References

  1. Barber, J. “W. Connecticut Historical Collections, J. W. Barber. New Haven, 1836.
  2. "The Dark Day.” New England Magazine, May, 1834.
  3. Dexter, F. B. (editor). The Literary Diary of Ezra Stiles. Charles Scribner’s Sons. New York, 1901.
  4. Cutler, W. P. and J. P. Life, Journals, and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler. Cincinnati, 1888.

[A French Camp in Connecticut]

On the Green of the old town of Lebanon a mound is shown to-day on the spot where a large brick oven stood in the winter of 1781—­an oven in which bread was baked for the soldiers of the American Revolutionary Army. These soldiers, who might have been seen almost any day that winter in their gay uniforms, crossing and recrossing the Green, or gathered in groups about the oven, were, strangely enough, not American soldiers, but French hussars belonging to the Duke de Lauzun’s famous “Legion of Horse.”

France, being herself at war with England, had recently sent an army to America to help the colonies in their struggle against a common enemy, and the French commander-in-chief, the Count de Rochambeau, wrote from Newport, Rhode Island, to Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, asking if the governor could provide winter quarters in Lebanon for a part of his forces—­for the Duke de Lauzun and some of his Legion of Horse.

Governor Trumbull’s home was in Lebanon. His house was near the village Green, and close beside it stood his store, which, by this time, had become famous under the name of the “War Office,” because in this store the governor and the Council of Safety used to meet and talk over the important business of the war, and what Connecticut could do, as her share, to help the American army.

There is a story that Washington used to say when he needed more supplies, “Let us see what Brother Jonathan can do for us,” and that this nickname, which is now used for the United States, belonged originally to Jonathan Trumbull. It is true that Washington often turned to him for help. He had approved the application of the Count de Rochambeau to Governor Trumbull for winter quarters for the French troops. But long before the arrival of these soldiers there had been busy times in Lebanon. Provisions of all kinds were brought from all over the state to the governor’s store to be packed and sent off to the troops in the field. The governor was usually to be found there himself, weighing and measuring, packing boxes and barrels, dealing out powder and lead, starting off trains of loaded wagons and often large herds of cattle to be driven all the way to the army at the front. Messengers came and went, flying on horseback along the country roads, and sometimes they sat on the counter in the store, swinging their spurred boots, waiting for the governor to give them their orders. A piece of that counter, with the marks of their spurs in the soft wood, can be seen now in the rooms of the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford. Although there were dark days during the war when the state’s treasury was exhausted and the people discouraged and the demands of the army hard to meet, yet

“Governor Trumbull never quailed
In his store on Lebanon hill.”

Somehow or other the supplies were found and little Connecticut became known as the “Provision State.” Washington spoke of her governor as “the first of patriots.” This is one of Governor Trumbull’s proclamations to the men of Connecticut:—­

“Be roused and alarmed to stand forth in our glorious cause. Join yourselves to one of the companies now ordered to New York, or form yourselves into distinct companies and choose captains forthwith;... march on; play the man for God and for the cities of our God, and may the God of the armies of Israel be your leader.”