, therefore, sir, inform the general officers and colonels who served in the
Army which you commanded, that the King permits them to join the Association of the
Cincinnati.
You will be good enough to send me a copy of the list of officers destined to become
a part of this Association which is as honorable in the spirit of its institution as by the
virtues and talents of the celebrated General it has selected for its President.
I have the honor to be, with the most entire attachment.
Your very humble and very obedient servant,
Le Marechal de Segur.
The reply of M. le Marechal de Castries, Minister of the Marine and Col-
onies, to Vice Admiral Count d'Estaing was as follows :
Versailles, 19th December, 1783.
I have received, sir, with the letter which you did me the honor to write, the several
memorials on which you request decisions concerning those officers who are soliciting
admission into the Association of Cincinnatus. I have handed to M. le Marechal de
Segur the packet which was intended for him.
We have agreed to establish a like way of proceeding in the two Departments since
the King's intentions concerning the Order of the Cincinnatus have been made known.
The intentions of His Majesty are to permit his subjects to wear the insignia and
to leave to the Association to determine the circumstances which may increase or
diminish the number.
From that permission the Marquis excepts at the same time those of his officers who
may be actually in disgrace.
It seems fit, sir, as you and the Count de Rochambeau have been considered by
General Washington as the chiefs of that Association in Europe, that you two should
agree on the rules to be followed, and that you should be governed by the spirit which
animates the Institution.
The Marechal de Segur and inyself agree, sir, in answering, in this way, the com-
munications and memorials which you have done me the honor to address to me, copies
of which are no doubt in your possession.
I have the honor to be, with the most perfect attachment, sir,
Your very humble and very obedient servant,
Le Marechal de Castries.
LOUIS XVI.
PATRON OF THE ORDER OF THE CINCINNATI IN FRANCE.
On the 23d December, 1783, the Gazette de France officially announced
the establishment of the Order and contained a full account of the Institution.*
Count d'Estaing, on the 25th December, 1783, replied to President General
Washington {in English), acknowledging receipt of the Institution which made
him a Member.
He was then sole Vice Admiral of France and had recently commanded
the combined fleets of France and Spain at Cadiz, and also twenty thousand
land troops, destined to capture the remaining British West India Islands and
afterward to attack Canada and restore it to French domination. He was also
a Lieutenant General in the French Army, taking rank of the Count de Roch-
ambeau in that grade by nearly eighteen years.
The reply was as follows :
Paris, 25th December, 1783.
Sre:
I must beg leave to gratify a desire I cannot resist of paying Your Excellency, in a
private letter, the most unfeigned homage of my unalterable attachment for you.
I shall take particular delight in carrying ye marks of an Association which you
are President General of. It belonged to a chief of your merit, who gives to ye world
in his person the example of everything that is great, to fasten more and more ye ties
that link the citizen-soldier together, that unite ye civil and military virtues, and that
put us constantly in mind of ye duties they impose on us.
Your portrait has hitherto served us as a Cincinnatus' medal. I could wish it repre-
sented to ye life Your Excellency's features. It would be alone more expressive than the
strongest and most elaborate inscriptions.
Our common friend, the Marquis de la Fayette, and I talk frequently of you. During
our conversation we often cast our eyes on your picture, which makes a chief ornament
of our respective houses.
We many times repeat to each other that among the celebrated men whom antiquity
boasts of, none have performed actions of such difficulty and importance as those which
you just so gloriously terminated. They reflect ye greater honour on humanity, as it was
to defend its cause that you became a conqueror and that you had no other view whilst
you were fighting to assert its rights. You are, sir, the only such hero we know of.
Your excellency will not, I hope, be offended at my expressing so nakedly these truths,
as every one of a Society has a privilege of opening freely his mind to his President.
I cannot but say something in favor of the gallant officers whom I conducted twice
into North America. I'm perfectly satisfied that, upon recollecting ye proofs they gave
of their courage and zeal, neither Your Excellency nor the Society should be surprised
at my being mortified were they not as well treated as their fellow soldiers who went out
under ye command of ye Count de Rochambeau.
It is impossible for me to tell you how much I should wish they could be made to
believe, that, if they have not been specially named in ye Institution of the Cincinnati
Society, it was a mistake, and that they were supposed and looked on to be included
therein.f
This favor I most earnestly request you will be so kind as to grant me for four sea
officers called ye Baillie de SufFren, d' Albert de Rions. ye Chevalier de Borda, and ye
elder of ye Chevalier du Rumain's nephews.
The motives that actuate me will, I hope, appear worthy of Your Excellency's attention.
In case even ye captains of men of war are not to be comprised in the Association and
that none are to be admitted but ye general officers who have served on your coasts, I
shall beg you will make use of all your influence to obtain that particular honor for ye
four gentlemen I have mentioned to your excellency.
*On the 15th April. 17S4, the first number of the "Journal Militaire."' dedicated to
Monsieur, the brother of the King, Louis XVI., was published in Paris, by authority, and
gave twelve pages to an account of the Order of the Cincinnati in France, with a list of the
French officers admitted members with direct approval of the King.
tCount d'Estaing was speedily informed that, although the language was general.
It was intended by the Institution to include all the Colonels and superior military officers
who had served under him in the United States, as well as all who had commanded ships
or squadrons on the coast of the United States in the American War.
I'm, b)' my rank, ye first officer of ye French marine. In this quality I have a right to
represent the whole corps, and to point out those who have rendered ye greatest services
and whom this mark of distinction would be of ye highest consequence to.
It was I who conducted to America the first fleet and ye first troops that were sent
there. I took on myself, without any orders from my court, to bring back thither all ye
forces I could muster up. They were not idle.
I say nothing of ye wounds I have received. I look on it as a most distinguished
reward of my labors to have been ye only French general officer who has shed his blood
for America.
Ye pain I shall feel, in consequence all my life, is a sensation I shall find happiness in,
as it will constantly remind me that I have done for that country everything that lay in
my power.
It was our arrival at Savannah that caused ye evacuation of Rhode Island. Had
Count de Grasse executed as well as' ye Marquis de Vaudreuil ye orders I had given them
both of going with their divisions to ye Bay of ye Chesapeake, Charlestown had not been
attacked.
When I was called upon again to take the command, and that I was charged to form
the plan of the following campaign, matters were so combined that peace immediately
ensued.
I was yc first that had ye pleasure of announcing it to the Americans.
The Marquis de la Fayette, who was the only one entrusted with ye secret, will make
Your Excellency sensible of the infinite importance of ye articles concerning America.
I'm ye more desirous of his explaining them fully to you, as they do great honor to
the personal views of his Spanish majesty.
This prince was so gracious as to trust me with his land and sea forces when he per-
mitted me to conduct them to America.
It was really sending them to serve under ye command of your excellency.
I beg that you will be convinced that it is not self-love or vanity that has made me
enter into this detail. I take ye liberty of looking on you in all this affair as my advocate.
It was then but natural I should furnish you with arguments to plead and gain my
cause.
I cannot sufficiently paint to you the worthy manner that Major L'Enfant has
acquitted himself of Your Excellency's commission. His' conduct has given him a just
claim to my esteem and friendship.
With the greatest consideration, respect and esteem, I have the honour to be, sir.
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
ESTAING.
On the 25th December, 1783, Brevet Major L'Enfant, in a communication
written at Paris, reported, preliminarily, to President General Wash'ington, the
success of his mission, and that he had forwarded to Counts d'Estaing, de
Rochambeau and de Grasse, and to the Marquis de Lafayette, the letters with
which he had been charged, and that he had called upon a number of officers,
French subjects, resident in Paris, who "might from their services and rank be
considered as fit for the Cincinnati."
Said he :
..:!! * * jj jg j^qj jggg flattering to me to be able to inform Your Ex-
cellency of the success of my mission, and of the high appreciation which the
French Nation entertains in general of the American Army for thus honoring
an illustrious part of our Army with such flattering distinction.
"One single conversation with the French officers would at once convince
you how thoroughly they appreciate in their hearts those brotherly sentiments
which make them take so deep an interest in the happiness of America.
"This Institution, which they with reason consider as a monument erected
to Republican virtues, as the fundamental basis of a cordial union between the
different States, as a new tie which assures the duration of that reciprocal friend-
ship which France has evinced to America, cannot be looked upon in too advan-
tageous a light.
"The permission which this powerful Monarch, the Most Christian King,
has already given to his subjects to wear in his dominions the Order of the
Society of the Cincinnati, is not only a strong mark of his deference, but also
an unmistakable proof of the sentiments of His Majesty towards America."*
The Marquis de Lafayette also wrote to President General Washington
(in English) as follows:
Paris, December the 25th, 1783.
Sir:
On the receipt of Your Excellency's letter I took the measures to fulfill the intentions
of the Society in which I have the honor to be a member.
As our Institution was differently interpreted I wrote a letter to Count de Vergennes,
of which the enclosed is' a copyf, and the account I gave was printed in a Court Gazette
which I have the honor to send.
At a King's Council, this day was a week, it has been decided Count de Rochambeau,
his generals and colonels, and who of the admirals should be permitted to wear the
Order, and a very proper letter upon the subject has been written by Marechal de Segur
to M. de Rochambeau.
As to our American officers, I shall examine into the claims of every one. When
the point is clear, deliver or refuse the Order, and in doubtful cases take the advice of a
Board of American officers, members of the Society.
No foreign badge but the Golden Fleece is permitted to Frenchmen in this service.
From the distinction shown to our Society, and the testimony it bears of having acted
a part in this war, our badge is highly wished and warmly contended for by all those
who hope they have some claim to it. The Nation has been very much pleased with
the attention our Society has paid to the alliance and have found there is something
very interesting in the brotherly affiliation|. . . .
Objections are made, as is the case in every novelty. The hereditary part of the
Institution has its comments, but the general voice is in favour of our Brotherly Society,
and General Washington's name as President adds' a weight to the Association.
With the highest and most aflfectionate respect, I have the honor to be, my dear
general,
Your obedient humble servant,
Lafayette.
On the 26th December, 1783, Count de Rochambeau transmitted to the
Marquis de Segur the required list of officers of the Auxiliary Army who were
qualified for and desirous of membership, and the latter submitted the same to
Louis XVI. and obtained his formal approval.
Lieutenant General Count de Grasse's letter to President General Wash-
ington of his acceptance of membership was as follows :
Paris, 29th December, 1783.
Sir:
I have received from Major L'Enfant the letter which Your Excellency has honored
me with in your quality as President of the Society formed by the American officers and
denominated the Cincinnati.
•On the same day, 25th December, 1783, Brevet Major L'Enfant wrote also to Major
General Baron de Steuben and said:
"It is with the greatest satisfaction that I acquaint you with the success of the
Cincinnati in France. The difficulties have been removed which could have been opposed
to the admission of the Order into France, where they are accustomed to tolerate no foreign
Order. His Majesty, desirous of giving to the Americans a proof of the friendship which
he wishes to maintain with them, in his Council, has permitted his officers to wear this
badge with the other Orders of his kingdom. • * « • » Here in France they are more
ambitious to obtain the Order of the Cincinnati than to be decorated with the Cross of
St. Louis. «»•••••
■j-This letter has already been given above.
Jin the course of this letter the Marquis de Lafayette referred to the claims for
admission of the Colonels and Generals who had served under Count d'Estaing in Rhode
Island and at Savannah and e.xpressed the opinion that they were "vei-y proper."
I am flattered by the honor done me in making me a member of said Society and I
am charmed that His Majesty has been pleased to permit me to wear the decoration.
I hope you will believe me fully when I tell you that this visible symbol can add
nothing to the sincere attachment which I feel for the brave defenders of American
Independence, and that this further association with them and with yourself will ever
be to me a source of boundless satisfaction.
I shall avail myself of every occasion to revive all the pleasant recollections of those
days, but the one fact which I shall prize above all others is the fact of your personal
friendship, which ever since the first moment I was permitted to enjoy it, has been freely
extended to me*. . . .
As to the fraternal Society, in the bonds of which you have kindly seen fit, in due
form, to include me as a member, and, as completing a correspondence that has been to me
a delightful, friendly chat, I beg you will forward the decoration to M. le Chevalier
de la Luzerne, who will see that it is delivered to me*. . . .
Continue towards me, I beg of you, those sentiments of esteem which you have
for me and which I shall ever endeavor to merit, and at the same time rest assured not
only of the friendship but of the most sincere and respectful attachment with which I
have the honor to be, Sir, Your Excellency's
Most obedient and very humble servant,
Le Comte de Grasse.
As the French Land and Naval forces which had co-operated with the
forces of the United States during the American Revolution had all except
Lauzun's Legion (which was then embarking) departed from the United States
before the establishment of the Society of the Cincinnati, the method adopted
of requesting Major General the Marquis de Lafayette to examine into the-
pretensions of those French officers who had served under "Continental" com-
missions, and requesting Vice Admiral and Lieutenant General Count
d'Estaing and Lieutenant General Count de Rochambeau to pass upon the
claims for membership of those who had served under them, respectively, was,
probably, the best which could have been devised under the circumstances, and
was identical with the procedure adopted in the United States, where the "Insti-
tution" was sent for like purpose to the senior officer of the Continental Line of
every State and to the chiefs of the Continental Corps of Engineers and Cavalry.
The first meeting of the members in France was a preliminary one and was
held at the hotel of the Count de Rochambeau, in the Rue du Cherchemidi,
Paris, under his chairmanship, on the 7th January, 1784, and comprised only
the principal general officers and colonels who had served in the Auxiliary
Army.t
On this occasion the King's authorization was duly submitted and read,
followed by President General Washington's communication of the 29th Octo-
ber, 1783, and the Institution which he had transmitted with it.
A motion was then made and unanimously adopted to contribute, under the
provisions of the Institution, the sum of sixty thousand livres to the funds of
the General Societv.
•The intermediate portion of the letter referred to the council of war then sitting- at
f. 'Orient and as to obtaining copies of his letters to and from General Washington.
fThere were present at this preliminary meeting-. His Excellency Lieut. Genl. Count
fle 'Rochambeau, Knight of the Holy Ghost and Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Also Lieut. Genl. Baron de Viom^nil, and the Chevalier de Chastellux, Count de
■Viomfinil, Marquis de Saint Simon, Marquis de Choisy, Count de Custine. Duke de Lauzun.
Duke de Laval, Count d'Autichamp, Marquis de Rostaing. Chevaliers d'Aboville and La
Valette. Count de Saint Maime, 'Viscount de Poudenx, Viscount d'Arrot. Viscount de Ro-
chambeau. Viscount de Noailles, Count de Charlus. Count Robert Dillon. Count de S6gur.
Prince de Broglie. Count de Vauban. Count de Damas. and Marquis de Champcenetz.
Forty-two thousand livres were at once subscribed by those present and
the remainder completed in a few weeks and the whole paid over to M. Cesar
Louis de Baulny, Treasurer of the AuxiHary Army.*
On the same day, 7th January, 1784, Count de Rochambeau wrote to M. le
Marechal de Segur, notifying him of this "voluntary and unanimous subscrip-
tion" and soliciting the King's approval.
Louis XVL was so much interested in the whole proceeding that he signi-
fied his assent at once in order that it could be conveyed to Count de Rocham-
beau without the usual delay of formal transmission through official channels.
After making their subscription the members attending the preliminary
meeting of the 7th January, 1784, adjourned until the i6th January, 1784.
On the last named day the meeting reassembled at the same place to for-
mally assume the insignia of the Order of the Cincinnati.
At the same time those French Army officers, who had served in the United
States under commissions from the Continental Congress, and who happened
to be in Paris, assembled at the hotel of the Marquis de La Fayette,t in the Rue
de Bourbon, and, after informally considering several applications from other
Frenchmen who had served in like manner, proceeded in a body to the hotel of
the Count de Rochambeau to unite with the other French Cincinnati there in
session.
At this assembly, which contained several naval officers, were considered
the advantages which would result from a regular correspondence with their
brethren in America, and all present expressed the opinion that the Assembly
.'.hould, of right, have a President and form a State Society similar to that of
the respective lines of the Continental Army.
Brevet Major L'Enfant was authorized to inform President General Wash-
ington of this proceeding and the views of the French Cincinnati thereon, and
to solicit the authoritative opinion of the General Society relative thereto.
The Assembly also requested that a representation of three of their mem-
bers should be admitted to sit in the General Society at the General Meeting to
be held in May, 1784, and they authorized and requested General Washington
•Count de Rochambeau at once wrote to President General Washington, before the
stibscription was completed, as follows:
"Paris, January 7th, 1784.
"Sir:
"I have to-day read to the Generals and Colonels, who served in America under my
command, the letter you did me the honor to write. As to the permission of His Majesty
to join the Society about to be formed here under the name of the Cincinnati, His Majesty
consented willingly and made no conditions, as you will notice from the text I send you.
"Our object being to perpetuate the Union which His Majesty's Alliance has made
of our two nations and to care for the officers who suffered in the American Army with
which we ser\'ed as a part, I hope we shall subscribe a sura worthy of his kingdom and the
object to which it is to be devoted.
"I am, dear sir, Your Excellency's most obedient servant.
"LE COMTE DE ROCHAMBEAU."
Count de Rochambeau's subsequent letter of the 19th January, 17S4, acquainting the
General Society of this action, was read at the first General Meeting in Philadelphia, 6th
May, 17S4, whereupon it was decided that the contribution "be politely refused and the
money placed in the funds of the French Society." This action was taken before any
"amended Institution" had been formulated or submitted and was a positive recognition
of the French Society. On the 26th July, 17S4, Count de Rochambeau while at Calais wrote
to M. le Margchal de S6gur and notified him of this reply of the General Society.
fThese ofBcers were Major Generals the Marquis de Lafayette and the Chevalier
Duportail, Brevet Brig. Genl. de Laumoy, Colonels Cambray and Gouvion, Lieut. Cols.
Fleury, Villefranohe. Mauduit du Plessis. Dubuysson and Tousard. Majors Pontgibaut, Capi-
talne, Rochcfontaine, and L'Enfant and Captain la Colombe. Also Lieut. Baron de Kalb.
eldest son of Major General Baron de Kalb, deceased.
i6
to choose such representation* from among the French members still in the
United States. The meeting then adjourned until loth March, 1784.
At the conclusion of this business the Cincinnati were, as officially reported,
"elegantly entertained" by Count de Rochambeau at his hotel and the usual
toasts suitable to the occasion were duly honored.
On the 19th January, 1784, Count de Rochambeau wrote to President Gen-
eral Washington as follows:
Paris, 19th January, 1784.
Dear Sir :
I have received the letter vifith which Your Excellency honored me, dated the 29th
October last by Major L'Enfant.
I cannot better acknowledge the honor you are pleased to bestow upon me, as well
as upon the Generals and Colonels of the French Auxiliary Army which served in
America, than by enclosing to you :
1st. The answer of the Marechal de Segur, Minister of War, giving us our
Sovereign's leave to enter into this respected Association.
2nd. The list of those Generals. Brigadiers and Colonels whom I have admitted
thereto, following literally the powers which were given me by the General Society,
3rd. A list of petitions which I have been desired to lay before you, and which
appear to me to be more or less admissible, according to the observations which I have
made in each instance and as to which I ask a more particular explanation from the
General Society.
4th. A list of the sums which have been voluntarily and unanimously subscribed
to concur in the benevolent views of this Establishment and left to the disposal of the
General Society.
It is now my duty to assure Your Excellency in my name and in the name of all the
Cincinnati of the army under my command that this Order may perpetuate but cannot
add anything to the tender sentiments of fraternity and friendship which we entertain for
our brethren of your Army and for their illustrious Chief, whom we will love and respect
to our last breath.
It is in the profession of these sentiments that I have the honor to be for all my life,.
Your Excellency's
Most obedient and most humble servant,
Le Comte de Rochambeau.
Thus far in the preliminary movements, which soon resulted in the consol-
idation of the different lines of members in France into an illustrious State
Society, there had been meetings only of Continental officers! who had served
•This method of choosing a representation, although possibly within the letter of the
Institution, was not the method contemplated by its spirit, and General Washington
accordingly would not take upon himself the duty of appointing such delegates. If, how-
ever, the French Society had deputed a representation by name and they had appeared,
there seems no reason to doubt that they would have been admitted. This is made plain
from the action of the General Society relative to the French Society, and from its reply
to Brig. Genl. Armand, Marquis de la Rouerie, then in Philadelphia, dated 15th May, 17S4.
in which it was stated that "as there was no delegation from that country, there could
not consistently be any particular representation admitted into the General Meeting."
jThe reason why the Marquis de Lafayette had to call to his assistance a Board of
Continental officers of acknowledged membership in order to determine whether French
gentlemen who claimed membership by reason of service as ofHcers in the Continental
Army, were, of right, entitled to it. was because he had been twice absent from the
United States on leave for long periods during the war and was not thoroughly familiar
with all such pretensions. There was accordingly a second such meeting held on the Sth
March. 17S4, at which were present, besides himself, Major General Du Portail, Chief of
Continental Engineers, and Colonel Gouvion, Lieutenant Colonels Fleury, Tousard and Ville-
franche, and Majors Pontgibaut and L'Enfant.
The Count de Rochambeau had no occasion for such a board in order to determine
whether any officer of the Auxiliary Army was entitled to membership, any more than the
senior Continental officer in any one of the United States when he permitted Continental
officers to sign the Institution.
Brig. Genl. Armand, Marquis de la Rouerie, Commandant of the Continental Corps of
Cavalry, had never served with Lafayette, and there was no military relation between them,
the former being, in fact, the elder officer in the French Army. As a consequence, the
Marquis de la Rouerie passed upon the question of right of admission of such of his officers
as were French subjects, independent of those claims intrusted to Lafayette's determination.
under or with Major General the Marquis de Lafayette and officers of the
AuxiHary Army who had served under Count de Rochambeau.
Count d'Estaing accepted his membership, with many thanks, on the 25th
December, 1783, in a formal letter to President General Washington.
He was by his rank and services, in both the French Army and Navy, the
senior officer of the Society of the Cincinnati in France.*
He was also the head of one of the most ancient noble families of France
admitted to the honors of the Louvre under the Royal Edict of 1759 and re-
corded in the Cabinet de I'Ordre du Saint Esprit as Haut-Baron in the year
1057-
The Institution had, in explicit terms, comprehended the general officers
and colonels of the "Auxiliary Army," but whether the general officers and
colonels of the "Co-operating Army," which had served under Count d'Estaing
in Rhode Island in 1778 and at the Siege of Savannah in 1779, and the com-
manding officers in his fleet when it was on the American coast, were also in-
tended to be included, was not definitely ascertainable from the language of the
instrument itself.
In order that there should be no uncertainty, the Count d'Estaing, having
first written to the Minister of Marine, as before recited, addressed a com-
munication to President General Washington, dated Paris, 25th December,
1783, in which, in four accompanying memorials, he submitted for admission
the names of the officers who had served under him in the "Co-operating Army"
in one of the designated gradest or as commanding officers of squadrons and
ships of war on the American coast in 1778-1779.
The Count de Barras, who had commanded the French squadron in New-
port Harbor, 1780-1781, and had joined Count de Grasse in the Chesapeake for
the Siege of Yorktown, had been named in the Institution.
He accepted his admission in the following communication to President
General Washington :
Paris, 23d January, 1784.
Sir:
I received the letter which you did me the honor to write me, as well as the Institu
tion of the Society of the Cincinnatus formed by the American Army. I am most flat-
tered to be comprised in a military society the members of which have, with so much
glory, concurred under the orders of Your Excellency to establish American liberty, but
it gives me great pain to see that all the general officers of the sea, as well as the captains
of ships of war, who have cruised and fought on the coast of North America, and
particularly those who were employed under my command, do not partake with me the
honor to be admitted in the Society.
I will not here call to your mind the distinguished services rendered to America by
the naval officers under the command of Count d'Estaing, and of Monsieur de Grasse.
I will confine myself to what regards the particular squadron which I commanded.
The frequent and honorable combats under the orders of Monsieur Destouches, the
frequent cruisings and bloody battles of the frigates for the protection of American
commerce, the very dangerous junction formed with Count de Grasse in Chesapeake Bay
which insured the success of the enterprise against Yorktown, are pretensions which may
give to the captains of this squadron a right to the distinction conferred on the colonels
of the land forces with whom they co-operated.
•The Count de Grasse was junior to the Count d'Estaing and had long served under his
command during the Revolutionary War, and the duly accordingly devolved on the latter of
acquainting the President General of the names of all the French naval ofHcers qualified fo»
admission to membership.
-(■In one of these memorials were comprehended the names of a number of distinguished
officers specifically noted as not holding the grade of colonel, but lesser rank. They were,
however, admitted as honorary members.
Persuaded, however, that to repair this omission, the members of the Society of the
Cincinnatus have only to know the names of the general officers and captains of ships
who served on the American coast, I have the honor to send to Your Excellency a list
of those who were employed under my orders,* and I would not myself accept the
decoration of the Society but that I look on it as certain that it will be very shortly
in common with my ancient companions in arms.
Sir, your very humble and very obedient ser\ant,
Barras.
P. S. M. le-Vicomte de la Bretonniere has communicated to me a letter which
he has the honor to write to Your Excellency, in which he sets forth the services ren-
dered by him to the United States by convoying American ships. He requests to be
comprised in the Society. His request is well founded and I, with pleasure, concur
with this officer, and pray that he may be comprehended with the other officers for whom
I have made application.
Lieutenant General Baron de Viomenil, in a communication to President
General Washington, dated Paris, 24th January, 1784, specially urged the
right of Colonel Baron d'Angely to membership.
The Marquis de Lafayette, in an official report to President General Wash-
ington, dated Paris, 9th March, 1784, referred to the want of precision of the
Institution relative to the general officers and colonels of Count d'Estaing's
"Co-operating Army," and said "the neglect, we know, was not intended."!
On the loth March, 1784, the French Cincinnati then in Paris and vicinity
met pursuant to adjournment at the hotel of the Count de Rochainbeau and
elected the Count d'Estaing as President and Count de Segur as Secretary, pro
tempore, and postponed completion of permanent organization until the 4th
July, 1784.
Brigadier General Armand, Marquis de la Rouerie, Chief of the Conti-
nental Corps of Cavalry, a few days later wrote to President General Washing-
ton (in English) as follows:
Philadelphia, 14th March, 1784.
Sir:
I have received a letter from Major General Duportail, dated from Paris the 24th
December last, in which he gives me the following account of the success which the
Order and Society of the Cincinnaty have in France :
The Order of the Cincinnaty has had great success here till this instant. The King
has permitted the French officers who belong to it to wear the badge of it. Every man
wishes to have it, and those who have not served the necessary time in the American
*The Vice-Admiral of France, Count d'Htetaing, had already, in his third memorial to
His Excellency, the President General, dated Paris, 25th December, 1783, made this same
request.
•j-The Original Institution had unavoidedly been prepared with a good deal of haste,
material amendments having been made 19th June, 17S3, after a considerable part of the
Continental Army had left the cantonments on the Hudson in that month. Its deflciencies.
however, were only in the direction of want of precision of language, which it was in the
province of the General Society to subsequently supply by suitable interpretations.
At the first meeting of the General Society in Philadelphia in May, 17S4, when all the
State Societies, except that of France, were duly represented, "the Committee of the Whole
having taken into consideration the Institution of the Society," reported through Lieut.
Colonel the Hon. Nathaniel Ramsay, Chairman, on the 6th May, 1784, "that they are
unanimously of the opinion that sundry matters and things therein contained ought to be
corrected and amended."
So far as the General Society thereupon undertook to correct that instrument by suit-
able interepretations and declarations so that its true meaning and intent should not be ob-
scure, it acted within the scope of its powers, and such action was binding. To this extent
the "Amended Institution," where it simply makes more definite and certain any vague
language in an article of the original instrument, may be considered merely in the light of
an interpretation. When, however, the General Society went beyond mere correction and
undertook to alter the Institution by omitting or changing definite fundamental and organic
provisions, its action in such particulars became nugatory unless consented to by all the
State Societies.
Army endeavor to give a turn to their brevets and furloughs which may obtain them the
honor of wearing it. I assure you that it has made and makes more noise here than it
does in America. The officers of the French Army are much flattered by that honorable
distinction and the Count de Rochambeau makes a superior affair of it. The Marquis
de Lafayette who is commissioned by the Order to receive in it the French officers who
served in America, receives daily applications on the subject from persons who ought to
be sensible that they have no right to be admitted.
As the character of the Cincinnatus, so well marked by nature, acquired habilitation
and success in that of Your Excellency and is the most just and honorable foundation of
the Order, I thought that the relation of my friend would be agreeable to you and indeed
to say or do anything that may be agreeable to Your Excellency, is the superior wish
governing my heart.
I have almost finished with success the affair of the Legion and Engineers, which
gives me the expectation of being able to go soon and pay my respects to Your Excel-
lency. In all probability it will be towards the latter end of this month.
I have the honor to be with the highest respect, Sir, Your Excellency's most obedient
humble servant,
Armand.
His E.xcellency General Washington.
On the 29th April, 1784, Major L'Enfant arrived in New York City from
Havre, and on the same day wrote officially to President General Washington
and said that the French Cincinnati unanimously considered that those officers
who served in Count d'Estaing's "Co-operating Army" of proper grade were
equally entitled with those of the "Auxiliary Army" to original membership.
He also communicated the views of the French Cincinnati as to the advan-
tages resulting from being organized as a State Society "similar to that of the
Regular Lines of the Continental Army," and solicited concurrence of the Gen-
eral Society in this behalf.
At the first meeting of the General Society of the Order, held in Philadel-
phia in May, 1784, President General Washington, who had come from Mount
Vernon to preside, submitted all these communications and reports, which were
duly read.
During its sessions Marechal de Camp, the Chevalier de la Luzerne, Min-
ister Plenipotentiary of France to the United States, addressed His Excellency,
the President General, as follows :
Philadelphia, 6th May, 1784.
Sir:
The Counts de Grasse and d'Estaing have desired me to say that they have had the
honor of obtaining the official permission for the properly qualified officers of the navy
of the King to be admitted into the Society of the Cincinnati.
These gentlemen have added some memoranda setting forth the distinguished ser-
vices of those officers for whom they desire to obtain that honor.
I know too well the justice of Your Excellency, and that of the Honorable Delegates
who compose the Assembly to consider that it is necessary for me to join my solicitations
to theirs.
The extreme eagerness of the French naval officers to be admitted into the Society
of the Cincinnati is most natural if one will but consider the principles of honor on which
it is founded and the military and patriotic virtues which so distinguish the members
who compose it.
The Admirals, who have commanded fleets on this Continent, request that the
captains of ships (capitaines de vaisseau) who have served immediately under their
orders be permitted to wear the decoration the same as army officers of like grade.
There are also several captains of frigates who, although not having been employed
in the great squadrons, have nevertheless been extremely useful in furthering the common
cause either through the missions which they have filled or in actual combats in which
they have been engaged on the American coast.
These officers having, under the instructions of the Minister, concerted their opera-
tions with me, it remains for me to recite their services.
I take the liberty of addressing Your Excellency a memorandum in this matter and
request that you will be good enough to bring it to the attention of the committee
charged with the examination of the different memorials.
I have the honor to recommend to you the Chevalier de Lameth.
His services are well known to you ; he was badly wounded at the siege of Yorktovvn.
His Majesty was pleased to reward him by giving him the grade of Colonel, but as
this promotion was not made until two months after the siege he finds himself excluded*
from the Society if he be not admitted by a special dispensation.
On account not only of his wounds but because of his zeal, his case deserves favorable
consideration, and with no apprehension of disappointment, I leave it to the considerate
attention of Your Excellency and of the Delegates.
I also take the liberty of sending you a memorandum on behalf of the Sieur
de Tarle, Intendant of the Army, the circumstances of whose case are peculiar, and I
verily believe, merit some consideration.
In entreat Your Excellency to receive this assurance of the sentiments of attachment
and respect, with which I am, Sir,
Your very humble and very obedient servant,
Le Chevalier de la Luzerne.
On the loth May, 1784, Brevet Major L'Enfant, then in Philadelphia,
addressed His Excellency, the President General, and the General Society on
the same subject as follows:
As the reading of the several letters of thanks and petitions which are now before
you, may easily convey to you an idea of the high consideration whch the Cincinnati enjoy
in Europe, give me leave, in the name of all my Countrymen, to assure you of their
sincere and heartfelt gratitude.
No pledge of friendship can be dearer to them than that which they have received at
the hands of the Society of the Cincinnati.
I am particularly charged by them with supporting the several demands which have
been addressed to you. * * * * The captains of His Majesty's ships, who all have
the rank of Colonel, have no doubt acquired your favor, by their repeated ser-
vices in the different squadrons of Messieurs d'Estaing, de Grasse, de Barras, de Vaud-
reuil, and Destouches, and they hope that you will pay some attention to their demands.
Several captains of frigates, who are designated by the Minister of France as having
had particular commissions on the American Coast, have acquired a title to be distinguished
from those of the same rank who have not rendered the same services.
It is in order to enable you to attain the object which you have proposed to yourselves
that the French General officers have recommended the above mentioned gentlemen to
your illustrious Assembly. It is with the same view that the Counts d'Estaing and de
Rochambeau have recommended to your favor the particular services of some land officers,
who, on account of those services and of their wounds, have been promoted since the
War to the rank required by our Institution. * * * *
On the 13th day of May, 1784, the General Society approved certain
amendmentst and alterations to the Institution, w^hich were thereupon embodied
in an "Amended and altered Institution," and directed to be submitted to the
respective State Societies in the United States and in France for ratification.
=h the General Society removed by a special
tTtie "amendments," which were readily distinguishable from the "alterations," were
Intended merely to correct inaccuracies of diction and to interpret and construe the Intent
of the original instrument in more precise language.
They are to be accepted, therefore, as an authoritative exposition from the first Gen-
eraJ Meeting.
The "alterations," however, were radical organic changes in the Institution and
its plan of government, which, as before remarked, could not become effective until
adopted by all the State Societies. Tn the Circular letter signed by President General
Washington, by order of the General Society, the proposed organic "alterations" were defi-
nitely and particularly described.
In the Institution, as thus amended, those classes of officers who ivere enti-
tled to be considered as original* members were comprehended in two sections,
which undertook merely to define and construe such classes with greater preci-
sion than was found in the language of the Institution of 1783.
The first section had reference to those who had served in the American
Army or Navy under Commissions from the Continental Congress — and the
second section had reference to those who had served under Commissions from
Louis XVI. and was as follows :
"There are also admitted into this Society the late and present Ministers of
His Most Christian Majesty to the United States ; — all the Generals and Colonels
of Regiments and Legions of the Land Forces ; — all the Admirals and Captains
of the Navy, ranking as Colonels, who have co-operated with the Armies of the
L'nited States in their exertions for Liberty ; — . . ."t
Another section prescribed as follows :
"The subjects of His Most Christian Majesty, Members of this Society,
may hold meetings at their pleasure, and form Regulations for their Police, con-
formably to the objects of the Institution, and to the spirit of their government."
On the same day, 13th May, the General Society resolved "that the Insti-
tution as amended and altered be forwarded to each State Meeting, and to the
Meeting in France ; and that it be accompanied with a circular letter to each,
explanatory of the reasons which produced the amendments and alterations,
and recommending the same for their observance."
On the 14th May, 1784, the Committee of the General Society "on arrang-
ing letters and papers" reported through its chairman, Brevet Brigadier General
Stephen Moylan, "that there were a number of memorials, petitions and other
papers from foreign gentlemen which ought to be referred to the Society in
France."
On the following day the proposed circular letter was adopted specifying
distinctly the alterations made in the Original Institution, as contradistinguished
from mere amendments for precision, with the reasons therefor, which circular
letter was directed to be sent "to every State Society."
It was accordingly transmitted by President General Washington to the
*One of the proposed alterations in the organic law was abolition ot the right to admit
any "honorary" members, but, as a number of honorary members had already been admitted
by the several State Societies, a special provision was inserted authorizing their continu-
ance.
tin the original Institution it was declared that the Society, deeply impressed with a
sense of the generous assistance the United States had received from France, and desirous of
perpetuating the friendships which had been formed and so happily subsisted between the
officers of the Allied forces in the prosecution of the war, directed the President General to
acquaint certain officers, admirals and commanders in the French Navy and the com-
mander-in-chief of the Auxiliary Army, and the generals and colonels therein, "that the
Society does itself the honor to consider them members." The word "members" was here
used in precisely the same way. without any qualifying clause, as when previously used in
describing those Continental officers who were entitled to become original members capable
of transmitting an heritable succession, and also in describing the children entitled to be-
come original or hereditary members, of officers who had died in service, in direct contra-
distinction to "honorary members" admitted for their own lives only.
As a consequence, the two classes of membership, original and honorary, being each
particularly defined, and, as original members were merely designated as "members," it
necessarily followed that the designated classes of French officers who had served as pre-
scribed in the Institution were original and not honorary members, and the General Society
so understood it.
In the Amended Institution the fact that the French officers, of the designated classes,
were as much original members as the Continental officers, was even more pointedly enun-
ciated.
Society in France, with the recommendation of the General Society that it
"should be adopted by your State Society."*
The Original Institution had been noticably indefinite on the question
whether the general officers and colonels of Count d'Estaing's "Co-operating
Army," which had served in Rhode Island in 1778 and at Savannah in 1779,
were intended to be included with the officers of like grade of the "Auxiliary
Army."
Also whether those French officers who had distinguished themselves in
the United States and been specially promoted by Louis XVI. to the rank of
Colonel for such service after their return to France, were intended to be in-
cluded with those who were actually Colonels when the Institution was adopted
in May, 1783.
Also whether the indefinite expression "Admirals and Commanders in the
Navy," found in the Original Institution, was intended to include the con-
mander of any French ship of war, irrespective of actual rank, who had com-
manded such vessel in co-operating services on the coast of the United States,
for the reason that the French Navy then had only one Admiral and one Vice-
Admiral, but did not have any such grade, by commission, as that of "Com-
mander."
It became, therefore, the duty of the General Society to declare the true
intent of the Original Institution which was done in the "Amended Institution,"
in which those provisions of the original instrument which were intended to be
retained were re-written so as to more clearly express the original intent. Even
then further declaratory resolves of interpretation became necessary because of
the difficulty of properly comprising in a concise section all those intended to be
comprehended. t
Thus on the 15th May, 1784, the General Society passed one of these
declaratory resolves "that the officers of His Most Christian Majesty's Army
and Navy who have served in America, and who were promoted to the rank of
Colonel for special services, are comprehended in the Institution of the Cin-
cinnati, as altered and amended."
On the 17th May, 1784, the General Society further interpreted and con-
strued the words "admirals and commanders in the Navy" by admitting by
name certain French Naval officers of a rank below the equivalent grade of
colonel in the army, but who had, however, actually commanded French ships
of war on the coast of the United States, the resolution declaring that these
"captains and commanders of ships and frigates of the French Navy, who were
employed on special service on the coast of America, and are particularly named
and recommended to the Society by His Excellency, the Minister of France, are
entitled by the spirit and intention of the Institution to become Members of the
Cincinnati."
At the same time the General Society declared, 17th May, 1784, that the
Marquis du Bouchet, of the French Army, who had served with Major General
•The General Society considered a ratification, by the French State Society, of the
proposed alterations In the Institution, to be as necessary in order to give it validity as a
ratification by any other State Society, and this was even more pointedly enunciated in the
letter, hereinafter quoted, which was sent to the Marauis de Lafayette.
■{■A noticeable instance of such a declaratory resolve by the General Society arose on
the question, "whether by a construction of the Principles of the Institution" commissioned
officers of State Troops not Continental, who had actually served three years during the
Revolution, were entitled to become members, and it was resolved in the affirmative on the
13th May, 1784.
This interpretation brought in several valued officers as original members, in the Rhode
Island, New York, Virginia and other State Societies.
Horatio Gates only seven months under a Continental commission, but had sub-
sequently served in the Auxiliary Army in the United States under a French
commission below the grade of colonel for the remainder of the three years,
was "entitled, from his services, to be admitted a member of the Cincinnati,
and he is hereby admitted accordingly," and he became therefore an Original
Member.
Drafts of replies to some of the principal communications received from
members in France were approved by the General Society at its meeting in
1784 and directed to be sent.
The reply to the Baron de Viomenil was as follows :
Philadelphia, 15th May, 1784.
Sik:
The Baron d'Angely, for whom you ask admission into the Society of the Cincinnati,
having been, as you inform the Society, a Colonel in the Auxiliary Army, is in con-
sequence entitled to become a member according to the Rules of the Institution.
The Members of the Society in France will, in future, hold meetings there, as we do
in these States.
Baron d'Angely will please to make his application to the former.
Signed in General Meeting,
By Order:
George Washington,
; President General.
The reply to the Count de Rochambeau was as follows :
Philadelphia, isth May, 1784.
Sir:
The letters with which you have honored the Society of the Cincinnati have been
read with attention, and the several subjects regarded with the most respectful con-
sideration.
It is a circumstance pleasing to this Society that the Count de Rochambeau has so
willingly become a member and interested himself in its reputation. ******
It is not m the ability of this meeting of the Society to comprehend the justice of
all the claims which have been made, and therefore they are submitted to the meeting
of the Society in France to be taken into consideration. The several memorials, petitions
and letters relative to those claims will be transmitted to the Society in France, to-
gether with a copy of the Institution as it is amended and a Circular letter communicating
the reasons for those amendments.
By order of the General Meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati ;
George Washington,
President General.
The reply to the Count de Barras, who had commanded the French Squad-
ron in Rhode Island, was as follows :
Philadelphia, 17th May, 1784.
Sir:
It was intended to comprehend in the Original Institution of the Cincinnati, many
officers who, through want of better information and a peculiarity of circumstances,
were omitted. The Institution as now amended and published will fully include in the
Society all the Generals and Captains of ships of war, for whom you have applied
to the President General.
The Count de la Bretonniere, having had the command of a Royal ship and rendered
services in America, is included without doubt.
Signed in General Meeting,
By Order :
George Washington,
': President General.
The reply to the ChevaHer de la Luzerne, Minister Plenipotentiary of
France, was as follows:
Philadelphia, 17th May, 1784.
Sir:
The letter addressed by Your Excellency to the President General of the Society of
the Cincinnati, and the Memorials referred to that Body, have been laid before the Gen-
eral Meeting.
The Institution, as it is amended, admits into this Society "the late and present Min-
isters of His Most Christian Majesty to the United States; all the Generals and Colonels
of Regiments and Legions of the Land Forces; ail the Admirals and Captains of ye
Navy ranknig as Colonels, who have co-operated with the Armies of the United States,
in their exertions for Liberty; — &c."
And to testify to Your Excellency, that it was the intention of this Meeting to com-
prehend, in the words "Captains of the Navy," those officers who had the command of
Squadrons and Frigates, and who did essential service on the Coast of America, they have
entered on their proceedings an explanatory resolve, which includes also Monsieur de
Tarle, second in the French Army, and Colonel Lameth, who, notwithstanding the pecu-
liarity of their cases, the Society consider as evidently included in the Association.
Signed in General Meeting,
By Order:
George Washington,
President General.
The reply to the Marquis de Lafayette was even more in detail and was
as follows :
Philadelphia, 17th May, 1784.
Sir:
The Society of the Cincinnati in a General Jileeting of delegates from the respective
States now held in this City, have had before them the letters which were addressed by
you to the President-General.
The measures you have taken to fulfill the intentions of the Society are proofs of
your attachment, and obligations on the Society.
The permission of His Most Christian Majesty for his Generals and Colonels and
also for his Admirals to wear the Order of the Cincinnati, is a real distinction to the
Society, and is considered as an obliging instance of His Majesty's condescension.
You will see, Sir, by the papers which will be sent to the Society in France, that
the Institution of the Society of the Cincinnati has necessarily undergone some altera-
tions and amendments, and you will see also, in the Circular letter, the reasons for
such alterations being made.
By the Institution, as it is now recommended for concurrence and confirmation to all
the State Meetings and to the Meeting in France, it is provided that all the Generals
and Colonels of Regiments and Legions of the Land Forces, and all the Admirals and
Captains of the Navy, ranking as Colonels, who co-operate with the Armies of the United
States, etc., are admitted into the Society, and it was so expressed as well to com-
prehend all the gentlemen mentioned in the Memorial of Count d'Estaing as several
others, Commanders and Captains of Squadrons and Frigates, who had done essential
service under the orders of His Excellency the Chevalier de la Luzerne; and also Mr.
De Tarle and Colonel Lameth, who were heretofore supposed not eligible to become mem-
bers.
An explanatory resolve of the Meeting hath been entered into purposely to express
the sense of the Society respecting the claims of those gentlemen — a copy of which will
also be sent to you with several memorials, upon which this Meeting cannot decide.*
The Meetings of the Society in France, being now distinctly considered in all re-
spects of the same authority as the State Meetings, no claims will in future be de-
*This language is particularly noticeable in that it shows that while the consent of the
State Societies In France and the United States were deemed necessary in order to effect the
stated organic alterations. — yet as to the mere amendments of diction by way of greater
precision in the expression of the Intent of the Original Institution, such amendments were
deemed at once effective as being only rules of construction and interpretation to continue
in force whether or not the proposed organic alterations were ratified.
termined in the General Meeting, and all claimants must apply to the meeting of the
State, or Country where they reside.
Those meetings alone are to judge of the qualifications of members of this Society.
It is a subject of concern to this meeting that so good an officer as Admiral de
Vaudreuil should have been omitted by mistake, but as he is now included in the Society,
an error which we lament, should not induce him to decline the Association.*
You have the thanks of this meeting for your attention to the Honor of the Society.
Signed in General Meeting,
By Order:
George Washington,
President General.
The reply to Count d'Estaing's communications and memorials was as
follows :
Phil.\delphia, 17th May, 1784.
Sir:
All the letters and memorials which have been sent by you addressed to the President
General of the Society of the Cincinnati have been laid before a General Meeting now
held in this City and were conducive to the extensive latitude in that article of the In-
stitution (as amended) which denominates the characters to be admitted into the Society.
"All the Admirals and Captains of the Navy, ranking as Colonels, who have co-operated
with the Armies of the United States," are literally included, and it is the expectation
also of the Society that it will efifectually comprehend all the officers of the French Navy
who have been particularly recommended by Your Excellency.
The Generals and Colonels of the Land Forces are provided for in the previous part
of the same article, and the Society, careful that those gentlemen who had already re-
ceived the Order should not be omitted through mistake, have added "and such other
persons as have been admitted, &c."
The meeting of the Society in France is conceived to be in a situation similar and
parallel in all respects to those in the States of America, and as they are respectively em-
powered to judge of the qualifications of their members, this General Meeting are of
opinion that they cannot do better than to refer all cases which require examination to
the respective meetings to be held as well in France as in America.
Signed in General Meeting,
By Order :
George Washington,
President General.
On the same day, 17th May, 1784, the General Society appointed a Commit-
tee of three "to report the extracts necessary to be sent to the Society in France
and the several State Societies" of its proceedings.
In the communication from President General Washington to Marechal
de Camp, the Marquis de Chastellux, dated Mount Vernon, 2d June, 1784, he
said:
"I had the honor to receive a letter from you by Major L'Enfant. My
official letters to the Counts d'Estaing and Rochambeau (which I expect will be
submitted to the members of the Society of the Cincinnati in France) will in-
form you of the proceedings of the General Meeting held at Philadelphia on
the 3d ult. and the reasons which induced a departure from some of the original
principles and rules of the Society."
On the 4th July, 1784, the French State Society met in Paris under the
chairmanship of Vice Admiral and Lieutenant General Count d'Estaing, Knight
of the Holy Ghost and Grandee of Spain of the First Class, at his hotel in the
Rue Saint Anne. The proceedings of the recent meeting of the General Society
and the proposed Amended and Altered Institution and circular letter and
*The Marquis de Vaudreuil thenceforward always wore the Order of the Cincinnati
when in uniform and on public occasions.
26
other communications were laid before it and duly considered and the proposed
Amended and Altered Institution formally ratified.
At the same time the members expressed themselves in favor of hereditary
succession abolished by the Amended and Altered Institution, and that it should,
in their opinion, be restored if only to the extent of permitting the living chil-
dren of French members "to wear the eagle," together with the eldest of the
nephews of Vice Admiral M. le Bailli de SuiTren (who left no sons), and also
that all the descendants of the Marquis de Lafayette should be entitled to it
forever.
They also considered that the President of the State Society in France
should be elected for life and that there should be two Vice Presidents and a
Military Secretary, who should be periodically chosen.
Also that there should be another Secretary, who should hold office for life,
and that the permanent Secretary of the French Academy should be the person
who should always hold this office.
Several other suggestions of minor importance were considered and ap-
proved, including one that all the French Ministers of State for foreign affairs,
war and marine during the War of American Independence should be admitted
as honorary members, and, on the 13th July, 1784, Count d'Estaing erhbodied
them all in a communication to President General Washington, to be laid before
the General Society.*
At this first annual meeting of the French Cincinnati, held on the 4th July,
1784, Count d'Estaing was elected President, Count de Rochambeau, Vice Pres-
ident, Count de Segur, Secretary, and M. de Baulny, Treasurer.
Counts d'Estaing and de Rochambeau and the Marquis de Lafayette were
continued as a Standing Committee or Committee on Admissionst to examine
*President General Washington submittted Count d'Estaing's communication to the
next General Meeting of May, 17S7, but, as the French State Society had meanwhile organ-
ized, and. as the proposed Amended and Altered Institution had not then been ratified by
all the States Societies, and, in some instances, prior ratifications had been withdrawn, it
was apparently deemed neither expedient nor practicable to propose different amendments to
those pending until the latter were definitely disposed of and accordingly no action was
taken. "When action could have been taken several years later, the French State Society
had, by reason of the dispersion of its members, become dormant.
•|-The right of a commissioned officer to become a member who had actually served
in the manner and grade prescribed by the Institution, as interpreted and construed by the
General Society, was not permitted to be subordinated to the caprice or veto of other mem-
bers in a State Society.
Consequently, when every State Society was to be organized, some superior officer of
that State Line, or Commanding General, was designated to examine the official record
evidence of rank and service of those claiming the right to subscribe to the general rules.
It was a ministerial trust thus imposed and contemplated no latitude of discretion.
The Institution required the officers of the American Army to sign the general rules as
follows, viz: those who were then present with the army, immediately, and others within
six months after the army should have beeen disbanded, "extraordinary cases excepted."
After this limitation as to time had been reached, it was competent for the several
State Societies in the United States to require from those who thereafter applied for
original membership a satisfactory explanation why they did not earlier subscribe to the
Institution. There is, however, no record of such explanation ever having been required.
If the officer showed his right, by reason of prescribed service, he could only have
been excluded on the ground that his failure to subscribe within the required period was not
an "extraordinary case."
This principle was enunciated by President General Washington on several occasions.
Thus, in a communication to Count de Rochambeau. dated Philadelphia, 15th May,
1784, relative to an application made by Brig. General the Count de Lilancour, he said:
"Tour request in favor of Count de Lilancour will be fully answered by a Just con-
struction of the Institution, which includes all officers of his rank who co-operated with the
Armies of the United States.
"The Count manifestly co-operated by sending a considerable detachment of his com-
mand from Saint Domingo at his own risque, and, therefore, the opinion of the Society i3
that the Count de Lilancour is a member of right."
Again, in a communication to Major General the Honorable Henry Knox, Secretary
27
into the claims to membership of those who, by reason of absence on duty at
distant stations in the military or naval service of France, or for other cause,
had been unable to present them earlier.
This committee was continued in this ministerial duty as long as the French
State Society remained in active operation, for the reason that there was no
limit of time fixed by the Institution* within which those entitled to original
membership in that State Society were obliged to subscribe to the general rules.
The General Society, by resolves of the 4th May, 1790, and 4th May, 1791,
recognized this Standing Committeet by referring to it all claims of French
General, dated Mount Vernon, 21st February, 1789, President General Washington trans-
mitted the application for membership of Captain Denis-Nicholas Cottineau de Kerloguin t^
of the French Navy, then resident at Port au Prince, and the corroborating certificate of the
Chevalier d'Anemours, French Consul at Baltimore, and said:
"Both of which I must beg you to lay before the Society at their next General Meet-
ing, that they may taljf the necessary steps thereon, unless it shall appear, by the Institu-
tion, that he is a member of right."
Captain de Kerloguin had commanded the French frigate La Pallas, 24. in Commodore
John Paul Jones' squadron, and, in the memorable action of the 23rd September, 1779. oft
Flamborough Head, liad captured the Countess of Scarborough, 20.
When that cruise began he had entered into a concordat with Commodore Jones to
serve under his orders and under the American flag while actually with the squadron, and
had accordingly received through him from Dr. Benjamin Franltlin, U. S. Minister Plenipo-
tentiary at Paris, a Continental naval commission, which was to be considered as a brevet
to be exercised only while thus serving.
No other oIHcer of La Pallas received such a commission. Captain de Kerloguin at
the same time also sailed under a French Letter of Marque, and when he carried his prize
into the Texel, hoisted French colors and claimed French nationality in order to secure im-
munity. He did not, therefore, serve under his American commission for three years until
rendered supernumerary.
His claim was consequently very different from that of the officers, French and Ameri-
can, who had served in the same squadron on the United States frigates Bon Homme Rich-
ard, 40, and Alliance, 3S, all of whom, except mere volunteers like Lieutenant Colonel Paul
de Chamillard, acted solely under Continental commissions and were, with the crews, in the
actual service of the United States, and continued in such service until honorably discharged.
On the 4th May, 1790, the General Society, without examination, referred Captain de
Kerloguin's application for admission to original membership to Counts d'Estaing and de
Rochambeau and the Marquis de Lafayette, the Standing Committee of the French State
Society, to decide thereon according to the Principles of the Institution and the spirit of the
French Government, and in case his claim "passed the necessarj' investigations and appro-
bation in France." to notify the Secretary General so that a diploma could be issued.
Count d'Estaing, on receipt of the application, wrote to Captain de Kerloguin ex-
pressing the opinion tliat he had 'no right to uphold any request of this iiind" and regret-
ting that he could not oblige so gallant an officer, who had served with honor, and for whom
he had a particular esteem. After the failure of his efforts to obtain original membership
in France, the Pennsylvania State Society on the 4th July, 1795, made Captain de Kerloguin
an honorary member after he had become a citizen of the United States and resident of
Philadelphia. Later he removed to Savannah, Ga., where he died 20th November, 1808,
aged 63 years, and on his decease was buried in the Colonial Cemetery in that city.
»It would not have been practicable to fix the same limit for these officers as was
fixed for Continental officers in each State Line, because the last of the French Land forces
hrd left the United States immediately after the Institution was established, and the quali-
fied French Army officers were stationed throughout France or in the French East and
West Indies and African possessions, while many of the qualified French Naval officers
were cruising in remote parts of the world.
fFor convenience the committee subdivided its labors. Thus Count d'Estaing made
the preliminary scrutiny as to all who had served in the French Navy or Co-operating
French Army, and Count de Rochambeau examined the applications of all those who had
served in the Auxiliary Army, while the Marquis de Lafayette looked into the claims of
those French gentlemen who based their pretensions on service in the Continental Army.
The latter was, however, obliged on several occasions to call to his assistance Conti-
nental officers then in France, as the U. S. War Department, with its rosters and returns
and other evidences, was at too great a distance for convenient reference, and communica-
tion was too slow and uncertain.
Thus, on the 11th January, 1788, such a Board met at his hotel in Paris, there being
present, besides himself. Brevet Brig. Genl. de la Neuville. Colonels Gouvion, Ternant and
Gimat, Lieut. Colonel de Noirmont and Captain Castaing, who declared, as their opinion,
that a certain Continental officer, who was a French subject, "had fulfilled the condi-
tions to be a member of the Cincinnati."
Again, on the 23rd June, 1788. the Marquis de Lafayette certified, as to the application
of another Continental officer, also a French subject, that his "papers leave no doubt on his
Tight to be admitted in the Society."
28
gentlemen then before the General Meeting, trusting that they would decide
thereon according to the principles of the Institution and spirit of the French
Government and, when any of the persons whose claims were thus referred
had passed the necessary investigations and approbation in France, requesting
the committee or one or more of them to certify the fact to the Secretary Gen-
eral, so that a diploma could be duly issued and transmitted.
Secretary General Knox, then also Secretary at War of the United States,
in a reply to Marechal de Camp, the Marquis de Chastellux, dated, War Office,
New York, 27th September, 1785, said that the intent of the resolves of the first
General Meeting in May, 1784, as to their "esteemed companions of the French
Army," was "to make them the sole judges of all French subjects to be admit-
ted."*
The Society of the Cincinnati in France was thus officially recognized as
on the same basis as the other State Societies, and governed by the same prin-
ciples, and consisted of original, hereditary and honorary members.
CHAPTER III.
DEFINITION OF SERVICES WHICH QUALIFIED FOR ORIGINAL MEMBERSHIP IN
FRANCE, AND DESCRIPTION OF PARTICULAR GRADES IN THE FRENCH
ARMY AND NAVY.
By the terms of the Institution only the following special classes of com-
missioned officers were eligible to Original membership in the Order in France,
viz. :
First:- — Those commissioned officers in the Land forces of France
who actually served in the United States of America, either in the "Co-
operating Army," under Vice Admiral and Lieutenant General Count
d'Estaing in Rhode Island in 1778, or at the Siege of Savannah, Georgia,
in 1779, or who served in the "Auxiliary Army" under Lieutenant Gen-
eral Count de Rochambeau, 1780-1783,! and who held during such ser-
vices, or subsequently specially received for the same, the rank of Colonel
or superior military rank.
Second: — Those who served as commissioned officers in the Con-
tinental Army, Navy or Marine Corps of the United States of America
under commissions from the Continental Congress, and who resigned
with honor after three years' service in such capacity during the War of
American Independence, or who were rendered supernumerary and hon-
orably discharged or retired in one of the several reductions or incorpor-
ations which took place, or who were eventually honorably retired at
the close of that war, or who completed three years' honorable service in
the United States during that war, first under a Continental commission
and then in the Auxiliary Army under a French commission.
•The Marquis de Chastellux had transmitted to Major General Knox the application
for admission of M. Jean-Francois Coste, M. D., the eminent Medical Director and Physician
in Chief of the Auxiliary Army, who. although a commissioned ofBcer, had no actual military
rank, and was, therefore, neither a colonel nor general officer.
■j-The Marquis de St. Simon's detachment from St. Domingo, which joined the Auxiliary-
Army at Yorktown for the siege and then returned to St. Domingo, was, for the time being,
•part of that Arms".
29
Some of these officers became Original Members in the State So-
ciety in Paris and there subscribed to the Institution and there contrib-
uted their month's pay or else subscribed to the Institution at its forma-
tion at the Cantonments of the American Army on the Hudson in 1783
and then contributed their month's pay and subsequently joined the
French State Society or else joined one or the other of the State Societies
in the United States and afterward transferred to the French State
Society.
Some, however, who subscribed to the Institution in the United
States contributed their month's pay in France.
Many of this class of officers had previously served in the French
Army and had received leaves of absence to enable them to enter the
United States, service and, on their return to France, were promoted in
their former regiments or corps or were appointed by Louis XVI. to
other regiments or corps as a reward for their services in the United
States.
Third : — Those commissioned officers in the Naval Forces of France
who actually served on the Coast of the United States in command of a
Co-operating fleet, squadron, or armed vessel oT the French Navy of any
rate or number of guns.
Such services must have been rendered either :
A. In the fleet of Count d'Estaing from its arrival in Delaware
Bay and subsequent employment on the New York and New Eng-
land Coast, 8th July-4th November, 1778, and at the earlier opera-
tions of the Siege of Newport, R. I., from the 28th July, 1778, in-
cluding the forcing of the Narragansett Passage, 5th August, and
severe cannonading from the British land batteries on the loth Aug-
ust, and indecisive naval action against Vice Admiral Lord Howe
ofif Martha's Vineyard, between the loth and i6th August, 1778,
B. In the fleet of Count d'Estaing on the coast of South Car-
olina and Georgia and at the Siege of Savannah, 31st August-20th
October, 1779.
This fleet came from the Windward Islands and arrived on the
coast of Georgia, ist September, 1779.
On Saturday, nth September, it rendezvoused in Ossabaw
Sound and at nine o'clock the next evening a portion of the Co-
operating French Army was successfully landed at Beaulieu.
C. In the squadron of Chef d'Escadre the Chevalier Charles
Louis d'Arzac de Ternay,* afterward successively commanded by
M. des Touches and Barras de St. Laurent, nth July, i78o-i9th
October, 1781, in Rhode Island and at "Yorktown."
The Chevalier de Ternay died in Newport, R. I., 15th December, 17S0, aged 58, and
his remains were interred on the following day, with military and naval honors, in the
northeast corner of Trinity churchyard.
Louis XVI. caused a mural tablet of black Egyptian marble, bearing a long La.tin
inscription as to his services, to be set up over his grave. It was subsequently placed
on the north wall within the church and a granite slab was in 1872, pursuant to a resolution
of the Congress of the United States, put instead over the grave.
30
This squadron, when under M. des Touches, having taken on
board a considerable detachment from the AuxiHary Army then
garrisoning Rhode Island, engaged in a short expedition from New-
port, R. I., 8th-26th, March, 1781. for the purpose of aiding the
division under Major General the Marquis de Lafayette, which had
been detached from the Main Continental Army, in capturing or
destroying the British land force then at Portsmouth, Va., under
Brigadier General Benedict Arnold.
The squadron, however, while en route, encountered Vice Ad-
miral Mariot Arbuthnot's squadron ofi" the Capes of Virginia, i6th
March, 1781, and, although the action" which ensued was. in some
respects, favorable to the French, its severity compelled a return to
Newport to refit and prevented the intended co-operation.
This squadron subsequently left Rhode Island to assist Count
de Grasse before Yorktown and joined him in Virginia on the loth
September, 1781.
or
D. In the fleet of Lieutenant General Count de Grasse in the
actiont against Rear xAdmiral Thomas Graves off the Capes of
Chesapeake Bay, 5th September, 1781, and in the subsequent opera-
tions before Yorktown, Va., terminating in the surrender of the
army under Lieutenant General Earl (afterward Marquis) Com-
wallis and of the British Squadron under Captain Thomas Symonds.
E. In the fleet of Lieutenant General the Marquis de Vau-
dreuil on the New England Coast, 8th August-24th December, 1782.
this fleet comprising twelve ships of the line, two 50-gun ships and
four frigates. This fleet then transported or convoyed the greater
portion of the French Auxiliary Army when it embarked at Boston,
Mass., in December, 1782, to depart from the United States,
F. In actual command of armed vessels of the French Navy
which came to the United States on special service between the 6th
February, 1778, when the Treaty of Alliance was signed, and the
nth April, 1783, when naval hostilities ceased, such vessels not
having been attached to any of the above named fleets or squadrons,
but having been for the time being under the orders of the ^Minister
Plenipotentiary of France in the United States.
The first Co-operatingt French Army which came to the United States
under the treaty of alliance was commanded by Lieutenant General Count
|Upon his arrival off the mouth of the Delaware, Count d'Estaing sent the following-
communication to His Excellency, General Washington, whose Headquarters were then at
Paramus, N. J.:
•■Sir:—
"I have the honor of imparting to Tour Excellency the arrival of the King's fleet,
charged by His Majesty with the glorious task of giving his Allies, the United States of
America, the most striking proofs of his affection.
"Nothing will be wanting to my happiness if I can succeed in it. It is augmented by
31
d'Estaing, Vice Admiral of France. It was transported in the fleet, also under
his command, which consisted of twelve ships of the line and six frigates which
sailed from Toulon, 13th April, 1778, but was delayed by adverse winds and
only arrived off the entrance to Delaware Bay on the 8th July, 1778, too late for
projected operations against General Sir Henry Clinton and the British Army
in Philadelphia, as that city had been evacuated by the latter during the pre-
vious month.
The co-operating fleet then sailed for Sandy Hook, N. Y., for a combined
attack on the British Army in the City of New York, but was prevented from
entering New York Harbor by the want of sufficient water on the bar,* and, after
taking in provisions and water at Shrewsbury, N. J., returned to Sandy Hook
on the 22d July, 1778, and then sailed for Newport Harbor, R. I., where it
arrived on the 28th July.
The Land force on this fleet consisted of detachments from regular regi-
ments and served again in the following year at the Siege of Savannah.
These troops were landed on Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay, R. I.,
on the 1st August, 1778, for contemplated co-operation with the American
Army under Major General John Sullivan in the Siege of Newport, but, in
consequence of the unexpected appearance off that port, on the 9th of August,
of the British fleet under Lord Howe, they had to be hastily re-embarked on
that day and were thus prevented from participating in the subsequent land
operations.
They served, however, in the naval action which ensued and which was
rendered indecisive by reason of a terrific storm which shattered both fleets
and dismasted Count d'Estaing's flagship, le Languedoc, 80, leaving her even
without a rudder.
The French fleet returned to Newport Harbor on the 20th August, but
under the decision of a naval Council of War held on the 21st, proceeded on
the following day to Boston to refit and was detained there making repairs imtil
the 5th November, 1778.
The departure of the fleet terminated joint operations for the reduction of
Newport, but it was unavoidable, as the great storm had rendered the French
fleet unable to engage in sea operations. The nearest port wherein to refit was
Boston, and, as a fleet had sailed from England to reinforce Lord Howe, it
the consideration of concerting my operations with a General such as Your Excellency. The
talents and great actions of General Washington have insured him, in the eyes of all Europe,
the title truly sublime of Deliverer of America.
"Accept, sir, the hom.age that every man — that every military man owes you, and be
not displeased that I solicit, even in the first moment of intercourse, with military and naval
frankness, a friendship so flattering as yours. I will try to render myself worthy of it by
my respectful devotion for your coimtry; it is prescribed to me by orders, and my heart
inspires it.
"I have the honor of rendering account to Congress of the letter I write to Your Ex-
cellency.
"Mr. de Chouin, Major of Infantry in the King's service, has orders to present you
this. I pray you to grant the most implicit confidence to all this officer shall tell you on
my part. He is a near relative to Mr. Sartine.
"This Minister has been long since known for his attachment to the common cause.
" 'Tis less the desire of pleasing a statesman, honored with the confidence of the King,
which has determined me to send you Mr. Chouin, than an opinion of his military knowl-
edge— the clearness of his ideas and the precision with which he will communicate mine.
"I expect you to grant him your kindness.
"I have the honor to be with respect, sir.
"Your Excellency's most humble and most obedt. servant,
"At Sea, the Sth July, 1778. "ESTAING."
*If this fleet and co-operating army could then have entered New York Harbor, the
British Army under General Sir Henry Clinton would have been compelled to capitulate,
as the American Army had taken position in Westchester County, N. Y.
32
would have been disastrous to French naval operations if the French fleet had
been blockaded in Narragansett Bay and the instructions of Louis XVI. warned
Count d'Estaing against such a situation.
When ready for sea, the French fleet sailed for St. Lucia, which was cap-
tured by the Count d'Estaing on the 14th December, 1778.
Later, with the same fleet and troops, he invested Grenada, which was cap-
tured by assault the 4th July, 1779. Two days afterwards he had a severe but
indecisive action with Rear Admiral John Byron's fleet off that port.
Count d'Estaing's fleet was so augmented that at the Siege of Savannah,
where he commanded the land operations in his quality of Lieutenant General
in the Army, his fleet consisted of twenty-one ships of the line, nine frigates,
three corvettes and one cutter.
The French land force which co-operated with the American Army under
Major General Benjamin Lincoln at that siege consisted of detachments from
the regular veteran infantry regiments of Armagnac, Champagne, Auxerrois,
Agenois, Gatinois, Cambresis, Hainault, Fox, Dillon (ist Battalion), and
Walsh (2nd BattaHon), of the Irish Brigade in French Service, and from the
regular Colonial infantry regiments of The Cape, Guadeloupe, Martinique and
Port-au-Prince; also detachments from the regiment of Metz of the Corps of
Royal Artillery, and from the Royal Corps of Infantry of the Marine and from
the dragoon regiments of Conde and Belsunce.
These, with the volunteers of Valbelle, 156 volunteer grenadiers of Cape
Francois, and 545 volunteer colored chasseurs of Saint Domingo, the rank and
file of which were mulattoes and negroes, made a total of 3,524 French troops at
the Siege of Savannah, of whom fifteen officers and 168 enlisted men were
killed and forty-three officers and 41 1 enlisted men wounded.
The land force which served under Lieutenant General Count de Rocham-
beau in the United States was officially designated the "Auxiliary Army," and
was, by orders from Louis XVI., dated Versailles, ist March, 1780, made sub-
ject to the orders of His Excellency General Washington, Commander-in-Chief.
A considerable portion of this Army* (5,100 rank and file) sailed from
Brest on the 2d May, 1780, in from twenty-five to thirty transports and store-
ships under convoy of Chef d'Escadre, the Chevalier de Ternay's squadron,
which carried some of these troops and arrived in the Harbor of Newport,
Rhode Island, nth July, 1780, and were landed on the I4di and 17th of that
month.
This army was subsequently augmented by small reinforcements, including
one of 660 rank and file which contained two companies of artillery, which
landed at Boston, Mass., 15th June, 1781, and brought the aggregate to about
6,100 effectives.
It consisted of the two battalions of the regular veteran infantry regiments
of Bourbonnois, Soissonnois, Saintonge, and Royal Deux-Ponts, Lauzun's Le-
gion of Volunteer Infantry and Hussars, the Second Battalion of the regiment
of Auxonne in the Corps of Royal Artillery, a detachment of the Corps of Royal
Engineers, two sections of the Company of Chazel in the Corps of Miners, a
company of Guides and Pioneers, and a large staff of general officers and mili-
tary and administrative staff officers.
For the projected operations against Lieutenant General Earl Cornwallis
in Virginia, the Acting Governor of Saint Domingo, M. le Comte de Lilancour,
•For want of transports the regiments of Neustrie and Anhalt, infantry, and two or
three hundred of Lauzun's Legion could not be embarked with the first contingent, and
by reason of the blockade of the French Harbors by British fleets, neither these troops
nor the second contingent of the Auxilian Army could ever be sent to the United States.
on his own responsibility, detached from his command, on the 30th July, 1781,
a contingent of 3,100 rank and file, under Marechal de Camp M. de Saint Si-
mon, which was transported in Count de Grasse's fleet and arrived in Lynn-
haven Bay, outside of Hampton Roads, Va., on the 31st August, 1781, and was
landed on Jamestown Island, Va., on the 4th and 5th September, and marched
thence to Williamsburg, Va., where it arrived on the 8th September and joined
Major General the Marquis de Lafayette's division of American troops, before
the arrival from the northward of the Main Continental and Auxiliary Armies.
This Saint Domingo contingent consisted of the two battalions of the regu-
lar veteran infantry regiments of Agenois, Gatinois, and Touraine, one hundred
dragoons from the regiments of Conde and Belsunce, and a like number of
artillerymen from the Second Battalion of the regiment of Metz in the Corps of
Royal Artillery, together with eight pieces of heavy artillery.
The Count de Grasse, for the Siege of Yorktown, subsequently landed 500
of the infantry of the marine.
In this siege the Auxiliary Army had three officers and seventy-eight en-
listed men killed and twenty-one officers and 179 enlisted men wounded, aside
from the casualties in the detached operations near Gloucester, Va., of five sol-
diers killed and two officers and thirteen rank and file wounded.
When Count de Grasse's fleet departed from Chesapeake Bay on the 4th
November, 1781, after the capitulation of the British Army and squadron, at
Yorktown, it took back to the West Indies M. de Saint Simon's contingent.
Lauzun's Legion* in the Auxiliary Army was a volunteer organization
raised in France by the Duke de Lauzun after the declaration of war, but it
served so efficiently and creditably in the United States that, by an ordinance
of Louis XVI., dated the 14th September, 1783, it was taken on the permanent
regular establishment as the 6th or Lauzun's regiment of Hussars. It did not
leave the United States with the rest of the Auxiliary Army, but remained until
the I2th May, 1783.
The regiment of Gatinois, infantry, which, prior to the 25th March,
1776, had formed part of the regiment of Auvergne, and a detachment of
which had subsequently served under Count d'Estaing in Rhode Island and
at the Siege of Savannah, displayed such conspicuous gallantry in the assault
on the British redoubt. No. 9, at Yorktown, on the night of the 14th October,
1781, that the King, by Royal Ordinance of the nth July, 1782, gave the
regiment the name of Royal-Auvergne as a special mark of distinction.
The squadron which brought and convoyed the Auxiliary army to New-
port in 1780, and was successively under the command of De Temay, Des Tou-
ches and De Barras, contained eight ships of the line, four frigates and one
cutter, but the latter, la Guepe, 14, was lost off Cape Charles in March, 1781,
officers and crew being saved. This squadron joined Count de Grasse at York-
town in September, 1781, and increased the naval forces under his command
at that place to thirty-five ships of the line, eleven frigates and two cutters.
In the Army and Navy of France during the reign of Louis XVI., the
higher military and naval grades were somewhat different from those subse-
quently conferred during the Reign of Terror, Directory, Consulate and Em-
pire.
•This Legion was very actively and usefully employed in tfie combined Allied opera-
tions of the main Continental and Auxiliary Armies before the defenses of New York, be-
tween the 3rd July, 1781. and 19th August. 1781, and in a General Order from Army Head-
quarters, Valentine's Hill, 3rd July, 1781, General Washington thanked the Duke de Lauzun
and "his officers and men for the very extraordinary zeal manifested by them in the rapid
performance of their march to join the American Army."
34
The grade of Marechal de France was equivalent to that of Field Mar-
shal in Great Britain or Sweden, Captain General in Spain and General-in-Chief
in the United States of America.
The grade of Marechal de Camp, under the Bourbon dynasty, was assimi-
lated to that of Major General in the American Army, and the grade of Mes-
tre de Camp, given only in regiments of Cavalry and Infantry and in Provin-
cial regiments of artillery, was identically the same as that of Colonel.
Nearly every regiment of infantry and each regiment of cavalry, whether
cavaln' of the line, carabineers, hussars, or dragoons, had, instead of titular
Colonels, a mestre de camp commandant and a mestre de camp en second un-
less the regiment was a proprietary one, in which case it had a mestre de camp
proprietaire, mestre de camp lieutenant commandant and mestre de camp lieu-
tenant en second, each of the grade of Colonel.
In most of the regiments designated as "Royal," the two superior officers
were respectively designated as mestre de camp lieutenant commandant, and
mestre de camp lieutenant en second.
The six regiments, however, of Chasseurs a Cheval and Provincial regi-
ments, except that of the Isle de Corse, and the five regiments d'Etat-Major
(Staflf), and Grenadiers Royal of Provinces, had each but one Mestre de Camp
who commanded the regiment.
Every regiment also had a Lieutenant Colonel and a Major.
Supernumerary or additional officers were also often attached in one or
the other of the several grades.
There were also a number of officers whose regimental rank was be-
low that of Colonel, but who nevertheless held or received that grade in the
army at large for long and meritorious or specially distinguished services.
By Royal Ordinance of the 17th March, 1788, Louis XVI. abolished the
grade of Brigadier General in the Army and decreed the promotion of those
holding it to that of Marechal de Camp, he having made no appointments of
brigadiers of infantry, cavalry or dragoons after the ist January, 1784. The
decree was never, however, fully executed.
By the same ordinance the title of colonel was substituted for that of
mestre de camp.
The grade of Marechal de France was abolished by the National Legisla-
tive Assembly in resolves of the i8th May and 6th July, 1792, but it was re-
stored by Buonaparte on the 19th May, 1804, under the designation of Mare-
chal de I'Empire.
On the 2ist February, 1793, the Jacobinical National Convention resolved
that the commandants of separate armies should be designated as generals in
chief instead of lieutenant generals commandant in chief and that the title of
general of division should be substituted for that of lieutenant general and gen-
eral of brigade for that of marechal de camp. The titles of lieutenant colonel
and colonel were suppressed and replaced by those of chief of battalion or
squadron and chief of brigade, and the old regimental organizations disap-
peared in the establishment of demi brigades of infantry, consisting of 2,437
men, and demi brigades of light infantry and cavaln,'.
Under the Consulate the title of lieutenant general was given to generals
of division commanding army corps under the orders of a general in chief.
By Royal Ordinance of the i6th May, 1814, Louis XVIII. re-established
the ancient military titles in use before 1793, and brigadier generals thereby be-
came marechaux de camp and generals of division became lieutenant generals.
'' 1564450
The old titles, with few exceptions, are accordingly used in the following
lists.
In the Navy of France during the Directory and Consulate the grades of
lieutenant general, chef d'escadre, brigadier and chef de division were discon-
tinued and in lieu thereof the grade of rear admiral was instituted and pro-
motions were made directly from capitaine de vaisseau to rear admiral.
By Royal Ordinance dated Tuileries, ist July, 1814, Louis XVIII. recog-
nized the grades of admiral, vice and rear admiral and capitaines de vaisseau
of the first and second class as the only future superior grades in the French
Navy, vice admirals to have assimilated rank to lieutenant generals in the
army, rear admirals to marechaux de camp, ancient chefs de division next
after marechaux de camp and above colonels and capitaines de vaisseau to rank
with colonels.
In the following lists of the Order of the Cincinnati in France the highest
military or naval rank attained by each original member is given as far as
ascertained.
No attempt has, however, been made to give their full military or naval
histories or to do more than briefly indicate the public offices held by them after
their return to France from the United States.
Many of the members, both original and honorary, however, were, at the
time of their admission. Knights of the Royal and Military Order of Saint
Louis, and nearly all of those not then thus distinguished subsequently received
that honorable decoration.
Some of the members, however, then held or were eventually advanced to
higher grades in the same.
A few of them, who were not natives of France, but Protestant officers in
the foreign regiments in French service, were knights of the Order of Military
Merit.
After the inauguration of the Reign of Terror these orders were wholly
suppressed in France by the Jacobinical National Convention on the 15th Octo-
ber, 1792, but such suppression was never recognized by the House of Bourbon.
Singular to relate, such suppression was not held to apply to the Order
of the Cincinnati, whose members in the army and navy were permitted to wear
their Eagles.
The French Cincinnati, however, having been taken, on account of their
rank and services in the cause of American independence, principally from the
higher nobility, were, in consequence of the attempted suppresson of their class
in society pursuant to a resolve of the National Constituent Assembly of the 19th
June, 1790, and in consequence of other proscriptive and adverse legislation
against them and their property and against their holding military or naval
rank, almost all forced unwillingly to emigrate, with partial or total loss of
fortune, and, in many instances, under very great hardship and peculiarly dis-
tressing circumstances.
This emigration comprehended a large number who, like Lafayette, were
favorable to those organic changes assented to by the King, 14th July, 1790, on
the Champ de Mars, which converted the government from an autocracy into
a moderate constitutional monarchy, with proper legislative representation.
Some of the members did not, however, believe in the consolidation of the
three Estates of the Realm into one legislative assembly, on the ground that it
did not afford sufficient guarantees against hasty and ill-considered legislation.
These were earliest marked for proscription and earHest forced to emigrate.
Several of the most eminent of the French Cincinnati, hoping for better
36
days, and in the earnest desire to aid their country in its threatened external
difficulties, continued to serve in high stations in the army or navy, but their
patriotism and devotion did not save them from the infamous Revolutionary
Tribunal, and they lost their lives in a mistaken idea of the justice of their
conntry when its government was controlled by such agencies.
A very few, by reason of their distance from Paris, or the character of their
military or naval duties, were enabled to continue in service and at the same
time escape the proscription of the so-called Committee of Public Safety.
These subsequently rose to higher dignities under the Directory, Consulate
and Empire.
Such instances of continuous services were exceptional and are therefore
particularly noted in the following lists, as are also those of the few who re-
turned with permission under the Consulate and re-entered military service to
be employed with renewed distinction.
They each received, under the Imperial regime, the decoration of the Le-
gion of Honor in one or the other of its several grades.
After the Restoration of 1814 Louis XVIIL, as an act of justice, re-
appointed in the army and navy those members of the Order of the Cincinnati
in France who, having survived emigration, returned home and were able to
serve.
He also conferred on a number of them the decoration in one or another
of its grades of what was thereafter known as the Royal Legion of Honor.
CHAPTER IV.
HERITABLE SUCCESSION IN THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI IN FRANCE.
Original membership under tlie Institution carried with it an heritable suc-
cession, and in the following lists will be found a number of instances where
either Louis XVIIL or Charles X. decided that the proper descendant in the
eldest male line of an Original member in France was qualified, if worthy, to
be an hereditary member.
At one of its earliest meetings the Society of the Cincinnati in France
admitted Lieutenant Frederic Baron de Kalb, of the regiment of Salm-Salm,
infantry, as an hereditary member in right of his father. Major General the
Baron de Kalb, who had been mortally wounded in the battle of Camden in
1780.
After adopting the proposed Amended and Altered Institution, which prac-
tically abolished hereditary succession, that society, following the practice of
several other State societies, decided to admit no more hereditary members until
it was definitely determined whether that instrument would be ratified by all
the State societies.*
*That this was the only rea.son why other hereditary members were not admitted
between 1783 and the dispersion of the members in 1792 is evidenced by President General
Washing-ton's communication to Secretary General Knox, dated Mount Vernon, 2d April,
1787. in which he intimated his opinion that the French Society in this respect was "acting
agreeably to the recommendations of the last General Meeting."
This fact is. however, made certain by a report of the Marquis de Lafayette to Sec-
retary General Knox in 17S8 "that Lieut, de Kalb was admitted In the Society before the
alterations about hereditary members were known in France."
When the General Society, on the 7th May, ISOO, formally announced that the pro-
posed Amended and Altered Institution had failed of ratification and that the original
Institution remained in force, the French Society had become dormant.
That the duly qualified members of that State Society, who had held French com-
37
missions, were Original members and therefore capable of an heritable succession, has been
frequently exemplified in the action of other State Societies, whenever the question has
arisen, to wit: the Georgia State Society in admitting, as an original member, on the 19th
October, 17S6, M. Paul de la Baume d'Angely, Baron de Malves, formerly lieutenant en second
of the regiment of Hainault, infantry, at the siege of Savannah, and promoted 2nd October,
1784, to be captain in the regiment of Martinique, infantry; the Virginia State Society in ad-
mitting, as an original member, on the 17th November, 1786, Brevet Colonel Louis-Dominique
Ethis de Corny, Commissary of War, who had served, for a time, in the Auxiliary Army; the
Massachusetts State Society in admitting, as an original member, on the 4th July, 1789, M.
Louis-Baury de Bellerive, formerly captain commandant in the Corps of Volunteer Chas-
seurs of St. Domingo, who had served at the Siege of Savannah, and in admitting on the
Dth July, 1813, 4th July, 1823, and 4th July, 1867, three successive descendants of this officer
as hereditary members; the Georgia State Society in admitting, as an hereditary member, on
the 4th July, 1796. M. Alexandre-Francois-Auguste de Grasse-Rouville, Comte de Grasse, only
son of Lieutenant General Comte de Grasse, an original member of the French State Society
of the Cincinnati; the Pennsylvania State Society in admitting, as an original member, on
the 4th July, 1798, by transfer from the French State Society, M. le Chevalier Edouard-
Charles-Victurnien de Colbert-Maulevrier of the French Navy; the South Carolina State
Society in admitting, as an original member, on the 4th July, 1825, M. Nicolas-Marie,
Vicomte de Lgaumont de Gojean,^ formerly of the regiment of Port-au-Prince, Infantry,
who had been wounded at the Siege of Savannah, and in admitting, as an hereditary member,
on the 18th October. 1845, Robert de Lgaumont, his son, to succeed him;* the New York State
Society in admitting, as an hereditary member, on the 4th July, 1849, M. Francois-Auguste
Depau. grandson of Lieutenant General Comte de Grasse. and nephew of the above named
M. Alexandre-Francois-Auguste de Grasse-Rouville to succeed him; the New York State
Society in admitting, as an hereditary member, on the 4th July, 1850, Don Pedro Du Quesne
y Rustan de Estrada, Marquis Du Quesne. eldest son of Rear Admiral Pierre-Claude,
Marquis Du Quesne, an original member of the French State Society, to succeed him;t
the Rhode Island State Society in admitting, as an hereditary member, 4th July, 1882, M.
*The application of M. le Vicomte de Lfiaumont for original membership, with neces-
sary proofs, was transmitted ofBcially by M. le Hyde de Neuville, Envoy Extraordin-
ary and Minister plenipotentiary of France at Washington, to Major the Honorable William
Jackson, Secretary General, who in turn sent the same with his recommendation of ap-
proval to the South Carolina State Society of the Cincinnati for its action.
As to an heritable succession in proper descendants of original members who had
served under commissions from Louis XVI, five out of the six Secretaries General of the
Order since 1783, have, at different periods, written that such succession was a matter of
right if the applicant was personally worthy, viz.: Secretaries General Henry Knox, Will-
iam Jackson, Alexander W. Johnston. Thomas McEuen, and Asa Bird Gardiner. The sub-
ject never came before Secretary General George Washington Harris.
The concurrent opinion of successive Secretaries General to the effect that the French
Cincinnati who had served in time, manner and rank stated, were Original Members with
heritable succession and not honorary members, not only had full confirmation, wherever the
question arose in cases of French Officers, in the action taken by the State Societies in
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Georgia, when composed exclusively of
Original Members, but was also confirmed in a remarkable communication of Brevet Ma-
jor Pierre Charles L'Enfant, Continental Engineers, to President General Washington con-
cerning French Naval Officers, dated Philadelphia, May 10th, 1784, while the General So-
ciety was in session in that city.
This letter was duly submitted by General Washington and read in the General Meet-
ing.
No report had then been made proposing any alteration or amendment to the orig-
inal Institution nor any action taken by the General Society in that direction.
In his communication Major L'Enfant remarked incidentally, as an accepted fact, as
follows;
'• The opinion appears to me toprevail in your Assembly favorable to the French, by considering them
as on the name footing as the Ainericaii Members.*''
fRelative to this last named instance, the Record of the Triennial Meeting of the
General Society, held in Baltimore, Md., on the 17th May, 1854, contains the following entry:
"A delegate of the New York State Society made application for the diploma of the
Marquis Du Quesne, whose representative has been admitted to membership in the New
York State Society. The Secretary General read part of the correspondence on the subject
of the diploma.
"When, on motion of General Smith, the Secretary General was authorized to counter-
sign the original diploma of the Marquis Bu Quesne and deliver it to the Secretary of the
New York State Society."
The son's name was borne on the rolls of the New York State Society as an actual
hereditary member from 4th July, 1850, until his decease at Havana, Cuba. 4th July. 1880.
His name (as well as that of M. Francois-Auguste Depau) appeared in the list of hereditary
members in the volume known as the Register of the New York State Society, printed and
published by order of that State Society in 1851, and of which a copy was oflficially presented
by that State Society to the General Society at its next Triennial Meeting.
His name also appeared as an hereditary member in the printed lists of its members,
periodically issued by that State Society for thirty years, up to and including the annual
list for 4th July, ISSO.
38
In every instance where an original member in the French State Society of
the Cincinnati appHed for transfer to a State Society in America or a duly quali-
fied descendant of any such member applied for hereditary membership, to such
a State Society, the applicant was duly admitted.
In these precedents it is to be noticed that all the earlier admissions were
made by the Continental officers of the War of the Revolution, who were orig-
inal members and who knew what the Institution comprehended.
CHAPTER V.
HONORARY MEMBERSHIP HOW CONFERRED IN THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI
IN FRANCE.
As the Institution sanctioned the admission of a limited number of distin-
guished persons "for their own lives only," as honorary members, a considerable
number of very distinguished French officers were thus added to the list.
This class comprised a number of officers who had served with particular
distinction with the French forces in the United States in a grade below that of
colonel, but who had not attained such grade for such services.
Also certain officers of the French Army who had served for short periods
in the United States Army under Continental commissions and then had re-
signed and returned to the service in the French Army for the remainder of the
war, either in Europe or in the East Indies, but who had not completed three
years' service within the United States either in the Auxiliary Army or Conti-
nental Army.
Also officers of the French Navy who had served as capitaines de vaisseau
or commanding officers of ships of war in the West Indies, but had not actually
served in one of these capacities on the coast of the United States.*
Also French naval officers who had served in subordinate grades without
separate commands on the coast of the United States and had been wounded
and specially distinguished in such service.
i'rancois Du Quesne y Arango, Marquis Du Quesne, eldest son of the above named Don
Pedro Du Quesne y Rustan de Estrada, to succeed him, and on 4th July, 1902, in admitting
Pedro Du Quesne y Montalvo, Marquis Du Quesne, in succession, and in admitting, as hered-
itary member on 4th July, 18S2, M. Elrnest-Prancois-Sigisbert, Count d'OUone, grandson of
Margchal de Camp Pierre-Francois-Gabriel, Count d'OUone, who was succeeded on 4th July,
1897, by Captain Commandant Charles-Alexandre-Marie-Celest6, Count d'OUone, and in ad-
mitting, on 4th July, ISSS, Captain Hans-Ludwig, Count von Stedingk, Royal Life Guards,
grandson of Field Marshal Curt-Bogislaus-Ludwig-Christopher, Count von Stedingk, of the
Swedish Army, and in admitting on 4th July, 1902, Albert-Ferdinand-Joseph-Marie de Saint
Sauveur-Bougamville, great-great-grandson of Vice Admiral Douis-Antoine, Count de Bou-
gamville, who were respectively original members in the French State Society.
*Many of these honorary members were admitted in France in consequence of a mis-
Interpretation there of the resolves of construction of the General Meeting of May, 1784.
Thus, by the resolve of the 15th May, 1784, French Army or Na\'y officers who had
"served in America and were promoted to the rank of colonel for special services," were
declared to be comprehended in the Institution, and. by the resolve of the 17th May, 17S4,
certain naval commanding officers "who were employed on special service on the coast of
America," meaning thereby the coast of the United States, were also declared to be included.
These expressions, ".America" and "coast of America," were, however, understood in
France to be generic and to comprehend service in the West Indies and anywhere in the
Western Atlantic, and a number of French naval commanding officers were accordingly
admitted who had not served on the coast of the United States.
The General Society having, however, in other utterances, showed that the qualifying
service for original membership of French naval officers was limited to service on the coast
of the United Slates in co-operation with the armies of the United States in their exertions
for National Independence, those French Naval officers who had not thus served but had
been admitted under this misconstruction, had necessarily to be relegated to .the honorary
Ust.
39
Also French officers not qualified for Original membership, whose valuable
services to the cause of American Independence were, however, generally rec-
ognized and who were admitted as a particular distinction by the direct action of
the General Society.*
Although the Amended and Altered Institution of 1784 abolished the right
to admit honorary members, yet, as that instr.ument could not become effective,
for such an alteration in the organic law, until unanimously ratified by all the
State Societies, including the Society in France, the right to admit honorary
members meanwhile remained unimpaired.
The General Society accordingly asserted this right in a resolve passed on
the i8th May, 1787, viz. :
"That the right of admitting Foreign officers (except such as are under the
first and second sections of the General Rules) is vested in the General Meet-
ingt and they are the sole judges of such admissions.
The General Rules herein referred to were those two sections of the
Amended and Altered Institution which defined Original members of the Amer-
ican and French land and naval forces, and they were accepted by the General
Society as an interpretation and authoritative construction of the more obscurely
worded and unnumbered general rules of the Original Institution on the same
subject, wholly irrespective of the question whether the proposed Amended and
Altered Institution should ever eventually, by reasons of specific organic altera-
tions, be adopted or not.
The resolve was, therefore, an unmistakable acknowledgment of the right
of French officers who possessed the qualifications prescribed by the Original
Institution, as interpreted and construed in the Amended and Altered Institu-
tion, to become Original members, because the first section of the General Rules,
over which the General Society admitted it had no control, designated the
Had the official lists received by the Secretary General specified as to these particular
officers, as in other instances, the qualifying service on which each officer rested his pre-
tensions, the attention of Louis XVI and of President General Washington would have
been drawn to the subject, and the rule would probably have been enforced as strictly as
In many other cases.
As it was, the proportion of honorary members allowed by the Institution was slightly
exceeded by the French State Society, but as they had all served with credit during the
war for American Independence and were officers of established reputation, their admission
did not detract from the esteem in which the Society was held.
•Such direct action was exemplified in the resolve passed at the Triennial Meeting of
the General Society, held in Philadelphia, 17th May, 17S7, which was as follows:
"The General Meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati, being impressed with a grate-
ful sense of the important advantages which resulted to the American Cause during the
late War, from the brilliant Military Services of the Marquis de BouillS, late Governor of
Martinico. and Commander-in-Chief of His Most Christian Majesty's Land Forces in the
West Indies, and being desirous of associating so illustrious a character to their Institution —
"Resolved:— That the President General transmit mstructions to the President, or
senior officer of the Society in France, to offer to, and invest the Marquis de Bouill§ with
the Order of the Cincinnati."
The Marquis de BouillS acknowledged the honor with thanks and was duly invested
with the Order by the Count d'Estaing, who was at the time both the President and senior
officer of the Society in France.
fThe General Society exercised this asserted right to admit honorary members in but
few instances, and generally referred the applications of French officers to the French State
Society for such action as it deemed expedient.
In one instance where the Minister Resident of the United Netherlands to the United
States lind earnestly pressed the application for honorary membership of a distinguished
subject of tliat country, resident in Amsterdam, who was a member of the Academies of
Science of Holland and Brussels and a Fellow of the American Philosophical Society, the
General Society, on the 19th May, 1787, directed the Secretary General to inform the appli-
cant "that, by the rules of the Society, he could not be admitted as a memljer Into their
Order: But that they were fully sensible of his zealous attachment to the interests of the
United States and the honor of their Institution."
classes of Continental officers entitled to Original membership, and the second
section designated those of the French Co-operating or Auxiliary Annies or
French Navy who were so entitled.*
The French State Society, from its organization in 1784, exercised the same
rights in reference to the admission of members as the other State Societies.
On 13th October, 1789, Major General Henry Knox, Secretary of War,
in a communication as Secretary General, dated War Office, New York City, to
His Excellency M. le Comte d'Estaing, as President of the French State Society,
said:
"I shall be happy, sir, to receive your further commands relative to any
officers who shall be regularly admitted according to your Rules and the diplo-
mas for such shall be immediately issued."
CHAPTER VI.
APPLICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP MADE AFTER THE RESTORATION OF 1814, BY
FRENCH OFFICERS WHO HAD SERVED IN THE AMERICAN WAR.
The very eager desire to wear the distinctive Eagle of the Order of the
Cincinnati on the part of those surviving officers of the French Army or Navy,
who had served in subordinate grades during the American War of Independ-
ence, was exhibited in many applications made by them soon after the Res-
toration of 1 8 14.
Among these applications was that of Lieutenant General Pierre Quantin,
Knight Commander of the Legion of Honor, dated Paris, 6th January, 1815, in
which he set forth that he had served seven years and nine months in the
United States during the American War.
He did not, however, submit any proofs of having held a Continental com-
mission, and, as he did not become a sous-officer of artillery in the French ser-
vice until 1789, his application could not be favorably considered.
Another of these applications was from the Chevalier Albert de Combes,
nephew of the Vicomte de Rochambeau, and Officier d'fitat Major of Lieuten-
ant General le Comte Carra St. Cyr, Governor of Cayenne in French Guiana,
•In 1837 Count Gabrowski applied for admission to the New Torlc State Society of the
Cincinnati as an hereditary member, alleging that his father had served in the Auxiliary
Army as an officer in Lauzim's Legion. The Secretary of that State Society thereupon, on
the 5th May, 1S37, wrote to the venerable President General, the Hon. Aaron Ogden, LL. D.,
for information.
The latter (who was then in his Slst year) in a reply dated Jersey City, 22d May,
1837, said he knew of no list of the names of the officers of the French Army who were
admitted members of the Society other than as contained in the Institution itself, "but
if such an one was prepared at the time it must have been confined to the generals and
colonels in Count Rochambeau's army." This statement showed that he was wholly unaware
of the fact that the archives of the General Society contained many duly certified lists of
French members of the Army and Na^^y.
In commenting upon the provision ol the Institution as adopted 10th May, 1783, (of
which he enclosed a copy,) which provided for the transmission of a medal to Count
d'Estaing and other French officers of designated grades, he remarked that "it would seem
that the extension of the Order should be confined to the persons designated therein, for
otherwise there can be no limit. « • « • Besides." said he. "there is no provision that
the right of membership should descend to the posterity of the persons designated in the
enclosed provision, and the adoption of such a rule now might place the Society in great
future difficulties, but, if othcrtvise, this right can only be proved by the production of the
medal, which was doubtless sent to every officer in the French Army who was entitled to
it, or accounting for Its loss."
These closing lines of the venerable President General, Ogden's, reply negatived his
preceding qualified expression of opinion, and showed that he had, probably, never before con-
41
but as he was not in the direct line of descent his request also could not be favor-
ably considered.
Still another was that of Marechal de Camp Jean-Antoine-Francois
Desondes dated Paris, 25th August, 181 5, which was as follows:
Excellency :
Since my arrival in Paris I learn from my old comrades that all the higher officers
who served in America are authorized to wear the decoration of the Order of the Cin-
cinnati.
1 made four campaigns in America in the regiment of Bourbonnois under the
orders and forming part of the army of M. le Comte de Rochambeau, all of which I
can prove to your Charge d'Affairs in Paris, who will kindly see that my letter reaches
you.
I can also prove to your Excellency, if it be desired, that I have the honor to be a
marechal de camp in the service of the King of France, and I have the honor to request
of your Excellency the authority to wear that order.
This officer ranked as marechal de camp from the 23d November, 1800,
but he had not, while in the United States, held a higher rank than that of capi-
taine commandant in his regiment or in the army and could not therefore be
admitted a member of right.
Still another application, that of the Sieur Jean-Jacques De Villars of the
French Navy, dated Paris, 20th July, 1814, stated that he had been admitted to
membership in the same advancement that included certain other officers, and
had since worn the Order, but that when all decorations, foreign as well as
French, were inhibited during the period of the French Revolution, he had worn
the Eagle "next his heart, holding the same as his dearest possession." Hav-
ing lost all his papers from pillage at that time, he requested a duplicate certifi-
cate to be sent him to the care of the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United
States at Paris.
The records, however, of the Secretary General's office did not show that
either himself or any of the officers he had mentioned had been admitted to
membership, and consequently his request could not be complied with.
His positive statement makes it probable, although no record evidence is
on file, that the King may have finally consented to the admission of a certain
few distinguished junior naval officers, just as he did, on the 3rd February,
1792, in the case of certain distinguished junior army officers, where, on ac-
count of the confusion of the times and absence of regular mail communication
with the United States, no record was received at the Secretary General's office
during the lifetime of the officers named.
These applications show the general character of the many received by
Major General the Honorable Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, LL. D., during his
incumbency as President General.
One of the most remarkable was that addressed to the Honorable William
Harris Crawford, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the
sidered the subject of succession to membership in the French Society of the Cincinnati, or,
if so, had forgotten about it. and that he did not know of the decisions which had been
made, nor of the action of the General Society and of every State Society where the question
had arisen. It was known that many honorary members had been admitted in France, and
this fact, in the lapse of forty-five years, may have given rise to the uncertainty discernible
in his reply, ascribable to a want of knowledge of the facts.
The venerable President General was also unaware that the Institution had been
amended by the Convention of Officers at the Cantonments on the Hudson on 19th June,
17S3. whereby the Eagle of the Cincinnati was adopted as an Order and a Medal discarded.
The Standing Committee of the New York State Society thereupon referred Count
Gabrowski's application back to him for information as to his father's rank In the Auxiliary
Army, but no reply was ever received, probably for the reason that no ofHcer of that name
had held or received the rank of colonel for service in Lauzun's Legion during the Revolu-
tionary War, and, therefore, could not claim membership.
42
United States to the Government of France, and dated Paris, 26th February,
1815, and was as follows:
Monsieur le Ministre :
In November, 1789, when General Washington, President of the United States,
visited Boston, a French squadron, commanded by Major General the Vicomte de
Ponteves-Gien, was in that harbor.
On the day on which the President attended a reception held in his honor on board
rillustre, flagship, he was gracious enough to say that, in recognition of the co-operation
of France during the war of Independence, and in order to celebrate the event of the
establishment of the new Constitution of the United States, he would authorize the staff of
the flagship of the squadron to wear the decoration of the Society of the Cincinnati, as
worn by the French officers who had rendered service to the United States. He added
that Count d'Eitaing would, on receipt of a letter of instructions, which he would cause
to be transmitted, give us the diplomas of the Society.
Unfortunately the French Revolution had already begun. The Vicomte de Ponteves
succumbed at Martinique to the hardships of the service, and his ship did not arrive in
France until two years later when a new order of things prevailed which inhibited Foreign
decorations.
France has, however, at this time returned to the government of a family, friendly to
the government of the United States.
The undersigned officers, sole survivors of the Staff of ITlIustre, honored by the dis-
tinction conferred on them by the hero of the New World at such an eventful period for
the United States, attach great importance to the wearing of that mark of distinction.
This they are not at liberty to do unless Your Excellency will authorize them either
by issuing the diplomas or by referring the matter to his government.
Other French officers have hastened to resume their decorations and the memory
of him who accorded that distinction makes us doubly anxious to imitate their example.
Hoping that Your Excellency will be good enough to give us a favorable reply, we
have the honor to be.
Monsieur le Ministre
Your Excellency's
Very humble and very obedient servants.
This letter was subscribed by the following officers of the French Navy,
viz.:
Rear Admiral M. le Baron de Nervo.Hh and
Capitains de vaisseau :
The Vicomte de Ponteves Maubousquel,'!'
M. Francois-Ives de La Roche Kerandraon,Hh (who had served as an Enseigne de
vaisseau on le Jason, 64, in the French Squadron in Rhode Island in 1780-81).
The Marquis de Ponteves-Gien,"I«
M. Denis-Scipion, Comte de Brison du Roure,"i« (afterward Rear Admiral) ; and
Capitaines de Fregate :
The Chevalier Joseph Victor de Boutiny.-i*
The Vicomte de Foucauld,'}'
The Comte Charles de Martignan,»f' and
Lieutenant de vaisseau :
The Marquis d'Olivary.'i" and
Commissary General of the Marine:
The Chevalier Victor Amyot.-I" (who had been Intendant of the squadron in Boston
Harbor in November, 1789). ,
The high character of the officers who signed this communication leaves
no doubt that it was the intention of His Excellency President General Wash-
ington to recommend them to Count d'Estaing, President of the French State
Society, for admission as honorary members, an intention frustrated by the
rapidly recurring events in the progress of the French Revolution.
So great was the desire in France to possess the coveted distinction of
the Cincinnati, that, at the first opportunity, a quarter of a century after the
43
interview with His Excellency President General Washington, the officers cC'j-
cerned made haste to take steps which they deemed necessary in order to
secure it.
CHAPTER VII.
THE EFFECT OF THE ALLIANCE OF I778-I783, ON THE SUBSEQUENT PUBLIC SER-
VICES OF THE FRENCH CINCINNATI.
The Alliance of the United States with France, entered into on the 6th
February, 1778, had vast and far-reaching consequences for both countries.
On the 5th May, 1778, His Excellency General Washington, from Army
Headquarters, Valley Forge, issued a General Order announcing the Alliance
and said:
"It having pleased the Almighty Ruler of the universe propitiously to de-
fend the cause of the United American States, and finally by raising up a pow-
erful friend among the princes of the earth, to establish our liberty and inde-
pendence upon a lasting foundation, it becomes us to set apart a day for grate-
fully acknowledging the divine goodness, and celebrating the event which we
owe to His benign interposition."
General Washington accordingly directed thanksgiving services to be held
on the following morning at nine o'clock by the respective brigade chaplains in
every brigade and the troops to be thereupon paraded in line of battle and, after
a firing of thirteen cannon and a fire of musketry by the front rank from right
to left and then by the rear rank from left to right, the whole army at a given
signal to huzza : "Long live the King of France."
At the time indicated, "the old Continentals in their ragged regimentals"
quitted the log huts where they had borne, uncomplainingly and with astonish-
ing fortitude through an inclement winter, privations most intense, and parading
in the lines on the bare Pennsylvania hills of their encampment, listened to the
reading of the Gazette, which announced the terms of the treaty, and then, at a
signal from the Commander-in-Chief, joined in the cheer in honor of Louis
XVI.
If it had not been for the Alliance with France as then effected, the United
States would have been unable much longer to contend against the power of
Great Britain.
The poverty which existed in the American Army during that memorable
encampment, even among gentlemen of former easy circumstances, is well ex-
empHfied in a letter of Baron de Steuben, in which he said: "The men were
literally naked, some of them in the fullest extent of the word. The officers
who had coats had them of every color and make. I saw officers at a grand
parade at Valley Forge mounting guard in a sort of dressing gown made of an
old blanket or woolen bed cover."*
♦On one occasion at this encampment. Baron de Steuben's aides-de-camp, with his
permission, invited a number of young officers to dine at his quarters on condition that none
should be admitted that had on a whole pair of breeches.
This was, of couise, understood as pars pro toto; but torn or ragged regimentals, the
ordinary dress of the officer, were an indispensable reciuisite for admission.
The guests clubbed their rations and feasted on tough beefsteak and potatoes with
hickory nuts for dessert.
Having no wine, spirits were used, which they made into "salamanders" by filling their
glasses and setting the liquor on fire and then drinking it up. flame and all. Of this dinner
Captain Peter Stephen Duponceau. LL. D., then aide-de-camp to Baron de Steuben, says:
"Such a set of ragged and, at the same time, merry fellows, were never brought together.
"The Baron loved to speak of that dinner and of his 'sans-culottes,' as he called us.
"Thus this denomination was first invented in America and applied to the brave officers
and soldiers of our Revolutionary Army."
The cause of the American Colonies was very popular in France and had
the enthusiastic support of all classes of society.
As early as the Siege of Boston, 1775-6, "shoals of Frenchmen," as General
Washington termed them, had hastened to America from France or from the
West Indies to offer their services.
A large number of these were mere adventurers, of whom but compara-
tively few succeeded in obtaining commissions, and they were soon eliminated
from the Continental service.
None of them consequently obtained admission to the Cincinnati.
There were others, however, of far different character, officers of the
French Army, who, Hke the Baron de Kalb and the Chevalier Du Portail, came
to the United States with the private sanction of the French Government and
proved to be among the most valued and efficient officers.
It would, therefore, be a great mistake to confound these distinguished
officers, who had the confidence of General Washington and of the Continental
Army, and who in many instances sealed their devotion with their blood, with
those mere soldiers of fortune who vexed the Commander-in-Chief and the
Continental Congress with their importunities for place and who, even when
improvidently commissioned, were never intrusted with command or positions
of responsibility and never served the qualifying period required by the Institu-
tion.
The French and American Cincinnati knew the latter well and invariably
declined to consider favorably their applications for admission to the Order.
The American Alliance was so popular in France that members of the
higher nobility, men of the first distinction, sought service in the Co-operating
Army under d'Estaing or Auxiliary Army under Rochambeau.
Many of the younger nobility also made haste to volunteer.
These young fellows deliberately left all the allurements of court life at
Versailles and all the comforts of home, rank and fortune for a long, tedious
and dangerous voyage across the Atlantic to meet new dangers and cheerfully
imperil their lives in the cause of American Independence and to undergo all
the hardships and privations of active campaign life with unshaken fortitude
and exemplary courage.
They showed their manhood in the bloody trenches at Savannah on Octo-
ber 9, 1779, and in the gallant assault on the British Redoubt No. 9 at York-
town, on the night of the 14th October, 1781, where some of the most popular
of the court favorites were found crowding to the front as volunteers and,
under the supervision of that gallant veteran, the Baron de Viomenil, emulously
participating in the assault in friendly rivalry with their American brethren
of the Continental Line, to whom had been assigned the assault of companion
Redoubt No. 10.
Prince de Talleyrand, in his memoirs says : "The young members of the
French nobility who had enlisted in the cause of Independence devoted them-
selves afterward to the principles in defence of which they had shed their
blood."
Colonel John Bayard, in a report to His Excellency Thomas Wharton. Jr., President
of the Supreme Executive Council of the State of Pennsylvania, dated December 4, 1777,
concerning the American Army then at Valley Forge, said;
"Brigadier General (Anthony) Wayne assures us if he had not sent out officers to
buy clothing of every kind through the country, his troops must have been naked, and
now there are above one-third that have neither breeches, shoes, stockings, or blankets,
and are by that means rendered unable to do duty or indeed keep the field. It is truly
distressing to see these poor naked fellows encamped on bleak hills, and yet when there is
any prospect of an action with the enemy, these brave men appear full of spirits and eager
for engaging."
The class of French officers who served in the United States during the
American Revolution and the eminence they attained at home in France may be
inferred from an inspection of the membership roll of the French Cincinnati.
The influence which they exerted on their return from the United States
over the public mind, in the direction of liberal and enlightened views as to
the rights of the subject, both personal and political, and as to the subject's
proper relationship to the State, can hardly be over-estimated in determining to
whom credit is due for the great revolution in the last decade of the eighteenth
century, which, in its final results, so greatly ameliorated the condition of the
laboring classes of Europe.
Many of the letters of these officers while they served during the American
War, to their relatives and friends at home, and their diaries, show how pro-
foundly they were impressed with the protection secured to the citizen in his
personal and political rights by the constitutions of the respective States, and
depict in enthusiastic language the simplicity, contentment and industrious
independence which they found throughout the United States.
One of the Principles of the Institution of the Cincinnati which Louis
XVI. had approved and to which all the members were required to subscrilie
was:
"An incessant attention to preserve inviolate those exalted rights and liber-
ties of human nature for which they have fought and bled, and without which
the high rank of rational being is a curse instead of a blessing."
When, therefore, it became necessary to make radical changes in the form
of government in France, the Cincinnati there, like the Cincinnati in the United
States when the existing Constitution was framed, were found among the most
earnest and influential as well as potential in securing those fundamental re-
forms eventually embodied in the Constitution adopted with imposing cere-
monies on the Champ de Mars, 14th July, 1790.
The rise and domination, however, of the irresponsible Jacobinical faction,
with its subsequent Reign of Terror, drove into exile or caused the death
of many of the noblest and purest members of the Order, who were ardently
attached to their country and who had shown their devotion by imperiling their
lives in many battles.
The principles, however, of constitutional liberty which they had enunciated
or contended for in the States General of 1789, in the National Constituent or
National Legislative Assemblies, in the forum of debate and in their published
writings, were not forgotten by the great body of order loving citizens of France
and eventually found expression in its government, in which, in the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries, whether it has been imperial, royal or republican, per-
sonal and political rights have been acknowledged and assured.
The distinguished historian, the late Honorable George Bancroft, LL. D., in
his published writings has fittingly recognized the purity of motives and ability
of these eminent Cincinnati.
Among the most conspicuous of these French Cincinnati was Marechal
de Camp the Marquis de Chastellux of the French Academy, who died in Paris,
28th October, 1788.
Although he died too soon after the War of American Independence for
his country to have had the benefit of his services when considering necessary
reforms in the government, nevertheless he had exhibited his admiration for
constitutional guarantees as early as 1772 in his "De la Felicite Publique," in
which he argued that the principal object of government was the greatest good
of the greatest number.
46
His memoirs of his military services in the United States and other publi-
cations are still read with interest.
Until his decease he was one of President General Washington's most
valued correspondents. When about to depart from the United States he visited
Army Headquarters at Newburgh, N. Y., in December, 1782, to take his leave
of the Commander-in-Chief, who, shortly after his departure, wrote to him on
the 14th of that month as follows :
I felt too much to express anything the day I parted from you.
A sense of your public services to this country, and gratitude for your private friend-
ship quite overcame me at the moment of our separation.
But I should do violence to my feelings and inclination, were I to suffer you to leave
this country without the warmest assurances of an affectionate regard for your person
and character. * * * I can truly say that never in my life have I parted with a man
to whom my soul clave more sincerely than it did to you.
De Chastellux received this letter from a Headquarters Orderly of the 2d
Regiment Continental Light Dragoons, who overtook him while en route to
Boston to embark.
Another of these eminent Cincinnati was Count d'Estaing, who was strong-
ly in favor of constitutional government, and so declared in the Assembly of
Notables convoked in 1787.
In 1789, while commanding the National Guards at Versailles, the whole
weight of his great influence was exerted in the same direction.
He desired to be faithful both to the nation and to the King, and when he
became aware of the intrigues of reactionists to remove the King from France,
he wrote to the Queen, Marie Antoinette, with all the frankness of a sailor and
of a man conscious of his own exalted rank and perfect rectitude, and set
forth in detail, in a confidential letter, what he had heard and what would be
the consequences to France, and implored her to resist their efforts.
In the course of his letter he said:
"A mere indecision may be without remedy. It is only by breasting the tor-
rent, not by humoring it, that one can succeed in partly directing it.
"Nothing is lost. The Queen can conquer this kingdom for the King.
Nature has lavished on her the means of doing it. They alone are practicable.
She may imitate her august mother (Maria Theresa) ; if not, I am silent."
He refused to emigrate and hoped still to be useful to his country, but his
patriotism and eminent services did not save him from the guillotine.
Another illustrious member, the Count de Rochambeau, after the attempt-
ed flight of the King, was the first to hasten to take the oath of fidelity to the
National Constituent Assembly and to the Constitution, and said :
"The moral and physical qualities of a man of seventy may not be intrusted
with the entire responsibility of a frontier, but I can assure you of my zeal, my
fidelity, and my entire submission to the decrees of the Assembly."
Still another of these eminent Cincinnati was Vice Admiral Bailli de Suf-
fren, one of France's greatest naval officers, who, because he earnestly and out-
spokenly favored a union of the nobility and clergy in the States General with
the Third Estate, was challenged by a young nobleman and lost his life in the
duel which followed.
The Duke de Lauzun and Biron, one of the proudest of the French nobility,
also was strongly in favor of a constitutional government, and voted in the
States General for a union of the Three Estates and for all the great reforms.
He refused to emigrate, but while commanding the army of the coasts of
La Rochelle was horrified at the conduct of the Terrorist Committee of Public
Safety and insisted upon being relieved of his command.
47
This irritated that body and he was sent before the infamous Revolutionary
Tribunal and condemned.
On the scaffold he said : "I have been false to my God, my Order and my
King. I die full of faith and repentance."
Another of these eminent Cincinnati was Count Custine-Sarreck, who was
among the first in the States General to insist on a union of the nobility and
clergy with the Third Estate and was the first to insist on a "Declaration of the
Rights of Man."
When discussing in the same body and supporting the proposition to abolish
feudal privileges, corvees, etc., he urged that succour should be granted to the
peasant.
While commanding the Army of the North in resisting invasion, he was
unjustly recalled and sent before the Revolutionary Tribunal, condemned and
guillotined.
Appreciating, like the Duke de Lauzun and Biron, that all his sacrifices
for his country had been unavailing to save her from the domination of un-
principled men of the most degraded character, his last words on the scaffold
were "Vive le Roi."
Still another of these eminent Cincinnati was the Marquis de Lafayette,
whose consistent love of constitutional government was found exemplified in
the history of his long, useful and honorable career.
In the Assembly of Notables of 1787 he denounced the then existing abuses
of government and demanded a convocation of the States General and, in the
latter body when it united the Three Estates into a National Constituent Assem-
bly, voted for all the great constitutional reforms.
Despite his exalted patriotism, he was proscribed on the 15th August, 1792,
and forced to emigrate.
His brother-in-law, the Vicomte de Noailles, announced to the States Gen-
eral the taking of the Bastile, and had the distinguished honor, in the memor-
able session of the National Constituent Assembly on the 4th August, 1789,
of moving that taxes should be laid on all alike in proportion to their revenue
and that men of all classes should be equal before the law and have equal rights
to post and place; that seigniorial dues should be done away with, or at least
redeemed; that corvees, mainsmortes, and all personal servitude should at
once cease.
On the 13th August in that year he presented to that Assembly a plan for
military reform and in February, 1791, became its President.*
Nevertheless, he, also, was forced to emigrate, but returned later when
permitted, and was mortally wounded in the service of his country.
Count Charles de Lameth, who had been badly wounded at "Yorktown,"
was also one of the Deputies of the nobility in the States General who insisted on
uniting with the Third Estate.
He voted in favor of the liberty of the press and establishment of juries
in civil and criminal cases and for the suppression of tithes, and was for a time
•The first Assembly of Notables met 22d February, 17S7.
The second Assembly of Notables met 6th November. 178S.
The States General convened on the 5th May, 1789, and on the 27th June, 1789, the
Nobility, Clergy and Tiers Etat united and constituted the National Constituent Assembly,
which did not adjourn sine die until the 30th September, 1791.
The National Legislative Assembly met 1st October, 1791, and continued until the Na-
tional Convention convened on the 21st September, 1792.
The "Reign of Terror" may be said to date from the 20th June, 1792, if not even
earlier, but Louis XVI. was not imprisoned until 10th August, 1792, and this Is the accepted
date when constitutional government in France gave place, for a time, to bloody, Irrespon-
sible despotism sustained by the Sans-Culottes.
48
President of that Assembly and through Hfe an earnest supporter of constitu-
tional government. Nevertheless, he was proscribed with Lafayette and also
forced to emigrate.
His brother, Count Alexandre de Lameth, who had succeeded him in the
"Auxiliary Army," subsequently in the States General, was one of the forty-
three Deputies of the nobility who insisted on uniting with the Third Estate
for legislative purposes and joined them in their sitting.
He was the mover of the Ordinance in that body for the abolition of Afri-
can slavery. Nevertheless, he was subsequently proscribed with Lafayette and
forced to emigrate.
Count Theodore de Lameth, younger brother of the preceding, who had
served under Count d'Estaing in America, was also an earnest supporter of
constitutional government in the National Legislative Assembly, but was, never-
theless, subsequently forced to emigrate.
Still another of the eminent French Cincinnati was Brigadier General Ar-
mand. Marquis de La Rouerie, who, as a member of the Assembly of the No-
bility of Brittany, as early as April, 1789, induced them to renounce their ex-
clusive privilege as to taxation and to vote for the perfect equality of taxes over
all alike proportionate to the value of their property.
He was a firm friend to constitutional government, but was forced by the
conduct of the Terrorists to become chief of the Vendean Insurrection.
The Count Henri de St. Simon became particularly distinguished as a
publicist among the Cincinnati by devoting the closing years of his life to the
consideration of the best methods of ameliorating the condition of the laboring
classes, the promotion of industry and morality, and the development of consti-
tutional government in order to meet more fully, if possible, these objects.
The Prince de Broglie, one of the gallant younger favorites of the Court
at Versailles, who had sought and obtained service in the cause of American
Independence, subsequently distinguished himself in the States General among
the nobility who favored constitutional government, and voted for the ad-
missibility of all citizens to office and for other great public reforms, and, for
a time, presided over its deliberations.
When an invasion of France was threatened, he solicited military service
on the frontier and continued on that duty until the attack of the Sans-culottes
on the King at the Tuileries, loth August, 1792, and overthrow of the French
Monarchy and Constitution, when he resigned and retired to his country seat.
His patriotic services and love of country did not spare him from the
clutches of the Terrorists and he was guillotined only a few days before the
9th of Thermidor.
His parting words to his son, then nine years of age, were as follows.
Said he:
"My son, they may strive to draw you away from the side of liberty by say-
ing that it took the life of your father ; never believe them and remain true to
its noble cause."*
•The son, Achille-Lgonce-Victor-Charles. Prince et Due de Broglie, was born in Paris,
28th November, 1785. and died 26th January, 1S70.
He married in 1S16 the daughter of Madame de Stael. From the 11th October, 1832.
to the 4th April. 1S34. he was Minister of Foreign AfEairs under Louis Philippe at a time
when a serious disagreement had arisen between France and the United States.
Having become satisfied of the Justness of the latter's claim, and ever mindful of his
father's injunction, he brought about a satisfactory settlement, although at the expense,
for a time, of some personal popularity.
In 1849 he was a conservative member of the Legislative Assembly, and. in 1856, was
elected a member of the French Academy.
His eldest son, the late Jacques-Victor-Albert, Prince et Due de Broglie, born 15th
These instances, among many which might be cited, of the conduct of the
French Cincinnati, show the influence they exerted in the direction of constitu-
tional government.
The record of their services, like that of their American brethren, is the
record of their country's history in some of its most glorious pages and consti-
tutes a heritage in which their descendants may justly feel a reasonable pride.
So long as the Society of the Cincinnati in France continued to exist, prior
to 1792, the members of the other State Societies, at their annual dinners, did
not fail to remember it.
Thus, for example, in the Massachusetts State Society, on the 4th July,
1786, one of the thirteen regular toasts was :
"The Marquis de Lafayette and our brethren this day assembled in France
and America."
Again, on the 14th September, 1789, the Massachusetts State Society
dined, by invitation, with Chef de Division M. le Marquis de la Galissonniere,
of the French State Society, on board the ship of the line. Leopard, 74, in Bos-
ton Harbor, and among the toasts were the following two, which were each
acknowledged with a salute of thirteen cannon from the ship, viz. :
1. "The President and Cincinnati in the United States."
2. "The President and Cincinnati in France."
In the New York State Society, on the 5th July, 1784, one of the thirteen
toasts was, "Our Brethren of the Society of Cincinnati in France," and, on the
4th July, 1786, "Our Brethren in the United States and in France," and, on the
4th July, 1789, "The Companions of our Order in France and America."
In the Rhode Island State Society, on the 4th July, respectively in 1786,
1788 and 1789 and on the 5th July, 1790, one of the thirteen toasts was "The
Society of the Cincinnati in France."
In the Pennsylvania State Society, on the 4th July, 1789, in a resolution
then considered by it, but postponed and adopted on the 5th July, 1790, certain
information was directed to be sent "to the several societies in the United
States, the society in France, and to the General Society."
The friendship and respect reciprocally entertained by the French and
American Cincinnati was very great.
As early as the 29th November, 1781, the Continental Congress, in writing
to Louis XVI., said:
* * * We mention with great pleasure the zeal and ability manifested by the
Count de Rochambeau, commanding Your Majesty's forces in the AlHed Army.
His conduct and that of his officers under him, merit our fullest approbation; and
VK are made further happy by the perfect harmony and affection which have subsisted!
between the troops of the two nations.
In the congratulatory address to the Minister Plenipotentiary of France on
the birth of a Dauphin, presented on the 19th June, 1782, by the Commander-
in-Chief and by the general and other officers of the American Army on the
banks of the Hudson, the following language was used :
* * * There are circumstances, Sir, which render that, which in a degree is
pleasing to all, peculiarly so to some. — The harmony and friendship which subsisted
June, 1821, member of the French Academy, was appointed Ambassador to London in Feb-
ruary, 1871, and subsequently became Minister of Foreign Affairs In the administration of
M. le Mar§chal MacMahon, Due de Magenta, when President of the French Republic, and
became a Senator 20th January, 1876.
He was the author of many publications of particular merit, among which may be
mentioned "The Church and the Roman Empire in the Fourth Century," "The King's Se-
cret," "La Souverainete pontificale et la Liberty," "La Llbertfi divine et la LlbertS hu-
malne." He also edited the published memoirs of Prince de Talleyrand.
50
between the troops of your August Sovereign and us, during the last campaign (when
the only contention lay in endeavors to exceed each other in acts of emulation and
brotherly kindness,) give us this pre-eminence.
The blood freely offered on botli sides, and which was spilt in the same trench, and
often mixed in a common stream, for the support of those rights which are interesting
to the feelings of humanity and the privileges of freemen, is such a cement to the friend-
ship of the two nations, as nothing but a departure from the principles of the Union,
which Heaven avert, can ever dissolve. * * *
The Chevalier de Luzeme in replying to His Excellency General Washing-
ton and the Continental officers, said :
I shall transmit to his Majesty the address you have been pleased to send me on the
birth of an heir to his Crown. — It will afford him infinite satisfaction, to find with what
joy this event has inspired you, and he will see, with pleasure, that tlie same Army,
which has given so many proofs of courage and patriotism and which has, in the most
perfect harmony and concert with his own troops, fought the common enemy, now
hastens to shew that nothing which affects the French nation can be indifferent to them.
The young Prince, whose birth is the object of your congratulations, will, from his
infancy, hear recounted the glorious actions by which we have effected the Independence
and happiness of a vast Continent : And when they would cite to him examples of dis-
interestedness, constancy, courage, and every other military virtue, they will repeat to
him the names of your illustrious chiefs. ******
The veneration that your actions and your virtues have inspired me. Gentlemen, aug-
ments the pleasure that I have in conveying your sentiments to the King, my master. * * *
In an official communication from the General Society of the Cincinnati,
subscribed by President General Washington, to the Society of the Cincinnati
in France, dated Philadelphia, 17th May, 1784, the General Society said:
* * * * To you. Gentlemen, let it be sufficient that your merits and services are
indelibly impressed upon the heart of a whole nation, and that your names and actions
can never be lost in oblivion.
Cherishing such sentiments and reciprocating all your affections, we pray you will
have the goodness to believe that although nothing could have increased our friendship,
yet by your alacrity in associating with us, you have taken the most effectual measures for
riveting more strongly those indissoluble ties.
Lieutenant Alexander Garden, of South Carolina, formerly of the 3rd Bat-
talion, Continental Partizan Legion (Lee's), and for a time aide de camp to
Major General Nathanael Greene, in his "Anecdotes of the American Revolu-
tion," has said as follows :
"That the highest advantages were derived to America from the ardent
zeal and daring enterprise of many distinguished foreigners, no one can or
would deny.
"The services rendered by General La Fayette, by Baron Steuben, Pulaski,
de Kalb, Temant, Fleury, Du Portail, Cambray, Laumoi, Gouvion, demand
our warmest applause, and very many others, while they covered themselves
with the palm of renown, excited in tlie bosoms of the American people a cor-
responding tribute of affection and gratitude that will, to the end of time, cause
them to be classed among the most distinguished of heroes, whose firmness and
intrepidity established in our countrv- the blessings of Liberty and Indepen-
dence."
The Cincinnati, at their stated meetings, since 1784, have never failed, in
a formal way, to recall the name of Washington, their first President General,
nor have they been unmindful of the Patron of their Order in France, their
51
great and good friend, Louis XVI, for whom at many an annual dinner since
his decease, the Cincinnati have risen from their seats, in memoriam.
Before the Alliance of 1778 with France, the Most Christian King gave
privately three millions of francs to the American Cause with which clothing for
the American Army, powder, muskets, cannon and other ordnance stores, as
well as camp and garrison equipage, were purchased and thus, by reason of the
receipt of these military supplies, the defeat and capitulation in 1777 of Lieu-
tenant General John Burgoyne's Army near Saratoga was made possible.
Altogether, during the War of the Revolution for American Independence,
the sums received from the Government of France, by direct gifts from the
King and by loans and supplies, amounted nearly to 53,000,000 francs, in
addition to the potential aid given by the Armies and Navies of France.
When the Marquis de Lafayette returned to France in 1779 to urge upon
the French Government further aid, Maurepas said of him :
"It is fortunate for the King that Lafayette does not take it into his head
to strip Versailles of its furniture, to send to his dear Americans, as His
Majesty would be unable to refuse it."
In all these efforts in aid of the American Cause the Queen, Marie Antoin-
ette, was a staunch ally of the King.
Thomas Paine in his "Rights of Man" said :
"It is both justice and gratitude to say that it was the Queen of France who
gave the Cause of America a fashion at the French Court."
The people of the United States should ever, therefore, for their services
to America, hold in grateful remembrance Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
CHAPTER VIll.
RECORDS OF SERVICE OF FRENCH ARMY OFFICERS, SHOWING THE VETERAN CHAR-
ACTER OF THE REGIMENTS IN THE AMERICAN WAR.
The French regular regiments which served in the United States, either
under Counts d'Estaing or de Rochambeau, were all veteran regiments, and
most of the officers, except some of the junior sous-lieutenants, had served
many years and participated in the previous campaigns in Bohemia, Poland,
Germany, or Corsica.
The superior officers, who became members of the Cincinnati, had all ac-
quired reputation and experience by long and distinguished services.
Thus, for example, the Baron de Viomenil had originally entered the
French Army in 1740, the Marquis de Choisy in 1741, Baron de L'Estrade in
1742, Count d'Aboville in 1744, Chevalier d'Anselme in 1745, Chevaliers de
Beville and la Valette in 1746, Marquis de Chastellux, Marquis de Viomenil
and Count de Custine in 1747, Duke de Saint-Simon in 1754, Count d'Auti-
champ in 1759, Marquis de Rostaing, Count de Flechin and Viscount de Pou-
denx in 1760, Duke de Lauzun in 1761, Duke de Laval in 1762, Count de
Saint-Maime in 1766, and the Marquis des Deux-Ponts in 1768.
Many of the subordinate officers had also served for long periods.
Thus, of those who actually served in the American war, the senior captain
in the regiment of Agenois, infantry, Phillipe Seguier de Terson,>J< had entered
the French Army, nth May, 1756, and been commissioned as captain 5th June,
52
1760, and commanded the Grenadier Company of his regiment in the assault
at Savannah, 9th October, 1779.
The next ranking captain, Jean-Joseph de Lustrac,>J« ranking as such from
the 5th June, 1760, had entered service in 1756, made the campaigns in Ger-
many, and been badly wounded at Munster in 1759, and subsequently distin-
guished at Yorktown.
The next ranking captain in this regiment, Jean-Baptiste Emanuel de
Behagle,>J< had served twenty-six years and also ranked as captain from the
5th June, 1760.
In the regiment of Gatinois (Royal Auvergne), infantry, the senior cap-
tain, Jean-Francois de Lalbenque,>J< had entered service in 1744 and became a
captain in 1757, while the next captain in rank, Charles de Rouverie, Chevalier
de Cabrieres,>J< had served twenty-six years and been a captain since the 6th
May, 1761, and both had served in Germany.
The third ranking captain in this regiment, Pierre-Charles-Francois de
Vachon,>f< had served twenty-three years, ranking as captain from the 13th No-
vember, 1761.
The fourth ranking captain, Jean-Jarlan de Sireuil,>J< had entered the
French Army in 1758 and made three campaigns in Germany and attained his
captaincy in 1777.
He served under Count d'Estaing in Rhode Island and at the Siege of Sa-
vannah and was wounded in the assault there, 6th October, 1779.
Later he served on ship board in Count de Guichen's three naval actions of
the 17th April, 15th and 19th May, 1780, and still later was with his regiment
in the Marquis de Saint-Simon's detachment, which joined the Auxiliary Army
in Virginia.
At the Siege of Yorktown, while commanding the chasseur company of
his regiment in the assault on redoubt No. 9, on the night of the 14th October,
1781, he was mortally wounded and died in hospital in Williamsburg, Va.,
7th March, 1782.
The senior captain in the regiment of Bourbonnois, infantry, Charles- Joseph
de Losse de Bayac,>I< had entered the French Army in 1758 and made three
campaigns in Germany and attained his captaincy i6th April, 1771.
This officer while on duty with his regiment in Newport, R. I., embarked
on le Jason, 74, in M. des Touche's squadron, and was in the naval action of the
16th April, 1781, and later served at Yorktown.
The second ranking captain in this regiment, Francois-Qaude de Lannet,>J<
had served twenty-four years and in three campaigns in Germany, and ranked
as a captain from the 25th August, 1773, and commanded the Grenadier com-
pany of his regiment.
In the regiment of Royal Deux-Ponts, infantry, the senior captain, Charles
Baron de Furstenwaerther, Knight of the Order of Military Merit, had entered
service as an ensign 8th January, 1758, and made five campaigns in Germany
and became a captain in 1776.
The second ranking captain in this regiment, Jean-Christopher Baron de
Wisch, Knight of the Order of Military Merit, had entered service in 1756, and
made five campaigns in Germany and had been wounded in the battle of Bergen
at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1759. He became a captain 28th August, 1777,
and commanded the Grenadier company of his regiment at Yorktown and was
so badly wounded during that siege as to be disabled for life and compelled to
retire from active service.
53
In the regiment of Dillon, infantry, Irish Brigade on the French Establish-
ment, the senior captain present with the first battalion in Rhode Island in 1778
and at the Siege of Savannah, the Sieur Bernard 0'Neill,>J< had served twenty-
nine years in his regiment, and made all the campaigns in Germany during such
service, and had also participated in the assault and capture of Grenada, 4th
July, 1779.
In the assault at Savannah he received a gunshot wound which caused his
decease in the following year.
He was the fifth generation of his family who had given their services to
the Kings of France in this regiment after their passage from Ireland into
France under the capitulation of Limerick of the 3rd October, 1691.
The next ranking captain in this regiment, Jacques-Philippe D'Arly,>j4 had
served upwards of twenty-five years, and ranked as captain from the 5th May,
1772.
He was killed in the assault at Savannah.
In the regiment of Soissonnois, infantry, the senior captain, Pierre Did-
ier,>J< had held that commission from the 1st September, 1749, and made the
three campaigns in Germany of 1760, 1761 and 1762, and one in Corsica in 1769.
At the close of the Yorktown campaign he went on the retired list.
The next ranking captain in this regiment who served in the United States,
Olivier- Victor de Baudre,>J< had entered the French Army in 1756 and became
a captain 22nd April, 1762. He received from the King the promise of a
Lieutenant-Colonelcy for distinguished conduct at Yorktown.
The third ranking captain in this regiment, Jean-Baptiste, Chevalier de
Martin,>^ had held that commission from the 22nd April, 1762, and served
twenty-six years.
He commanded the Grenadier company of his regiment at Yorktown and
received two wounds, which permanently disabled him and eventually caused his
death.
All the captains of this regiment, when it came to Rhode Island in 1780,
had respectively served on an average about a quarter of a century.
In the regiment of Saintonge, infantry, the same rernark as to length of
service of its captains is also applicable.
Thus the ranking captain, Jean-Baptiste, Baron de Ferrette,>J< had entered
the French Army in 1753 and been a captain in his regiment from the 27th
January, 1758, and a major in the army from the 3rd March, 1774. He received
from the King the promise of a Lieutenant-Colonelcy for distinguished conduct
at Yorktown.
The next ranking captain in this regiment, Alexis-Jean-Francois Gorat de
Beaumont,"^ had entered the French Army in 1754 and served with distinction
throughout the war in Germany and then in the East Indies.
He held the commission of captain from the 30th July, 1758, and com-
manded the Grenadier company of his regiment at Yorktown.
The third ranking captain in this regiment, Jean-Georges-Prosper-Daurien
de Madron, Chevalier de Brie,>f< had entered service in 1749 and became a
captain 6th January, 1760, and commanded the Chasseur company of his regi-
ment at Yorktown.
In the regiment of Touraine, infantry, the senior captain present, Jean-
Baptiste-Rene-Clement de Launay,>J< although but fourth captain in his regi-
ment, had entered service in 1746, and held the commission of captain from the
27th July, 1769.
He had served through the campaign in Hanover of 1757, and had partici-
54
pated in Count de Guichen's three naval actions of 1780 and was pensioned for
good conduct at Yorktown.
The next ranking captain in this regiment, Charles-Etienne-Marguerite Des
Bordes,>J< had entered the regiment in 1755 and been commissioned a captain in
1769.
The Lieutenant Colonel of this regiment, Jean-Francois Du Moulin de la
Bartelle de Montlezun,>J< had entered service in 1744 and risen to that grade
8th April, 1779, and was severely wounded in Count de Grasse's action off
Dominica, 12th April, 1782.
As he did not attain the rank of colonel within the limit fixed by the Insti-
tution, he was debarred from membership in the Cincinnati.
In the detachment of the regiment of Foix, infantry, which served at the
Siege of Savannah, the ranking captain, Antoine de Trenonay,»^ although sixth
on the list in his regiment, had been a lieutenant in the same in January, 1757,
and promoted to captain in November, 1762.
For his services at this siege, Count d'Estaing promoted him to the rank
of major in the Colonies in October, 1779, which promotion was confirmed by
the King. He died loth September, 1780.
In the detachment of the regiment of Armagnac, infantry, in Rhode Island
in 1778, and at Savannah, the senior captain present, M. Boulland,>}< although
ranking but second in his regiment, had served thirty-seven years.
He commanded the Grenadier company of the same and was wounded in
the assault, 9th October, 1779.
The next ranking captain present, Anne-Claude de Tarragon,^ was seventh
on the list of captains in his regiment, and commanded the Chasseur company
of the same in Rhode Island in 1778.
At Savannah he performed the functions of major of brigade (assistant
adjutant general) to M. le Comte Arthur Dillon's division. He served at the
capture of Tobago, Sa'int Lucia and Saint Christopher, and distinguished him-
self on board le Jason, 74, in Count de Grasse's action off Dominica of the 12th
April, 1782.
The senior company officers in the veteran French regiments which served
in the United States during the war of American Independence had already
acquired so much reputation from previous creditable service that Count de
Rochambeau thought that the Cincinnati ought in some way to recognize the
services of these officers and regiments.
Accordingly he addressed President General Washington, in English, as
follows :
Paris,
29th January, 1784.
Give me leave, my dear General, to intrust you with friendship in one observation
which did not escape to the regiments that composed our army.
They find that the General Society has given too much or too httle extent to its favour,
in granting it to all the Colonels and staying to them.
I do not ask it for the Lieutenant Colonels and majors because it is to the choice or
favour that they owe their advancement, as well as the Colonels, but I think it would
be convenient to grant forever and ever, the marck of "Cincinnati," not to the person,
but to the office of the first captain actually in service under the colors of every regiment
which has served in America under your orders and mine.
I deliver up this reflexion, my dear General, to your friendship, to use as it will be
most agreeable to you.
I am with the most inviolable and respectful attachment,
My Dear General,
Your most obedient and very humble servant,
LE Cte. de Rochambeau.
55
No action appears to have been taken on this suggestion, probably because
Count de Rochambeau had not considered that detachments from a number of
regular regiments had served under Count d'Estaing in Rhode Island and at
Savannah, and that such regiments might with propriety claim the same coveted
distinction should it be accorded to those regiments which had served in the
Auxiliary Army.
Had Count de Rochambeau's suggestion been complied with, the first cap-
tain in every regiment which had thus served would not long have been decorated
with the Order, because of the emigration which took place from the inception
of the French Revolution on the 17th July, 1789, through the years 1790, 179 1
and 1792-3, during which, in some instances, not only the officers alone, but
whole regiments, including the Irish Brigade, crossed the frontiers and joined the
princes of the House of Bourbon, particularly after Monsieur the Comte de
Provence, as acting Regent, on the 6th July, 1791, directed them so to do.
The army reorganization under the regulation of the 1st of January, 179 1,
whereby the regiments exchanged their territorial designations for numerical
ones, and the emigration, and adoption, 21st February, 1793, by the National
Jacobinical Convention, of Dubois de Crance's radical plans for reorganization
of the French Army, destroyed the last vestige of the old regiments of Louis
XVI and the Monarchy.
In 1789 Lieutenant Colonel Charles-Bertin-Gaston Chapuy de Tourville,>J<
of the regiment of Royal Auvergne, infantry, wrote to President General Wash-
ington as follows:
Your Excellency :
The officers of the regiment of Royal Auvergne, formerly Gatinois, penetrated with
admiration and esteem for His Excellency, General Washington, take the liberty of ad-
dressing themselves directly to him, to request of his equity and through his intercession
with the illustrious members of the Assembly, the flattering decoration which has only
been conferred upon the generals and colonels, whilst all the other French officers, who
have co-operated in the success of the siege of Yorktown and of the capture of the enemy's
army, have been denied this distinction — a privation which has been felt most keenly by
all the officers and notably by those of the Grenadiers and Chasseurs who participated in
the assault on the grand redoubt and carried it with such spirit as to merit the applause
of Your Excellency, who besides was so satisfied with the manner in which the regiment
behaved on that occasion and during the siege, that Your Excellency presented it with
a mortar taken in the redoubt, a mortar which the regiment of Royal Auvergne preciously
preserves as a flattering testimonial of the esteem of Your Excellency for the regiment.
All the officers present at the siege of Yorktown, and in whose names I have the
honor to address Your Excellency, jealous of sharing in the remembrance and glory of
this ever memorable event, earnestly pray Your Excellency to obtain from the illustrious
members of the Assembly in the United States a diploma of the Society of the Cin-
cinnati, with authority to be decorated with the Order.
The satisfaction, as well as gratitude, which these officers will experience in obtaining
this favor, which they believe they have merited, will be extreme.
This request is common to the nine regiments and to the engineer officers who have
had the advantages of serving under the orders of Your Excellency.
Those of the regiment of Royal Auvergne, formerly Gatinois, charge me to offier
further their thanks to Your Excellency, as well as their profound respect and the highest
esteem for your person and your talents, so useful to your country.
I am, with respect,
Your Excellency's most obedient and very humble servant,
DE TOURVILLE,
Lieutenant Colonel of the Regiment,
Major of the same at the Siege of Yorktown, and
First Major of Brigade.
Calais, i6th November, 1789-
56
Lieutenant Colonel de Tourville transmitted with this communication a list
of the officers of his regiment who had served at Yorktown, a number of whom
had subsequently been promoted.
This list comprised fifty-eight names, and however willing the General
Society might have been to have recognized the distinguished and meritorious
services of these gentlemen, a compHance with their request would have resulted
in adding at least five or six hundred members to the society in France, which
already then numbered more than any other State Society.
It was not possible within the intent of the Institution to favorably con-
sider this request and Colonel de Tourville was so informed.
This officer had entered the French Army in 1755 and attained the rank of
major in his regiment i8th April, 1776.
For his services at Yorktown he was promoted to be its lieutenant colonel,
but this grade did not qualify him for admission under the Institution.
The difficulties in the way of granting the request of the officers of this
regiment were not generally understood, and so solicitous were those who had
served in the United States under Counts d'Estaing or de Rochambeau in
grades below that of colonel to obtain the honor of membership that Marechal
de Camp Louis-Marie, Vicomte de Noailles,"^ an Original member in France,
addressed to President General Washington the following communication in
English:
Dear General :
I have, tho' remote, incessantly borne you that share of admiration you have filled
every Frenchman's breast who has marched under your colours ; it is not only now
with a spirit replete with freedom that I durst address you, but partaking of all the rights
nature has reserved to mankind, and America has reaped the first benefits of. In the
French Revolution, which portends the greatest blessings, almost all those who have beheld
the foundation of liberty in the United Provinces, have brought from thence of American
spirit and have displayed it with undaunted courage, as they have had a hand in pre-
paring the Revolution, so are they doomed in firmly supporting its establishment.
Such a Brotherhood has been of the utmost help, and will be our greatest prop. It
is in your power to contribute to its indissolubility by a deed both equitable and useful.
The National dignities are the only badges we set a value on, and are willing to pre-
serve. The Cross of St. Louis, the sign of military service, is going to be conferred
throughout all the ranks of the array. Condescend in granting the same favour on all
the officers who have been under your orders and who have contributed, as well as we,
to the salvation of the Commonwealth.
Condescend to obtain for them the right of bearing the Order of Cincinnatus. We
shall hold the dearer, when we behold our brethren dignified with it.
Fill up their vow and our own; it is in the name of the small army you had some
esteem for, I durst petition the favour.
It is granting us a second reward of having our fellow at arms honoured as well as
we with a benefaction that evinces that liberty has been laboured for. Such a bounty
were less pleasing and were, perhaps, impossible in experiencing its influence if you
were not so generous as to diffuse it over all those who are entitled to it.
The deliberation to be held on this request is that the officers of the French Army,
who were in America at the time Mr. de Rochambeau left the continent to repair to the
Leeward islands, as also those of the Legion of Lauzun, be indulged with the leave of
bearing the Order of Cincinnatus, provided they give an unexceptional testimony of
their service and obtain a certificate of their corps revised and signed by General Rocham-
beau.
Numbers of French officers have brought from the American war but scars. They
will receive an healing remedy when they have an additional proof of their service.
I have the honor to be, with respect, dear General,
Your most humble and obedient servant,
NOAILLES,
Paris 24th April, 1790. a Member of the National Assembly.
57
This request of the Vicomte de Noailles was not received in time for the
triennial meeting of the General Society in May of that year. It could not be
acted upon without an amendment to the Institution, and the extra meeting of
the General Society, held in Philadelphia, 4th May, 1791, resolved that the
representation present was not sufficient to make and finally establish such alter-
ations as might be thought necessary, although the previous triennial meeting
of the 4th May, 1790, had requested the several State Societies to send dele-
gates empowered to agree upon and finally establish all such alterations.
When the next general meeting was held in Philadelphia, on the 6th May,
1793, France was in the midst of the Reign of Terror; the officers of the old
French Army had been dispersed, and even the patriot de Noailles had been
compelled to emigrate in the previous year.
Thus ended the last effort to give to the gallant gentlemen who had served
in the United States in the French armies, in the cause of American Indepen-
dence, the Order of the Cincinnati, so earnestly solicited by them and of which
they were debarred in consequence of not having at the time sufficiently high
rank.
CHAPTER IX.
DISPERSION OF THE SOCIETY IN FRANCE AND EFFORTS TO REVIVE IT.
Although the National Constituent Assembly, by decree of 19th June, 1790,
undertook the suppression of titles of nobility, of orders, of liveries and of ar-
morial bearings, and thus prevented further appointments to French orders
of knighthood, the Order of the Cincinnati appears to have been tacitly ex-
cepted from its operation.
As late as January, 1792, so great was the importunity for membership that
the Standing Committee submitted to Louis XVI., through the Minister of
War, the names of a carefully selected list of applicants, who had served with
distinction in the American War and had been promoted for such services to
the grade of major or lieutenant colonel, but not to the grade of colonel, and
who were therefore only eligible to honorary membership under the Institution.
The list was personally endorsed by His Most Christian Majesty as "ap-
proved" on the 3rd February, 1792, and was his last official act in connection
with the Cincinnati. It contained the names of two marechaux de camp, two
colonels of engineers, six colonels of other Staff corps, three colonels of artillery
and fifteen colonels of regiments of infantry.
The overthrow of the French monarchy on the loth August, 1792, and the
inauguration of the Reign of Terror dispersed the Cincinnati and put an end to
further meetings.
The funds of the society in France were lost at this time and a portion of
its brief records also disappeared.
The remainder of its records are to be found in the archives of the Gen-
eral Society, or among the papers of President General Washington in the
Department of State in Washington, or in the Library of Congress among the
papers of the Count de Rochambeau, purchased by the United States pursuant
58
to the Act of Congress of the 3rd March, 1883, which act was passed at the
instance of the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati.
In the period of the Directory, Consulate and first Napoleonic Empire a
reinstatement of the French State Society was not, under the circumstances,
expedient, as nearly all the members belonged to the ancient French nobility,
and a large number of them were, from necessity, emigres.
At the Restoration of 1814, the existing members who had survived the
vicissitudes of war or long expatriation, were aged men, many of whom were
either infirm in health or whose attention was necessarily occupied in restoring
their impaired fortunes, or who were employed in the military or naval service
or resident in places remote from Paris.
Although Louis XVIII. and Charles X. each in turn showed themselves
decidedly favorably disposed toward the Order, and personally authorized mem-
bership in it, nevertheless the same lethargy concerning its perpetuity was dis-
cernible among the French members as among their equally venerable Ameri-
can brethren, despite the fact that all of them viewed their eagles as the price-
less emblem of glorious service and as among the most valued of earthly dis-
tinctions.
Before the last of the Original members had passed away preliminary
measures were being taken during the reign of Louis Philippe by the heredi-
tary and certain hereditarily entitled members toward reinstating this illustri-
ous society in all its pristine distinction when the Coup d'Etat of the 2nd De-
cember, 1 85 1, inopportunely intervened and induced a postponement to a more
auspicious period.
On the 1st July, 1887, certain actual members in existing State Societies
whose right of membership was derived from Original members in France, to-
gether with certain hereditarily entitled members, met in Paris, under the chair-
manship of the Marquis de Rochambeau, an honorary member in the Rhode
Island State Society, and, with the Vicomte de Noailles as secretary, and pro-
visionally organized and formally addressed the General Society requesting its
recognition and such action as might be necessary, at the same time stating that
the Government of France had no objection to the reinstatement of the Society
in France.
The General Society, at the triennial meeting, held in the Senate chamber.
State House, Newport, R. I., 28th July, 1887, passed the necessary resolves
whereby this illustrious historic society is authorized to resume its place in the
Order* whenever it shall permanently organize with a membership sufficient for
the purpose.
•The report submitted to the General Society by Brevet Major General Henry Jack-
son Hunt, United States Army, Chairman of the Special Committee, was unanimously
adopted, and was as follows:
"After examination, the Committee on the revival of the Society of the Cincinnati in
France are satisfied that the applicants who have formed a provisional organization are
worthy descendants, and the heirs of former members of the French Society of the Cincin-
nati who served in America during the Revolutionary War, and said Committee
recommend that the said applicants be empowered to revive said Society according to the
Principles of the Institution and the Spirit of the French Government, and that said Society
will be considered as revived upon the report of said Society to the Secretary General of
their having pennanenlly organized and elected their officers.
HENRY JACKSON HUNT, of Massachusetts;
JAMES M. VARNUM, of Rhode Island;
JOHN CROPPER, of New York;
CLIFFORD STANLEY SIMS, of New Jersey;
GRANT WEIDMAN, of Pennsylvania;
EDWARD GRAHAM DAVES, of Maryland;
THOMAS PINCKNEY LOWNDES, of South Carolina."
59
CHAPTER X.
THE AUXILIARY FRENCH ARMY IN RHODE ISLAND, I780, I78I, AND I782.
The major part of the Auxiliary Army under Lieutenant General Count
de Rochambeau arrived in the Harbor of Newport, Rhode Island, on July ii,
1780, under convoy of the squadron commanded by Chef d'Escadre the Cheva-
lier de Ternay.
Count de Rochambeau thereupon made his headquarters at the residence
of the Honorable William Vernon, corner of Mary and Clarke Streets, and, as
soon as the army had disembarked, he began to fortify more effectually the
Island of Rhode Island upon which Newport is situate.
Several earthworks and distinct traces of entrenchments still remain as
reminders of the military occupation of the Island from 1776- 1782, successively,
by a British Army and by the Auxiliary Army.
In the instructions which the Count de Rochambeau received for his
guidance from Louis XVI the following were the most important :
The General to whom his Majesty entrusts the command of his Troops should
always, and in all cases, be under the command of General Washington.
All the projects and plans for the campaign or private expedition should be decided
by the American General that the French Troops, being only auxiliaries, should, as was
done in Germany in the campaign of 1755, yield precedence and right to the American
Troops.
In consequence of the above article, the American Officers, with equal rank and the
same date of commissions, shall have the command, and in all cases the American General
and Troops shall be reckoned first, and will sign first, as has always been the custom,
and in accordance with the principles laid down with regard to Auxiliary Troops.
Immediately upon his arrival the General Assembly of the State of Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations addressed to him a letter of congratulation
to which he replied as follows :
"To the Honorable The General Assembly of the
"State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations :
"Gentlemen :—
"The King, my Master, hath sent me to the assistance of his good and faithful allies,
The United States of America. The French Troops are under the strictest discipline and,
acting under the orders of General Washington, will live with the Americans as their
brethren ; and nothing will afltord me greater happiness than contributing to their success.
"I am highly sensible of the marks of respect shown me by the General Assembly,
and beg leave to assure them that as brethren not only my life, but the lives of the
Troops under my command are entirely devoted to their services."
On July I2th, 1780, from his headquarters in Newport he wrote to General
Washington announcing his arrival.
His communication began as follows :
"The orders of the King, my Master, place me under the orders of Your Excellency.
I accept this post with all the submission, all the zeal and all the veneration which I have
for your great person and for the distinguished talents which you have shown in carrying
on a war which will be forever memorable. * *
A fortnight later he wrote to the Honorable Samuel Huntington, President
of the Continental Congress, as follows :
"As the first French soldier of the Army of General Washington, I felt bound to
address myself first to him, in order to pay him my respects and to inform him of my
submission to his orders."
As a personal interview was necessary in order to concert combined mili-
tary operations between the American and Auxiliary Armies, Count de Roch-
ambeau, with Chef d'Escadre de Ternay and a few of his staff, went to Hart-
ford, Conn., where he met, by appointment, General Washington on the 20th
September, 1780.
The Auxiliary Army was encamped in Newport and its vicinity from its
arrival in July, 1780, until nth June, 1781, when it marched to Providence,
R. I., where it remained in camp for a week and then proceeded to join the
American Army, at Phillipsburg, Westchester County, N. Y., and arrived
there on the 6th July, 1781.
During the time the Auxiliary Army was in Newport the social life of thai:
part of the State of Rhode Island, and the liberty enjoyed secured by law, left
durable impress on the minds of the French OiScers.
From earliest Colonial days Newport had always maintained the character
given to it by Count de Segur of the Auxiliary Army, who afterward became
Secretary of the French Society of the Cincinnati, as being "composed of
enlightened men and modest and handsome women, whose talents heightened
their personal attractions."
This society included those of colonial consequence who resided across
Narragansett Bay in the Narragansett country, which was originally settled
largely by Cavaliers and Huguenots and was from March 20, 1654, a separate
territory under the Crown, termed in acts of Parliament "The King's Prov-
ince," but later annexed, in 1729, to Rhode Island as Kings County, which name
was changed to Washington County, 29th October, 1781.
In the history of the "Narragansett Church," by the Honorable Wilkin-5
Updike, it is stated that: "In Narragansett resided the great landed aristoc-
"racy of the Colony. Their plantations were large, some of them very extensive,
"five, six and ten miles square. The Gardiners, Niles and Brentons owned
"great tracts of valuable land. These estates were improved by slaves and
"laboring Indians. The society of that day was refined and well informed. At
"the time and before the War of the Revolution, Narragansett was the seat of
"hospitality, refinement and luxury. Her large landed proprietors living in
"ease and luxury, were visited by the elite from all parts of the then British
"American Colonies and by distinguished strangers from Europe, and consti-
"tuted a bright, intellectual and fascinating society, and fully maintained the
"character of the old English country gentlemen from whom they descended."
In the official State census, published by the State of Rhode Island in
1885, it is recorded that "accounts have been handed down of large landed
estates in the King's Province which, with their retinues of servants, bore a
strong resemblance to Baronial possessions in England."
In "Studies in Historical and Political Science," published by the Johns-
Hopkins University in March, 1886, is included an address entitled, "The Nar-
ragansett Planters," by Edward Channing, Ph. D., Instructor in History at
Harvard University, in which it is stated that :
"In the southern corner of Rhode Island there lived in the middle of the
"Eighteenth Century a race of large land owners who have been called the
"Narragansett Planters.
"Unlike the other New England Aristocrats of their time, these people
"derived their wealth from the soil and not from success in mercantile adven-
"tures.
"They formed a landed aristocracy which had all the peculiarities of a
"landed aristocracy to as great an exetnt as did that of the Southern Colonies.
"Narragansett Society was unlike that of the rest of New England.
"It was an anomaly in the institutional history of Rhode Island. Slavery
"both negro and Indian reached a development in colonial Narragansett unusual
"in the Colonies north of Mason and Dixon's line. Considering the area of the
"Province the estates were very large. These were all valuable to the produc-
"tion of a state of society which has no parallel in New England."
The principal residents of Newport had country places in Narragansett
and, in all social matters in Newport, the colonial families in Narragansett
equally participated.
Brilliant indeed was the society in Newport and Narragansett during the
presence of the elegant and accomplished officers who served in Count de
Rochambeau's army and in the Chevalier des Touches' Squadron, and while
the first Regiment Rhode Island Continental Infantry, under Colonel Christo-
pher Greene, was in garrison on the island of Rhode Island under Count de
Rochambeau.
Tradition, family letters, and the memoirs of the French Officers refer to
the many beautiful women, whose intelligence, vivacity and personal charms
made society there so attractive in the years 1780-81.
In many instances family portraits, preserved as precious heirlooms, ade-
quately depict these ladies who graced the society in which they moved.
Baron VonClozen, Aide de Camp of Rochambeau, made silhouettes of
some of them and a number of the French Officers in their diaries particularly
allude to their refinement, education, graceful manners and personal beauty,
which rendered them objects of their constant admiration.*
•Among- these ladies of Newport and Narragansett may be mentioned Polly Lawton
and her sister Eliza, daughters of Robert Lawton of the Society of Friends, and Isabelle,
Amy and Anne Ward, daughters of former Colonial Governor Richard Ward, and Mary,
Emma and Abble Robinson, daughters of Thomas Robinson of the Society of Friends, and
Mary Wanton, daughter of John G. Wanton and grand-daughter of former Colonial Gov-
ernors Gideon Wanton and Henry Bull; also Eliza, Catherine and Nancy Hunter, daughters
of Dr. William Hunter, (who had died January 3l3t, 1777), and Deborah, his wife, daughter
of Colonel Godfrey Malbone.
Also Mehetabel Redwood, daughter of Abraham Redwood, founder of the Redwood
Library, and Margaret, Mary and Elizabeth Champlin, daughters of Christopher Champlln,
and Betsy and Lucy Ellery, daughters of Honorable William Ellery, Signer of the Declara-
tion of Independence, who, for 4th July, 1801, composed an ode which he dedicated to the
Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati.
In this galaxy may also be named Lucy and Mary Channing, daughters of William
Channing, and Bathsheba Bowler, daughter of Honorable Metcalf Bowler.
One of the married ladies in this brilliant society was Eliza Arnold, daughter of Cap-
tain Rhodes Arnold of Pawtuxet, R. I., and wife of the Honorable Isaac Senter, Medical
Director in the American Army, and subsequently third president, in succession, of the
Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati.
Among those of Colonial consequence who more particularly showed hospitality to the
French Officers during their stay in Rhode Island may be mentioned the Colonial families in
Newport:
Mason, Channing, Ellery, Wanton, Malbone, Hunter, Coddington, Coggeshall, Gibbs,
Mumford, Brinley, Bull, Collins, Brenton, Elaston, Potter, Dyer, Vernon, Rogers, Ward and
Anthony.
In Narragansett:
Gardiner, Nlles, Brenton, Babcock, Stanton, Champlin, Hazard, Robinson, Potter,
WlUett, Cole and Helme.
In Providence:
Bowen. Nightingale, Allen, Angel, Cooke, Clark, Brown, Foster, Hopkins, Field,
Jenkins, Olney, Barton, Tilllnghast, Greene, Russell, Bucklin, Wheaton, Atwell, Drowne,
Whipple, Hopkins, Thayer and Williams.
The encampment of the Auxiliary Army in Providence was but brief, from November
11th to December 1st, 1782.
Chief Commissary Claude Blanchard records in his journal that when he visited
62
On the 23rd February, 1781, Count de Rochambeau from his headquarters
in Ne\¥port, R. I., wrote to General Washington as follows :
"Yesterday was the anniversary of the birthday of Your Excellency, but,
on account of its falling on Sunday, we adjourned the fete 'til to-day. We will
ctlebrate it with but one regret and that is that Your Excellency cannot be a
witness of the effusion of our hearts."
Thus was first, officially, celebrated the birthday of Washington which the
Cincinnati have never failed to commemorate since his decease.
On the 6th March, 1781, General Washington, Commander in Chief, with
two Aides de Camp, came to Newport to further concert military and naval
operations.
He crossed from the main land by Connanicut Ferry in the barge of the
Chevalier des Touches and en route visited him on his flagship le Duc-de-
Bourgogne, 80, and was received with a salute and other naval honors accorded
a Marshal of France, which his rank as "General and Commander in Chief"
entitled him.
He then landed at Long Wharf, Newport, where he was received by
Count de Rochambeau and his staff, and conducted between two lines of soldiers
first to the State House, and then to Headquarters at the Vernon House.
In the evening the town was illuminated and a ball was given at Mrs. Mary
Cowley's Assembly Rooms on Church Street.
General Washington opened the ball with the beautiful Miss Margaret
Champlin, whose brother, the Honorable Christopher Grant Champlin, subse-
quently became a member of the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati.
While in Newport General Washington officially reviewed the Auxiliary
Army and throughout his stay was accorded all the miHtary honors due a
Marshal of France.
On the 6th April, 1781, the Count de Rochambeau in a communication to
the Honorable William Greene, Governor of the State, from his headquarters
in Newport, said, after referring to delays in procuring boats "which may be
prejudicial to the public service," "I beg Your Excellency to send me an order
which I may make use of on all occasions that I may have the boats at the same
price and conditions as the Continental Army.
"As this Corps is a part of it, it is but just that it should be treated in the
same manner ; it is likewise for the service of the common cause."
The Auxiliary Army subsequently marched from the State of Rhode
Island to join the main Continental Army in Westchester County, New York,
for the operations before the City of New York preliminary to their march
southward to the investment of Yorktown, Virginia.
After the return of the allied armies northward to the memorable joint
encampment at Verplanck's Point where Washington again officially reviewed
the Auxiliary Army, that army was ordered 22nd October, 1782, once more to
Rhode Island preliminary to departure from United States.
Before final departure the French Officers, then in Newport, gave a fare-
well ball at Mrs. Mary Cowley's Assembly Rooms in November of that year.
The Prince de Broglie, and Counts de Segur and de Vauban, honored
names in the Cincinnati, constituted a Committee of Arrangements.
in Providence Brigadier General James M. Varnum, late of the Continental Army and, at
the time Major General commanding the Rhode Island Militia, (afterward in 1786 President
of the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati) they conversed in the I^atin language
as one could not speak English and the other could not speak French.
63
The room was beautifully decorated and, according to a contemporaneous
report of the occasion, "an elegant collation was served."
Prince de Broglie, in his memoirs, referring to this pleasing event, says :
"We met with neither reluctance nor refusal when we spoke of dancing.
"Our company was composed of some twenty young ladies, some of them
married, all beautifully dressed, and all appearing to be pleased. We toasted
gaily at supper and the entertainment passed off highly satisfactorily.
"The second day aftter this little entertainment we left so as to rejoin the
Army at Providence. We quitted Newport with great regret but not without
first having kissed the hand of Polly Lawton."
The Duke de Lauzun, who commanded Lauzun's Legion, in his Memoirs,
refers to Madam Deborah Hunter, of Newport, and her three "charming daugh-
ters whom she had perfectly well educated," and adds : "when I was taken
seriously ill she brought me to her house. Had the Misses Hunter been my
sisters I could not have liked them better."
So devoted was he to this charming family that, when the Auxiliary Armv
was encamped in Providence and about to depart, he mounted his horse and
rode to Newport to spend an evening at their home and bid them farewell.
Long since has all that gallant and lovely company passed away, but the
Cincinnati of Rhode Island, representing the old Colonial families of the State,
still cherish the traditions of that time when the gallant French Officers, repre-
sentatives of the higher nobility of their country, were stationed there.
The officers of the Auxiliary Army, with but three or four exceptions, first
saw General Washington, Commander in Chief, when he came to Newport,
R. L, in March, 1781.
Throughout ail their extant diaries is noticeable their profound admiration
and veneration for his character and abilities and how deeply they were im-
pressed by his noble appearance and demeanor.
Their diaries also show their pleasurable surprise and intense interest in
the contentment, peace, independence of character, regard for law, and dignified
manners, of the people of the State of Rhode Island.
In referring to Washington, the Marquis de Chastellux, of the Auxiliary
Army, and member of the French Academy, in his "Travels through America,
1780-2," has recorded :
"Let it be said that Conde was bold, Turenne prudent, Eugene, adroit,
Catinat disinterested, not so can Washington be characterized. It will be said
of him that at the end of a long civil war he had nothing to reproach himself
with. If anything can be more marvelous than such a character it is the unan-
imity of opinion in his favor : warrior, magistrate, — people all love and admire
him, all speak of him only of tenderness and veneration. His figure is noble
and tall, well formed and perfectly proportioned, his countenance mild and
agreeable, but such as no one would mention any particular features, and on
leaving him there only remains the recollection of a beautiful figure. His air
i? neither grave nor familiar, and on his forehead there is an impress of thought,
but never of disquietude; in inspiring respect he inspires confidence, and his
smile is always that of benevolence."
Count Mathieu Dumas, of the Auxiliary Army, in "Memoirs of My Own
Time," has said :
"His dignified address, his simplicity of manners and mild gravity, sur-
prised our expectations and won every heart. I had perfect leisure to admire
the perfect harmony of his noble and fine countenance, with the simplicity of
language and the justice and truth of his observations."
64
Chief Commissary Claude Blanchard of the Auxiliary Anny in his journal
has said :
"His face is handsome, noble and mild. He is tall. I mark it a fortunate
day that in which I have been able to behold a man so truly great."
Count Axel de Fersen, Aide de Camp to Rochambeau, in a letter to his
father, dated Newport, i6th October, 1780, referred to Count de Rochambeau's
recent interview of September 20th, 1780, at Hartford, with Washington, and
said:
"M. de Rochambeau sent me in advance to announce his arrival, and I had
lime to see this man, illustrious if not unique in our century. His handsome
an.d majestic, while at the same time mild and open countenance, perfectly
reflect his moral qualities ; he looks the hero."
Baron Cromot du Bourg, Aide de Camp to Count de Rochambeau, has
recorded in his diary his impressions of Washington as follows :
"His physiognomy is noble in the highest degree and his manners are
those of one perfectly accustomed to society."
In the diaries of Counts William Deuxponts and de Segur, Prince de
Broglie and Baron VonClozen of the Auxiliary Army, are to be found pointed
references to Washington of similar character.
Upon the occasion of the final departure of the French Army from Rhode
Island, the following address was made to the Count de Rochambeau :
The Governor, Council and Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and Provi-
dence Plantations, in General Assembly convened, being excited by the sincerest attach-
ment and respect, present their most affectionate and cordial acknowledgments to your
Excellency and the officers and troops composing the Army under your command, for
the great and eminent services rendered since your first arrival in this State. Nothing
can equal our admiration at the manner in which you have participated with the Army
of the United States, in the fatigues, the toils, and the glory, that have attended the
allied armies, but the magnanimity of the Father of His people and the Protector of
the rights of mankind.
Our inquietude at the prospect of your removal would be inexpressible, but from the
fullest conviction of the wisdom that directs the councils of His Most Christian Majesty.
May Heaven reward your exertions in the cause of Humanity, and the particular
regard you have paid to the rights of the citizens ; and may your laurels be crowned by
the smiles of the best of Kings, and the grateful feelings of the most generous people.
Done in General Assembly, at East Greenwich, this 27th day of November, A. D.,
1782, and in the seventh year of independence.
I have the honor to be, in behalf of the Council and Representatives, with great
esteem and respect.
Your Excellency's most obedient and very humble servant,
William Greene,
Governor.
By Order :
Samuel Ward, Deputy Secretary.
The Comte de Rochambeau.
To this address the following answer was made :
Providence, November, 28, 1782.
Gentlemen :
It is with an inexpressible pleasure that I and the troops under my command have
received the marks of esteem and of acknowledgment which you are so good as to give
to the services which we have been happy enough to render to the United States, jointly
with the American Army, under the orders of General Washington.
65
This State is the first we have been acquainted with. The friendly behavior of its
inhabitants now, and at our arrival here, will give them always a right to our gratitude.
The confidence you have in the wisdom of the views of our Sovereign, as to the
disposition and march of his troops, must likewise assure you that on no occasion what-
ever will he separate his interests from those of his faithful allies.
Le Comte de Rochambeau.
CHAPTER XI.
SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI IN FRANCE.
ORIGINAL MEMBERS.
FRENCH ARMY.
Marechal de France Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, Count de Rocham-
beau.
Knight of the Holy Ghost,
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis,
Grand Ofiicer of the Legion of Honor.
He was born at the Chateau de Rochambeau in Vendome, Diocese of Blois,
1st July, 1725.
His family, which gave many distinguished officers both to the Land and
Naval services of France, was an ancient one, originally in Touraine and then
in Vendome, dating from the twelfth century, although the regular filiations
to the present time are only recorded by d'Hozier from 1477.
His father, Joseph-Charles de Vimeur, Marquis de Rochambeau, Council-
lor of the King, Bailli d'Epee of the Duchy of Vendome, was Governor of
Vendome from the i8th March, 1728, until his decease, and Lieutenant General
of the Marshals of France.
Upon his father's decease he succeeded to the title of Marquis, although
but a second son, by reason of his elder brother having previously died, 29th
April, 1737, when in the fourteenth year of his age.
Through life, however, he was generally designated by the title of Count,
by which he was best known.
In his youth he was a scholar at the College of Oratory in Vendome and
destined for a military career.
Upon the decease of Charles VI, Emperor of Germany, France became
ijivolved, in October, 1740, in the War of Succession.
Through the influence of his family the Count de Rochambeau, then in
his seventeenth year, was permitted to join as a Cadet the regiment of St.
Simon Cavalry at Strasbourg in December, 1741, before it passed the Rhine,
and saw service with it in Bohemia under the orders of Marshals Maillebois, de
Broglie and de Belle-Isle.
On the 24th May, 1742, he was gazetted a Cornet in his regiment and was
present on the loth October at the defeat of the Pandours near Ellenbogen and
at the capture of that place and of Caden ; also at the relief of Braunaw when
Prince Charles of Lorraine raised the siege the 9th December, and in the retreat
to Eger.
66
Returning to France in July, 1743, he was on the 23rd of that month
promoted to Captain and commanded a troop of his regiment on the Rhine
during the remainder of that year's campaign.
He served during 1744 under Marshal de Coigny, and was in the capture
of Weissembourg 5th July and of Lautern and Suffelsheim ; at the affair of
Haguenau the 23rd August and Siege of Fribourg, which capitulated on the
6th November, and passed the winter in Suabia.
In the Army of the lower Rhine in 1745, under the orders of the Prince
de Conti, he served at the Sieges of Mons, Charleroi and Namur, and in the
battle of Raucoux the nth October.
He was made Aide de Camp of the Count de Clermont-Tonnerre, an office
which brought him under the particular notice of the Duke of Orleans.
On the 3rd March, 1747, Louis XV appointed him Colonel of the regiment
of Infantry de la Marche.
He comm.anded it the 5th July at the battle of Lawfeldt, under the personal
notice of the King, where his regiment formed part of the charging column
which, after several ineffectual efforts, finally succeeded in entering the village
at the point of the bayonet.
In this movement he received two severe wounds.
At the Siege of Maestricht, which was begun on the 7th May, 1748, he
was intrusted, having fourteen companies, with the duty of completing the
investment of the place upon the side of the river Meuse.
On the 1st June, 1755, the King accorded to him the promise of the Gov-
e-nment of Vendome in succession to his father.
In the month of April, 1756, he took part in the expedition to the Island
cf Minorca under Marshal Duke de Richelieu.
His conduct in the assault of Fort St. Philippe and of the other forts of
Mahon was honorably mentioned in the official reports, in consequence of which
he received the cross of St. Louis and was appointed on the 23d July, 1756, a
Brigadier of Infantry.
In 1757 he was employed in the Army in Germany, and on the ist March
was detached with 4,000 men to operate in the district of Halberstadt.
He took the fort of Rawenstein, defended by fourteen pieces of artillery,
and made the Russian garrison prisoners of war. On the 26th July he contrib-
uted to the defeat of the Hanoverians at Hastenbeck by Marshal d'Estrees and
after the submission, on the 3rd and 4th August, of Minden and of Hanovef,
be accompanied the army during its march into Zell.
At the battle of Crevelt, 23rd June, 1758, he was so stationed as to be able
with three brigades of infantry to resist for some time the efforts of a consider- ■
able portion of the army under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick.
On the 7th March, 1759, he was appointed Colonel of the regiment of
Auvergne, and on the ist August fought under Marshal de Contades in the
battle of Minden, in which the French were defeated. Having command of an
elite brigade he forced General Luckner to retire through the gorges of Sal-
niunster, and harrassed the rear guard of Prince Ferdinand during the latter's
retreat through Saxenhausen to Cassel, the loth June, 1760, after having been
defeated at Corbach by Marshal Duke de Broglie.
He fought at Warbourg on the 31st July and distinguished himself at
Radern, where his regiment, Auvergne, which, as it consisted of two battalions
was designated a brigade, had to ascend an exceedingly difficult height in
-order to attack the enemy.
w
COUNT DE ROCHAMBEAU.
MARSHAL OF FRANCE.
VICE PRESIDENT FRENCH CINCINNATI.
67
Having joined the troops under Lieutenant General Count de Stainville,
he took part in the attack upon and dispersion of a corps of ten thousand of the
enemy under Count de Fersen, whose artillery and baggage were captured.
On the i6th October, 1760, in the bloody battle of Clostercamp, which
forced the Hanoverians to raise the Siege of Wesel, Count de Rochambeau
was again wounded.
On the 20th February, 1761, he was promoted to be Marechal de Camp
and on the 7th March, 1761, was appointed Inspector General of Infantry.
On the 2 1 St of that month he distinguished himself in the affair of Grun-
berg, and on the 15th and i6th July in the combats of Filinghausen, and made
his retreat in such good order that the enemy were enabled to obtain no ad-
vantage.
During the rest of that campaign and until the preliminaries of Fontain-
bleau, he had the command of bodies of troops at different times in several
marches through districts within the territory occupied by the contending
armies, but was not engaged in any action.
On the 1st April, 1766, he was promoted from a Chevalier to be Com-
mander, and on the 9th December, 1771, to be a Knight Grand Cross of the
Royal and MiHtary Order of Saint Louis.
On the 1 6th April, 1776, he was appointed Governor of Ville-Franche, and
on the 1st June, 1778, was assigned to duty in that portion of the Army assem-
bled in Normandy in the camp at Vaussieux under M. le Marechal de Broglie,
destined for a projected descent on England, the remainder being encamped at
Parame in Brittany.
From the ist June, 1779, until the 20th December, 1779, he was Governor
of the town of Vendome.
On the 1st March, 1780, he was promoted to be Lieutenant General and
assigned to the command of the "Auxiliary Army" assembled for embarkation
for the United States.
No selection could have been more judicious.
In addition to great military experience and knowledge of civil affairs,
Count de Rochambeau possessed many qualities which peculiarly fitted him for
the position assigned him under General Washington.
Dignified, temperate, prudent and conciliatory in his demeanor and ear-
nestly desirous of the success of the Allied Armies, he preserved at all times
the most perfect discipline in the forces under his command and never neg-
lected that just degree of respect due both to the Constituted Civil Authorities
in the several States where they were quartered and to the Commander in
Chief.
As a consequence he was enabled to bear a glorious part in those final
campaigns which secured the Independence of the United States and added to
the glory of the Allied Arms, and also obtained the lasting respect and regard
of the American people, and the lifelong friendship and affectionate confidence
of General Washington.
On the 22nd May, 1781, Count de Rochambeau, for the second time, went
from Newport to Connecticut and met General Washington at Wethersfield,
near Hartford and concerted operations for the campaign of 1781.
On the 9th June, 1781, marching orders were issued to the Auxiliary Army,
and on the 6th July, 1781, it joined the American Army for the tentative move-
ment against the British Army in New York City and joint reconnoissance in
force.
On the 19th July, 1781, the Allied Armies withdrew from the lines before
68
New York City to march to Yorktown, Va., and on the 26th September were
concentrated at Willamsburg, Va., and immediately afterward began the siege
of Yorktown.
On 15th October, 1781, from the Camp before Yorktown, Count de Roch-
ambeau wrote to Lieutenant General Count de Grasse commanding the Block-
ading Fleet and said :
"Last night, my dear Count, we stormed, sword in hand, the two redoubts on the
"enemy's left, killing or taking prisoners the greater part of those within the works.
"The Gatinais and Royal-Deu.x-Ponts grenadiers, led by Baron de Viomenil and Count
"Guillaume des Deux-Ponts, overcame every obstacle, notwithstanding a hot fire, and
"showed the most admirable valor. They gained a lodgment there which enabled us to
"unite these two works to our second parallel. The smaller of the two redoubts was
"carried by the Americans, commanded by Lafayette. This was the one that most menaced
"the York river. The other redoubt, which was larger and stronger, was stormed by the
"French. We lost sixty men, killed or wounded. To-night we will surround the enemy
"with ricochet batteries, within short range of his works on our second parallel. These
"batteries will all be in working order within forty-eight hours. Then I will guarantee
"that Lord Cornwallis will be in our power within six days at the latest, if you will send
"up Le Vaillant,* which will have to undergo almost no fire."
Four days later, on the 19th October, 1781, the British Army under Lieu-
tenant General Earl Cornwallis marched out of its lines and passed the Amer-
ican and Auxiliary Armies, paraded to receive it, to a designated field where
the rank and file deposited their arms and surrendered their standards and be-
came, with their officers, prisoners of war.
At the same time the British Squadron in York River surrendered to
Lieutenant General Count de Grasse of the French Navy. This was the second
instance in the War of the Revolution for American Independence in which a
British Army had been compelled to capitulate, the first having been when
Lieutenant General John Burgoyne surrendered to Major General Horatio
Gates on the 17th October, 1777.
On the 29th October, 1781, Count de Rochambeau received the thanks of
the Congress of the United States for the cordiality, zeal, judgment and forti-
tude with which he seconded and advanced the progress of the Allied Army
against the British Garrison in York and Congress, at the same time, directed
that two pieces of cannon captured at Yorktown should be given him in recogni-
tion of the "illustrious part which he bore in effectuating the surrender."
On the 29th November, 1781, the Continental Congress wrote to Louis XVI
and said:
* * * "We mention with great pleasure the zeal and ability manifested by the
"Count de Rochambeau, commanding Your Majesty's forces in the Allied Army.
"His conduct, and that of his officers under him, merit our fullest approbation ; and
"we are further made happy by the perfect harmony and affection which has subsisted
"between the troops of the two nations."
The Auxiliary Army having, after a time, taken its march northward
through Philadelphia, finally encamped with the main Continental Army near
Verplanck's Point, September 20, 1782-October 22, 1782, and then marched to
Rhode Island, except Lauzun's Hussars, and from thence to Boston, where it
embarked.
In recognition of his great services, Louis XVI, on the 8th June, 1783, made
him a Knight of the Holy Ghost.
•This was a ship of the line of 64 guns under Capitalne de Vaisseau M. le Chevalier
De Cany.
69
In January, 1784, he was appointed to the Chief Command in the Province
of Picardy, and in 1789 was transferred to the Government of Alsace.
On the 4th July, 1784, he was elected Vice President of the French State
Society of the Cincinnati and a Member of its Standing Committee and exer-
cised such functions until the Reign of Terror.
From 6th November to 12th December, 1788, he was a member of the
second Assembly of Notables at Versailles.
He was also continuously Governor of Villefranche, to which he had been
appointed in succession, i6th April, 1776.
On 28th December, 1791, he was created a Marshal of France, and on the
21 st of April, 1792, was appointed to the command of the Army of the North
in the war with Austria.
Having been directed from Paris on the 24th April, 1792, to commence
hostilities, without adequate preparation, by an attack on the Post of Quivrain,
undertaken against his advice on stated reasons, the movement did not meet with
the desired success.
The Minister of War then realized the sagacity of the advice he had
given, but Count de Rochambeau had lost confidence in the ability of those
who were directing the affairs of the Government to do so successfully and asked
to be relieved from the command, which was granted, and he returned in June,
1792, to his estate in Vendome.
His request for retirement excited great regret in the French Army, and
the National Constituent Assembly, by a decree of the 7th May, 1792, in
recognition of his services and advice given, tendered to him their regard.
During the Reign of Terror he was arrested on the 6th April, 1793, charged
with being a colleague of General in Chief the Marquis de Lafayette and of
Marshal Liickner and imprisoned in the Conciergerie, but was released on the
29th October, 1793.
Upon the First Consul, Buonaparte, becoming Emperor of the French he
was, on the 26th October, 1804, appointed a Grand Ofificer of the Legion of
Honor.
Author of "Military, Historical and Political Memoirs" of his own times,
in two volumes.
The character of the Count de Rochambeau is peculiarly exemplified in a
reply made by him to a letter from the Marquis de Lafayette written by the
latter at the Camp of the Main Continental Army, Orangetown, N. J., August
i8th, 1780, wherein the enthusiastic young Officer had expressed more freely
than military etiquette, or his age, rank or experience warranted, his sentiments
concerning the military situation and what should be done.
Count de Rochambeau's reply was as follows :
Newport, 27th August, 1780.
"Permit an aged father, my dear Marquis, to reply to you as he would to a son whom
"he tenderly loves and esteems.
"You know me well enough to feel convinced that I do not require being urged to
"action, for the reason that when I, at my age, have formed a resolution founded upon
''military and state reasons, and supported by existing conditions, no possible instigation
"can induce me to change my mind without a positive order from my General. I am happy
"to say that his despatches, on the contrary, inform me that my ideas correspond sub-
"stantially with his own as to all those points which would allow us to turn this into an
"offensive operation, and that we only differ in relation to some small details, on which
"a. slight explanation, or his commands, would suffice to remove all difficulties in an instant.
"As a Frenchman, you feel humiliated, my dear friend, at seeing an English Squadron
"blockading in this State, with a decided superiority of frigates and ships, the Chevalier
70
"de Ternay's squadron; but bear in mind, my dear Marquis, that the port of Brest has
"been blockaded for two months by an English fleet, and this is what prevents the
"second division of my Army from setting out under the escort of M. de Bougainville.
"If you had made the last two wars, you would have heard nothing spoken of but these
"same blockades; I hope that M. de Guichen, on one side, and M. de Gaston, on the
"other, will revenge us for these momentary mortifications.
"It is always right, my dear Marquis, to believe that Frenchmen are invincible;
"but I, after an experience of forty years, am going to confide a great secret to you ;
"there are no men more easily beaten when they have lost confidence in their Chiefs, and
"they lose it instantly when their lives have been compromised as the result of any private
"or personal ambition. If I have been so fortunate as to have retained their confidence
"until the present moment, I may declare, upon the most scrupulous examination of my
"own conscience, that I owe it entirely to this fact, that, of about fifteen thousand men who
"have been killed or wounded under my command, of various ranks, and in the most
"bloody actions, I have not to reproach myself with having caused the death of a single
"man for my own personal advantage.
"You wrote to Chevalier de Chastellux, my dear Marquis, that the interview I re-
"quested of our General has embarrassed him, because it only becomes necessary after
"the arrival of the second division, when there will be quite time enough to act. But
"you must surely have forgotten that I have unceasingly requested that interview imme-
"diately, and that it is absolutely necessary that he, the Admiral and I should concert
"together all our projects and details, that in case one of the three chances should occur
"and enable us to act offensively, our movements may be prompt and decisive. In either
"of these three cases, my dear Marquis, you will find in your old prudent father some
"remnants of vigor and activity. Be ever convinced of my sincere affection, and that
"if I pointed out to you very gently what displeased me in your last despatch, I felt
"at the time convinced that the warmth of your heart had somewhat impaired the cool-
"ness of your judgment.
"Retain that latter quality in the Council room, and reserve all the former for the
"hour of action. It is always the aged father, Rochambeau, who is addressing his dear
"son, Lafayette, whom he loves, and will ever love and esteem until his latest breath."
Grand Marshal Jean-Axel, Count de Fersen of Sweden.
Knight of the Seraphim and
Knight of the Sword in Sweden,
Knight of the Order of Military Merit in France.
He was permitted by the King of Sweden (Adolphus Frederick) to enter
the French service in 1770 as Lieutenant of the regiment Royal Baviere, in-
fantry.
In Sweden he first entered the military service in 1769 as corporal in the
regiment of Westrogothie, cavalry, and was promoted to be Lieutenant in the
regiment of Smaland, cavalry, and then Captain in the King's Light Cavalry,
with the rank of Chief of Squadron.
On the 20th January, 1780, he was appointed by Louis XVL to be Mestre
de Camp of Infantry, and became first Aide de Camp to M. le Comte de Ro-
chambeau, commanding the Auxiliary Army, and came with him to Rhode
Island.
For his services at Yorktown he was, on the 27th January, 1782, assigned
to be Mestre de Camp en second of the regiment Royal Deux-Ponts, infantry,
and on the 21st September, 1783, was promoted to be Mestre de Camp Pro-
prietaire of the regiment Royal Suedois, infantry, in the French Army and re-
ceived a pension of twenty thousand livres.
As a further recompense for his services in the United States, he was ap-
pointed by the King of Sweden (Gustavus III.) titular Colonel in the Swedish
Army and Lieutenant Colonel of the 9th (Adels-Fanan) regiment of Light
Cavalry.
In 1787 he was appointed Captain-Lieutenant in the Gardes du Corps of
Gustavus III., and accompanied him in the campaign against the Russians in
Finland in July, 1788, and returned with him to Stockholm in the following
month.
In October, 1788, he was sent to Paris to look after the King's (Gustavus
III.) interests, and, while in France, joined his regiment, Royal Suedois, in
garrison at Valenciennes.
On the nth June, 179 1, he was sent by Louis XVI. with letters to Brussels
and never afterward was able to rejoin his regiment in the French service.
He endeavored to aid Louis XVI. to escape from the Tuileries, and for this
purpose secretly returned from Brussels, and on the night of the 21st June,
1791, in the disguise of a coachman, he drove the King and royal family in a
carriage from the Petit Carrousel to the Porte St. Martin, where they entered
a berline and continued their journey until arrested in Varennes.
He, however, remained in Paris and, on the next day, departed for Brus-
sels, where he arrived safely.
On the 2ist July, 1791, he was sent by Gustavus III. on a special mission
to Vienna.
Devotedly attached to Marie Antoinette and the royal family of France,
he endeavored to see her and again concert measures for their deliverance, and
accordingly, on the nth February, 1792, left Brussels for Paris in disguise and
under a false name, and arrived there on the second day following.
Finding himself unable to succeed in his purposed undertaking, he left
Paris on the 21st February, 1792, and arrived in Brussels four days later. He
never again saw the Queen.
Promoted to be Major General in the Swedish Army, 15th May, 1792.
Appointed Ambassador from Sweden to Louis XVI., i6th April, 1793, but
was unable to act as the King had been dethroned.
Appointed Ambassador from Sweden to the Congress of Rastadt, 6th No-
vember, 1796.
In 1799 he was appointed Chancellor of the University of Upsal and a Lord
of the Kingdom.
In 1800 he was appointed a member of the Regency and promoted to be
Lieutenant General, and in 1801 was promoted to be Grand Marshal of Sweden.
He was the eldest son of Field-Marechal Frederic Axel de Fersen, for-
merly Minister of State in Sweden.
His letters to his father, while he was in the Auxiliary Army and journal
of operations, found in extracts from his papers, published in 1877 by his grand
nephew Baron R. !M. de Klinskowstrom, Colonel in the Swedish Army, give an
excellent account of the French Army in 1780- 1783.
He went with Count de Rochambeau to Hartford, Conn., in September,
1780, to meet General Washington to concert operations.
Having been sent a few miles in advance to announce Count de Rocham-
beau's proximity, he first met General Washington, and afterward recorded in
glowing language his impressions of the Commander in Chief.
Field Marshal Curt-Bogislaus-Ludwig-Christopher, Count Von Stedingk
of Sweden.*
Knight of the Seraphim, and
Knight of the Sword in Sweden,
Knight of the Order of MiHtary Merit in France,
Knight of the Black Eagle in Prussia,
Knight of Saint Andrew and of Saint Alexander Newski, and
Of Saint Anne, ist Class, in Russia.
(Formerly known as the Baron de Stedingk.)
From 1757 he was a Sous-Lieutenant in the Swedish Army and served in
Pomerania against Frederick II of Prussia.
Assigned in 1759 to the Prince Royal Regiment of Infantry in Sweden,
and transferred in 1766 to the regiment Royal Suedois in the service of France,
and promoted to Captain in the same in 1770, meanwhile having been permitted
to attend the University of Upsala, where he graduated in 1768.
Having been promoted in 1776 to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in his
regiment, he served in 1778 under Count D'Estaing in his operations in Rhode
Island, and was with the troops which were landed on Conanicut Island in
Narragansett Bay.
He also served in 1779 under Count d'Estaing, and commanded a Division
at the Siege of Savannah, where he was severely wounded while leading it to
the assault 9th October, 1779.
For these services he was, on his return to France, appointed by Louis
XVI, i8th January, 1780, Mestre de Camp en Second of the regiment Alsace,
Infantry,' and, in the same year, was appointed by Gustavus III, Colonel of
the regiment of Dragoons of Carelie in North Finland.
In 1785 he was promoted to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the
regiment Royal Suedois.
In 1787 he left France to return to Sweden, and in the following year was
promoted to Major General in the Swedish Army and commanded a division
during the ensuing campaigns in the war with Russia.
On the 13th August, 1790, he was appointed, by Gustavus III, Ambassador
to Russia, and was continued in that capacity by Gustavus IV until after the
peace of Tilsit concluded by the Czar Alexander, whereupon he returned
to Stockholm.
Meanwhile, in 1799, he was appointed Colonel of the 42d or "Stedingk"
regiment of infantry and promoted to Lieutenant General.
In 1809 he assisted in the Revolution which resulted in the abdication of
Gustavus IV.
He was then sent as Envoy Extraordinary to Abo in Finland to negotiate
a peace with Russia and thus terminate a war hastily declared, against advice,
by Gustavus IV. He then returned to St. Petersburg as Ambassador and con-
tinued there until June, 181 1.
In September, 181 1, he was promoted to be Field Marshal, and given by
Charles XIII the title of Count.
On the 22d July, 1812, he was appointed to command the Swedish Army of
•His great grandson. Captain Hans Ludwlg Count von Stedingk, succeeded him in
the Rhode Island State Society of Cincinnati.
MARQUIS DE VIOMENIL.
MARSHAL OF FRANCE.
73
30,ooo men which subsequently operated with the Allied Armies against the
forces under the Emperor Napoleon and entered Paris in 1814.
He was then accredited as Ambassador to Louis XVIII.
After his return from this embassy he was appointed Ambassador Extra-
ordinary to attend the coronation of the Czar Nicholas I of Russia and arrived
at St. Petersburg on the ist June, 1826.
He left Moscow to return home 27th September, 1826.
This was his last public employment.
He was the son of Baron Christophe Adam Von Stedingk, who married
the daughter of Field Marshal Schwerin and made the campaign of 1742 as his
Aide de Camp.
The Posthumous Memoirs of Field Marshal Comte Von Stedingk, in three
volumes, were edited by Lieut. General Comte de Grefoe Maguue Frederik
Ferdinand Bjornstjerna, and published in 1844.
Comte Von Stedingk was born at Pinnau 26th October, 1746, and died in
Stockholm 7th January, 1837.
Captain General Claude-Anne, Duke de Saint-Simon-Maubleru.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis,
Knight Grand Cross of Charles III of Spain,
Grandee of Spain of the First Class.
(Formerly known as the Marquis de Saint-Simon of France.)
From the 3d January, 1770, he was a Brigadier General of Infantry and
in 1771 also Colonel of the Provincial regiment of Poictier's, infantry.
Transferred to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Tou-
raine, infantry, 29th June, 1775, and sailed with it for Martinique in 1779.
He was also appointed titular Commandant en second in the government
of the County of Burgundy.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist March, 1780.
In 1 78 1, he commanded the detachment from the garrison of Saint Do-
mingo which embarked at Cape Francois 5th August, 1781, and was transported
by Count de Grasse's fleet to Virginia and joined at Williamsburg, 8th Septem-
ber, 1781, Major General, the Marquis de Lafayette's division of theAmerican
Army, and soon afterward the Auxiliary Army for the closing campaign
against Lieut. General Earl Cornwallis.
Wounded at "Yorktown."
Appointed Commandant of Saint Jean Pied de Port, 23d May, 1783.
Deputy from the nobility of Angouleme in the States General of the 5th
May, 1789.
Subsequently emigrated to Spain and was appointed in 1795 Lieutenant
General in the Spanish Army and served as second in command in the Army of
Navarre.
Appointed in 1796, Colonel Commandant of the infantry regiment of
Bourbon, and, in May of that year, Captain General of Old Castile.
In 1801 he commanded the Army ordered to operate against Portugal.
Created, on the 15th September, 1803, a Grandee of Spain of the first
class.
In 1808 he defended Madrid against the Napoleonic invasion.
In 1814 he was created a Duke by Ferdinand VII, and promoted to be
Captain General of Spain and appointed Colonel of the Walloon Guards.
74
Marechal de France Charles-Joseph-Hyacinthe Du Houx, Marquis de
Viomenil.
Knight of the Holy Ghost,
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis,
Officer of the Legion of Honor,
Peer of France.
(Formerly known as the Count de Viomenil.)
Formerly Brigadier General of Infantry from the 3d January, 1770, and
Mestre de Camp Commandant 3d regiment Chasseurs a Cheval, 29th January,
1779.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist March, 1780, and served continu-
ously in the Auxiliary Army from the time of its arrival in Rhode Island to its
final departure from the United States.
Assigned, 13th June, 1783, to the charge of the inspection of the French
armies, and, on the ist April, 1788, to be Division Inspector of the Cavalry in
the 1st Territorial Division.
Appointed Governor of Martinique in March, 1789. Returned to France
in 1790 and emigrated in 1791, and joined the Prince de Conde and subsequently
entered the Russian service.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General ist January, 1801.
Returned to France in May, 1814, and was appointed on the 21st July,
1815, Commandant of the nth Alilitary Division, and, on the 19th September,
1815, Governor of the 12th Military Division, and, on the 12th October, 1815,
Governor of the 13th Military Division.
Promoted to be Marshal of France, 3d July, 1816, and created a Marquis
20th December, 1817.
He was younger brother of Lieutenant General Baron de Viomenil.
General in Chief Armand-Louis de Gontaut Biron, Duke de Lauzun et de
Biron.>J«
Peer of France.
Formerly Mestre de Camp of the Royal regiment of Dragoons and pro-
moted 1st March, 1780, to be Brigadier General of Dragoons.
He commanded the Land Forces in the squadron of the Marquis de
Vandreuil, which captured Senegal and Fort St. Louis, in Africa, 30th Septem-
ber, 1779.
Having raised a Volunteer Legion of Hussars and infantry known as
"Lauzun's Legion," for service with the Auxiliary Army, he was appointed
Mestre de Camp Proprietaire of the same, and came with six hundred of his
Legion to Rhode Island. The remainder of his command was with the second
portion of the Auxiliary Army which was prevented leaving France and
never joined him, except a small portion.
His Legion was actively employed, and had many skirmishes with the
enemy, including the creditable aflfair near Gloucester, Va., 4th October, 1781,
where three hussars were killed and two captains and eleven rank and file were
wounded.
After the capitulation at Yorktown, and as a mark of distinction, he was
^Every member of the French State Society thus designated was a Knight of the
Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis.
DUKE DE LAUZUN ET DE BIRON.
GENERAL IN CHIEF FRENCH ARMY.
75
sent to France in the frigate la Surveillante with the dispatches announcing the
victory.
Having re-embarked on the 19th May, 1782, to return to the United
States, he was on board I'Aigle frigate in the combat of that vessel, and la
Gloire frigate with the Hector, 74, on the 4th September, 1782.
His Legion remained on duty in the United States for several months after
the departure of the main body of the Auxiliary Army.
When he was about to depart with his command, the Continental Con-
gress, on the 1st May, 1783, expressed its pleasure at the harmony which had
subsisted and the good disposition and discipline of the officers and men of the
Legion, and, as a further testimony, "Resolved, That the Secretary for Foreign
Affairs inform the Duke de Lauzun, and the officers and men under his com-
mand, that the United States in Congress assembled are highly sensible of their
successful exertions in the cause of America, and of the strict attention which
they have at all times paid to the rights of its citizens ; and while they rejoice
at the events which have brought tranquillity to these States, it adds to their
pleasure to reflect that it restores those who have been active in procuring it
to their friends and their country."
In recognition of these services, his Legion was, by an ordinance of Louis
XVI, dated 14th September, 1783, taken on the regular establishment of the
French Army as the 6th or Lauzun's regiment of Hussars.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp ist January, 1784, and to be Lieutenant
General 6th October, 1791.
Deputy of the Nobility of Quercy in the States General of the 5th May,
1789.
Assigned to the command of the Army of Italy, 5th April, 1792.
Promoted to be a General-in-Chief in the Army, 9th July, 1792, and trans-
ferred to the command of the Army of the Rhine.
Transferred, on the 30th September, 1792, to the command of the Army
of Observation destined to watch the movements of the Austrian forces be-
tween Rheinfeld and Philipsbourg.
Transferred on the 15th May, 1793, to the command of the Army of the
Coasts of La Rochelle, and took Samur and defeated the Vendeans.
In consequence, however, of the excesses of the Terrorists of the French
Revolution, who had secured control of the government, he tendered his resig-
nation and insisted on his discharge from the military service.
This irritated the Jacobinical Committee of Public Safety, by whose direc-
tions he was arrested and sent before the infamous Revolutionary Tribunal.
Guillotined at Paris, 31st December, 1793.
He was the nephew of M. le Marechal Louis-Antoine de Gontaut, Due de
Biron, Knight of the Holy Ghost, and Governor General of Languedoc, whom
he succeeded in the title of Biron in 1788.
He was the author of "L'Etat de Defense de I'Angleterre," and of a
Memoir of his own times, and of a Memoir published in 1792 on the defense
of the frontiers of the Sarre and of the Rhine.
Count de Segur in his Memoirs says that "to easy manners and a social
disposition, he united a generous spirit, whilst the natural grace of his deport-
ment was quite peculiar to himself."
The Prince de Talleyrand in his Memoirs, edited by the late Duke de
Broglie, Senator of France and Member of the French Academy, says of the
Duke de Biron and Lauzun, that he was "courageous, romantic, generous and
witty."
General in Chief Adam-Philippe, Count de Custine-Sarreck, Seigneur
de Roussy.>{<
Formerly, from 1763, Mestre de Camp Commandant of the Custine Regi-
ment of Dragoons, and was appointed Brigadier General of Dragoons ist
March, 1780, and transferred 8th March, 1780, to be Mestre de Camp Com-
mandant of the Regiment of Saintonge Infantry in the AuxiHary Army, and
came with it to Rhode Island.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, for his services at "Yorktown," 5th
December, 1781, and appointed Governor of Toulon, 19th April, 1782.
Deputy of the Nobility of Metz in the States General of 5th May, 1789.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General 6th October, 1791.
Assigned to the command of the Army of the Vosges, 5th April, 1792.
Promoted to be a General in Chief 6th October, 1792, and transferred to
the command of the Army of the Rhine vice M. le Marechal Baron de Liickner.
Transferred to the command of the Army of the North vice M. le Due de
Lauzun 8th May, 1793.
Guillotined at Paris, 28th August, 1793.
General in Chief Bernard-Joseph, Chevalier d'Anselme.>J<
Formerly, from the 17th July, 1777, Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment
of Soissonnois, infantry, in the Auxiliary Army, and came to Rhode Island in
1780.
He served with the land detachment from that army which embarked at
Newport, R. I., in M. des Touche's squadron, and participated in the naval
action of 16th March, 1781, and was subsequently at Yorktown.
Promoted, for these services, ist January, 1784, to be Colonel Second
Regiment d'Etat Major and received a pension of six hundred livres.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp 20th May, 1791, and to be Lieutenant
General 20th May, 1792.
Promoted to be General in Chief of the Army of Italy in October, 1792,
but held that command only until in December, 1792, when he was suspended
in its exercise.
Arrested by decree of the National Jacobinical Convention 14th February,
1793, and held in confinement until after the 9th Thermidor (27th July, 1794,)
and termination of the Reign of Terror, when he was released.
Author of a Justificatory Memoir, published in March, 1793.
He was the son of a former officer of the regiment of Soissonnois, infantry,
and entered the military service 27th September, 1745.
Lieutenant General Antoine-Charles Du Houx, Baron de Viomenil.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
He entered service in 1740 in the regiment of Limosin, infantry, of which
his father was chief of Battalion.
Promoted to be Captain in the same in 1747, and was wounded at the
Siege of Berg-op-Zoom in that year.
Promoted to be Colonel of the Volunteers of Dauphin, loth February,
COUNT DE CUSTINE-SARRECK.
GENERAL IN CHIEF FRENCH ARMY.
1759' and to be Brigadier General of Infantry, 25th July, 1762, and to be
Colonel of the Legion of Lorraine, 5th June, 1763.
He made the campaigns which terminated in the treaties of Aix-la-Chapelle
and Versailles, and served in Corsica at the head of the Legion of Lorraine.
He commanded in the expedition of Poland and was, in part, charged
with those important negotiations.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp 5th January, 1770, he was on the 1st
March, 1780, assigned to duty in the "Auxiliary Army" destined for service in
the United States, as next in Command to M. le Comte de Rochambeau, and
came with that Army to Rhode Island.
He commanded the troops which embarked in M. Des Touche's squadron
at Newport, Rhode Island, in March, 1781, for the projected expedition
against Benedict Arnold, then commanding a British force in Portsmouth, Va.,
and was on board the Due de Bourgogne, 80, in the resultant naval action of
the i6th March, 1781.
He also commanded the French column of assault which successfully
stormed redoubt No. 9 at Yorktown, Va., 14th October, 1781.
Having returned to France on the frigate I'Hermione, 2d February, 1782,
on a short leave, he re-embarked at Brest, 19th May, 1782, on I'Aigle, 40, and
was in the combat of that frigate and la Gloire, 32, with the ship of the line,
Hector, 74, 4th September, 1782.
On the 1st December, 1782, he took command of the Auxiliary Army
when it marched from Providence, R. I., to embark at Boston to return to
France.*
For his services at Yorktown, he was, on the 27th January, 1782, ap-
pointed Governor of La Rochelle and Tour.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General ist January, 1784.
During the French Revolution, before the fall of the monarchy, he was
named by the Princes, brothers of Louis XVI, Commandant of the advance
guard of the Army, which was directed to assemble at Coblentz to co-operate
against the Terrorists, but at the intercession of the King and Queen, who
wished to retain him with them, he declined the command.
In the memorable and bloody assault on the Tuileries by the Sans-Culottes
and Jacobins, loth August, 1792, he was mortally wounded while defending
the King, and died the 9th November, 1792, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.t
*When about to depart he wrote the following reply to General Washington's letter
of 7th December, 1782:
Boston, ISth December, 17S2.
Sir: — The veneration with which this army was penetrated from the first moment
they had the honor of being presented to Tour Excellency by Count de Rochambeau, their
confidence in your talents and the wisdom of your orders. — the remembrance of your
kindness and attention, and the example you set them in every critical circumstance, — the
approbation, regret and wishes you have honored them with at their departure, — these ar»
considerations, by which you may be assured there is not an individual officer in this
army who is not as sensibly touched as he is flattered by your approbation, or who does
not exceedingly regret being deprived the pleasure of being again presented to pay their
respects to Tour Excellency, and to express their feelings on this occasion.
Having thus interpreted their sentiments to Your Excellency, allow me, Sir, to em-
brace this opportunity to assure you that the sentiments you have already permitted me
to express to you will be as durable as the profound respect, with which I have the honor
to be. Sir,
Your Excellency's
Most obedient and
Most humble servant,
VIOMENIL."
•j-Hls eldest son, Marfichal de Camp Charles-Gabriel Du Houx, Baron de Viomgnil, suc-
ceeded him in the Cincinnati. (Vide: Hereditary List.)
78
Lieutenant General Claude Gabriel, Marquis de Choisy.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Formerly, from the 24th March, 1772, Brigadier General of Infantry, and
was in 1779 appointed to be Mestre de Camp Commandant Fourth Regiment
Chasseurs a Cheval.
Assigned to duty in the AuxiHary Army loth March, 1780, and came with
it to Rhode Island.
At the siege of Yorktown he commanded the detachment on the opposite
side of York river, Virginia, which operated against the British force under
Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton in Gloucester.
Promoted for these services to be Marechal de Camp, 5th December, 1781.
He returned to France with M. le Comte de Rochambeau, from Annapolis,
Md., having set sail nth January, 1783.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General, 20th May, 1791, and honorably retired
4th February, 1793.
Lieutenant General Just-Antoine-Henri-Marie-Germain, Marquis de Rosta-
ing.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Gatinois, infan-
try, from the ist April, 1770, and was with his regiment in the Contingent under
M. le Marquis de St. Simon which joined the Auxiliary Army in Virginia
for the operations against Lieutenant General Earl Comwallis.
He commanded in person the second Battalion of his regiment as the
reserve in the storming of redoubt No. 9 at Yorktown, 14th October, 1781.
For these services he was promoted to be Brigadcr General of Infantry,
5th December, 1781, and in consequence of the gallantry displayed by this
battalion in the assault, Louis XVI, on the recommendation of M. le Comte
de Rochambeau, by ordinance of the nth July, 1782, restored to the regiment
Gatinois its former name of "Royal Auvergne."
Promoted, 1st January, 1784, to be Marechal de Camp with rank from the
19th October, 1781.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General 20th May, 179 1.
He was Grand Bailly of Forez and Deputy from the Third Estate of Forez
in the States General of 5th May, 1789, and was a member of the committee
on military affairs.
Lieutenant General Arthur, Count de Dillon.»J<
Formerly, from March, 1772, Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regi-
ment of Dillon, infantry (Irish Brigade), and commanded the 1st Battalion
in Rhode Island in 1778 and at the capture of the islands of Saint Vincent
and Grenada by Count d'Estaing in 1779.
At the siege and assault of Savannah he commanded a division which
included the First Battalion of his Regiment, and subsequently participated in
the capture, by the Marquis de Bouille, of the islands of Tobago and St. Eus-
tatia in 1781 and Saint Christopher in 1782.
Promoted to be Brigadier General of Infantry 1st March, 1780, and to be
Marechal de Camp ist January, 1784.
COUNT DE DILLON.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL FRENCH ARMY
79
He was Governor of Saint Christopher 12th February, 1782, until the
Peace, and later of Tobago for three years.
Deputy from Martinique in the States General of the 5th May, 1789.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General 20th May, 1791.
In 1792 he commanded an Army Corps under General in Chief Doumou-
rier, and fought successfully on the plains of Champagne and in the forest of
Argonne, and in the march upon Verdun attacked the rear guard of the retreat-
ing Prussians.
He had charge of the siege of Verdun, and entered it, by capitulation, 14th
October, 1792.
At the commencement of 1793 he was accused by the Committee of Public
Safety on the most baseless and frivolous pretexts, and was detained in con-
finement at Luxembourg.
Guillotined at Paris by sentence of the Revolutionary Tribunal, 14th April,
1794.
With his last breath he cried "Vive le Roi."
He was a brother of Marechal de Camp Theobalde, Chevalier de Dillon.
He married the Comtesse de la Touche, cousin of the future Empress
Josephine.
Author of "Compte rendu au ministre de la guerre, suivi de pieces justifi-
catives, et contenant des details militaires dont la connaissance est necessaire
pour apprecier la partie la plus interessante de la memorable campagne de
1792." Also of "Exposition des principaux evenements qui ont eu le plus
d'influence sur la revolution francaise," each of which were published in Paris.
Lieutenant General Christian, Count de Forbach, and Marquis des Deux-
Ponts.>J<
Knight Grand Cross of Maximillien-Joseph of Bavaria.
Formerly, from the 20th September, 1775, Mestre de Camp, Lieutenant
Commandant of the Regiment Royal Deux-Ponts, infantry, in the Auxiliary
Army, and came with it to Rhode Island and served continuously with the same
until its departure from the United States.
Promoted for services at Yorktown to be Brigadier General of Infantry,
5th December, 1781.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 9th March, 1788, and to be Mestre
de Camp Proprietaire of his regiment loth March, 1788, and to be Lieutenant
General 20th May, 1791.
Having thereupon quitted the French for the Bavarian service, where he
received the same grade, he subsequently commanded the Bavarian Army Corps
at the battle of Hohenlinden.
He was the elder brother of Colonel William, Count des Deux-Ponts, an
original member of the French State Society of the Cincinnati.
JLieutenant General Jean-Baptiste-Louis-Philippe de Felix d'Olieres, Count
du Muy.
Knight Commander of St. Louis,
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor,
Peer of France.
(Formerly known as the Count de Saint-Maime.)
Formerly, from the 29th June, 1775, Mestre de Camp Commandant of
the regiment of Soissonnois, infantry, and came with it to Rhode Island and
served continuously in the Auxiliary Army until its departure from the United
States.
Promoted to be Brigadier General of Infantry 1st January, 1784, and to
be Marechal de Camp 9th March, 1788, and to be Lieutenant General 6th
February, 1792.
Emigrated 3d October, 1793, in consequence of the decrees against officers
from the nobility, but returned to France in 1795 and served in the Army of
the Rhine in 1797 and with the Army in Egypt in 1798-9.
Captured on his return in September, 1799, and taken into Mahon, but
liberated on parole.
On his exchange, he was appointed in 1801 to command the 21st Military
Division at Poitiers, and then the 22d Military Division at Tours.
In 1805 he commanded a Corps of Cavalry and served in 1806 against the
Prussians and Russians and defeated General Kleist near Canth, 13th May,
1807.
Appointed in January, 1807, Governor of Silesia.
Elected, in January, 181 1, a Senator from the Department of the Tarn.
In 1812 he commanded the 2d Military Division at Marseilles.
Adhered to Louis XVIII when the latter returned to France in 1814.
He was the nephew and heir of M. le Marechal Louis-Nicolas-Victor de
Felix d'Olieres, Comte du Muy, and succeeded him in that title by special war-
rant of Louis XVI of the 7th May, 1784.
Napoleon Buonaparte, ignoring this superior title, undertook, on 14th
June, 1804, to create him a baron for his military services rendered under the
Directory, Consulate and Empire.
Lieutenant General Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, Viscount de
Rochambeau.>I<
Formerly, from the 22d January, 1779, Mestre de Camp en second of the
regiment of Bourbonnois, infantry, and served continuously in the Auxiliary
Army from its arrival in Rhode Island until its departure from the United
States, and, for a time, was on duty as senior aide Marechal general des logis.
Promoted for these services to be Mestre de Camp Commandant regiment
Saintonge, infantry, nth November, 1782, and transferred to be Mestre de
Camp Commandant regiment Royal Auvergne, infantry, ist July 1783, and
received a pension of 4,000 livres.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp 30th June, 1791, and to be Lieutenant
General 9th July 1792, and Governor and Captain General of St. Domingo in
1796.
Killed in the battle of Leipsic, 19th October, 1813.
He was the eldest son of M. le Comte de Rochambeau, commanding the
Auxiliary Army.
Lieutenant General Henri-Claude-Amable de Rocplant, Baron de I'Es-
trade de Conty.»{<
Formerly, from the 19th August, 1777, Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment
of Gatinois, infantry, and came with it to Virginia in M. le Marquis de Saint
Simon's contingent from Saint Domingo to join the Auxiliary Army for the
operations against Lieutenant General Earl Cornwallis.
He participated in the storming, by the French Column, of Redoubt No. 9,
14th October, 1781, and was badly bruised from a fall, by being thrown back
while climbing the parapet during the assault.
He had previously been wounded during the war in Germany, and was
borne on the French War Office records in 1763, as an "Excellent Captain and
an officer of distinction and bravery."
Promoted, for "distinguished conduct at Yorktown," to be Brigadier
General of Infantry, 5th December, 1781.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 9th March, 1788.
Received a gratification on the 4th April, 1781, of 400 livres, and, on the
loth August, 1783, a pension of 200 livres, and, on the loth March, 1788, an
additional recompense of 3,CK)0 livres.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General 12th July, 1792, and honorably retired
23d February, 1794.
Lieutenant General Francois-Marie, Count d'Aboville.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis,
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor,
Peer of France.
Formerly Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment of Besancon, in the Corps of
Royal Artillery, and from the ist March, 1780, Chief of Artillery, with the
rank of Colonel, to the Auxiliary Army, and served continuously with it froln
it? arrival in Rhode Island until its departure from the United States, and com-
manded the French Artillery at the Siege of Yorktown.
Promoted for these services to be Brigadier General of Infantry, 5th De-
cember, 1781, and promoted lineally to be Colonel of the regiment of Metz in
the Corps of Royal Artillery, 19th April, 1782.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp 9th March, 1788, and to be Lieutenant
General 7th September, 1792.
In 1 79 1 -2 he commanded the artillery at Port Louis and La Rochelle and
organized the horse artillery service and then commanded the Artillery of the
Armies of the North and of the Ardennes, and in 1795 was First Inspector
General of Artillery in succession to Lieutenant General M. de Gribeauval.
Appointed a Senator of France 15th December, 1802, and a Vice-President
of the Senate in 1803.
On the 14th June, 1804, he was sent to Alexandrie in Piedmont to receive
Pope Pius VII and escort him to Paris.
Appointed in October, 1805, Commandant of the National Guards of
Doubs and of two other Departments.
Appointed 26th March, 1807, Governor of Brest, and was created a Count,
hereditary, in March, 1808.
Adhered to Louis XVIII, 3d April, 1814, when the latter returned to
France, and was named a Peer, 4th June, 1814.
He was, while in active sennce, next to Lieutenant General M. de Gri-
beauval, the most distinguished artillery officer in the French Army, and was
a veteran of the battle of Fontenov.
Lieutenant General Chevalier Dominique Sheldon.>^
Formerly Mestre de Camp attached to the Corps of Hussars of Lauzun's
Legion, with rank from the 2d April, 1780, and came with it to the United
States, and during several months performed the functions of Marechal Gen-
eral des Logis.
For his services at Yorktown he received a gratuity.
He then went to France on leave and, in returning to the United States in
the frigate I'Aigle was in the combat of that vessel and the frigate la Gloire,
with the Hector, 74, 4th September, 1782.
Appointed Aide de Camp of Marechal de France M. le Baron de Liickner,
30th June, 1791.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp 13th January, 1792, and Lieutenant
General, 7th September, 1792.
Suspended of his functions 3Dth September, 1793, during the Reign of
Terror, and retired 7th May, 1795.
Appointed Commandant of the troops at Perpignan, 23d September, 1800,
which command he exercised until his decease, 2d January, 1802.
Lieutenant General Jacques 0'Moran.>J<
Formerly, from the 30th January, 1778, Captain-Commandant in the regi-
ment Dillon, infantry (Irish Brigade), and served with the First Battalion of
the same under Count d'Estaing in Rhode Island and at the Siege of Savannah
Ga., where he had his leg broken, on the 24th September, 1779, while he wai
acting as Major in the trenches.
Promoted to be Major of his regiment 20th October, 1779, and given, for
his services, the rank of Colonel in the Army, 24th June, 1780.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel of his regiment, 9th June, 1785, and
to be Colonel of the Eighty-eighth Regiment of infantry, 25th July, 1791.
Transferred, 25th August, 1791, to his former regiment, Dillon, then des-
ignated the Eighty-seventh Regiment of infantry, and commanded it succes-
sively at Lille and Arras.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 6th February, 1792, and to be Lieuten-
ant General 3d October, 1792.
Suspended of his functions 30th July, 1793, and condemned to death by the
Revolutionary Tribunal, 6th March, 1794.
Guillotined at Paris on the same day.
Lieutenant General Chevalier Pierre de Gimel.>^
Formerly, from the 3d June, 1779, Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment of
Metz in the Corps of Royal Artillery and Sous-Brigadier under Count d'Estaing
at the Siege of Savannah, where he commanded the Second Battalion of his
regiment.
Commissioned for his services a Colonel in the Army, 22d IMay, 1781.
Promoted to be Colonel and Director of the Artillery, 4th July, 1784, and
to be Commandant of Artillery, ist April, 1791, and served at La Rochelle.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp ist November, 1792, and General of
Division (Lieutenant General), 8th March, 1793.
On account of the excesses of the French Revolution he ceased to serve
14th April, 1794, and was formally retired 12th January, 1795.
83
Lieutenant General Chevalier Isidore Lynch.i^
Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly, from the 24th May, 1778, Captain in the regiment of Dillon,
infantry, and served with the First Battalion under Count d'Estaing in Rhode
Island, and "with distinction" at Grenada and at the Siege of Savannah, and
subsequently, from the loth March, 1780, as Aide de Camp and Aide Major
of Infantry on the Staff of Marechal de Camp de Chastellux in the Auxiliary
Army.
Promoted, for services at Yorktown, to be Aide Major General, 5th De-
cember, 1 78 1, and, on his return to France, was promoted to be Colonel in the
Staff, 1st January, 1784, in recognition of all his services in America, and
subsequently transferred in the same year to be Mestre de Camp en second of
the regiment of Walsh infantry (Irish Brigade).
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 6th February, 1792, and to be General
of Division in 1799.
Assigned to special duty as Inspector of the Revenues, 28th February,
1800, and stationed at Perpignan until the following year, when he became
Inspector of the Revenue for the 20th Military Division, with headquarters
at Perigueux. In 1802 he was transferred in like capacity to the 22d Military
Division with headquarters at Tours, where he remained until 181 5, when he
was honorably retired.
Lieutenant General Anne- Alexandre-Marie- Sulpice- Joseph de Montmor-
ency-Laval, Duke de Laval.
Knight Commander of St. Louis,
Peer of France.
Formerly, from the 3d January, 1770, Mestre de Camp Commandant of the
regiment of Touraine, infantry.
Transferred in 1775 to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment
of Bourbonnois, infantry, and, from the loth March, 1780, served with it in
the Auxiliary Army which came to Rhode Island.
He was in the land detachment, under the Baron de Viomenil, which, in
March, 1781, embarked at Newport, R. I., in M. des Touche's squadron for
the projected expedition against Benedict Arnold in Virginia, and was on
board le Conquerant, 74, in the resultant naval action of the i6th March, 1781,
in which he was wounded.
He served also at the Siege of Yorktown, and after the capitulation went
to France on a short leave, and upon returning in the frigate I'Aigle was in the
combat of that vessel and la Gloire with the Hector, 4th September, 1782.
Promoted for his services in the United States to be Brigadier General of
Infantry, sth December, 1781.
Created a Duke, 13th July, 1783, and promoted to be Marechal de Camp,
1st January, 1784.
He was also titular Commandant of Bourg in the Duchy of Burgundy, an
office he held for several years, and was also a member of the Assembly of
Notables which met at Versailles 22d February, 1787.
He emigrated, after the Princes, in 1790, and, in 1793, served as a volunteer
in the Grenadiers of the Legion de Mirabeau, under the Prince de Conde.
84
He then commanded a regiment of Grenadiers of the White Cockade, one
of seven regiments destined to form the nucleus of an army in la Vendee.
It was, however, disbanded at Constance in 1795.
He then entered the Russian service with the Corps of Conde until its
dissolution in 1801.
He soon after returned to France, but took no part in public affairs until
the Restoration, when he was promoted by Louis XVHI to be Lieutenant
General, 22d June, 1814.
He was the second and surviving son and heir of M. le Marechal Gui-
Andre-Pierre, Due de Laval-Montmorency, Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis
and Knight Commander of St. Lazare, Governor of Compiegne and Governor
General of the Principality of Sedan, and of the Province of Aunis, and
Premier Baron de la Marche, and was appointed by Louis XVI to succeed his
father as Governor of Compiegne and Governor General of Sedan, when the
latter should vacate those offices.
Lieutenant General Antoine-Joseph-Eulalie de Beaumont, Count d'Auti-
champ.
Knight Commander of St Louis,
Knight Commander of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly, from the 3d October, 1779, Mestre de Camp Commandant of
the regiment of Agenois, infantry, and was with his regiment in the contingent
under M. le Marquis de Saint-Simon, which joined the Auxiliary Army in
Virginia for the operations against Lieutenant General Earl Cornwallis, and
after his return to St. Domingo, participated in the capture of St. Christopher.
Promoted, for his services at Yorktown, to be Brigadier General of In-
fantry, 5th December, 1781. Appointed Commandant en second in St. Do-
mingo in 1783.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist January, 1784, and subsequently
became Inspector of the Division of troops cantoned at Tours, Blois and
Orleans.
In 1792 he emigrated and made the campaigns of the Princes.
Upon the Restoration, he was promoted to be Lieutenant General, 22d June,
1814, and died in service 31st March, 1817.
His diploma of Membership is deposited in the Hotel des Invalides, Paris.
Lieutenant General Armand-Nicolas-Augustin de la Croix, Duke de
Castries."^
Knight of the Holy Ghost,
Peer of France.
(Formerly known as the Count de Charlus.)
Formerly, from the 23d May, 1779, Mestre de Camp en second of the
regiment of Colonel General, cavalry, and transferred, in same capacity, ist
March, 1780, to the regiment of Saintonge, infantry, and came to Rhode Island
with the Auxiliary Army, in which he served continuously until its departure
from the United States.
Promoted, for his services at Yorktown, to be Mestre de Camp lieutenant
attached to the regiment of Mestre de Camp General, Cavalry. 5th December,
85
1781, and to the Majority of the Gendarmerie de France, 27th January, 1782,
and to be Brigadier General of Cavalry, 30th December, 1782.
In December, 1781, he was promised by Louis XVI, the Lieutenant Gen-
eralcy in the government of the Province of Lyons when the same should be
vacated by his father, and was created a Duke in 1784.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 9th March, 1788.
He was a Deputy in the States General of the 5th May, 1789, of the Nobility
of the Vicomte de Paris.
Eniigrated in 1791 and served in the Army of the Princes, and in August,
1794, took command of a Corps of Emigrants in British service, and in 1795
was employed in Portugal.
Promoted, at the Restoration, to be Lieutenant General, 22d June, 1814.
Appointed, in 1814, Governor of the Fifteenth Military Division, and, on
the 5th November, 1817, Governor of the Second Military Division, and hon-
orably retired 5th November, 1818.
Appointed Governor of the Chateau de Meudon, 9th May, 1822.
He was the only son of M. le Marechal Charles-Eugene Gabriel de la
Croix, Marquis de Castries, Knight of the Holy Ghost and Peer of France, who
was appointed French Minister of Marine, 14th October, 1780.
Lieutenant General Louis - Pierre - Quentin de Richebourg, Marquis
de Champcenetz.«i<
Formerly, from the 21st July, 1779, Mestre de Camp attached to the regi-
ment of Artois, dragoons, and, in 1781, 1782 and 1783, Lieutenant of the King
in the government of the provinces of Le Maine and Perche.
When M. le Baron de Viomenil returned, after Yorktown, on leave to
France, the latter offered him the position of Aide de Camp on his stafif, and
he accordingly embarked at Brest for Philadelphia, 19th May, 1782, on I'Aigle,
40, and was in the combat of that frigate and la Gloire, 32, with the Hector, 74,
4th September, 1782.
He served thereafter as Aide de Camp in the Auxiliary Army until it left
the United States.
Promoted for these services to be Mestre de Camp First Regiment Provin-
cial d'fitat Major, ist January, 1784.
Promoted to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Orleans,
dragoons, loth March, 1788, and to be Marechal de Camp on retirement, ist
March, 1791.
Appointed Governor of the Tuileries loth August, 1792.
Emigrated on the fall of the Monarchy, in the same month, and on his
return at the Restoration was promoted to be Lieutenant General honorary, 22d
June, 1814, and resumed his office as Governor of the Tuileries, which he held,
under the House of Bourbon, until his decease there 5th May, 1822.
Lieutenant General Edouard, Count de Dillon.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly served under Count d'Estaing in Rhode Island and at the Siege
of Savannah, attached to the First BattaHon of the regiment of Dillon, infantry,
with the rank of Colonel, having originally entered service 13th July, 1768.
Promoted, for these services, to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the
regiment of Blaisois, infantry, 30th April, 1780, and transferred to be Mestre
de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Provence, infantry, 28th December,
1781.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist March, 1791. Emigrated on the
fall of the Monarchy. Promoted, at the Restoration, to be Lieutenant General,
22d June, 1814.
Minister Plenipotentiary from France to Saxony in 1816.
During the American War he was wounded in Count d'Estaing's naval
action off Grenada, 6th July, 1779.
Lieutenant General Joseph-Francois-Louis-Charles-Cesar de Damas, Duke
de Damas d'Antigny.
Knight of the Holy Ghost,
Knight Commander of St. Louis,
Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Peer of France.
(Formerly known as Count Charles de Damas.)
Formerly, from 1771, Sous Lieutenant in the Regiment du Roi, infantry,
and promoted in 1778 to be Capitaine en second in the same.
He became Aide de Camp to M. le Comte de Rochambeau when the latter
was appointed to the command of the Auxiliary Army, ist May, 1780, and
came with him to Rhode Island and served continuously in that capacity until
the departure of that Army.
Promoted to the rank of Colonel in the Army, 29th April, 1781, to date
from the 1st September, 1781.
In the skirmish near Morrisania, N. Y., 22d July, 1781, he had his horse
killed under him.
He participated in the storming by the French column of Redoubt No. 9 at
Yorktown, 14th October, 1781.
Promoted, for these services, to be Mestre de Camp en second of the regi-
ment of Aunis, infantry, 27th January, 1782, and to be Mestre de Camp Com-
mandant of the regiment of Dauphin, dragoons, in 1783, and transferred, in
1786, to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of dragoons of
Monsieur le Comte de Province, afterward Louis XVIII.
Having the confidence of Monsieur and of Louis XVI, he was sent by the
Marquis de Bouille to Varennes to aid the King's escape and was arrested
there with the latter, 21st June, 1791, but obtained his liberty when the King
accepted the Constitution. Emigrated 15th October, 1791, and rejoined
Monsieur and was named in same year Captain in the Gardes-du-Corps.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 28th October, 1795, and assigned to
duty as Aide de Camp to M. le Comte d'Artois.
He made all the Campaigns of the Princes and in 1797 commanded the
Legion of Mirabeau.
Appointed in May, 1814, by Louis XVIII, Capitaine Lieutenant des Che-
vau-legers de la Garde Ordinaire du Roi.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General 22d June, 1814, and assigned to the
command of the National Guard of Paris.
Appointed, on the loth Januarj% 1816, Governor of the Eighteenth Military
Division.
:>. --Z-
DUKE DE DAMAS D'ANTIGNY.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL FRENCH ARMY.
87
Appointed First Gentleman of the Chamber of His Majesty, 17th June,
1824, and created a Duke, 30th May, 1825.
He was the son of Marechal de Camp, M. le Marquis d'Antigny, Governor
of Dombes.
Author of "Memoires Relatifs a la Revolution" (1823).
Lieutenant General Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montes-
quieu.►}<
Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly, from the 29th April, 1779, Captain attached to the regiment of
Royal-Piemont, cavalry, and was appointed Aide de Camp to Marechal de
Camp de Chastellux, ist May, 1780, and came with the Auxiliary Army to
Rhode Island, and served continuously with it until its departure from the
United States.
After the capture of Yorktown, he went to France on leave, and, in re-
turning to the United States in la Gloire, was in the combat of that frigate and
I'Aigle with the Hector, 4th September, 1782.
Promoted, for his services, to be Mestre de Camp en second of the regi-
ment of Bourbonnois, infantry, nth November, 1782.
Promoted to be Mestre de Camp of the regiment of Grenadiers Royal of
Orleans, loth March, 1788.
Transferred, in the same capacity, to the regiment of Cambresis, infantry,
2ist April, 1788.
Emigrated in 1791, and promoted on the Restoration to be Lieutenant
General, 22d June, 1814.
He was grandson of the former President of the Parliament of Bourdeaux,
Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, author of "Lettres Persanes" ;
"Considerations sur les Causes de la Grandeur et de la Decadence des Remains,"
and of "Esprit des Lois," etc.
Lieutenant General Francois, Viscount de Fontanges.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Originally entered service as Lieutenant in the regiment of Poitou, infan-
try, 1st January, 1756, and made all the campaigns in Germany between 1757
and 1763, and was wounded at the battle of Rosbach, 5th November, 1757.
Promoted to be Captain in his regiment, ist January, 1758.
Transferred to the Department of the Marine and Colonies in May, 1775,
and promoted to be Major in the regiment of the Cape, infantry, in September,
1775, and to be Lieutenant Colonel in the same in 1778.
From July, 1779, he acted as Major General and Chief of Staff under
Count d'Estaing, and was sent in the frigate I'Amazone, 36, on the 4th Septem-
ber, 1779, to Charleston, S. C, with despatches for Major General Benjamin
Lincoln, commanding the Military Department of the South.
Rejoining Count d'Estaing he served in the same capacity at the Siege of
Savannah, and was dangerously wounded in the assault.
Promoted for these services to the rank of Colonel. 20th January, 1780.
In 1783-4 he acted as Major General of the regular troops and militia in
the island of Saint Domingo.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 17th Maj, 1789. At the time of the
French Revolution he commanded in Saint Domingo, and was forced to em-
igrate.
At the Restoration he was promoted to be Lieutenant General, I3tli Au-
gust, 1814.
Lieutenant General Marie- Joseph-Eustache, Viscount d'Osmond.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly, from the 23d April, 1781, Mestre de Camp en second of the
regiment of Cambresis, infantry, and served as Aide de Camp to M. le Marquis
de Saint Simon, who commanded the contingent which joined the Auxiliary
Army in Virginia for the operations against Lieutenant General Earl Com-
wallis at Yorktown.
Promoted, for his services in that campaign, to be Mestre de Camp Com-
mandant of the regiment of Neustrie, infantry, nth November, 1782.
Received in 1785 a pension of twelve hundred livres.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist March, 1791, and commanded at
Schelestadt in that year.
Having emigrated in 1792, he was at the Restoration promoted to Lieu-
tenant General, 19th August, 1814, and appointed Commandant Extraordinary
of the Twenty-second Military Division.
Lieutenant General Charles-Malo-Francois, Count de Lameth.»I<
Knight of Saint John of Jerusalem,
Knight Commander of Saint Joseph of Tuscany.
Formerly, from the 6th April, 1779, Capitaine, reforme, of the regiment of
La Rochefoucauld, dragoons, and came to Rhode Island with M. le Comte de
Rochambeau as one of his Aides de Camp, but subsequently acted as first Aide
Marechal General des Logis in the AuxiHary Army, and was in M. des Touche's
expedition from Newport, R. L, and the naval action of i6th March, 1781.
At the storming, by the French column, of Redoubt No. 9, at Yorktown,
14th October, 1781, he was the first to mount the parapet, and was severely
wounded by two musket balls, one of which broke his knee-pan and the other
pierced his thigh. Invalided in consequence and compelled to return to France,
he received a pension for these services and was promoted to be Mestre de
Camp Lieutenant en second of the regiment of Orleans, dragoons, 27th January,
1782, and then Mestre de Camp Lieutenant Commandant of the regiment of
Cuirassiers du Roi, cavalry.
Deputy of the Nobility of the Province of Artois in the States General
of the 5th May, 1789.
President of the National Constituent Assembly, 25th June, 1791, and
elected to the same office 5th July, 1791.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 6th February, 1792, and served in the
Army of the North in command of a division of cavalry until the inauguration
of the Reign of Terror on the loth August, 1792, and accusations in the Na-
tional Legislative Assembly on the 15th August, 1792, against his friends La-
fayette and Duportail and his brother Alexandre. On the same day. because
«9
of his known intimacy with those patriots, he was dismissed, by the Minister
of War, from his command, and two days later was arrested and imprisoned
for a time at Rouen, until released at demand of his brother Theodore, where-
upon he immediately emigrated.
He returned in 1801 and was treated as a General of Brigade on half pay
until 1809, when he was sent to duty with the Army in Hanover, and, in the
same year, named Governor of the Grand Duchy of Wurtzbourg, but soon
returned to Paris.
In 1812 he was sent to Spain and commanded at Santona in Biscay until
recalled by Louis XYHI. in 1814.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General, 23d August, 1814.
In 1829 he became a Member of the Chamber of Deputies for Pontoise in
place of his brother Alexander, deceased, and sat with Lafayette and other
Constitutional Monarchists.
He was a nephew of M. le Marechal Victor-Francois, Due de Broglie,
Knight of the Holy Ghost.
Lieutenant General Jean-Louis de Rigaud, Viscount de Vaudreuil.>J<
Formerly, from the 3d June, 1779, Captain in the regiment of Dauphin,
dragoons, and first came to the United States on board la Gloire and conse-
quently was in the combat of that frigate and I'Aigle with the Hector, 4th
September, 1782.
Upon joining the Auxiliary Army he became Aide de Camp to Marechal
de Camp de Chastellux, and served in that capacity until after the final de-
parture of that Army.
Promoted, for these services, to be Mestre de Camp en second of the
regiment of Piemont infantry 1st January, 1784.
Transferred to be Colonel attached to the regiment of Royal-Comtois in-
fantry, loth June, 1788.
Passed into the regiment of Chasseurs a Cheval of Flanders 20th Septem-
ber, 1789.
Emigrated and became successively Aide de Camp of M. le Comte d'Artois
in 1792; Captain in the regiment of Choiseul Hussars in 1793, and Captain in
the regiment of La Chatre in 1797.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist January, 1797, and to be Lieu-
tenant General 9th September, 1814.
Lieutenant General Alexandre-Theodore-Victor, Count de Lameth.^p
Knight of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly, in 1779, Capitaine Reforme, in the regiment of Royal Cavalry.
He sailed from Brest on the 19th May, 1782, in the frigate la Gloire, to
take the place in the Auxiliary Army of his brother, Charles-Malo-Francois,
who had been wounded at Yorktown, and was consequently in the combat of
that frigate and I'Aigle with the Hector, 4th September, 1782.
He subsequently served in the Auxiliary Army as Acting Aide Marechal
General des logis and, in November, 1782, was confirmed in that office with the
rank of Colonel.
90
Promoted, for these services, to be Mestre de Camp Lieutenant en second
of the regiment Royal-Lorraine, cavahy, ist January, 1784, and received a
pension of 1,500 hvres.
Promoted to be Colonel of the Chasseurs of Hainault, 3d March, 1785.
Deputy of the Nobility of Peronne, Roy and Montdidier, in the States
General of the 5th May, 1789.
He was also Gentleman of Honor to M. le Comte d'Artois.
Chosen President of the National Constituent Assembly, 20th November,
1790.
He endeavored to aiford protection to Louis XVL and to assist him with
advice, and opposed Robespierre and the Jacobinical faction.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp in May, 1792, and served in the war
against Austria in command of a brigade successively under M. le Marechal,
Baron de Liickner and M. le Marquis de Lafayette on the frontiers until
accused by the Terrorists in the National Legislative Assembly. 15th August,
1792.
Before the decree of the 15th August could be executed he escaped with
Lafayette, but, after crossing the frontier, was arrested at Rochefort by the
Austrians and imprisoned successively at Namur, Nivelle, Luxembourg, Wesel
and Madgebourg until in the year 1795, when he was released.
He returned to France in 1802, and was appointed Prefect of the Depart-
ment of the Basses-Alpes, with residence at Dignes, and three years later was
transferred to the Prefecture of the Rhine and Moselle, with his official resi-
dence at Coblentz.
From this he was transferred to the Prefecture of the Roer at Aix-la-
Chapelle, and finally, in 1809, to that of the P6 with residence at Turin.
For these services after his return to France he received from Buonaparte
the title of Baron.
At the Restoration he gave his adhesion to Louis XVHL and was ap-
pointed Prefect of the Somme.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General in the Army 31st December, 1814.
During the "Hundred Days" Buonaparte appointed him a member of the
Chamber of Peers, which office he vacated at the abdication.
In 1820 he became a Deputy for the Department of la Seine-Inferieure
and sat with Lafayette.
In 1827 he was a Deputy for Pontoise until his decease at Paris, 19th
March 1829.
Author of "Historic de I'Assemblee Constituante" (2 vols.) ; "La Censure
devoille" ; "Un Electur a ses colleagues" (1824); "Considerations sur la
garde nationale" (1827); "Discours prononce sur la tombe de Stanislas de
Girardin" (1827) and several opinions and reports to the Assembly and Cham-
bers.
He was the younger brother of Marechal de Camp Theodore, Comte de
Lameth, and of Lieutenant General Charles-Malo-Francois, Comte de Lameth,
each of whom became Original Members of the Society of the Cincinnati in
France.
Lieutenant General Jules-Jacques-Eleonor, Viscount de Bethisy.>J<
Formerly, from the 7th August, 1778, Mestre de Camp en second of the
regiment of Gatinois, infantry, and served with it at the Siege of Savannah,
where he was severely wounded in the assault, 9th October, 1779.
Promoted, for these services, to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the
Royal Grenadiers of Picardy, 20th January, 1780.
In 1791 he emigrated and made all the campaigns of the Princes.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp ist June, 1814, and to be Lieutenant
General 20th February, 181 5.
Lieutenant General Robert-Guillaume, Baron de Dillon.>J<
Knight of the Military Order of Bavaria.
Formerly, in 1779, Captain attached to the regiment of Dillon, infantry,
and serve3 with the first battalion in Rhode Island and at the Siege of Savannah.
Appointed Mestre de Camp en second of the Hussars of Lauzun's Legion
in March, 1780, and served continuously in the Auxiliary Army from its
formation.
During the Siege of Yorktown he was actively employed und'cr M. de
Choisy, on the opposite side of York river, and was wounded in the cavalry
fight near Gloucester, Va., 2d October, 1781.
In the following winter, 178 1-2, he carried dispatches and verbal communi-
cations from M. le Comte de Rochambeau to His Excellency General Wash-
ington, and, on the 27th February, 1782, arrived with a letter from the latter,
at Headquarters of the Auxiliary Army then in Williamsburg, Va.
Promoted, for these services, to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the
Hussars of Lauzun's Legion, 25th August, 1782.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp 30th June, 1791.
Having emigrated during the French Revolution, he was, at the Restora-
tion, promoted to be Lieutenant General, 25th February, 1816.
Lieutenant General Bozon-Jacques, Count de Talleyrand-Perigord.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis,
Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly attached, in 1782, with the rank of Colonel, to the Chasseurs of
the regiment of Soissonnois, infantry, and first came to the United States when
M. le Baron de Viomenil returned from leave, on I'Aigle, 40, 19th May, 1782,
in order to act as Aide de Camp to that officer.
He was, consequently, in the combat of that frigate and la Gloire with the
Hector, 4th September, 1782.
He afterwards served in the Auxiliary Army on the staff of M. le Baron
de Viomenil.
He was an alternate Deputy in the States General of the 5th May, 1789,
from the Nobility of Paris-Hors-les-Murs. Emigrated during the French Rev-
olution.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp 4th June, 1814, and to be Lieutenant
General honorary in 1817, on his retirement, and was appointed Governor of
the Chateau of Saint Germain-en-Laye.
He was a younger brother of Prince Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-
Perigord, Grand Chamberlain of France, and of Lieutenant General Archam-
baud-Joseph, Due de Talleyrand-Perigord.
Marechal de Camp Jacques-Francois de Beauvoir, Marquis de Chastel-
lux, LL.D.»J<
Knight of St. Lazare et Notre Dame du Mont-Carmel.
Formerly Colonel of the regiment of Guyenne, infantry, and promoted to
be Brigadier General of Infantry, 22d January, 1769, and to be Marechal de
Camp, 1st March, 1780.
He came with the Auxiliary Army to Rhode Island, and during his service
with it, took occasion to visit General Washington at Army Headquarters,
New-Windsor-on-the-Hudson in December, 1780, and to make several tours
of observation.
For his services at Yorktown, he was appointed Governor of Longwy, on
the Belgian Frontier, 5th December, 1781.
He was also designated by the King, as Inspector, for the years 1782-3-4,
of the infantry regiments of Languedoc, Medoc, d'Aulbonne, Conte, Salis, and
of the Garrison Battalion of Bourbon, and of the Cavalry regiment Royal
Picardie, and of the dragoon regiments du Roi and Monsieur.
M'ember of the French Academy and of the American Philosophical So-
ciety and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Author of "de la Felicite publique," and "Voyages dans I'Amerique sep-
tentrionale pendant les annees 1780, '81, et '82." Also of a discourse "De la
Decouverte de I'Amerique," and "Discours en Vers, addreses aux officiers et
soldats des Differentes Armies Americaines."
Marechal de Camp Pierre-Francois, Chevalier de Beville.»jH
Formerly, from the 5th September, 1778, Brigadier General of Dragoons
and appointed Marechal General des Logis of the Auxiliary Army, 1st March,
1780, and served continuously with it from its formation and arrival in Rhode
Island until its departure from the United States.
Promoted, for these services, to be Marechal de Camp, 5th December,
1781, and received a pension of 1,200 livres.
Honorably retired 9th May, 1792.
Marechal de Camp Jean-Francois, Count de Raynaud de Villeverd.>J«
Formerly, in 1779, Brigadier General of Militia in the French Colonies
in the West Indies, and served under Count d'Estaing at the Siege of Savannah.
Appointed Lieutenant to the Government General of Saint Domingo (Lieu-
tenant Governor), 4th January, 1780.
Promoted, for his services in Georgia, to be Brigadier General of Infantry
in the Army, 1st March, 1780.
Appointed Commandant in Chief of the Leeward Islands, 24th April, 1780.
Recalled the i6th July, 1781.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 1st January, 1784.
Deputy of the Colony of Saint Domingo in the States General of the 5th
May, 1789.
Honorably retired ist October, 1791.
Marechal de Camp Louis-Marie, Viscount de Noailles.»f«
Knight of Saint John of Jerusalem.
Formerly, from the 17th April, 1779, Mestre de Camp en second of the
regiment, Colonel General, hussars, and served, on detached duty, under
Count d'Estaing, in the West Indies, and participated in the Siege of Savannah,
where he commanded a division in the assault, consisting of detachments from
the infantry regiments of Champagne, Auxerrois, Foix, Guadeloupe, and
Martinique.
Transferred, 8th March, 1780, to be Mestre de Camp en second of the
regiment of Soissonnois, infantry, so that he could serve in the Auxiliary
Army. He was accordingly witli that army during all its campaigns in the
United States from its arrival in Rhode Island.
He was with the land detachment which, in March, 1781, embarked at
Newport, R. I., in M. des Touche's squadron for a projected expedition to
Virginia, and was in the resultant naval action of the i6th March, 1781.
He represented the Auxiliary Army in the preparation of the Articles of
Capitulation for the surrender of Lieutenant General Earl Cornwallis and the
British Army and squadron at Yorktown, 17-19 October, 1781.
Promoted, for these services, to be Mestre de Camp Lieutenant Command-
ant of the regiment du Roi, dragoons, 27th January, 1782, and designated to
succeed his father as Commandant in Chief and Lieutenant General of Guy-
enne when the latter should vacate those offices.
Transferred to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Bouf-
flers, dragoons, ist March, 1788, which regiment became the Chasseurs of
Alsace.
Deputy from the Nobility of Nemours in the States General of 5th May,
1789, and presented a plan of military reform 13th August, 1789, and served
on the Committee on Military Affairs.
President of the National Constituent Assembly, 26th February, 1791.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 23d November, 1791, and early in
the following year resumed military duty at the camp at Valenciennes.
Emigrated in May, 1792, but returned to France in 1803 under the per-
mission then accorded to his class and re-entered the military service and was
assigned to duty in Saint Domingo, where he eventually succeeded to the chief
command.
Mortally wounded in a naval combat with the English corvette le Hasard,
near Havana, 31st December, 1803, and died there 9th January, 1804.
He was the second son of M. le Marechal Philippe, Due de Mouchy et
Prince de Poix, Knight of the Holy Ghost, and was brother-in-law of M. le
Marquis de Lafayette.
Marechal de Camp Theobalde, Chevalier de Dillon.^
Formerly, in 1778, Captain Commandant in the regiment of Dillon, in-
fantry (Irish Brigade), and served with the land forces under Count d'Estaing
in Rhode Island in that year and at the Siege of Savannah in 1779 and in the
other operations of those troops in the latter year.
Promoted to be Mestre de Camp en second of his regiment, 13th April,
1780, and to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the same, ist January, 1784.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 23rd September, 1804, and was em-
ployed in the i8th Military Division.
94
Marechal de Camp Laurent-Francois le Noir, Marquis de Rouvray.>J<
Formerly, from the 13th December, 1776, Colonel employed in Saint
Domingo and commanded the Volunteer Chasseurs, infantry, under Count
d'Estaing at the Siege of Savannah and was assigned to command in the
trenches and repulsed the British sortie of the 24th September, 1779.
Appointed Inspector General of the militia, mulattoes and free negroes
of Saint Domingo, 5th July, 1781.
Promoted to be Brigadier General of Infantry in the Army, 5th December,
1781, and to be Marechal de Camp, 9th March, 1788, at which time he held,
by appointment of Louis XVI., the office of Governor of the City of Provins in
Brie.
Deputy of the Colony of Saint Domingo in the States General of the 5th
May, 1789.
Emigrated during the French Revolution and died in Philadelphia, Penn.,
1 8th July, 1798.
Marechal de Camp Jean-Nicolas, Viscount Desandroiiine.>^
Formerly, during the French and Indian War, was Capitaine en Sec-
ond in the French Corps of Royal Engineers, and arrived in Canada with
Marechal de Camp M. le Marquis de Montcalm, as one of his principal en-
gineers, 13th May, 1756.
He was at the Siege of Fort Ontario, iith-i4th August, 1756; then forti-
fied St. Johns in July, 1757, and was at the siege and capitulation of Fort Wil-
liam Henry, 3rd-9th August, 1757.
He acted as engineer at Fort Ticonderoga, 30th June, 1758, and as Aide de
Camp to M. de Montcalm in the successful defense of that post against the
assault of Major General James Abercrombie's army, 8th July, 1758, and later
served as Military Secretary to Montcalm and was with him in the battle on
the Plains of Abraham, before Quebec, 13th September, 1759, against the Brit-
ish Army under Major General James Wolfe.
He subsequently commanded Fort Levis on an island in the Rapids of the
St. Lawrence, from November, 1759, to April, 1760, and returned to France
on the evacuation of Canada.
Appointed Colonel in the Brigade of Lille in the Corps of Royal Engineers,
8th April, 1779, and, on the 1st March, 1780, was assigned, as Sous-Brigadier,
to the command of the detachment of his corps in the Auxiliary Army, and was
Chief Engineer on the Staff of M. le Comte de Rochambeau and came with him
to Rhode Island.
He conducted the French Engineer operations at the Siege of Yorktown,
under Chief Engineer, the Chevalier du Portail, of the American Army,
and was promoted for these services to be Brigadier General of Infantry, 5th
December, 1781.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 9th March, 1788, and pensioned gth
October, 1791.
Marechal de Camp Charles-Francois-Chandon, Chevalier de la Valletta.^
Formerly, from the 24th February, 1774, Lieutenant Colonel of the regi-
ment of Saintonge, infantry, and came with it to Rhode Island, and served
continuously with it in the Auxiliary Army during its campaigns in the United
States.
PRINCE DE BROGLIE.
MARECHAL DE CAMP FRENCH ARMY
Promoted, "for distinguished conduct at Yorktown," to be Brigadier
General of Infantry, 5th December, 1781.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 9th March, 1788, and honorably re-
tired in 1 79 1.
Marechal de Camp Henri-Francois-Liamart, Viscount de Poudenx.*^
Knight of Saint Lazare et Notre Dame du Mont-Carmel.
Formerly, from the 14th March, 1774, Colonel of the regiment of Provin-
cial Artillery of Toul.
Promoted to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Touraine,
Infantry, 13th April, 1780, and came with it to Virginia in M. le Marquis de
Saint Simon's contingent from Saint Domingo to join the Auxiliary Army for
the operations against Lieutenant General Earl Cornwallis at Yorktown, havin'g
embarked at Martinique, 5th August, 1781, and arrived in Chesapeake Bay
ten days later. The contingent to which the regiment belonged re-embarked for
the West Indies, 5th November, 1781.
Promoted for these services to be Brigadier General of Infantry, ist Jan-
uary, 1784.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 9th March, 1788.
Emigrated in 1792.
Marechal de Camp Claude-Victor, Prince de Broglie.»J<
Of the Holy Roman Empire.
Peer of France.
Formerly, from the 3rd June, 1779, Mestre de Camp en second of the regi-
ment of Aunis, infantry, and transferred, 27th January, 1782, to be Mestre de
Camp en second of the regiment of Saintonge, infantry, so that he could join
the Auxiliary Army in the United States.
He embarked for that purpose on la Gloire, 32, at Brest, 19th May, 1782,
and was consequently in the combat of that frigate and I'Aigle with the Hector,
74, 4th September, 1782.
Thereafter he served with his regiment in the Auxiliary Army and was
promoted to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Bourbonnois,
infantry, ist January, 1784, to date from 13th June, 1783.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 9th March, 1788.
Deputy of the Nobility of Colmar and Schlestadt in the States General of
the 5th May, 1789.
After the dissolution of the National Constituent Assembly, 30th Septem-
ber, 1791, he became Chief of Staff to Marshal Ltickner, who commanded the
Army of the Rhine, but resigned immediately after the loth August, 1792, and
arrest of the King, and retired to his country estate in Franche-Comte. There
he was arrested by the Revolutionary Authorities, 28th December, 1793, and
guillotined at Paris, 27th June, 1794, only a few days before the 9th of Ther-
midor.
Author of "Memoire sur la Defense des Frontieres de la Sarre et du Rhin,"
addressed to the National Legislative Assembly, and also of a journal of his
campaigns in America.
He was the eldest son of M. le Marechal, Victor-Francois, Due de Broglie,
et Prince du Saint Empire Remain, Knight of the Holy Ghost and Peer of
France.
96
Marechal de Camp Francois-Louis-Thibaut, Count de Menonville.>J<
Formerly, from the 30th December, 1769, Captain in the Corps of Royal
Engineers and appointed to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry, 24th
March, 1772, and attached to I'fitat-Major of the Army on the same date.
He was assigned to duty, ist January, 1780, as first Aide Major General
of Infantry in the Auxiliary Army, and came with it to Rhode Island and
served continuously with it until its final departure from the United States.
He was with the land detachment of the Army, which, in March, 1781,
embarked at Newport, R. I., in M. des Touche's squadron for a projected expe-
dition to Virginia, and was on board le Due de Bourgogne, 80, in the resultant
naval action of the i6th March, 1781.
At the Siege of Yorktown, during the storming by the French column of
Redoubt No. 9, on the 14th October, 1781, he commanded a fatigue party of
two hundred from the regiment of Soissonnois, infantry, which followed the
stormers under fire ready to push the 2nd parallel to the redoubt as soon as
captured, an operation which was successfully performed as arranged.
In December, 1781, he was temporarily assigned to duty as Major General
of the Auxiliary Army.
Promoted for these services to be Brigadier General of Infantry, 1st Janu-
ary, 1784, and received a pension of 800 livres.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 21st September, 1788.
Accredited by Louis XVI. with a diplomatic mission to Poland in 1788-9.
Deputy of the Nobility of Mirecourt in the States General of the 5th May,
1789.
During the Reign of Terror he was arrested and confined at Epinal for
several years. On his release he retired to Deneuvre, in the Department of la
Meurthe, taking no part in public aflfairs until appointed by Buonaparte, in
1808, President of the Assembly of the Canton of Baccarat and member of the
Conseil General of the Department of la Meurthe, which offices he held until
his decease, 5th December, 1816.
Author of a Diary of the Siege of Yorktown.
Marechal de Camp Rene-Marie, Viscount d'Arrot.>^
Formerly, in 1777, employed in Saint Domingo with the rank of Colonel.
Employed at the conquest of Senegal, 2Sth November, 1778.
Appointed Colonel Commandant in Lauzun's Legion, 1st April, 1780, and
came with it to Rhode Island and served with it in the Auxiliary Army until
after the Siege and Capitulation of Yorktown.
Appointed Commandant en second of la Grand Terre, the Eastern portion
of Guadeloupe, 25th August, 1782.
In 1783, he was Aide Marechal General des Logis with rank of Colonel,
performing the duties of Major General in Saint Domingo.
Appointed Governor of Tobago, i8th January, 1784, and Commandant en
second of Guadaloupe, 8th March, 1786.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp in the Army, ist July, 1790.
Superseded as Commandant at Guadaloupe, 19th May, 1792. Honorably
retired, loth November, 181 5.
Marechal de Camp Jacques-Anne-Joseph le Prestre, Count de Vauban.>f<
Formerly, in 1770, Sous Lieutenant in the regiment of la Rochefoucauld,
dragoons, and appointed Captain 26th May, 1775.
Transferred to the Gendarmes Anglois as Sous-Lieutenant with the rank
of Lieutenant Colonel, 9th May, 1777.
Promoted to be Second Lieutenant in the same with the rank of Mestre de
Camp, 8th April, 1779, and attached, in 1780, to the regiment of Chartres, dra-
goons.
He was, at the same time. Lieutenant of the King in the government of
the County of Burgundy.
He came to Rhode Island with the Auxiliary Army as Aide de Camp to
M. le Comte de Rochambeau and, at the Siege of Yorktown, assisted in the
storming by the French column of Redoubt No. 9, 14th October, 1781.
Transferred in 1783 to be Mestre de Camp en second of the regiment of
Agenois, infantry.
Promoted, for these services, to be Mestre de Camp Lieutenant Command-
ant of the regiment of Orleans, infantry, in 1784.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist March, 1791.
Emigrated in the same year and became Aide de Camp to M. le Comte
d'Artois, in 1792, and made the campaign of that year.
In 1795 he commanded the Corps of Chouans in the descent on Brittany.
He was the eldest son of Lieutenant General Jacques-Philippe Sebastian
le Prestre, Comte de Vauban, Governor of Bethune and Commandant of the
Provinces of Flanders and Artois, and was grand nephew of M. le Marechal
Sebastian le Prestre de Vauban, the great military engineer and perfecter of the
bastioned system of fortifications, and inventor of "parallels" in sieges, and of
the "ricochet" fire.
Marechal de Camp Andre-Michel-Victor, Marquis de Chouin. ^
Formerly, from the 3rd February, 1776, Major in the Corps of Volunteers
of Benniovuski at Madagascar.
Returning to France, he joined Lieutenant General and Vice Admiral
Count d'Estaing at Toulon as Volunteer Aide de Camp and sailed with him. on
the 13th April, 1778, for the United States.
While the French fleet lay ofiF the mouth of the Delaware, 8th July of that
year, he was sent by Count d'Estaing with a letter to Congress, which he de-
livered, and then proceeded with another letter to His Excellency General
Washington, Commander-in-Chief, at Army Headquarters, Paramus, N. J.,
where he arrived on the 14th July.
He accompanied Army Headquarters to White Plains, N. Y., and on the
27th July set out for Rhode Island with Major General Nathanael Greene and
rejoined the French troops at Conanicut Island, Narragansett Bay. He par-
ticipated in the naval operations incident to the Siege of Newport and was sub-
sequently with the French fleet in Boston Harbor.
Appointed by Count d'Estaing, ist October, 1778, Marechal General des
Logis, and Major General for the projected landing of the French forces, and
participated in the capture of Grenada.
Appointed Colonel in the Colonial Forces, 4th June, 1779, and served at
the Siege of Savannah and participated in the gallant but disastrous general
assault on the enemy's works, 9th October, 1779.
98
Attached, on the 20th January, 1780, as Mestre de Camp to the Corps of
Dragoons on their returning to France from Colonial service.
Appointed Aide-Marechal General des Logis in the Corps d'Etat-Major
of the Army, 12th July, 1788.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist March, 1791.
Honorably retired, 31st December, 1826.
Marechal de Camp Pierre-Paul-Louis, Marquis de la Roche-Fontenilles.»J<
Formerly, in 1778, Captain Commandant in the regiment of Gatinois, in-
fantry, and acted as Marechal General des Logis to the troops under Count
d'Estaing at the Siege of Savannah.
Promoted for these services to be Mestre de Camp of Infantry, 24th June,
1780, and assigned to duty with his late regiment in Saint Domingo.
Promoted to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Tou-
raine, infantry, 9th March, 1788, and to be Marechal de Camp, ist March,
1791.
Marechal de Camp Charles-Laura, Marquis de Mac-Mahon D'Eguilly,
et de Vianges.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Peer of France.
Formerly, from the nth June, 1780, Mestre de Camp attached to the Irish
Brigade, infantry, having previously, from 1776, been a Capitaine Commandant
in the regiment of Royal-Lorraine, cavalry.
Having received permission of Louis XVI. to come to the United States
for active field service as Aide de Camp to IMajor General the Marquis de La-
fayette, he embarked on I'Aigle at Brest, 19th May, 1782, and was in the
combat of that frigate and la Gloire with the Hector, 4th September, 1782.
As, however, Lafayette had returned to France on leave of absence, he
joined the Auxiliary Army after his arrival in Philadelphia, as Aide de Camp to
M. le Due de Lauzun, who had returned at the same time from leave of ab-
sence, and served continuously in that army while it remained in the United
States.
Appointed, for these services, Mestre de Camp en second of the regiment
of Chasseurs of the Gevaudan, 21st August, 1784.
Promoted to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Dau-
phine, infantry, loth March, 1788, and to be Marechal de Camp, ist March,
1791, and emigrated in the same year.
At the Restoration he returned to France and on the 5th November, 1827,
was created by Charles X. a Peer of France. He died without issue and his
right to membership descended to his next younger brother, Lieutenant General
Maurice-Francois MacMahon, Seigneur d'Eguilly de Sivry, de Voudenay,
Baron de Sully.
Marechal de Camp Jean-Pierre Goullet de La Tour.»I<
Formerly, from the 5th April, 1780, Lieutenant Colonel in the regiment of
Auxonne in the Corps of Royal Artillery, and came to Rhode Island with the
Auxiliary Army in command of the Second Battalion of his regiment.
He served continuously through all the campaigns of that Army as second
in command of the French Artillery.
99
Promoted for these services to be Colonel and Director of Artillery in his
corps, 2nd April, 1782.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist March, 1791, and pensioned, 9th
October, 1791.
Marechal de Camp Francois-Alexandre-Antoine, Viscount de Lomenie.>^
Formerly, from the 12th July, 1779, Major in Lauzun's Legion, and came
•with it to Rhode Island.
After the capture of Yorktown he went to France on leave of absence, and,
in returning to rejoin the Auxiliary Army, he was on board la Gloire in the
combat of that frigate and I'Aigle with the Hector, 4th September, 1782.
Promoted for these services to be Mestre de Camp en second of the regi-
ment of Vivarais, infantry, 2nd May, 1783.
Promoted to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Royal,
dragoons, loth March, 1788.
Transferred to be Colonel of the Chasseurs of Champagne, 21st Septem-
ber, 1788.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist March, 1791.
Guillotined at Paris, loth May, 1794.
Marechal de Camp Jean-Josse, Chevalier de Tarle.>J<
Formerly Captain Commandant in the regiment of Bouillon, infantry, and
appointed Aide Major General of Infantry, ist March, 1780, and given rank
of Lieutenant Colonel, 4th March, 1780.
Assigned, 24th March, 1780, to the Auxiliary Army and came with it to
Rhode Island, and served continuously with it as Aide Major General until its
departure from the United States.
Promoted for these services to the rank of Mestre de Camp of Infantry,
13th June, 1783.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist March, 1791.
Pensioned the 4th February, 1793.
He was a younger brother of the Intendant of the Auxiliary Army.
Marechal de Camp Charles-Francis-Joseph, Count de Flechin de Vamin.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly Captain in the regiment du Roi, infantry, from the 7th June, 1776,
and promoted, 13th April, 1780, to be Mestre de Camp en Second of the regi-
ment of Touraine, infantry, and came with it to Virginia in M. le Marquis de
Saint Simon's contingent from San Domingo to join the AuxiUary Army for
the operations against Lieutenant General Earl Cornwallis.
He was officially mentioned for "good conduct" at Yorktown and distin-
guished himself in the subsequent capture of Saint Christopher by M. le Mar-
quis de Bouille, 12th February, 1782.
Promoted, for these services, in 1782, to be Mestre de Camp Commandant
of the regiment of Auxerrois infantry.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 30th June, 1791. Emigrated during
the French Revolution and made the campaign of the Princes.
On the 2 1st of July, 1799, he was promised, in recompense of his military
services, the first vacant Grand Cross of the Royal and Military Order of St.
Louis.
Marechal de Camp Theodore, Count de Lameth.>{<
Knight of Saint John of Jerusalem,
Officer of the Legion of Honor.
In 1770 was an Enseigne de Vaisseau and served in the French Navy
successively under Lieutenant Generals the Counts d'Orvilliers and de Guichen.
Preferring the land service, he was, in 1774, appointed a captain in the
regiment Royal, cavalry, and in 1778 acted as Aide Marechal General des
Logis in the army commanded by his uncle, M. le Marechal Due de Broglie,
in the Camp of Vaussieux.
He subsequently, in 1779, was attached to the regiment of Auxerrois, in-
fantry, and served with the troops on board Count d'Estaing's fleet and was
in the action off Grenada, where he was wounded, 6th July, 1779.
He served also at the Siege of Savannah with distinction.
Having been sent to France by Count d'Estaing with important dispatches
for the Minister of Marine, he was promoted for his services to be Mestre de
Camp Lieutenant en second of the regiment Mestre de Camp General, cavalry,
13th April, 1780.
He was subsequently promoted, loth March, 1788, to be Mestre de Camp
Lieutenant Commandant of the regiment Royal-Piemont, cavalry, and trans-
ferred in the same capacity, on the 25th March, 1788, to the regiment Royal
Stranger, cavalry.
Deputy in the National Legislative Assembly from Jura, 1st October, 1791.
He was also President of that Department.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 28th November, 1791, and subse-
quently commanded a brigade of cavalry, but returned to the Assembly to de-
nounce the massacres of September, 1792. This action on his part rendered
emigrate in consequence of the overthrow of the constitutional government.
Marechal de Camp Gabriel-Marie, Viscount de Ricce.>J<
Knight Commander of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly, from the 21st May, 1781, Captain attached to the regiment of
Boulonnois, infantry, and on duty on the Staff of the Army of Vaux.
Having applied for service in the Auxiliary Army, he first came to the
United States on board I'Aigle, and was, consequently, in the combat of that
frigate and la Gloire with the Hector, 4th September, 1782.
He was assigned to duty in the Auxiliary Army as Aide de Camp to M. le
Baron de Viomenil and continued afterward with that army as long as it re-
mained in the United States.
Appointed Assistant in the Corps de l'£tat Major of the Army, 2nd Au-
gust, 1783.
Promoted, for his services in the Auxiliary Army to be Mestre de Camp
en second of the regiment of Lorraine, infantry, 20th May, 1784.
Transferred to be Colonel attached to the regiment of Dauphin, infantry,
6th April, 1788.
Appointed Adjutant General with the rank of Colonel, ist August, 179 1.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 13th January, 1792.
Ceased to serve, i6th August, 1792.
Formally retired, i8th October, 1804.
He was appointed Prefect of I'Orne in 1814 and of Loiret in 1830.
Marechal de Camp Louis-Philippe, Count de Segur.>J<
Knight of Saint-Lazare et Notre Dame du Carmel,
Knight Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor,
Knight Grand Cross of St. Joseph of Tuscany,
Knight Grand Cross of the Golden Eagle of Wurtemburg,
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Christ of Portugal,
Peer of France.
Formerly, from the ist October, 1776, Mestre de Camp Lieutenant en
second of the regiment of Orleans, dragoons, and transferred, on his own
application, 27th January, 1782, to be Mestre de Camp en second of the regi-
ment of Soissonnois, infantry, so that he could serve in the Auxiliary Army.
He first came to the LTnited States on board la Gloire, and was, conse-
quently, in the combat of that frigate and I'Aigle with the Hector, 4th Septem-
ber, 1782.
Having joined his regiment he afterward served continuously with it as
long as it remained in the United States.
Promoted, for these services, 5th December, 1782, to be Mestre de Camp
Commandant of the regiment de Segur, dragoons, formerly known as the
regiment of Belsunce, dragoons, to which his name was given as a special mark
of appreciation.
On the 4th July, 1784, he was elected Secretary of the French State So-
ciety of the Cincinnati, and exercised such functions until the Reign of Terror.
Deputy of the Nobility of Bordeaux in the States General of the 5th May,
1789.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, loth March, 1797.
At the time he came to the United States to join the Auxiliary Army, he
was Minister Plenipotentiary of France to Russia and sitbsequently became
Ambassador to Prussia, and in 1792 was Ambassador to Rome.
He withdrew from service at the beginning of the Reign of Terror, but
subsequently returned after its overthrow.
In 1801 he was a Member of the Corps Legislatif.
Appointed Councillor of State for the Department of the Interior, 25th
December, 1802.
Member of the French Academy.
Appointed Grand Ofificer of the Household of the Emperor Buonaparte,
9th July, 1804.
Appointed Grand Master of Ceremonies of France, 2d February, 1805.
Appointed Senator of France, 5th April, 1813.
At the Restoration he gave his adhesion to Louis XVIII. and was created
a Peer of France, 4th June, 1814.
He was the author of
1. Theatre de I'Hermitage.
2. Contes, Fables, Chansons et Vers.
3. Memoires ou Souvenirs et Anecdotes.
4. Decade Historique.
5. Politique des Cabinets de i'Europe.
6. Histoire Ancienne.
7. Histoire Romaine.
8. Histoire du Bas-Empire.
9. Histoire de France.
10. Galerie Morale et Politique.
His CEuvres Complete were published at Paris in thirty-three volumes in
1824-30.
He was the eldest son of M. le Marechal Philippe-Henri, Marquis de
Segur, Knight of the Holy Ghost, who was Minister of War from the 27th
November, 1780, until the 29th August, 1787.
Marechal de Camp Pierre-Francois-Gabriel, Count d'011one.>J<
Formerly, from the 8th April, 1779, Captain in the Third Regiment of
Chasseurs a Cheval.
Appointed Aide de Camp to his uncle, Marechal de Camp Charles- Joseph-
Hyacinthe Du Houx, Count de Viomenil, 2nd May, 1780, and came with the
Auxiliary Army to Rhode Island and served in all its campaigns.
Appointed by Lieutenant General Count de Rochambeau, commanding the
Auxiliary Army, in January, 1782, Sous-Aide-Marechal-General des Logis, to
that army, with local rank of Colonel.
For his services in the Auxiliary Army he received a gratuity of 600 livres
per annum.
Appointed Assistant in the Corps de I'fitat-Major of the Army, 13th June,
1783-
Appointed Aide-Marechal des Logis, 2nd December, 1787; with rank of
Major, 1st July, 1788, and with rank of Lieutenant Colonel, nth July, 1789.
Appointed Adjutant General, with rank of Lieutenant Colonel, ist April,
1791.
Appointed Colonel 47th Regiment, Infantry, 23rd November, 1791.
Appointed Adjutant General with rank of Colonel i6th May, 1792.
Resigned in July, 1792, and emigrated and joined the Princes on the Rhine.
Appointed by Louis XVIII a Marechal de Camp, 23rd August, 1814.
Honorably retired 12th May, 1819.*
Marechal de Camp . Claude-Bernard- Jean-Magdeleine-Germain Loppin,
Marquis de Montmort et Seigneur de la Boulaye.
Formerly, from the 3d June, 1779, Captain in the regiment of Royal-
Cravates, cavalry.
He was appointed Aide de Camp to his father-in-law, M. le Baron de Vio-
menil, in May, 1782, when the latter was in France on leave of absence.
He accordingly came to the United States with that general officer on board
I'Aigle and was in the combat of that frigate and la Gloire with the Hector,
ship of the line, 4th September, 1782.
He afterward served continuously with the Auxiliary Army until its de-
parture.
Promoted, for these services, to be Mestre de Camp en second of the
regiment of Saintonge, infantry, ist March, 1784, and was, on the army reor-
ganization of the 17th March, 1788, attached to that regiment as Colonel.
He ceased to serve in 1791.
*On the 4th July, 1SS2, his grandson and eldest lineal male descendant at common law.
Lieutenant Colonel Ernest-Francois-Sigisbert, Count d'Ollone of the Territorial Army,
Knight of the Legion of Honor, was duly admitted to hereditary membership in the Rhode
Island State Society of the Cincinnati in succession, and, on the latter's decease his eldest
son. Captain Commandant Charles-Alexander-Marie-Celeste, Count d'Ollone, 27th Regiment
of IJragoons French Army, was duly admitted, 4th July, 1897, to hereditsiry membership
in the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati in succession.
COUNT DE SEGUR.
MARECHAL DE CAMP FRENCH ARMt
SECRETARY FRENCH CINCINNATI.
After the Restoration he commanded, in 1815-16, the regiment of infantry
in tlie Department of the Cotes du Nord.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, honorary, 7th May, 181 7.
He was the eldest son of Lieutenant General M. le Marquis de Montmort,
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Brigadier General Jean, Count de Lilancour-Taste.>J<
Formerly, from the 15th October, 1775, Colonel Commandant en second
of the Northern District of Saint Domingo.
Promoted to be Brigadier General of the Colonial Forces, 25th October,
1776, and appointed Deputy Governor, which latter office he continued to hold
until regularly relieved in April, 1783.
In July, 1 78 1, while he was acting Governor and ex-officio Commander in
Chief in Saint Domingo, he received from Lieutenant General Count de Grasse,
the communication addressed to the latter by Count de Rochambeau, dated
nth June, 1781, containing the plan concerted by General Washington and the
Count de Rochambeau at Wethersfield, Connecticut, for a combined land and
naval attack on General Sir Henry Clinton in New York City or on Lieutenant
General Earl Comwallis in Virginia, as circumstances should warrant, and
earnestly requesting Count de Grasse's co-operation in order to make it suc-
cessful and, in case he approved, that he should bring his fleet to Chesapeake
Bay for further advices.
As Count de Grasse was willing to co-operate. Count de Lilancour-Taste
detached, on his own responsibility, Marechal de Camp M. le Marquis de Saint
Simon and a division of troops from the garrison of Saint Domingo, for em-
barkation in Count de Grasse's fleet, thus leaving the island and a large fleet of
merchant vessels, for the time being, and until the return of the detachment,
wholly unprotected.
The risk which he thus incurred enabled the operations at Yorktown to
be brought to a glorious termination.
Promoted, for these services, by Louis XVI, to be Brigadier General of
Infantry in the regular establishment, ist January, 1784, and appointed, on
the 6th September, 1784, Commandant in Chief in Saint Domingo.
Honorably retired, 17th July, 1785.
Admitted to original membership* because he had actually co-operated with
the American and Allied French Armies in the reduction of the British Army
in Virginia.
Colonel Guillaume, Count des Deux-Ponts.>J<
Formerly, from the 2d October, 1777, Mestre de Camp Lieutenant en
second of the regiment Royal Deux-Ponts, infantry, and served with it continu-
ously in the Auxiliary Army, from the time of its arrival in Rhode Island.
He was with the land detachment, which, in March, 1781, embarked at
*Count de Rochambeau, in a letter to President General Washington, dated
Paris, 13th February, 1V84, forwarded Count de Lilancour's application, "particularly rec-
ommending it" and adding that it deserved the attention of the Society. His Excellency,
the President General, in a reply dated Philadelphia, 15th May, 1784, said: "Your request
in favor of Count de Lilancour will be fully answered by a just construction of the Insti-
tution which includes all officers of his rank who co-operated with the Armies of the
United States.
"The Count manifestly co-operated by sending a considerable detachment of his com-
mand from St. Domingo at his own risque and therefore the opinion of the Society is that
the Count de Lilancour is a member of right."
Newport, R. I., in M. des Touche's squadron for a projected expedition to
Virginia, and was in the resultant naval action of the i6th March, 1781.
During the Siege of Yorktown, he commanded a detachment of 400
grenadiers and chasseurs of the regiments of Gatinois and Royal Deux-Ponts
in the storming of the bastion Redoubt No. 9, by the French Column, on the
14th October, 1781, and was wounded a few moments later by sand and gravel
thrown in his face by the richochet of a cannon ball which passed near his
head as he raised it above the parapet when the British began to cannonade the
captured redoubt.
On the 25th October, 1781, he was sent to France, by M. le Comte de
Rochambeau, in the frigate Andromaque, with duplicate dispatches of the
victory.
Although he had not served the requisite time in the Army to be eligible
under the general regulations of the ist June, 1781, he was nevertheless
specially appointed, by Louis XVI, on the 5th December, 1781, a Knight of
the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis, "for valor and courage at York-
town."
Promoted, for these services, 27th January, 1782, to be Mestre de Camp
Commandant of the regiment of Deux-Ponts, dragoons, formerly known as the
regiment of Jamac, dragoons, to which his name was given as a special mark
of appreciation.
He resigned in 1791 and subsequently became Captain of the Gardes du
Corps at the Court of the King of Bavaria.
Author of a journal of his campaigns in America.
Colonel Francois-Marie, Baron d'Angely.>J<
Formerly Colonel of Dragoons in the service of Russia.
Appointed Colonel of the Volunteer Legion of the Prince of Nassau-
Sieghen in the French Army, 17th March, 1779.
He came to the United States with M. le Baron de Viomenil as his first
Aide de Camp, and served continuously with the Auxiliary Army from its
arrival in Rhode Island until after the Siege of Yorktown.
He commanded a detachment of 250 men, which, on the loth July, 1781,
was transported, from Newport, R. I., by three frigates of the French Squad-
ron, to attack Fort Franklin at Lloyd's Neck, near Huntington Bay, Long
Island, N. Y. The detachment, having been joined by some volunteers from
Fairfield, Conn., landed on the 12th July, but found on reconnoissance the fort
too strong to be assailed without artillery.
For his services in the Auxiliary Army he was pensioned, 9th August, 1782.
He was admitted a Member of the Order of the Cincinnati under a special
warrant of authorization from Louis XVI, dated Versailles, 6th September,
1784.
Colonel Thadee-Humphrey, Count 0'Dunne.>I<
Formerly, from the 12th April, 1777, Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment
of Martinique, infantry, and served under Count d'Estaing at the Siege of
Savannah.
Promoted, for these services, to be Colonel of Infantry, 20th January, 1780.
Authorized to return to France, i6th September, 1781, and did not again
serve. His father was Minister Plenipotentiary to the Elector Palatine 1773-
1779 and the Ambassador of France to Portugal 1780-1786.
Colonel Charles-Edouard-Frederic-Henry, Count de Macdonald.i^
Formerly, from the ist July, 1776, Capitaine en second in the regiment of
Foix, infantry, and served under Count d'Estaing at the Siege of Savannah.
Promoted, for these services, to the rank of Mestre de Camp of Infantry,
in the Army, 24th June, 1780.
Assigned to be Capitaine en second of Grenadiers in his regiment (Foix),
19th June, 1782.
Promoted to be Capitaine Commandant in the same, 6th March, 1784.
Honorably retired, 22d September, 1785.
Colonel Francois de Casteras de Seignan, Marquis de Casteras.»J<
Formerly, from the 28th August, 1777, Captain attached to the regiment
of Agenois, infantry, and served under Count d'Estaing at the Siege of Savan-
nah.
Promoted, for these services, to be Colonel attached to the infantry, 24th
June, 1780, and returned to France, but did not again engage in active service.
Colonel Louis-Charles, Count d'Hervilly.^
Formerly, from the 21st March, 1779, Captain in the regiment of Auxer-
rois, infantry, and served under Count d'Estaing at the Siege of Savannah as
Sous Aide Major General.
Promoted, for these services, to the rank of Mestre de Camp, 24th June,
1780.
Assigned to duty as Aide Marechal General des Logis in the Corps d'Etat
Major of the Army, ist December, 1784.
Promoted to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Rohan-
Soubise, infantry, loth March, 1788, and in September, 1790, was stationed at
Nantes during Revolutionary disturbances.
Appointed Commandant of the Cavalry of the Constitutional Guard of
the King, ist November, 1791, until its disbandment 5th June, 1792, and was
with him during the attack on the Tuileries, loth August, 1792.
Emigrated in January, 1793, immediately after execution of the King.
He commanded the regiment Royal-Louis in the Corps of French Emigres,
which made a descent on Brittany, and disembarked at Carnac the 27th June,
1795-
In the subsequent affair of Quiberon, i6th July, 1795, he was mortally
wounded and, having been removed to London, died there i6th November,
1795-
Colonel Guillaume Querenet de La Combe.>J<
Formerly, in 1779, Lieutenant Colonel and Sous Brigadier in the Brigade
of Strasbourg, in the Corps of Royal Engineers, and was in 1780 assigned to
duty with the detachment of his Corps in the Auxiliary Army which embarked
for Rhode Island on the nth April, 1780.
At the Siege of Yorktown he held the immediate command of this detach-
ment and was, on the 5th December, 1781, promoted to be Colonel of his
■Corps for his services in that operation.
He died in service at Mezieres, 5th July, 1788.
Colonel Andre-Boniface-Louis, Count de Riquetti and Viscount de
Mirabeau."^
Knight of Saint John of Jerusalem.
Formerly, from the 29th May, 1778, Captain of Infantry and attached,
on the 30th July, 1778, to the regiment of Nivernois, infantry.
Transferred to the regiment of Touraine, infantry, in 1780, and served in
the land detachment in the fleet of Lieutenant General M. le Comte de Guichen
in the naval actions in the West Indies of the 17th April and 15th and 19th of
May, 1780.
He subsequently served with the contingent under M. le Marquis de Saint-
Simon, from Saint Domingo, which joined the Auxiliary Army at WilHams-
burg, \a., for operations against Lieutenant General Earl Comwallis, and
participated in the Siege of Yorktown.
He was afterward engaged in the land attack upon and capture of St
Christopher, nth January, 1782, in which he was wounded.
Promoted, for these services, to be Mestre de Camp en second of the regi-
ment of Touraine, infantry, 24th April, 1782, and to be Mestre de Camp Com-
mandant of the same in 1788.
Deputy of the Nobility of Limoges and of Saint Yrieix in the States General
of the 5th May, 1789, and formally protested against the resolve of the 19th
June, 1790, which attempted to suppress the nobility as a class.
Emigrated soon afterward in 1790, and became, in 1792, Commandant
and Proprietary Colonel of the Legion de Mirabeau, composed of infantry and
Hussars-Tolpachs in the army of the Prince de Conde, on the Rhine, and died
in service at Fribourg, Baden, in October, 1792.
He was the next younger brother and successor in the family titles of M.
le Comte de Mirabeau, author of "Considerations on the Order of Cincinnatus,"
Colonel Claude, Baron de Saint-Simon.>}<
Knight of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly, from the 21st April, 1777, Captain attached to the regiment of
Touraine, infantry, and was Aide de Camp to M. le Marquis de Saint-Simon
and, in that capacity, accompanied the contingent from Saint Domingo which
joined the Auxiliary Army in Virginia for operations against Lieutenant Gen-
eral Earl Comwallis.
Promoted, for his services at Yorktown, to be Mestre de Camp en second
of the regiment of Royal Auvergne (late Gatinois), infantry, 12th July, 1782.
Transferred to be Colonel Commandant of the Garrison regiment du Roi,
infantry, loth May, 1788.
Placed on the half pay list, on reduction of his regiment, 20th March, 1791.
Appointed Commandant of the troops at Blaye, 2d October. 1803.
Permitted to retire on full pay, 12th April, 1806.
Colonel Jacques-Gilbert-Marie de Chabannes, Marquis de La Palisse.>J«
(Formerly known as le Comte de Chabannes.)
He was, from the 28th February, 1778, Capitaine reforme (half-pay) in
the regiment of Royal Piemont, cavalry, and came with the Auxiliary Army
to Rhode Island as Aide de Camp to M. le Baron de Viomenil.
Appointed, 25th February, 1781, Aide Marechal General des Logis in that
Army, he served continuously in that capacity until after the capture of York-
town, and participated in the storming of Redoubt No. 9 by the French Col-
umn, 14th October, 1781.
He then went to France with the Baron de Viomenil.
Lieutenant General de Rochambeau reported that he "always displayed the
greatest readiness and utmost zeal, and merited a handsome recognition of his
good conduct on all occasions when it was possible to make any demands on
him."
Promoted to be Mestre de Camp en second of the regiment of Saintonge,
infantry, 3d April, 1783.
Transferred to the regiment of dragoons of Deux-Ponts, 1st March, 1784.
Transferred to the regiment of Chasseurs of Flanders, 28th May, 1788.*
Colonel Eberhard-Louis, Baron d'Esebeck.
Knight of the Order of Military Merit in France.
Formerly Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment of Royal Deux-Ponts, in-
fantry, and came with it to Rhode Island in the Auxiliary Army and served
continuously with it until its departure.
Promoted, for these services, to be Mestre de Camp Lieutenant en second
of the same, ist January, 1784.
Promoted to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Alsace,
infantry, 25th May, 1786.
Emigrated during the French Revolution.
Colonel Claude-Henri de Rouvroy, Count de Saint-Simon.»J<
Formerly, from the 14th November, 1779, Captain attached to the regi-
ment of Touraine, infantry, and came with it to Virginia from Saint Domingo
in the contingent under his father, M. le Marquis de Saint-Simon, destined to
aid in the projected operations against Lieutenant General Earl Cornwallis.
He accordingly participated in the Siege of Yorktown.
Appointed, after his return to the West Indies, Aide Major General to the
troops under Lieutenant General M. le Marquis de Bouille, 22d March, 1782.
Wounded and made prisoner of war while serving on the flagship la Ville
de Paris, 104, of Count de Grasse's fleet, in the naval action of the 12th April,
1782.
Paroled and released at the Peace, and promoted, for his services at York-
town to be Mestre de Camp en second of the regiment of Aquitaine, infantry,
1st January, 1784.
Colonel attached to the infantry on the army reorganization, 22d July, 1788.
He did not afterward serve.
*He was the eldest son of Marechal de Camp Jacques-Charles. Comte de Chabannea.
de Rochefort et de Paula^nac, Marquis de Curton et du Palais, and. of his wife, Marie-
Elizabeth de Talleyrand-Perigord. daughter of Brigadier Daniel-Marie-Anne, Marquis da
Talleyrand-Perigord.
He was born in Paris. 3d April. 1760, and succeeded his father in his title in 1779,
and died, unmarried, at Saint Domingo in 17S9.
His only brother was Colonel Jean-Frederic de Chabannes, who was born in Paris,
17th December, 1761, and became Marquis de la Palisse on decease of the former and suc-
ceeded him in the Cincinnati.
In June, 17S9, Vice Admiral M. le Comte d'Estaing, President of the Society of the
Cincinnati in France, forwarded the latter's name, as an hereditary member in succession,
for a diploma of membership, to Secretary General, the Hon. Henry Knox, then U. S.
Secretary of War. A diploma was accordingly prepared and duly authenticated by President
General Washington and the Secretary General and transmitted on the 12th November, 1790.
loS
He was admitted to Membership in the Order of the Cincinnati under a
special warrant of authorization from Louis XVI., dated Versailles, 3d Sep-
tember, 1784.
He was the author of
1. Lettres d'un Habitant de Geneve a ses Contemporains.
2. Introduction aux Travaux Scientifiques du igme Siecle.
3. Reorganisation de la Societe Europeenne.
4. L'Industrie, ou Discussions politiques. morales, et philosophiques.
5. Catechisme industriel.
6. Nouveau Christianisme.
His OEuvres choisies were published at Paris in three volumes in 1859.
His OEuvres completes, embodied with those of Barthelemi Prosper Enfan-
tin, were published at Paris in twenty volumes in 1865-69.
Colonel Andre-Arsehe de Rosset de Rocozel, Viscount de Fleury.»}»
Formerly, from the 24th June, 1780, Captain attached to the regiment of
Dauphin, dragoons.
He first came to the United States on board I'Aigle, and was consequently
in the combat of that frigate and la Gloire with the Hector, 74, 4th September,
1782.
Upon joining the Auxiliary Army he was appointed Aide de Camp to
Brigadier General M. de Choisy, and served in that capacity until the final de-
parture of that army.
Promoted, for these services, to be Colonel, ist April, 1784, and assigned
to be Mestre de Camp en second of the regiment of Languedoc, dragoons, 8th
April, 1784.
Transferred to be Colonel attached to the Chasseurs a Cheval of Langue-
doc, 1 8th May, 1788.
Emigrated in 1790, and did not again serve.
He was the second son of Lieutenant General Andre-Hercule de Rosset,
Due de Fleury, Knight of the Holy Ghost, Peer of France and Governor Gen-
eral of the Province of Lorraine.
Colonel Achille-Francois, Duke du Chatelet.>J<
(Formerly known as le Marquis du Chatelet.)
He was- from the 6th November, 1779, Captain attached to the infantry
and attached to the regiment of Touraine, infantry, ist December, 1779, and
was in the contingent under M. le Marquis de Saint-Simon which came from
Saint Domingo to join the Auxiliary Army in Virginia for the operations
against Lieutenant General Earl Cornwallis.
Promoted, for his services at Yorktown, to be Mestre de Camp en second
of the regiment of Chasseurs des Vosges, 21st August, 1784.
Transferred to be Colonel of the loth regiment of Chasseurs a Cheval, 25th
July, 1 791, formerly known as the Chasseurs of Bretagne.
Superseded ist September, 1791.
He was admitted to membership in the Order of the Cincinnati under a
special warrant of authorization from Louis XVI, dated Versailles, 9th Novem-
ber, 1784.
Guillotined in 1794.
I09
He was the eldest son of Lieutenant General Louis-Marie-Florent, Due de
Chatelet, Knight of the Holy Ghost, whose devotion to his King and to Con-
stitutional Monarchy marked him for proscription by the Jacobins and he was
guillotined 13th December, 1793.
His Excellency Chevalier Conrad-Alexandre Gerard, LL.D.^
Formerly, from 1769, Honorary Secretary to the King, and later Royal
Chief Magistrate of the City of Strasbourg and Secretary of the Council of
State and Sole Plenipotentiary on behalf of France in negotiating with the
United States the treaties of Alliance and Commerce of the 6th February,
1778.
Subsequently became the first Minister Plenipotentiary of France to the
United States, 6th August, i778-i7th September, 1779.
Appointed by Louis XVI, on the 15th April, 1780, a Councillor of State,
which office he continued to hold until his decease in Strasbourg in April, 1790.
Member of the Assembly of Notables convoked at Versailles, 22d Feb-
ruary, 1787.*
His Excellency Marechal de Camp Cesar-Anne de la Luzerne de Beu-
zeville, Marquis de la Luzerne, LL.D.>{<
Knight of St. John of Jerusalem.
(Formerly known as the Chevalier de la Luzerne.)
In 1754 he entered the Light Cavalry of the French Guards and was
promoted to be Captain in the regiment d'Hericy, cavalry, in 1759.
This regiment was incorporated with the regiment of Bourgogne, cavalry,
in 1762, and he was promoted to be Colonel in the Grenadiers of France.
Promoted to be Colonel Commandant of the Provincial regiment of Caen,
infantry, in 1771, and to be Brigadier General of Infantry, ist March, 1780,
and to be Marechal de Camp for his services in the United States, 5th Decem-
ber, 1781.
He was Envoy Extraordinary to Maximillien-Joseph, Elector of Bavaria,.
30th December, i777-i5th July, 1778.
Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States of America, 17th November,
i779-24th June, 1784, reHeving the Chevalier Gerard.
Ambassador from France to Great Britain from January, 1788, until his
decease, 14th September, 1791.
He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
For his peculiarly valuable services to the United States, while Minister
Plenipotentiary, at Philadelphia, particularly in negotiating for the Continental
Army in 1780, a loan on his own responsibility. President Washington in 1789
conveyed to him through the Secretary of State an express acknowledgment
of his services and the sense of them entertained by the United States.
•Although the Chevalier Gerard had no military or naval rank, he was, in consequence
of the war waged while he was Minister Plenipotentiary, intrusted, in his diplomatic office,
with enlarged powers.
A number of French ships of war and transports came to the United States, during
his residency, on special service or laden with munitions of war and military stores. These
vessels all fell under his immediate orders, and the ships of war were dispatched by him
•n various missions.
Exercising, therefore, command over co-operating forces in the United States, he-
was appropriately named In the Institution as one to be admdtted to original membership.
He was the third son of Marechal de Camp Cesar-Antoine de la Luzerne,
Comte de Beuzeville.
His eldest brother was Lieutenant General Cesar-Henri, Comte de la
Luzerne, Minister of Marine under Louis XVL, and his next brother was His
Eminence Cesar-Guillaume, Cardinal Due de la Luzerne and Peer of France.
He was created a Marquis by Louis XVL in 1785.
After his departure from the United States he continued to correspond with
President General Washington, as did many others of the French Cincinnati.*
CHAPTER XII.
ORIGINAL MEMBERS.
(Continued.)
FRENCH NAVY A
Admiral of France, Charles-Henri-Theodat, Count d'Estaing.»i«
Knight of the Holy Ghost,
Grandee of Spain of the First Class.
He was born at the Qiateau de Ruvel in Auvergne in 1729, and became a
Mousquetaire in 1745.
In 1746 he was appointed a Captain in the regiment of Rouergue, infan-
try, and promoted to be Colonel of the same in 1748.
Promoted to be Brigadier General of Infantry 15th November, 1756.
On the 2nd May, 1757, he embarked in the squadron of Comte d'Ache in
the Corps under de Lally Tollendal, Commandant General of the French Es-
tablishments in the East Indies, and arrived at Pondichery, 28th April, 1758,
and was in the successful expeditions against Gondelour and Fort Saint David.
Taken prisoner 14th December, 1758, at the Siege of Madras, after having
been wounded and thrown from his horse, he recovered his liberty on parole.
Having received information of his exchange, he took command, in Octo-
ber, 1759, of the expedition, troops and ships which captured in the Gulf of
Persia, the fort Bender-Abassi.
In the subsequent operations he was again taken prisoner, and his exchange
•In one of these letters, written while he was Ambassador to the Court of St. James,
and dated London, 17th January, 1790, he used the following language:
"I dare flatter myself that your Excellency does justice to the very tender and
respectful attachment which I have long entertained towards you, and you will be persuaded
of the great pleasure with which I have learned the success, that has followed the first
movements of your administration. After having given freedom to your country, it was
worthy of the virtues and great character of your Excellency to establish its happiness
on a solid and permanent basis, which is assuredly the result of the new federal consti-
tution, in framing which you assisted by your counsel, and which you now support, as
much by the splendor of your talents and patriotism, as by the eminent situation confided
to you by your fellow citizens.
"They possess the advantage of enjoying more particularly your beneficence, and the
honor of having you born among them; but I dare assure you that the consideration which
you enjoy throughout Europe, and particularly in my country, yields not even to that which
you have obtained in your native land. •»••••■
^Each of these original members, thus designated, was a Knight of the Roval and
Military Order of Saint Louis.
COUNT D'ESTAING.
ADMIRAL OF FRANCE.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL FRENCH ARMY.
PRESIDENT FRENCH CINCINNATI.
from previous capture having been disputed by the British, he was sent to
Portsmouth, England, and imprisoned, but was released at the Peace.
Meanwhile, on the loth February, 1761, he was promoted to be Marechal
de Camp, and, on the 25th July, 1762, to be Lieutenant General in the Army,
as a mark of his Sovereign's confidence and appreciation of his conduct.
At the Peace of Paris, loth February, 1763, he was appointed, by Louis
XV., a Lieutenant General in the Naval Forces of France, without relinquish-
ing his Army commission, and also Governor General of Saint Domingo 1764-
1766, and then of the French Leeward Islands in the West Indies, which latter
office he held for several years.
In 1772 he was appointed Inspector General of the Naval Forces and Com-
mandant of the Marine at Brest.
Promoted, in February, 1777, by Louis XVI., to be Vice Admiral of the
French Naval Forces in Asia and America.
Having been assigned to command the fleet and troops destined to co-
operate with the forces of the United States, he set sail from Toulon, 13th
April, 1778, and arrived on the coast of the United States, 8th July, 1778.
He commanded the French Land and Naval Forces in the operations in
Rhode Island in the last named year, which compelled the British to destroy
their squadron in Newport Harbor, consisting of five frigates, two sloops of
war, and three armed galleys, mounting in the aggregate two hundred and
eighteen guns, and he also commanded in the resultant but indecisive naval
action against Vice Admiral Lord Howe, August 11-16, 1778, and afterward
vent into Boston Harbor to refit.*
He commanded the same forces subsequently in the capture of St. Lucie,
14th December, 1778, and in the assault and capture of Grenada, 4th July,
1779, and severe naval action off that island against Rear Admiral John Byron,
6th July, 1779, and in the capture of Saint Vincent, Saint Martin and Saint
Bartholomew.
Later, at the Siege of Savannah, he commanded the co-operating French
Army and Fleet, and was twice wounded in the unsuccessful general assault of
the 9th October, 1779, when mounting the British entrenchments at the head of
one of his columns of attack.
After the siege had been raised he left the coast of Georgia on the 28th
October, 1779, and set sail for Brest, and arrived in Paris on the 7th December,
1779.
On the 23d of the same month, he was accorded an interview at Versailles
by Louis XVI., "who expressed his extreme satisfaction at his conduct," and
announced his appointment as Vice Admiral of France.
General Sir Henry Clinton, in writing to Lord George Germain, from his
Headquarters, New York, 30th January, 1780, said:
"I do not reckon among the lesser misfortunes of the last year, the operations of
D'Estaing on the American coast; the vast relief thereby given to the rebel trade, and
the injury which it brough upon ours; the impression it carried home to the minds of
the people of our lost dominion of the sea, and the disposition of the French to give
them every assistance reconcilable with the general objects of the War to complete our
ruin on the continent."
In October, 1782, Count d'Estaing was assigned to the combined fleets
•The operations of Count d'Estaing's fleet in Rhode Island in 1778 included the
blockade of Newport Harbor and the forcing of the Narragansett Passage and heavy
cannonading with the BriUsh land batteries, and subsequent indecisive naval action against
Lord Howe.
and armies of France and Spain, comprising forty-nine ships of the line, sev-
eral frigates and cutters, and a land force of twenty thousand men, which as-
sembled at Cadiz for intended operations, first against the British West India
Islands, and then, during the summer, in co-operation with the American Army,
against the British Army in New York and garrisons in Canada.
This great land and naval armament forced the British Ministry to make
Peace.
He was the first to send information to the United States of the signature
of the preliminaries of peace.
For his services in this war, Louis XVI., in 1783, gave him a gratification
of thirty thousand livres, with a promise to continue the same annually until
he should obtain the Government General of a Province, the salary of which
would yield the same income.
On the 4th July, 1784, he became President of the French State Society
of the Cincinnati, and Member of its Standing Committee, and exercised such
functions until the Reign of Terror.
On the 22d February, 1785, the General Assembly of the State of Georgia,
by Act of that date, gave him twenty thousand acres of land and admitted him
to "all the privileges, liberties and immunities of a free citizen of that State."
He consequently became a citizen of the United States on the adoption of
the Constitution.
On the 17th July, 1785, he was appointed Governor General of the Province
of Touraine.
On the 22d February, 1787, he was a Member of the Assembly of Nota-
bles convoked at Versailles, and on the 14th September, 1789, commanded the
National Guards which were on duty there.
Promoted to be Admiral of France, ist January, 1792.
Guillotined at Paris, 28th April, 1794.
Author of a poem, "Le Reve," and a tragedy, and a book on the Colonies
of France.
He was the first and only President of the Society of the Cincinnati in
France, and frequently wrote to President General Washington and always
exhibited toward him the highest respect and regard.*
(In English.)
•Sir:
The letter with which you have had the goodness to honor me dated October 13th, has
been transmitted to me by M. le Comte de Moustier, as well as the diplomas with which he
was charged. I have transmitted them to the Officers to whom they were destined. Deign
to accept, I beseech you, with that indulgent goodness which is your characteristic, the homage
of my thanks. Those which each one of my comrades have charged me to tender to you
vary in expression, but unite in sentiment. Some envy the good fortune of the Squadron
which was at Boston — others desire to be so happy as to show their duty to you; and none
fail to signify the satisfaction which they feel in proposing so honorable a title and to
transmit it to their families. The Signature of M. George VTashington is placed above those
of the greatest Sovereigns that ever existed; they show it with a kind of religious venera-
tion; for when liberty is rightly understood it becomes the divinity of the human Race — and
you, Sir, ought not to be surprised that you are the Messiah of it.
Those officers who have not received their diplomas express the greatest desire to
obtain that benefit — they have charged me to solicit it — deign, I pray you, to speak of It to
His Excellency General Knox. All my friends threaten to quarrel with me if they have not
this signature which is superior to all titles. The name of Caesar among the Romans was
considered as the first of all honorable titles — and the Emperors of Germany decorate them-
selves with it to this day; Caesar enslaved his Country — you have liberated yours. How much
more worthy are you, than he, of this homage! Tour fellow citizens and posterity have
decreed that the name of Washington shall not be lessened by any qualifications (titles).
The United States owe to you, peace and political energy— the two bases of all good govern-
ment, which cannot exist and be durable longer than while the executive authority enjoys
all Its powers within the immutable bounds of liberty.
As an American Citizen I partake of this good fortune by my attachment to my new
His last letter to President General Washington was dated Paris, 30th
May, 1 79 1.
An officer who served under him in the American War, and who anony-
mously subscribed to a diary which he kept at the time and which was subse-
quently published, thus described his character :
"If zeal, activity, eagerness and ambition to accomplish great deeds are worthy of
recompense, never will France be able sufficiently to acknowledge her obligations to
Count d'Estaing. With much intelligence, he possesses the enthusiasm and the fire
of a man of twenty years of age. Enterprising, bold even to temerity, all things appear
possible to him. He fancies no representations which bring home to him a knowledge
of difficulties. * * * * He committed much to chance, and played largely the game
of hazard. But that he was energetic, adventurous almost to rashness, indefatigable in
his enterprises, which he conducted with an ardor of which, had we not followed him,
we could have formed no conception ; and that to all this he added much intellect, and a
temper which imparted great austerity to his character, we are forced to admit."
Brigadier General Henry B. Carrington, LL. D., United States Army, in
his "Battles of the American Revolution," justly says, in review of Count
d'Estaing's services :
"It must be the judgment of history that he did his duty to France, Amer-
ica and himself ; and, under the exasperating character of the abuse which was
heaped upon him, he vindicated the confidence of his sovereign in his capacity
and wisdom."
Count d'Estaing was an earnest friend and supporter of Constitutional
government, and in favor of the French Constitution of 1790, and when he
learned of the intrigues of re-actionists to secure the removal of Louis XVL
from France, strongly protested against such proceedings and set forth fully in
a private letter to the Queen the evil consequences of a compliance.
He retained, through life, the affectionate respect of the French Cincinnati.
Like the Count de Rochambeau, he possessed in a marked degree sagacity,
ability, prudence and dignity, and was an ardent admirer of Washington and
earnest supporter of the principles upon which the Americans waged war for
National Independence.
Admiral Jean-Baptiste-Prevost de Sansac, Marquis de Traversay,>J<
of the Russian Navy.
Knight of Saint Anne, First Class ;
Knight of Saint Vladimir, First Class ;
Knight of Saint Alexander Newski in Diamonds ;
Knight of Saint Andrew, F'irst Class;
Knight of Saint George, Fourth Class, in Russia ;
Knight of the Sword, in Sweden.
Entered the French Navy as an Enseigne de Vaisseau in 1765 and was pro-
moted to be Lieutenant de Vaisseau in 1773. On the 27th July, 1778, he served
on Le Vengeur, 64, in Lieutenant General Count d'Orvillier's action off Ushant,
Country and I take the more lively and sincere interest in the glory which you have
procured for it; I do not fear to add, as a French Citizen, that I not only expect the moment
in which I can say as much of this country but that I think and hope It is not far distant.
I am with Respect,
Sir,
Tour Most Obedient and Most Humble Servant,
BSTAING.
Paris, 20th March, 1790,
To M. George Washing;ton,
President of the United States of America.
and in 1779 he commanded the corvette la Ceres, 18, in Lieutenant General
Count de Guichen's actions off Martinique of the 17th April and 15th and 19th
May, 1780.
Subsequently commanded the frigate I'Aigrette, 32, in Count de Grasse's
action off the Chesapeake, 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Later, he commanded the frigate I'lris, 40, in the fleet of the Marquis de
Vaudreuil on the New England Coast in 1782.
Promoted to be Major de Vaisseau, ist May, 1786, and Capitaine de Vais-
seau, 1st January, 1787.
In September, 1789, he commanded the frigate I'Active, 36, of the French
squadron under the Viscount de Ponteves-Gien in Boston Harbor, and was
present at the dinner given by that officer on board the flagship L'lllustre, 74,
on the 14th September, to the Massachusetts State Society of the Cincinnati,
and also at the return dinner given by that State Society at Concert Hall, Bos-
ton, 24th September, 1789, to the French Naval officers who belonged to the
Order.
Later, on the 27th October, 1789, he accompanied the Massachusetts Cin-
cinnati, when they formally waited on His Excellency President General Wash-
ington, then President of the United States, and welcomed him to Boston.
In 1790, Catharine II., Czarina of Russia, through the Prince of Nassau-
Siegen, requested Louis XVI. to send her naval officers of tried ability.
The Marquis de Traversay, having been accordingly designated, proceeded
to Russia and was admitted into the Russian Navy as a Captain, with rank of
Major General, 7th May, 1791.*
Promoted to be Rear Admiral, loth June, 1791, and made a cruise in com-
mand of a squadron to the cliffs of Finland and Bay of Finland.
In 1794-1795 he was in St. Petersburg in the capacity of Chief of the St.
Petersburg District of the Navy, and of all the ports of the same, and in 1796
was appointed Chief of the Port of Rotchensalm.
In the following year, in command of a squadron of gunboats he cruised
from Rotchensalm to Aspo, and in 1798 participated in the campaign against
the Turks in command of the same squadron.
Promoted to be Vice Admiral 30th September, 1798, and to be Admiral of
the White, 14th March, 1801, and transferred to the fleet of the Black Sea.
In June, 1802, he was assigned to the command of the ports of the Black
Sea and to be Governor of Sebastopol and Nicolaeff.
In 1809 he was in charge of the defences of the Crimea and Taman, and
was called thence to be Acting Minister of the Russian Navy.
In the following year he was appointed by the Czar a member of the
Council of Russia, retaining his functions as Acting Minister, and on the 28th
November, 181 1, was confirmed as Minister of the Navy.
In 1814 the Czar, Alexander I., gave him a ring bearing his portrait set in
■diamonds, and fifty thousand roubles.
On the 29th March, 1829, on account of impaired health, he was relieved
from the office of Minister of the Navy, but continued as a Member of the
Council, on full salary, until his decease at his estate of Romanchina, near St.
Petersburg, 26th May, 1831.
When he was last in the United States he personally applied for his diplo-
ma of membership and received it from the hands of Major General Knox on
the loth October, 1789.
•In the Russian Service his name was recorded as "Ivan Ivanovltch, Marquis de
Traversay."
BAILLI DE SUFFREN.
VICE ADMIRAL OF FRANCE.
115
Vice Admiral Pierre-Andre de Suffren-Saint-Tropez, Bailli de Suffren.>i<
Knight of the Holy Ghost,
Knight Grand Cross of St. John of Jerusalem.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Fantasque, 64, in forcing
the Western or Narragansett Passage during the Siege of Newport, R. I., 5th
August, 1778, and in the indecisive action against Lord Howe, and subsequently
commanded the French Naval Forces in the East Indies, with distinguished
success in several actions.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre 12th January, 1782, and to be Lieutenant
General in March, 17S3, and Vice Admiral 4th April, 1784.
He had, early in 1778, been appointed by the Grand Master of the Knights
of Saint John in Malta, General of the Galleys, with the local rank of Vice
Admiral, an office then recognized by the Roman Catholic Naval Powers as
assimilated in rank to that of First Lieutenant General of Naval Forces. He
preferred, however, to serve under Count d'Estaing in the American War, and
relinquished this office.
Killed in a duel in Paris, 8th October, 1788, because he had insisted on
the necessity of governmental reforms for relief of the people.
Vice Admiral Claude-Hoedenault, Count de Breugnon.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Formerly Chef d'Escadre commanding a squadron in Count d'Estaing's
operations in Rhode Island in 1778, and in the action with Lord Howe's fleet,
and subsequent action off Grenada and at Savannah, Ga.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General in the Naval Forces in 1779 and to be
Vice Admiral, ist January, 1792.
Vice Admiral Jacques-Melchior, Count de Barras Saint-Laurent.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Formerly Brigadier from 1772, and acted as Capitaine de Vaisseau, com-
manding le Zele, 74, in the operations in Rhode Island in 1778, and then Chef
d'Escadre under Count d'Estaing at Savannah in 1779.
Having returned to France, he was appointed to command the French
Naval Forces in Rhode Island and embarked at Brest in the frigate la Concorde,
32, 26th March, 1781, and arrived in Boston Harbor, 8th May, 1781.
From the loth May, 1781, he commanded the squadron in Rhode Island
and took it to "Yorktown."
Promoted to be Lieutenant General in the Naval Forces, 12th January,
1782, and to be Vice Admiral, ist January, 1792.
Vice Admiral Joseph-Bernard, Marquis de Chabert.
Knight Commander of St. Louis,
Knight Commander of St. Lazare.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau, commanding le Vaillant, 64, in the opera-
tions in Rhode Island in 1778, and at Savannah in 1779, and commanding le
Saint Esprit, 80, in Count de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake, 5th September,
1 78 1, in which he was wounded, and at Yorktown.
ii6
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre, 12th January, 1782, and to be Vice Ad-
miral, 1st January, 1792.
Member of the Academy Royal of Sciences of France and of the Royal
Society or Academies respectively of London, Berlin and Bologna.
Vice Admiral Count de Peynier.>I<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding I'Artesien, 64, in the action
of 6th December, 1778, and at Savannah in 1779, and in action of 17th April,
1780.
Promoted to be Brigadier in the Naval Forces in 1782, and appointed
Governor General of St. Domingo and of the French Windward Islands in
1784.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre, nth March, 1784, and to be Vice Ad-
miral, 1st January, 1792.
Vice Admiral Louis-Antoine, Count de Bougainville.>fi
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Senator of France.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Guerrier, 74, in April,
1778, and later Chef d'Escadre, ranking from ist June, 1778, and on le Lan-
guedoc, 80, in the operations in Rhode Island in that year in the quality of Capi-
taine de Pavilion to Vice Admiral d'Estaing and at Savannah in 1779.
Subsequently in Count de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake, 5th Septem-
ber, 1 78 1, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Vice Admiral, ist June, 1792.
Member of the Academy Royal of Sciences of France and of the Royal
Marine Academy and Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and, in 1796, ad-
mitted a member of the National Institute of France in the Class of Moral and
Political Sciences.
Appointed a Senator of France, 25th December, 1799.
He was also a Marechal de Camp in the French Army,* ranking as such
from the ist March, 1780.
Author of "Traite du Calcul Integral" (1752, 2 vols.), and "Voyage Au-
tour du Monde" (1771, 2 vols.).
♦The Count de Bougainville's military record was as follows:
Having- studied for the Bar and been admitted a Counsellor of the Parliament of
Paris, he entered, in 1753, the Army as Aide Major of the Provincial Batallion of Picardie,
and in 1754, became Aide-de-Camp to Lieut. General Francois de Chevert, who com-
manded from the 1st August, 1754, the camp of Sarre Louis. In the same year he wa»
appointed Secretary to the French Embassy at the Court of Saint James.
After the attack by the English in 1755 on the fort of Jumonvllle in Canada and
capture of the ships I'Alcide and le Lys, the French Embassy quitted London and Bougain-
ville was appointed a lieutenant of dragoons, and in September of that year rejoined Lieut.
Genl. Chevert, as Aide-de-Camp. at the camp of Richemont, and accompanied him to the
Camp of Manoevres at Metz, where Chevert commanded. On the declaration of war he
was appointed a captain of dragoons and also Aide-de-Camp to the Marquis de Montcalm,
who had charge of the defense of Canada. On the 27th March, 1756, Bougainville sailed
from Brest.
He served with Montcalm In all his actions and was wounded 6th June, 1758.
In November, 1758, he was sent to France with dispatches, and Louis XV., for hi3 dis-
tinguished services, appointed him on the 18th February, 1759. Colonel of the Infantry regi-
ment of Rouergue. and gave him. the Cross of St. Louis.
He arrived at Quebec from France In the frigate Chezlne, 10th May, 1759, and re-
COUNT DE BOUGAINVILLE, F. R. S.
VICE ADMIRAL OF FRANCE.
Joined Montcalm with a smaJl reinforcement, and was In the battle on the Plains of
Abraham, before Quebec, 15th September, 1769.
He returned to France early In 1761, and, in the following year, was sent to tha
Army of Germany as Aide-de-Camp to Lieut. General Comte de Choiseul-Stainville.
For his services the King presented him with two 4 pounder cannon.
Early in 1763, in consequence of the plans he submitted for naval defense, he was
appointed a capitaine de vaisseau, retaining- his army rank.
In 1766 he commanded the expedition, consisting of the frigate La Boudeuse and stor*
ship I'Etoile, which, in that year, and in 1767, 1768 and 1769, made a voyage round the
world.
On the 22d January, 1769, he was promoted in the Army to be a Brigadier General
of Infantry.
The Count de Bougainville was born in Paris, 11th November, 1729, and died there
on the 31st August, ISll.
His application for admission to the Society of the Cincinnati was addressed to Presi-
dent General Washington, and was as follows (translation) :
"Paris, 24th December, 178S.
"Sir:
"Your Excellency will not be surprised that those who have had the happiness to
co-operate by their services in the great act which gave Liberty to America, should ex-
press the greatest anxiety to enter into an association formed to commemorate forever the
grea.t event.
"I declare to your Excellency that I do not see a Frenchman who has been admittad
Into the illustrious Order of the Cincinnati without feeling the most earnest desire to
participate in that honor.
"As I am a general officer both in the Land and Naval Forces, M. le Comte d'Estaing,
under whom I commanded a ship of 74 guns, was pleased, in my quality of Brigadier Gen-
eral of Infantrj-, to intrust to my care in 177S the defense of Nantasket Roads, with a
corps of 2.000 men.
"The works and batteries which I constructed for this purpose received the strongest
approbation from the American Generals who went to visit them.
"I look on myself then to be in the same situation as the Colonels of the Army under
M. le Comte de Rochambeau.
"I had, afterwards, the honor to command the advance guard of the French Fleet in
the naval action, which insured success to the important operations then being carried on
in Chesapeake Bay, and the praise of your Excellency bestowed on my conduct on that
occasion has been my most glorious recompense.
"Admission into the Society of the Cincinnati is also earnestly solicited by the general
officers and captains of ships who have had the good fortune to serve in America, and our
desire is better founded because, by serving in the Marine, we hope hereafter to return
to those friendly coasts, and to enjoy the remembrance of those illustriuos actions which
have conferred liberty on a great people.
"I beg of you. sir, that you will be pleased to lay before the honorable Society of
which you have, with so much propriety, been made President, and explain and support
my anxious wishes to be admitted to membership.
"It will be conferring great honor on me if I owe this favor to the request which
you will make in my behalf.
"I am, with respect,
"Tour Excellency's very humble and very obedient servant,
"DE BOUGAINVILLE."
Count d'Estaing also wrote to President General Washington relative to Count de
Rougalnville's clear right to admission under the Institution.
A formal reply was not, however, sent until in May, 1784. It was as follows:
"Philadelphia, May 15, 1784.
"Sir:
"The letter which you wrote to the President of the Society of the Cincinnati relative
to your claim to become a member has been read in this General Meeting, and it is their
■ opinion that Brigadier General de Bougainville is comprehended in the Rules of Admission
expressed in the Institution as amended and sent to the Society in France.
"Signed in General Meeting.
"By Order:
"GEORGE WASHINGTON,
"President General.
"B. Genl. Bougainville."
Count de Bougainville's letter had indicated no higher rank in the French Army or
Na\T than that of Brigadier, which was the cause of his being thus addressed.
After his decease, as the Society in France had been dissolved by the French Revo-
lution, his eldest son, desiring to claim his admission as an hereditary member, the follow-
ing correspondence took place:
"Legation of France in the United States,
"Washington. April 17, 1820.
"Sir:
"The Baron de Bougainville, a captain In our nav>-, now in Washington, wishes to
know whether the Statutes of the Order of Ctncinnatus give him the right of being ad-
Vice Admiral Charles-Rene-Louis de Bernard, Viscount de Marigny.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis,
Knight Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding I'Ardent, 64, in Rhode Island
in 1780-81, and in M. des Touche's action of i6th March, 1781, and at York-
town.
Then for a short time commanding le Reflechi, 74, under Count de Grasse.
Appointed, in 1784, Major du Corps Royal de la Marine.
Promoted to be Chef de Division, ist May, 1786; Brigadier of the Naval
Forces in 1789; Rear Admiral, ist January, 1792, and Vice Admiral, ist July,
1792.
At the Restoration he was appointed by Louis XVIII, Deputy Governor
to the Dauphin, and in December, 181 5, Commandant of the Marine at the
Port of Brest, which office he held at his decease there, 25th July, 1816.
Vice Admiral Chevalier Armand le Gardeur de Tilly.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding la Concorde, 26, in the suc-
cessful combat with and capture of the Minerva, 32, near Cape Francois, on
the 22d August, 1778.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau, 24th October, 1778, with rank from
mitted to succeed his father, who died a member of that Order, and, if so, what would be
the formalities necessary to fulfill in order to preserve that honorable pledge In his family.
"You would very much oblige me, sir, by putting It In my power to give him' that
Information, to which it is natural that he should attach a great value, through respect
for the memory of his father, as well as considerations for the Institution itself.
"M. de Bougainville received the Order in consequence of his gallant conduct In tli«
engagement between the French and English fleets off the Capes of the Chesapeake, In
which affair he commanded the van of the French fleet.
"Near the United States,
"HTDB DE NEUVILLE.
"Major Jackson,
"Secretary General of the Order of Clnclnnatus."
To this communication from the Minister Plenipotentiary of France, Major, th«
Honorable William Jackson, replied as follows:
"Philadelphia, May 2lrd, 1820.
"HlB Excellency
"Monsieur Hyde de Neuville,
"Minister of H. M. C. M., near the United States, Washington.
"Sir:
"I have the honor, herewith, to transmit to your Excellency a copy of the Proceed-
ings of the General Society of the Cincinnati, with the Original InsUtutlon of the Order,
by which it is established that the eldest son succeeds his father as a Regular Member of
the Society.
"The late Monsieur de Bougainville, having been admitted a regular member of ths
Order of the Cincinnati in honor of his gallant conduct in the engagement between the
French and English Fleets oft the Capes of the Chesapeake during the War of the American
Revolution, in which engagement he commanded the van of the French fleet, his son, the
Baron de Bougainville, a captain in the Navy of France, succeeds to the membership of
his honorable Father, both in the American and French Societies, and is entitled to asaumo
the Insignia of the Order, and to participate in all its privileges and immunities.
"I entreat your Excellency, in my behalf, to present the enclosed morceau of the
ribband of the Order to the Baron de Bougainville, and I pray you to be assured of the
respectful attachment, with which I am,
"Tour faithful obedient servant,
"V7. JACKSON,
"Secretary General of the Cincinnati."
The record of the Baron de Bougainville will be found in the Hereditary list, French
State Society.
He was succeeded by the great-great grandson of Count de Bougainville, who was
admitted an hereditary member in the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati.
VISCOUNT DE MARIGNY.
VICE ADMIRAL OF FRANCE.
24th April, 1777, and wounded while commanding la Concorde in combat of
8th February, 1779.
Subsequently commanding I'Eveille, 64, in Rhode Island in 1780-81, and
in M. des Touche's action of the i6th March, 1781, and at Yorktown, and later
in the fleet of M. de Vaudreuil in 1782.
Promoted to be Chef de Division, ist May, 1786; Rear Admiral, ist Jan-
uary, 1792, and Vice Admiral, ist July, 1792.
Vice Admiral Louis de Rigaud, Count de Vaudreuil.^p
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Sceptre, 80, in Count de
Grasse's action off the Chesapeake and at Yorktown in 1781.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre, 12th January, 1782.
Served later in same year in the fleet of M. de Vaudreuil.
Subsequently Commandant of the Marine at Rochefort.
Promoted to be Rear Admiral, ist January, 1792, and Vice Admiral, ist
July, 1792.
He was younger brother of Lieutenant General the Marquis de Vaudreuil.
Vice Admiral Gui-Pierre de Coetnempren, Count de Kersaint.*}*
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding frigate I'lphigenie, 32, at
Savannah in 1779, and in Charleston Harbor, S. C, 30th October, 1779, and in
Lieutenant General Count de Guichen's naval actions off Martinique of the
17th April and 15th and 19th May, 1780.
Promoted to be Chef de Division, 1st May. 1786, and to be Rear Admiral
in May, 1792, and to be Vice Admiral, ist January, 1793.
He presided in 1789 in the Electoral Assembly of Paris and entered the
National Legislative Assembly as Deputy from Paris, 2d April, 1792.
Author of: "Le Bon Sens" ; "Institutions Navales" ; "Le Rubicon" ; "Con-
siderations Sur la Force Publique et I'lnstitution des Gardes Nationales";
"Discours Sur I'Organisation de I'Artillerie et de I'lnfanterie de la Marine";
"Discours Sur I'Organisation Provisoire du Service de Mer."
Guillotined at Paris, 4th December, 1793.
Vice Admiral Chevalier Georges-Rene-Pleville-le-Peley.>^
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Languedoc, 80 (flagship of Count
d'Estaing), in Rhode Island in 1778, and seriously wounded in Boston, Mass.,
during a riotous disturbance, t 5;th September, T778.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau, loth March, 1779.
Subsequently served at Savannah in same year on le Languedoe and was
placed in command of the prizes taken by the French fleet.
Promoted to be Rear Admiral in 1797, and Vice Admiral in 1798.
In June, 1797, he took his seat as Minister Plenipotentiary of France at the
Congress of Lille.
Minister of Marine, 6th July, 1797 to 27th April, 1798.
Appointed a Senator of France, 24th November, 1799, and died ist Octo-
ber, 1805.
Vice Admiral Louis-Rene-Madelene le Vassor, Count de la Touche-Treville.
Knight Commander of St. Louis, and
Knight Commander of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding le N"eptune, 74, in October,
1778, and later the frigate I'Hermione, 32, on special service from Rochefort to
Boston, 6th March to 27th April, 1780, and in action with the British frigate
Iris, 32, off Montauk Point, Long Island, 7th June, 1780, in which he was
wounded.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau, 20th June, 1780.
He commanded the frigate I'Hermione in M. des Touche's action of the
i6th March, 1781, and also in M. de la Perouse's combat of I'Astree, 32, and
I'Hermione, off the New England coast against six British armed vessels, 21st
July, 1 78 1.
Subsequently commanding I'Aigle, 40, in the combat of that frigate and
the frigate la Gloire, 32, with the British ship of the line Hector, 74, 4th Septem-
ber, 1782, while en route from Brest to Philadelphia.
Appointed, 6th March, 1785, Directeur- Ad joint at Versailles of the Ports
and Arsenals of the Marine, and subsequently Inspector General of the Auxil-
iary Artillerists of the Marine and Chancellor of M. le due d'Orleans.
Promoted to be Rear Admiral in 1792 and Vice Admiral in 1803 for ser-
vices in Saint Domingo.
He was a Deputy in the States General of 5th May, 1789. from the nobil-
ity of Montargis.
Vice Admiral Charles, Count de Charitte.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Bourgogne, 74, in Count
de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake, 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown,
and in the fleet of M. de Vaudreuil in 1782.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre, 20th August, 1784, and Rear Admiral,
1st January, 1792, and Vice Admiral in 1814.
Vice Admiral Charles, Count de Medine.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis,
Peer of France.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Due de Bourgogne, 80, in
1780 in Rhode Island and le Neptune, 74, in M. des Touche's action of the
i6th March, 1781, where wounded, and at Yorktown.
Again wounded in Count de Grasse's action in the West Indies of the 12th
April, 1872, while commanding le Reflechi, 74.
Promoted to be Chef de Division, ist May, 1786, and to be Vice Admiral,
13th June, 1814.
Vice Admiral Pierre-Rene-Marie, Count de Vaugiraud de Rosnay.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau on the flagship la Ville de Paris, 104, and
Major General to the fleet under Count de Grasse in the action off the Chesa-
peake, 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
^
^-
:^^
CHEVALIER PLEVILLE-LE-PELEY.
VICE ADMIRAL OF FRANCE.
While serving in the same capacity on the same flagship he was wounded
in Count de Grasse's action in the West Indies of the 12th April, 1782.
In 1791 he emigrated and served as Marechal de Camp in the Army of
the Prince de Conde.
Promoted to be Vice Admiral, 13th June, 18 14, and appointed Governor
General of the French Windward Islands, which office he held at his decease
there, 13th March, 1819.
Vice Admiral Count de Bruyeres-Chalabre.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Tonnant, 80, in the opera-
tions in Rhode Island in 1778 and at Boston, and later commanding le Zele, 74,
at Savannah.
Subsequently served in the East Indies and was wounded while command-
ing rillustre, 74, in Bailli de Suffren's action with Vice Admiral Sir Edward
Hughes, 3d September, 1782, and later was in command of I'Heros, 74, during
the remainder of de Suffren's distinguished naval movements in those seas.
He returned to France in 1784 and was promoted to be Chef de Division,
1st May, 1786.
During the French Revolution he was arrested by the Revolutionary Au-
thorities in 1793 and imprisoned, but regained his liberty after the 9th of
Thermidor (27th July, 1794) and emigrated.
Returning at the Restoration, he was promoted to be Rear Admiral, 13th
June, 1814, and Vice Admiral in December, 1814.
In November, 181 5, he was a Deputy for the Department of I'Aude in the
Corps Legislatif.
Vice Admiral de la Villeon de Villevalio, Count de la Ville de Fresche-
clos.>J<
Formerly, from 1772, Lieutenant de Vaisseau, and wounded in Lieutenant
General Count d'Orvillier's action off Ushant, 27th July, 1778.
Later served in same capacity on Lieutenant General Count de Grasse's
flagship La Ville de Paris, 104, in 1781, at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau in 1781.
Received, 22d January, 1785, pension of 600 livres from the Invalides for
his services in the American War.
Promoted to be Rear Admiral, ist January, 1792, and to be Vice Admiral,
honorary, in 1814.
Lieutenant General Francois- Joseph-Paul de Grasse-Rouville, Count de
Grasse and Marquis de Tilly.
Knight Commander of St. Louis,
Knight of Saint John of Jerusalem.
He was born at Bar in the Diocese of de Grasse in Provence, 13th Febru-
ary, 1722, and, in July, 1734, was appointed a Garde de la Marine, and, in 1738,
served in the Levant on the ship of the line I'Eole. From 1740 to 1746 he served
successively on the ships of the line le Ferme and le Diamant and on the frigates
le Castor and la Syrene.
In 1747 he embarked on the frigate TEmeraude under M. de la Jonquiere,
charged to convoy five transport ships to Pondicherry, but meeting Vice Ad-
miral George Anson with a superior force off Cape Finisterre, the convoy and
transports were captured and de Grasse became a prisoner of war on parole in.
England until the peace of Aix la Chapelle.
Promoted to be Lieutenant de Vaisseau in May, 1754, and served succes-
sively on the storeship I'Ambiteuse and the ships I'Amphion, 50, and le Tonnant,
80, in the Mediterranean, where he assisted in the taking of Minorca, and in
the West Indies, at Saint Domingo and the Windward Islands.
He then took command for three years of the cutter le Zephir, and served
on the coast of Guinea, engaged in explorations.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau in January, 1762, and commanded
the Protee and served in the West Indies until 1765, when he commanded the
frigate THeroine in Comte Duchassant's squadron against the Saletin pirates.
In 1772 he commanded the frigate I'lsis in Comte d'Orvillier's squadron of
evolutions.
In 1775 he commanded the frigate I'Amphitrite, 32, and was stationed at
Saint Domingo under Comte d'Estaing and, in the following year, commanded,
the ship of the line I'lntrepide, 74, in Comte Duchassaut's squadron.
On the 27th July, 1778, he commanded le Robuste, 74, in Comte d'Orvil-
lier's action off Ushant.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre in 1779, he sailed from Brest in command
of four ships of the line and several frigates to join Count d'Estaing at Mar-
tinique, and subsequently in his ship, le Robuste, participated in the capture of
Grenada, 4th July, 1779, and naval action of the 6th July, 1779, and Siege of
Savannah, and later in Comte de Guichen's three actions of the 17th April and
15th and 19th May, 1780, and then returned to France.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General of the French Naval Forces in the
West Indies, 12th February, 1781, and sailed from Brest in command of a fleet
22d March, 1781, and arrived at Fort Royal, Martinique, 6th May, 1783.
The fleet convoyed a number of store ships and transports with recruits
for the Auxiliary Army.
These were detached on the 5th April, while at sea, and sent under convoy
of le Sagittaire, 50, to Boston Harbor, where they arrived in June.
On the 29th April, 1781, Count de Grasse engaged Rear Admiral Sir
Samuel Hood's fleet off Martinique and compelled the latter to withdraw.
Later he transported the Marquis de Bouille's detachment of land troops
to Tobago and assisted in the capture of that island, 2d June, 1781.
Information of the departure of Count de Grasse's fleet from Brest was .
brought to the United States by Count de Barras, who sailed from the same
port in the frigate la Concorde, 26, six days later and arrived in Boston Harbor
on the 8th May to assume command of the French Naval Forces in Newport
Harbor.
On the 14th May this information was communicated to General Washing-
ton, and on the 22d of the same month he concerted with Count de Rocham-
beau at Wethersfield, Connecticut, a plan of military operations against General
Sir Henry Clinton's army in the City of New York, with the understanding
that "should the West India fleet arrive upon the coast, the force thus combined
may either proceed in the operations against New York, or may be directed
against the enemy in some other quarter, as circumstances shall dictate."
Nothing definite was known at this time by General Washington of Count
COUNT DE GRASSE.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL FRENCH
1^3
de Grasse's plans, and, in order that the latter should be informed of the mili-
tary situation and of the decision reached at Wethersfield, the Count de Barras
directed that the frigate la Concorde, then in Boston Harbor, be got ready, and
proceed to Cape Francois with a request from General Washington and Lieu-
tenant General de Rochambeau to Count de Grasse for co-operation.
Before this frigate could sail, le Sagittaire arrived in Boston Harbor with
the store ships and transports containing six hundred and sixty recruits, and
with a letter from Count de Grasse to Count de Rochambeau, written at sea,
from his flagship la Ville de Paris, 104, 29th March, 1781, while en route to
Martinique, informing the latter that he was on his way to the West Indies,
and that if his "men of war were necessary for fulfilling the projects the Count
had in view" he would try and co-operate, but that he could not arrive on the
American coast "until the 15th of July at the soonest."
This letter was received by the Count de Rochambeau in Newport on the
9th June and its contents communicated by courier to General Washington at
Army Headquarters, New Windsor, N. Y., four days later.
On the 20th June the frigate la Concorde sailed from Boston Harbor and
arrived at Cape Francois on the 8th July with full information as to the plans
in view and with the latest intelligence as to the strength, situation and sup-
posed designs of the enemy and with a suggestion to Count de Grasse to enter
Chesapeake Bay while en route to New York Harbor, as an opportunity might
there offer for offensive operations.
Count de Grasse was not then at Cape Francois and la Concorde had to
await his arrival.
On the 5th July Count de Grasse left Fort Royal and arrived at Cape Fran-
cois ten days later, and from thence, on the 28th July, wrote to Count de Ro-
chambeau acknowledging the request for co-operation and said that he would
set sail on the 3d August and bring with him a land detachment "and proceed
directly to Chesapeake Bay, which place seems to be indicated by yourself.
General Washington, M. de la Luzerne, and Count de Barras as the best point
of operation for accomplishing the object proposed."
On the same day the frigate la Concorde set sail to return and arrived at
Newport on the nth August, 1781.
Meanwhile General Washington with the main Continental Army, while
awaiting arrival of the French Auxiliary Army from Rhode Island, had, on the
2d July, commenced offensive operations in Westchester County, New York,
against General Sir Henry Clinton.
On the 13th August General Washington received information at his
Headquarters at Dobbs Ferry of the arrival two days before in New York Har-
bor of twenty-three transports under convoy, containing about three thousand
Hessian reinforcements, and, on the 14th, he received, by courier, from Count
de Barras at Newport the dispatches of Count de Grasse.
The Commander in Chief thereupon immediately changed his plan of cam-
paign to meet the new situation and, on the 17th, from his camp at Phillips-
burg, N. Y., wrote to Count de Grasse that, in consequence of the latter's dis-
patches, he had judged it "expedient to give up for the present the enterprise
against New York, and turn our attention towards the South * * *," and
two days later, with the Auxiliary Army and a selected detachment from the
main Continental Army, marched for Virginia.
On the 30th July, 1781, Count de Grasse took on board at Cape Francois
the land detachment of the Marquis de Saint Simon, and, on the 5th August,
set sail with a fleet consisting of twenty-seven ships of the line, seven frigates
124
and two cutters, and, after touching at Havana to procure several hundred thou-
sand livres for use of the AuxiHary Army, continued his voyage and anchored
on the 31st August, 1781, in Lynnhaven Bay, outside of Hampton Roads, Vir-
ginia.
On the 5th September, 1781, he engaged ofl the Capes of the Chesapeake
the fleet of Rear Admiral Thomas Graves and forced the latter to return to
New York.
On the loth September, 1781, the squadron of Count de Barras, consisting
of eight ships of the line and four frigates, joined him from Newport, Rhode
Island, and the combined naval forces co-operated under his command in the
Siege of Yorktown and capture of the British Army and squadron.*
He received the thanks of Congress, 29th October, 1781, "for his skill and
bravery in attacking and defeating the British fleet off the Bay of Chesapeake,
and for his zeal and alacrity in rendering with the fleet under his command the
most effectual and distinguished aid and support in the operations of the Allied
Army in Virginia."
Congress at the same time directed the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to
request the Minister Plenipotentiary of His Most Christian Majesty to inform
His Majesty that it was the wish of Congress that Count de Grasse might be
permitted to accept as a testimony of their approbation two pieces of field ord-
nance taken from the British Army under the capitulation of Yorktown.
On the 4th November, 1781, he sailed from the Chesapeake for the West
Indies, and co-operated with the land forces of the Marquis de Bouille, in the
capture of Saint Eustatia, 26th November, 1781 ; Saint Christopher and Nevis,
I2th February, 1782, and Montserrat, 23d February, and intermediately oper-
ated in January, 1782, off Saint Christopher and Nevis, against Sir Samuel
Hood's fleet, and in the action of the 26th of that month forced the latter to
avail himself of the protection of the guns of the fort on Brimstone Hill, Saint
Christopher. In this action the French had four officers and one hundred and
seven men killed and seven officers and two hundred and seven men wounded.
On the I2th April, 1782, in the action near the island of Dominica, against
the superior force of Vice Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, he was defeated
and his flagship, la Ville de Paris, captured after an obstinate combat.
He became a prisoner of war and was sent, with such of his officers as were
captured, to England, and arrived at Portsmouth on the 31st July and at Lon-
don on the 3d August, and received every attention from the British Govern-
ment.
On the 9th August he was received by George III., to whom his officers
were also presented, and three days later he left London on parole and arrived
in Paris on the i6th August, and a few days later was accorded an audience by
Louis XVI.
He remained on parole until the Peace of 1783, and subsequently, at his
earnest request. His Most Christian Majesty convened a Naval General Court
Martial at L'Orient, which, after an exhaustive examination into his conduct on
the I2th April, 1782, and into that of his subordinate commanders, exonerated
bim.t
*In the assault of the two redoubts at Yorktown on the night of 14th October, 1781,
the British loss in prisoners was 84 rank and file.
The total British losses on 19th October, 1781, were: Army, 7,247; Navy, 840.
■(•During the progress of this investigation, Count de Grasse wrote the following letter
to President General Washington:
"My dear General:
'■I cannot at this time answer the friendship with which you honor me unless It Is
by a proof of my confidence in you. and I give it with pleasure.
125
He was not again called into active service and died at Paris on the nth
January, 1788.
A week later the Count de Rochambeau wrote to President General Wash-
ington informing him of his decease.
The latter received this letter at Mount Vernon on the 28th April, 1788,
and, on the same day, in reply said :
" * * * His name will be long deservedly dear to this country on ac-
count of his successful co-operation in the glorious campaign of 1781.
"The Cincinnati of some of the States have gone into mourning for him."*
"I have the honor to send to you the memorials which I have submitted to the con-
sideration of the Court Martial for their better information of my conduct.
"The sincere desire I have to make you judge of this affair induces me to deviate
from the order I have received not to communicate these memorials in print.
"I request you not to show them to anybody, or, if you think proper to make uao
of them, I wish you would have them transcribed.
"I hope, my dear General, that when you have read them' attentively you will be
sensible that I have not deserved that you should change your opinion of me; but that aJl
my fault on the 12th day of April, 1782, was being unfortunate.
The Court Martial assembled at this place for the determination of this affair will, 1
hope, soon come to a finding.
"I request your leave, my dear General, to acquaint you with the issue whatsoever
It may be.
"I am waiting to hear from' you with that impatience arising from the most sincer*
friendship.
"Do me the favor to let me hear from you the soonest possible.
"Depend always on the affectionate and respectful attachment with which I have
the honor to be, my dear General,
"Tour Excellency's most obedient, humble servant,
"THE COUNT DB GRASSE,
"Associated In the Cinclnnatua.
"L'Orlent,
"The 15th March, 1784."
♦Count de Grasse belonged to an illustrious and ancient family of Provence and was
lineally descended from Rodoard de Grasse. who lived there in the year 993 and married
Alagard, daughter of Guillaume, Comte de Provence.
Count de Grasse's eldest and only son who arrived at maturity was Alexander-Fran-
cois-Auguste de Grasse-Rouville, Comte de Grasse and Marquis de Tilly, Seigneur de Flins,
Mondreville, le Chambrier, Saint-Daurent les JonchSres, de Laval, la Boulaye, Pr^sonnet,
and la Geneste, who was born at Versailles 14th February, 1765. He entered military
service as a second sous-lieutenant in the regiment du Roi, Infantry, in 1781, and became
a capitaine de reforms in the regiment of Royal-Pologne. cavalry, in 1784.
In 1788 he was presented to the King and Royal Family, and, in 17S9, passed as a
capitaine en pied into the regiment of Royal-Guienne, cavalry, and in the same year went
to Saint-Domingo.
Forced by the insurrectionary disturbances in that island in 1793 to emigrate, he came
with his family and sisters to Charleston, South Carolina.
In 1794 he was appointed Sub-Engineer, U. S. Army, under Paul Hyacinte Perrault,
Temporary Engineer, charged with the construction of fortifications on the coasts of South
Carolina and Georgia. While thus employed on the Savannah river, he was, on the 4th
July, 1796, admitted as an hereditary member in the Society of the Cincinnati in the State
of Georgia.
T'pon his return to France he received, in 1802, the commission of Chef d'Escadrons
in the cavalry. At the Restoration he served in 1814 in the Household of Louis XVIII, and
then in the Army in Belgium under H. R. H. the Duke de Berri, and was honorably retired
1st January, 1816.
He was a knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis and an officer of the
Legion of Honor.
He corresponded occasionally with President General Washington, and. In one of his
communications dated Paris, 11th May, 1788, referred to the friendship which his own
father had always evinced for the other.
In a later letter, dated Charleston, S. C, 7th December, 1795, he asked General Wash-
ington for his portrait.
He married in 1792 in Saint Domingo Anne-Sophie de la Hogue, of a noble family
in Normandy, and daughter of M. de la Hogue, Counsellor to the Superior Council of Cape
Francois, and had issue, four children, all daughters.
He died at Versailles 10th June, 1845, and was succeeded In the New York State
Society of the Cincinnati, on the 4th July, 1849, by his nephew, Francis Auguste De Pau,
eldest son of Francis De Pau and his wife Sylvia-Alexandrina-Maxlma de Grasse, youngest
daughter of Lieutenant General Count de Grasse, original member In the French State
Society of the Cincinnati. She died in the city of New York oth January, 1855, aged 83
years. Francis Auguste De Pau died 3rd July, 1854. De Grasse Bostwick Fowler, Esq., of
Lieutenant General Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet, Count de la Motte-
Picquet de la Vinoyere.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Formerly, from the ist June, 1778, Chief d'Escadre, and served in that
capacity under Count d'Estaing at Savannah in 1779.
Subsequently commanded a squadron in the naval action off Fort Royal of
the 1 8th December, 1779.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General of the French Naval Forces, 12th Jan-
uary, 1782.
Lieutenant General Louis-Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil.
Knight of the Holy Ghost,
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Formerly Chef d'Escadre commanding squadron which captured Senegal
and Fort St. Louis, Africa, 30th January, 1779.
He then joined Count d'Estaing in his flagship le Fendant, 64, and was in
the action of the 6th July, 1779, and at the Siege of Savannah, and later, on
nth November, 1779, was at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, and then in
Count de Guichen's three actions of the 17th April, 15th and 19th May, 1780.
Later he was in Count de Grasse's action in the West Indies of the 12th
April, 1782, in which he was wounded.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General of the French Naval Forces, 14th Au-
gust, 1782, and commanded the fleet on the New England coast in that year.
He was subsequently appointed "Inspecteur General des Classes."
He was a Deputy from the nobility of Castelnaudary in the States General
of the 5th May, 1789.
Lieutenant General Francois-Aymar, Count de Monteil.
Knight Commander of St. Louis and
Knight Commander of St. Lazare.
Formerly Chef d'Escadre under Count de Grasse in the action off the Ches-
apeake, 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
He had previously been wounded in Lieutenant General Count d'Orvillier's
action off Ushant, 27th July, 1778, and again in each of Lieutenant General
Count de Guichen's three actions of the 17th April, 15th and 19th May, 1780.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General of the French Naval Forces, 8th Feb-
ruary, 1783.
Baltimore, Md., grandson of Captain Theodosius Fowler, 2nd Regt., N. T.. Contl. Infy., ao
original member, and also great-grandson of Lieut. Genl. Count de Grasse. was admitted an
hereditary member in the New York State Society of the Cincinnati, 4th July, 1SS5, and
died at The Hague, Holland, Sth October, 1S90. His father, Theodosius Oliver Fowler, wa3
the only son of Captain Theodosius Fowler, whom he succeeded in the New York State
Society 4th July, 1S43, and married Amelia De Pau, daughter of M. Francis De Pau and
Sylvia-Alexandrina-Maxima de Grasse.
COUNT DE LA MOTTE - PICQUET DE LA VINOYERE.
CHEF D'ESCADRE FRENCH NAVY.
127
Rear Admiral le Commandeur de Dampierre.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Diademe, 74, in the ac-
tions of 20th March, 1779, and 6th July, 1779, oflf Grenada, in which he was
wounded, and at Savannah.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the French Naval Forces in 1782 and to be
Chef d'Escadre, 20th August, 1784, and to be Rear Admiral, ist January, 1792.
Rear Admiral Chevalier Sochet des Touches.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly successively Capitaine de Vaisseau and Brigadier and command-
ing le Neptune, 74, in Rhode Island from July, 1780, until the decease in New-
port of Chef d'Escadre le Chevalier d'Arzac de Ternay, 15th December, 1780,
and then temporarily commanding the squadron at that station until the arrival
of Chef d'Escadre de Barras St. Laurent, 10 May, 1781.
Intermediately he commanded it in the action off the capes of Virginia
against Vice Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot, i6th March, 1781.
He was subsequently at Yorktown in command of le Neptune.
Received the thanks of Congress, 4th April, 1781, and a pension of 800
livres from his Government for the action of i6th March, 1781.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the French Naval Forces in 1780 and to
be Chef d'Escadre, 20th August, 1784, and Rear Admiral, ist January, 1792.
Rear Admiral Jean-Baptiste, Baron de Glandeves.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Souverain, 74, in Count
de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake, 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown,
and in the fleet of M. de Vaudreuil on the New England coast in 1782.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre, 20th August, 1784, and Rear Admiral, ist January, 1792.
In 1789 he was commandant of the Marine at Marseilles.
Rear Admiral Francois-Hector, Count d' Albert de Rions.
Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis.
Formerly, from 1772, Capitaine de Vaisseau and commanding le Sagittaire,
50, in the operations in Rhode Island in 1778, particularly in an affair with the
British Battery on the west side of Conanicut Island, 30th July, 1778.
Also at the capture of Grenada, 4th July, 1779, and naval action off that
island, 6th July 1779, and at Savannah, in October of the same year.
Subsequently commanding le Pluton, 74, in Count de Grasse's action off
the Chesapeake, 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown, and in the fleet of the
Marquis de Vaudreuil in 1782 and with the latter at Portsmouth, N. H., loth
October, 1782.
Appointed Major de la Marines et des Armees Navales in 1780, and in
1 78 1 received a pension of 1200 livres.
128
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre, 20th August, 1784, and, in 1785, appointed Commandant of the
Marine at the port of Toulon.
Promoted to be Rear Admiral, ist January, 1792.
Rear Admiral Martin-Benoit de Chausse Gros.>J<
Formerly, from the 4th April, 1780, Capitaine de Vaisseau, and acting as
Capitaine en Second on I'St. Esprit, 80, in Count de Grasse's action off the Ches-
apeake, 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Rear Admiral in 1792.
Rear Admiral Chevalier de la Bouchetiere.»J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Magicienne, 32, in Boston
Harbor, 15th August, 1781.
His frigate was taken by the Chatham, 40, after a sharp action off Cape
Ann, 1st September, 178 1.
Promoted to be Rear Admiral in 1792.
Rear Admiral Antoine-Hyacinthe-Anne, Count de Chastenet-Puysegur.»I<
Formerly, fiom 1776, Enseigne de Vaisseau commanding the frigate la
Bricole, 36, at Savannah in October, 1779, and subsequently in Charleston Har-
bor, S. C, during the siege of that place, and made prisoner of war at the capit-
ulation, I2th May, 1780.
Promoted to be Lieutenant de Vaisseau in 1779, and Major de Vaisseau in
1786, and Captain de Vaisseau in 1792.
Emigrated in the last named year and served in the army of the Prince de
Conde until its disbandment.
He then took temporary service under the British Government and finally
entered the Portuguese Navy with the commission of Rear Admiral.
In 1803 he returned to France.
Rear Admiral Joseph-Saturnin, Count de Peytes-Montcabrie.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly capitaine de vaisseau commanding le Triomphant, 80, in Count
de Grasse's action in the West Indies of the 12th April, 1782, and later in the
Marquis de Vaudreuil's fleet on the New England coast in 1782, where his
ship was the flagship.
Promoted to be Rear Admiral, 31st December, 1814, and was Treasurer
General des Invalides de la Marine in 1816-17.
Rear Admiral Pierre- Joseph, Marquis de Kergariou.>f<
Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly capitaine de vaisseau commanding frigate la Medee, 36, in Lieu-
tenant General Count de Guichen's actions of the 17th April and 15th and 19th
May, 1780, off Martinique.
MARQUIS DE VAUDREUIL.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL FRENCH
129
Subsequently commanding frigate I'Engageante, 32, which arrived in Bos-
ton Harbor from France 7th September, 1781, with money to pay the squad-
ron under M. de Barras St. Laurent and the AuxiHary Army.
Promoted to be Rear Admiral 13th June, 1814.
Rear Admiral Pierre-Dimas, Marquis de la Prevalaye.>J<
Formerly capitaine de vaisseau and in Boston in 1778.
Subsequently commanding frigate I'Astree, 32, which arrived at Chester,
Penn., from France, with the preliminary Treaty of Peace, loth April, 1783.
Promoted to be Rear Admiral 13th June, 1814.
He was a member and Secretary of the Academy Royal of the Marine
at Brest, and was author of :
"Les mots arc de vaisseau et architecture navale, composes pour le dic-
tionnaire" ;
"Memoire sur sa campagne de Boston en 1778";
"Memoire sur une machine propre a faire connaitre a tout moment la
difference de tirant d'eau."
Rear Admiral Pierre-Claude, Marquis Du Quesne.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly senior lieutenant de vaisseau on I'Hermione, 32, in the combat
with the British frigate Iris, 32, off Montauk Point 7th June, 1780, in which he
was wounded. Later he was in M. des Touche's action of the i6th March,
1781, off the Capes of Virginia and in M. de la Perouse's combat off the
New England coast of the 21st July, 1781.
Subsequently senior lieutenant on FAigle, 40, in the action of that frigate
and la Gloire, 32, with the Hector, 74, on the 4th September, 1782, while
en route from France to the Chesapeake.
He subsequently commanded the cutter le Triomphe, 14, and was specially
sent by Count d'Estaing from Cadiz on nth February, 1783, to Philadelphia,
where he arrived 24th March, 1783, with the first notice of the signature on
20th January, 1783, of the preliminaries of peace, and with orders to the French
Naval forces to suspend hostilities.
Promoted to be Rear Admiral, 13th June, 1814.
His son became an hereditary member in the New York State Society of
the Cincinnati, 4th July, 1850, and, on his decease, 4th July, 1880, his eldest son
became an hereditary member in the Rhode Island State Society, 4th July, 1882,
and upon the latter's decease, his eldest son, in turn, succeeded him in the Rhode
Island State Society, 4th July, 1902.
Rear Admiral Edouard-Charles-Victurnien, Count de Colbert-Maulevrier.
Knight Commander of St. Louis,
Knight of St. John of Jerusalem,
Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly successively enseigne and lieutenant de vaisseau commanding the
cutter la Guepe, 14, in Rhode Island in 1780, and in M. des Touche's action
of the i6th March, 1781, after which his vessel was, during a storm, lost off
I30
Cape Charles in the same month. Then served on le Conquerant, 74, under
Count de Grasse at Yorktown and in the action of 12th April, 1782.
Promoted to be capitaine de vaisseau ist January, 179 1, and Chef de
Division 1st July, 1792, and to be Rear Admiral 8th July, 1816, and commandant
of the company of guards of the Admiral commanding in chief from 1816 to
his decease in Paris, 2nd February, 1820, where he was born 24th Decem-
ber, 1758.
During the French Revolution he resided for several years in Philadelphia,
Penn.
Transferred to the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati, as an
Original member, on his application, 4th July, 1798.
Rear Admiral Pierre-Louis de Sambucy.>J<
Knight of St. John of Jerusalem.
Formerly, from 1775, lieutenant de vaisseau and appointed lieutenant en
second des gardes du Pavilion et de la Marine in 1778 and advanced to be
premier lieutenant of the same in 1779 and to be Lieutenant Colonel in the
Naval forces in 1780, and served on le Caton, 74, under Lieutenant General
Count de Grasse in the action off the Capes of the Chesapeake 5th September,
1 78 1, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Chef de Division 3d April, 1787, and authorized to retire
on a pension of thirty-six hundred livres.
Emigrated in 1792, and made the campaign with the Prince de Conde.
Returned to France, pursuant to leave granted, in August, 1795.
Honorably retired 31st December, 1814.
Pension fixed at twenty-four hundred francs on the 31st January, 1816, and
promoted to be Rear Admiral, Honorary.
Rear Admiral Auguste-Bonable, Count de Meherenc de Saint-Pierre.»J«
Formerly lieutenant de vaisseau from 1772 and promoted to be Lieutenant
Colonel in 1779 and Lieutenant en Premier des Gardes du Pavilion in 178c.
Served on le Magnifique, 74, under Count d'Estaing in the capture of
Grenada and naval action off that place 6th July, 1779, and later at Savannah
and then under Lieutenant General Count de Guichen in the three naval
actions of the 17th April and 15th and 19th May, 1780.
Honorably retired 23d April, 1785, with a pension of three thousand livres.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau in 1781 and to be Rear Admiral,
Honorar)', 13th August, 1823.
Chef d'Escadre Chevalier de Mories-Castellet.>J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding I'Hector, 74, in the opera-
tions in Rhode Island in 1778 and in the capture of Grenada and naval action
off that place, 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah in 1779.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre to date from the ist June, 1778.
MARQUIS DE LA POYPE - VERTRIEUX.
CHEF D'ESCADRE FRENCH NAVY
131
Chef d'Escadre Count de Boulainvilliers de Croy.>p
Formerly capitaine de vaisseau commanding le Languedoc, 80, in the oper-
ations in Rhode Island in 1778 and in the capture of Grenada and naval action
oflf that place, 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah in 1779.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre, 5th May, 1780.
Chef d'Escadre Count d'Apchon.>I<
Knight of the Holy Ghost.
Formerly capitaine de vaisseau commanding le Protecteur, 74, in the opera-
tions in Rhode Island in 1778.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre ist April, 1781.
In 1780-3 he was Governor of Brouage and of Fort Lupin in the Province
of Aunis.
Chef d'Escadre Marquis de la Poype-Vertrieux.>^
Formerly capitaine de vaisseau commanding le Marseillais, 74, in the opera-
tions in Rhode Island and in the combat with the Preston, 54, 13th August, 1778,
and at Savannah in 1779.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre ist May, 1781, and placed on the retired
list.
He was a Deputy from the Nobility of Toulon in the States General of the
5th May, 1789.
Chef d'Escadre Chevalier d' Albert Saint-Hypolite.>J«
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding la Victoire, 74, in Count de
Grasse's action off the Chesapeake 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre 12th January, 1782.
Chef d'Escadre Commandeur Jean-Charles-Regis-Coriolis d'Espinouse.>J<
Knight Commander of St. John of Jerusalem.
Formerly Brigadier commanding le Cesar, 74, in Count de Grasse's action
off the Chesapeake, Sth September 1781, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre 12th April, 1782, and in the fleet of the
Marquis de Vaudreuil, in the same ship, in that year.
Chef d'Escadre de Grasse-Limmermont.>J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Guerrier, 74, in the opera-
tions in Rhode Island in 1778 and at Savannah in 1779.
Promoted to be Brigadier in the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre 28th December, 1782, and thereupon honorably retired.
Chef d'Escadre Francois-Louis-Edme-Gabriel, Count Du Maitz de
Goimpy.»J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Destin, 74, in Count de
Grasse's action off the Chesapeake, 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and Chef d'Escadre
20th August, 1784.
Wounded in Lt. Genl. Count de Guichen's action 17th April, 1780.
Chef d'Escadre Claude-Francois-Reynard Defuschamberg, Count d'Am-
blimont.»^
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Vengeur, 64, in the cap-
ture of the St. Pierre, 22, on the 28th September, 1778. Subsequently command-
ing le Brave, 74, in the fleet of the Marquis de Vaudreuil in 1782.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre 20th August, 1784.
Chef d'Escadre Jean-Francois, Baron d'Arros d'Argelos.»}<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Palmier, 74, in Count de
Grasse's action off the Chesapeake 5th Sept., 1781, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre 20th August, 1784.
Chef d'Escadre Marquis de Briqueville.>J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding the Northumberland, 74, in
Count de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake 5th September, 1781, and at York-
town.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre 20th August, 1784.
Chef d'Escadre Count de Mithon de Genouilly.^
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Dauphin Royal, 70, at
Savannah in 1779 and la Couronne, 80, in the fleet of the Marquis de Vaudreuil
in 1782.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre 20th August, 1784.
Chef d'Escadre Chevalier Du Plessis Parscau.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly, from 1772, Capitaine de Vaisseau, and commanding le Langue-
doc, 80, in Count de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake 5th September, 1781,
and at Yorktown.
He was specially detailed by Count de Grasse, on the part of the Navy,
to carry conjointly with the Duke de Lauzun, on the part of the Army, the
official information of the victory to Louis XVI.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre 20th August, 1784.
133
Chef d'Escadre Chevalier de Raymondis.^
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Cesar, 74, in the operations
in Rhode Island in 1778 and in the combat with the Iris, 50, off Martha's
Vineyard i6th August, 1778, in which he was wounded.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre 20th August, 1784.
Chef d'Escadre Charles-Marie, Count de la Grandiere.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Conquerant, 74, in Rhode
Island in 1780, and in M. des Touches' action of the i6th March, 1781, and at
Yorktown.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
•d'Escadre 20th August, 1784.
Received a pension of 600 livres for the action of i6th March, 1781.
Chef d'Escadre Count de Cice-Champion.>^
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Solitaire, 64, in Count de
Grasse's action off the Chesapeake, 5th Sept., 1781, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre 20th August, 1784.
Chef d'Escadre Count de Soulange.^
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Sphinx, 64, at "Savannah"
in 1779.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre 20th August, 1784.
Subsequently Director General at Rochefort.
Chef d'Escadre Henri-Cesar, Marquis de Castellane Majastre.>I<
Knight of the Holy Ghost,
Knight of St. John of Jerusalem.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Marseillais, 74, in Count
de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake, 5th Sept., 1781, and at Yorktown.
In 1782 was Governor of the Isles Sainte Marguerite and also of Niort.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre 1st October, 1784.
Deputy from the Nobility of Chateauneuf in Thimerais in the States
General of the 5th May, 1789.
Chef d'Escadre, Count de Cillart de Suville.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Reflechi, 74, at Savannah
in 1779. He was previously wounded in Count d'Estaing's action off Grenada,
6th July, 1779. He commanded le Reflechi in Count de Grasse's action of 5th
September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre 2d November, 1786.
134
Chef d'Escadre Jean-Francois-Galaup, Count de la Perouse.^*
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau from the 4th April, 1777, and com-
manded the frigate TAmazone, 36, in Count d'Estaing's fleet which arrived on
the coast of Georgia ist September, 1779, from whence he was sent on the 4th
September to Charleston, S. C, with dispatches for Major General Benjamin
Lincoln and on the nth September, 1779, captured the Ariel, 24, after a sharp
combat.
Present at the Siege of "Savannah" and bore a principal part in the capture
of the British frigate le Tigre, 52, off the coast of Georgia 8th December, 1779.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau 4th April, 1780, and assigned to
command the frigate I'Astree, 32, which left Brest 24th December, 1780, and
arrived in Boston Harbor on the 26th February, 1781.
He subsequently commanded that frigate and I'Hermoine, 32, of the
Squadron stationed in Rhode Island, in the successful combat with six British
armed ships oflf the New England coast 21st July, 1781.
Later commanding le Sceptre, 74, and squadron in the expedition to
Hudson's Bay from Cape Francois and capture and destruction of Forts York
and Prince of Wales 21st August, 1782.
Subsequently promoted 26th June, 1785, to be Chef de Division and com-
manded the frigates la Broussole and I'Astrolabe which set sail from Brest on a
voyage of discovery ist August, 1785, and were finally cast away on a coral
reef in the Island of Maunicolo in the New Hebrides in April or May, 1788,
and all hands eventually lost.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre 2d November, 1786.
Chef d'Escadre Jean-Antoine, Count le Begue.^
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding la Magnanime, 74, in Count
de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Wounded, while commanding the same ship, in Count de Grasse's action
of 1 2th April, 1782.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre 2d November, 1786.
Chef d'Escadre Marquis de Castellet, (Aine).
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau acting as Capitaine en Second on le Cesar,
74, in the operations in Rhode Island in 1778 and in Count d'Estaing's naval
action off Grenada, 6th July, 1779, in which he was wounded.
Later, in the last named year, he commanded the same ship at Savannah.
Promoted to be Chef d'Escadre 2d November, 1786, and became Director
General of the Port of Toulon.
Chef d'Escadre Perrier, Count de Salvert.»J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau acting as Capitaine en Second on le
Languedoc, 80, in the operations in Rhode Island in 1778 and at Savannah in
1779.
Promoted to be Brigadier in the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre 2d November, 1786.
COUNT DE LA PEROUSE.
CHEF D'ESCADRE FRENCH NAV
135
Chef d'Escadre Du Croizet, Chevalier de Retz.»t<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Vengeur, 64, at Savannah
in 1779.
Previously wounded in Count d'Estaing's action off Grenada 6th July,
1779-
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be Chef
d'Escadre i6th December, 1786, and honorably retired on the same day.
Chef d'Escadre Marquis de Sainneville.>J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding frigate la Nimphe, 32, in the
capture of Fort James on the river Gambler 12th February, 1779.
Later commanding the frigate la Resolve, 32, which arrived in Boston
Harbor 25th August, 1779.
Still later commanding le Puissant, 74, in Lieut. Genl. Don Luis de
Cordova's action of the 20th October, 1782.
Brigadier Pierre-Antoine, Count de Clavel.»^
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Scipion, 74, in Count de
Grasse's action off the Chesapeake 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown and
promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces 24th November, 1781, and
honorably retired on the same day.
Brigadier Count de Framont de Greze.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Cesar, 74, under Count d'Estaing
in the operations in Rhode Island in 1778 and at Savannah in 1779.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau en Second of the same, 14th July,
1779.
Later Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Caton, 74, in Count de Grasse's
action off the Chesapeake 5th September, 1781, in which he was wounded, and
at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces 12th January, 1782.
Brigadier M. de Longueville.^
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Robuste, 74, at Savannah
in 1779 and promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces in 1782.
Brigadier Chevalier de Gras-Preville.>J<
Knight of St. John of Jerusalem.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding I'Engageante, 32, in the
combat with the frigate Rose 6th July, 1778, and in the operations in Rhode
Island in the same year.
Later commanding le Zele, 74, in Count de Grasse's action off the Chesa-
peake 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces 12th January, 1782, and
honorably retired the 1st September, 1786.
136
"Brigadier L. D. de Joannis.»J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Protecteur, 64, in the operations
in Rhode Island in 1778.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau in 1779 and to be Brigadier of the
Naval Forces in 1782.
Brigadier Pierre-Joseph, Chevalier de Castellan.>J«
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding I'Auguste, 80, in Count de
Grasse's action oif the Chesapeake 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces 25th March, 1785, and
honorably retired on the same day.
Brigadier Jean-Baptiste-Elzear, Marquis de Ponteves-Gien.>J<
Knight of Saint Lazare et Notre Dame du Carmel.
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau and acting as Capitaine en Second on le
Tonnant, 80, in the operations in Rhode Island in 1778 and commanded the same
ship at Savannah in 1779.
Subsequently Inspecteur Particulier des Classes de la Marine.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces 22d July, 1785, and honor-
ably retired on the same day.*
Brigadier Henri-Jean-Baptiste, Vicomte de Ponteves-Gien.>J<
He was the brother of the above named Marquis de Ponteves-Gien and
served as a Capitaine de Vaisseau, commanding frigate la Resolue, 32, on the
American coast and in Lieut. General Count de Guichen's actions off Marti-
nique, 17th April and 15th and 19th May, 1780, and later in the attack made on
Forts James and Bense in the river Gambia, Africa, 12th February, 1779, where
he had two frigates, a corvette and a schooner under his command.
In 1781 he received from Louis XVI. a pension of 6oolivres for his services
in America and in Senegambia and was appointed Major General de la Marine
et des Escadres in the Department of Brest.
He commanded the French Squadron, I'lllustre, 74 (flagship) ; le Leopard,
74 ; I'Andromaque, 40 ; la Sensible, 36, and I'Active, 36, which arrived in Boston
Harbor, Mass., on the 3d September, 1789, and was the recipient of marked
civilities from the Massachusetts Cincinnati, which were acknowledged by
official courtesies even more notable.
Brigadier Martinencq de Gineste.>I<
Appointed a Garde de la Marine in 1755, he was promoted to be Enseigne
de Vaisseau in 1761 and Lieutenant de Vaisseau in 1765.
In 1756 he was in the expedition to Mahon and in 1765 served on the bark
I'Hirondelle commanded by Lieutenant de Vaisseau M. de Beaussier-Chateau-
vert in the squadron which operated against the Saletins on the 27th June of
that year. Commanded the boats from his vessel which participated in the affair
of Larache, in which he was wounded by a musket ball in the arm and breast.
•His eldest son, Capitaine de vaisseau, Francols-EIz§ar, Marquis de PontevSs-Glen,^
succeeded him in the Cincinnati. (Vide: Hereditary List)
137
In 1778 he served on le Guerrier, 74, under Count d'Estaing in the opera-
tions in Rhode Island, and, on the 4th July, 1779, at the capture of Grenada and
naval action off that island two days later.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau, he served on le Guerrier at Savan-
nah as Capitaine en Second.
Promoted to be Brigadier of the Naval Forces 26th March, 1786, and
honorably retired on the same day on account of ill health and received a
pension on the 1st April, 1786, of thirty-six hundred livres from the Treasurer
Royal and five hundred livres from the Invalides.
On the 2ist April, 1789, he received from the King a gratification of eight
hundred livres.*
Brigadier Chevalier du Chaifault de Chaon.>f«
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau en Second and Capitaine de Pavilion on le
Pendant, 64, and in action of 6th July, 1779, off Grenada and at Siege of
Savannah.
Later, on nth November, 1779, at entrance to Chesapeake Bay and
subsequently in Lieutenant General Count de Guichen's three actions of 17th
April, 15th May and 19th May, 1780, and wounded in action.
Promoted to Brigadier for these services.
Chef de Division Count de Kergariou Log Maria.>J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding La Sibille, 32, from October,
1781, and on special service on the coast of the United States, having arrived in
Chesapeake Bay with money for the Army 7th January, 1782.
Later, on the 2d April, 1782, he was stationed off Lynn Haven Bay.
Subsequently was severely wounded in the combat between his frigate and
the British frigate Magician, 32, near Saint Domingo, 2d January, 1783.
Promoted to be Chef de Division ist May, 1781.
During the French Revolution he was compelled to emigrate and subse-
quently joined the expeditionary force which made a descent on Brittany in
June, 1795. He was taken prisoner by the French Revolutionary Army in the
affair of Quiberon i6th July, 1795, and shot, on the 30th of the same month,
under the improper sentence of a military commission.
Chef de Division Athanase Scipion de Barin, Marquis de la Galissonniere.t^
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding the frigate la Blanche, 32,
in the combat with the British frigate Jupiter, 50, 21st May, 1779, while en
*His eldest son, who succeeded him in the Cincinnati, was Rear Admiral AndrS-Jules-
Francois, Baron de Martinencq de Gineste, Knight Commander of the Royal and Military
Order of St. Louis and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor. (Vide: Hereditary List,
French Society.)
■j-On the 14th September, 17S9, this officer, then in command of le Leopard, 74, of
the French Squadron in Boston Harbor, gave a dinner on shipboard to the Massachusetts
State Society of the Cincinnati. When the members had entered the ship's boats to re-
turn to Boston, the yards were manned and three cheers given by the crew, followed by a
salute of thirteen guns.
At this dinner, in the number of toasts, were two, each of which were received with
a salute of thirteen guns from the ship, viz: "The President and Cincinnati in the United
States" and "The President and Cincinnati in France."
On the 24th September, 1789, the Massachusetts State Society gave, in return, an
elegant entertainment at Concert Hall. Boston, to the French members of the Order In the
squadron.
138
route to the West- Indies from France and subsequently commanding the same
vessel at the siege of Savannah in the same year.
Having sailed from that place on the ist November, 1779, his frigate was
captured by Rear Admiral Rodney's squadron in the West Indies 20th De-
cember, 1779.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau in 1780 and Chef de Division ist
May, 1786.
Chef de Division Jean-Charles, Chevalier de Borda.»J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau and acting as Major General and Intendant
of the Naval Forces under Count d'Estaing in the operations in Rhode Island
in 1778 and at Savannah in 1779, and temporarily commanded le Guerrier, 74,
in 1781.
He subsequently commanded le Solitaire, 64, when captured by the British
squadron near Barbadoes 6th December, 1782.
He became "Inspecteur des Constructions" in 1784 and was promoted to
be Chef de Division in 1786.
He was a member of the Academy Royal of Sciences.
Chef de Division d' Alexandre, Count d'Ethy.»J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding le Citoyen, 74, in Count de
Grasse's action off the Chesapeake 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
He was wounded while commanding the same ship in Count de Grasse's
action of the 12th April, 1782, and later commanded it in the fleet of the
Marquis de Vaudreuil in the same year.
Chef de Division Laurent-Emanuel de Renaud d'Aleins.>J«
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding I'Hector, 74, in Count de
Grasse's action off the Chesapeake 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown and
subsequently commanding le Neptune, 74, in the fleet of the Marquis de
Vaudreuil in 1782.
Chef de Division Jean-Baptiste de Macarty-Macteignc^
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau from 1780 and commanding le Magnifique,
74, which struck on a rock off Lovell's Island, Boston Harbor, Mass., loth
August, 1782, and was lost.
The Congress of the United States on the 3d September, 1782, presented
to France the America, 74, then being completed by the Chevalier John Paul
Jones, to replace le Magnifique, and Macarty-Macteigne was assigned to its
command and took it to France.
He was subsequently Major General de la Marine et des Escadres at
Rochefort.
Promoted to be Chef de Division in 1786.
Chef de Division Count de Roux de Bonneval.*^
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding I'Alcmene. 28, under Count
d'Estaing on Rhode Island and Massachusetts coasts in 1778, and in the action
COUNT MAURICE-JULIEN EMERIAU.
'ICE ADMIRAL OF FRANCE.
139
off Grenada 6th July, 1779, and subsequently captured by a British squadron in
the West Indies in October of that year.
Appointed Major du Corps d'Infanterie de la Marine in 1780.
In September, 1783, he commanded the corvette la Badine, 36, on the
European Station.
Promoted to be Chef de Division in 1786, and assigned to be Major
General de la Marine et des Escadres.
He was Deputy for the Nobihty of Evreaux in the States General of the
5th May, 1789.
Chef de Division Viscount Fleuriot de rAngle.>{<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding the cutter le Hussard, 18,
in June, 1780, until captured by the Nonsuch, 64, on the 5th July of the same
year.
On being exchanged, he was assigned to the command of I'Astree, 32, and
served in the squadron of M. de la Perouse on the New England coast and in
the expedition which left Cape Francois 31st May, 1782, for Hudson's Bay, and
captured Fort Prince of Wales on the 21st August, 1782.
He subsequently commanded the frigate I'Astrolabe, 32, in M. de la
Perouse's expedition of discovery which sailed from Brest on the ist August,
1785, until he was killed by the savages on the Island of Maouna in the Naviga-
tor Islands in December, 1787.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau 14th November, 1782, and to be Chef
de Division 1st May, 1786.
Chef de Division-Joseph-Couturier de Fournoue.>^
Formerly from 1772 Lieutenant de Vaisseau and served from 1778 to 1781
under Count d'Estaing on le Vengeur, 64, in Rhode Island and action off
Grenada 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah and promoted to Capitaine de
Vaisseau in 1780 and succeeded to command of same ship.
Promoted to be Chef de Division in 1786.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Jean-Baptiste de Cibon.^
Served in same grade on la Ville de Paris, 104, performing the functions
of Intendant of the Naval Forces under Count de Grasse in the action off the
Chesapeake 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown, and in the disastrous action
of the I2th April, 1782, when that ship was captured.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Mahue de Kerhouan.»J<
Formerly commanding le Diademe, 74, under Count d'Estaing in the action
off Grenada, 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah, and later in the action of 2Qth
March, 1780.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier de Bire.>J<
Fomierly commanding I'Auguste, 80, in the fleet of the Marquis de Vau-
dreuil on the New England coast and was with that fleet in Boston Harbor on
the 8th August, 1782, and subsequently at Portsmouth, N. H., loth October,
1782.
Honorably retired in 1785.
I40
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier de Pujet Bras.»}<
Formerly commanding le Northumberland, 74, in the fleet of the Marquis
de Vaudreuil in 1782 on the New England Coast.
Capitaine de Vaisseau de Raimondis-Canaux.^
Formerly, from 1771, Captaine de Vaisseau and acted as Capitaine en
Second on le Marseillais, 74, in the operations in Rhode Island in 1778 and at
Savannah in 1779.
Honorably retired 19th October, 1781.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Louis-Andre- Joseph, Chevalier de Lombard.>fi
Formerly commanding la Provence, 64, in Rhode Island in 1780 and in M.
des Touche's action of the i6th March, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Marquis de Laubepin.>f<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau acting as Capitaine en Second on le Pro-
tecteur, 74, in the operations in Rhode Island in 1778 and at Savannah in 1779.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier de Riviere.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Capitaine de Vaisseau and commanded the flagship la Couronne et le
Pluton, 74, in 1781 in the squadron of Chef d'Escadre M. de la Motte Picquet
under Count de Grasse at Yorktown.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Jacques-Aime Le Saige, Chevalier de la Villebrune.i^
Formerly commanding frigate la Gentille, 32, in Lieutenant General Count
de Guichen's actions ofT Martinique of the 17th April and 15th and 19th May,
f 780, and then in Rhode Island, and later at entrance of Chesapeake Bay in the
squadron under M. le Gardeur de Tilly, when the British frigate Romulus, 50,
was captured, 19th February, 1781.
He afterward commanded the Romulus, 50, in Rhode Island in 1781 and
in M. des Touche's action of the i6th March, 1781, and later in Count de
Barras Saint-Laurent's squadron which joined Count de Grasse in Chesapeake
Bay from Newport and took part in the operations at Yorktown.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Joseph- Jean Petit.>J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau serving as Capitaine en Second on le
Magnifique, 74, under Count de Grasse in the action of 12th April, 1782, and
later, on same ship, under the Marquis de Vandreuil until wrecked off Lovell's
Island, Boston Harbor, Mass., loth August, 1782.
Then transferred, in same capacity, to la Couronne, 80, in same squadron
on the New England Coast.
Capitaine de Vaisseau M. de Gautez.>5<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau acting as Capitaine en Second on le Zele,
74, in the operations in Rhode Island in 1778 and in the action of 6th July,
1779 and at Savannah.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Gamier de Saint-Antonin.>I<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau acting as Capitaine en Second on la
Provence, 64, in the operations in Rhode Island in 1778 and then commanded le
Fantasque, 64, at Savannah in 1779.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Pierre- Joseph-Francois-Samson, Count de Champ
Martin."^
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau acting as Capitaine en Second on le Mar-
seillais, 74, in Count de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake, 5th September, 1781,
where wounded, and was at Yorktown.
He subsequently commanded le Due de Bourgogne, 80, in Count de
Grasse's action of the 12th April, 1782, in the West Indies, where he was again
wounded, and then commanded the same ship in the same year in the fleet of
the Marquis de Vaudreuil.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Michel-Georges Laub.>J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau acting as Capitaine en Second on le Cesar,
74, in Count de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake, 5th September, 1781, and
at Yorktown, and later in Count de Grasse's action of the 12th April, 1782, in
the West Indies.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Count de la Croix.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau and wounded in Lieutenant General
Count d'Orvillier's action off Ushant, 27th July, 1778.
Later Capitaine de Vaisseau on I'Annibal, 74, under Count d'Estaing in the
action off Grenada 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Constantin-Frederic-Timoleon, Count du Pare de
Coatrescar.»I<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau and served in that grade at the capture
of Grenada, 4th July, 1779, and naval action off that place 6th July, 1779, and at
the Siege of Savannah, and later in the three actions of Count de Guichen of the
17th April and 15th and 17th May, 1780.
Later Capitaine de Vaisseau en Second on la Couronne, 80, under the
Marquis de Vaudreuil on the New England coast in 1782.*
Capitaine de Vaisseau Jean-Guillaume-Michel, Chevalier de Gouzillon-
Belizal.»t<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding frigate la Licorne, 26, in
June, 1778, and the frigate la Venus, 26, in combat with the privateer Lord
Amherst, 16, on 14th June, 1780.
*M. le Comte Maurice du Pare, Knight of tlie Royal and Military Order of St. Louis
and Chamberlain of the Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, in a communication
dated Paris, 16th June, 1856, applied to be received as a Member in right of his uncle.
Count du Pare de Coatrescar. As no proof was submitted as to his claim in succession
and as the records of the Order at that time did not show that the alleged praspositus was
other than an Honorary Member instead of an Original Member, the General Society re-
solved, on the 2nd May, 1860, "that a respectful answer be made by the Secretary General
to Mr. du Pare, stating that the applicant is not, according to the Institution of the
Society, entitled to membership."
Later Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Reflechi, 74, under Count de Grasse
in action 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Subsequently Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding I'Ardent, 64, under Count
de Grasse in action 12th April, 1782, and several times wounded.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Julien-Francois, Chevalier de Beaumanoir.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly, from 1777, Lieutenant de \'aisseau and wounded in Lieutenant
General Count d'Orvillier's action off Ushant, 27th July, 1778.
Promoted to be Chef de Brigade des Gardes du Pavilion in 1780 and
Lieutenant Colonel in 1781.
Served on I'Hector, 74, in Count de Grasse's action of the 5th September,
1781, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau in 1782, but continued to serve on
I'Hector in Count de Grasse's action of the 12th April, 1782, in the West Indies.
In 1784 he received a pension of eight hundred livres for his services in
America.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier de Cramazel de Kerhue.>J<
Formerly senior Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Glorieux, 74, under Count
de Grasse in action of 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown and succeeded to
the command of the ship when its Commandant, Capitaine de Vaisseau M. le
Vicomte d'Escars, was killed in the action of 12th April, 1782.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier de Montluc de la Bourdonnaye.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding the cutter la Levrette, 18,
1st August, 1779, and 7th June, 1780. Later he commanded, on the 24th
January, 1782, the cutter I'Espion, 18, which was captured on that day by a
superior British force. Afterward he commanded the frigate le Sagittaire, 50,
in the fleet of the Marquis de Vaudreuil on the New England coast in 1782.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau ist May, 1786.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Louis-Marie, Chevalier de Tanoiiam.>{<
Formerly commanding la Concorde, 26, which sailed from Brest, 26th
March, 1781, and arrived in Boston Harbor on the following 8th May, having
on board Chef d'Escadre Count de Barras Saint-Laurent as a passenger.
On the 20th June, 1781, he proceeded to Cape Francois with the request
from General Washington and the Count de Rochambeau to the Count de
Grasse to co-operate in the projected operations against Earl Cornwallis at
Yorktown and returned with de Grasse's assent.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Guillaume- Jacques-Constant, Count de Liberge de
Granchain.>J<
Formerly successively Major and Capitaine de Vaisseau and Major de
I'Escadre charge du detail general, under M. des Touches on le Due de
Bourgogne, 80, and then under Count de Barras St. Laurent, and was in M. des
Touche's action of the i6th March, 1781, and at Yorktown, where he repre-
sented the combined French fleets in the preparation of the articles of capitula-
tion for the surrender of the British Land and Naval Forces at that place.
143
Capitaine de Vaisseau Bide de Chavagne.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau from 1767 and served on le Bien-Aime,
74, in Lieutenant General Count d'Orvillier's action off Ushant, 27th July, 1778.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau in 1779 and continued to serve on
the same ship in the squadron of Chef d'Escadre le Chevalier de la Motte-
Picquet and on the 2d May, 1781, carried a prize into Saint Eustatia in the
West Indies.
Having been transferred for a short time to le Royal Louis, 80, he re-
turned to le Bien-Aime and arrived at Brest 15th April, 1783.
Honorably retired on account of ill health, with a pension of two thousand
livres 29th August, 1783.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Joseph-Jacques-Francois de Martelli Chautard.>I<
Formerly commanding the Experiment, 50, under Count de Grasse at
Yorktown in 1781 and subsequently commanded Le Palmier, 74, in the naval
action of the 12th April, 1782.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Maurice-Jean-Marie, Chevalier de Launay-
Tromelin.>J<
Formerly senior Lieutenant de Vaisseau on I'Ardent, 64, in Rhode Island
in 1780-1 and then Capitaine en Second of the Romulus, 44, in M. des Touche's
action of the i6th March, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Jean - Baptiste - Joseph - Eugene, Chevalier de
Ravenel.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding I'Andromaque, 42, in Count
de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake, 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown
and sailed on the ist November, 1781, from Chesapeake Bay for France with
duplicate dispatches of the victory and carrying as passengers, on leave of
absence. Colonels Count William des Deux Fonts, M. de Laval, de Damas, and
de Charlus of the Auxiliary Army.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Viscount de Montault.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on I'Artesien, 64, at Savannah in 1779.
Later commanding the frigate le Fier-Rodrigue, 50, which was in Chesa-
peake Bay in June, 1780, and arrived at Rochefort, France, on the 28th of the
following month, and was in the succeeding year stationed at Fort Royal in the
West Indies.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Deydier de Pierrefeu.i^
Formerly commanding le Triton, 64, in Count de Grasse's action against
Vice Admiral Hood 29th April, 1781, and subsequently at Yorktown.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Jean-Marie, Chevalier de Villeneuve-Cillart.>J<
Formerly Capitaine de Vaisseau commanding la Surveilleante, 32, in
Rhode Island in 1780 and in M. des Touche's action of the i6th March, 1781,
and in the combat with the Ulysses, 44, on the 5th June, 1781, and at York-'
town and then carried M. le Due de Lauzun to France with dispatches an-
nouncing the capitulation.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Pierre-Marie-Francois, Viscount de Pages.>J<
Formerly, from 1777, a Lieutenant de Vaisseau and served as such on le
Fier, 50, in the fleet of Count d'Orvillier's in the action off Ushant 27th
July, 1778.
Detatched, on account of ill health, from the 5th October, 1778, until the
nth December in the same year, when he went on board le Magnifique, 74, and
served under Count d'Estaing at the capture of Grenada 4th July, 1779, and
naval action off that place of the 6th July, 1779.
Detached at Saint Domingo, on account of sickness, in August, 1779, and
returned to France in le Saint-Michel, 60.
Honorably retired, with rank of Capitaine de Vaisseau and a pension of
twelve hundred livres 1st January, 1782.
Killed in the revolt in Saint Domingo in 1793.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier de Simar.
Formerly senior Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Diademe, 74, under Count
d'Estaing in action of 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah and in action of 20th
March, 1780, and promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau for these services.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier de Cipieres.>J<
Formerly senior Lieutenant de Vaisseau on la Provence, 64, under Count
d'Estaing in operations in Rhode Island in 1778, including action of nth
August, 1778, and in action of 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah and promoted
for these services to be Capitaine de Vaisseau.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Du Bessey de Contenson.*^
Formerly senior Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Protecteur, 74, in operations
in Rhode Island in 1778 and action of 15th December, 1778, and at Savannah
in 1779 and promoted for these services to be Capitaine de Vaisseau.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Louis, Viscount de la Couldre de la Bretonniere.»{<
Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding I'Aigrette, 32, on the
American coast and in the combat with the frigate Arethusa, 28, on the i8th
March, 1779.
Subsequently commanding the frigate la Tourterelle, 36, which, in 1780,
convoyed several French and American merchant ships laden with military stores
into Boston Harbor.
Subsequently promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau and appointed Com-
mandant of the Marine at Cherbourg.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Viscount de Cambis.>^
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding I'Aigrette, 32, and served on
the American coast and in Boston Harbor, 12th September, I78i-3ist March,
1782.
Captured the privateer Surprise, 14, near the Isle d'Aix, 19th July, 1782.
Promoted to be Major de Vaisseau in 1786 and Capitaine de Vaisseau, ist
January, 1792.
Was admitted a member of the Cincinnati while a Major de Vaisseau.
CHEVALIER DE SERCEY.
VICE ADMIRAL OF FRANCE.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Count de Chavagnac.>i<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on the frigate la Junon, 26, in the combat
with the Fox, 28, on the nth September, 1778, near Ouessant, and later com-
manded the frigate la Sensible, 36, which brought M. de la Luzerne, Minister
Plenipotentiary, to Boston Harbor 2d August, 1779.
He subsequently became Major de la Marine at Cherbourg.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Pasteur de Costabelle.»i<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding the frigate la Truite, 26, at
Savannah in 1779, and made prisoner of war at the capitulation of Charleston,
S. C, 1 2th May, 1780.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Louis-Frager, Chevalier de I'Eguillo^
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau and serving in 1782 as Major de Ladite
Escadre on le Triomphant, 80, the flagship of the Marquis de Vaudreuil on the
New England coast, and then commanding la Nereide, 32, in the same squadron
and took a detachment of the Auxiliary Army from Boston to the West Indies.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Count de Capellis.>{<
Formerly Enseigne de Vaisseau on the frigate la Belle-Poule, 26, and
wounded in the combat with the Arethusa, 28, on the 17th June, 1778.
Subsequently Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding the corvette I'Epervier,
16, on the i8th June, 1779, and in the capture of Fort James on the Gambler
River, Africa, 12th February, 1779.
Later acting as Lieutenant en Second on le Due de Bourgogne, 80, and
performing the functions of Aide Major successively to Chef d'Escadre le
Chevalier de Ternay and M. des Touches in Newport Harbor, R. I., in 1780 and
1781.
Later commanding the frigate la Danae, 26, which arrived in Philadelphia
from Rochfort, France, 21st December, 1782.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Count de Gaston de Vauvineux.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding I'Amazone, 32, in Boston
Harbor in 1782 and assisted in transporting the Auxiliary Army on its de-
parture from the United States.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier de Sutton de Clonard.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding la Diligente, 32, in Count
de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Having left Newport News, Va., on the 2d February, 1782, for Boston,
Mass., his frigate en route ran aground, through the fault of the pilot, on the
7th February, 1782, near Cape Henry, and was lost with twenty of the crew.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau ist May, 1786.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Francois-Xavier Ame de la Laune.^
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding the cutter le Serpent, 18,
1st August, 1779, and severely wounded in the successful combat with the
Leverett, 14, near Saint Domingo, 25th September, 1780, and subsequently
146
commanding the same vessel in Count de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake
Sth September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel in the Naval Forces in 1782 and to be
Capitaine de Vaisseau i6th January, 1783.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Louis-Marie-Casimir, Chevalier de Vallongue.>J<
Knight of St. John of Jerusalem.
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau commanding la Gloire, 32, which left
Brest, France, on the 19th May, 1782, with two million livres and also brought
to Philadelphia M. le due de Lauzun and other French officers returning from
leave of absence or joining the Auxiliary Army.
While en route la Gloire and I'Aigle, 40, had an obstinate combat with the
Hector, 74, on the 4th September, 1782.
Having emigrated during the French Revolution, he was, after the Restora-
tion, appointed Capitaine de Vaisseau 31st December, 1814.
Lieutenant de Vaisseau, le Sieur de Barras-la-Vilette.>}<
Formerly, from 1778, Lieutenant de Vaisseau and served on board la
Resolue, 32, on the American coast, and later in the attack on Fort James on
the river Gambler 12th February, 1779, where he was wounded.
He was subsequently on ditty in Count de Barras' squadron in Rhode Island
and was with it at Yorktown, where he was given the command of the sloop
of war Bonetta, 14, when it was turned over to the French under the articles
of capitulation for the surrender of the British squadron at Yorktown, after it
had first transported passengers to New York and returned.
CHAPTER Xlll.
ORIGINAL MEMBERS.
(Continued.)
AMERICAN ARMY OR NAVY*
General in Chief Marie- Joseph-Paul- Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, Marquis
de Lafayette, LL. D.
(French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Formerly, from the 9th April, 1771, Mousquetaire in the Second Company
of the Gardes-du-Corps du Roi, an organization created in the year 1475.
Appointed Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment ofNoailles, dragoons, 7th April,
1773, and promoted to be Captain in the same, 19th May, 1774, and placed on
the Half Pay List in 1776.
Under an arrangement with Silas Deane, U. S. Commissioner in Paris,
dated 7th December, 1776, for him to enter the U. S. Service, he fitted out the
ship la Victoire at his own expense and setting sail from Bordeaux in April,
•These Original members in the French State Society of the Cincinnati became such
Ic consequence ot their services in the American Army or Navy under commissions from
the Continental Congress.
MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
MAJOR GENERAL AMERICAN ARMY.
COMMANDING CONTINENTAL LIGHT INFANTRY DIVISION
147
1777. after several detentions arrived in Charleston, S. C, 15th June, 1777, with
the intention of serving in the Continental Army.
Appointed, by Congress, Major General U. S. Army, 31st July, 1777.
Wounded in the battle of Brandywine, nth September, 1777.
Served in camp at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-8 until ordered by
Congress, 23d January, 1778, to Albany to command an expedition to Canada,
which was relinquished after he had made an unfavorable report as to the forces
and means at his disposal for such a purpose.
Returned to Valley Forge and, on 19th May, 1778, commanded in the
"Barren Hill Church" affair.
Subsequently served in the battle of Monmouth and in the Siege of New-
port, R. I.
Received tlie thanks of Congress and vote of a sword 21st October, 1778,
and unconditional leave of absence on the 22nd October, 1778, with a letter of
recommendation from Congress to Louis XVI., and sailed from Boston in the
U. S. frigate Alliance, 32, nth January, 1779.
Appointed, by Louis XVL, Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment
du Roi, dragoons, 3d May, 1779.
Assigned to duty as Aide-Marechal General des Logis of the Army in
Brittany and Normandy, ist June, 1779.
Received the sword ordered by Congress, through the Honorable Benjamin
Franklin, LL. D., F. R. S., Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, with
a communication dated Passy, France, 24th August, 1779.
Granted permission by Louis XVL at Versailles, 1st March, 1780, to return
to duty in the Army of the United States.
Sailed in the French frigate I'Hermione, 26, from Aix, near Rochelle, 19th
March, 1780, and arrived in Boston 27th April, 1780, and immediately rejoined
the Main Continental Army at Morristown, N. J., loth May, 1780.
Congress, on the i6th May, 1780, declared that his return to the United
States to resume duty in the Continental Army, was a fresh proof of the disin-
terested zeal and persevering attachment which had secured him the public con-
fidence and applause, and it received with pleasure a "tender of the further ser-
vices of so gallant and meritorious an officer."
Assigned to command the division of Light Infantry of that army ist
August, 1780, and commanded it from the 7th August, during the campaign
in the Jerseys, until the 26th November, 1780, when it was discontinued and the
light infantry companies returned to their respective regiments preparatory to
going into winter quarters.
While he commanded this division it was largely supplied with uniforms,
arms, accoutrements and necessaries at his personal expense.
The Light Infantry division, to the number of twelve hundred rank and file,
having been reconstituted by General Washington in general orders dated Army
Headquarters, New-Windsor, N. Y., i6th February, 1781, and directed to
rendezvous at Peekskill on the 19th for detached operations in Virginia against
the British Expeditionary force under Benedict Arnold, he was re-assigned to its
command 20th February, 1781, and marched two days later.
He commanded in the earlier operations in Virginia against Lieut. General
Earl Cornwallis, 24th May-i4th September, 1781, during which he was rein-
forced by the Pennsylvania Continental Brigade under Brig.-Gen. Anthony
Wayne, and by other troops, and commanded in the action at Jamestown Ford,
6th July, 1781, in which he had two horses killed under him.
He also commanded his division at the Siege of Yorktown.
148
Received from Congress, on the 23d November, 1781, an unconditional
leave of absence to return to France, in a resolution expressive of its high
appreciation of his services, and sailed in the U. S. frigate Alliance, 32, from
Boston, 2ist December, 1781.
Received, from Louis XVI., in communication from the Marquis de Segur,
Minister of War, dated Versailles, 5th December, 1781, the assurance of promo-
tion to the grade of Marechal de Camp with rank from the 19th October, 1781,
for services at Yorktown.
Relinquished command of the regiment du Roi, dragoons, 27th January,
1782, and received his commission as Marechal de Camp, 12th May, 1783, with
date of rank as promised.
Assigned, in November, 1782, to be Major General to the combined Land
and Naval Forces of France and Spain under the Count d'Estaing, destined to
proceed first against Jamaica, and he embarked at Brest, 3d December, 1782,
and joined this armament at Cadiz, but the preliminaries of peace terminated
the projected movement.
In a letter to the President of the Continental Congress, dated Cadiz, 5th
February, 1783, describing the destined operations of these forces, and stating
that they were to move first against the British West Indies and then go to co-
operate with the American Army, he added that it was also intended for him to
enter the St. Lawrence River with a French Corps, for said he : "It is known I
ever was bent upon the addition of Canada to the United States."
Honorably retired from U. S. Service, 3d November, 1783.
Sailed from Havre, for the United States, ist July, 1784, and arrived in
New York 4th August, 1784, and returned to France from New York in the
French frigate la Nymphe, 26, on the 25th December, 1784, and arrived in
Paris 25th January, 1785.
On 25th October, 1784, he was the guest of the Rhode Island State Society
of the Cincinnati at a dinner given him in Newport, R. I.
Member of the Assembly of Notables convoked at Versailles, 22nd Feb-
ruary, 1787.
Appointed to command a brigade of infantry in the division of Languedoc
and Roussillon, ist April, 1788.
Deputy of the Nobility of Riom in the States General of the 5th May, 1789,
and became Vice-President of the National Constituent Assembly.
Appointed Commandant General of the National Guards of Paris, 15th July,
1789, until he resigned the office 30th September, 1791.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General in the Army, 30th June, 1791.
Appointed to be General in Chief of the Army of Flanders, 20th March,
1792, and was successful in the actions of Philippeville, Maubeuge and Floren-
nes, but after the proscription by the Jacobins and decree of arrest of the 15th
August, 1792, he quitted his headquarters at Sedan on the following day with
his staff, intending to go to Holland, but after crossing the frontier near
Bouillon was arrested at Rochefort in Luxembourg and was confined succes-
sively at Namur, Nivelle, Luxemborg, Wesel and Madgebourg, until in May,
1794, when he was confined at Olmiitz and not released until the 19th Septem-
ber, 1797, under the treaty of Campo Formio.
He resided subsequently at Wittmold in Holstein until the end of 1799.
He then returned to his home at La Grange, France, but would not accept
office under the Directory, Consulate or Empire.
Member of the House of Representatives in France in 181 5 during the
149
"Hundred Days," and was elected its President, but declined and insisted on
Buonaparte's abdication.
Member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1818 and again in 1827.
He revisited the United States in 1824 at the invitation of Congress, trans-
mitted by President James Monroe on the 24th Februrary of that year. De-
cHning a passage by a U. S. frigate tendered for that purpose, he set sail in the
packet ship Cadmus from Havre on the 13th July and arrived at New York on
the 15th August, 1824, accompanied by his only son, George Washington
Lafayette.*
He was received by the American Government and People with every
possible manifestation of honor and regard, and Congress, in December, 1824,
made him a grant of two hundred thousand dollars and a township of land.
The Cincinnati also welcomed him in their several State societies with the
most affectionate cordiality.
He returned to France in the U. S. ship of the line, Brandywine, 72, v.'hich
sailed from Chesapeake Bay on the 8th December, 1825.
Appointed Lieutenant General Commandant in Chief of the National
Guards of France, 29th July, 1830, and resigned the office, 26th December, 1830.
He signed the Institution of the Cincinnati in France and there subscribed
his month's pay.
He was the eldest son of Michel-Louis-Christophle-Roch-Gilbert du Motier,
Marquis de Lafayette, Baron de Vissac and Seigneur de Saint-Romain, Colonel
in the Grenadiers of France, who was killed by a cannon shot in the battle of
Minden, ist August, 1759.
General Edward Stack.
(British Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Formerly, from the 23d March, 1777, Lieutenant en Second of the regiment
of Walsh, infantry, Irish Brigade, in the French Army, and was permitted by
Louis XVI. to enter the United States Service.
He was accordingly appointed Captain U. S. Marines, 4th February, 1779,
and served under Commodore John Paul Jones on the U. S. frigate Bon
Homme Richard, 40, and in the bloody and desperate combat with the British
frigate Serapis, 44, on the 23d September, 1779, off Flamborough Head, in which
he was in command of the Main Top and was, for his highly efficient services
on that memorable occasion, specially mentioned in his commanding officer's
official report.
When the Bon Homme Richard sank, he was transferred with her officers
and crew to the captured frigate Serapis and went with it into the Texel.
He continued in U. S. service until rendered supernumerary by reduction
of the naval force and was accordingly honorably discharged 13th February,
1780, and returned to duty in the French Army.
Meanwhile he had been promoted to be First Lieutenant in the Regiment of
Walsh, 13th November, 1779.
For his services in the combat of the 23d September, he received from
Louis XVI., on the 12th December, 1779, the rank of Captain in the army and
•On the 4th July. 1S25, George Washington Lafayette, A. M., was admitted an hered-
itary member in the Maryland State Society of the Cincinnati.
He became a Deputy for Seine et Marne in the French House of Deputies and died
at La Grange, 30th November, 1849, at the agre of 70 years.
I50
an annuity of 400 livres and a recompense for his personal effects which were
lost when the Bon Homme Richard sank.
Having been temporarily attached to the third regiment of Chasseurs a
Cheval, he came to the United States with the Auxiliary Arniy as Aide de Camp
to M. le Comte (afterwards Marquis) de Viomenil, and served throughout all
the campaigns of that army.
Promoted to be capitaine en second in the regiment of Walsh, 4th October,
1786, and to be capitaine commandant in the same, 30th April, 1788.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel of the 87th Regiment of Infantry (for-
merly the regiment of Dillon), 25th July, 1791.
Emigrated in that year with his regiment, and joined the Army of the
Prince de Conde on the Rhine, and later was with M. le Comte d'Artois (after-
wards Charles X.), at Coblentz.
He became lieutenant colonel in the Irish Brigade which served under the
Princes of the House of Bourbon, and which was, with their sanction, taken
on to the regular establishment of the British Army, when they were no longer
able to support an army.
He was accordingly appointed by George III. to be Lieutenant Colonel
fifth regiment, infantry (Colonel Charles, Viscount Walsh de Serrant), Irish
Brigade, ist October, 1794, and thenceforward commanded his regiment, which
was sent to Ireland.
On the 9th May, 1796, he embarked with his regiment from Ireland and
proceeded to Jamaica.
In September, 1797, he was on leave of absence in London, and, on the
1st March, 1798, his regiment having been drafted into other Corps and the
Irish Brigade disbanded, he was placed on the Half Pay List.
Promoted to be Colonel in the British Army, 1st January, 1801.
On the i8th April, 1801, he was appointed Colonel of the Battalion of
North Lowland Fencible Infantry, on the active list, which was quartered at
Downpatrick, in Ireland, and subsequently successively at Perth, Edinburgh,
and Dundee, in Scotland. He commanded this battalion until its reduction and
went on the Half Pay List, 6th August, 1802.
On the 1st September, 1803, he was appointed Brigadier General on the
Stafif of the Army of Great Britain.
While serving in this capacity, he re-visited France during the Peace of
Amiens, and, upon the unexpected resumption of hostilities, became one of
Buonaparte's detenus, first at Biche for three years and afterwards at Verdun
until the Restoration of 18 14.
His promotions in the British Army, during this detention and subsequently .
were as follows: Major General, 25th April, 1808; Lieutenant General. 4th
June, 1813, and General, 22nd July, 1830.
He was bom at Kealand, County Kerry, Ireland, 28th April, 1756, and
died at Calais, France, in December, 1833.
Lieutenant General Denis-Jean-Florimond-Langlois de Mautheville, Mar-
quis du Bouchet.
{French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Officer of the Legion of Honor,
Knight Commander of the Order of Phoenix of Hohenlohe.
Appointed a Cadet in the Corps of Royal Artillery of the French Army, ist
July, 1767, and promoted to be Aspirant in the same in 1768.
MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
GENERAL IN CHIEF FRENCH ARMY, 1824.
As, however, promotion was slow, he entered the same year in the same
capacity for the campaign, in the Austrian service in the regiment of Saxe-
Gotha infantry.
Appointed Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment of la Marche (afterwards de
Conti), infantry, French Army, 17th June, 1770, and made the campaign in
Corsica in that year.
In 1776 he received leave of absence and permission from Louis XVL to
enter the United States service.
Having arrived at Philadelphia in the spring of 1777, he proceeded to
Headquarters of the Main Continental Army at Morristown, N. J., and oflfered
his services as a volunteer and was appointed by General Washington 3d June,
1777, Captain U. S. Army, unattached, under the authority contained in the
resolve of Congress of the 22nd November, 1776, and was ordered to duty in
the Northern Department.
He served later on the staff of Major General Horatio Gates, in the
Northern Army, and was present at the battles of Stillwater and Saratoga
and at the capitulation of Lieutenant General John Burgoyne.
On the special recommendation of Major General Gates, "for his merit
and spirited conduct in the Northern Army," he was, in November, 1777, pro-
moted to be Major U. S. Army, unattached.
Honorably discharged, at his own request, on account of ill health, by
Congress, ist January, 1778, and returned to France.
Meanwhile he had been promoted to be Lieutenant en second in the regi-
ment of Conti, infantry, 7th May, 1777.
Promoted to be Captain in the French Army and attached to the same
regiment, 22nd January, 1779.
He then became Aide de Camp to M. le Comte de Rochambeau in the camp
of Vaussieux, and, on the ist March, 1780, was appointed Aide Major General
of Infantry in the Auxiliary Army, and came with it to Rhode Island and served
with it through all its campaigns, including the Siege of Yorktown and until
its departure from Boston Harbor.
Promoted, for these services, to be Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry 13th
June, 1783, and continued on the General Staff of the Army.
He became a Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis on the
1 2th August, 1783, on the special recommendation of General Washington.
Although his service under his U. S. commissions was less than the three
years required by the Institution for Membership in the Cincinnati, yet his
subsequent actual service in the United States with the Auxiliary Army more
than completed the required period.
So desirous was he to obtain admission, that he made a special trip to the
United States and personally presented his application to President General
Washington in Philadelphia, 17th May, 1784. The General Society, then in
session, resolved, on the same day, "that it is the opinion of this General Meet-
ing that Lieutenant Colonel Du Bouchet is entitled, from his services, to be ad-
mitted a member of the Cincinnati, and he is hereby admitted accordingly."
In 1788 the Prince de Conde applied for his services as Aide Major
General of Infantry to the Corps ordered to assemble at St. Omer.
By a letter from the Minister of War, of the 21st December, 1788, ha was
promised the rank of Colonel and command of a Provincial regiment.
Promoted to be Colonel and Adjutant General, 1st April, 1791.
Upon the organization, in the same month, of Military Divisions, he was
152
appointed to the 21st, but in the month of August, 1791, quitted it in order to
emigrate and join the Prince de Conde's army on the Rhine.
He served with distinction in that army until its disbandment and was
meanwhile promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 15th June, 1795.
In 1802 he returned to France under the permission then accorded.
His total loss of fortune incident to the French Revolution cOrrtpelled him
to resume military employment and he was appointed, 26th August, 1809, Com-
mandant d'Armes and commanded successively Ypres in Belgium and Breda in
Holland.
In February, 1814, he returned to France and pronounced in favor of the
Restoration.
On the 23d August, 1814, Louis XVIII. confirmed him in his grade of
Marechal de Camp.
On the 29th December, 1814, the Prince de Conde certified that he was
"distinguished while under his command for precision, attention, bravery and
intelligence."
In 181 5, during the "Hundred Days," he continued loyal to the Bourbon
dynasty.
Subsequently, by ordinance of the ist August, 1815, he was placed on the
retired list.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General Honorary, on the retired list, 9th Oc-
tober, 1816.
He was a brother-in-law of Marechal de Camp M. le Comte de Conway,
an Honorary Member in the French State Society of the Cincinnati, who came
with him to the United States in 1776-7.
Marechal de Camp Antoine-Jean-Louis, Chevalier le Begue du Portail.
{French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
He entered originally the Military School of Mezieres and became, in 1761,
Sous-Lieutenant in the Corps of Royal Engineers and, by successive promotions
became Captain in the same in 1773.
In 1776 he received leave of absence and the permission of Louis XVI. to
serve in the Continental Engineers and came to the United States in the winter
of 1776-7-
Appointed, by Congress, Colonel \]. S. Engineers, 8th July, 1777, to date
from the 13th February, 1777, the time when he first joined the Main Con-,
tinental Army.
Appointed, by Congress, Engineer in Chief, with the same rank, 28th
July, 1777-
Promoted to be Brigadier General and Chief of the Continental Corps of
Engineers, 17th November, 1777.
He served at Army Headquarters in the Camp at Morristown, and in the
battles of Brandywine and Germantown, at Valley Forge and battle of Mon-
mouth, and was then sent by General Washington, on the 29th June, 1778, to
plan the security of the city of Philadelphia. In 1779 he served in the Highlands
of the Hudson.
Having been directed by Congress, 29th March, 1780, to proceed with all
possible dispatch from the Main Army to the Southern Continental Army then
under Major General Benjamin Lincoln, he served as Chief Engineer in the
153
defence of Charleston, S. C, and, on its capitulation 12th May, 1780, became
prisoner of war, but was specially exchanged, 25th October, 1780.
Meanwhile, in the French service, he was promoted by Louis XVI. to
be Lieutenant Colonel attached to the Infantry, 25th April, 1780.
At the Siege of Yorktown, as Chief of Engineers, under General Wash-
ington, and, as ranking Engineer on the ground, he gave the orders for all the
engineer operations.
Promoted for these services, by Congress, to be Major General U. S. A.,
i6th November, 1781, and granted six months' leave of absence.
Louis XVI. gave him a gratuity of twenty-four hundred livres, and, through
the French Minister of War, by a communication dated 25th February, 1782,
assured him of promotion to the grade of Brigadier General in the French
Army and he was accordingly so promoted 13th June, 1783.
Honorably retired from the U. S. service, loth October, 1783.
On his return to France, as the King of Naples desired to reform his army,
he was sent to Naples to reorganize the Corps of Engineers.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp French Army, 9th March, 1788.
He was Minister of War in France from the loth October, 1790, until
his resignation, 3rd December, 1791.
He was then employed in the army in Lorraine until the unwarranted decree
of accusation by the National Legislative Assembly, on the 15th August, 1792,
against himself, Lafayette and others, which forced him to emigrate.
In 1794 he came to the United States, where he resided until his friend
Count Mathieu Dumas, an Honorary Member in the French State Society of the
Cincinnati, obtained from the Corps Legislatif, 18th June, 1797, the removal of
his name from the proscribed list.
While returning to France, he died at sea in the year 1802.
Marechal de Camp Jean-Baptiste, Chevalier de Gouvion.
(French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Lxjuis.
He entered originally in 1769 the Corps of Royal Engineers in France and
became, by successive promotions, an Ingenieur Ordinaire and, on the 8th April,
1779, capitaine en second in his Corps.
On the 1st January, 1777, he received leave of absence and was authorized
by Louis XVI. to enter the U. S. Service and departed immediately to join the
American Army.
Appointed by Congress Major U. S. Engineers, 8th July, 1777, to date
from the 13th February, 1777.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel U. S. Corps of Engineers, 17th Novem-
ber, 1777, and to be Colonel by brevet in the Army of the United States, i6th
November, 1781, and granted six months' leave of absence.
Pursuant to General Orders dated Army Headquarters, Peekskill, N. Y.,
3d August, 1780, he was appointed to the command of the Continental Corps
of Sappers and Miners, which, by General Orders from the same headquarters
dated New- Windsor, N. Y., 21st April, 1781, was made a separate corps.
Honorably retired from the U. S. Service, loth October, 1783.
Meanwhile, in the French service, he was promoted by Louis XVI. to be
154
Aide-Marechal general des Logis in the Corps de TEtat-JMajor of the Army,
with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, 13th June, 1783.
Promoted to the rank of Mestre de Camp, 2nd December, 1787.
In 1789 he became Aide de Camp to the Marquis de Lafayette, when the
latter became Commandant General of the National Guards.
'■' Promoted to be Adjutant General with the rank of Colonel, ist April, 1791,
and to be Marechal de Camp, 30th June, 1791, and became second in command
of the National Guards of Paris and acted as Major General to Lafayette.
Deputy from Paris in the National Legislative Assembly of the ist Oc-
tober, 1 79 1.
When Lafayette became General in Chief of the Army of Flanders, he
served under him, and, while commanding the advance guard was killed by a
cannon shot of the enemy in the affair of "Grisuelle," nth June, 1792.
Marechal de Camp Francois-Louis-Teisseidre, Marquis de Fleury.
(French Army.)
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
(Formerly known as the Chevalier de Fleury.)
He entered originally, on the 15th May, 1768, as a volunteer in the
regiment of Rouergue, infantry, in the French Army, and was appointed Second
Lieutenant in the same, 15th September, 1768, and served in Corsica in the
campaigns of 1768, 1769 and 1770.
Transferred to be Second Lieutenant Second Class Rifles, nth June, 1776,
and promoted to be First Lieutenant in the same, 2nd June, 1777.
Meanwhile he was authorized by Louis XVL to enter the American Army
and came to tlie United States with Colonel Philip-Charles- Jean-Baptiste Tron-
son du Coudray, of the French Artillery, with whom he sailed from L'Orient in
the Amphitrite, 14th February, 1777, and was in the affair at Piscataqua.
He joined, without delay, the Main Continental Army as a volunteer and
was appointed, by Congress, Captain U. S. Engineers, 22nd May, 1777.
He was present at the battle of Brandy wine, nth September, 1777, where
his horse was killed under him.
Congress, on the 13th September, 1777, resolved that he be presented with
a horse "as a testimonial of the sense they had of his merits."
In the battle of Germantown, 4th October, 1777, he was slightly wounded
in the leg and had his new horse killed under him.
Assigned by General Washington as Engineer Officer at Fort Mifflin in
the Delaware, which the British fleet had begun to bombard on the 26th Sep-
tember, 1777, he participated, from the 4th November, in the final heroic de-
fense, the latter and most dangerous part of which was made by Major Simeon
Thayer, Second Regiment, Rhode Island Continental Infantry, until the works
were totally destroyed by the enemy's cannonade and evacuated on the night
of the 15th November, 1777. During this protracted defense he was, on the
night of the nth November, again wounded, but remained on duty. Mean-
while, on the 3rd October, 1777, he was appointed Brigadier Major to the
Continental Brigade of Light Dragoons under Count Pulaski.
Promoted, by Congress, to be Lieutenant Colonel U. S. Army, unattached,
26th November, 1777, "in consideration of the disinterested gallantry he had
manifested in the service of the United States."
On the 7th February, 1778, it appearing by a report to Congress that he
had lost altogether three horses in the different actions in which he had been
engaged, that body, on the same day, voted that he receive two hundred dol-
lars to purchase another.
On the 27th April, 1778, while in Camp at Valley Forge, he was assigned
by General Washington to be a Sub-Inspector in the Main Continental Army
to assist Major General Baron de Steuben, Inspector General, and, on the 4th
June, 1778, he was detailed, by the same authority, to act as Adjutant General
to the Division commanded by Major General Charles Lee, and was in the
battle of Monmouth.
While Count d'Estaing's fleet was at Shrewsbury, N. J., in July, 1778,
taking in water and supplies, he was sent to him by General Washington from
Army Headquarters, Paramus, N. J., to suggest a plan of operations against
the British Army in Rhode Island, which Count d'Estaing immediately assented
to, and sailed with the fleet to Rhode Island.
After the landing at Conanicut Island, R. I., he joined Major General
John Sullivan and was assigned to duty as second in command in a battalion of
Light Infantry and served at the Siege of Newport and battle of Rhode Island.
Major General SulHvan in his official report to Congress, dated Headquar-
ters, Tiverton, 31st August, 1778, referred to him as having behaved "with
great gallantry."
At the storming of Stony Point, N. Y., 15th July, 1779, he commanded a
Light Infantry battalion under Brigadier General Anthony Wayne, and led one
of the two assaulting columns.
For this service Congress gave him a silver medal and declared, on the
26th July, 1779, that he merited "in a particular manner the approbation and
acknowledgment of the United States."
On the 25th July, 1779, he applied to General Washington for nine months'
leave of absence to return to France, which was granted by Congress, 27th
September, 1779, and, on the ist October, 1779, that body resolved that it enter-
tained "a high sense of the zeal, activity, military genius and gallantry of
Lieutenant Colonel Fleury, which he has exhibited on a variety of occasions
during his service in the armies of these States, wherein, while he has rendered
essential benefit to the American cause, he has deservedly acquired the esteem
of the Army and gained unfading reputation for himself."
On the 19th March, 1780, he was appointed, by Louis XVI, to be Major of
the regiment of Saintonge, infantry, destined for service in the United States
as a part of the Auxiliary Army, and came with it to Rhode Island.
Meanwhile, at his request, approved by General Washington, Congress, by
resolution of the 22d May, 1780, extended his leave of absence from the United
States service for nine months, and, on the 2d May, 1781, authorized him to
remain on leave until it should otherwise direct and as he continued on duty
with the Auxiliary Army, Congress never revoked his leave of absence from
the U. S. service, in which he continued an officer until honorably retired ist
January, 1782.
During the time he held a Continental Commission, he voluntarily served
the United States without pay.
He participated in all the campaigns of the Auxiliary Army, and, by Royal
decree of the 8th May, 1783, received a pension of 400 livres in consideration
of these services, particularly of those at the Siege of Yorktown.
Promoted, also for these services, to be Colonel of the regiment of Pondi-
chery, infantry (East Indies), i6th January, 1784.
156
Having joined his regiment he served in the East Indies and commanded
in chief successively in the islands of Mauritius and Bourbon from May to
November, 1785.
In consideration of his services he received, in November, 1786, a pension
of 1,000 livres.
He returned to France in April, 1790.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 30th June, 1791.
He served in the Army of the North and commanded at Montmedy in
July, 1791, and afterwards at Givet and Cambray, and was under M. le Mare-
chal le Comte de Rochambeau, at Valenciennes, when hostilities began with
Prussia and Austria.
During the retreat from Mons his horse was shot and fell upon him, and,
while lying helpess in that position, he was ridden over by the enemy's cavalry
and so severely injured as to be incapacitated for further active field service.
He was accordingly honorably retired 24th June, 1792.
Marechal de Camp Jean-Baptiste-Joseph, Chevalier de Laumoy.
(French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
He entered originally in 1768, the Corps of Royal Engineers in France, and
became, by successive promotions. Captain in the same, on the ist February, 1777.
Having been authorized by Louis XVI to enter the U. S. Service, and
granted leave of absence for that purpose, he came to the United States with
M. du Portail, and was appointed by Congress on the 17th November, 1777,
Colonel U. S. Engineers.
He participated in the aflfair near Gloucester, N. J., 25th November, 1777,
and was, for a time, with the main Continental Army, and at Valley Forge.
His service, however, after the 8th February, 1779, was principally in the
Department of the South, under Major General Benjamin Lincoln.
In the attack at Stono Ferry, 20th June, 1779, he was wounded.
He participated in the defence of Charleston, S. C, and became prisoner
of war on its capitulation on the 12th May, 1780, and was not exchanged until
the 26th November, 1782.
Promoted by Congress to be Brigadier General U. S. A., by brevet, 30th
September, 1783.
Honorably retired from the U. S. Service loth October, 1783.
Promoted, for these services, by Louis XVI, to be Aide-Marechal General
des Logis to the Corps de I'Etat Major of the Army, with the rank of Lieuten-
ant Colonel, 13th June, 1783.
Promoted to the rank of Mestre de Camp, 2d December, 1787.
Appointed Commandant en Second of Martinique, 14th February, 1789.
Promoted to be Adjutant General with the rank of Colonel, ist April, 1791,
and to be Marechal de Camp, 25th August, 1791.
His last field service was with the Marquis de Lafayette, with whom he
emigrated from Sedan the i6th August, 1792, and was arrested with him at
Rochefort in the Duchy of Luxembourg and sent to Namur and thence to
Nivelle, and was then confined in the Citadel of Antwerp for two months.
After his release he made his home in Philadelphia, Penn., but returned to
France in iBoi.
He did not, however, again engage actively in military service and was
honorably retired the 6th June, 181 1.
157
Brigadier General Armand-Charles-Tuffin, Mar(^is de La Rouerie.
(American Army).
Knight of the Royal and MiUtary Order of St. Louis.
He entered originally in the French Guards under Colonel M. le Mare-
chal le Due de Biron, Knight of the Holy Ghost, and served in that special corps
for ten years and was a Sous Lieutenant en second when he came to the United
States from Nantes, France, in the American ship Morris, to offer his services.
His ship having been chased by three British men of war into Delaware
Bay, ran aground, and after a spirited defense was abandoned by passengers
and crew and blown up, nth April, 1777.
Appointed by Congress, loth May, 1777, Colonel Commandant ist Battal-
ion Continental Partizan Legion, an organization composed of infantry and
dragoons, which he had to raise by voluntary enHstments.
His Legion was constantly and usefully employed throughout the war of
American independence, and was largely supplied with arms, accoutrements,
uniform clothing and necessities from his private resources.
He served with it in several battles and in a number of affairs and
skirmishes, the most important of which were the skirmish near the Head of
the river Elk in August, 1777; battle of Brandywine; affair at Gloucester, N.
J., 25th November, 1777, and skirmish at Whitemarsh, 7th December in that
year.
He also served at Valley Forge and in the battle of Monmouth and with
the Main Continental Army in its march across New Jersey and subsequently
in Westchester County, N. Y., in July, 1778, and on active patrol duty in the
"Neutral Ground," and then went into winter quarters on the Upper Delaware.
Early in 1779, he served under Major General Robert Howe in Connecti-
cut and subsequently commanded in two successful affairs in Westchester
County, N. Y., the most important of which was the surprise and capture of
a British detachment near Tarrytown, 7th November, 1779.
In 1780, in the action at Short Hills, thirty-two of his Legion were killed
or taken out of eighty engaged.
This Legion and the 3rd Battalion Continental Partizan Legion were in-
corporated at Wilmington, N. C, i8th May, 1780, after the death of Brigadier
General Casimir- Victor Count de Kovin Pulaski, but remained under the com-
mand of the Marquis de la Rouerie.
Having then joined the Southern Continental Army he was in the battle of
Camden and his dragoons received the thanks of Congress, 14th October, 1780,
for the "bravery and good conduct displayed there."
In February, 1781, he went to France on six months' leave granted by
Congress, 23rd January, 1781, but returned in time to be present at the siege
of Yorktown.
On the 13th February, 1782, from Army Headquarters, Philadelphia, Gen-
eral Washington directed him to proceed without delay, with his Legion, then
at Charlottesville, Va., to join Major General Nathanael Greene in South Car-
olina.
Congress on several occasions expressed its high opinion of his merit,
notably on the sth February, 1779, loth February, 1780 and 23rd February,
1780, and on the 9th September, 1782, ordered his Legion from South Caro-
lina to join the Main Continental Army.
Promoted for these services to be Brigadier General U. S. Army, 26th
March, 1783, and became Chief of Cavalry.
Honorably retired, 25th November, 1783.
On the 27th February, 1784 Congress adopted the following resolve:
"Whereas, The United States in Congress assembled, are well informed,
and entertain a just sense of the great bravery, intelligence, zeal and activity
manifested during the course of the late war with Great Britain, by Brigadier
General Armand, Marquis de La Rouerie, in the service of the United States,
and,
"Whereas, It also appears by a letter from the late Commander in Chief
dated at Philadelphia, 15th December, 1783, addressed to the said General Ar-
mand, that superadded to general merit for good conduct, vigilance and
bravery, General Armand has, in a variety of instances, particularly signalized
himself as an excellent officer and great partizan, and frequently rendered the
United States very valuable services.
"Resolved, That the President write a letter to General Armand, Marquis
de La Rouerie, expressive of the high sense Congress are impressed with, of the
services he has rendered the United States in the course of the late war with
Great Britain, and of the entire approbation the United States in Congress
assembled, entertain of his bravery, activity and zeal, so often evidenced in the
cause of America."
He remained in the United States several months settling hi.^ public ac-
counts, and left Philadelphia for France, i8th May, 1784.
On his return home he was restored by Louis XVI. to the Gardes-Fran-
caises.
On the 6th April, 1788, he wrs promoted to the grade of Colonel and as-
signed as Colonel Commandant to a regiment of Chasseurs.
His 'Estate of La Rouerie, being at Fouges in Brittany, he became a
member of the Assembly of the Nobility of that Province, and, in April, 1789,
by his influence and strenuous exertions, induced them to vote for the nerfect
equality of taxes over all.
Although favorable to liberal Constitutional government, the radical polit-
ical measures of the National Legislative Assembly and declarations of the fu-
ture Terrorists of the Jacobinical faction did not meet his approval.
On the 5th December, 1791, he was appointed by the brothers of Louis
XVI., who were then at Coblentz, Chief of the Loyalist Association in Brit-
tany, and, on the 2nd March, 1792, Military Commandant of the Royalists in
that and in the adjoining provinces of Anjou and Poitou.
He engaged earnestly in the military operations which ensued and was.
active in the war of La Vendee, but died suddenly on the 30th January, 1793.
He was devotedly attached to General Washington and corresponded with
him until interrupted by the French Revolution.
His last letter to him was dated at La Rouerie, 22nd March, 1791.
Colonel Charles-Francois, Viscount de Dubuysson des Hays and Seigneur
de Montpetit.
{French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
(Formerly known as the Chevalier Dubu3-sson.)
Formerly, from the 8th November, 1772, Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment
of Noailles, dragoons, until September, 1776, when he was promoted to the
159
grade of Captain of the Colonies for service in the French Colonial depend-
encies in the West Indies.
He came to the United States, on leave of absence, under an agreement
with Silas Deane, U. S. Commissioner, to have the rank of Major U. S. Army,
iinattached, from the 7th November, 1776, which was confirmed by resolution
of Congress, 13th October, 1777.
Promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel U. S. A., unattached, nth February,
1778.
He served in the Main Continental Army in the campaigns of 1777-8-9 as
Aide-de-Camp to Major General John Baron'de Kalb, with whom he had come
to the United States.
When the latter was ordered to the Department of the South, he accom-
panied him and, at the battle of Camden, i6th August, 1780, was made prisoner
of war while trying personally to shield the Baron de Kalb from the enemy's
bayonets.
He received four wounds in this battle, one of which was in the breast,
and had both arms broken.
A few days later he was appointed Brigadier General of the North Car-
olina Militia with rank from the i6th August, 1780.
Having been paroled, and there being no immediate prospects of an ex-
change. Congress, on the 4th September, 1781, granted him leave of absence
to return to France, in a resolve expressive of its high sense of his merit and
conduct.
He continued on parole as a prisoner of war and did not again return to
the United States, and was honorably retired from its service, ist January,
1782, at the reduction then made of unattached officers in the Staff of the
Army.
For his distinguished services in the cause of American Independence,
Louis XVI. advanced him in 1780, to the rank of Colonel of Infantry of the
Colonies.
Colonel Jean-Joseph, Chevalier de Gimat.
(French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Formerly, from the 8th June, 1776, ist Lieutenant in the regiment of
Viennois, infantry.
With permission of Louis XVI., he made an agreement with U. S. Com-
missioner Silas Deane, in Paris, on the ist December, 1776, to enter the service
of the United States with the rank of Major U. S. A., unattached, and accord-
ingly was commissioned by Congress in that rank from that date.
He came from France with the Marquis de Lafayette and served with him
as Aide-de-Camp.
Promoted by Congress to be Lieutenant Colonel U. S. A., unattached, 2nd
February, 1778, in order that he might have a command in the projected Cana-
dian Expedition, subsequently abandoned.
He served in the battle of Brandywine, afifair near Gloucester, N. J., 25th
November, 1777, operations at Whitemarsh, affair of Barren Hill Church,
Camp at Valley Forge, battle of Monmouth, siege of Newport and battle of
Rhode Island.
When the Marquis de Lafayette went to France on leave, on the nth Jan-
uary, 1779, he accompanied him under authority granted by Congress, 5th No-
vember, 1778, and returned with him to the United States.
Assigned by General Washington, in General Orders dated Army Head-
quarters New Windsor, 17th February, 1781, to the command of a battalion
of Light Infantry, consisting of the Light Infantry companies respectively of
the 9th and loth Regiments Massachusetts Continental Infantry, of the five
regiments Connecticut Continental Infantry, and of the Rhode Island Regi-
ment of Continental Infantry.
The battalion having been assigned to the Marquis de Lafayette's division
of Light Infantry, marched, on the 22nd February, 1781, from Peekskill, N.
Y., for Virginia, and was in the operations against Lieutenant General Earl
Cornwallis, including the action at Jamestown Ford.
In the storming of the bastion Redoubt No. 10, by the American column,
at the Siege of Yorktown, on the night of the 14th October, 1781, his regiment,
with the Rhode Island Light Infantry Company on the right, had the lead, and
he was wounded in the leg by the enemy's fire.
On the 4th January, 1782, he left Philadelphia for France on unconditional
leave of absence, carrying a letter from General Washington to Lafayette.
He was specially retained in U. S. service by resolution of Congress of
the 2ist January, 1782, but was not called upon to return to the United States.
Honorably retired 3rd November, 1783.
Meanwhile his promotion had been going on in the French Army and he
became Capitaine en second of Grenadiers in the regiment of Viennois, infantry,
30th January, 1778; Major of the Provincial Regiment of Artillery of Toul,
8th April, 1779.
Transferred to be Major of the Regiment of Viennois, infantry, 5th April,
1780, and promoted to be Colonel of the Regiment of Martinique, infantry,
2Sth August, 1782.
He was subsequently stationed in Martinique until appointed Governor
of St. Lucia, 2ist June, 1789, which office he held until relieved 3rd June,
1792.
He did not again serve.
Colonel Jean, Chevalier de Temant.
(American Army).
Having tendered his services as a volunteer, at Headquarters of the Main
Continental Army, General Washington, in General Orders dated Head-
quarters Valley Forge, 28th March, 1778, appointed him to act as Sub-In-
spector under the Baron de Steuben.
The latter officer, in a communication to the Board of War, dated Valley
Forge, 27th May, 1778, spoke of him as follows :
"I had as assistants * * * and Mr. Temant, a French gentle-
"man who speaks English perfectly, and who, in addition to considerable
"military knowledge, has the greatest zeal and activity, and being already
"settled in this country, may be regarded as a citizen. He has undertaken
"the department of inspection as a volunteer, and has not yet demanded
"any rank, though he has merited it by the pains he has taken and the
"progress of the brigades committed to his care."
He participated in the battle of Monmouth, and, on the 25th September,
1778, Congress appointed him a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, with pay
and subsistence as such from the 26th March, 1778, and ordered hnn to the
Southern Department as Inspector.
He served under Major General Robert Howe in the Florida Campaign,
and later under Major General Benjamin Lincoln.
Granted five months' leave of absence on account of his health, he left
Charleston, S. C, for Philadelphia, on the 24th July, 1779, and returned there
on the 24th December, 1779.
Major General Lincoln, from Headquarters Charleston, 8th January, 1780,
thus referred to him :
"We parted from Lieutenant Colonel Temant with reluctance, and
"are made happy in his return to this department, for his attention and
"zeal rendered him highly agreeable to us while here, and, from our
"knowledge of his abilities we now promise ourselves from him the most
"essential services."
Assigned, by General Washington, in May, 1779, to be Lieutenant Colonel
1st Battalion Continental Partizan Legion (Colonel M. le Marquis de La
Rouerie,) under the resolve of Congress of the 25th June, 1778, he continued
to serve as Inspector and was made prisoner of war at the Capitulation of
Charleston, 12th May, 1780.
Exchanged in January, 1782, he left Philadelphia on the 13th Febrtiary
following to join Major General Nathanael Greene in the Southern Depart-
ment, taking with him a communication from General Washington to the
Colonel of his legion, of that date, in which was used the following language :
"* * * Colonel Ternant, who is the bearer of this, will be able
"more fully to enforce the reasons of my sentiments and wishes. You
"will perceive that officer is appointed Inspector to the Southern Army.
"It is an office of importance and requires a gentleman of ability
"and activity to perform the duties of it with propriety."
Thenceforth he continued on duty with Major General Greene as In-
spector of the Southern Military Department until relieved, at his own request,
at Camp Ashley Hill, S. C, 12th November, 1782, on account of continued ill
health. Several months elapsed before he was in a condition to resume military
duty.
Congress having promoted Colonel the Marquis de La Rouerie to be
Brigadier General on the 26th March, 1783, and not having promoted Lieuten-
ant Colonel de Ternant to the vacant colonelcy in his corps, according to estab-
lished regulations, he memorialized Congress on the subject, and that body
on the 27th September, 1783,
"Resolved, That Lieutenant Colonel Ternant be informed that Con-
"gress in continuing General Armand in the command of his corps at
"the time of his promotion to his present rank, had reasons of a peculiar
"nature, without any intention derogatory to the merit of Lieutenant
"Colonel Ternant, of whose useful and distinguished services in the
"several confidential and important stations in which he has been em-
"ployed, they entertain a just sense."
This constituted but one of several attempts of Congress, about that
time, to avoid its plighted obligations to the Continental officers and soldiers.
Its position was so indefensible that, by special resolution of the 13th Octo-
ber, 1783, it promoted him to be a Colonel by brevet.
l62
Baron de Steuben afterward, on the 17th April, 1784, addressed Congress
on the subject, and the matter having been referred to a committee, a unani-
mous report was submitted on the 22nd April, 1784:
"That upon perusal of the said letter, the report of the Secretary at
"War of May last, and other papers relative to the rank and services of
"Lieutenant Colonel Ternant, they are of opinion that the various and
"important ofifices intrusted to him, have been executed in a manner
"honorable to himself, and highly beneficial to the United States, and
"that he was justly entitled to the commission of a lieutenant colonel
"commandant upon the promotion of General Armand ;"
Whereupon Congress resolved :
"That the commission of Colonel in the Legionary Corps, to which
"he was attached, be granted to Lieutenant Colonel Ternant, to bear
"date from the promotion of General Armand."
From June, 1783, he served with his Legion, until honorably retired, upon
its discharge at York, Penn., 25th November, 1783.
Returning to France, he was, in March, 1791, appointed by Louis XVL
Minister Plenipotentiary of France to the United States, and presented his
credentials 12th August, 1791.
The Marquis de Lafayette, in a communication to President General
Washington, dated Paris, 7th March, 1791, thus referred to this event:
"* * * M. de Ternant has been named Plenipotentiary Minister
"to the United States.
"I have warmly wished for it, because I know his ability, his love
"for liberty, his early, steady and active attachment to the United States,
"and his veneration and love for you.
"The more I have known Ternant, the more I have found him a
"man of great parts, a steady, virtuous and faithful friend.
"He has deserved a great share in the confidence of the National
"Assembly, the patriot side I mean.
"The King has a true regard for him. In a word, I hope he will on
"every account answer your purposes, and serve America as zealously
"in the diplomatic line, as he did when in the Army. * * *"
The Count d'Estaing, President of the French State Society of the Cincin-
nati, also wrote from Paris, on the 30th May, 1791, and sent his letter by M.
de Ternant.
President General Washington in acknowledging it, in a reply dated Phil-
adelphia, 7th September, 1791, said:
"* * * The manner in which you speak of M. de Ternant is
"highly honorable to him, and, from his talents, discretion, and proper
"views, united with the extensive information which he possesses, there
"is but little doubt of his rendering good services to both countries. * *"
His services as Minister Plenipotentiary proved highly acceptable to
President Washington at a most critical period in the relations between the
two countries after the insurrectionary overthrow of the French Monarchy,
loth August, 1792.
The invasion of France had induced him to apply for his recall, so that he
could serve in a military capacity.
1 63
His request was not at once acceded to and he did not receive notice of his
recall until the 17th May, 1793. On the same day he presented his letter of
recall to President Washington and his mission terminated.
He subsequently served as a Colonel in the French Army.
Colonel Thomas-Antoine, Chevalier de Mauduit du Plessis.
(French Army).
Knight of the Royal and MiHtary Order of St. Louis.
Formerly an Eleve in the regiment of Grenoble, Corps of Royal Artillery
in France, and came to the United States to aid the cause of American Inde-
pendence.
Appointed, by Congress, Captain of Artillery, by brevet, U. S. A., 19th
September, 1776.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel U. S. A., by brevet, to date 20th No-
vember, 1777, for distinguished services in the battles of Brandy wine and
Germantown, and at the defense of Fort Mercer.
He also served in the affair near Gloucester, N. J., 25th November, 1777,
and at Valley Forge and in the battle of Monmouth.
After the ratification of the Alliance with France and the close of the year's
campaign in the United States, he applied for permission to resign his United
States commission in order to re-enter the French service, which application was
granted by Congress 5th November, 1778. He accordingly returned to France
with Lafayette, nth January, 1779.
Appointed by Louis XVL Capitaine en Second in the regiment of Metz,
Corps of Royal Artillery, and on the ist March, 1780, first Aide-Major of
Equipment to the detachment of his Corps which came to the United States
with the Auxiliary Army.
He served with it in Rhode Island and through all its campaigns, and,
for good conduct at Yorktown, received a pension and, on return to France,
was appointed for these services, 13th June, 1783, Major of the regiment of
Chasseurs des Vosges and promoted, in 1787, to be Colonel Commandant of
the regiment of Port au Prince, infantry, and served with it in Hayti.
Killed at Port au Prince, 4th March, 1791, during an insurrection disturb-
ance.
Colonel Etienne-Nicolas-Marie-Bechet, Chevalier de Rochefontaine.
(French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Formerly an Aspirant, ranking as Lieutenant en Second, in the Corps of
Royal Engineers in France, and came to the United States, with leave of
Louis XVL, to assist in the cause of American Independence.
Appointed, by Congress, Captain U. S. Corps of Engineers, 15th May, 1778.
Promoted to be Major U. S. A. by brevet, by special resolution of
Congress of the i6th November, 1781.
Honorably retired 15th December, 1783, and returned to France.
Meanwhile he was appointed, by Louis XVL, for these services. Captain
by brevet, 13th June, 1783.
164
Assigned as Assistant in the Corps de I'Etat-Major of the French Army,
1st December, 1784.
Promoted to be Aide-Marechal general des Logis, i6th November, 1788,
and given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, ist November, 1789.
Promoted to be Adjutant General with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel ist
April, 1791, and to be Colonel of the 68th regiment of infantry (formerly
known as the regiment of Beauce, infantry), 30th October, 1791.
Transferred to be Adjutant General, with the rank of Colonel, 25th
November, 1791, and was employed in Saint Domingo.
Emigrated to the United States in 1792, after the inauguration of the
Reign or Terror.
Appointed Temporary Engineer U. S. A., for duty on the New England
fortifications, 29th March, 1794.
Appointed Lieutenant Colonel Commandant first regiment U. S. Artillerists
and Engineers, 26th February, 1795, and commanded his regiment with head-
quarters at West Point, N. Y., until honorably discharged 7th May, 1798.
He subsequently resided in New York City until his decease there 30th
January, 1814, and his remains were interred in the churchyard of Saint Paul's
Chapel on Broadway.*
Colonel Louis-Saint Ange, Chevalier de La Colombe.
(French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Under an arrangement with Silas Deane, U. S. Commissioner in Paris,
dated the ist December, 1776, by which he was to have the rank of First
Lieutenant U. S. A. (unattached), which was subsequently confirmed by
Congress, he came to the United States with the Marquis de Lafayette in the
ship la Victoire, and throughout the service of that officer in the Continental
Armies was an Aide de Camp on his staiif.
Promoted to be Captain U. S. A. (unattached), 15th November, 1777.
On the 5th November, 1778, he received an unconditional leave of absence
from Congress in order to accompany the Marquis de Lafayette to France in
January, 1779.
This he was unable to do, but rejoined him in the following June, having
meanwhile served as Aide de Camp to Major General the Baron de Kalb.
Although he had never previously served in the French Army, Louis
XVL appointed him a Captain attached to the regiment du Roi, dragoons, 4th •
March, 1780, of which Lafayette was the Mestre de Camp Commandant, with
whom he returned to the United States in the French frigate I'Hermione, 32,
in April, 1780.
During his service in the Continental Army he was present at the battle
of Brandywine, in which he was wounded, movements at Whitemarsh, Valley
Forge, affair of Barren Hill Church, battle of Monmouth, Siege of Newport,
R. I., action at Jamestown Ford and Siege of Yorktown.
He returned to France with Lafayette, 21st December, 1781, but was,
nevertheless, specially retained in the U. S. service by resolution of Congress
of the 2ist January, 1782.
•He was succeeded in membership by his grandson, M. Theodore Gentil, who was
admitted an hereditary member in the New York State Society of Cincinnati 4th July,
1854, and died in Paris, France, without issue, 3rd April, 1880.
i65
Promoted to be ]\Iajor U. S. A. by brevet, 30th September, 1783.
Honorably retired from the U. S. service, 3d November, 1783.
Appointed a Capitaine reforme, French Army, ist May, 1788.
Appointed Aide Major General of the National Guard of Paris, 13th
August, 1789.
Promoted to be Colonel of the 104th regiment of infantry of the line, 3d
August, 1791, and appointed Aide de C'amp of General in Chief Lafayette, 25th
February, 1792, with whom he left Headquarters at Sedan i6th August, 1792,
for neutral territory, but was arrested at Rochefort in Luxembourg and im-
prisoned successively at Namur, Nivelle and the Citadel of Antwerp.
Upon his release he came to the United States and resided in Philadelphia
in December, 1797, but subsequently returned to France.
Colonel Eugene MacCarthy.
(British Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
He entered the French service in 1773 as a Cadet in the regiment of
Berwick, infantry (Irish Brigade).
Promoted to be Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment of Walsh, infantry, in same
brigade, 27th June, 1776, and became Lieutenant en Second in the same 13th
November, 1779.
Authorized by Louis XVL to serve in the U. S. Navy, and was accordingly
appointed Lieutenant U. S. Marines 4th February, 1779, and assigned to duty
on the flagship Bon Homme Richard, 40, under Commodore John Paul Jones.
Participated in the desperate combat with the Serapis, 44, 23d September,
1779, in which he received two wounds, and served upon the latter frigate after
her capture until rendered supernumerary and honorably discharged from the
U. S. service, 13th February, 1780.
Promoted for these services, by Louis XVL, to the rank of Captain in the
French Army, 12th December, 1779.
He subsequently formed part of the detachment under the Marquis de
Bouille which went to the relief of Saint Vincent, and served on le Caton, 74,
in the action of the 29th April, 1781, of the Count de Grasse against Sir
Samuel Hood.
He also participated in the capture of Tobago, 2d June, 1781, of Saint
Eustatia, 26th November, 1781, and of Saint Christopher, 12th February, 1782.
Promoted to be Lieutenant en premier in his regiment (Walsh), i4tH
July, 1785, and to be Capitaine en Second in the same, 6th April, 1788, and to be
Capitaine Commandant in the same, loth July, 1788.
Meanwhile, in March, 1785, he received a captaincy in the Dutch service
under Count de Maillebois and served there by permission of the French
Government until June, 1786, when he rejoined the regiment, Walsh.
Appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment of Berwick (88th Infantry),
Irish Brigade, 25th July, 1791, but never served with it.
Emigrated 23d May, 1792, and joined the Army of the Prince de Conde
on the Rhine, and served in the Irish Brigade.
When this brigade was taken into the regular British establishment, he
was appointed, by George III., Lieutenant Colonel 4th regiment (Colonel
Count Daniel O'Connell, who was his uncle), ist October, 1794, and com-
manded the same in Ireland until May, 1796, when it embarked for Jamaica,
and thenceforward was in that island until the regiment was drafted into other
Corps, on disbandment of the brigade, and he was placed on the Half Pay List,
25th December, 1797.
Promoted to be Colonel in the British Army ist January, 1801.
He was born in Ochtermony, County Kerry, Ireland, 17th August, 1757,
and died in London in March, 1801. He was cousin-german to Daniel O'Con-
nell, the "Liberator," and died without leaving issue.
Brevet Colonel Dominique-Louis-Ethis de Corny.
(French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Mihtary Order of St, Louis.
Formerly Provincial Commissary of War in the French Army and was
directed, on the 2d March, 1780, to proceed to the United States in advance
of the Auxiliary Army to procure the necessary supplies.
He arrived in Boston from Rochfort in the French frigate I'Hermione, 32,
on the 27th Apnl, 1780.
Appointed by Congress, on the 5th June, 1780, Lieutenant Colonel U. S.
Cavalry, by brevet, and promoted on the same day to be Colonel U. S. Cavalry,
by brevet.
On arrival of the Auxiliary Army in Rhode Island he entered on duty with
it, but returned to France in the U. S. frigate AUiance, ist February, 1781,
in order to facilitate the forwarding of supplies for the French and American
Armies.
Promoted, by Louis XVI., to be a Principal Commissary of War, super-
numerary, in June, 1781.
Honorably retired from the U. S. service ist January, 1782.
Assigned to duty as Commissary of War, with the regiment of Swiss
Guards, 6th August, 1784.
Honorably retired ist January, 1789.
Promoted to be Commissaire Ordonnateur, supernumerary, 26th Decem-
ber, 1789.
Transferred from the Virginia State Society of the Cincinnati, 5th July,
Lieut. Colonel and Brevet Colonel Antoine-Felix Wuibert de Mezieres.
(American Army).
He came to the United States to serve in its Army and was appointed
Engineer U. S. A., 26th June, 1776, and assigned to duty in the Main Con-
tinental Army, then stationed in the City of New York and on Long Island.
Promoted by Congress to be Lieutenant Colonel U. S. Engineers, 14th
August, 1776, with pay as such from the 26th June, 1776, on account of his
meritorious services.
He served as Chief Engineer of the defenses of Fort Washington until
captured in the assault and surrender of that post, i6th November, 1776.
Having been sent to England as a prisoner of war, he was confined on
the Princess Amelia, guardship, at Spithead, until transferred to Forton Prison,
20th August, 1777, where he remained until exchanged, loth December, 1778,
when he was sent to France in the first cartel.
i67
While awaiting an opportunity to return to the United States he was in-
vited by Commodore John Paul Jones to accompany him on a cruize, in the
Continental frigate Bon Homme Richard, 40.
He accordingly sailed, as a volunteer, on the 14th August, 1779, and was
in the desperate and sanguinary but successful combat of the 23d September,
1779, with the British frigate Serapis, 44.
On the 19th January, 1780, he embarked for the United States in a prize
to the Continental frigate Alliance, but was captured in the West Indies by
the British frigate Grey Hound and kept in Sir George Brydges Rodney's
fleet until the 5th August, 1780, when he was taken into Jamaica and ex-
changed.
Having again embarked for the United States in a merchant ship, he was
captured by the British frigate Roebuck and taken into New York Harbor,
where he was confined for a time on the prison ship Jersey in the Wallabout,
and then allowed to reside on parole at Flatbush, Long Island.
Having been exchanged on the 3d September, 1781, he arrived in Philadel-
phia on the 8th November following, and was immediately ordered to duty as
Chief Engineer of the Western Department, then commanded by Brigadier
General William Irvine, and served at Fort Pitt, the Headquarters of the
Department, until June, 1782, except during a brief period in March of that
year, when he was on leave of absence in Philadelphia.
Promoted to be Colonel U. S. A., by brevet, 30th September, 1783.
Honorably retired 3d November, 1783.
Transferred from the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati, 5th
July, 1784.
Lieut.-Colonel and Brevet Colonel Louis-Antoine-Jean-Baptiste, Chevalier
de Cambray-Digny.
(American Army).
He entered the Corps of Royal Artillery in France as an Aspirant in 1770,
but ceased to serve at the reduction in 1774.
Permitted by Louis XVI. to enter the American Army, he came to the
United States and volunteered his services and was appointed Lieutenant
Colonel U. S. Engineers, 13th June, 1778, and was with the Main Continental
Army at the battle of Monmouth.
Ordered, by Congress, 20th October, 1778, to proceed to Charleston, S. C,
for duty. This order was modified so as to send him temporarily to Fort
Pitt, Penn., the Headquarters of Brigadier General Lachlan Mcintosh, who
then commanded the Western Department, where he acted as Chief Engineer
and constructed Fort Mcintosh, a bastioned work, on the Ohio River below
Beaver Creek.
Under the resolve of Congress of the 2d February, 1779, he was directed
to repair to Baltimore and Edenton, N. C, to expedite the movement of men
and arms to South Carolina and Georgia. He afterward reported to Major
General Benjamin Lincoln, who commanded the Southern Department, and
served at the unsuccessful siege of Savannah, and in the defense of Charleston,
S. C.
Made prisoner of war at the capitulation of the last named place, 12th
May, 1780, he was not exchanged until the 26th November, 1782.
i68
Promoted to be Colonel U. S. A., by brevet, by special resolution of
Congress of the 2d May, 1783.
Honorably retired 15th November, 1783.
On his return to France in 1784 he was appointed by Louis XVI. to be
Major of Provincial Forces by brevet, but did not again serve.
In the French War Office records he is noted as having served "with
distinguished merit in America."
Lieutenant Colonel Anne-Louis Tousard.
{French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
On the i6th December, 1765, the Duke de Choiseul, Minister of War, di-
rected him to report to the Corps of Royal Artillery at Strasbourg, and on
the 3d June, 1768, commended him for his successful examination at Bayonne
and assigned him to a position in the School of the Artillery.
Appointed by Louis XVI., nth June, 1769, Second Lieutenant in the regi-
ment of La Fere in the Corps of Royal Artillery and ordered to join his
regiment at Douay.
Appointed Second Lieutenant in the Company of Cannoniers de Garrante
of the same regiment i6th November, 1772.
Promoted to be Captain of Artillery in the French Colonial Forces in
the West Indies, 24th November, 1776, and granted permission to enter the
United States service.
He, accordingly, made an agreement with Silas Deane, U. S. Commis-
sioner in Paris, by which he should have the grade of Captain of Artillery,
unattached, in the American Army to date from ist December, 1776, which
agreement was confirmed by Congress on the 15th September and again on
the 13th October, 1777.
He arrived at Portsmouth, N. H., in the Amphitrite, with Colonel Philippe-
Charles- Jean-Baptiste Tronson du Coudray, on the 20th April, 1777, and joining
the Main Continental Army, served with it in the battles of Brandywine and
Germantown and at Valley Forge and Monmouth as Chief of Artillery on the
staff of Major General the Marquis de Lafayette.
At the Siege of Newport, R. I., he acted in the same capacity to the left
wing of Major General John Sullivan's army, which was commanded by the
same general officer.
When the Marquis went to Boston, on a brief mission, he continued with
the command and participated in the battle of Rhode Island, in which, while
making a charge on a battery of field artillery, his horse was killed under
him and his right arm so shattered by a cannon ball as to render amputation
necessary.
Congress, on the 27th October, 1778, declared by resolve that his gallantry
in that action was deserving of the highest applause, and accordingly promoted
him to be Lieutenant Colonel U. S. A. by brevet, and awarded him a pension
of thirty dollars per month for life.
The Honorable Henry Laurens, President of Congress, in transmitting
to him this resolve and his commission said : "The display of your courage
and gallantry upon that occasion has gained you the highest applause and
insured immortal honor to your name."
Having returned to France, Louis XVI., on the 3d July, 1779, directed
i69
that he be decorated with the Cross of St. Louis, to be suspended by a flame
colored ribband and on the 5th April, 1780, promoted him to be Major of the
Provincial Artillery regiment of Toul.
Honorably retired from the U. S. service, ist January, 1781.
Promoted by Louis XVL to be Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment of the
Cape, infantry, i8th July, 1784.
Appointed Commandant ad interim of the Northerly portion of Saint Do-
mingo, I2th March, 1786, and of the City of the Cape, 4th February, 1791.
Assigned as Commandant of the National Guard and regular forces de-
tailed to suppress the servile insurrection, 23d Aguust, 179 1.
Assigned to the command of the expedition detailed to reduce Forts Margot
and Le Limbe, 19th October, 1791.
Having reduced these forts, dispersed the insurgents and restored order,
he returned to the Cape on the 5th November, 1791.
Appointed Commandant of the Eastern District of Saint Domingo and of
Fort Dauphin, 14th November, 1791.
Arrested, with the officers of his regiment, by order of the Commissioners
of the National Convention, 19th October, 1792, and sent to Paris and confined
in the Abbaye until released on the 4th February, 1793.
Embarked for Philadelphia, Penn., 14th April, 1793.
Appointed Major of the First Regiment U. S. Artillery and Engmeers nth
April, 1795, with rank from the 26th February, 1795.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Second Regiment U. S.
Artillerists and Engineers, 26th May, 1800.
Appointed Inspector U. S. Artillery, 31st December, 1800.
Assigned as Inspector U. S. Military Academy, 1st September, 1800, and
continued to perform these duties until the i8th March, 1802, when he was
granted permission by the Honorable Henry Dearborn, Secretary of War, to
rejoin the French Army in St. Domingo.
Honorably discharged from the U. S. service, by reason of juniority, on
reduction of the army, ist June, 1802.
Appointed Assistant Chef de Bataillon on the staff of General in Chief
LeClerc in Saint Domingo, 31st July, 1802.
Appointed Commandant of the National Guard of the Cape in October of
the same year and sent on a mission to the United States in the same month
by General of Division le Vicomte de Rochambeau.
While thus absent the Cape was evacuated by the French forces and he
returned to France and was informed by the Minister of War that, by reason
of his services and wounds, the French Government accorded him a pension of
2,000 francs.
Appointed Sub-Commissary and Chancellor of Commercial Relations of
France at New Orleans, La., i8th January, 1805.
Appointed Consul arf interim at that place ist October, 181 1, and exercised
such functions until October, 181 5.
On the 22d July, 1816, his ofiice having been abolished, he received notice
of the same and was instructed to return to France and report to the Due de
Richelieu, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
On the i8th January, 1817, he duly reported his arrival, but while awaiting
orders, died at Paris in the following May.*
♦He was succeeded in membership by his grandson, Brevet Lieut. Colonel Anthony
Eugene Stocker, A. M., M. D., (late surgeon, U. S. Vols.), who was admitted an hereditary
member in the New Jersey State Society of Cincinnati, 4th July, 18S8, and died in Phila-
delphia, Penn., 23d May, 1897, in the 79th year of his age.
I70
Author of the "Artillerist's Companion," a text book prepared for the
artillery of the United States and long used in the service and at the U. S.
Military Academy.
Lieutenant Colonel Jacques, Chevalier de Segond
{Dutch Army).
He came from France and entered the U. S. Service as a Volunteer in
June, 1777, and vi^as with the main Continental Army in the battles of Brandy-
wine and Germantown, and at Whitemarsh and Valley Forge.
His conduct was so satisfactory that Congress, on the 2d February, 1778,
appointed him Captain of the Third Battalion Continental Partizan Legion
(Count Casimir- Victor de Kovin Pulaski), and commanded a troop in the Cav-
alry of the Legion.
He served with it in the skirmish which ensued in pursuit of the enemy
as they fell back to their boats on the morning of the 15th October, 1778, after
they had surprised, at the point of the bayonet, a detachment of the Infantry of
the Legion at Little Neck, N. J., and had massacred fifty, despite their cries for
quarter, and having taken but iive prisoners.
In the winter of 1778-9 his command was quartered at Minisink until
ordered, in February, to join Major General Benjamin Lincoln in the Southern
Department.
Having arrived at Charleston, S. C, 8th May, 1779, he participated in
the gallant and successful attack, three days later, before that town on the
advance of Major General Augustin Prevost's Army, which attack saved the
place at that time from capture.
In October following he served at the Siege of Savannah in command of
a detachment of his Legion which, during that operation, was united to the
Dragoons of Belsunce and Conde of the French Army, who were mounted on
captured horses.
During the Siege of Charleston, S. C, in May, 1780, he commanded his
Legion and was made prisoner of war at the capitulation of that place, and ex-
changed 26th November, 1782.
Promoted to be major U. S. A. by brevet, by special resolution of Congress,
30th September, 1783.
Honorably retired 3d November, 1783.
After his return to France he entered the service of Holland and was ap-
pointed Captain of Infantry in the Legion of Maillebois, ist April, 1785.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel in the same, 28th May, 1788, and
resigned in the following month to enter the Russian service.
Appointed First Major of the regiment of Usun Light Cavalry, i6th July,
1788, in the Russian Army.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment of Olviople Hussars,
1st August, 1788.
He resigned from the Russian service at the end of the year 1790, and
never again served.
171
Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Rene-Hippolite Lombart de Noirmont de La
Neuville.
(French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Formerly, from the 28th July, 1773, Lieutenant in the regiment of Royal-
Comtois, infantry, and went to the United States, with permission of Louis
XVI., in February, 1777.
He served as a volunteer in the Continental Army and became Volunteer
Aide de Camp to Major General Thomas Count de Conway, from the 13th
December, 1777, until the latter's resignation, 28th April, 1778, while serving
at Albany in the Northern Department.
On the 14th May, 1778, he was assigned to duty as Assistant Inspector of
Infantry of the Northern Continental Army, which was announced by Major
General Horatio Gates in General Orders, dated Department Headquarters,
Robinson's House, Highlands of the Hudson, 31st May, 1778.
Appointed, by Congress, Major U. S. A. by brevet, 29th July, 1778, to
date from the 13th December, 1777, he having, according to the resolution of
Congress, "discharged the duties of Deputy Inspector with uncommon assiduity
and much satisfaction to the officers and men of the Northern Army."
He subsequently served as Aide de Camp to the Marquis de Lafayette
until the latter returned to France on leave and was, on the loth February,
1779, granted like leave, but did not avail himself of it.
Ordered, on the ist April, 1779, by Congress, to the Southern Continental
Army to serve under Major General Benjamin Lincoln and to receive the pay
and subsistence of his rank during the campaign. He was at the siege of
Savannah, and served in the Light Infantry.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel, U. S. A., by brevet, in consequence of
his "merit, valor and services," by resolution of Congress, i8th October, 1779,
and at same time granted leave of absence to return to France.
He rejoined the French Army and was honorably retired from the United
States service, ist January, 1781, having been promoted, by Louis XVI., to be
Capitaine en Second in his regiment (Royal-Comtois), 28th February, 1778.
In 1782 he belonged to the Chasseur Company of his regiment.
Promoted to be Captain Commandant in the same, ist May, 1785, and to
be Lieutenant Colonel, 55th Regiment of Infantry (formerly known as the
regiment of Conde), 25th July, 1791.
Resigned, 6th November, 1791.
Appointed Captain in the Infantry of the Constitional Guard of the King,
30th November, 1791.
Disbanded, 5th June, 1792.
Killed during the massacre at the Abbaye in Paris, of the 2d and 3d
September, 1792.
He was a younger brother of Brevet Brigadier General the Chevalier de La
Neuville, an honorary member in the French State Society of the Cincinnati.
172
Major and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Mullens.
{French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
In 1760 he entered, as a volunteer, in the regiment of Clare, infantry, in
the Irish Brigade, French Army, and made the campaigns of 1760 and 1761 in
Germany.
In 1767 he was appointed Regimental Clothier in his regiment, and, in
1770, was appointed Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment of Berwick, infantry, in
the same brigade.
With permission of Louis XVI., he came to the United States in December,
1776, and served at first as Volunteer Aide de Camp on the Staff of Brigadier
General Prudhomme de Borre, of the Continental Army.
From the 14th May, 1777, he acted as Brigade Major to the 3d Pennsyl-
vania Continental Brigade, on the staff of Brigadier General Count de Conway,
and was, on the 6th October, 1777, appointed by General Washington, Brigade
Major of that brigade, with the rank of Major, for "gallant behavior while
acting in that capacity at Germantown."
Promoted, by Congress, to be Lieutenant Colonel, U. S. A., by brevet, in
resolution of the nth June, 1778, "for his bravery and good conduct in the
battles of Brandywine and Germantown" and at the same time granted permis-
sion to retire. In the last of these battles his horse was killed under him.
In 1778 he was promoted to be ist Lieutenant in his regiment (Berwick),
and in February, 1779, assigned to detached duty with a company of guides in
the forces under M. le Comte de Vaux in Normandy.
Promoted to the rank of Captain in the Army, by Louis XVI, 3d June,
1779, without, however, relinquishing his regimental commission.
Assigned ist March, 1780, to command a Company of Guides destined
for service with the Auxiliary Army.
He came to Rhode Island with that army and served with it in all its cam-
paigns in the United States, including the siege of Yorktown, and until its final
departure.
Promoted to be Capitaine en Second in his regiment (Berwick), 21st
November, 1785, and to be Captain Commandant in the same, 30th April, 1786.
Honorably retired, 19th March, 1791.
Major and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Louis-Ambroise de Genton,
Chevalier de Villefranche.
(French Army).
In 1770, he entered the French service as a Topographical Engineer in the
Corps Royal des Ingenieurs Geographes.
Appointed Sous Lieutenant in the regiment du Roi, dragoons, 7th June,
1776, and permitted by Louis XVI to enter the United States service.
He came to the United States, with M. du Coudray in the Amphitrite,
which sailed from L'Orient, 14th February, 1777, under an agreement with
Silas Deane, United States Commissioner in Paris, to be Captain, U. S. En-
gineers, 1st December, 1776, which agreement was confirmed by Congress, 13th
October, 1777, after his merit had been ascertained from his service.
173
IVonioled to be Major, U. S. Engineers, 1st January, 1778, and to be
Lieutcnani. Colonel, U. S. A., by brevet, 2d May, 1783. -
Honorably retired, 3d November, 1783.
Meanwhile Louis XVI had restored him to his former regiment (du Roi,
dragoons), 30th May, 1782, and, for his services in the United States, gave
him a pension of five hundred livres and the assurance of a Captaincy in the
Prc'vincial Forces.
Further promotion was, however, prevented by his decease, 23d July, 1784.
He was the author of a map of West Point and its dependencies.
Major and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Bern de Murnan.
(American Army).
yVppointed Major, U. S. Engineers, 1st March, 1778, and served with the
Main Continental Army until the following year, when he became Engineer
Officer to the army under Major General John Sullivan in the expedition against
the Six Nations of Indians and participated in the action at Newtown.
At the close of this campaign he resumed duty with the main Continental
Army and accompanied that portion which, in 1781, went to Virginia under
General Washington and commanded the U. S. Sappers and Miners at the siege
of Yorktown.
His subsequent service was at West Point and later at the cantonments of
the main Continental Army at New Windsor.
When that camp was broken up in May, 1783, he returned to duty at West
Point.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel, U. S. A., by brevet, by special resolve
of Congress, isth September, 1783.
When nearly all of the Continental forces were disbanded, he was retained
in service.
Being entitled to retirement when he should choose to claim it, he tendered
his resignation, which was accepted by Congress, 3d February, 1784, in a
resolve expressive of its sense of his "abilities and services" and "approbation
of his conduct."
Major Charles-Albert de More, Count de Pontgibaud.
(French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Formerly served in the Marine and came to the United States in 1777
with the Marquis de Lafayette and served on his Staff as a Volunteer Aide de
Camp.
Appointed Major, U. S. A., and Aide de Camp to the Marquis de Lafayette,
2d February, 1778, and served with him in all his campaigns in the United
States.
He returned with him to France in January, 1779, under leave granted by
Congress, 5th November, 1778, and was appointed by Louis XVI to be Captain
attached to the regiment du Roi, dragoons, 3d June, 1779, of which Lafayette
was Mestre de Camp Commandant.
On the 9th July, 1780, he embarked at L'Orient in the U. S. frigate Alii-
174
ance, and arrived in Boston Harbor, 20th August, 1780, and immediately re-
joined the main Continental Army for duty.
Specially retained in United States service by resolution of Congress of
the 2 1 St January, 1782.
Honorably retired, 3d November, 1783.
Subsequently served with the regiment du Roi, dragoons, until placed on
the half pay list, ist May, 1788.
Author of a volume of memoirs of his militan' services.
Major George Schaffner.
(American Army).
Enlisted as a private in March, 1776, in Lancaster County, Penn., in
Captain Abraham De Huff's Company of the Pennsylvania Regiment of Mus-
ketry (Colonel Samuel John Atlee), and appointed a Sergeant. His regiment
was first ordered to Philadelphia and thence to Amboy, N. J., where it arrived
on the 2ist July, 1776. On the nth August, it arrived in the City of New
York, and on the 19th of the same month he was promoted to be Ensign in his
company.
His regiment then moved over to Brooklyn Heights, and on the 25th
August, 1776, was placed in Lord Sterlinj's brigade by Major General John
Sullivan's orders of that date.
He served in the battle of Long Island, 27th August, 1776, where his
regiment lost so heavily that it was incorporated with the Pennsylvania Rifle
Regiment (Colonel Samuel Miles), by General Washington's orders, and was
thereafter known as the Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot. Part of the
regiment was captured at Fort Washington, i6th November, 1776, but the re-
mainder, being at the time in garrison at Fort Lee, rejoined the main Continental
Army on evacuating that post, and on the 22d November, 1776, at New Bruns-
wick, N. J., was placed by General Washington in Brigadier General Edward
Hand's brigade.
He made the retreat through the Jersies, and served in the battles of
Trenton and Princeton, and in January, 1777, went into winter quarters in
Philadelphia. Here, on the 4th February, 1777, he was appointed Second
Lieutenant in the Corps of three companies, authorized by Congress, 5th
December, 1776, to be raised by Major Nicolas-Dietrich, Baron de Ottendorff,
and served in Captain John Paul Schott's company until the corps was merged
into the ist Battalion, Continental Partizan Legion (Colonel le Marquis de la
Rouerie), in which he was promoted to Captain, 8th February, 1778, and to
Major, 1st December, 1781.
He served in an affair at the "Short Hills," 22d June, 1777; battles of
Brandywine and Germantown, and later at Valley Forge.
His subsequent service was in the 1st Battalion Continental Partizan Legion
-until its final disbandment, 25th November, 1783.
Captain and Brevet Major Michel-Capitaine Duchesnoy.
(French Army).
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Formerly Lieutenant attached to the regiment of Aquitaine, infantry, and
came to the United States with the Marquis de Lafayette in 1777, under an
175
arrangement with Silas Deane, United States Commissioner in Paris, to have
the rank of Captain, U. S. Army, unattached, from the ist December, 1776.
Congress, however, on the i6th April, 1778, appointed him a Captain, U. S.
Engineers, with rank from the ist December, 1776.
He served, nevertheless, throughout the Revolutionary War as Aide de
Camp to the Marquis de Lafayette and in all the actions in which that officer
participated.
Promoted to be Major, U. S. A., by brevet, by resolution of Congress of
the 5th November, 1778.
Granted leave of absence by Congress, 5th November, 1778, and accom-
panied the Marquis de Lafayette to France in January, 1779.
Appointed, by Louis XVI, Captain attached to the regiment du Roi, dra-
goons, 3d June, 1779.
Returned to the United States with Lafayette in March, 1780, and served
with him in the Light Infantry division in the Jersies, and at West Point, and
in Maryland and in the Virginia campaign and at Yorktown.
Specially retained in United States service by resolution of Congress of
the 2 1 St January, 1782.
Honorably retired, 3d November, 1783.
Meanwhile, having returned to France with Lafayette, he was, in Novem-
ber, 1782, assigned to duty in the staff of the army under Lieutenant General
and Vice Admiral Count d'Estaing, at Cadiz, destined for operations in the
West Indies and continued in that employment until the Peace of 1783.
Appointed Assistant in the Corps de I'fitat-Major of the Army, 1st July,
1788.
Placed on the half pay list, 29th October, 1790.
Captain and Brevet Major Louis de Pontiere.
(American Army).
On the 26th September, 1777, he set sail from Marseilles, in the suite of
Baron de Steuben, on board the French frigate I'Heureux, 24, the name of
which, for the voyage, had been changed to that of "le Flamand," and arrived
at Portsmouth, N. H., ist December, 1777.
At the Baron's request, he was appointed by Congress, Captain in the
3d Battalion, Continental Partizan Legion (Count Casimer Pulaski), 2d Febru-
ary, 1778, and detailed as his acting aide de camp and accompanied him to
Valley Forge.
After Baron de Steuben was appointed Inspector General of the Continental
Army, with rank of Major General, 5th May, 1778, he was continued in the
office of aide de camp and served with him throughout the Revolutionary War
in that capacity, and was present at the battles of Monmouth and Springfield
and siege of Yorktown.
Specially retained in service by resolution of Congress of the 21st January,
1782.
Promoted to be Major, U. S. A., by brevet, by special resolution of Congress
of the 30th September, 1783.
Honorably retired, 3d November, 1783.
176
Captain Charles, Baron de Frey.
(French Army).
Formerly Sous-Lieutenant in the Legion of Potocki in the service of Po-
land.
Having resigned this commission he came to the United States in Septem-
ber, 1777, to serve in the cause of American Independence, with a recommenda-
tion from Dr. Benjamin Franklin to General Washington, and joined the main
Continental Army as a Volunteer.
At Valley Forge he acted as Aide de Camp to the Marquis de Lafayette,
but was taken prisoner while on a scouting expedition, ist February, 1778, and
exchanged 1st July, 1778.
Appointed Captain Third Battalion Continental Partizan Legion (Count
Casimir Pulaski), 2d February, 1778, and was in the affair at Little Neck, N. J.,
15th October, 1778, and in the following year at the fight before Charleston,
nth May, and at the Siege of Savannah in October, 1779.
On the 4th October, 1779, Congress gave him a leave of absence for eight
months.
Honorably discharged from the U. S. Service at his own request, 28th
November, 1781, and was thenceforward employed in the French military ser-
vice in the East Indies until his return to France in June, 1788.
Captain and Brevet Major Pierre-Charles L'Enfant.
(American Army).
Having received permission from Louis XVI to come to the United States,
to assist in the efforts for American Independence, he was accorded the brevet
of lieutenant in the Colonial Forces, and entered into an agreement with Silas
Deane, U. S. Commissioner in Paris, whereby he was to have the commission
of First Lieutenant U. S. Engineers, with rank from the ist December, 1776.
This agreement was subsequently confirmed by resolutions of Congress of
the loth June, 15th September, and 13th October, 1777.
On the 14th February, 1777, he sailed from L'Orient in the Amphitrite
with Colonel Philip-Charles-Jean-Baptiste Tronson du Coudray, of the French
Artillery, who became Inspector General in the Continental Army with rank
of Major General, and was drowned in the Schuylkill river 15th September,
1777.
His first service was in the main Continental Army and he was then sent
to the Department of the South.
Promoted to be Captain U. S. Engineers, i8th February, 1778.
At the Siege of Savannah, he was wounded in the assault of the 9th Octo-
ber, 1779, and left on the field — but subsequently withdrawn under flag of
truce.
In the defense of Charleston, S. C, he became a prisoner of war at the
capitulation, 12th May, 1780, and was not exchanged until the following year.
He then joined the main Continental Army, and, in 1782 and 1783, was
stationed in Philadelphia.
Promoted to be Major, U. S. A., by brevet, by special resolution of Con-
gress of the 2d May, 1783, and received from Louis XVI. on the 13th June,
1783, a pension of three hundred livres, and was presented for a Captaincy of a
company in the Provincial Forces of France.
177
In October, 1783, he set sail for France in the American packet ship
Washington, charged by President General Washington with copies of the
Institution and communications for Counts d'Estaing, de Rochambeau and de
Grasse and the Marquis de Lafayette, and arrived at Havre on the 8th Decem-
ber, 1783.
In the prior communications relative to this business, which passed between
President General Washington, whose Headquarters were at Rocky Hill, N. J.,
and Major General Henry Knox, Secretary General, who was at West Point,
the latter said, on the i6th October, 1783, that Major L'Enfant's "zeal to serve
the Cincinnati has been conspicuously displayed in the emblems of the bald
eagle, designs of the medals, seals, and of that noble effort of genius, the
diploma."
Honorably retired ist January, 1784.
After his return from France he made his residence principally in Phila-
delphia.
Appointed Temporary Engineer, U. S. A., for duty at Fort Mifflin, in
constructing the defenses, 3d April, 1794.
He subsequently designed the plan of the City of Washington, and was
the architect in the construction of several of the public buildings of the Capitol.
Appointed, by President Madison, in July, 181 2, Professor of Civil and
Military Engineering at the United States Military Academy, West Point, but
declined the same.
He was born in Paris, 2d August, 1754, and died in Prince George's
County, Maryland, 14th June, 1825.
Captain Colomb.*
{American Army). '
Having come to the United States from France to tender his services in the
cause of American Independence, he became, in December, 1776, a Volunteer
in the First Regiment Georgia Continental Infantry (Colonel James Scriven),
but which was then under the immediate command of Lieutenant Colonel
Joseph Habersham.
He served in May, 1777, under Colonel Samuel Elbert in the first expedi-
tion against the British forces in East Florida, and continued with his regiment
until the regiment of Georgia Continental Light Dragoons (Colonel Leonard
Marbury), was authorized to be raised, in which he was appointed a Captain in
February, 1778.
In the unsuccessful defence of Savannah, on the 29th December, 1778,
against the British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell, he
was taken prisoner and paroled and his residence fixed at Sunbury, Ga.
That American post and the garrison were, however, captured by a sep-
arate British force under Colonel (later Major General) Augustine Prevost, on
the 6th January, 1779.
In September, 1779, Major General Prevost granted him an unconditional
parole as to place of residence.
In December following, the Board of War gave him leave to go to France
pending his exchange, which was never effected, and he continued on parole
*In the certification, dated 23rd June, 1788, of the admission of this officer to original
membership, his Christian name was omitted. He is stated to have resided In a "remota
part of France and not earlier apprised of his right to become a member."
178
until discharged therefrom nth April, 1783, by the proclamation of Congress
of the cessation of hostilities and honorably discharged the U. S. Service as of
that date, having long been supernumerary by reason of a re-arrangement of
the Georgia Continental Line, under a resolve of Congress, 8th January and
nth February, 1780.
Meanwhile, in 1782, he was appointed by Louis XV. to be Lieutenant en
Premier Compagnie du Puget d'Orval d'Ouvriers (Artillery Artificers) in
the French Army.
Captain Louis Celeron.
(French Army).
He was a native of Montreal, Canada, and was appointed by Louis XVI,
Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment of Martinique, infantry, 12th July, 1775.
With permission of His Most Christian Majesty, he entered the service
of the United States as a Volunteer, i6th October, 1776, and was appointed
by Congress Lieutenant in the First Regiment, Canadian Continental Infantry
(Colonel James Livingston), i8th December, 1776.
He served first with his regiment in garrison in the Schoharie and Mohawk
Valleys in Tryon County, N. Y., until the invasion of Lieutenant General John
Burgoyne forced Major General Philip Schuyler, then commanding the North-
ern Department, to concentrate his forces on the line of the Upper Hudson.
He formed part of the detachment of twelve hundred under Major General
Benedict Arnold which, on the 21st August, 1777, marched from German
Flats for the relief of Fort Stanwix, then besieged by Brigadier General Barry
St. Leger.
Upon his return, his regiment formed part of Brigadier General Ebenezer
Learned's brigade and participated in the battles of Stillwater, 19th September,
1777, and Saratoga, on the 7th October following, in which last named battle
he received a bayonet wound in the leg while participating in the gallant
storming of the German Redoubt.
Having been taken to the General Hospital in Albany, N. Y., he proceeded,
as soon as convalescent, to his regiment, which meanwhile had marched to join
the main Continental Army in Pennsylvania.
Promoted to be Captain in his regiment, 6th May, 1778, and served with it
at Valley Forge in Brigadier General James M. Varnum's brigade — with which
he participated in the battle of Monmouth and in the march thence to White
Plains, N. Y., where, in July, 1778, his brigade was detached from the main
Continental Army and ordered to Rhode Island.
Served in the Siege of Newport and battle of Rhode Island, and, in
September, 1778, was stationed in Bristol, R. I., and continued on duty in that
State until transferred, in 1779, to the Third Battalion Continental Partizan
Legion (Count Casimir Pulaski), and served with it in the Southern Depart-
ment.
He participated in the gallant attack on the advance of Major General
Augustine Prevost's Army before Charleston, S. C, nth May, 1779.
At the Siege of Savannah he was wounded in the head by a musket ball,
4th October, 1779.
At the Capitulation of Charleston, S. C, by Major General Benjamin
Lincoln to General Sir Henry Clinton, 12th May, 1780, he became a prisoner
of war and was not exchanged until the 26th November, 1782.
179
Specially retained in service by resolution of Congress of the 21st January,
1782.
Honorably retired, ist January, 1783.
Appointed Aide Major at Saint Christopher, loth March, 1783, but re-
linquished that office when the island was restored to the British at the definitive
Peace.
Appointed Aide Major at Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe, 7th February,
1784, and continued in that office until during the year 1791, when he ceased
to serve.
, Captain and Brevet Major Claudius de Bert De Majan.
(American Army).
He came to the United States from France upon the ratification of the
Treaty of Alliance and joined the Continental Army at Valley Forge as a Vol-
unteer, in which capacity he served until appointed, 7th June, 1778, Captain in
the First Battalion Continental Partizan Legion, in which he served under the
Marquis de la Rouerie in many actions and affairs and until honorably retired,
on disbandment of his corps, 25th November, 1783.
Promoted to be Major, U. S. A., by brevet by special resolution of Con-
gress of the 6th February, 1784.
He went to France immediately upon retirement — but returned to the
United States in 1789 and received on the 9th October in that year — to take
back with him, the Diplomas of Membership in the Cincinnati, signed by Presi-
dent General Washington and Secretary General Knox, which belonged to
members of his former Corps residing in France.
Captain and Brevet Major Michel-Gabriel Houdin,
(American Army).
Appointed Lieutenant Fifteenth Regiment Massachusetts Continental In-
fantry (Colonel Timothy Bigelow), ist January, 1777, and served in the
Northern Department at the battles of Stillwater and Saratoga and later in the
main Continental Army at Valley Forge and in the battle of Monmouth and was
then sent to Rhode Island with his regiment in July, 1778.
He participated in the Siege of Newport and battle of Rhode Island, and,
in 1779, rejoined the main Continental Army. ^
Promoted to be Captain in his regiment, 28th June, 1779.
Transferred to the Fifth Regiment, Massachusetts Continental Infantry
(Colonel Rufus Putnam), ist January, 1781.
Transferred to the Second Regiment, Massachusetts Continental Infantry
(Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Ebenezer Sproat), 12th June, 1783.
Honorably retired ist January, 1784.
Promoted to be Major, U. S. A., by brevet, by special resolution of Con-
gress, of the 6th February, 1784, and returned to France.
He subsequently came to the United States with intent to make his per-
manent residence there, and, in 1791, was appointed Captain and Deputy to the
Quartermaster General, U. S. Army, and in 1801 became Military Storekeeper,
U. S. A., which last office he held until his decease at Albany, N. Y., in Feb-
ruary, 1802, while on duty at that station.
i8o
This gallant officer is described in the Military Journal of Surgeon James
Thatcher, M. D., 9th Regiment Massachusetts Continental Infantry, as a
Frenchman of singular manners and character, and of remarkable personal
appearance.
Transferred from the Massachusetts State Society of the Cincinnati, 4th
July, 1785-
Captain Augustin Brissault.
(American Army).
He came to the United States from France and joined the First Battalion
Continental Partizan Legion as a Volunteer in the summer of 1778, and —
according to the certificates of the Marquis de la Rouerie and the Marquis de
Lafayette — served "with much reputation" in the remainder of the operations
of that year. At the close of the campaign, when about to return to France,
Congress, on the 13th January, 1779, appointed him a Lieutenant, U. S. A., by
brevet.
In the following spring he rejoined the Legion and served continuously
with it throughout the war.
Promoted to be Captain in the same, nth March, 1782.
Honorably retired 25th November, 1783.
On the 15th January, 1786, in order probably that he should receive pay
for the time he had served before the 13th January, 1779, Congress resolved
that he should "receive a commission of Lieutenant in Colonel Armand's Corps,
to bear the date of his brevet" as Lieutenant, U. S. A.
Lieutenant and Brevet Captain Louis- Joseph de Beaulieu.
(American Army).
Appointed Second Lieutenant Third Battalion Continental Partizan Legion
(Count Casimir Pulaski), 22d April, 1778, and promoted to First Lieutenant,
1st March, 1779.
Severely wounded and left on the field in the unsuccessful assault at the
Siege of Savannah, 9th October, 1779, and made prisoner of war.
Paroled and permitted by Congress in resolution of the 5th August, 1782,
to go to France and to retire when exchanged.
Released from parole, nth April, 1783.
Promoted to be Captain, U. S. A., by brevet, by special resolution of Con-
gress of the 30th September, 1783.
Honorably retired, 3d November, 1783, and pensioned for wounds.
Lieutenant William Eysandeau.
(American Army).
Having come to the United States to tender his services, he was, while
in Boston, appointed Ensign Fifteenth Regiment Massachusetts Continental
Infantry (Colonel Timothy Bigelow), 1st March, 1777, and served with it at
the battle of Saratoga and capitulation of Lieutenant General John Burgoyne,
and subsequently at Valley Forge and in the battle of Monmouth, Siege of
Newport and battle of Rhode Island.
Promoted to be Lieutenant in his regiment 2d April, 1779, and served in
the campaign of 1780 in New Jersey.
His subsequent service was in the Highlands of the Hudson.
Transferred to the Fifth Regiment Massachusetts Continental Infantry
(Colonel Rufus Putnam), ist January, 1781.
Transferred to the Third Regiment Massachusetts Continental Infantry
(Colonel Michael Jackson), 12th June, 1783.
Honorably retired 1st January, 1784.
Transferred from the Massachusetts State Society of the Cincinnati, 5th
July, 1784.
Lieutenant Pierre Castaing la Grace.
(American Army).
Formerly employed in the Civil Service in one of the Governmental Bu-
reaux of the island of Trinidad and, having become supernumerary in 1776,
came to the United States to tender his services as a Volunteer.
While in Boston, he was appointed, 1st March, 1777, on recommendation
of Colonel Henry Jackson, a Second Lieutenant in the latter's regiment, the
Sixteenth Massachusetts Continental Infantry, and served with it at the Siege
of Newport and battle of Rhode Island.
Promoted to be First Lieutenant in the same, 24th April, 1779, and par-
ticipated in the disastrous Penobscot Expedition.
Appointed Aide de Camp to Major General (then Brigadier General) le
Chevalier Du Portail, Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 17th November, 1779, and
was made prisoner of war at the capitulation of Charleston, S. C, 12th May,
1780, and exchanged in December, 1780.
Transferred to the Ninth Regiment Massachusetts Continental Infantry
(Colonel Henry Jackson), ist January, 1781, on incorporation of his own
regiment, and served in that year at the Siege of Yorktown.
Transferred to the Fifth Regiment Massachusetts Continental Infantry
(Colonel Rufus Putnam), ist January, 1783.
Transferred to the Third Regiment Massachusetts Continental Infantry
(Colonel Michael Jackson), 12th June, 1783.
From the time of his appointment as an Aide de Camp, he continued, ex-
cept while a prisoner of war, to act in that capacity until Major General Du
Portail was honorably retired, loth October, 1783, whereupon he joined the
regiment to which he then belonged in garrison at West Point and accom-
panied it in the following month to the City of New York, where it formed
part of the force under General Washington which took possession of that city
upon its evacuation by the British Army, 25th November, 1783, and then re-
turned to West Point.
Honorably retired, 1st January, 1784.
Commissioned as a regular Clerk in the French Civil Service in the West
Indies, 17th April, 1795.
This was his last public employment.
Transferred from the Massachusetts State Society of the Cincinnati, 5th
July, 1784.
Lieutenant and Brevet Captain Jean-Georges, Chevalier de Fontevieux.
(American Army).
He came to the United States from France and joined the First Battalion
Continental Partizan Legion as a Volunteer in the summer of 1778, and, ac-
cording to the certificate of the Marquis de la Rouerie and the Marquis de
I82
Lafayette, served "with much reputation" in the remainder of the operations of
that year.
At the close of the campaign, when about to return to France, Congress
on the 13th January, 1779, appointed him a Lieutenant, U. S. A., by brevet.
In the following Spring he rejoined the Legion and served continuously
with it throughout the war.
Appointed, by special resolution of Congress, Lieutenant in the same, 9th
March, 1780.
Honorably retired 25th November, 1783.
Promoted to be Captain, U. S. A., by brevet, by special resolution of Con-
gress, 6th February, 1784.
Lieutenant James Descontures de la Hals.
{American Army).
He came to the United States from France and was appointed a Cornet
First Battalion Continental Partizan Legion, under the Marquis de la Rouerie,
30th July, 1779, and served continuously with it throughout the war.
Promoted to be Lieutenant in the Legion ist January, 1781.
Honorably retired 25th November, 1783.
Lieutenant Jean-Thomas Dumouchel. '
{French Army).
On the 1st December, 1775, he embarked at Port-au-Prince, Saint Do-
mingo, on an American merchant vessel, to offer his services to the Continental
Congress of the Thirteen United Colonies, but was taken at sea by the British
frigate, the Hound, and kept a prisoner fifteen days and plundered of his effects.
He was then landed in Jamaica and confined in jail. On release he went
to Port-au-Prince and again embarked for the United States, but was captured
by an English privateer and put on shore on the coast of Saint Domingo.
Having again embarked, he arrived at Charleston, S. C, and immediately
proceeded to Philadelphia, Penn., and entered as a Volunteer in the Fourth Regi-
ment Georgia Continental Infantry (Colonel John White), which was then
stationed in that city and served with it there until appointed Second Lieutenant
Third Regiment Georgia Continental Infantry (Colonel John Stirk), 6th June,
1777.
Served in two expeditions against the Indians, and, in May and June, 1778,
was in the unsuccessful expedition against Florida, under Major General Robert
Howe, in which the troops, unprovided with sufficient camp equipage and ex-
posed to the deadly malaria of the swamps, were soon reduced by sickness and
death to but little more than one-third of their original numbers.
Received a leave of absence in December, 1778, on account of ill health, the
result uf disease contracted in this campaign, and granted permission to go to
Martinique.
On arrival there he found Vice Admiral Count d'Estaing getting ready to
sail against Saint Lucia.
He accordingly embarked as a volunteer with the grenadiers of the regi-
ment of Armagnac, infantry.
For his conspicuous good conduct in the attack, Count d'Estaing offered
him the position of Capitaine en Second in the expeditionary battalion of volun-
teers.
183
Having meanwhile been informed that the State of Georgia had been over-
run and taken possession of by the British Forces, and that the Georgia Con-
tinental Line had been dispersed, he accepted the appointment and served in the
capture of Grenada and Saint Vincent.
Rendered supernumerary by juniority and honorably discharged on reduc-
tion of the Georgia Continental Line, pursuant to the resolves of Congress of
the 8th January and nth February, 1780.
Appointed, by Louis XVI, Sous Lieutenant in the regiment of Martinique,
infantry, 8th December, 1780.
Promoted to be Lieutenant en Second in the same, 3d October, 1786, and to
be Lieutenant en Premier in the same, 5th March, 1789.
Died in Boston, Mass., while on leave of absence, 31st December, 1790.
Lieutenant and Brevet Captain Nicolas-Georges Le Roy.
(American Army).
Appointed Ensign, 2d Regiment, Pennsylvania Continental Infantry (Colo-
nel Walter Stewart), 28th July, 1779, and joined his regiment at West Point.
He served in the main Continental Army at that place and in the following
year in the campaign in New Jersey.
Promoted to be Lieutenant in his regiment 2d January, 1781.
After the discharge of a considerable portion of the Pennsylvania Conti-
nental Line in the same month, he was ordered to York, Penn., where he re-
mained until the 26th May, 1781, when the Pennsylvania Continental Brigade,
to which he was attached, marched, under Brigadier General Anthony Wayne,
for Virginia, and joined the forces under Major General the Marquis de La-
fayette on the loth June, 1781, in Culpepper County.
He participated in the operations against Lord Cornwallis' Army and was
in the action at Jamestown Ford, 6th July, 1781, and Siege of Yorktown, and on
the 5th November marched with his regiment from that place to join Major
General Nathanael Greene in South Carolina, and effected such junction on the
2d January, 1782, a few miles from Jacksonborough in Colleton County, S. C.
Transferred to the First Regiment Pennsylvania Continental Infantry
(Colonel Daniel Brodhead), at James Island, S. C, ist January, 1783, and
continued on duty with it in the Southern Department until the 8th June, 1783,
when he embarked at Charleston, S. C, with a detachment for Philadelphia,
and went on "waiting orders" by reason of juniority, 15th June, 1783.
Honorably retired, 3d November, 1783.
Promoted to be Captain, U. S. A., by brevet, by special resolution of Con-
gress, 6th February, 1784.
Transferred from the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati, Sth
July, 1784.
Cornet Pierre-Benigne-Vitoir Raffaneau.
(American Army).
He came to the United States from France and was appointed a Cornet
First Battalion Continental Partizan Legion, ist December, 1781, after having
served in the campaign then closing as a Volunteer.
He continued with the Legion throughout the war.
Honorably retired, 25th November, 1783.
CHAPTER XIV.
HEREDITARY MEMBERS.
Lieutenant Frederic, Baron de Kalb.
(French Army).
Eldest son of Major General John, Baron de Kalb, U. S. Army, Knight of
the Order of Military Merit, in right of whom he was admitted an hereditary
member, i6th January, 1784.
He was bom in Paris, i8th May, 1765, and was given by Louis XVI, in
recognition of his father's military services, the rank of Sous Lieutenant in his
father's old regiment, the regiment of Anhalt, infantry, 8th February, 1781, but
was not actually appointed a Sous Lieutenant in that regiment until the 21st
March, 1783.
This regiment after the last named year was designated as the regiment of
Salm-Salm.
Promoted to be Lieutenant in the same, ist April, 1791.
Emigrated on the 27th July, 1792, but, having returned to France, was ap-
prehended and guillotined at Paris, by order of the Revolutionary Tribunal, 12th
November, 1793.
He was the only hereditary member formally received as such in France for
the reason noted opposite his name on the Roll transmitted by the Marquis de
Lafayette, 23d June, 1788, viz. : that he "ivas admitted in the Society before the
alterations about heredity were known in France."
This referred to the "Amended and Altered Institution" in which the
principle of hereditary succession was omitted and which had been proposed by
the General Society in May, 1784, but which subsequently failed to be ratified.
Lieutenant Frederic, Baron de Kalb,* left no descendants and consequently
his right of membership descended through his next younger and only brother,
Elie, Baron de Kalb, who was born at Paris, 9th March, 1769, and died at his
estate of Milon la Chapelle near Chevreuse, in the Department of the Seine et
Oise, 7th September, 1835, leaving only a daughter Leonore, who was married to
Raymond de Vaudiere, Vicomte d'Alzac.
At the breaking out of the French Revolution, Elie de Kalb was an ofiScer in
the regiment Royal Deux-Ponts, infantry, and emigrated and served under the'
Prince de Conde until the disbandment of the Royalist Corps.
•In consequence of unavoidable delays in the official announcements of the admissions
In France, and in the preparation of diplomas of membership and their signature by Presi-
dent General Washington and Secretary General Knox, and transmission through the French
Minister of War, Lieutenant de Kalb did not receive his diploma until a long time after
his admission.
The following is his official acknowledgement to President General Washington, writ-
ten by him in English:
"General:
"I have just received the honor of the Order of the Cincinnatus, which Is conferred on
those who have distinguished themselves in the service of America.
"You honor me with it as heir of an unfortunate and respectable parent.
"I return you my warmest acknowledgments for it and wish the distance of your
country did not prevent me from paying my respects to you personally.
"I am,
"Tour humble and obedient servant,
"PEfiDfiRIC DE KALB.
"Alsace. 3rd March, 1787."
185
Later he entered the Austrian service, in the Tyrolese rifles and subsequently
became successively an Ensign and Lieutenant in the Austrian infantry regiment
of Erbach.
He resigned in 1802 and returned to France upon the proclamation of
amnesty and resided thenceforward quietly on his property of Milon la Chapelle,
which was restored to him.*
Major General John, Baron de Kalb, the father of Frederic and Elie, was
born in Hiittendorf, Bavaria, 29th June, 1721, and entered the French service in
the regiment of Loewendal, infantry, as a Lieutenant, at the end of the year 1743.
He became Captain and Aide Major in 1747, and Major of his regiment in
1756.
In March, 1760, his regiment was incorporated with and became the 1st
Battalion of the regiment of Anhalt (afterward known as Salm-Salm), infantry,
in which he became a Captain.
In May, 1760, he was appointed Aide Marechal general des Logis under M.
le Marechal Due de Broglie in the Army of the Upper Rhine, and, on the 19th
May, 1761, was promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel and actively served during
the wars in Flanders and Germany.
At the peace he went on the half pay list with a promise from M. de
Choiseul of an appointment in one of the German regiments in French service.
On the 20th April, 1767, he was employed to inspect the coasts of Calais and
Flanders, and, on the 19th August, 1767, was sent to the American Colonies, on
a secret tour of inspection, to ascertain their political sentiments and returned
at the close of 1768.
He received leave of absence from Louis XVI to enable him to enter the
American service, 4th November, 1776, and two days later was promoted to
the local rank of Brigadier General in the Colonies.
He came to the United States with the Marquis de Lafayette, under an
arrangement with Silas Deane, United States Commissioner in Paris, of the
7th November, 1776, for the rank of Major General, U. S. A., which was con-
firmed by Congress, 15th September and 4th October, 1777.
In the French Army he was promoted by Louis XVI to be a Brigadier
General of infantry, ist March, 1780.
He served in the main Continental Army at Brandywine, Germantown,
Valley Forge and Monmouth until sent to the Southern Department, in 1780.
He was mortally wounded while in command of the right wing, composed
of the regular Continental Lines of Maryland and Delaware, infantry, in the
army under Major General Horatio Gates, at the battle of Camden, S. C, i6th
August, 1780, and died, a prisoner of war, 19th August, 1780.
Among his last requests, communicated to his Aide de Camp, Lieutenant
Colonel M. le Vicomte de Dubuysson, was one that his sons should bear com-
missions in the United States service in the Pennsylvania Continental Line, with-
out pay or emoluments of command unless in case of actual service.
The Supreme Executive Council of the State of Pennsylvania accordingly,
on the loth September, 1781, "out of respect to the memory of that brave ofificer,"
requested the United States Board of War to issue a commission as Ensign to
each of his two sons.
Their youth, and the great reduction which had taken place from various
causes in the rank and file of the Pennsylvania Line, whereby a number of vet-
•On the 6th February, 1816, from Paris, he wrote to President General Charles Cotes-
worth Pinckney, stating that his papers had been destroyed in the French Revolution and
requesting a certificate showing his right to the "honorable distinction" of the Cincinnati.
eran officers had become supernumerary, delayed compliance with this request,
and the negotiations for peace, which took place in the following year, finally
prevented any new appointments as Pennsylvania's quota on the Continental
establishment was not completed.
On the 14th October, 1780, Congress resolved that a monument should be
erected to the memory of Major General Baron de Kalb. Nothing, however,
was done toward carrying out this resolve until Congress, by Act of the 19th
February, 1883, appropriated ten thousand dollars for the purpose, and the
monument was erected at Annapolis, and dedicated with appropriate ceremonies
in August, 1886.
Colonel Jean-Frederic de Chabannes, Marquis de La Palisse.>f<
Knight Commander of the Legion of Honor.
{Vide: Honorary List from which transferred.)
Marechal de Camp Charles-Gabriel Du Houx, Baron de ViomeniL»J<
He was the only son of Lieutenant General the Baron de Viomenil, Knight
Grand Cross of St. Louis, an original member of the French State Society of the
Cincinnati, and was born at Nancy, 26th February, 1767.
He entered service on the 1st September, 1779, as a Sous Lieutenant and
was attached to the 3d Regiment Chasseurs a Cheval, and, in the following year,
came to Rhode Island in the quality of Aide de Camp to his father and served
in all the campaigns of the Auxiliary Army.
Promoted to be Captain of Hussars in 1786, he emigrated in 1792 and
joined the army of the Prince de Conde and made the campaigns of 1792 and
1793 as Aide de Camp to his uncle, the Marquis de Viomenil, who commanded
the advance guard of that army.
He was promoted by the Princes, brothers of Louis XVI, at the close of
1792, to be a Colonel of dragoons.
He made the campaigns of 1794 and 1795 as Aide Major to the regiment
of Viomenil and then served during a campaign in Italy on the staff of Lieu-
tenant General M. le Prince de Rohan.
He afterward passed into the service of Portugal as a Colonel of Cavalry,
having promise of a legion.
The French having conquered Portugal, he was confirmed in his grade by
Buonaparte and made the campaigns in Spain.
At the restoration he was promoted by Louis XVIII, on the i8th Novem-
ber, 1814, to be ]\Iarechal de Camp and appointed Commandant of the Depart-
ment of la Drome.*
•On the 1st February, 1S15, he wrote to Major General, the Honorable Charles Cotes-
worth Pinckney, from Paris, as follows:
■•To the President of the Order of the Cincinnati.
"Sir:
"The Revolution having caused me to lose my father and all his diplomas, I axa
obliged to allude to the promise, which was made to me by General Washington, of the
Insignia of the Order of which you are the chief.
"1 am the son of the Baron de Viomenil, who commanded the French Army in the
United States, and I was with him in the capacity of his aide-de-camp.
"I have the honor to request that you kindly send me to the care of the American
Charge d' Affaires in Paris the certificate to wear the insignia, which right has already
been accorded me, but I desire to have a diploma signed by you.
"I have the honor to be with the most profound respect, sir,
"Tour very humble and obedient servant,
" VIOMENIL,
"Marfiohal de Camp."
i87
Rear Admiral Hyacinthe-Yves-Philippe-Potentien, Baron de Bougainville.>J<
Knight Commander of the Legion of Honor.
He was the eldest son of Vice Admiral Louis- Antoine, Count de Bougain-
ville,>i< Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, an original member of the French
State Society of the Cincinnati, and was born at Brest, 26th December, 1781.
Entering the French Navy in the beginning of the nineteenth century, he
became a Lieutenant de Vaisseau in January, 1809.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Fregate, 3d July, 181 1, and to be Capitaine
de Vaisseau, 22d August, 1821, and to be Rear Admiral, ist May, 1838.
In 1844, 5 and 6 he was a member of the Council of the Admiralty and
President of the Board of Works, and died in Paris, 21st October, 1846.
He assumed the Order as an hereditary member in consequence of the
communication (heretofore noted under his father's record), dated 23d May,
1820, of Secretary General, Major, the Hon. William Jackson to the Minister
Plenipotentiary of France in the United States, which was confirmed by Louis
XVIII.
Rear Admiral Andre- Jules-Francois, Baron de Martinencq de Gineste,
Knight Commander of St. Louis,
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor.
He was the eldest son of Brigadier Martinencq de Gineste>}< of the French
Navy, an original member of the French State Society of the Cincinnati, and
was born at Toulon, 29th November, 1776.
Appointed an fileve de la Marine 3d Class in 1788, he was promoted to
the 2d Class in 1790, and became an Enseigne de Vaisseau in 1794, Lieutenant
of the same in 1796, and Capitaine de Fregate in 1797.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau, 17th September, 1802, and to be
Rear Admiral, 4th August, 1824.
Assigned to be Major General de la Marine at Toulon, 12th August, 1834,
he exercised this office until placed on the reserve list, 31st October, 1841.
He died at Versailles, 15th February, i860.
By a decision of Louis XVHI, dated 26th January, 1822, he was author-
ized to wear the Order of the Cincinnati as an hereditary member.*
He was a nephew of Admiral of France Laurent-Jean-Francois, Comte
Truguet, Knight Grand Cross of Saint Louis and Knight Grand Cross of the
Legion of Honor and Peer of France, who became an Enseigne de Vaisseau
•During the reigns of Louis XVIII, Charles X and Louis Phiiippe, the proper de-
scendants of several other original members of the French State Society of the Cincinnati
appear to have assumed the Order as herditarily entitled so to do under special decisions
of those Sovereigns respectively.
As that State Society was dispersed by the French Revolution, no record has been
preserved of these particular instances, except in family archives. If, however, the de-
scendant was in the public service, the official register would, presumably. Indicate such
fact. It has not been practicable within the scope of this publication to make the extensive
Inquiries necessary to ascertain who thus assumed the Order.
The presentation hereafter of claims for hereditary membership by aescendants of
former French members will, undoubtedly, disclose many of the decisions herein re-
ferred to.
It is known that, from the Restoration of the 30th May, 1814, to the Revolution of
the 24th of February, 1848, when Louis Philippe unavailingly abdicated in favor of his grand-
son, the Count de Paris, and a Republic was formed, men of the first rank and Influence,
descendants of original members, appeared at Court wearing the Bald Eagle as a recog-
nized and honorable distinction, and even under the Second Empire a few such appeared
at the earlier Imperial Levees, although they belonged to a class which never, except In
occasional Instances, favored the Buonaparte ascendancy, and conseauently received no
encouragement to reinstate their State Society.
in 1773 and served under Count d'Estaing in Rhode Island in 1778 and in the
expeditions against Saint Lucie, Saint Vincent and Grenada, and was pro-
moted in March, 1779, to be Lieutenant de Vaisseau. Comte Truguet also
served at the siege of Savannah, where he performed the functions of Major
to the naval force which assisted at the batteries, and was wounded twice. For
this service Comte Truguet received, as a special distinction, the Cross of Saint
Louis, in February, 1780, and later served on I'Auguste, 80, under Count de
Grasse in the action ofif the Chesapeake, 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown,
and in the action off Dominica of the 12th April, 1782, and then under the
Marquis de Vaudreuil on the coast of New England.
As, however, Comte Truguet neither commanded a vessel during this
service in the American War nor attained the rank of Capitaine de Vaisseau for
the same, he did not become eligible for original membership in the Cincinnati.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Francois-Elzear, Marquis de Ponteves-Gien.^
Knight of St. John of Jerusalem.
He was the eldest son of Brigadier Jean-Baptiste-Elzear, Marquis de
Ponteves-Gien* of the French Navy, an original member of the French State
Society of the Cincinnati and was born at Toulon in the Department of Var,
20th February, 1764.
Entering the French Navy as a Garde de la Marine in 1779, he became an
Enseigne de Vaisseau in 1786 and a Lieutenant de Vaisseau in 1789.
In the latter capacity, and as Aide Major de I'Escadre, he served on the
flagship rillustre, 74, of his uncle. Brigadier Henri-Jean-Baptiste, Vicomte de
Ponteves-Gien, and came with the squadron to Boston Harbor, 3d September,
1789.
Here he was presented to President General Washington and met the
members of the Massachusetts State Society of the Cincinnati.
During the French Revolution he was forced to emigrate.
At the Restoration he was promoted by Louis XVIII to be a Capitaine de
Vaisseau, 31st December, 1814, and stationed at Toulon.
He continued on duty at that port until honorably retired under the
Ordinance of the 22d October, 1817, and died at Toulon, i8th June, 1848.
On the I2th July, 1822, he addressed Major, the Honorable William
Jackson, Secretary General, from Toulon, transmitting all necessary official
proofs to substantiate his claim to hereditary succession to his father and
desiring to know what, if anything, would be necessary before assuming the
prerogative and decoration of the Cincinnati.
He assumed the Order as an hereditary member in consequence of the
reply of the Secretary-General, dated Philadelphia, 4th September, i822.t
•Brigadier M. le Marquis de PontevSs-Gien died in Toulon, 17th July, 1790, aged 54
years. His brother. Brigadier M. le Vicomte de Ponteves-Gien. died on board his flagship,
rillustre, 74. at Fort Royal, Martinique, in the same year, without issue.
+In a previous communication to Major General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Presi-
dent General, dated Paris, 17th September, 1S16, in which he requested duplicates of the
diplomas of his father and uncle as members of the Cincinnati in consequence of the orig-
inals having been lost during the disturbances of the French Revolution, he went on to say,
as follows:
•'*»*• There is one thing that would flatter me extremely, and that is if I
could obtain the same honor as extended to my father and my uncle and become a member
of the Society of the Cincinnati.
"I was with my uncle on his ship, I'lUustre, at Boston in 1789, and had the honor
of being presented to General Washington, then the President of the United States, and
he gave me the assurance of eventual membership in the Society of the Cincinnati as the
1 89
The last surviving Original member of the French State Society of the
Cincinnati, was Marechal de Camp Theodore, Comte de Lameth.
He was born in Paris on the 24th June, 1756, and died in the Chateau of
Busagny near Pontoise, France, on the anniversary of Yorktown, 19th October,
1854.
He was the elder brother of Lieutenant General Charles-Malo-Francois,
Comte de Lameth, and of Lieutenant General Alexandre-Theodore-Victor,
Comte de Lameth, each of whom were also original members of the Order.
The last surviving Honorary member was Lieutenant General Guillaume-
Mathieu, Comte Dumas, who was born in Montpellier in the Department of
I'Herault, France, 23d, December, 1753, and died in Paris, i6th October, 1837.
The last surviving Hereditary member appears to have been Rear Admiral
Andre-Jules-Francois, Baron de Martinencq de Gineste, who died at Versailles,
15th February, i860.
ton and nephew of two memberi of that Order. Soon afterwards we sailed for the Wind-
ward Islands.
"Then came the troubles of the Revolution, which prevented my asking the honor.
"Although they are now over, it is fair to say that they kept me very busy while they
were occurring.
"To-day peace and tranaullity are the condition of France in consequence of the
return of our legitimate sovereign and his illustrious family, and I have the honor to request
you to send me my diploma as something which will honor me in the highest. • • • •"
There is no record of any reply to this communication from- President General C. C.
Plnckney, although presumably one was sent, as proofs, duly authenticated, were subse-
quently submitted by this officer, showing his descent and status.
Note: In a communication dated Paris, 8th June, 1789, the Count d'Estalng, Presi-
dent of the Society of the Cincinnati in France, earnestly requested that diplomas of mem-
bership might be issued in the names of certain French Land and Naval officers who had
served with special distinction in America and had been killed in action or had died during
the war or subsequently, as such diplomas would be specially valued as "titles of honor"
by the families of such deceased officers. In another communication, in the same year,
he said their families would "receive this favor with the most lively gratitude.'"
Accordingly, on the 13th October, 1789, diplomas duly authenticated by President
General Washington and Secretary General Knox were transmitted to Count d'Estalng,
through the Count de Moustier, Minister Plenipotentiary of France in the United States.
This list comprised the name of Lieutenant General Jean- Joseph de Rafelis, Count de
Proves, Knight Commander of St. Louis, who had been Chef d'Escadre under Count
d'Estalng in Rhode Island and at Boston in 1778, and at Savannah in 1779, and who had died
the 12th November, 1782.
Also the name of Brigadier the Chevalier de Brach, ^ who, as capitaine de vaisseau,
had commanded le Magniflque, 74, under Count d'Estalng at Savannah, and had died at
Cadiz 24th October, 17S0.
Also the name of capitaine de vaisseau, the Chevalier De Clavieres,^ who had com-
manded I'Hector. 74, under Count d'Estalng in Rhode Island and at Boston, in 1778 and at
Savannah in 1779.
Also the name of capitaine de vaisseau De Saint-Cgsaire,»J« who had commanded la
Chimere, 26, in Count d'Estaing's fleet in 1778, and took the Sieur Conrad-Alexandre Glrard,
Minister Plenipotentiary of France to Philadelphia, via Delaware Bay, when Count d'Es-
talng arrived off New York Harbor, and later in the same year had been in Rhode Island
and at Boston and in the following year at Savannah.
This officer subsequently became capitaine de Pavilion of Count de Grasse's flagship,
la Vine de Paris, 104, in the action of the 5th September, 17S1. off the Chesapeake and at
Yorktown, and in the following year commanded le Northumberland, 74, in the action of
the 12th April, 1782, off Dominica, with Lord Rodney, in which he was mortally wounded.
Count d'Estaings' list of deceased officers also comprised the name of Brigadier Des
Michels de Champorcin,,^ who, as capitaine de vaisseau. had commanded la Provence, 64,
under him In Rhode Island and at Bo.ston in 1778, and had been promoted to Brigadier of
the French Naval Forces 1st July, 1778, and had then commanded le Fantasque, 64, in the
naval action off Grenada, 6th July, 1779, in which he was killed.
Also the name of capitaine de vaisseau Bernard de Marigny,»J< who had commanded
la Fortunfe, S8, under Count d'Estalng at Savannah, but was captured by Rear Admiral
Rowley's squadron in the West Indies. 20th December, 1779.
Having been exchanged, he had commanded le Refl^chi, 74, under Count de Grasse
In the action of the 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown, and in the following year had
I90
commanded le C^sar, 74, in the action of the 12th April, 1782, off Dominica, In which he
was mortally wounded.
Count d'Estaing-'s list of deceased ofBcers also comprised the name of capitaine de
vaisseau Comte de Trolong du Rumain.^ who, while lieutenant de vaisseau under Count
d'Estaing-, carried la Truite, 26, armed en flute, and la Bricole, 36, up the Savannah river
and directly under the fortifications of the town of Savannah during: the siege, and later
commanded the Corvette le Lively, 20, in Charleston Harbor. S. C, on the 9th November,
1779, and subsequently, as capitaine de vaisseau, commanded la Nymphe, 32, in combat
with the British frigate Plora. 44, near the island of Ushant, 10th August, 1780. in which
he was killed by a musket ball.
These were all the deceased naval ofBcers mentioned.
The names, however, of several deceased French Army officers were also given in the
list, and included that of Lieutenant Colonel Comte de Pont de Vaux,«J« of the regiment
of Auxerrois, infantry, who served in Rhode Island in 1778 and was distinguished in the
capture of Grenada in July, 1779, and died at Martinique, 16th February, 1780.
Before his decease was known in France, Louis XVI, on the 1st March, 1780, promoted
him to the grade of Brigadier General of Infantry.
He was a nephew of M. le Comte Charles-Gravier de Vergennes, then Premier and
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
The next name mentioned was that of Major Thomas, Comte de Brown,»J« of the
regiment of Dillon, Infantry, who had attained that rank the 30th January, 1778, and also
held the commission of Colonel in the Army, and was killed, while commanding his regi-
ment, in the assault at Savannah, 9th October, 1779.
The last remaining name mentioned was that of Lieutenant Augustin-Jean-Jacques de
Sanc5,.|. of the artillery regiment d'Auxonne, commandant of artillery under Count
d'Estaing, who was also killed in the siege of Savannah, 25th September, 1779.
Probably the families of only these particular officers were known to Count d'Estaing.
because there were a number of distinguished naval officers of France who had been killed
or had died during the American War of Independence, who, had they lived, would have
been entitled to original membership in the Cincinnati.
Among these were Chef d'Escadre Charles-Louis d'Arsac Chevalier de Ternay, Knight
of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, who died at Newport, R. I., 15th December, 1780,
while commanding the French Squadron on that station, and was buried with appropriate
funeral ceremonies in Trinity Church yard in that city.
Also capitaine de vaisseau M. de la Vicomtfi, who served in the same squadron as
capitaine en second on le Neptune, 74, and was in M. des Touche's naval action of the 16th
March. 1781, and at Torktown, and was killed in Count de Grasse's action off Dominica,
12th April, 1782.
Also capitaine de vaisseau M. le Brun de Boades.»J« who was killed on le R6fl6chl, 74,
In Count de Grasse's action oft the Chesapeake, 5th September, 1781.
Also lieutenant de vaisseau M. le Vicomte Montguyot de Cambronne,«J« who com-
manded I'Amazone, 36, in combat with the British frigate Marguerite, 44, off Cape Henry,
and was killed 2Sth July. 1782. and his ship captured but retaken the following day by the
Marquis de Vaudreuil's fleet.
Also lieutenant de vaisseau M. le Chevalier de I'Eplne,^ who served on I'Amaaone
In the same combat,, and, before capture, succeeded to the command upon the death of his
commanding officer, and was mortally wounded.
After recapture by the Marquis de Vaudreuil's fleet, he was taken to Boston, Mass.,
where he died of his wounds 31st October, 1782. This officer had entered the French Navy
In 1771 as a Garde de la Marine and was promoted to be an enseigne de vaisseau In 1777
and to be sous-aide-major de la marine in 1779. In 1782 he was promoted to be lieutenant
de vaisseau and Aide-Major de la Marine.
During the War of American Independence a large number of persons served either
under Counts d'Estaing or de Rochambeau. In subordinate capacities, which prevented
their admission to the Cincinnati, but who subsequently attained high rank.
Among these may be mentioned M. le Marfichal Jean-Baptiste Comte Jourdan.i^
Knight of the Holy Ghost, Knight Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, Knight of Saint
Hubert of Bavaria and Peer of France, who enlisted as a private soldier on the 2nd April,
1778, and was assigned to the regiment of Auxerrois. infantry, 10th December of the same
year, and served with the detachment of the same at the siege of Savannah in 1779.
Also Lieutenant General M. le Chevalier Ennemond Bonnard, who served as a ser-
geant in the Royal Artillery regiment of Auxonne, under Count de Rochambeau, in Rhode
Island and at Torktown.
Ateo General of Division Claude, Baron Dallemagne, who served as a volunteer at
the siege of Savannah.
Also Lieutenant General M. le Chevalier Jacob-Job Elie, Knight of the Legion of Honor,
who served in the same siege as a sergeant.
Also Mar#chal de Camp Joseoh-Bernard-Modeste Anselme de la Gardette,^ who
served as a capitaine commandant in the regiment of Soissonnois, infantry, from 11th May.
1769. and was under Count de Rochambeau in Rhode Island and at Torktown.
Also Henri Christophe. who served as a sergeant in the Legion of Mulattoes and Free
Negroes, commanded by the Viscount de Fontanges at siege of Savannah, Ga., in 1779, where
he was wounded, and who subsequently became General in Chief in Hayti, and then Presi-
dent for life and finally King of Haytl.
In this Legion there were several commissioned officers who also served at the siege
of Savannah, and subsequently became general officers under the National Republican Con-
vention of France, viz: Andr# Rigaud, Baron Beauvais, Beauregard, I^ambert, and EugSne
Villatte, Comte d'Outremont, who became a general of division (Lt. Genl) 25th February,
1806, and later a Knight Commander of St. Louis and Knight Grand Cross of the Legion of
Honor.
The Order was valued so highly as an honorable distinction that occasional instances
are found where distinguished officers assumed and wore it without recorded authorization
so to do.
Among these may be mentioned Mar^chal de Camp Pierre-Francois Verger, Baron des
Barreaux,!^ Knight of the Legion of Honor, who had served as a lieutenant in the Volun-
teer Chasseurs, under Count d'Estaing, at the siege of Savannah, and was promoted to a
captaincy in the same, 25th December, 1781.
Another was Vice Admiral le Marquis de Sercey, Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis
and Knight Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, who served as Lieutenant de Vaisseau on
the cutter le Serpent, 14, in Lieutenant General Count de Grasse's fleet and was In the
action of 25th September, 17S0, and in 1781 commanded the cutter la Levrette, 14.
Another was Vice Admiral Comte Maurice-Julien EmSriau,!^ Knight Grand Cross
of the Legion of Honor, and Knight Grand Cross of the Order de la Reunion, and Peer of
Prance, who ser\'ed as a Garde de la Marine in Lieutenant General Count d'Orvillier's
action off LTshant, 27th July, 1778, and afterward joined Count d'Estaing in the West
Indies in le Diad&me, 74, and participated in the assault at Grenada, 4th July, 1779, and
naval action of two days later.
During the siege of Savannah he was employed in the batteries, and In the assault
was seriously wounded. For his services on this occasion Count d'Estaing provisionally
appointed him a lieutenant de frfigate, although he was then but seventeen years of age.
In November. 1781, he embarked at Brest on le Triomphant, SO, the flagship of the
Marquis de Vaudreuil, and was in Count de Grasse's action off Dominica, 12th April, 1782,
and later in that year served on the New England coast and in Boston Harbor.
Promoted to be sous-lieutenant de vaisseau in 17S6, lieutenant of the same in 1792,
chef de division in January. 1797, and Rear Admiral in 1802, he became Vice Admiral in 1811
and was appointed in April, 1S13. Inspector General of the Coasts and honorably retired
in July. 1816. He was born at Carhaix, France, 20th October, 1762, and died at Toulon, 2nd
February, 1845.
CHAPTER XV.
HONORARY MEMBERS.
(FRENCH ARMY.*)
Vice Connetable et Marechal de France Louis-Alexandre Berthier,
Prince et Due de Neufchatel et Prince de Wagram.
Knight Commander of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Knight Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor,
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Hesse,
Knight Grand Cross of St. Stephen of Hungary,
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit of Maximilien-Joseph of Bavaria,
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Fidelity of Baden,
Knight Grand Cross of the Hesse Darmstadt Order of Merit,
Knight Grand Cross of St. Joseph of Tuscany,
Knight of the Black Eagle of Prussia,
Knight of Saint Andrew of Russia,
Knight of the Golden Eagle of Wurtemburg,
Knight of the Rue Crown of Saxony.
Peer of France.
•These officers of the French Army served during the War of American Independence
with distinction, but as they could not be received as "Original" members under the limita-
tions of the Institution, they were admitted, at their particular solicitations, and with con-
sent of Louis XVI, for their own lives only and not with any heritable succession.
The services, upon which their applications were based, were performed either:
1st: In actual service in the United States, as commissioned officers in the French
Armies under Counts d'Estaing or de Rochambeau, where they did not have the rank of
Colonel nor attain it as a reward therefor, or,
2nd: In actual service in the United States, under commissions from Congress, where
192
He originally entered service as Ingenieur-Geographe in the Corps Royal
des Ingenieurs Geographes, 1st January, 1766, and was promoted to be Lieuten-
ant, nth March, 1770.
Appointed Captain of Dragoons, 2d January, 1777.
Attached, for duty, to the regiment of Soissonnois, infantry, in the Aux-
iliary Army, 26th April, 1780, and came with it to Rhode Island and acted as
Sous Aide-Marechal General des Logis.
He served continuously with the Auxiliary Army through all its cam-
paigns in the United States until its final departure, and for his conduct at the
Siege of Yorktown received a gratuity and an assurance from Louis XVI, con-
veyed by the Minister of War, the Marquis de Segur, on the 5th December,
1 78 1, that he should be retained on the staff.
His subsequent promotions and appointments were as follows :
Appointed Aide Marechal General des Logis in the Army, 2d December,
1787.
Given the rank of Major in the same, ist July 1788, and the rank of Lieu-
tenant Colonel, nth July, 1789.
Promoted to be Adjutant General with the rank of Colonel, ist April, 1791.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp 22d May, 1792, and to be General of
Division 13th June, 1795.
Appointed Chief of Staff of the Army of Italy, 2d March, 1795.
Appointed General in Chief of the Army of Italy, 9th December, 1797, and
Chief of Staff of the Army of England, 8th March, 1798.
Appointed Minister of War loth November, 1799, which office he held
until appointed General in Chief of the Army of Reserve, 2d April, 1800.
Granted leave to go to Spain, nth August, 1800.
Re-appointed Minister of War, 8th October, 1800, and entered on the
functions of the same, 30th October, 1800, and held the office, in connection
with other military employments, until the 9th August, 1807.
Promoted to be Marechal de I'Empire, 19th May, 1804.
Appointed Vice Constable of France, 9th August, 1807.
Appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Grand Army early in 1814.
Upon the Restoration he gave his adhesion to Louis XVIII, and was ap-
pointed Captain of the Fifth Company of the Gardes-du-Corps du Roi, to
which his name was given, ist June, 1814.
He remained loyal to the Bourbon dynasty during the "Hundred Days,"
and having retired to Bamberg, Bavaria, was killed there, 1st June, 1815.
Author of an autobiography entitled "Memoires d'A. Berthier," published
posthumously.
General in Chief Francois-Claude-Amour de Bouille du Chariol, Marquis de
Bouille.>J<
Knight of the Holy Ghost
Formerly Colonel of the regiment of Vexin, infantry, and promoted to be
Brigadier General of Infantry, 3d January, 1770.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 27th October, 1778.
they were honorably discharged, at their own reauest, before compleUng the qualifying
three years' ser\'ice in the United States Army, and did not complete that period in the
AvLxiliary Army, or,
3rd: In important independent and co-operating commands in the West Indies.
193
Appointed Governor of Guadeloupe in 1768 and Governor of Martinique
and Commandant General of the French Windward Islands in 1777.
He captured Dominica from the British, 7th September, 1778, and Tohago,
2d June, 1781, and Saint Eustatia, 26th November, 1781, Saint Christopher,
I2th February, 1782, and also the islands of Nevis and Montserrat.
Promoted, for these services, to be Lieutenant General, 19th April, 1782,
and appointed Governor General of Saint Domingo and Commander in Chief
of His Most Christian Majesty's Land Forces in the West Indies.
Member of the Assembly of Notables convoked at Versailles, 22d Febru-
ary, 1787.
Appointed Governor of Douae, and, in July, 1790, General in Chief of the
Army of the Meuse, Sarre and Moselle.
On the 31st August, 1790, he put down the insurrection at Nancy, for
which service Louis XVI wrote to him, saying, among other things :
"Vous avez acquis des droits eternels a mon estime et a mon amitie."
The King, at the same time, offered him the baton of Marechal de France,
which he declined lest the promotion might be attributed to personal interest
rather than in recompense for services to France.
He took the oath to support the Constitution of 14th July, 1790, and was
in favor of Constitutional Monarchy, but looked with disfavor on the efforts of
the Jacobinical faction in Paris to control and render powerless the Constitu-
tional authority of the King.
He was accordingly concerned in the efforts in June, 1791, to release the
King — and had so disposed his forces as to give every promise of success.
The arrest, however, of Louis XVI at Varennes, on the 21st of that month,
and failure of the attempt, compelled him to emigrate, and he died in London,
14th November, 1800.
Author of, "Memoires sur la revolution francaise depuis son origine jus-
qu' a la retraite du due de Brunswick," published in 1798.
General of Infantry Louis-Alexandre-Andrault-Langeron, Count de
Langeron.»J<
(Russian Army.) ■' '
Knight of Saint John of Jerusalem,
Knight of Saint Andrew (in diamonds), and
Knight of Saint Alexander Newski (in diamonds), and
Knight Grand Cross of Saint Vladimir, and
Knight of Saint Anne, ist class, and
Knight Grand Cross of Saint George, 2d class, of Russia.
Knight of the Black Eagle, and
Knight of the Red Eagle, of Prussia,
Knight of the Sword, of Sweden,
Knight of the Order of Maria-Theresa, 3d class, of Austria.
In 1779 he entered the Gardes Francaises as an Enseigne sumumeraire,
under Colonel M. le Marechal Due de Biron, and was appointed, in 1780, Sous
Lieutenant supernumerary in the regiment of Limosin, infantry, under his uncle,
Mestre de Camp Commandant, M. le Comte de Damas de Cruz, in the Corps
d'armee under his cousin. Lieutenant General M. le Marquis de Langeron,
destined for a descent on England.
When this project was abandoned, he was, in 1781, on his own application,
transferred as Sous-Lieutenant to the regiment of Bourbonnois, infantry, then
194
serving with the Auxiliary Army in the United States in order that he might
assist in the cause of American Independence.
He accordingly embarked at Brest on the 19th May, 1782, in the frigate
I'Aigle and was in the combat of that vessel and the frigate la Gloire with the
Hector, 74, on the 4th September, 1782.
On arriving in Philadelphia he proceeded at once to join his regiment and
served with it until its departure from the United States.
In July, 1783, he was appointed Captain in the regiment of Conde, dra-
goons, and promoted, in 1786, to be Mestre de Camp en Second of the regiment
of Medoc, infantry, and transferred, in 1788, to be Mestre de Camp supernu-
merary of the regiment of Armagnac, infantry.
Through the Prince of Nassau-Siegen, he obtained His Most Christian
Majesty's permission to serve in the Russian Army, and was received into the
Russian service as Colonel of the Siberian Grenadier regiment by a special
ukase dated 7th May, 1790, and arrived at St. Petersburg, 19th May, 1790.
He was employed in command of the Second Division of the flotilla of gun-
boats in the Baltic in the operations against Sweden, and was in the combat in
the Strait of Biorck, and combat of Rogel and naval actions of Rotchensalm
and Korgessaria.
After the Peace with Sweden, in August, 1790, he obtained service against
the Turks in the Army commanded by Prince Potemkin in Bessarabia, and
was attached to the flotilla under Admiral Ribas which blockaded Ismail.
Having been temporarily attached to the First battalion of the Chasseurs of
Livonia, he was with it in the successful storming of Ismail, 21st December,
1790, by Marshal Suwarow, in which he was wounded.
For these services he received a gold hilted sword with the inscription,
"for valor," from Catharine II.
In May, 1791, he served in Moldavia under the orders of Prince Repnin,
as Colonel attached to the regiment of Moscow grenadiers, and in June was
in the battle of Matchin, for which he received a "gracious rescript" from
Catharine II.
In the same month he went to Mons (Hainault), with permission of the
Russian Government, and obtained service as a Volunteer in the Corps d'armee
under the Prince of Saxe-Teschen.
In September, 1791, he joined the corps of Emigres under the orders of
the Princes, brothers of Louis XVI, which subsequently served with the Prus-
sians under the Duke of Brunswick in Lorraine and Champagne, and was in
the affair of Grisuelle, combats of Verdun and Scy and Siege of Thionville.
He made the campaigns of 1793-4 against the French Revolutionary forces,
and was in the battles of Maubeuge, Landrecies, Lannoy, Turcoing, Tournay,
Charleroy and Fleurus ; combats of Cesar, Gififeldt, LefTerinkouke, Rozendall,
that near Dunkerque, of the Forest of Mormal, Wattignies, Waterloo, and
Maestricht, and Sieges of Valenciennes, Dunkerque, Quesnoy, Landrecies;
assault on the covered way of Valenciennes, and in the two attacks on the
entrenched camp of Maubeuge, and defense of Dusseldorf.
After the reverses of the campaign of 1794, and retreat of the Austrians,
he returned to St. Petersburg, and was appointed, by Catharine II, in July,
1795, Colonel of the regiment of grenadiers of Little Russia, which he joined
at Dubno in Poland.
Promoted to be Brigadier General in the Russian Army, 28th June, 1796,
and promoted by Paul II, to be Major General, 22d May, 1797, and Chief of
the regiment of Oufimsk, infantry, then in garrison at Oufa in the Government
195
cf Orenbourg, of which province he was offered the military government but
declined.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General, 25th October, 1798, and employed in
Courland and in Samogitie under orders dated 1st February, 1799, as Quarter-
master General of a Corps of twenty-five thousand men under the orders of
General Baron Benkendorf, destined to act against Prussia.
After the retreat of that general he was placed in command of that Corps.
Paul II then named him, on the 13th May, 1799, Chief of the regiment of
Riajesk, infantry, and, on the 12th August, 1800, Inspector of Infantry of the
Brest-Litoosk district.
In 1805 he marched through Galicia and Silesia into Moravia with the
second Russian Army and after its junction with the first Russian Army, com-
manded the second column at the battle of Austerlitz, 20th November, 1805.
In 1806, in the war with Turkey, he was, by order dated 12th April in that
year, attached to the Army which served in Moldavia and at Bucharest in
Wallachia.
In 1807 he served in Bessarabia and participated in the siege of the fortress
of Ismail on the 3d March and in the battle of Babil. He then commanded an
army on the island of Tchetal in a successful attack on the works there of the
enemy on the 8th April.
An armistice having been concluded with the Turks on the 25th June, he
returned to Ismail.
In 1808 he commanded an Army near Faltchi, in Moldavia, and afterward
an Army Corps which defended Bessarabia.
In 1809, the armistice with the Turks having been broken and the war
renewed, he commanded up to June, the Army Corps in observation in Bessar-
abia and then was appointed Chief Commander of the reserve corps of the
Army of Moldavia with headquarters at Bucharest in Wallachia.
On the 29th August, 1809, he defeated the vanguard of the army of the
Grand Vizier near the village of Frosiny, and thereby saved Great Wallachia
from the enemy. In October of the same year he blockaded the fortress of
Silistria, and on the 4th and again on the loth of that month repulsed sorties,
for which he was thanked by the Czar in a rescript.
The main Russian Army, having, however, been compelled to retire bevond
the Danube, he was obliged to raise the blockade and do likewise.
In May, 1810, he was put in command of an Army Corps which crossed the
Danube at Girsoff. Having been joined by another Army Corps, and part of
a third, and with siege artillery and part of a flotilla, he laid siege to Silistria
on the nth May and forced it to capitulate on the 23d of that month.
In June he assisted at the blockade of Shumla, and on the 8th of that
month repulsed an attack of the Grand Vizier at the village of Derekny. He
then marched with his corps to Razgrada and from thence in an expedition to
Djuma, where he defeated the enemy and destroyed their magazines. On the
5th August he was named chief of the 22d military division of infantry. He
was then placed in command of the Russian forces which were besieging
Rustchuk and Jurja, which he forced to capitulate on the 15th September.
Upon the successful termination of these operations he marched with his
corps to Sistova and Nikopol, and having obtained the surrender of the last
named place, crossed the Danube to the left shore and went into winter quar-
ters holding the command of the nth, 12th, 15th and i8th infantry divisions,
situated in Moldavia, Bessarabia, and Wallachia, with his headquarters at
Jassy.
196
In March, 1811, he, for a time, commanded the Army of Moldavia, by
orders from the Czar, until a new Chief Commander was designated, when he
was placed in command of the advance corps, which was first encamped at the
village of Senteshti and then at Jurja.
Having again crossed the Danube he commanded the left flank of the army
in the battle of the 22d June against the Grand Vizier, and soon afterward
returned to the left side of the Danube.
Promoted to be General of Infantry, 22d August, 181 1.
The Turkish Army having crossed to the Russian side, he took part in
the battle against them on the 28th August. Then for forty-four days his
command was continually under fire during the blockade of the Turkish camp,
during which time there were five indecisive actions on the 3d, 5th, loth, 22d
and 23d of September, which finally terminated in the capitulation of the
Turks. Having been charged with their distribution to different places, he
then took up his headquarters at Bucharest, having command of the 8th, 9th
and 22d infantry divisions and a part of the 6th and 7th cavalry divisions.
In January, February and March, 1812, he commanded the vanguard
posted along the Danube and directed the operations against Silistria and
Sistova.
In July of the same year, at the head of the third column of the Army of
Moldavia, he marched via Jassy-Chotich, Kamentz, Podolsk, and Dubno to the
river Stir, where that Army joined another Russian Army to operate against
Field Marshal Prince Schwarzenberg's invading Army of Austrians, Saxons,
Poles and French. Having crossed that river at Berestetchka he commanded
the left flank of the Third Western Army which pursued the enemy through
Luboml and Graboff to Brest-Litvosky on the river Lesna, where a battle was
fought on the 29th September.
The pursuit was then resumed through Brest to Biala in the Duchy of
Warsaw. The Army to which he was attached then marched to BarisoflF on
the river Beresina in order to cut off the retreat of Buonaparte from Moscow.
On the 15th and i6th November he took part, in command of the reserve
corps, in the actions at Stakhofif and Bril on the Beresina and pursued the
enemy through Smargon, Oshmiany and Vilna to the Nieman and the Vistula
and through Western Prussia.
In March, 1813, he commanded the corps which besieged the fortress of
Thorn and captured the same on the 4th April, for which he was rewarded with
a gratuity of 5,000 roubles, and otherwise.
He then marched through Posen, and Krasen on the Oder to Bavttzen,
where the Third Western Army joined the Allied Armies of Russia and
Prussia commanded by General of Cavalry Count Witgenstein.
On the /th May he commanded the left flank in the battle of Koenigewarth,
and took that town by storm, capturing five cannon, four general officers and
twelve hundred men.
On the 8th and 9th he took part in the battle of Bautzen and retreat from
there to Schweitnitz and Strelen.
For his conduct in these operations he received the thanks of the Czar
Alexander.
Having succeeded to the command of the Western Army it was designated
the Central Corps in the Allied Armies, and encamped near Reichenbach during
the Armistice.
197
Military operations having been resumed, he commanded, in August, a
force of 50,000, comprising four infantry crops and a cavalry corps in the
Allied Army under Field Marshal Prince Bliicher.
On the 7th August he took part in the battle of Siebengeichen, in which
his horse was wounded by two musket balls.
On the 9th August he was in the battle at Loewenberg, and on the loth
in that at Pilgramedorf, and on the nth and 14th in the general actions at
Goldsberg and Katzbach; on the i6th and 17th in the battles of Wolsberg and
Plagwitz. In all these engagements his command captured forty-six pieces of
artillery, two general officers, eleven thousand men and three Eagle standards.
He was subsequently with the vanguard of his corps in the battles at Gar-
tau and Bischowederd on the 8th and nth September, and was rewarded with
a gratuity of 30,000 roubles and the "Czar's initials for epaulettes."
With the army of Silesia he crossed the Elbe at Elster and was in the
battle of Wartenberg on the 21st September.
On the 4th October he took part in the battle at the village of Moeckern,
where his command stormed the villages of Breitenfield and Weteritz, capturing
thirteen cannon, twelve hundred prisoners and one standard.
On the 5th October he was in action at Leipsic, and, on the 6th, in the gen-
eral battle imder the Crown Prince Bernadotte of Sweden, he attacked the left
flank of the enemy, crossed the river Parta and captured the village of Shoen-
feld.
On the 7th he took part in the capture of Leipsic, his corps having pushed
through the Gaul's Gate and pursued the enemy to the Gates of Lutzen.
He then pursued them through Schkuditz and Lutzen to Weissenfeld,
where he got possession of the bridge over the Saal, and thence to the Rhine,
from whence his command marched to Frankfort on the Main, where it went
into winter quarters, and assisted also in the blockade of Kassel opposite Ma-
jaus.
On the 2 1 St December he crossed the Rhine near Kaub with the Army of
Silesia under Field Marshal Bliicher, and on the following day took by storm
the city of Bingen. On the 23d he drove in the enemy's advance posts before
Majans and blockaded that place until the 31st January, 1814, when he marched
through Kaisers-Lautem and Zweibriick into France at Sarguemines and thence
via Nancy, Toul, Vitry and Reims to Soissons, where again he joined Field
Marshal Blucher.
On the 2 1 St February, while here, he repulsed an attack and on the 23d,
24th and 25th of the same month, took part in the general actions at Craon and
Laon.
On the 28th the forces under his command took Reims by assault and on
the 13th March his cavalry took part in the battle of Fere-Champenaise, where
sixteen cannon and three thousand prisoners were taken.
His vanguard having crossed the Marne at Trilport, had a battle on the
17th at Bourget, and on the i8th, with his command, he took part in the general
action at Paris in which he captured by assault the fortified eminence of Mont-
martre, capturing twenty-nine pieces of artillery, and then occupied the gates of
Paris from that side.
On the same day he took the town of St. Denis by capitulation.
On the 2 1 St March, after an absence of nearly a quarter of a century, he
marched through Paris and proceeded as far as the village of Lonjumeau.
During the Armistice his command was quartered in the towns of Reims,
Epernay, Chalons, and St. Menehould.
198
Upon the conclusion of the first peace of Paris, he returned with the 4th
Army Corps to Russia and in September, 1814, was appointed Commander of
the Sixth Separate Army Corps, with headquarters at Dubno.
In April, 181 5, on Buonaparte's return to France, he was placed in com-
mand of the Fourth Army Corps in addition to the Sixth, and marched through
Galicia, Moravia, Bohemia, a part of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg to Manheim,
where he again crossed the Rhine and entering France blockaded several fort-
resses.
After the definitive Peace, he was appointed, on the i6th November, 181 5,
Governor General of Cherson and Chief of the Cossacks of the Black Sea and
of the Bourg, and Civil Chief of Odessa and other places, and on the loth
October, 1821, the cities of Odessa, Taganrog, Theodossia and Kertchenitcolsk
were added.
On the nth May, 1822, his government, comprising Cherson, Ekaterino-
slav, and the Taurida, was denominated New Russia, of which he was desig-
nated the Governor General. He continued to administer the same until re-
lieved at his own request on account of impaired health on the 7th May, 1823,
his full salary of the office being continued to him until he should receive a new
appointment.
On the 15th May, 1828, he was recalled into active service for the war
with Turkey, which had then begun, and held command in the principal opera-
tions in Wallachia, including several actions and the blockades of the fortifica-
tions of Shumla and Jurjy and Siege of Silistria in Bulgaria, until the Army
retired to winter quarters on the 4th November in that year.
He then commanded the Russian forces, comprising several army corps and
detachments on the left side of the Danube, and directed the movement which
resulted in the assault and capture of Kaleh on the Danube near Turno on the
night of the 12th- 13th January, 1829.
He then blockaded Turno, which capitulated on the 30th of the same month
and on the 6th February following the Turkish flotilla on the river Osma, near
Nicopol, was burnt under his orders.
For these services he was, on the nth February, 1829, named by the Czar
Nicholas, Chief of the regiment of Miajesk, infantry, and given two pieces of
captured cannon.
On the 7th March, 1829, he was honorably retired, and, on the i8th April,
1830, was accorded a pension of 30,000 roubles per annum, which was continued
until his decease at St. Petersburg, 4th July, 1831.
He received the medals of Ismail, and for the campaign of 1812, and the
nobleman's bronze medal of 1812.
Although a native of Paris, where he was born 13th January, 1763, the
prescriptive legislation in France against the particular class in society to
which he belonged, as specially evinced in the decree of 5th March, 1791, under
which the great estate which he had inlierited was unjustly confiscated while
he was serving in the Russian Army under a direct assignment from his own
Government, induced him to expatriate himself and ever after serve his adopted
country through a long and remarkable military career with the same zeal and
devotion with which he had formerly served France.
Author of a comedy, "le Duel," first published in 1789, and also author of
unpublished Memoirs which have proved a valuable source of information as to
French history under the Directory, Consulate and Empire.
General de Division Paul-Louis, Chevalier Gaultier de Kerveguen.*}^
Officer of the Legion of Honor.
In 1755 he became an Eleve-ingenieur de la Marine and was employed at
Rochefort and the Isle d'Aix and in the Rio Janiero Expedition in 1764.
From 1769 he was an Ingenieur-geographe in the Corps Royal des Inge-
nieurs Geographes and rose to be Captain in the same, and served on topograph-
ical duty successively in Corsica, on the western coasts of France and in St.
Domingo.
Appointed Marechal General des Logis, 13th April, 1778, in the forces
rmder M. le Comte d'Estaing, which sailed from Toulon on that day and was
present at the debarkation on Conanicut Island, Narragansett Bay, Rhode
Island, and earlier operations of the Siege of Newport and subsequent indecis-
ive action against Lord Howe, and then in Boston Harbor.
He subsequently served at the capture of Grenada and Siege of Savannah.
Promoted, for these services, to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry,
20th January, 1780.
Promoted to be Adjutant General with the rank of Colonel, 13th Novem-
ber, 1 79 1, and to be General of Brigade, 8th March, 1793, and to be General of
Division, 13th June, 1795, and served under the French Revolutionary authori-
ties and the Directory, in the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees and then of Italy
and subsequently in a civil capacity under the Consulate and Empire.
Appointed Chief Inspector of the Revenues, 7th February, 1800.
Honorably retired 6th June, 1807, and died at Paris, 3d May, 1814.
Lieutenant General Louis-Francois-Bertrand Dupont d'Aubenoye, Count de
Lauberdiere.vp
Knight Commander of the Legion of Honor,
Knight of the Order of Military Merit of Maximilien-Joseph of Bavaria.
He originally entered service as an Eleve of the Military School and became
a Gentleman Cadet, 6th June, 1776, and Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment of
Saintonge, infantry, 30th January, 1778.
Appointed a Captain of infantry, unattached, 15th April, 1780, and assigned
to duty as Aide de Camp to M. le Comte de Rochambeau, commanding the
Auxiliary Army, to whom he was cousin-german, whom he accompanied to
Rhode Island.
In 1 78 1 he acted as Sous-Aide Marechal General des Logis in that army,
and was with it at Yorktown and until its final departure from the United
States.
Appointed, for these services, Capitaine Reforme in the regiment of Royal
Normandie, cavalry, 4th July, 1782, and Assistant in the Corps de I'fitat-Major
of the Army, 13th June, 1783.
Promoted to be Marechal General des Logis, 2d December, 1787, and given
the rank of Major, ist July. 1788, and rank of Lieutenant Colonel, nth July,
1789.
Title of his office changed to that of Adjutant General, ist April, 1791, and
given tlie rank of Colonel in June of that year.
Employed in the Army of the North in 1792 until sent by the Minister of
War, le Chevalier du Portail, to Ireland.
Made prisoner of war in May, 1793, and detained in England until ex-
changed in June, 1800.
Promoted to be Adjutant Commandant, 8th February, 1801.
Appointed Chief of Staff at Berlin, 25th October, 1806.
Wounded seriously, by a Russian bullet, while Chief of Staff of the
Advance Guard, Cavalry of the Line, 4th February, 1807.
Promoted to be General of Brigade, 12th February, 1807.
Appointed in 1810 Governor of the Royal Province of Leon in Spain, and,
in 1813, Commandant of a brigade in the 13th Army Corps at Hamburg.
At the Restoration he gave his adhesion to Louis XVIIL
Promoted to be Lieutenant General, 23d August, 1814.
Deputy for Maine et Loire in the Chamber of Deputies, 1815-16.
Appointed to the command of the 15th Military Division, 17th April, 1815.
Honorably retired, 15th November, 181 5.
Lieutenant General Mathieu, Count Dumas.
Knight Commander of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Knight Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor,
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit of Maximilien-
Joseph of Bavaria.
Formerly Captain attached to the regiment of Medoc, infantry, and de-
tailed in March, 1780, as Aide de Camp to M. le Comte de Rochambeau, com-
manding the Auxiliary Army, and came with him to Rhode Island.
In 1 78 1, he was assigned to duty as Aide-Marechal General des Logis, and
was continuously on duty with that army, and at Yorktown, until its final de-
parture.
Appointed, for these services, Aide-Marechal General des Logis, with the
rank of Major, 13th June, 1783, and given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in
1785.
Appointed, in 1786, Secretary in the Department of the Marine.
Promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1787 and assigned as Aide-Marechal
General des Logis to the Camp at St. Omer.
Detailed, in 1789, as Director General of Charts and Plans in the Depart-
ment of War.
Appointed Commissary of the King in Alsace in 1790.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 30th June, 1791.
Deputy in the National Legislative Assembly from the Department of the
Seine et Oise, ist October, 1791.
Proscribed, 15th August, 1792, and forced to emigrate, he returned after
the 9th Thermidor Emd was elected a member of the Council of Five Hundred,
after the Constitution of the year III had been adopted on the 23d September,
1795-
Proscribed as a monarchist on the i8th Fructidor in the year V. (4th Sep-
tember, 1797), he escaped to Germany, but returned under the Consulate.
In February, 1806, he accompanied Joseph Buonaparte to Naples and
became Minister of War of that kingdom and reorganized its army, but when
the latter went to Spain in July, 1808, he re-entered the French Army and
served in that year in Spain and in 1809 in Germany.
In 1812 he was Intendant General of the Grand Army in Russia and made
the campaign to Moscow, but on the retreat became prisoner of war in Germany,
and was released at the peace.
Promoted to be Lieutenant General, 23d January, 1815.
During the "Hundred Days" he declined military service, but, at the
earnest solicitation of Joseph Buonaparte, finally consented to superintend the
organization of the National Guards, and was, in consequence, honorably retired
later in the same year after the second restoration of Louis XVIIL
Author of "Precis des Evenements Militaires," (19 vols., 1816-1826),
being a narrative of the French campaigns from 1798 to 1807.
Also author of "Souvenirs," with an account of his career.
Marechal de Camp Thomas, Count Conway.
Knight Commander of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
He entered the French service in 1747 as a Sous-Lieutenant in the regi-
ment of Clare, infantry, Irish Brigade, and became a Captain in 1765, and
Major in the same in 1769, and received the rank of Mestre de Camp in 1772.
Upon the incorporation of the regiment of Clare with the regiment of
Berwick, under the Royal Ordinance of 26th April, 1775, he was transierrec
to the regiment of Anjou, infantry, and, in the following year, received permis-
sion from Louis XVI to enter the United States service.
Appointed, by Congress, Brigadier General, U. S. Army, 13th May, 1777.
He commanded the 3d Pennsylvania Continental Brigade in Major General
Lord Stirling's division in the right wing under Major General John Sullivan,
of the main Continental army, in the battle of Brandywine, and was stationed
on the hill near Birmingham Meeting House, where the severest fighting took
place and against which the principal force of the enemy was directed*
He served also in the battle of Germantown, where his brigade took a
prominent part in the right wing, and General Washington, in his report to
Congress, dated Camp, near Pennibecker's Mill, 5th October, 1777, said: "In
justice to General Sullivan and the whole right wing of the army, whose con-
duct I had an opportunity of observing, as they acted immediately under my
€ye, I have the pleasure to inform you, that both officers and men behaved with
a degree of gallantry that did them the highest honor."
He was also at Whitemarsh and at Valley Forge, where, on the 15th No-
vember, 1777, he tendered his resignation, which Congress did not accept, t
•Major General Sullivan, In an official communication to Congress, dated 27th Sep-
tember, 1777, said: "Lord Stirling and General Conway, with their aides-de-camD, were
with me on the hill, and exerted themselves beyond description to keep up the troops.
"Five times did the enemy drive our troops from the hill, and as often was it reg-alned,
■and the summit often disputed almost muzzle to muzzle. • « » «
"The general fire of the line lasted an hour and forty minutes, flfty-one minutes at
which the hill was disputed."
In the same month, on 19th September, 177?, at Freeman's Farm in the battle of Still-
water in the Northern Department, the 1st Regiment New Hampshire Continental Infantry
six times drove, at the point of the bayonet, the 62d Foot and part of Lord Balcarras'
Grenadiers from the 12 pounder guns of the Royal .Artillery they were supporting and five
times did the British in like manner drive back the Americans, until the last charge of
the latter, which was successful and the guns were captured.
•(■ He communicated this resignation to General Washington In the following letter:
•"Sir: "Camp, 16th November, 1777.
"The hopes and appearance of a French war, along with some other reasons, have
Induced me to send my resignation to Congress. As soon as the trial of General Stephen
Is over, I hope your Excellency will permit me to depart from the Army in order to return
to France as soon as possible.
"I return thanks to your Excellency for the civilities you have shown me while I
had the honor of being under your orders, and beg you will accept of my warm and sincere
wishes for the liberty of America and the success of your arms. I am, etc."
On the 13th December, 1777, Congress resolved that two Inspectors
General be appointed and immediately elected him to one of these offices.
Subsequently, however, on the same day. Congress resolved "that another
Major General be appointed in the Army of the United States," and thereupon
promoted him to that grade.*
Appointed, by Congress, 23d January, 1778, second in command in a pro-
posed Canadian Expedition and arrived in Albany, N. Y., 14th February, 1778.
Upon its relinquishment he was ordered by Congress, 23d March, 1778,
to report to Major General Alexander McDougall at Peekskill.
Having arrived there and reported, he received orders from Congress of
the 20th April, 1778, to return to Albany and assume command there.
Having tendered his resignation while at Fishkill, 22d April, 1778, it was
accepted by Congress after he had returned to Albany, 28th April, 1778.
Major General Conway before coming to the United States, with consent
of the Most Christian King, had served with distinction in many actions.
In the proposed Canadian expedition to which he was assigned and for
which the Continental Congress had made no preparations whatsoever either
as to troops or material, Major General the Marquis de Lafayette was ap-
pointed to the chief command.
In the French Army Major General Conway had become a Commissioned
Officer before Lafayette was born and had held continuously the rank of Col-
onel before Lafayette was a Sous Lieutenant, and had seen upward of thirty
years' service as against less than six years' service by Lafayette.
Nevertheless Conway performed the duty assigned him with military
promptness and fidelity and did not until transferred to the Middle Department
and to another sphere of duty, resign from the American Army, his services
being needed in France.
Upon his return to France he was appointed Aide-Major General of the
Army in Flanders, ist July, 1779.
Promoted to be Brigadier General of Infantry, ist March, 1780, and there-
upon relinquished his regimental grade in the regiment of Anjou.
Assigned to be Mestre de Camp Commandant of the regiment of Pondi-
chery, infantry, 3d March, 1781.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 1st January, 1784, and was on duty in
Paris in October, 1786.
•Several French officers, who were his Juniors in the French Army, having tendered
their services to the United States and been appointed major generals by Congress, ho
a^ked for the same grade. General Washin^on, however, at the time opposed his request
In a communication to Congress, dated Hd. Qrs. Matuchen Hill, 17th October, 1777, and
this probably Influenced him In tendering his resignation, as noted. Subseauently, on re-,
ceipt of further information. Congress promoted him.
The following letter from Major General John Sullivan to John Adams no doubt had
great weight with Congress when it decided to promote General Conway:
"VS^hltemarsh, Novr. 10, 1777.
"Nothing has given me more uneasiness than to find General Conway is about leaving
the Army, on account of some French gentlemen who were inferior in rank to him while
they remain In their own country, being promoted over him. This, he says, was the only
thing he guarded against in his agreement with Mr. Deane and with Congress; but is now
so unhappy as to find, not only persons who hold inferior rank to him in France, promoted
over his head, but some who had no rank at all In the French Army.
"I have been in two actions with General Conway, and am confident no man could
behave better in action. His regulations in his brigade are much better than any In the
Army, and his knowledge of military matters, in general, far exceeds any ofHcer we have;
and I must beg leave to observe that it is worth the considering of Congress to retain him.
••p. S. — If the office of Inspector General, with the rank of Major General, was given
him, I think our Army would soon cut a different figure from what they now do."
Major General Conway never acted aa an Inspector General because such appointment
•was vacated by his promotion on the same day to the grade of Major General.
Baron de Steuben, who entered on that duty in the Main Army at Valley Forge, on
203
Appointed Governor General of the French Establishments in the East
Indies, 9th March, 1787.
Appointed Governor of the Isles of France and of Bourbon, 2d December,
1787.
Appointed Governor General of all the French Establishments at and
beyond the Cape of Good Hope, 14th April, 1789.
This last office he held until finally relieved, 26th August, 1790.
He did not again serve in consequence of the Revolutionary disturbances
in France.
He was born in County Kerry, Ireland, 27th February, 1733.
Marechal de Camp Georges-Henri-Victor Collot.>^
Formerly, from the i6th May, 1779, Captain attached to the regiment of
Bercheny hussars, and was detailed, on the ist March, 1780, to act as Aide-
Marechal General des Logis in the Auxiliary Army and came with it to Rhode
Island.
He served with it until its departure from the United States, and was also
in M. des Touche's naval expedition of i6th March, 1781, and, in the march
northward from Virginia, was on duty with the Second Division under M. le
Marquis de Chastellux.
Promoted, for his services at Yorktown, to be Aide Marechal general des
Logis in the Corps de I'Etat-Major of the Army, with the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel, 13th June, 1783, and received a gratuity.
Given the rank of Mestre de Camp, 2d December, 1787.
Title of his ofifice changed to that of Adjutant General with the rank of
Colonel, 1st April, 1791.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 13th December, 1791.
Appointed Governor of Guadeloupe, 27th May, 1792, which office he held
until its capture by the British, when he was made prisoner of war.
Having been paroled, he came to the United States and made an extended
tour.
Permitted, as a favor, to go on the half pay list, 23d December, 1801.
Author of "Voyage dans le Nord de I'Amerique en 1796," and of a map of
Detroit, Mich., published in the same year.
the 2Sth March. 177S. soon brought the Continental Infantry to a perfection in tactics and
discipline unexcelled in marching regiments In European services and only equalled by
the elite regiments of Prussia and France.
Major General Conway's correspondence with Major General Horatio Gates, about
which there was much misapprehension and misunderstanding, gave rise to the term "Con-
way's Cabal," although there has never been evidence of concerted action or fixed design on
the part of any officer whose name was mentioned. After hia resignation, having been
severely wounded in a duel with Brig. -General John Cadwalader. and believing his injury
to be mortal, he wrote to General Washington the following note:
"Philadelphia, 33d July, 177S,
"Sir: — I find myself just able to hold the pen during a few minutes, and take this
opportunity of expressing my sincere grief for having done, written, or said anything dis-
agreeable to your Excellency. My career will soon be over; therefore justice and truth
prompt me to declare my last sentiments.
"You are in my eyes the great and good man.
"May you long enjoy the love, veneration and esteem of these States, whose liberties
you have asserted by your virtues.
"I am, with the greatest respect, etc.,
"Thomas Conway."
!Marechal de Camp Jean-Chistophe-Louis-Frederic-Ignace, Baron de Closen-
Haydenbourg.*
Knight of the Order of Military Merit.
Formerly, from the 4th April, 1780, Capitaine en Second in the regiment
Royal Deux-Ponts, infantry, and came to Rhode Island in 1780 with M. le
Comte de Rochambeau as one of his Aides de Camp, and served in that capacity
-while the Auxiliary Army remained in the United States.
Promoted to be Major en Second of his regiment, 1st May, 1788.
Appointed Aide de Camp to M. le Comte de Rochambeau, ist April, 1791.
Promoted to be Colonel of the 42d Regiment of Infantry, 23d November,
1791.
Appointed Aide de Camp to M. le Comte de Rochambeau, 7th December,
179 1.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 22d July, 1792.
Resigned in August, 1792.
Under the ist Napoleonic Empire, he became Sous-Prefect of the Arron-
dissement of Simmern (Rhine and Moselle).
He was the author of a diary of service in the Auxiliary Army.
Marechal de Camp Henri-Francois Marie de Pascal, Viscount de Saint-*
Juery.»fi
Formerly, from the 3d June, 1779, Captain attached to the regiment of
Auxerrois, infantry, and served under M. le Comte d'Estaing at the siege of
Savannah.
Appointed Sous-Lieutenant in the Gardes-du-Corps of Monsieur, in the
company of Marechal de Camp, M. le Comte de Chabrillan,>J« ist January,
1782.
Emigrated in 1791.
Appointed Brevet Colonel of Cavalry in the Army of the Prince de Conde,
1st January, 1797.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 15th August, 1814.
Honorably retired, 25th November, 1814.
Marechal de Camp Marie-Francois-Joseph-Maxime Cromot, Baron du
BouTg.>i>
Entered service in 1768 and became a Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment of
Monteclara, dragoons, i8th March, 1770, and Captain in the regiment of
Monsieur, dragoons, 24th February, 1774, and went on the half pay list in 1776.
Having been assigned to duty as Aide de Camp to Lieutenant General M.
le Comte de Rochambeau in the Auxiliary Army, he embarked at Brest on the
26th March, 1781, and reported in person to his commanding General in
Newport, Rhode Island, on the 9th May, 1781.
He served in that capacity until detailed in 1782 to act as Aide Marechal
general des Logis in that army, in which office he continued to act during the
remainder of its service in the United States and in the West Indies.
•The Count de Rochambeau, then a Marshal of France, commanding the Army of the
North, in writing to Baron de Closen from Paris, on the 8th February, 1792, and referring
to the Institution of the Cincinnati, said:
"The King approves, Monsieur, that you wear the distinctive Order of this Society."
205
At the peace he returned to France and was appointed on the staff an
Aide Marechal General des Logis and given the rank of Major in the same in
1784, Lieutenant Colonel in 1786 and Colonel in 1788.
Having emigrated he joined the Princes on the Rhine and made the cam-
paign of 1792 as Aide de Camp to Monsieur, afterward Louis XVIIL
At the Restoration, he was promoted, 17th January, 1815, to be Marechal
de Camp.
Author of a journal, with maps, of service of the Auxiliary Army in the
American War, from the 26th March, 1781, to the i8th November, 1781, when
that army went into winter quarters in Virginia.
Brevet Brigadier General Louis-Pierre-Penot-Lombart,
Chevalier de La Neuville.>^
Formerly Major Reforme (half pay) of the Provincial Regiment of Laon,
infantry, and was authorized by Louis XVI to enter the United States Army.
He accordingly tendered his services to the Continental Congress and was
recommended by Lieutenant General Baron de Wurmser, Knight Grand Cross
of the Order of Military Merit, and by the Marquis de Bouille, Governor of
Martinique, and by Marechal de Camp M. de Merlet and Major Generals La
Fayette and Conway, "as an officer of great zeal, activity, and knowledge in the
French service and as one who may be usefully employed in all military
operations."
He came to the United States in September, 1777, and served as a volunteer
until appointed by Congress Inspector of the Northern Army, 14th May, 1778,
with pay of $105 per month and six rations and the promise that "after an ex-
perience of his services as an Inspector to the army under General Gates for
the space of three months, to confer on him such rank as his merits may justly
entitle him to."
This appointment was announced to the Northern Army by Major General
Horatio Gates in General Orders dated Headquarters, Robinson's House, 31st
May, 1778.
Appointed, by Congress, Brigadier General, U. S. A., by brevet, 4th Oc-
tober, 1778, to date from the 14th August, 1778.
Resigned from United States service, 30th October, 1778, to resume service
in France, but his resignation was not accepted until the 4th December, 1778,
Congress certifying that he had "served with fidelity and reputation in the
Army of the United States."
He returned to France and was promoted by Louis XVI to be Lieutenant
Colonel of Infantry, unattached, 24th June, 1780.
In December, 1790, he made his home in New York City.
Colonel Andre-Jerome de La Mire, Viscount de Mory.>{<
Formerly, from the 15th May, 1778, Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment of
Auxerrois, infantry, and joined for duty the detachment of his regiment in the
fleet of Count d'Estaing, while it was refitting in Boston Harbor, Mass., in
September, 1778.
He was wounded in the naval action oflf Grenada, 6th July, 1779, and served
in the subsequent Siege of Savannah.
Promoted, for these services, to the rank of Captain attached to the regi-
ment of Royal-fitranger, cavalrj-, 12th July, 1781.
206
Promoted to be Mestre de Camp en Second of the regiment of Conti, in-
fantry, 23d October, 1785.
Attached as Colonel to that regiment, on the reorganization of the army,
17th March, 1788, but did not again serve. Forced to emigrate, he became
Lieutenant in the Second Company of the "Chasseurs Nobles" in the army of
the Prince de Conde.
Colonel Jean-Frederic de Chabannes, Marquis de La Palisse.>J<
Knight Commander of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly, from the 23d March, 1778, Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment of
Royal-Piemont, cavalry, and promoted to be Captain in the regiment of Royal-
Pologne, cavalry, 24th June, 1780.
He first came to the United States on board I'Aigle, which left Brest on
the 19th May, 1782, and was, consequently, in the combat of that frigate and
the frigate la Gloire with the British ship of the line, Hector, 4th September,
1782.
Uupon joining the Auxiliarj' Army he became Aide de Camp to M. le Comte
de Rochambeau, and served with that army until its final departure.
Promoted to be Mestre de Camp en Second of the regiment of Limosin,
infantry, loth March, 1787.
Attached as Colonel to the regiment of Chasseurs a Cheval of Normandie,
30th April, 1788.
He was appointed an alternate deputy by the Nobility of Moulins for the
States General of the 5th May, 1789.
Emigrated in 1790 and joined the army of the Prince de Conde on the
Rhine and served through all his campaigns.
He also served in the First Division of the Corps of French Emigres which
landed in Brittany, 27th June, 1795, and fought in the affair of Quiberon, i6th
July. 1795-
He was the younger as well as only brother of Colonel Jacques-Gilbert-
Marie Comte de Chabannes la Palisse, an original member of the French State
Society of the Cincinnati, who died in Saint Domingo, without issue, in 1789.
He, therefore, became the hereditary member at his brother's decease and
succeeded him accordingly.
Colonel Jean-Baptiste-Ra5anond de Fenis, Count de La Prade.»{«
Formerly a Gendarme de la Garde du Roi, reforme, having served under
Captain-Lieutenant, M. le Marechal Prince de Soubise.
In 1776 he sailed for the United States to offer his services, but was cap-
tured oflf Boston Harbor and retained some time in custody.
Upon being released he made the campaigns of 1778, 9 and '80 in the
French West India Fleet as a volunteer and was at the siege of Savannah under
Count d'Estaing.
In 1785 he was appointed Captain of Cavalry in the Legion of Maillebois
in the service of Holland.
Promoted in August, 1789, to be Mestre de Camp Proprietaire of a corps
of 800 cavalry which he had raised in 1787 for the service of Holland, he
served until the successful invasion by the French Revolutionary forces in the
winter of 1794-5, which forced him to emigrate.
207
Colonel Charles, Chevalier de Beville.>^
Formerly, from the 24th March, 1779, Captain attached to the regiment of
Noailles, dragoons, and was detailed on the ist March, 1780, to act as Aide-
Marechal General des Logis in the Auxiliary Army and came with it to
Rhode Island.
He served with it until its departure from the United States.
Appointed, for these services, Aide-Marechal General des Lx)gis in the
Corps de I'fitat-Major of the Army, 13th June, 1783.
Given the rank of Major, 6th May, 1784, and the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel, 1st July, 1788.
Promoted to be Adjutant General with the rank of Colonel, 1st April, 1791.
Ceased to serve in 1792.
He was the son of Marechal de Camp Pierre-Francois, Chevalier de
Beville, who was Marechal General des Logis of the Auxiliary Army and an
original member of the French State Society of the Cincinnati.
Colonel Francois-Joseph-Pierre, Count de Mondion de Sassay.>+<
Formerly, from the ist July, 1776, Captain Commandant in the regiment
of Foix, infantry, and was promoted to the rank of Major attached to the in-
fantry in 1779.
He served under Count d'Estaing at the preliminary operations of the
siege of Newport, Rhode Island, and in the indecisive naval action against Lord
Howe, and in Boston Harbor, Mass., and at the siege of Savannah.
Appointed Major of the regiment of Conti, infantry, 24th June, 1780.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel in the same, 17th May, 1789, and to
be Colonel commanding his regiment, 25th July, 1791.
Honorably retired, i6th May, 1792.
Lieutenant Colonel Paul de Chamillard.>f<
Volunteer with Commodore John Paul Jones on the frigate Bon Homme
Richard.*
•On the 23d June, 1788, Lieutenant Colonel de ChamiUard of the French Service, applied,
through the Marquis de Lafayette, to the General Society of the Cincinnati, representing
that in 1779 he commanded two hundred volunteers upon the Continental frigate Bon
Homme Richard, under Commodore John Paul Jones in the memorable combat with the
Serapis, and, upon that occasion, had, under his immediate command on the poop deck,
twenty-five volunteers, of whom, twenty-two were killed or wounded; that for his conduct
there he received public marks of the satisfaction of his Court; and, that he "has been
informed that Captains Stack and McCarthy of the Irish Brigade, who were under his orders,
have, by the opinion of Commodore Paul Jones, been admitted two years ago in the Society
of the Cincinnati."
Lieutenant Colonel de ChamiUard made two contemporaneous applications, upon one
of which, they being substantially the same, the Marquis de Lafayette endorsed as follows:
"Lieutenant Colonel ChamiUard' s case having no relation with the service of the Continental
officers, and Commodore Paul Jones being absent, I advised this gentleman to hand an
application to the Society."
Upon the other he endorsed as follows: "I think Mr. Chamillard's case admits him into
the Society. "Lafayette
"M. G."
The application was not submitted to the General Society but, on the 12th November,
1790, a diploma, duly authenticated by His Excellency, President General Washington and
by Secretary General, the Honorable Major General Knox, was transmitted through M. de la
Forest, French Consul General, for M. de ChamiUard.
In permitting him to sign the roll as a member of right, the Marquis de Lafayette was
misinformed as to the actual facts of the case.
Mr. ChamiUard was never commissioned in the Continental service, but came on
board the Bon Homme Richard, the same as Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Felix Wulbert,
Lieutenant Colonel Louis-Antoine-Thibault de Menonville.>J<
Formerly, from the 29th September, 1775, Major of the regiment of
Touraine, infantry, and came with it to Virginia in September, 1781, in the
contingent under M. le Marquis de Saint-Simon from Saint Domingo.
Promoted, for his services at the siege of Yorktown, to be Lieutenant
Colonel in the army, in April, 1782, retaining his regimental rank, and re-
ceived a pension.
Transferred in 1784 to be Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment of Hainault,
infantry.
Honorably retired in 1788.
Lieutenant Colonel Joseph-Claude-Louis de Grenouillet de Sablieres de
La Tribale.»t<
Formerly, from the i6th June, 1776, Captain Commandant in the regi-
ment of Cambresis, infantry, with the rank of Major, and served under Count
d'Estaing in the preliminary operations of the siege of Newport, Rhode Island,
and in the indecisive naval action against Lord Howe, and in Boston Harbor,
Mass., and at the siege of Savannah, being then the senior Captain Command-
ant in his regiment.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment of Beaujolois, infantry,
15th April, 1784.
Honorably retired, 14th March, 1789.
Lieutenant Colonel Jacques Nagle.^J*
Formerly, from the 27th June, 1776, Captain Commandant in the regi-
ment of Walsh, infantry, (Irish Brigade), and served with the 2d Battalion of
Continental Corps of Engineers, as a Volunteer, and guest of Commodore John Paul
Jones, and to be useful if he could find employment for them^ The cases of Captains
Stack and McCarthy were different as they belonged to the regiment of Walsh, infantry,
from which a special detachment was made for specific service under the American flag,
and they were duly commissioned accordingly as Continental Marine officers. Congress
having entrusted the Honorable Benjamin FVanklin, LD.D., U. S. Minister Plenipotentiary,
with blank commissions for such purpose.
The resolves of Congress constituting the Marine Corps at that time, did not sanction
the issuance of commissions in the same for a higher grade than captain on an American
frigate, and there was consequently no regular place for Mr. Chamillard, whose position
was, therefore, only that of a volunteer.
In his application, it is stated that he was "of the French Service."
He did not belong to any of the French Infantry destined for sersace on the Bon
Homme Eichard and his name does not appear upon the records of the French War office,
according to a report officially rendered to that effect, dated Paris, 25th July, 1885. He
may, however, at some time, have received either for militia or special service the rank-
of Lieutenant Colonel from the King, or he would not have presumed to designate himself
by that grade. His name does not appear in the "Etat Militaire de France pour I'annfie,
17S1," nor in that, for 17S3, nor is it to be found in the muster rolls of the Bon Homme
Richard, other than as a Volunteer although those of Captains Stack and McCarthy are
duly entered on the latter, thus showing that he had no recognized military position in the
squadron.
The only olBciaJ allusion to him is found in the official report made by Commodore
John Paul Jones to "His Excellency, Benjamin Franklin, U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary," and
dated "on board the Serapis, Texel, HoUand, 3d October, 1779."
It is as follows — and refers to the combat between the Bon Homme Richard and
Serapis:
"Before this time, too, Colonel de Chamillard, who commanded a party of twenty
soldiers on the poop, had abandoned that station, after having lost some of his men.
"These men deserted their quarters."
Mr. Chamillard was, therefore, not entitled, under the terms of the Institution, to be
considered an original member, but having been admitted under a misapprehension of the
facts, could only be classed as an honorary member.
His services under the American flag, in which he was slightly woundea, sanctioned
this recognition.
209
the same under Count d'Estaing in Rhode Island in 1778 and at the siege of
Savannah in 1779.
Promoted to be Major of the regiment of Dillon, infantry, 9th June, 1785,
and to be Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment of Walsh, infantry, nth June,
1786.
Honorably retired, 24th June, 1788.
He was born in Ireland, 25th December, 1739.
Bvt. Lieutenant Colonel Nicolas-Louis de La Roque-Percin.>}<
Formerly Lieutenant in the Bombardiers of the Isle of France and sailed
from Toulon in the fleet under Count d'Estaing, 13th April, 1778.
He served in the earlier operations of the siege of Newport, Rhode Island,
and in the indecisive naval action against Lord Howe in August, 1778, and
afterward in Boston Harbor.
As he was a native of Fort Royal, Martinique, he raised in the French
West Indies a corps of volunteer infantry of his name, for the capture of
Saint Vincent, of which corps he was commissioned, by Count d'Estaing,
Major Commandant, 20th April, 1779.
He commanded the troops at Saint Vincent, 9th June, 1779.
Brevetted Lieutenant Colonel and named Commandant en Second of that
colony, 1st October, 1779.
Honorably retired, 3d January, 1784.
Captain Paul de La Beaume d'Angely, Baron de Malves.>J<
Formerly, from the 9th May, 1778, Lieutenant en Second in the regiment
of Hainault, infantry, and served with the detachment of his regiment in the
fleet of Count d'Estaing in 1779 and was "particularly distinguished in action"
off Grenada on the 6th July, 1779, on board le Cesar, 74, and at the siege of
Savannah.
He afterward became Aide de Camp to the Marquis de Bouille, Com-
mandant General of the French Windward Islands, and was wounded in
Lieutenant General M. le Comte de Guichen's naval action of the 15th May,
1780.
Promoted to be Capitaine en Second in the regiment of Martinique, in-
fantry, 2d October, 1784, and to be Capitaine Commandant in the same, 27th
March, 1788.
Named Captain in the 109th Regiment of Infantry, i6th September, 1792,
but would not accept the commission and ceased to serve.
Transferred from the Georgia State Society of the Cincinnati, 4th July,
1789.
Captain Rene-Marguerite-Henri de Giroie de Neufvy.>J<
Formerly, from the 9th May, 1778, Lieutenant en Second in the regiment
of Metz, Corps of Royal Artillery, and served with the 2d BattaHon of the
same under Count d'Estaing and was at the siege of Savannah with the de-
tatchment of his regiment.
Promoted to be Lieutenant en Premier in the same, 19th May, 1782.
Appointed Capitaine en Premier in the regiment of artillery of the Colonies,
1st November, 1784, and died in Saint Domingo, 17th September, 1791.
Captain Francois-Dauber, Chevalier de Peyrelongue.>f<
Formerly, from the 6th November, 1771, Lieutenant en Second in the
regiment of Metz, Corps of Royal Artillery, and served with the 2d BattaHon
of the same under Count d'Estaing and was in the naval action off Grenada,
6th July, 1779, in which he was wounded, and at the siege of Savannah with
the detachment of his regiment.
Promoted to be Lieutenant en Premier in the same, 15th July, 1781.
Given the rank of Captain in the army, 6th January, 1785.
Promoted to be Capitaine en Second in his regiment, 3d January, 1789,
and employed at La Rochelle.
Honorably retired, ist June, 1791.
Captain Joseph-Louis Godard de Vaudremont.»J<
He was commissioned, by Count d'Estaing, Sous-Lieutenant in the regi-
ment of Hainault, infantry, 13th December, 1778, and served at the siege of
Savannah and was, for this service, appointed, by the same authority, Lieu-
tenant en Second of his regiment, 21st October, 1779.
Appointed, by Louis XVI, Sous-Lieutenant in the same regiment, 20th
January, 1780, and transferred to be Sous-Lieutenant, unattached, on full pay,
4th January, 1782.
Promoted to be Lieutenant in the regiment of Martinique, infantry, 2d
October, 1784, and to be Captain in the Provincial regiment of artillery of
Metz, i6th October, 1787.
Appointed Assistant in the Corps de I'fitat-Major of the Army, ist July,
1788.
Emigrated in 1791, but returned at the Restoration in 1814.
Honorably retired 28th August, 1816.
Captain Joseph Leonard Poirey.
Entered service the loth June, 1772, as a Garde de la Porte du Roi.
With permission of Louis XVI, he came to the United States in April,
1780, with Major General the Marquis de Lafayette, in the quality of Military
Secretary and served throughout the campaigns of that year and of the year
1781, and took part in the expedition to Virginia, cannonade of Petersburg,
Va., action at Jamestown Ford and siege of Yorktown.* He returned to
♦On the 1st December, 1791, His Excellency, Colonel Jean, Chevalier ae Ternant,
Minister Plenipotentiary of France in the United States, and an original memlSer of the
French State Society of the Cincinnati, addressed, at Philadelphia, a communication to
Major General the Honorable Henry Knox, Secretary of War, and Secretary General of the
Cincinnati, informing him that Captain Poirey had been admitted to membership In
France by the Marquis de Lafayette and soliciting a diploma for him.
Accordingly President General Washington and the Secretary General duly authenti-
cated a diploma which was transmitted on the 8th December, 1791.
Captain Poirey, it appeared, resided in a distant part of France, and did not learn
of the institution of the Order until about the time he applied to the Marquis de Lafayette
for permission to sign the Roll.
The latter authorized him to do so, the same as If he had signed with the other
American officers in December or January, 1783-4, under the mistaken idea that he had a
right to sign.
Captain Poirey's commission as brevet captain U. S. A., appears, however, to have
been merely honorary and to have been conferred by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate of the United States as late as the 2d June, 1790, In consequence of the following
message from the President, viz.:
"United States, May 31st, 1790.
"Gentlemen of the Senate: — Mr. de Poirey served in the American Army for several of
France with the Marquis de Lafayette and served with him in the same capacity
in 1782-3 at Cadiz in the combined French and Spanish land and naval forces
under Count d'Estaing.
Appointed on the 14th October, 1788, Lieutenant in the 1st Garrison Bat-
talion of Rohan.
Promoted, on the 13th August, 1789, to be Captain and Secretary General
of the National Guard of Paris on the staff of the Marquis de Lafayette.
Appointed by President Washington, with consent of U. S. Senate, on the
2d June, 1790, Captain by brevet, U. S. Army.
Appointed, 15th February, 1792, Secretary General of the forces of the
Department of Paris, and ceased to serve after the inauguration of the Reign
of Terror, in August, 1792.
Sous-Lieutenant Louis-Antoine Magallon, Chevalier de La Morliere.
Formerly Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment of Auxerrois, infantry, and was
authorized by Louis XVI, at the end of the year 1778, to go to the United States
for military service.
He was accordingly employed by Count d'Estaing in the staff of his army
at the siege of Savannah, where he was severely wounded in the assault.
Upon recovery, he resigned in 1782 to prepare himself for the ministry
and became a priest of the Roman Catholic Church.
He was admitted into the French State Society of the Cincinnati, 20th
September, 1789.
Comissaire Benoit-Joseph de Tarle.>J<
Formerly Commissaire Ordonnateur des Guerres and assigned, on the
1st March, 1780, to be Intendant of the Auxiliary Army and came with it to
Rhode Island.
He continued to perform these important duties in the Administrative Staff
of that army until his departure from the United States and was then stationed
in Paris.
On the 5th May, 1786, he was appointed Ordonnateur in Soissonnois,
which office he continued to hold until placed on the half pay list, ist June,
1788.
In 1 79 1 he received a pension in recognition of his services.
He was admitted to honorary membership by resolution of the General
Society of the Cincinnati of the 17th May, 1784.*
the last years of the late war, as Secretary to Major General the Marquis de Lafayette,
and might probably at that time have obtained the commission of Captain from Congress,
upon application to that body. At present he is an officer in the French National Guards,
and solicits a Brevet Commission from the United States of America. I am authorized to
add, that, while the compliment will involve no expense on our part, it will be particularly
grateful to that friend of America, the Marauig de Lafayette.
"I therefore nominate M de Poirey to be a Captain by Brevet.
"GEORGE WASHINGTON."
As the service rendered by M. de Poirey in the Revolutionary War, as a "Military
Secretary" to a Major General in the Continental Army, was not authorized by any resolve
of Congress, and as he did not hold a Commission in that Army, or the grade of Colonel In
the French Army, he was not entitled to be admitted a "Member of right" and could only
be received as an honorary member for his own life.
•M. de Tarie was an officer of high character and long service in whom the King
and Count de Rochambeau and the whole Auxiliary Army reposed the utmost confidence.
At the first meeting of the General Society of the Cincinnati, It appearing that he had
Chevalier Cesar Louis de Baulny.^
He was Tresorier- Principal (Chief Paymaster), of the Auxiliary Army
while it was in the United States and served on the staff of Lieutenant General
Count de Rochambeau, with whom he came to Rhode Island.
At the time of his detail to duty with the Auxiliary Army in March, 1780,
he was Tresorier-Principal for the province of Corsica and stationed at Bastia
and appears to have been permitted to retain that office while serving in
America.
Soon after his return he was assigned to duty in Paris as one of the
Tresoriers-Generaux for the Department of War, and became the Treasurer of
the French State Society of the Cincinnati.
been "particularly named and recommended to the Society by His Excellency the Minister
of France," a resolution was adopted, 17th May, 17S4, declaring him "entitled by the spirit
and intention of the Institution, to become a member of the Cincinnati."
In this resolution he was erroneously described as the "Second Officer of the French
Auxiliary Army" and the General Society accordingly believed it was only enunciating a
clear right, in which, however, it was in error.
His functions were merely those of Directing Commissary and he belonged to the
Administrative Staff, of which he was the Chief in that Army, and not to the Military
Staff.
He had no military rank whatever and was neither a Colonel nor a general officer —
although his grade in his department was, for certain specific local purposes, such as a
right to choice of quarters, assimilated to that of Colonel in the Army.
Consequently he could not exercise any authority outside of his own department of
the staff — and had any casualty removed Count de Rochambeau from command, it would
have devolved on the Baron de Viomfenil, as the Second Officer of the French Auxiliary
Army, to assume the command.
By ordinance of the 14th September, 1776, Louis XVI fixed the number of Commls-
saires of War at one hundred and fifty, namely, eighteen Commissaires Ordonnateurs, of
whom two had the brevets of Intendants of the Armies of the King, and the remainder were
assigned as Chiefs of the Administrative Army Staffs in the most important Generalities and
Provinces or to an operating army in the field; sixteen Commissaires Princlpaux, and one
hundred and twenty-six commissaires ordinaires of departments, who were frequently termed
Provincial Commissaries.
As the Institution fixed the limdtation of actual military rank necessary on the part
of a French officer in order to obtain original membership, and as M. de Tarl§ did not ha.ve
that rank, the effect of the declaratory resolution of the General Society was to cause him
to be received as an honorary member in the French State Society.
Note:— In the list of Continental Officers, members of the French State Society, which
the Marquis de Lafayette transmitted to the Secretary General in 17SS. he suggested, in a
foot note, the admission of M. de Boisbertrand, a French gentleman who came to the
United States in November, 1776, in a ship which arrived at Boston with arms and powder,
with intent to serve in the Continental Army if he could obtain a commission from Congress.
The Marquis gave the following reasons upon which to obtain a rule of Interpretation
of the General Society:
"M. de Boisbertrand was taken prisoner with General Lee, with whom he acted that
day as Aide de Camp Volunteer. He never got a Commission, but as he was kept prisoner
during three years in England, where he was very illy treated, and afterwards exchanged
as an officer, it was thought that three years of captivity ought- to give him the sime
right as three years of active service."
No ruling was ever made in this case and consequently no diploma of membership
was issued to M. de Boisbertrand.
He had not even been announced in general orders as Volunteer Aide de Camp to
Major General Charles Lee, so that when he was captured at VPTiite's Tavern, near Basking
Ridge, N. J., 13th December. 1776, he was simply one of several French gentlemen who
happened to be with that general officer as his guests at the time.
He was sent to England and confined, at first on the Guard Ship Princess Amelia, at
Spithead. with several continental officers and then transferred to Forton Prison, where
American officers were held. He escaped, July 23-24, 1778, but was recaptured, and, after the
war began between France and Great Britain in 1778, became properly a subject of ex-
change.
During the war of American Independence, many citizens were arrested and Im-
prisoned by the British for giving aid and comfort to the American forces, but such captivity
neither made them soldiers nor commissioned officers, nor entitled them to pensions for such
services.
These reasons probably influenced the General Society in not acting favorably on
the suggestion as to M. de Boisbertrand.
ORDER OF THE CINCINNATI,
PRESENTED TO PRESIDENT GENERAL WASHINGTON BY THE FRENCH NAVAL MEMBERS.
213
CHAPTER XVi.
HONORARY MEMBERS
{FRENCH NAVY.)*
Rear Admiral Louis-Charles-Hilarion, Chevalier de Saqui des Toures.>I<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on the flagship le Languedoc, 80, under
Count d'Estaing, in the operations in Rhode Island in 1778, and badly wounded
and compelled to return to France.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau in 1786, and admitted a member of
the Cincinnati when holding that commission.
Promoted to be Rear Admiral, 8th July, i8i6.t
Rear Admiral Jean-Barthelemy, Count Rafelis de Broves.
Knight Commander of St. Louis.
Formerly, in 1778, Enseigne de Vaisseau on le Cesar, 74, under Count
d'Estaing in operations in Rhode Island and promoted to be Lieutenant de
Vaisseau and wounded while mounting the entrenchments in the assault on
Grenada, 2d July, 1779, and later served on same ship at Savannah.
Subsequetly promoted to be Major de Vaisseau, the grade he held when
admitted a member of the Cincinnati, and to be Capitaine de Vaisseau in 1792
and to be Rear Admiral in 1816.
Rear Admiral Etienne-Marc-Antoine-Joseph, Count de Grasse-Limer-
mont.>J<
Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Formerly, from 1771, Garde de la Marine and promoted to be Enseigne de
Vaisseau in 1777 and served in 1778 on the frigate I'Aimable, 26, under Count
d'Estaing in the West Indies.
•These officers served with distinction In the French Navy during the War of Amer-
ican Independence and applied for membership, with direct consent of Louis XVI but could,
under the limitations of the Institution, only be admitted as honorary members.
If any officer named in this list was eligible to Original membership by reason of hav-
ing held the rank of Capitaine de vaisseau and served as Capitaine en second or commanded
in any grade a French man-of-war of any rate on the coast of the United States either In
the fleet of Count d'Estaing or squadron of the Chevalier des Touches or Count de Barras
in Rhode Island, or in the fleet of Count de Grasse at Yorktown, or fleet of the Marquis do
Vandreuil on the New England Coast or detached ship, or in the command of a British
ship of war after It was captured on the coast of the United States, no such fact appears
in Count d'Estaing's official lists nor other records of the Cincinnati nor in the information
supplied by the French Government, nor in the official publication by the French Minister
of Foreign Affairs in 1903, entitled "Les Combattants Francais de la Guerre AmSrlcalne,
1778-1783." nor in other French publications relative to the operations of the French Navy
in that war, nor in authentic published biographies of French Naval officers, nor in the
History of the Order of St. Louis.
In this list the rank specifled opposite every name is that held by the officer when ad-
mitted, unless otherwise stated.
Evory officer noted in this list as having served in Rhode Island in 1778 and at Savan-
nah in 1719, intermediately served in the capture of Grenada and naval action off that place
on 6th July, 1779.
tAlthough this officer's name was duly forwarded for a diploma to the Secretary
General by Vice Admiral Count d'Estaing, nevertheless the Minister of Marine and Colonies,
Lieutenant General CSsar-Henri, Count de la Luzerne, In an official communication dated
Paris, 12th November, 1787, to His Excellency President General George Washington,
particularly solicited and recommended his admission to the Order of the Cincinnati.
214
Promoted to be Lieutenant de Vaisseau in 1781 and held that rank when
admitted a member of the Cincinnati.
Commanded, in May, 1781, the cutter le Pandour, 16, in Count de Grasse's
fleet at St. Pierre, Martinique.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau, ist July, 1792, and to be Rear
Admiral, 8th July, 1816.
Rear Admiral Louis-Charles-Henry-Hebert, Count de Beauvoir.>{<
Formerly, from 1778, Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Fier, 50, under Count
d'Estaing in the action off Grenada of 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Later, executive officer on I'fiveille, 64, in Rhode Island in 1780-1781, and
in Chevalier Destouche's action, i6th March, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Wounded in Count de Grasse's action, 12th April, 1782.
Chef d'Escadre Chevalier de Marin."?*
Promoted from Capitaine de Vaisseau in November, 1782.
Chef d'Escadre Brossey Du Mas."!*
Formerly, successively Garde de la Marine from 1746; Enseigne de
Vaisseau 1751 ; Lieutenant de Vaisseau 1757; Capitaine de Vaisseau 1772;
Brigadier of the Naval Forces 1781 and retired as Chef d'Escadre, 3rd
December, 1784.
Capitaine de Vaisseau de Mayes, Count de la Vilatelle.>J<
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier Cuers de Cogolin.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Zele, 74, under Count d'Estaing
in 1778 in Rhode Island and in 1779 at Savannah.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Amedee-Bernard-Amable-Marc-Antoine de Beaure-
paire.»I<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Guerrier, 74, under Count d'Estaing
in Rhode Island in 1778 and at Savannah.
Later on le Marseillais, 74, under Count de Grasse in action, 5th September,
1 78 1, and at Yorktown.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Pierre, Marquis de Lort de Levignan.»f<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Fantasque, 64, under Count
d'Estaing in Rhode Island in 1778 and at Savannah.
Capitaine de Vaisseau D'hesmivy de Moissac.^*
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Fantasque, 64, under Count
d'Estaing in Rhode Island in 1778 and at Savannah.
Promoted to be Capitaine de Vaisseau, 15th July, 1787.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Desglaiseaux de Venel.>J<
Formerly, successively, Garde du Pavilion and Enseigne de Vaisseau on
la Provence, 64, under Count d'Estaing in Rhode Island in 1778.
Wounded in Count d'Estaing's action off Grenada, 6th July, 1779.
Served later on same ship at Savannah.
Promoted to be Lieutenant de Vaisseau, loth October, 1779.
ii5
Capitaine de Vaisseau Jean-Paul-Germain, Chevalier des Tourres.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Protecteur, 74, under Count
d'Estaing in Rliode Island in 1778 and wounded in the action of 15th December,
1778.
Served at Savannah in same ship in 1779.
Capitaine de Vaisseau M. le Mauff.>^
Formerly Lieuteant de Vaisseau on le Languedoc, 80, under Count
d'Estaing in Rhode Island in 1778 and in the actions of nth August, 1778,
and 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Capitaine de Vaisseau M. de Lambert. ►{<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on la Provence, 64, under Count
d'Estaing in Rhode Island in 1778 and in the actions of nth August, 1778,
and 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Marquis de Tressemanes-Brunet.>I<
Capitaine de Vaisseau Jean-Louis Tredem de Lezereo^
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on la Ville de Paris, 104, under Count de
Grasse in action of 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Wounded in the action of 12th April, 1782, in the West Indies.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Carcaradec de Villeguessio.>J«
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Magnanime, 74, under Count de
Grasse in action of 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Wounded in the action of 12th April, 1782, in the West Indies.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier Roqueville de la Deveze.>I<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Glorieux, 74, in Lieutenant General
Count d'Orvillier's action off Ushant, 27th July, 1778.
Retired 13th April, 1786.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Mathieu-Baltazar de Mine.
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on I'Auguste, 80 .under Count de Grasse
in action of 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Later, on same ship, in action of 12th April, 1782.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Potrin de la Moriniere.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Fendant, 64, under Count d'Estaing
in action off Grenada of 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Later at entrance of Chesapeake Bay, nth November, 1779, and in subse-
quent actions of Count de Guichen of 17th April, 15th and 19th May, 1780.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Baron de Mallet de Puyvallier.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on I'Auguste, 80, under Count de Grasse
in action of 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Wcunded in the action of the 12th April, 1782.
2l6
Capitaine de Vaisseau M. de Possel.>J<
Capitaine de Vaisseau D'Autier de Sigau.*}*
Capitaine de Vaisseau Legris D'Esponchez.>jH
Capitaine de Vaisseau Louis-Joseph, Chevalier de Linieres.*^*
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on la Concorde, 26, in the successful
combat with and capture of the Minerva, 32, near Cape Francois, 22d August,
1778.
Wounded in the combat of i8th February, 1779.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier de Flotte de Beuzidon.»i<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on I'Andromaque, 42, under Count d'Es-
taing in Rhode Island and in the action of i6th June, 1779.
Later commanded I'Aurore, 32, which sailed from Martinique for France,
2d November, 1779, with Sieur Conrad-Alexandre Gerard, late Minister Pleni-
potentiary to the United States, and Honorable John Jay, American Minister
Plentipotentiary to Spain, as passengers.
Capitaine de Vaisseau M. Despiez.*!*
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Reiiechi, 74, under Count d'Estaing
in action off Grenada, 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Later in Count de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake, 5th September, 1781,
and at Yorktown.
Wounded, on same ship, in action of 12th April, 1782, in the West Indies.
Capitaine de Vaisseau M. le Gueidon.>J< ",
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau and commanded, with rank of Lieuten-
ant-Colonel, the troops of the marine, landed from the French fleet for the
Siege of Savannah in 1779.
Capitaine de Vaisseau M. de Rochesaleiil.»J<
Formerly Enseigne de Vaisseau in 1775 and Lieutenant de Vaisseau in
1778.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Hipolite-Andre-Hue de LerondeL"^
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Due de Bourgogne, 80, in Rhode
Island in 1780, and in the action of i6th March, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Capitaine de Vaisseaii Joseph-Louis Joly de Cabanoux.i^
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Languedoc, 80, under Count d'Es-
taing in Rhode Island in 1778, and in action of nth August, 1778, and action
off Grenada, 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier de Beauquaire.*^
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Languedoc, 80, under Count d'Es-
taing in Rhode Island and in action of nth August, 1778, and in action oflE
Grenada, 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Capitaine de Vaisseau M. de Moisset.^
Capitaine de Vaisseau Julhan de Fonblanche, Marquis de Julhan.-^
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Cesar, 74, under Count d'Estaing
in Rhode Island, and severely wounded in acTion with the Isis, 58, off Rhode
Island, i6th August, 1778.
Later, Lieutenant de Vaisseau on la Chimere, 36, and at Savannah.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Basset, Chevalier de Chateaubourg.>^
Formerly Enseigne de Vaisseau on le Languedoc, 80, under Count d'Es-
taing in Rhode Island in 1778, and in action of nth August, 1778, and action
off Grenada, 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Jean-Baptiste-Alexandre, ChevaUer de Durand
d'Ubraye.>i<
Formerly Enseigne de Vaisseau on le Tonnant, 80, under Count d'Estaing
in Rhode Island in 1778, and at Savannah.
Commanded, in September, 1789, la Sensible, 36, of the squadron in Boston
Harbor.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Francois-Jean-Baptiste-Sextius, Chevalier
d'Amaud.>i<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Marseillais, 74, under Count d'Es-
taing in Rhode Island, and in the action of the 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Later, commanded the corvette la SemiHante, 18, and captured the Molly,
16, in combat near Madeira, 4th October, 1782, in which he was wounded.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Robert-Francois-Louis Harnois de Blangues.»I<
Capitaine de Vaisseau Baron de Beaumont.^f
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau and promoted to be Major de Vaisseau,
28th February, 1787.
Honorably retired with rank of Capitaine de Vaisseau, 6th May, 1787.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Greslier de Concize.*}*
Formerly, from 1778, Lieutenant de Vaisseau and appointed a Capitaine de
Compagnie in 1779. ^ . . , ,, .
Promoted to be Major de Vaisseau in 1786 and to be Capitame de Vaisseau
ist January, 1792. Was admitted a member while a Major de Vaisseau.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Joseph-Charles-Rene-Claude, Chevalier de Goyon du
Vaurouault.>J<*
Formerly, from 1773, Enseigne de Vaisseau and promoted to be Lieutenant
de Vaisseau in 1778.
Appointed Capitaine de Fusiliers in 1780, and served on le Caton, 74, as
Senior Lieutenant, in Count de Grasse's action off the Chesapeake, 5th Septem-
ber, 1781, in which he was wounded. He was also at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Major de Vaisseau in 1786, and Capitaine de Vaisseau
1st January, 1792.
Ceased to serve 15th May, 1792, and was honorably retired after the
Restoration, 31st December, 1814.
Was admitted a member while a Major de Vaisseau.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Antoine-Robert, Chevalier de Cluzel.»J<
Formerly from 1773, an Enseigne de Vaisseau and served as Enseigne on
I'Aimable, 32, under Count d'Estaing in the West Indies.
Promoted to be Lieutenant de Vaisseau in 1778; Major de Vaisseau in
1786 and Capitaine de Vaisseau, ist January, 1792.
Was admitted member while a Major de Vaisseau.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Gaspard, Viscount de Galbert.>J<
Entering the French Navy as a Garde de la Marine, 22nd March, 1766, he
was promoted to be Enseigne de Vaisseau ist October, 1773, and served on Ife
Solitaire, 64, commanded by the Marquis de Briqueville from the 6th May,
1778, to the 1 8th October, 1778, and was in Lieutenant General Count d'Orvil-
lier's action off Ushant 27th July, 1778.
On the 1st November, 1778, he embaraked on I'Artesien, 64, under the
Chevalier de Peynier and served at the Siege of Savannah, and continued as an
officer of that ship until the 8th January, 1781.
Promoted to be Lieutenant de Vaisseau 13th March, 1779; Capitaine de
Compagnie, ist June, 1784; Major de Vaisseau, ist May, 1786, and Capitaine
de Vaisseau, ist January, 1792.
Resigned the 12th March, 1792.
He was a Deputy in the States General of the 5th May, 1789, from Gaude-
loupe.
Was admitted a member while a Major de Vaisseau.
*The Honorable Benjamin Franklin, LL. D., U. S. Minister Plenipotentiary in France,
having made application for membership on behalf of the Chevalier du Vauroualt, the fol-
lowing reply was sent by Major General the Honorable Henry Knox, then Secretary of War:
"Philadelphia,
"2Sth June, 1787.
"Sir:
"I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's application re-
"specting Monsieur de Vaurouault of the French Nav^y to be admitted into the Society of
"the Cincinnati, which I submitted to the Society.
"I am directed by the Society to inform your Excellency that it will be necessary
"that Monsieur de Vauronault address himself to the Society in France agreeably to the-
"rules provided by the General Society.
"I have the honor to be, sir, with the highest respect,
"Tour Excellency's most obedient humble servant,
"HENRY KNOX,
"Secretary General.
"His E&Ecellency
"Doctor Franklin."
Capitaine de Vaisseau Rene-Alphonse-Paulin Marquis de Grasse-Brian-
son.>^
Formerly Enseigne de Vaisseau on le Cesar, 74, under Count d'Estaing,
in Rhode Island and action of the 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Promoted to be Lieutenant de Vaisseau in 1779 and commanded the cor-
vette la Coquette, 18, on the 12th February, 1783.
Promoted to be Major de Vaisseau in 1786 and to be Capitaine de Vais-
seau, 1st January, 1792.
Was admitted a member while a Major de Vaisseau.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Beaupoil de Saint-Aulaire.>J<
Formerly Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Neptune, 74, under the Chevalier
De Ternay in Rhode Island in 1780, and later, on same ship, in M. des Touche's
action of the i6th March, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Was admitted a member while a Major de Vaisseau.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Chevalier Joseph de I'Epine.^J*
Formerly Garde de la Marine on I'Aimable, 26, under Count d'Estaing
in the West Indies in 1779. Later, as Enseigne de Vaisseau, commanded the
corvette le Dragon, 16, on the 22d January, 1783, off Monte Christo when
attacked by several English merchant letters of marque.
Was admitted a member while a Lieutenant de Vaisseau.
Capitaine de Vaisseau Charles-Louis-Theodat de Taillevis, Count de
Perigny.
Knight Commander of Saint Louis.
Formerly, from the 1st July, 1780, a Garde de la Marine in the French
Navy and promoted to be Enseigne de Vaisseau 9th August, 1781, to rank as
such from the 9th May, 1781.
In the combat off Martinique of the 29th April, 1781, he lost his left arm.
Served under Count de Grasse on la Ville de Paris, 104, in the action off
the Chesapeake 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Promoted to be Lieutenant de Vaisseau in 1786 and Capitaine de Vaisseau
in 1814.
In 1814-15 and in 1816 he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from
Loir et Cher.
From the 22d June, 1825, he received a pension of fifteen hundred francs
on account of his services, which was increased to two thousand francs on the
1st January, 1827.
Was admitted a member while a Lieutenant de Vaisseau.
Major de Vaisseau Marquis Dantin de Saint-Pee.>{<
Major de Vaisseau Louis-Bernier, Marquis de Pierrevert.>I<
Formerly Garde du Pavilion et de la Marine on le Fantasque, 64, under
Count d'Estaing, in Rhode Island and action 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Promoted to be Lieutenant de Vaisseau 1st May, 1786, and to be Major de
Vaisseau, 14th April, 1788.
He was Enseigne de Vaisseau on the frigate la Broussole. 36, in the last
voyage of discovery of M. le Comte de la Perouse, and sailed from Brest ist
August, 1785, and was cast away and lost on the island of Vanikoro in the
South Pacific in 1788.
The fate of himself and companions was not however ascertained until
many years afterward.
Major de Vaisseau Isnard de Cancelade.>^
Lieutenant de Vaisseau on I'Aigrette, 32, which served on the American
coast I2th September, i78i-3ist March, 1782.
Major de Vaisseau Chevalier Meyronnet de Saint-Marc de Fauris.>I<
Formerly Enseigne de Vaisseau on le Magnanime, 74, under Count de
Grasse in action of 5th September, 1781, and at Yorktown.
Later Lieutenant de Vaisseau on le Citoyen, 74, in same fleet, in action of
I2th April, 1782, and afterward in same ship in the fleet of the Marquis de
Vaudreiul on the New England coast in the same year.
Major de Vaisseau Count de Cambis.^
Formerly Enseigne de Vaisseau on le Languedoc, 80, under Count d'Es-
taing, in Rhode Island, and action of 6th July, 1779, and at Savannah.
Major de Vaisseau Charles, Chevalier de Lomenie.»i<
Formerly Enseigne de Vaisseau on le Souverain, 74, in the action of 5th
September, 1781, and at Yorktown, and on the New England coast in 1782.
Lieutenant de Vaisseau Louis-Gaspard le Gardeur de Repentigny.>J<
Formerly, from 1777, an Enseigne de Vaisseau, and served on the frigate
la Concorde, 26, under M. le Gardeur de Tilly, in the combat with the Minerva,
32, on the 22d August, 1778, in which he was wounded.
Promoted to be Lieutenant de Vaisseau, 8th May, 1779, and served in that
capacity in 1782 on le Northumberland, 74, in the Marquis de Vandreuil's
squadron on the New England coast.
Lieutenant de Vaisseau Arragonez d'Orcet.»I<
Formerly Garde de la Marine on I'Aimable, 26, under Lieutenant d'Estaing
in the West Indies in 1779. Later, as Enseigne de Vaisseau, commanded the
corvette le Dragon, 16, on the 22d January, 1783, off Monte Christo when
attacked by several English merchant letters of marque.
Lieutenant de Vaisseau Marquis le Camus.»i<
Formerly Enseigne de Vaisseau on I'Eveille, 64, in Rhode Island, in 1780,
and in the action off the Capes of Virginia of the i6th March, 1781, and at
Yorktown.
Subsequently commanding the cutter Tarleton, 14, on the 3d January, 1783.
Lieutenant de Vaisseau Chevalier de Sambucy.>^
Formerly a Garde de la Marine et du Pavilion on le Caton, 74, and wounded
in Count de Grasse's action off Chesapeake Bay, 5th September, 1781, while
serving in that grade.
Lieutenant de Vaisseau Pierre- Victor-Laurent, Chevalier de Chadirac.>i<
CHAPTER XVII.
LIST OF APPLICATIONS FOR HONORARY MEMBERSHIP RECOM-
MENDED TO LOUIS XVI, AND APPROVED BY HIM IN 1792.
{FRENCH ARMY.)
The following list, carefully selected from a large number of applications
from officers of the French Army for the Order of the Cincinnati, was submitted,
in January, 1792, to Louis XVL by M. I'Amiral le Comte d'Estaing, M. le
Marechal le Comte de Rochambeau and General en Chef M. le Marquis de
Lafayette, Standing Committee, through Marechal de Camp Louis-Marie-
Jacques-Amalric Comte de Narbonne,*^ Minister of War, as having served
with distinction during the War for American Independence and as recom-
mended as worthy of admission by the Society of the Cincinnati in France.
This list was accompanied by a report from M. de Narbonne as to the
military services of these applicants.
It was returned by His Most Christian Majesty, 3d February, 1792, en-
dorsed by him, in his own hand, "approved," and was his last official act in con-
nection with the Society of the Cincinnati in France.*
Marechal de Camp Gilbert de BressoUes.
Knight of the Royal and Mihtary Order of St. Louis.
Originally entered service in 1757 as Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment of
Savoie, infantry, and was wounded several times at the battle of Minden, in
I759> by sabre cuts, and had his horse killed under him in the sortie at Cassel,
in 1762.
He became Sous-Aide-Major in 1763, and Aide-Major in 1766.
Appointed Captain in the regiment of Bourbonnois, infantry, in 1769, and
*As these officers did not have, during their service in the United States, the rank
of Colonel, nor receive it as a reward therefor, they were admitted for their own lives only.
The Revolutionary disturbances in Prance culminating in the overthrow of the
Monarchy, 10th August, 1792, and war on the frontiers, in which many of these applicants
for the Order of the Cincinnati were actively employed, and the enforced emigration of
some of them, prevented official notices of admission and of the King's approval being
sent to most of them.
For the same reason, there being then no regular mail service between France and
the United States, their names, although duly admitted, were never sent to the Secretary
General for enrollment, and, consequently, no diplomas of membership were issued.
The rank or grade placed immediately beneath every name in this list, is that which
was held by the particular officer when the King sanctioned his admission, although several
subsequently attained higher rank.
to be Major of the same in 1776, and to be Lieutenant Colonel of the same,
29th December, 1777, and came with it to Rhode Island in the Auxiliary Army.
Received a pension for "good conduct at Yorktown."
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist March, 1791, and served in the
Army of the North in 1792.
Pensioned, 4th February, 1793.
Marechal de Camp Marie-Charles-Francois David.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Formerly Lieutenant Colonel attached to the Corps of Cavalry of the
French Army, from the 28th February, 1778, and arrived at Fort Royal, Mar-
tinique, in le Fier, 50, under Capitaine M. le Chevalier de Turpin, i8th April,
1778.
He served in the attack on and capture of Grenada, 4th July, 1779, and in
the fleet of Count d'Estaing in the ensuing naval combat of the 6th July, 1779.
He was subsequently stationed in Saint Domingo as Aide de Camp to
Marechal de Camp d'Argout, until the latter's decease at the close of 1779.
In September, 1781, he came to Virginia in command of the cavalry in the
Marquis de Saint Simon's contingent, and received from the latter, on the
2ist October, 1781, a certificate in acknowledgment of his services at the
Siege of Yorktown.
He then embarked on la Bourgogne, 74, under M. de Charitte, in Count de
Grasse's fleet, to proceed to Fort Royal and, later, served at the capture of
Saint Christopher.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, ist March, 1791.
Colonel Charles-Etienne-Marguerite Des Bordes.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Colonel 20th regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of Cambresis.
Originally entered service in the regiment of Touraine, infantry, in 1755,
and became Capitaine en Second in the same in 1769, and Capitaine Com-
mandant, 3d July, 1779.
He served in the contingent under the Marquis de Saint Simon, which
came from Saint Domingo in September, 1781, to assist in the Siege of York-
town, and commanded there the grenadier company of his regiment.
Promoted, for these services, to be Major of the regiment of Cambresis,
infantry, 20th June, 1782.
Promoted to be Colonel of the same, 23d January, 1791.
Honorably discharged at his own request, 14th January, 1793.
Colonel Jean-Laurent de NadaL
Knight Commander of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Colonel and Director of Artillery.
Formerly, from the 9th May, 1778, Chef de Brigade, with the rank of
Lieutenant Colonel, in the regiment of Auxonne, Corps of Royal Artillery, and
served with the Second Battalion of his regiment in the Auxiliary Army from
its arrival in Rhode Island, and was at Yorktown.
Commissioned Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, 5th April, 1780.
223
Promoted for his services in the United States to be Director du Pare de
1'equipage de I'artillerie, 27th January, 1782, and to be Lieutenant Colonel of
his regiment, 5th June, 1783.
In 1790 he was attached to the regiment of Strasbourg of his Corps.
Promoted to be Colonel and Director of Artillery, 1st April, 1791.
Resigned on the 28th August, 1792, and emigrated and served under the
Prince de Conde, on the Rhine.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp in 1794.
Colonel Louis Charles Barrier.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Colonel of the Gendarmerie Nationale.
Originally entered the service 24th June, 1763, as a Gendarme de la Garde
du Roi, and on the 14th May, 1769, became a Gendarme d'Ordonnanee dans la
Compagnie de la Reine.
He subsequently became an Exempt de la Connetable with the rank of
Lieutenant of Cavalry and, on the 18th May, 1776, was promoted to be Lieu-
tenant in the same, with the rank of Captain of Cavalry.
Having been appointed, on the 20th December, 1781, Prevot General to
the Auxiliary Army, he served under Count de Rochambeau in the United
States in 1782 and until the final departure therefrom of the French forces.
Appointed, on the 15th August, 1784, Prevot General de la Marechaussee
for the Province of Franche-Comte, with Headquarters at Besancon, he was, on
the 25th of that month, given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of Cavalry in
recognition of his services.
Later he was transferred to the Arrondissement of Sevre, where he was
stationed in 1790.
On the i6th February, 1791, Louis XVL, by decree of that date, re-
organized his Corps as the Gendarmerie Nationale, and in August of the same
year he was promoted to be Colonel of the i6th Division de Gendarmerie. On
reduction of the Corps, 31st July, 1792, he went on half pay, and was honorably
retired with a pension of three thousand francs by decree of 4th February, 1793.
Colonel Armand-Joseph-Pierre-Guerin de La Chaize.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel 68th regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of Beauce.
Formerly, in 1778, Capitaine en Second in the regiment of Auxerrois, in-
fantry, and served with the chasseur company of his regiment under Count
d'Estaing in Rhode Island and at Savannah.
Promoted to be Capitaine Commandant in his regiment in 1781, and
commanded the same company.
Subsequently became Major and then Colonel in the regiment of Beauce,
infantry.
Promoted to be Marechal de Camp, 5th January, 1797.
Colonel Olivier-Victor de Baudre.
Knight of the Royal and MiHtary Order of St. Louis,
Colonel jOtli regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of Perche.
Originally entered the service in 1756 as Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment
of Soissonnois, infantry, and became Capitaine Commandant in the same, 22d
April, 1762.
He came with it to Rhode Island in the Auxiliary Army and commanded
the Chasseur company of his regiment at Yorktown, and, in 1782, became the
senior Capitaine Commandant in his regiment.
He was officially reported as "an officer of zeal, exemplary honor and
intelligence," and also mentioned for "good conduct at Yorktown."
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colcmel of the regiment of Medoc, infantry^
1 2th October, 1783.
Colonel Henri-Dominique Palys de Mont-repos.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel of Engineers.
Formerly Major in the Corps of Royal Engineers of the Brigade of
Besancon, and came with the Auxiliary Army to Rhode Island.
For his services at Yorktown, he was promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel
and Sous Brigadier in his Corps in the Brigade of Thionville, 27th January,
1782, and given a pension, and, in 1791, was promoted to be Colonel of En-
gineers and stationed at Besancon.
Colonel Francois-Ignace, Chevalier D'Oyre.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel of Engineers.
Formerly Captain in the Corps of Royal Engineers of the Brigade of
Toulon and came with the Auxiliary Army to Rhode Island.
Specially mentioned by Baron de Viomenil for his services at Yorktown
on the night of the 14th October, 1781, and in pushing the Second Parallel up
to Redoubt No. 9, which was captured that night by assault.
Promoted to the rank of Major, 27th January, 1782, and to the rank of
Lieutenant Colonel, 31st July, 1783.
On the 27th September 1789, Count de Rochambeau wrote that he was an
officer of very great distinction.
In 179 1 he was in the Engineer Brigade of Amiens and thereafter Lieuten-
ant Colonel of Engineers at Landau until promoted in the same year and sent
to Besancon.
His father was a Marechal de Camp and Director of the fortifications of the
places on the Meuse.
Colonel Pierre d'Espeyron.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel 40th regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of Soissonnois.
Originally entered the service as Sous-Lieutenant in his regiment in 1747
and became a Captain in the regiment of Normandie, infantry, in 1760 and
Major of the regiment of Soissonnois, infantry, 24th March, 1780.
225
He renounced a considerable fortune in order to come to the United
States with the Auxiliary Army, and served with it continuously from its arrival
in Rhode Island.
He was officially reported in 1779 as "an officer of valor and intelligence,"
and subsequently received a pension for "good conduct at Yorktown."
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel of his regiment (Soissonnois), iSth
April, 1784, and Colonel of the same in 1791.
Emigrated in 1792.
Colonel Charles- Joseph de Losse de Bayac.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel 31st regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of Aunis.
Originally entered the service as Sous-Lieutenant in the regiment of Bour-
bonnois, infantry, in 1760 and made three campaigns in Germany and became
Captain in his regiment, i6th April, 1771.
He came to Rhode Island with the Auxiliary Army and served in the
expedition destined for Virginia, which embarked in M. des Touche's squadron
at Newport, R. I., in March, 1781, and was consequently on board le Jason, 64,
in the resultant naval action of the i6th March, 1781.
At the Siege of Yorktown he was the senior Captain Commandant in his
regiment and was officially noticed "for good conduct."
Given, for these services, the rank of Major in the Army, 8th May, 1783.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel du Bon de Chasseurs of the regiment
of Chasseurs of Ardennes, 21st August, 1784, and to be Lieutenant Colonel
Commandant of the regiment, ist May, 1788.
Colonel Frederic-Charles, Baron de Haacke.
Knight of the Order of Military Merit in France,
Colonel 77th regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of La Marck.
Originally entered service as an Enseigne in the regiment of Royal Deux-
Ponts, infantry, in 1759, and served with it in the campaigns in Germany of
1760, 1 76 1 and 1762.
Promoted, 8th April, 1779, to be a Captain in the same and came with it
to Rhode Island in the Auxiliary Army and was attached to the grenadier
company.
Officially noticed for "good conduct at Yorktown" and "as having dis-
played great valor in the attack on Redoubt No. 9."
Promoted to be Major of the regiment of La Marck, infantry, 17th No-
vember, 1784, and to be Lieutenant Colonel of the same, 15th June, 1787.
Colonel Charles-Adrien de Buzelet.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel and Director of Artillery.
Formerly Chef de Brigade with the rank of Major in the Second Battalion
of the regiment of Auxonne, Corps of Royal Artillery, and served with the
Auxiliary Army from its arrival in Rhode Island and was at Yorktown.
Given, for these services, the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, 31st
July, 1783, and received a pension for Yorktown.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel in his Corps, 6th April, 1788.
Colonel Charles-Bertin-Gaston Chapuy de Tourville.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel i8th regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of Gatinois or Royal Auvergne.
Originally entered the service in 1755 and became a Sous-Lieutenant in the
regiment of Gatinois, infantry, 6th June, 1756, and by successive promotions
became Major in the same, i8th April, 1776.
He served under Count d'Estaing in Rhode Island and against Lord Howe
and in Boston Harbor and at the Siege of Savannah, where he was wounded,
24th September, 1779.
He also served in the contingent under the Marquis de Saint Simon,
which came from Saint Domingo, in September, 1781, to assist in the Siege of
Yorktown, and performed the functions of Alajor General to that force.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel of his regiment in 1788.
Colonel Marc-Gaspard, Chevalier de Capriol de Pechassaut.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Colonel and Director of Artillery.
Formerly, from the loth September, 1769, Captain of Cannoniers in the
regiment of Auxonne, Corps of Royal Artillery.
Promoted to be Chef de Brigade in the same, with the rank of Major, 5th
April, 1780.
He served in the West Indies and came to Virginia in September, 1781,
with the Marquis de Saint Simon's contingent for the Siege of Yorktown as
Chief of Artillery in such contingent.
Promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel of Artillery, 25th May, 1788, and to be
Colonel of the same, ist April, 1791.
Honorably retired, 19th June, 1793.
Colonel Charles, Baron de Furstenwather.
Knight of the Order of Military Merit in France,
Colonel 89th Regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of Royal-Suedois.
Originally entered service as Ensign in the regiment of Royal-Deux-Ponts,
infantry, 8th January, 1758, and became a Captain Commandant in the same in
1776 and served with it in the campaigns in Germany of 1758, 1759, 1760, 1761
and 1762.
He came with his regiment as Senior Captain to Rhode Island and served
continuously with the Auxiliary Army until its departure from the United
States.
Officially noticed for "distinguished conduct at Yorktown" and given the
rank of Major in the Army, ist August, 1782.
Promoted to be Major of the regiment of Royal-Suedois, infantry, 15th
April, 1784, and to be Lieutenant Colonel of the same in May, 1789.
Colonel Rene-Adrien, Le Seigneur du Chevalier.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel 2ist Regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of Guyenne.
Formerly, from the 26th July, 1776, Capitaine en Second in the regiment
227
of Bourbonnois, infantry, and promoted to be Capitaine Commandant in the
same, 19th March, 1780.
He came with his regiment to Rhode Island and served in the Auxiliary
Army until its departure from the United States.
Promoted to be Major of the regiment of Soissonnois, infantry, 15th April,
1784, and to be Lieutenant Colonel of the 21st regiment of infantry, 6th Novem-
ber, 1791, and to be Colonel of the same, 5th February, 1792.
Resigned, 5th March, 1792.
Colonel Joseph-Marie-Anne de Moyria.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
ODlonel 4Sth Regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of La Couronne.
Originally was an Eleve de I'Ecole MiHtaire and entered the regiment of
Soissonnois, infantry, in 1761, and became Capitaine in the same, 30th Jan-
uary, 1778.
He served with it in two campaigns in Germany and two in Corsica and
came with it to Rhode Island and served continuously in the Auxiliary Army
until its departure from the United States.
Officially noticed for "good conduct at Yorktown."
Promoted to be Major of the regiment of La Couronne, infantry, 15th
April, 1784, and to be Lieutenant Colonel in the same in May, 1789, and Colonel
of the same in 1791.
Colonel Louis-Alexandre d'Attel de Lutange.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel 19th Regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of Flandre.
Formerly Capitaine Commandant in the regiment of Touraine, infantry,
and was in the contingent under M. le Marquis de Saint-Simon which came from
Saint Domingo in September, 1781, to assist in the Siege of Yorktown.
Promoted to be Major of the regiment of Auxerrois, infantry, 15th April,
1784, and to be Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment of Flandre, infantry, in
May, 1789, and Colonel of the same in 1791.
He continued to serve during the Reign of Terror, and under the Directory
and Consulate, and was promoted to be General of Brigade, 5th February, 1800,
which title was changed to that of Marechal de Camp on the Restoration in
1814.
Colonel Francois d'Anselme de Saint- Victor.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel 46th Regiment of Infantry, previously known as the regi-
ment of Bretagne.
Formerly from the 8th April, 1779, Capitaine en Second in the regiment
of Soissonnois, infantry, and came with it to Rhode Island and served con-
tinuously in the Auxiliary Army until its departure from the United States.
Officially noticed for "good conduct at Yorktown."
Promoted to be Capitaine Commandant in his regiment 8th February, 1782,
and to be Major of the regiment of Bourbonnois, infantry, 15th April, 1784,
228
and to be Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment of Bretagne, infantry, 6th Sep-
tember, 1789.
Promoted to be Colonel of the last named regiment, 2Sth July, 1791.
Resigned, 21st August, 1791.
Colonel Pierre-Raymond de Caldagues.
Knight of the Royal and MiHtary Order of St. Louis,
Colonel 80th Regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of Angoumois.
Originally entered service in the regiment of Soissonnois, infantry, in 1763,
and came with it to Rhode Island as a Lieutenant en Premier, and served con-
tinuously in the Auxiliary Amiy until its departure from the United States.
Promoted to be Capitaine en Second in his regiment, 12th May, 1781,
and pensioned for "good conduct at Yorktown."
Promoted to be Major of the regiment of Angoumois, infantry, 2Sth
January, 1786, and to be Colonel of the same, 25th July, 1791.
Colonel Charles-Ernest, Chevalier de Haacke.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel and Adjutant General.
Formerly, from March, 1780, Capitaine en Second in the regiment of
Royal Deux-Ponts, infantry, and came w^ith it to Rhode Island and served
continuously in the Auxiliary Army.
Promoted to be Major of the regiment of La Marck, infantry, 15th June,
1787, and Aide Marechal General des Logis, with the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel in 1789, and to be Colonel and Adjutant General in 1791.
Colonel Louis-Henri de Beffroy.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel I2th regiment of Dragoons, previously knovi^n as the
regiment of Artois, dragoons.
Formerly, from the ist November, 1778, Aide Major to the Second Legion
of Foreign Volunteers of the Marine.
Given the rank of Capitaine, 17th January, 1779.
Transferred to be Aide Major of the Corps of Hussars in Lauzun's Legion,
1st April, 1780, and came with it to Rhode Island in the Auxiliary Aimy and
served continuously with his Corps in the United States until its departure
in 1783.
Officially noticed for "good conduct" before Gloucester, Virginia, where his
Corps was actively employed during the Siege of Yorktown.
Attached to the 3rd Regiment of Chasseurs a Cheval, 28th December,
1783-
Promoted to be Major of the regiment of Orleans, dragoons, 15th Feb-
ruary, 1784, and to be Lieutenant Colonel of the same, ist Janury, 1791.
Promoted to be Colonel of the 12th Regiment of Dragoons, 5th February,
1792.
Resigned, 22nd August, 1792.
229
Colonel Thomas, Baron Keating.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Colonel 87th Regiment of Infantry, previously known as the
regiment of Dillon.
Formerly, from the 19th May, 1774, Lieutenant en Premier in the regiment
of Walsh, infantry (Irish Brigade), and served with the 2nd Battalion of the
same in the West Indies and in Rhode Island in 1778, and at the Siege of
Savannah, under Count d'Estaing.
He subsequently served with the Land detachment in the fleet of Lieuten-
ant General M. le Comte de Guichen in the naval actions of the 17th April
and 15th and 19th May, 1780.
Returning to France on sick leave, he was captured en route, but exchanged
in 1782.
Promoted to be Capitaine en Second in his regiment, 28th March, 1785,
and to be Major of the same, 26th August, 1789, and to be Lieutenant Colonel
of the same, 25th July, 1791.
Promoted to be Colonel of the 87th Regiment of Infantry 5th February,
1792, and to be General of Brigade, 15th May, 1793.
Promoted to be General of Division, 14th June, 1795. and honorably retired,
20th December, 1795.
Was born in Limerick, Ireland, in January, 1748.
Commissaire Claude Blanchard.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Commissary of War.
In 1762 he entered on duty in the Department of War and in 1768 was
appointed a Department or Provincial Commissary of War and served ten
years in Corsica.
In March, 1780, he was promoted to be Principal Commissary of War
and came to Rhode Island with the Auxiliary Army, on the administrative staff
of Count de Rochambeau.
He served on board le Due de Bourgogne, 80, in M. des Touches expe-
dition from Newport and was in the naval action of the i6th March, 1781.
He participated in all the campaigns of the Auxiliary Army in the United
States, including that of Yorktown, and finally departed with the greater
portion of that army from Boston, 24th December, 1782.
Promoted for these services in 1784 to be Commissaire Ordonnateur des
Guerres and assigned to duty at Angers.
In 1788 he was sent to Arras where he acted as Commander of the National
Guard and Grand Judge Military until elected a Deputy from the Pas-de-Calais
to the National Legislative Assembly of the ist October, 1791.
During the Reign of Terror, the Committee of Public Safety deprived him
of his commission, but after their fall he was restored to the service and ap-
pointed Intendant Commissary to the Army of the Sambre and Meuse, and then
to the Army of the Interior, and lastly to the Hotel des Invalides, where he
died, in 1802.
Author of a Journal of the Campaigns of the Auxiliary Army in the
United States.
230
Commissaire Chevalier Joseph-Francois Gau.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Knight Commander of the Legion of Honor.
In 1779 he was a Commissary of War of the Corps of Royal Artillery and
stationed in his native city of Strasbourg.
Assigned, ist March, 1780, to duty with the Auxiliary Army and came
with it to Rhode Island and served with it during its continuance in the United .
States.
Promoted to be Commissaire Provincial des Guerres, i8th February, 1783,
and, on his return to France, was stationed at Strasbourg until 1791.
Promoted to be Commissaire Ordonnateur surnumeraire, 26th December,
1789.
In 179 1 he was Chief of the General Administration of the War Depart-
ment under M. de Narbonne.
Honorably discharged at his own request, 20th May, 1792.
Member of the Council of Five Hundred from the Department of the
Yonne in October, 1795, until the Revolution of the i8th Fructidor (4th Septem-
ber, 1797), when, because of his Royalist sentiments, he was forcibly excluded
from his legislative functions and sentenced to deportation.
He subsequently returned and from 1802 to 1814 inclusive was successively
Director of Funds to the Ministry of War and then a member of the Council of
Administration and charged with the surveillance and direction of the First
Section in the War Department.
He was also a Councillor of State.
In 1 81 5 he was pensioned.
Commissaire Jacques-Pierre Orillard, Count de Villemanzy.
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis,
Knight Commander of the Legion of Honor,
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit of Bavaria,
Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Henry of Saxony.
Commissary of War,
Peer of France.
Formerly Provincial Commissary of War, and came to Rhode Island with
the Auxiliary Army on the administrative staff of the same and served with it
at Yorktown and until its final departure from the United States.
Promoted, for these services, on his return to France, to be Commissaire
Ordonnateur des Guerres, and, in 1784-5, was stationed at Paris and later at
Limeville.
In 1800 he became an Inspector in Chief of the Revenue and was stationed
at Paris, and in the following year the 12th, 13th, 14th and 21st Military Divi-
sions were placed in his jurisdiction in that capacity, to which the 22d Military
Division was added in 1802.
In 1804 he was Inspector to the Armies on the sea coast of France, and, in
1805-6, was Inspector in Chief to the Grand Army, and in 1807-8, again sta-
tioned at Paris as an Inspector in Chief.
On the 14th December, 1809, he was appointed a Senator of France, and,
at the Restoration, was created a Peer by Louis XVIII, 4th June, 1814.
M. EMILE LOUBET.
PReSIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.
231
APPENDIX.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE RHODE ISLAND CINCINNATI IN RELATION
TO THE RECEPTION OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENTAL
COMMISSIONS RESPECTIVELY OF 1881 AND 1902,
UNDER THE INVITATIONS OFFICIALLY EX-
TENDED BY THE UNITED STATES.
1881.
On the 7th June, 1880, the Congress of the United States, in order to
give effect to a Resolution of the Continental Congress of the 29th October,
1781, appropriated the sum of one hundred thousand dollars for the erection of
a Monument at Yorktown, in the State of Virginia, in commemoration of the
capitulation of the British army under Lieutenant-General Earl Cornwallis
to the combined Allied American and French armies under His Excellency
General Washington, Commander-in-Chief, and the surrender of the British
Squadron in York river to the French Blockading Fleets under His Excellency,
Lieutenant General Count de Grasse.
Congress, at the same time, appropriated twenty thousand dollars for a
suitable celebration at the place of capitulation when the cornerstone of the
Monument should be laid on the 19th October, 1881, — the Centennial Anniver-
sary of the great event, — and further enacted that the erection of the Monu-
ment and the celebration should be in charge of a Commission of Senators and
Representatives, to be selected by the respective Houses of Congress.
This Centennial Commission was thereupon duly constituted, consisting of
thirteen Senators and an equal number of Representatives, respectively, from
the original thirteen States of the Union, with the Honorable John W. Johnson,
Senator of the United States from the State of Virginia, as Chairman.
The proposed Centennial celebration was intended to be only by the people
of the United States.
On Monday, 5th July, 1880, the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations met pursuant to law in annual meet-
ing in the State House in the City of Providence, Rhode Island, for the trans-
action of business and to commemorate National Independence.
On this occasion the Honorable Asa Bird Gardiner offered the following
Resolutions, which were unanimously adopted :
Whereas, It has been proposed by the e.xecutive authorities in several of the
original thirteen States of the Union to celebrate, in an appropriate manner, on
the ground, on the 19th of October, 1881, the centennial of the siege of Yorktown,
Va., and surrender of the British Army under Lieutenant-General Earl Corn-
wallis, to the allied French and American armies under His Excellency General
Washington, and the surrender at the same time of the British naval force to
the co-operating French fleets under Lieutenant-General Count de Grasse ; and
Whereas, This great event, which had so much influence in securing Ameri-
can independence, was due largely to the efficient and gallant co-operation of the
Auxiliary army and Navy of France ; and
Whereas, It seems particularly appropriate that the armies and navies of
the two governments should be suitably represented at this national celebration
of an event highly honorable to the allied arms ; and
Whereas, The hereditary members of this State Society of Cincinnati,, as
representing the officers of the Rhode Island Continental Line of the revolution,
recall with special satisfaction the friendship and harmony which existed between
the Rhode Island and French officers, when the Auxiliary army of Lieutenant-
General Count de Rochambeau was quartered in this State, and the generous
rivalry which existed between the French and American detachments at the
siege of Yorktown on the night of the 14th October, 1781, when the American
detachment, led by a company of the Rhode Island Continental Line and the
French detachment, respectively, assaulted and carried the two British redoubts ;
therefore
Resolved, That the Standing Committee of this Society respectfully memor-
ialize the Congress of the United States, and request that an act be passed
authorizing the President to invite the government of the French Republic to
send a suitable Representation from the French Army and Navy and Civil
Service to the celebration of "Yorktown," and that Congress appropriate a sufficient
sum to properly entertain any such Representation.
This was the intitative for the participation of the French Government
in the proposed celebration.
On the 5th October, 1881, the Standing Committee of the Rhode Island
State Society of the Order met in the State House, Providence, Rhode Island,
and appointed the Honorable Nathanael Greene, M.D., LL.D., then President
of the Society, and Asa Bird Gardiner, a Committee to carry into effect these
Resolutions by memorializing both houses of Congress and the President of
the United States, and by such further action as the Committee might deem
proper.
A suitable memorial was accordingly drafted by the Committee, addressed
to the President of the United States and to each House of Congress, which
was duly authenticated and transmitted.
The Centennial Commission of Congress having appointed a time on
which to hear the memorialists, and the venerable President, on account of the
infirmities of age, being unable to attend, the other member of the Committee,
proceeded to Washington, and laid the matter before the Centennial Commis-
sion in fuller detail, urging compliance with the Resolutions, this being the first
effort made in this behalf.
The Commission thereupon decided unanimously to request Congress to
invite the Government of the Republic of France to send an official representa-
tion to the Centennial celebration and to appropriate sufficient funds for the
proper reception of such a representation.
In accordance with the recommendation of the Commission, Congress, on
the i8th February, 1881, adopted a formal resolution of invitation to be trans-
mitted by the President of the United States, Honorable Chester Alan Arthur,
to the Government of the Republic of France, and especially appropriated
twenty thousand dollars for the expenses of the entertainment of the French
Representation.
The invitation was accordingly extended, and His Excellency M. Jules
Grevy, then President of the French RepubHc, in his official reply to the Presi-
dent of the United States, said :
"I have accepted this invitation in the name of the government of the
Republic and in that of the whole French people. This solemn testimony of
remembrance, which has been preserved by your fellow citizens, of the part taken
by eminent individuals of France in the glorious struggle which secured inde-
pendence and liberty to the United States, has called forth a feeling of deep
emotion in France, of which it has afforded me pleasure to be the interpreter
by informing General Noyes, your worthy representative, that, 'having taken
part in the toil, we would participate in the honor.' The American nation, which
has become so powerful and prosperous, by inviting a fraternal cooperation on
the occasion of this anniversary, forever consecrated the union which was created
by noble and liberal aspirations, and by our alliance on the battlefield, and which
our institutions, which are now of the same character, must draw closer and
develop for the welfare of both nations."
The acceptance of the invitation by the President of the French RepubHc
was received by the Secretary of State of the United States on the 29th April,
1881.
On the 3rd June, 1881, the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island
and Providence Plantations adopted Resolutions reciting the intimate relations
which had existed during the War of the Revolution for American Independ-
ence between the French Army and Navy Officers and the people of that State
and invited the representatives of France to visit the State and be its guests,
and that a committee be appointed for their reception and entertainment.
The Senate of the State of New York, on the 21st August, 1881, adopted
a Resolution for the entertainment of the Representation from France, while in
that State.
The Chairman of the Representation from France was General of Brigade
M. George-Ernest Boulanger, Knight Commander of the Legion of Honor, and
in the Representation were the descendants or representatives of several Orig-
inal Members of the Order of the Cincinnati in France, namely: M. Ernest-
Francois-Sigisbert, Comte d'Ollone, Knight of the Legion of Honor, and his
eldest son, M. Charles-Alexandre-Marie-Celeste-Vicomte d'Ollone ; Sous-Lieu-
tenant M. le Vicomte de Noailles, 44th Regiment of Infantry; Capitaine M. le
Baron Henri d'Aboville d'Etat Major; Capitaine M. le Baron Christian d'Abo-
ville, of the Territorial Army ; and M. Laur de Lestrade, together with several
of the descendants, in the female line, of the Marquis de Lafayete, viz. :
1. M. Octave-Gilbert Bureaux de Pusy, Officer of the Legion of
Honor, Commandant en second de I'Ecole Polytechnique.
2. M. Francois de Corcelles, Knight of the Legion of Honor, Rep-
resenting Department of Foreign AfTairs.
3. M. le Comte Paul de Beaumont.
4. M. Gaston de Sahune, Sous-Prefect of Toul.
5. Lieutenant Sigismond-Marie-Henri-Rene, Pourcet de Sahune,
25th Regiment of Dragoons.
The French Cominission arrived at the City of New York on the 5th Octo-
ber, 1881, and on the following day attended a review at Madison Square of
the First Division National Guard of the State of New York, at which were
officially present at the Reviewing Stand a Committee from the Society of the
Cincinnati, and Major-General Winfield Scott Hancock, U. S. Army, Com-
manding the Military Division of the Atlantic.
2i\
On the next day the Commission reviewed the Corps of Cadets at the
U. S. MiHtary Academy at West Point, at which the Committee of Cincinnati
were present.
On the nth October the Commission held a reception at Baltimore, and
were at the same time welcomed to that State by the Maryland Cincinnati.
On the arrival of the French Commission at Yorktown, Virginia, a number
of members of the Order of Cincinnati met them there and participated in the
Centennial celebration.
The aggregate of the military forces in camp on the site of the capitulation
was ten thousand four hundred and sixty, who were under the command of
Major General Hancock.
The Major General commanding gave several official entertainments, which
were attended by the Commission, including a Reception, at which were present
the President of the United States and his Cabinet, Justices of the Supreme
Court of the United States, Members of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States, General William T. Sherman, General in Chief
of the Army ; Governors of States of the Union and their Military Staffs, Mem-
bers of the Diplomatic Corps, Commissioners of States to the Centennial Cele-
bration ; officers of the Army and Navy of the United States and of the States'
Militia in Camp, and also the Representation of the Cincinnati who were at
Yorktown.
The Honorable Robert C. Winthrop of Massachusetts delivered the oration
on the day of the capitulation, which was followed by a review by the President
of the United States of all the Military Forces.
While en route returning to the City of New York from Yorktown, the
French Commission were, on the 27th October, officially entertained by the
Pennsylvania Cincinnati at a banquet at the Hotel Bellevue in the City of Phil-
adelphia, at which responses to toasts were made by His Excellency, Max Out-
rey, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of France, and General
of Brigade Boulanger, and by Count d'Ollone, who, in the following year, be-
came an hereditary member in the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati.
On the arrival of the French Commission in the City of New York, they
were officially met, on the 29th October, by a Committee of the Rhode Island
Cincinnati, who accompanied them to the City of Newport, Rhode Island.
The Committee appointed by the State of Rhode Island to officially receive
the French Commission in that State included a number of members of the
Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati.
On the 1st November the French Commission went to the City of Provi-
dence, Rhode Island, and, on the following day, proceeded to the City of Boston,
in the State of Massachusetts, where a delegation of the Massachusetts Cincin-
nati received them.
On the 4th November the Commission returned to the City of New York,
and, on the following day, they were entertained by the New York Chamber of
Commerce at a banquet at Delmonico's, Fifth avenue and 26th street, at which
were also present the Honorable Hamilton Fish, LL.D., President-General of
the Cincinnati, and other members of that Order.
Two days later a ball was given at the Metropolitan Casino, attended by
the French Commission.
Throughout this entire series of official courtesies to the French Commis-
sion, the Cincinnati were specially conspicuous.
They had initiated the movement for the invitation extended to the French
Government because they recognized in marked degree the potential services
235
France had rendered in securing American National Independence, and desired
especially to show their appreciation of such services.
II.
1 902.
Pursuant to a joint resolution of Congress, approved 2ist March, 1902, the
President of the United States, Honorable Theodore Roosevelt, extended to His
Excellency M. Emile Loubet, President of the French Republic, an invitation to
send an Official Commission to the United States, representing "the Govern-
ment and People of France" to be present on the occasion of the unveiling of a
bronze monument of Count de Rochambeau, in Lafayette Square, in the City
of Washington, District of Columbia, on the 24th May, 1902, the statue being
the production of the French Sculptor, Ferdinand Hamar.
An invitation was, at the same time, extended by President Roosevelt to
the families of de Rochambeau and de Lafayette to be present.
The resolution of Congress also made an appropriation sufficient to give
effect to the invitation.
President Loubet replied to the invitation from the President of the United
States as follows :
"Your Excellency has been pleased to inform me that, in virtue of a joint reso-
"lution of Congress, you have been charged to invite the French Government
"and People to join the Government and People of the United States in inaugu-
"rating, on the 24th of May next, the monument erected to the memory of
"Marshal de Rochambeau.
"I gladly accept this invitation in the name of the Government of the
"Republic and in that of the entire French People.
"In fraternally taking part in this solemnity the American nation once more
"gives evidence of its remembrance of those French citizens who shared its dan-
"gers and glory in its struggle for independence ; it has, furthermore, desired
"to confirm the friendship and draw still closer the bonds which, since that most
"memorable period, have united our two countries. France will hail this mani-
"festation with deep emotion.
"In tendering you, in her name, her sincerest thanks, I beg you to accept,
"dear and great friend, the fervent wishes which I entertain for Your Excellency's
"own happiness and for the prosperity of the United States of America."
Upon receipt of this acceptance, the President of the United States ap-
pointed a special Governmental Committee to receive the Commission, consist-
ing of Assistant Secretary of State Herbert H. D. Peirce, Colonel Theodore A.
Bingham, United States Army, and Commander Raymond P. Rogers, United
States Navy.
This Committee was officially designated the "President's Committee," and
acted under the President's instructions. It accompanied the French Commis-
sion from its arrival until its departure, and attended it at all entertainments
and on all occasions of ceremony.
The Chairman of the French Commission, appointed by President Loubet,
was General of Division H. J. Brugere, General in Chief of the French Army,
and Vice-President Conseil Superieur de la Guerre.
The Navy was represented by Vice-Admiral Fournier, Inspector General
of the French Navy, and among the other members of this distinguished Com-
mission, military and civil, were General of Brigade Ferdinand, Count de Chal-
lendar, Officer of the Legion of Honor and Commander of the 14th Brigade of
Infantry in the Garrison of Paris, whose grandfather, the Chevalier de Qial-
lendar, had served as a Captain in the Regiment Royal Auvergne, Infantry, in
the Auxiliary Anny in Rhode Island and at Yorktown, 1780-1782.
President Loubet's personal representative on the Commission was his Aide
de Camp, Lieutenant-Colonel Meaux Saint Marc.
The Government of France, in sending the Commission to do honor to the
Auxiliary Army in the dedication of a Statue of its Chief, at the same time de-
cided also to do honor to the memory of the Chevalier de Ternay, who, as Chef
d'Escadre, had commanded the Squadron which convoyed that army to New-
port, Rhode Island, in 1780, and who died while there, and whose remains
were interred in Trinity Churchyard in that City.
The French Commission, before departing in the Armoured Cruiser
"Gaulois" from Toulon for the Port of New York, officially called upon Presi-
dent Loubet in Paris, who, in addressing them, said :
"The bonds which so long united the Governments of the two Republics, as
"well as the peoples of the United States and France, render the Mission which
"you are about to accomplish particularly important. President Roosevelt has
"been good enough to become, at every opportunity, the mouthpiece of the
"sympathy uniting the two Nations and I am extremely pleased to let him know,
"through you, how much I share these sentiments.
"You will respond fully to the sentiments which impel me to send this
"mission, representing worthily, as you will, the Army, the Navy and the
"Universities of our dear country. You are young and energetic men, invested
"with very high State functions, and you are going to a country where energy is
"a religion and where youth is loved. I anticipate for you the good welcome
"which that enthusiastic and mighty people beyond the ocean has ever reserved
"for those who have gone there to represent France."
After consultation with the President of the United States, His Excellency
M. Jules Cambon, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary from France
to the United States, announced that the French Commission, on arrival, would
proceed at once to the City of Washington, and that the official schedule of
courtesies to be extended to the Commission would include a reception by the
President ; trip to the Tomb of Washington at Mount Vernon ; visit to the Cap-
itol of the United States and to the Congressional Library, and a dinner at the
Executive Mansion, and that on the 24th May, 1902, the Rochambeau Statue
in Lafayette Square, would be unveiled, followed by a Reception at the Em-
bassy, and, on the 25th May, the Commission would visit the National Cemetery
at Arlington and the Army Post at Fort Meyer, and then proceed to Niagara'
Falls, and en route back to the City of New York would visit the United States
Military Academy at West Point and review the Corps of Cadets.
The "Gaulois" was, by direction of the President of the United States, met,
while en route from Toulon, by tlve Cruiser "Olympia," Flagship of the North
Atlantic Squadron, and by the Battleships "Kearsarge" and "Alabama," and
escorted to the Harbor of New Yoik, where appropriate military honors were
rendered from the Garrison Post of Fort Columbus.
On the 24th May, the Rochambeau Statue, placed at the southwest comer
of Lafayette Square, was unveiled, with appropriate ceremonies, in the pres-
ence of the Cabinet of the President, Justices of the Supreme Court, Gover-
nors of States, General Officers of the Order of the Cincinnati and other dis-
tinguished official personages and a large concourse of people, the ceremonies
237
including an address by the President of the United States, followed by a reply
from the Ambassador of France, and an address by Brevet Brigadier General
Horace Porter, late United States Army, Ambassador Extraordinary and Pleni-
potentiary from the United States to France, and an oration by the Honorable
Cabot Lodge, Senator in the Congress of the United States from Massachusetts,
on the life and services of Count de Rochambeau, which was followed by a
review of two Brigades of detachments from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps
of the United States, preceded by a contingent, under arms, of about one hun-
dred officers and sailors of the Cruiser "Gaulois."
The following was the address of President Roosevelt :
"I am sure that I give utterance to the sentiments of every citizen of
"the United States, of every American to whom the honor and glory of our
"Republic in the past, as in the present, are dear, when I say that we prize
"this fresh proof of the friendship of the French people, not only because it
"is necessarily pleasing to us to have the friendship of a nation so mighty
"in war and so mighty in peace as France has ever shown herself to be, but
"because it is peculiarly pleasant to feel that after a century and a quarter
"of independent existence as a nation, the French Republic should feel that
"in that century and a quarter we have justified the sacrifices France made
"on our behalf.
"I am sure, my fellow citizens, that you welcome the chance which
"brings it about that this Embassy of the French people should come to our
"shores at the very time when we, in our turn, have done our part in start-
"ing on the path of independence a sister republic — the Republic of Cuba.
"Mr. Ambassador, the American people, peculiarly because they are
"the American people, and because the history of the United States has
"been so interwoven with what France has done for us ; also because they
"are part of the whole world, which acknowledges, and must ever acknowl-
"edge, in a peculiar degree, the headship of France along so many lines in
"the march of progress and civilization— the American people, through me,
"extend their thanks to you, and in their name I beg to express my ac-
"knowledgments to the Embassy that has come here, and to President
"Loubet and all of the French nation, both for the deed and for the magnan-
"imous spirit that laid behind the doing of the deed, and I thank you."
At this unveiling of the Rochambeau Statue, the General Officers of the
Cincinnati were given, according to established rule, precedence and place next
after Governors of States and Territories.
As the French Commission were to return to the City of New York prelim-
inary to proceeding to the City of Newport, Rhode Island, Members of the
Order of the Cincinnati resident in the City of New York and vicinity sug-
gested the special propriety of giving a dinner to the Commission, as evidence
of the continued appreciation, by the Hereditary Members of the Order, of
the potential services rendered by France to America during the War of the
Revolution for American Independence.
This patriotic suggestion met with heartiest approval, and the courtesy,
thus extended to the French Commission on their acceptance, became one of the
most notable in the history of the City of New York.
The immediate details were entrusted to a special committee, which con-
sisted of James M. Varnum, Asa Bird Gardiner, Henn.' Hutchinson Hollister,
Charles Howland Russell and William Watts Sherman, of the Rhode Island
Cincinnati ; Charles Isham, of the Connecticut Cincinnati ; Nicholas Fish, Talbot
238
Olyphant, Francis Key Pendleton, John Alexander Rutherfurd and Philip
Schuyler, of the New York Cincinnati ; John Lambert Cadwalader, of the New
Jersey Cincinnati ; Richard Somers Hayes, of the Pennsylvania Cincinnati, and
Henry Rieman Duval, of the Maryland Cincinnati.
Preliminary to the proposed entertainment, a cable message was sent to
the President of the French Republic on the subject begging him to accept
for himself and for the Government of France, on behalf of the Order, "the
expression of their respectful and fraternal regard."
President Loubet was at the time absent from France, but on his return
to Paris, on the 31st May, 1902, His Excellency M. Delcasse, Minister of
Foreign Affairs, cabled reply to the Consul General of France at the Port of
New York, as follows:
"The President of the Republic directs you to express to the members of the
"Order of the Cincinnati his sincere thanks for the kindly sentiments which they
"have expressed to him."
The French Commission returned to the City of New York on the 27th
May, 1902, and, on the afternoon of that day, reviewed the First and Second
Brigades of the New York State National Guard at Madison Square in that
City.
The Commission were then escorted to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel at Fifth
Avenue and Thirty- Fourth Street in that City by Squadron "A" of the National
Guard.
In the evening, the dinner to the Commission by the resident members of
the Order of the Cincinnati was given in the Astor Gallery of the Waldorf-
Astoria Hotel, which was beautifully decorated for the occasion with the earlier
and present flags of France and the United States and with the banner of the
Society designed in 1786 by Major General Frederick William Augustus, Baron
de Steuben, Knight of the Order of Fidelity, and Inspector General of tht
American Army.
There were present the Commission, their official escorts, and other dis-
tinguished guests, including the General and Flag Officers respectively of the
Army and Navy of the United States, stationed in the City of New York and
vicinity, the Superintendent United States Military Academy at West Point, and
Major General commanding the National Guard of the State of New York,
together with Members of the Order.
The Honorable Nicholas Fish, Assistant Secretary General, and President
of the New York State Society of the Cincinnati presided and acted as Toast
Master, assisted by the Honorable James M. Vamum, Vice-President of the
Rhode Island State Society.
The following were the toasts :
1. The President of the United States.
Responded to by His Excellency, Brevet Brigadier General Horace Porter,
late United States Army, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the
United States to the Republic of France.
2. The President of the French Republic.
Responded to by His Excellency M. Jules Cambon, Ambassador Extraor-
dinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the United States.
3. The memory of His Excellency General Washington, Commander in
Chief, First President General of the Order of the Cincinnati.
Received standing and in silence.
239
4- The Army of France.
Responded to by His Excellency General Brugere, General in Chief of the
French Army.
5. The Navy of France.
Responded to by His Excellency Vice-Admiral Fournier, Inspector Gen-
eral of the French Navy.
6. The. memory of Count de Rochambeau, Marshal of France, and Vice-
President of the Order of the Cincinnati in France.
Responded to by the Count de Rochambeau, second son of M. le Marquis
de Rochambeau, deceased, who had been a member in the Rhode Island State
Society of the Cincinnati.
7. The Institution of the Order of the Cincinnati.
Responded to by Honorable Asa Bird Gardiner, Secretary-General of the
Order and President of the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati.*
On the 28th May, the Commission visited the Tomb in Riverside Park, in
the City of New York, of General Ulysses S. Grant, and then took luncheon at
the Claremont in that Park, and afterward attended a Reception on the
"Gaulois" in New York Harbor, at which were also present the special Com-
mittee of the Cincinnati above mentioned and other distinguished citizens.
On the 29th May the Commission departed by night train for the City of
Newport, to be present there on the public holiday known as "Decoration" or
"Memorial Day," 30th May, 1902, for the purpose of honoring the memory
of the dead of the Union Army and Navy in the great War of the Rebellion,
and to do special honor to the memory of the Chevalier de Ternay.
At the request of the "President's Committee," of which Assistant Secre-
tary of State Peirce was Chairman, the President of the Rhode Island State
Society of the Cincinnati supervised and arranged the details of the official
Reception of the French Commission in Newport, which included their formal
welcome by the Governor of the State and by the Cincinnati of Rhode Island,
and by the Municipal Authorities of the City on their arrival, followed
by a procession to Trinity Churchyard under military escort, and appropriate
ceremonies at the Tomb of Chevalier de Ternay, and procession thence to the
Newport Casino on Bellevue Avenue, and review there of the Regular Army,
Navy and Militia Forces in Newport and vicinity, and of Posts of the Grand
Army of the Republic, followed by a civic Reception at the Casino and a
Banquet at that place.
Upon the arrival of the Commission on the morning of the 30th May, 1902,
in the City of Newport, His Excellency the Governor of the State of Rhode
Island, with his Military Staff, and the President of the Rhode Island State
Society of the Cincinnati with a Deputation from that Military Order, and
the Mayor of the City in turn formally welcomed the Commission to the State.
The Address of welcome by the President of the Rhode Island State So-
ciety, the Honorable Asa Bird Gardiner, was as follows:
Mr. Ambassador, General Brugere, and Associates of the Representation :
The pleasing duty devolves upon me, on behalf of the Society of the Cin-
cinnati in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, to welcome
you to the State.
•The response was afterward published by the Special Committee.
240
In October, 1784, the Society welcomed and entertained in this city their
brother member, Major-General the Marquis de Lafayette, and in October, 1881,
welcomed the official Representation sent by the French Government to attend
the Centennial Celebration of the Capitulation of a British Army and Squadron
at Yorktown, Virginia, on the 19th October, 1781, to the Allied Forces of France
and the United States.
That Representation came to the United States on invitation of Congress
as a result of a Resolution offered by the present President of the Rhode Island
Cincinnati, and unanimously adopted at their annual meeting, held, pursuant to
law, in the Senate Chamber, State House, Providence, R. I., on Monday', 5th July,
1880, to memorialize Congress to invite the Government of France to send a
Representation to that National Centennial Celebration.
Under direction of the Society, the mover of the Resolution presented the
Memorial to Congress and also submitted the matter to the joint Commission
appointed by Congress with the result alread}' indicated.
The Rhode Island Cincinnati have ever been mindful of the Alliance of the
6th February, 1778, with France, which finally secured the Independence of the
United States on a lasting foundation.
The Rhode Island Continental Line of the Revolution had, while at Valley
Forge, on the 6th May, 1778, paraded under Lafayette on those bare Pennsylvania
hills, to celebrate, under Washington's orders, the Alliance with France, of which
information had just been received.
Their intimacy with their French Allies was ever closer than that of any other
American troops.
When Lieutenant-General and Vice-Admiral M. le Comte d'Estaing landed
his Co-operating Army above here on Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay,
after running the target of the British Batteries in this harbor, Major-General
John Sullivan's Aide-de-Camp visited him, and it is a pleasure to know that in
the Cincinnati delegation which welcomes you is his grandson and Representa-
tative Bvt. Brigadier-General Hazard Stevens, an officer who received the Medal
of Honor from Congress by reason of having most distinguished himself by gal-
lantry in action during the War of the RebeUion.
One of the original members of the Rhode Island Cincinnati was a lieutenant
in M. le Comte d'Estaing's fleet and subsequently, as a Capitaine de Vaisseau in
command of a ship of the line, gave his life in defence of the tricolor flag
of France.
His grandson is now an hereditary member in this State Society.
When Lieutenant-General M. le Comte de Rochambeau arrived here on the
loth July, 1780, he found the ist Regiment Rhode Island Continental Infantry,
under Colonel Christopher Greene, on duty in this city, where it remained under
Rochambeau's direct orders until December, 1780, when he ordered the regiment
to proceed to West Point, N. Y.
Colonel Christopher Greene's Great-grandson and Representative, Mr. Ed-
ward Aborn Greene, is here present as an Hereditary member of this State
Society to assist in welcoming you.
As before remarked, it was the peculiar good fortune of the Regular Rhode
Island Infantry (always known as "Continental"), to be more intimately
associated with the French Allies than any other American troops, and the
Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati was principally composed of
Rhode Island officers.
Lafayette declared, on the 26th October, 1784, that "it hath been the lot of the
French Army and Navy to receive particular favors in this State for which
they entertain an affectionate sense of gratitude."
When the Auxiliary Army, under Rochambeau, joined the American Con-
tinental Army under Washington on the Hudson, the Rhode Island Continental
Infantry were there and were never again separated from their Brethren of
the French Army until the latter marched to Boston via Rhode Island to
embark.
Baron Cromot du Bourg, Aide de Camp on Rochambeau's staff, has specially-
mentioned them in his Diary.
They were with their French Brethren in the field of operations before-
241
the City of New York in July, 1781, and then proceeded on the long march
to Virginia.
On the 14th October, 17S1. General Washington directed an assault on two
important British Redoubts, Nos. 9 and 10.
The capture of the first was assigned to a detachment of the Auxiliary
Army under that gallant Veteran, Marechal de Camp M. le Baron de Viomenil,
who became a member of the Society of the Cincinnati in France.
The capture of the second was assigned to a detachment of the American
Army under Major General, the Marquis de Lafayette.
The same night, on a given signal, the two detachments leaping from the
trenches emulously strove, under a tremendous fire, to accomplish their allotted
task.
The leading Company of Lafayette's command was from the Rhode Island
Continentals under Captain Stephen Olney, who was the first man to mount the
entrenchments of Redoubt No. 10 and was dangerously wounded, losing an arm.
His grandson and Representative in the Cincinnati and Secretary of this
State Society, Mr. George Washington Olney, assists in welcoming you to-day.
Both redoubts were captured in the most heroic manner, and many of the
gallant French officers who participated in the assault subsequently became mem-
bers of the Order of the Cincinnati, in whose Institution of 1783 a principal
object was tu perpetuate the memory of the alliance with France which brought
such lasting glory and honor to both countries, and which caused such enduring
friendships between the officers of the two Services.
Your arrival here permits the Rhode Island Cincinnati to express their senti-
ments of respect and esteem.
On their rolls have been and are names of hereditary members whose pro-
positi belonged to the Society of the Cincinnati in France.
Among these many be mentioned the late Marquis Duquesne, whose ancestor
was the great Admiral under Louis XIV.
Three generations of this family have been members of the Order of the
Cincinnati.
The late Brigadier-General of Russian Cavalry, the Marquis de Traversay, of
this State Society, was grandson of a Capitaine de Vaisseau in France, an Original
Member of the Cinciimati there, who was sent to Russia by Louis XVI, at request
of the Czarina Catharine, to instruct the Russian Navy and rose to be an Admiral.
The late Marquis de Rochambeau, of this State Society, whose second son is
in your Representation, was the third of the name to be members of the Order.
The Count d'OUone, an hereditary member of this State Society, is to-day
serving France as a Captain of the 24th Regiment of Dragoons.
His late father was a member of this State Society, and his grandfather,
Marechal de Camp M. le Comte d'Ollone, formerly of the Auxiliary Army, was
an Original Member in France.
Another hereditary member in this State Society is the Count Von Stedingk,
a Captain of the Royal Life Guards of Sweden, whose grandfather of same name
was a Colonel in the Regiment Royal Suedois of the French Army, and was
badly wounded at the Siege of Savannah, under M. le Comte d'Estaing, on the
9th October, 1779.
He became an Original Member of the Society in France, and afterward a
Field Marshal in Sweden.
Thus it will be perceived that in this State Society of the Military Order of
the Cincinnati, founded by Washington and the French and American officers,
the .'Mliance of 1778-1783 is ever peculiarly cherished and proper descenda.its of
Original French Members always find here an affectionate welcome.
Indeed, for the Annual Meeting to be held pursuant to law in the Senate
Chamber, Sate House, in this city, on the 4th July proximo, there is pending the
application of the great-grandson of Vice-Admiral M. le Comte de Bougainville,
Senator of France, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, and Fellow of the
Royal Society of London, who served in the French Navy successively in Rhode
Island with M. le Comte d'Estaing and then at Yorktown with M. le Comte de
Grasse.
His son, Rear-Admiral M. le Baron de Bougainville, became an hereditary
member in France.
242
Thus, Gentlemen of the Representation, you will perceive that the association
of this State Society of the Cincinnati with their French Brethren has been main-
tained since 178.3, and they trust that your visit to the United States will be both
memorable and enjoyable.
The Commission were then taken under mihtary escort to the grave of
Chief d'Escadre de Ternay in Trinity Churchyard where appropriate religious
services were had and a floral wreath placed upon the Tomb in the name of the
French Republic.
Escorted as before, the procession then proceeded to Bellevue Avenue and
thence to the Casino, where General Brugere reviewed the Detachments
of the Regular Army and Navy of the United States and Militia of the State
of Rhode Island, together with Posts of the Grand Army of the Republic com-
posed of Veteran Soldiers and Sailors of the War of the Rebellion,
The Newport Artillery Company, chartered in 1749, acted as a special
Guard of Honor.
The reception at the Casino was attended by people of distinction in New-
port, and was followed by a banquet there, but without toasts.
The Commission were then driven to various points of interest in the City
and to Fort Adams, Newport Harbor, and, on return, took the railroad train for
Boston, where they visited, on the following day. Bunker Hill battle ground,
Harvard University, The Public Library and other points of interest, and then
returned to the City of New York and re-embarked on the Cruiser "Gaulois."
Throughout their visit to the United States, the Commission were the
recipients of every official courtesy which it was possible to extend, in order to
show the appreciation of the Republic of the United States to the Republic of
France, and among these, of particular significance, were the attentions of the
Cincinnati.
At the annual meeting of the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati,
held, pursuant to law, in the Senate Chamber of the State House, Newport,
on the 4th of July, 1902, His Excellency M. Emile Loubet, President of the
French Republic, was duly elected an Honorary Member of the Order.
The Presdent of the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati, Sec-
retary-General of the Order, having officially notified President Loubet of his
election, the following letter of acceptance was received in reply :
(^Translation.)
"Presidency of the Republic,
"Paris, December i, 1902. ,
"His Excellency General Porter has transmitted the communication
"in which you notify me that at the re-union of the Members of the Society
"of the Cincinnati on the Fourth of July last, I was unanimously elected
"an Honorary Member of the Society.
"I highly appreciate the sentiment that has prompted the Society to
"confer upon me this honor. It is doubly agreeable to me to accept it, as
"recalling the glorious confraternity of arms which has united the two
"Nations and as a new and especial token of the ties of friendship which,
"since the establishment of the great American Republic, have never ceased
"to exist between France and the United States.
"Believe me. General, with assurances of high consideration,
(Signed) Emile Loubet."
Subsequently, General Brugere wrote to the Honorable James M. Varnum,
under date of nth December, 1902, in which he said:
"The Members of the French Mission, of which I had the honor to be head,
"were especially touched by the cordial reception extended to them in New
"York by the Members of the Order of the Cincinnati.
"They will never forget the charming re-union of the 27tli May, 1902,
"which showed how close and lasting are the bonds which have united the
"United States and France since their soldiers fought and shed their blood,
"side by side, under the leadership of the great Washington.
"I requested the Government of the French Republic to do us the favor
"of sending to the Order of the Cincinnati some object of art as a testimonial
"of our warm sympathy and profound gratitude and I am happy to be able
"to announce that my request was favorably received, and that the Minister
"of Foreign Affairs will soon transmit to you through our Ambassador, a vase
"from the National Manufactury at Sevres, which was selected by myself, and
"wtiich I beg you will have placed among the Archives and valued possessions
"of your Order as a souvenir of our too brief sojourn with you."
In due season this magnificent testimonial was received and deposited
temporarily in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the City of New York,
and suitable acknowledgment made by the Secretary-General.
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11