ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It gives me once again great pleasure to thank the many people who helped me in the preparation of this report. First of all thanks are due to John W. Shannahan, Director of the Connecticut Historical Commission and State Historic Preservation Officer for giving me the opportunity to write this report. Thanks also go to Preservation Programs Supervisor Dr. Dawn Maddox for her technical assistance. I will always remember with great pleasure the days I spent with Mary M. Donohue, Project Director, driving across the Connecticut countryside locating sites along the route.

Many a citizen of the Constitution State has again opened his or her home, sometimes quite literally, to me. On top of that list stand once again Mary and Arnold Carlson of Coventry. Though preparing to move themselves, the Carlsons provided free lodging during the weeks of fieldwork in September 1999. In Lebanon, town historian Alicia Wayland generously shared her vast knowledge of the history of Connecticut, of Lebanon and of the presence of Lauzun's troops there with me and provided many a piece in the puzzle surrounding Rochambeau's most colorful troops. Robert Berthelson of Trumbull answered numerous questions on local history. Many librarians and archivists provided vital information; chief among them are the staff of the Connecticut Historical Society where I perused the Jeremiah Wadsworth and the Jonathan and David Trumbull Papers. Dr. Peter Harrington of the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection in Providence, Rhode Island, and Sandra Powers and Ellen M. Clark of the Library of the Society of the Cincinnati in Washington, DC, put the treasures of their collections at my disposal.

I would be greatly amiss if I would not thank my good friend and colleague Dr. Samuel F. Scott. Sam has generously shared his vast knowledge of Rochambeau's troops for many years. His most recent book, From Yorktown to Valmy: The Transformation of the French Army in an Age of Revolution (University Press of Colorado, 1998) is required reading for anyone interested in the French contribution to the American Revolutionary War. Thanks are also due to the participants in the Rochambeau webring, which provided a platform to discuss details of French military life at the end of the eighteenth century. Mme. Florence Hodges of the French Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution helped search for primary sources among descendants of Rochambeau's officers living in France. M. le comte Jacques de Trentinian, a descendant of an officer in Lauzun's legion and member of the French Society of the Cincinnati, generously shared his knowledge with me. I am equally grateful to M. Gérard-Antoine Massoni, an expert on Lauzun's legion for his support. His maîtrise, an edition of the only known journal by a member of the légion, forms an important contribution to the history of France's contributions to American Independence.[4]

Last but by far not least I would like to thank my wife Barbara and my children Mary, Sebastian, and Hannah for doing without me for two long weeks in the fall of 1999, and for their patience during the time I spent in front of the computer preparing this report. Last but by far not least I would like to thank my wife Barbara and my children Mary, Sebastian, and Hannah for doing without me for three long weeks in the fall of 1998, and for their patience during the time I spent in front of the computer. Thank you all.

Thank you all.

[4]Détails intéressants sur les événements arrivés dans la guerre d'Amérique. Hyver 1781 à 1782. Hampton, Charlotte et suitte. Manuscrit de Claude Hugau, lieutenant-colonel de la Légion des Volontaires Etrangers de Lauzun (Besançon: Université de Franche-Comté, 1996, maîtrise d'histoire moderne ).