Untitled Document

7.1 Order and Organization of the March
7.2 The March through Connecticut, June 18-July 3, 1781
7.3 The Return March through Connecticut, October 23-November 9, 1782

Preparations for the march had been going on for months before the French forces broke camp. In April Quartermaster-General de Beville had used a visit to Washington's headquarters in New Windsor to inspect the roads from Newport to New York. Upon his return his assistants began drawing maps and picking campsites. Jeremiah Wadsworth began collecting the vast amounts of supplies needed to feed thousands of men, as many as 1,500 horses and close to 1,000 oxen! By mid-May the French had hired in Hartford "a number of Laborers employed in building Ovens and making the necessary preparations for the accommodation of said Army on their march."[151] Rochambeau's force was quite small by European standards: barely 4,800 officers and men on March 1, 1781.[152]

REGIMENT	PRESENT OFFICERS AND MEN OF ALL ARMS	DETACHED	HOSPITALS	Newport	TOTAL	Renegades
Bourbonnais	852	30	32	-	914	-
Soissonnais	971	8	16	-	995	2
Saintonge	882	2	26	1	911	1
Royal Deux-Ponts	912	-	21	-	933	-
Artillerie	404	-	9	-	413	-
Mineurs	21	-	2	-	23	-
Voltigueurs de Lauzun in Newport	330	12	13	-	355	-
Hussars de Lauzun in Lebanon	212	15	6	-	233	-
	4,584	67	125	1	4,777	3

On June 11, 1781, just as he was about to leave for New York, a convoy carrying 592 infantry replacements and two companies, 68 men, of artillery, arrived in Boston, but only about 400 were healthy enough to join their units. These replacements had been drawn from the regiments of Auvergne and Neustrie for the Bourbonnais, Languedoc for Bourbonnais, Soissonnais, and Saintonge, Boulonnais for Saintonge, Anhalt and LaMarck for the Royal Deux-Ponts, and Barrois for Lauzun's Legion. Of these 660 men, some 260 men afflicted with scurvy and 200 healthy arrivals remained with Choisy as a garrison in Newport; so did the siege artillery with some 30 officers and men, the sick, and a small detachment, about 90 men under Major de Prez of the Royal Deux-Ponts, to guard the stores in Providence. Rochambeau added 200 men from his regiments to the garrison and was forced, much against his wishes, to detach 700 men to replenish the thinned ranks of the navy. Since Lauzun's Legion, almost 600 men, followed a separate route to the south of the main army, the French forces marching through Connecticut numbered somewhere around 450 officers and 2,900 enlisted men.

But the actual convoy was much larger: despite bad experiences earlier, Rochambeau again hired American wagoners "for two dollars (sic) per day," so Lauberdière, and 15 mostly female cooks for the 15 brigades of the 250 wagons of four oxen each in his train.[153]As officers completed their equipment, they hired servants and purchased horses: even a poor sous-lieutenant such as Schwerin kept two servants for the campaign. Baron Closen was able to acquired one of the most important status symbols of the eighteenth century, a Black servant, when he was able to hire a man named Peter, "born of free parents in Connecticut,"[154] who accompanied him to Europe in 1783. Rochambeau and his fellow generals had 8, 10, or more servants, some free, some slaves. On June 9, 1781, the French advertised in the Newport Mercury that on Wednesday, June 13, "at 10 o'clock in the morning, at Captain Caleb Gardner's wharf, A number of Negro Men, Women and Boys, lately captured by his Most Christian Majesty's fleet" would be sold to the highest bidder. In what seems to have been a pre-public sale, Rochambeau on June 5, 1781, acquired a black slave who had been captured during Admiral Destoches' expedition to Virginia in February 1781 for 170 piastres.[155] If the ratio of two domestics per officer was observed throughout Rochambeau's little army, the practice would have added as many as 1,000 domestiques, the equivalent of a whole infantry regiment, to the march![156]

As the troops got ready to break camp, tensions ran high among officers anxious for the glory and honor of a victorious campaign. Nobody wanted to share the fate of aide-major-general Du Bouchet, appointed chief of staff in Newport, who felt slighted though he was the perfect choice for the position. When Lauberdière offered to buy his horses since he would have no need of them in Newport, Du Bouchet took that for an insult and challenged Lauberdière to a duel. Lauberdière was "seriously wounded" in this affair d'honneur," Du Bouchet was almost killed. Mauduit du Plessis, second to both of them, had to help pull Lauberdière's sword out of Du Bouchet's shoulder, where it had lodged underneath the collar bone. "For a few days" even Lauberdière's life was in danger. It had been his first duel, but he had defended his honor so valiantly that he received "demonstrations of the most conspicuous concern," if not approval, "from all his comrades and all the general and superior officers." Both duelists had to stay in bed for weeks, but once they were able to walk again, Choisy, in command in Newport, invited all remaining officers to a reconciliation dinner where the two antagonists embraced and the affair was over. Lauberdière left Newport on June 23 and, tracing the route of the main army, rejoined Rochambeau's staff at White Plains and marched on to Virginia, where he also met Du Bouchet again: Admiral de Barras had transported the Newport detachment to Yorktown, and both men got the opportunity to use their martial skills in battle against the English.[157]

On June 11, 1781, the troops crossed over from Newport to Providence. There they waited for the re-enforcements to join up with them. On June 16, Blanchard, who also traveled with two servants, "set out in the morning for General Washington's camp … stopping at the different places where our troops were to be stationed, in order to examine if anything was needed. The Americans supplied us with nothing; we were obliged to purchase everything and to provide ourselves with the most trifling things. It is said that it is better to make war in an enemy's country than among one's friends."[158] That same day the replacements joined the their units[159] and two days later, on Monday, June 18, the first division set out for Waterman's Tavern in Rhode Island, their first stop. Rochambeau, who marched with the first division, had established the following order:

1) The regiment Bourbonnais under the comte de Rochambeau, to leave on June 18
2) The regiment Royal Deux-Ponts under baron de Vioménil, to leave on June 19
3) The regiment Soissonnais under comte de Vioménil, to leave on June 20
4) The regiment Saintonge under comte de Custine, to leave on June 21

The eight twelve-pounders and six mortars of the field artillery were divided into four detachments with one detachment attached to each of the four divisions. Lauzun's Legion left Lebanon on the 20^th , the day the 1st division reached Windham, pursuing a route about 10-15 miles to the south of the main army, protecting its flank.

Each division was led by an Assistant Quarter Master General and preceded by workmen commanded by an engineer who filled potholes and removed obstacles. [160] Then came the division proper. In the case of the 1st division, this meant that the vicomte de Rochambeau led the column. [161] Then came the officers and men of the Bourbonnais and the guns of the field artillery drawn by horses. The seven wagons of Rochambeau's baggage headed the baggage train, followed by the ten regimental wagons (one per company) with the tents of the soldiers and the luggage of the officers. Each captain had been allowed 300 pounds, each lieutenant 150 pounds of baggage for a total of 1,500 pounds per regiment distributed on wagons drawn by 4 oxen each. The staff was allowed a separate wagon; a wagon for stragglers completed the regimental assignment of twelve wagons. [162] Besides their muskets, the soldiers, dressed in gaiters, wigs, and tight-fitting woolen underwear, carried equipment weighing almost 60 pounds. Behind the regimental train followed the three wagons assigned to Blanchard, and the division's hospital wagons. Eight wagons carried the military chest under the supervision of chief treasurer Monsieur de Baulay. [163] Wagons for the butchers, loaded with bread, with fodder, the "King's stock," and the brigade of wheelwrights and shoeing smiths brought up the rear. Even the Provost had his own wagon for the instruments of his trade. The make-up of the 2^nd through 4^th divisions followed the same pattern. Behind their QMG guide came the individual regiments, followed by a quarter of the field artillery, part of the baggage train of the headquarters staff led by the baggage of the general in charge of the division and the field hospital down to wheelwrights and shoeing smiths.

In order to avoid having to march in the heat of the day, the regiments got up early: reveille was around 2:00 a.m., by 4:00 a.m. the regiments were on their way. The next campsite, usually 12 to 15 miles away, was reached between 8:00 a.m. and noon, and the soldiers set up their tents. [164]Afterwards they received meat, bread, and supplies "in front of the camp." [165]Until Newtown was reached "we were much too far from the enemy to take any other precautions than those, which our own discipline required,"[166] and the convoy proceeded "hardly militarily." The general officers lodged in a near-by tavern, the company-grade officers slept, two to a tent, with their men. The early arrival provided an opportunity to meet the locals who came from afar to see the French, and for dancing with the "beautiful maidens" of Connecticut; music courtesy of the regimental bands.

The description of Connecticut from the Americanische Reissbeschreibung of Georg Daniel Flohr is typical for that found in other journals. It contains, in a nutshell, all of the major events along the route. His regiment, the Royal Deux-Ponts, which formed the second division, left Newport on June 10, 1781, for Providence. Then,
"On June 19 we broke camp and marched 15 miles to Waterman's House, a pretty
Gentleman's manor and set up camp there.
On the 20th we broke camp there again and marched 15 miles to Plainfield, again a beautiful Gentleman's manor in a beautiful area.
On the 21^st again 15 miles to Windham, a little town,
On the 22^nd 16 miles to Bolton, also a little town in the mountains.
On the 23^rd 11 miles until Hartford, a rather large town on a much-navigated river, which
therefore has a lot of trade. There we had rest days until the 27^th . [167]

On the 27^th we broke camp from there again and marched 12 miles to Farmington, a little town. As soon as we had set up our camp there and the Turkish Music could be heard playing prettily, such a large number of inhabitants assembled there that one was surprised and had to wonder where all these people were coming from since we had encountered very few houses along our way during the daytime. This coming together of inhabitants continued to happen every day. As soon as we reached another camp we were immediately surrounded by Americans. Among them one saw very few male persons however but only women folk: if one saw a man among them it was unfailingly an old man or a cripple because all men folk from their 14^th until their 60^th year had to join the colors. Because of this there was a great dearth of men there. Almost everyone there nearly perished since the English treated them very badly at the time. But there was no lack of women folk, which is why they oftentimes came into
our camp to buy out soldiers from among us which was denied them however very curtly so that they had to go home again with empty hands.

On the 28^th we departed again from there and marched 13 miles to Barne's Tavern, an inn along the road. We set up our camp very close to it. We again had very numerous visits from the American maidens who circled the camp on horseback and who appeared just like English horsemen. This afternoon our MM generals gave a ball on the open field in front of our camp and invited the American maidens to it. This lasted
into the dark night. All joy could be seen there what with dancing and singing as well with the soldiers as with the officers who had fun with the English girls. After that we went to sleep in our tents, but the girls went home all sad.
On the 29^th we broke camp again and marched 13 miles to Break Neck, a little town in the mountains in a most beautiful area where the entertainments were even greater what with dancing and frolicking with the lovely beautiful American girls who lived
there. All these entertainments took place in the open air. On the 30^th we broke camp again and marched 13 miles until Newtown, a little town;
along the way we encountered a nice hamlet called Gutbahr,[168] about 2 English miles long. We set up our camp quite close to Newtown and had rest days there, which caused us especially great joy to have time to have fun with the beautiful girls.
On July 3 we broke camp again and marched 16 miles to Ridgebury; along the way we passed through a hamlet called Danbury. We set our camp up near Ridgebury, a beautiful Gentleman's manor; there we had numerous visits again.
On the 4^th again 10 miles to Bedford, quite close to the North River and New York.
On the 5^th vwe made 7 miles to North Castle."

With the arrival in North Castle, the regiment had crossed over into New York.
Flohr's account of the march through Connecticut is singular in that it was written by an enlisted man: needs to be compared with, and supplemented by, the accounts of officers. The most useful are those of Baron Closen and Cromot du Bourg, both aides-de-camp to Rochambeau, of Lieutenant Clermont-Crèvecœur, who marched with the artillery in the first division, Captain Berthier, the Assistant Quarter-Master General guide of the 4^th division, and of comte de Lauberdière.[169]

In the early morning of June 19, the first division crossed into Connecticut (SITE 1), "one of the most productive in cattle, wheat, and every kind of commodity," so Clermont-Crèvecœur. "It is unquestionably the most fertile province in America, for its soil yields everything necessary to life. The pasture is so good here that the cattle are of truly excellent quality. The beef is exceptionally good. The poultry and game are exquisite." A few lines farther down, the young lieutenant called Connecticut "one of America's best provinces. … You would think yourself in Europe when you cast your eyes over the orchards, the apple trees, and the fields. The landscape is the same. This country has a very healthy and salubrious climate. We have seen old people here of both sexes who enjoy perfect health at a very advanced age. Their old age is gay and amiable, and not at all burdened with the infirmities that are our lot in our declining years. The people of this province are very hard-working, but they do not labor to excess, as our peasants do. They cultivate only for their physical needs. The sweat of their brow is not expended on satisfying the extravagant desires of the rich and luxury loving; they limit themselves to enjoying what is truly necessary. Foreigners are cordially welcomed by these good people. You find a whole family bustling about to make you happy. Such are the general characteristics of the people of Connecticut."(3) Young comte de Lauberdière voiced even stronger emotions in a stream-of-consciousness description of Connecticut in which he laments the end of innocence of this earthly paradise: "A charming simplicity of manners reigns throughout this land. The war is a scourge, of which they feel the full weight, but within their families nothing can trouble them, they display a happy air about them. … New Englanders … quietly work their fields" without seeking unnecessary comforts. "Their charming daughters … truly meet the concept that people have formed of shepherdesses and which one does not encounter in Europe any more outside pastoral plays and in poems. … Happiness seemed to be the destiny of these lands before the war, but: O Europeans! You have discovered this vast continent, and you have soiled it with your transgressions. You have established colonies here the laws, the morals of which are supposed to provide happiness. You will change the one and tarnish the other. Already emigrants from all nations abound … they will introduce the caprice, the morals of Europe … (sic) but I will stop here and quit an image that hurts me to trace and which I will never finish." [170]

All journals agree that Plainfield, their first stop, was but "a collection of about thirty houses around its meeting-house" (1), which was reached "on very bad roads. The artillery and supply wagons arrived very late," though the late arrival was partly due to the troops not being used to marching after almost a year in Newport. (3) The campsite was located beyond Plainfield, "on the right bordered by a forest and on the left by the road to Cantorbery (sic)."(5) (SITE 2) Rochambeau and some of his officers stayed with Captain Eleazar Cady (SITE 3); others were put up in the Eaton Tavern (SITE 4). [171]

By the time the fourth division reached Plainfield, word had spread about the French music and "[a]ll the people in the neighborhood came to visit our camps. We furnished the music and they danced. Each day there was a new party."(4) "It should be remarked," so Clermont-Crèvecœur, " that on our arrival in each camp crowds of natives from the vicinity came running up to watch us pass but especially to listen to the music of our regimental bands. Enchanted to find charming young ladies in our midst, our generals and colonels had the musicians play each evening and invited the girls to dance. Thus we relaxed from the fatigues of the day." (3) But the natives did not just come to party: they came to sell their produce as well. "We lived very well during our passage through this province. The poultry here is excellent and quite cheap. The Americans crowded round, not only to hear the bands, but also loaded with every sort of produce, so that the camp was a continual market, offering the most delicious wares." (3)

While the troops simply passed through Canterbury on their way from Plainfield to Windham, the comte de Lauberdière "spent the afternoon most pleasantly with a country squire (sic)" in this community of eight or ten houses. The gentleman, possibly a Tory, "had come to this place to see the French army" pass by, but had apparently arrived too late. "He has such an idea of the French" that Lauberdière had to "assure him that I really was one, he didn't want to believe me, and said to me that I had to be Scottish, that I was too white (i.e., light-skinned) for a Frenchman." The squire also thought that Lauberdière was too nice to be French: he knew that "people from that country were neither that polite nor that well mannered." Sitting most likely in what is today known as the Francis Homestead, young comte Lauberdière did his best to convince the gentleman that "all my compatriots use the same honesty toward all the world, even toward the English once they became our prisoners." The Connecticut Tory was pleased to hear that "since he was about to return to his neighbors and he could undeceive them as far as we were concerned, that he was delighted to have been given the opportunity to do us justice and that he would forever forget the false prejudices with which he had been filled (by the English) against us. We parted as the best of friends." (SITE 5)

From Plainfield to Windham they marched past the birthplace of Samuel Huntington, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, [172] and on to Scotland, "a small emerging place where nature is still quite wild." [173] (5) Shortly before Windham the troops passed the Frog Pond, (SITE 6) scene of the Battle of the Frogs of June 1754. [174] Local lore has it that French soldiers, perhaps tired of poultry and beef, "hunted for frogs as soon as they had pitched their tents, and according to the stories we heard it would seem as if the army lived on little else." [175]

Windham was reached around 10 a.m., since "the roads were better." Baron Closen found Windham" a charming market town, where, incidentally, there were many pretty women at whose homes we passed the afternoon very agreeably. … As we are still far from the enemy we occupy camps only for convenience, and the distribution of forage, bread, meat, and wood ordinarily is made in front of the camp." (1) Others too found the situation of the little town" of 100 to 150 homes "most agreeable. A mile away is a beautiful river (the Shetucket) with a fine wooden bridge. We camped on its banks very comfortably, though hardly militarily." (3) (SITE 7) About "an hour after our arrival, a fire broke out in the woods on the left of the camp. We employed three hundred men, in trying to put it out, but did not succeed. The fire burnt only the brush and did not attack the large trees. This accident," so William de Deux-Ponts of the Royal Deux-Ponts, "appalling in every other country, caused no excitement among the Americans, whose country is full of forests. Sometimes they are even glad, because it saves them the trouble of cutting down the trees to clear the land."[176]

On their way to Bolton the following day, the army marched through Columbia, part of Lebanon until 1804, and called Lebanon Crank in the eighteenth century. Located at the intersection of U.S. Routes 87 and 66, Columbia boasted a number of inns at the time of the American Revolutionary War, most importantly Mrs. Hill's "Lebanon Crank Inn," where the marquis de Chastellux had stayed overnight in November 1780. [177] (SITE 8)

From Windham to Bolton,"a very small town," of maybe ten or twelve houses and a church, "the roads were frightful, with mountains and very steep grades." Describing the camp in Bolton, Clermont-Crèvecœur adds "that often we have great difficulty finding a level spot on which to pitch a camp."(SITE 9) Baron Closen recorded in his journal that "[w]e reached Bolton with the greatest difficulty, since all the roads were terrible. … Part of [Bolton] is half-way up a hill, at the foot of which we camped." [178] (SITE 10)

The officers above company grade who did not camp with the troops stayed either at Oliver "White's Tavern" across from the campsite at the south-east corner of Brandy Street and Bolton Center Road (SITE 11) or at Daniel "White's Tavern at the sign of the Black Horse" on Hutchinson Road.[179] (SITE 12) Rochambeau himself spent the night in the home of the Rev. George Colton,[180] on whose land the troops camped.[181] (SITE 13)

Bolton, a community of maybe 10 or 12 houses centered around a Presbyterian church (5), provided by all accounts an exciting campground. On June 15, 1781, just six days before the first French troops were to camp there, Jeremiah Wadsworth "urged" the inhabitants "to some exertions" in his need for forage. The letter, one of many in Wadsworth' papers relating to the purchase of supplies for the French Army, sheds light on the mixture of threats and flattery Wadsworth had to employ to accomplish his goal. He appealed to their sense of duty and the profits to be made: "Never let it be told that Twenty Ton of hay could not be found for hard money in the Town of Bolton for the French Army. Our Enemies will believe we are not in earnest to oppose them; our Friends will have reason to complain." "I have offered a generous price in hard Money for it," Wadsworth wrote, but "I have no prospect of success." The alternative was seizure, and in a thinly veiled threat he reminded the patriotic citizens of Bolton that that was a possibility as well, though he was "certain the Command. General of the French Army would be exceedingly distressed to be reduced to the necessity of supplying his army by force." [182]We do not know whether the hay was delivered in time.

On June 22, the 2^nd division arrived in Bolton. In the afternoon Colonel Christian de Deux-Ponts ordered the band of his regiment to play as had become customary. For some reason, however, he had failed to ask the permission of baron de Vioménil, the commanding officer of the division. According to Gabriel-Gaspard baron de Gallatin, a sous-lieutenant in the Royal Deux-Ponts, a row between the two officers ensued and Christian ordered the band to cease playing. But as the daily concert had apparently become a source of revenue for the musicians of the band, Vioménil, who dared not order the band to strike up again, gave them "a louis" (24 livres) to make up for the lost income. [183] That left each musician with 1 livre 12 sous, almost a week's wages. [184]

While all this was happening on the campground, Reverend Colton, the "Presbyterian minister, in this town, a large, fleshy man, very prosperous, married, but childless, suggested to the wife of the grenadier, (Adam) Gabel (sic), of the Royal Deux-Ponts, that she leave him one of her daughters. He would adopt the four-year-old as his own child, in return for some 30 louis to ease the campaign for her. The grenadier and his wife, who were very much attached to this child of four, steadily refused M. Coleban's (sic) offer, and thus proved their fine character and disinterest. This proposed sale was published in all the gazettes, even in France." (1) Cromot du Bourg, Closen's fellow aide-de-camp, remembered the incident as well: "We came to Bolton with the greatest difficulty imaginable, so frightful were the roads. The host of M. de Rochambeau was a minister at least six feet three inches in height.[185] … This man, whose name was Cotton (sic), offered the wife of a grenadier to adopt her child, to secure his fortune and to give her for herself thirty Louis in money. She repeatedly refused.[186] " Traveling through Bolton a few days later, Lauberdière too seems to have encountered the Rev. Colton as well. While describing Bolton he wrote that in Connecticut ministers are "highly considered, highly respected, they are always dressed in black, and in order to give them-selves even more importance, they wear enormous whigs of very frizzy blue hair."

The next stop was in East Hartford for a few days of rest. (SITE 14) The Bourbonnais occupied the campsite near the Connecticut River from June 22 through June 24; the Saintonge used the site from June 25 through the 27th. The Royal Deux-Ponts camped beside them from June 23 through June 25, while the Soissonnais camped along the road from Bolton from June 24 to June 26 on today's Silver Lane. (SITES 15 and 16).

Goodwin reports that "Rochambeau was quartered at Squire Eliza Pitkin's (SITE 17), not far from the old meeting house, which was used as a hospital during the sojourn of the army. … Other French officers stayed at both private and public houses," such as Richard Pitkin's Tavern (SITE 18), "and stories of the dances, barbecues, and cattle roasts were told locally for many years. The Abbé Robin, a Catholic priest with the French army, reported that during this encampment he said the first Catholic Mass in the State of Connecticut, which would have been most likely on Sunday, June 24, 1781. [187]

After being stored in the house of James S. Forbes[188] on Forbes Street (SITE 19), kegs of silver were opened at the French encampment to pay soldiers and officers, presumably giving the name of "'Silver Lane' to that locality."[18] These lines show how local lore had mixed with history by the time Goodwin wrote his history of East Hartford in 1879. [190]

As already noted, the sign on Site 15, commemorating "the officers || and men of the French Army … who camped near this spot in 1781," identifies Camp 6 of the Regiment Soissonnais only; the other three regiments camped nearer the river as indicated in contemporary maps. [191] Silver Lane, according to Hughes and Allen's study of Connecticut Place Names, may well have received its name from a silversmith who resided there almost 20 years before the first French troops marched down that road. [192] That does not mean, however, that Rochambeau's troops were not paid while in Hartford with money stored in Mr. Forbes' house. Rochambeau carted large amounts of cash with him: Admiral Barras had brought about 1.2 million livres in silver with him, part of a total of 6.6 million made available to Rochambeau, when he came ashore in Boston on May 6, 1781. French troops were paid on time, so punctually, in fact, that Sturgill states that "to my knowledge the Crown did not miss paying a single unit or officer on time during the eighteenth century." [193] The troops were so accustomed to getting paid that not a single primary source mentions this, or any other, payday! French troops were paid monthly in advance; they were quartered in Hartford between June 22 and June 27, and since they were on a march, it is quite possible that they were paid earlier than usual. [194]

The journals have surprisingly little to say about Hartford where general headquarters were located: "a large town, divided in two by the river that is named after the province. It is quite well built with some pretty houses, but the streets are not paved,"(3) "quite a considerable place divided by a river of the same name,"(2) "the capital of the province of Connecticut, is situated on the west bank of the river of that name … large, well-built, with a fine state house and some very wealthy inhabitants" (4) are typical comments. The comte de Lauberdière described Hartford as a town of "three to four hundred houses, the streets are not paved, they are quite wide, the Court House (sic. SITES 20 and 21) where the general assembly of the state meets is very large and beautiful. [195]… The province of Connecticut abounds with pasturage; the animals here are of the greatest beauty. They also grow wheat here of which they ship the flour to the Antilles."(5)

On afternoon of the 23rd, Baron Closen rode to Wethersfield, "a charming village 4 miles below Hartford; from the church tower I saw an extremely beautiful view, as in a panorama." The next day, "in the afternoon" Cromot du Bourg went to Wethersfield as well (as did apparently Clermont-Crèvecœur). He too "went up into the steeple of the church and saw the richest country I had yet seen in America." (2) The soldiers may not have been able to get a birds-eye view of the country, but their superiors worried about them nevertheless. Closen wrote that his regiment "by that time had lost three men, and the Soissonnais, 9; it is to be hoped that desertion will not increase, since all Germans find it attractive in the interior of the country to become farmers or field-servants." (1) The next day, the 25^th , the first division crossed the ferry into Hartford [196]and marched on to Farmington via West Hartford, where a field hospital had been established by Blanchard. Blanchard had arrived in Hartford on June 18; "on the 19^th , I was particularly busy with a hospital which we were establishing at Hartford," near the Second Meeting House.[197] (SITES 22 and 23) West Hartford is described as consisting of "a few houses (which) form this place, the quality of its soil and its agriculture make it remarkable."(5)"

"The road" to Farmington and the seventh camp was "fine enough," (2) "the village, tucked into the bottom of a pleasant valley, very pretty."(3) Farmington was "a very sizeable village" where "much woolen cloth is manufactured." [198] Rochambeau and some of his officers boarded at Phinehas Lewis' Elm Tree Inn, (SITES 24 and 25) others stayed at Peter Curtis' Tavern, while the troops camped on the plains south of Farmington along the road to Asa Barnes' Tavern, their next destination.

The march to Barnes' Tavern and camp 8 (SITE 26) "was not fatiguing; the roads were very fine," so Closen. Most of the troops put up tents in that part of Southington called Marion at the foot of what is still known as French Hill [199] and where Barnes's Tavern is located. (SITE 27) Some of the officers stayed at Barnes', others "at an inn on Queen Street," i.e., Deming's Tavern 6 miles away on the other side of town and at Daniel Allen's Tavern half-way in-beween.[200] The troops arrived at the site early, Berthier' fourth division started setting up camp at 8:00 a.m., and after a good days' rest, they were ready for some fun. Private Flohr, as we have seen, entered into his diary: "On the 28^th (i.e., 27^th ) we marched 13 miles to Barnes' Tavern, an inn along the road. We set up our camp very close to it. We again had very numerous visits from the American maidens who circled the camp on horseback and who appeared just like English horsemen. This afternoon our MM generals gave a ball on the open field in front of our camp and invited the American maidens to it. This lasted into the dark night. All joy could be seen there what with dancing and singing as well with the soldiers as with the officers who had fun with the English girls. After that we went to sleep in our tents, but the girls went home all sad." [201]

The commanding generals and colonels seemed to vie with each other for the biggest entertainment: when Berthier got to Asa Barnes' Tavern on the 29^th , "we found many Americans and some pretty women in our camp. The comte de Charlus gave a big dinner for the prettiest ones, followed by a ball that lasted all night." Local lore has it that Mr. Barnes retired soon thereafter with the profits he made in four nights of entertainment. [202]

From Barnes' Tavern the route went across "le mad river," so called, according to Lauberdière, because of the rocks and stones to Waterbury, a "village of 50-some houses" (SITES 28 and 29). As the French army was approaching New York, the hired drivers began to abandon the service and Rochambeau was forced to hire new men, seven of them in Waterbury alone.[203]

Five miles beyond the "Waterbury River" lay Breakneck, an assemblage of "two or three houses."[204] The roads were "détestables," and the first division reached Breakneck (in Middlebury) on June 27 only with "the greatest difficulty. … the village is frightful and without resources."(2) If we believe the French officers, Breakneck justly deserved its name. "On … the 28^th , we were very weary before we got to Breakneck. It is rightly named, casse-col, for the stony roads and the endless mountains intersecting this area make it very disagreeable for travelers," so Baron Closen. Clermont-Crèvecœur's detachment of artillery in the first division did not reach the camp at "Break Neck or, in French, 'casse-cou,' a most appropriate name indeed …until after three in the morning" on the 28^th , just as the infantry was getting ready for the next day's march! "Our horses could do no more, so we had to commandeer all the oxen we passed and go far afield to find others in order to reach camp with our guns. Many of our wagons broke down. We never had a worse day, considering the fatigues and misfortunes we endured. The village contains few houses. These are widely scattered and very ugly."(3) Apparently the only sight worth mentioning in all journals seem to have been sawmills which could saw ten planks at a time. (SITES 30 and 31)

But even the bad roads did not stop the entertainments: Private Flohr remembered Breakneck as "a little town in the mountains in a most beautiful area where the entertainments were even greater what with dancing and frolicking with the lovely beautiful American girls who lived there." Baron Closen too remembered the "Two very pretty young ladies whom we found in M. de Vioménil's quarters (and who) seemed to have fallen from the clouds to receive us and console us a little for the fatigues of the day. Our artillery and wagons arrived only at nine o'clock in the evening, piece by piece."(1) One of the two "beautiful maidens," which Lauberdière thought "looked very much like the queen of France," may well have been Esther, the daughter of Josiah Bronson, who kept a tavern at the foot of Breakneck Hill, and who is reported to have locked her up for fear she would elope with a French officer. (SITE 32)

After a few hours rest, Clermont-Crèvecœur and his artillery marched on to Newtown via Woodbury and Southbury (SITE 33). They crossed the Housatonic River, called the "Stratford" or "Little Stratford" river by the French, (SITE 34) "on a bridge which is rather remarkably constructed, in that all the timber-work is supported, without pillars, by the thrusts of 3 intersecting arches." (1) The bridge was presumably built in late 1778 when "his Excellency Genl Washington sent a part of his army and Built a Bridge across the great river between sd Towns (i.e. Woodbury and Newtown) at Hinman's Ferry for the benefit of the army on their March."[205] The bridge called "Carleton's Bridge," sat on piers made of framed boxes filled with pebbles.[206]

Upon arrival in Newtown, the staff officers boarded in Caleb Baldwin's Tavern (SITE 36), while the tents of the soldiers stretched all the way back to today's Church Hill Road.[207] (SITES 35), Jeremiah Wadsworth and his agents had waiting for them in Newtown 2.520 bushel of corn, 316 1/2 bushels of oats, 62 tons 5 cwt of hay, 19 tons of straw, 22 1/2 cords of wood, and 20 head of beef cattle.[208]

Newtown was "full of Tories." The "troops suffered much hardship there, since they camped in a very stony field infested with snakes and adders. One soldier was bitten on the right arm and disabled by it."(1) For the first time the soldiers "saw much poverty there among the inhabitants as well as ruined fields and houses. This is the capital of the Tory country, and as you may well imagine, we took great precautions to protect ourselves from their acts of cruelty. They usually strike by night, when they go out in bands, attack a post, then retire to the woods where they bury their arms. … These people are very difficult to identify, since an honest man and a scoundrel can look alike." (3)

The first division had rested at Newtown from the 28^th through the 30^th of June; Flohr and the second division arrived on the 29^th and rested on the 30^th . The Americans had already opened the campaigns, and Washington asked Rochambeau on the 30^th "to put your first Brigade under march tomorrow Morning, the remaining Troops to follow as quick as possible, and endeavor to reach Bedford by the evening of the 2d. of July."[209] As the French army was getting close to New York, Rochambeau re-organized his troops into brigades, the Bourbonnais and Royal Deux-Ponts forming the first brigade, the Soissonnais and Saintonge forming the second, before setting out with the first brigade for Ridgebury via Danbury, a community of maybe 80 houses on July 1, Rochambeau's 56^th birthday. In the evening, he received Washington's letter of June 30 and redirected his troops to North Castle the following day. The order to form brigades reached the 4^th division around 10:00 p.m. on July 1, 1781, as it was resting in Newtown. "Without stopping here to rest, my (i.e., the 4^th ) division joined that of the comte de Vioménil (i.e., the 3^rd ) to form a brigade commanded by the latter and led by M. Collot. Our dances ceased and our camps became more military." (4) The next day "the Second Brigade left Newtown and marched 15 miles to Ridgebury, where it arrived at eleven o'clock. It was preceded on its march to the camp by an advance detachment of grenadiers and chasseurs. I was ordered to lead them and to choose a good position for them a mile ahead of the brigade on the road to New York, where they camped after stationing sentries at all points leading in from enemy territory."(4) The main body of the troops camped close to the Congregational Church (camp 11) along the road to Danbury, the advance guard about one mile south at the intersection of Old Stagecoach Road and Ridgebury Road. During the evening, soldiers of the advance guard raided the springs behind the tannery of Captain Henry Whiney: "The springs were dipped out, and the soldiers procured a very large quantity of frogs and were thus able to gratify their natural taste for this delicacy."[210] The officers stayed at Samuel Keeler's tavern on Main Street.[211]

Almost 75 years ago, local historian George Rockwell wrote that "There are no signs of the French Camps in Ridgebury at the present time. The land has been plowed and cultivated for over a century and all traces have disappeared."[212]

At midnight the second brigade received orders to proceed to North Castle, 22 miles away, where it where it arrived around 1:00 on July 3. Three days later Rochambeau's army joined the Continental Army at White Plains. Two days after his arrival at White Plains, Rochambeau wrote to the marquis de Ségur, minister of war: "We have covered 220 miles in eleven days of marching. There are not four provinces in France where we could have traveled with more order and economy and without lacking anything. … there was not a single regimental officer, more than half of whom marched on foot, who wasn't fed by the general or superior officers, with rough food, without their being obliged to procure their own mess." [213]Cromot du Bourg thought that "it is impossible to march better than (the second brigade) has done the entire distance, or to show greater willing-ness; it is true that Messieurs de Custine and the vicomte de Noailles set the example by marching the entire distance on foot at the head of their regiments." Lauzun expressed similar sentiments: "The French army marched through America in perfect order and with perfect discipline, setting an example which neither the English nor the American army had ever furnished." Even if we admit for a dose of self-serving praise, there can be no doubt that the march to White Plains had been a major logistical achievement.

As the French troops were crossing into New York, the Connecticut Courant of July 3 reported that "A Finer body of men were never in arms, and no army was ever better furnished with every thing necessary for a campaign. The exact discipline of the troops, and the attention of the officers to prevent any injury to individuals, have made the march of this army through the country very agreeable to the inhabitants, and it is with pleasure we assure our readers that not a single disagreeable circumstance has taken place." That too may have been stretching the truth, but there can be no doubt that the French had behaved better than either British or American troops. More importantly, personal contact between Frenchmen and Americans had, if not changed, at least modified some of the age-old prejudices that the two nations had harbored about each other.

At White Plains, the French got to meet their American allies for the first time. Clermont-Crèvecœur and his fellow officers were in for a surprise: "In beholding this army I was struck, not by its smart appearance, but by its destitution: the men were without uniforms and covered with rags; most of them were barefoot. They were of all sizes, down to children who could not have been over fourteen. There were many negroes, mulattoes, etc." Baron Closen expressed similar emotions: "I had a chance to see the American army, man for man. It was really painful to see these brave men, almost naked with only some trousers and little linen jackets, most of them without stockings, but, would you believe it? Very cheerful and healthy in appearance. A quarter of them were negroes, merry, confident, and sturdy. … Three quarters of the Rhode Island regiment consists of negroes, and that regiment is the most neatly dressed, the best under arms, and the most precise in its maneuvres (sic)." To Cromot du Bourg, the Continental Army seemed "to be in as good order as possible for an army composed of men without uniforms and with narrow resources." He too, like all observers, singled out the 1st Rhode Island Regiment for praise: "The Rhode Island Regiment, among others, is extremely fine," though it provided but a few hundred of the "great number of negroes in the army," whose total strength he estimated at "four thousand and some hundred men at the most."

The Americans may have been ragged and barefoot, but after six weeks rest at White Plains, and some French silver, they set out for Virginia together with their French allies. As the French forces marched through Philadelphia in early September 1781, the Freeman's Journal of September 5 reported that "the appearance of these troops far exceeds any thing of the kind seen on this continent, and presages the happiest success to the cause of America." That success came six weeks later before Yorktown where the Continental Army in close cooperation with their French allies on land and on sea forced Lord Cornwallis to surrender on October 21, 1781, the 3^rd anniversary of Saratoga, the victory that had convinced France that the American rebellion was viable. The surrender of Cornwallis and his British and Germans troops meant the victory of that rebellion. Washington and his army did not tarry at Yorktown but the French spent the winter and spring of 1781/ 82 in and around Williamsburg. Ten months after their arrival, on July 1, 1782, Rochambeau's forces broke camp and began their march back to New England.

Organization and schedule of the march was almost identical to that of the previous year. The infantry marched again in four divisions a day apart:

1) The Bourbonnais under the command of the marquis de Chastellux
2) The Royal Deux-Ponts under comte Christian de Deux-Ponts
3) The Soissonnais under the vicomte de Vioménil
4) The Saintonge under the comte de Custine

This time, the siege artillery and 150 men of the Auxonne artillery remained at West Point, Virginia, as did 400 men, 100 each from each regiment as a garrison at Yorktown and of course the sick. Because of the excessive July heat, the troops began their march at 1:00 a.m., marching through the night.(1) Baltimore was reached on July 24, a week later the first units marched into Philadelphia. On September 17, the French joined the American army at Peekskill. A review that day gave the following strength:[214]

On the 20^th the army passed in review before General Washington before marching on to Hurst Tavern. Following a one-month rest at Crompond, New York, Rochambeau re-organized his troops into brigades. In the last week of October the 1^st brigade, consisting of the Bourbonnais and Royal Deux-Ponts, crossed into Connecticut. According to Flohr,

"On the 23^rd of October we broke camp again and marched 15 miles to Danbury, a little town in the mountains in an agreeable area. We set up camp quite close to it. This is where the Province of New England begins.
On the 24^th we broke camp again and marched 10 miles until Newtown, a pretty little town in the mountains. We set up camp quite close to it and had a rest day.
On the 26^th we broke camp and marched 18 miles until Break Neck. Along the way we passed a town named Gutbahr 3 English miles long. We set up camp near Break Neck.
On the 27^th we broke camp again and marched 15 miles until Barne's Tavern, an inn where we set our camp up in a forest. Toward the evening one saw all kinds of entertainments in our camp of dancing and frolicking of the officers and soldiers with the beautiful American maidens; these entertainments lasted into the dark night. After that they went home happily and we soldiers went into tents to get a little sleep.
On the 28^th we marched 12 miles to Farmington, a little town in the mountains in a pleasant area. We set our camp up at the foot of a little hill completely surrounded by fruit trees.
On the 29^th again 11 miles until Hartford, a pretty town of considerable size on a navigable river, which is also a very active trade center. This river divides the city into two parts; we set up our camp on the other side of the river about 1/2 mile from the town and had rest there for a while until November 4, when we broke camp again and marched 14 miles until Bolton where we set up our camp.
On the 5^th until Windham, a little town, 13 miles; there we had a rest day.
On the 7^th we broke camp and marched 10 miles until Plainfield but we kept on marching until Wallentown, a little town near very low mountains in a darling and agreeable area; we set up camp very close to the little town in the plains.
On November 9 we departed again and marched 14 miles until Waterman's house, a very beautiful Gentleman's manor.

With that, Flohr had entered Rhode Island on his way to Boston, from where he sailed to the Caribbean on Christmas Day and back to France in the summer of 1783.

As Flohr was trudging toward Danbury, Rochambeau "stopped to lunch with the minister"of Ridgebury, presumably a Dr. Atwater, "his host of the previous year." Atwater "gave us the best that he had in the house." (1) Rather than camp in Ridgebury as they had the previous year, however, the army marched on to Danbury, where it camped near the intersection of Center and South Streets, their 40^th camp on the way back from Yorktown. Some of the officers, including Rochambeau, were entertained by Colonel Joseph P. Cooke.[215]

The following day, the 24^th, the troops marched on to Newtown, where they occupied the same campsite as the previous year (SITE 37). Verger noted that at Newtown "we repaired the army wagons, which were by then in very bad condition." Those officers who could renewed acquaintances from the previous year: Desandrouins, for example, lodged with a man named John "Trobrige, a very good man but poor."[216] On the 25^th, the Second Brigade joined the first brigade at Newtown, which crossed the Stratford River on "Carleton's Bridge" on the 26^th and marched on through Woodbury. The 42^nd camp at Breakneck was on the same spot where the army had camped the previous year. It was reached "in frightful weather; it rained in torrents … Never have the troops suffered so much during three campaigns as they did that day." (1) Verger agreed: "We left very early in the morning and had scarcely begun our march when it began to rain in torrents. This was the worst thing that could have happened to us, for during our whole journey we had never found so bad a road. … The continual rain, added to the cold, caused us inexpressible suffering." (SITE 38)

"On the 27^th," so Closen, "we re-crossed the same Stratford River on a wooden bridge, like Carleton's, 7 miles from Breakneck. You next enter the village of Waterbury, which is very long and contains several pretty houses." (1) At Barnes' Tavern (camp 43) the troops occupied the same campsite as the previous year, and, so Flohr, had their first ball in Connecticut (SITE 39). On the 28^th it was on to Farmington (camp 44), where campsite lay more toward the center of the village as compared to the previous year. It is here that Verger too mentions the first entertainment: "A large number of visitors came to see us, and we danced in front of the camp." (SITE 40) On 29^th, the First Brigade arrived in East Hartford (SITE 41), to be joined by the second brigade the next day. Their campsite (camp 45) was that which only the Soissonnais had occupied the previous year. The troops remained here from October 30 through November 4, and most likely were paid once again after they had lined up for their few livres along Silver Lane.

It was here at East Hartford that Rochambeau announced to the troops that they were to march to Boston and embark for the West Indies while he himself would return to France. To accelerate the march "the artillery obtained permission to march, from now on, one day in advance of the 1^st Brigade, for convenience, and set out early on its way" on October 30. (1) The artillery was halfway through its march when a courier from Admiral de Vaudreuil informed Rochambeau that the ships would not be ready for embarkation by November 15, and the artillery returned to East Hartford. Lieutenant Verger, who had not made the march in June 1781, met Connecticutians for the first time, but thought that "The inhabitants of Connecticut are the best people in the United States, without any doubt. They have a lively curiosity and examined our troops and all our actions with evident astonishment. When they visited our camp (in East Hartford), the girls came without their mothers and entered our tents with the greatest confidence."

By now the weather was turning cold, and many soldiers had hoped that they would enter winter quarters in Hartford. But after "four days in Hartford," the artillery left for Bolton on November 3, 1782. On November 4, it was followed by the First Brigade, whose camp was laid out 2 miles beyond the meeting house at the bottom of the hill where they had camped the previous year.[217] (SITES 42 and 43) That night, Dr. Ezra Stiles, president of Yale University, recorded in his diary: "Lodged at Bolton, where we saw the first Division of the French Army march for Providence. There were counted 170 Waggons of Artillery, filling the Rode fr. The Meeting house to & which is one Mile, besides those we passed yesterday: there were as supposed above 100, so that the Baggage Waggons & Artillery judged 300. Gen. Rochambeau visited us in Eveng at Rev. Mr. Coltons." The next day Stiles "Met & passed the 2d Div. of French Army, probably 1500 men. The whole sd. to be 4000, I judge 3000. We stopt our chaise near half an hour in passing the Troops, & afterwards above half an hour in passing 2 Divisions of Wagons, I judge 200. Some of them sd. they had 500 Waggons for whole Army."[218]

Camp 47 from November 5-7 at Windham lay east of town. The two brigades joined "in frightful weather." (1) (SITE 44) In the morning of the 7^th, Rochambeau, anxious to reach Newport, rode ahead. After "breakfast at Canterbury," so Closen, possibly at the Francis Homestead (SITE 45) where Lauberdière passed an interesting afternoon some 15 months earlier,[219] they pushed on through Plainfield "to dine at Voluntown, where we found the artillery already parked. We did not go any further that day. … The state of Rhode Island begins 3 miles from Voluntown." Voluntown is present day Sterling Hill; Rochambeau had his last dinner in Connecticut at Samuel Dorrance' Inn (SITE 48).

The First Brigade, now commanded by baron de Vioménil, broke camp in Windham, and marched to its next camp, camp 48, in Canterbury. (SITE 46). Here Desandrouins fell victim to a robbery during the night of November 7/8. "A trunk from which he had the habit of getting money, imprudently, every day in the presence of his wagoners" was stolen and pried open and 7,195 livres were stolen, incl. 101 livres that belonged to his servant Charles. Fortunately his papers etc were recovered, together with a little bag of some 50 louis d'or, over 1,200 livres, which the robbers had overlooked. Desandrouins suspected his American wagoner, who disappeared at the same time, to have been the thief.[220] Desandrouins misfortune may be at the root of the story of a French paymaster who had stopped at an inn, albeit in Farmington on the other side of Hartford as far as the story goes, while on his way to Albany. In the story the robber(s) deprived the paymaster of head and payroll; Desandrouins (fortunately) only lost part of his money.

By now it was early November, and winter was upon New England. Clermont-Crèvecœur could not "express how uncomfortable we were while camping in a country where the cold was already very intense. We were frozen in our tents. And the tents were frozen so stiff that, after the pegs and poles were removed to take them down, they stood alone. So you can judge how cold it was." Not surprisingly, sickness and disease, including smallpox, broke out. Those afflicted with the disease had to be quarantined; one of the quarantine camps was apparently established in Coventry. Sometime during the winter of 1782, seven men are reported to have died. They were buried on a site at the foot of Springdale Avenue on the shores of Lake Wangumbaug.[221] (SITE 49)

On November 8/9, 1782, Rochambeau's troops pitched their tents for the last time in Connecticut in the 49^th camp in the fields east of Dorrance Tavern on the north side of the road to Rhode Island. (SITE 47). Over the next two days, the infantry brigades followed the artillery into Rhode Island where they reached Providence on November 10 and 11. Closen, who had always spoken highly of Connecticut, summed up his experiences thus: "We have, on the whole, been treated wonderfully well wherever the army has marched."

Six weeks later, on Christmas Eve 1782, the bulk of Rochambeau's army sailed out of Boston harbor for the Caribbean. Though they did not know it, Preliminaries of Peace had already been signed in Paris on November 30, 1782, in which "His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States … to be free Sovereign and independent States."