[74] Here is this letter in full:
Paris the 18th November, 1790.
Sir:
I hope that your Excellency will give me the leave to beg a favor of your justice. I think it just to intercede for the Baron de Closen who was an aide-de-camp to Mr. Rochambeau during the American war. He longs with the desire to be a member of the association of the Cincinnati. The officers who were employed in the French army and younger than him in the military service have been decorated with this emblem of liberty, and such a reward given by your Excellency's hand shall increase its value.
I flatter myself that you will receive the assurances of the respect and veneration I have for your talents and your virtue, well known in the whole world.
I have (etc.),
La Comtesse de Rochambeau.
[75] June, 1785. Two of the Berthier brothers had taken part, as we saw, in the expedition. The one alluded to here is the younger, César-Gabriel, not the older, Louis-Alexandre, who became Prince de Wagram. Both are described in their "états de service," preserved among the Rochambeau papers, as expert draftsmen. The notice concerning the younger, who was a captain of dragoons, reads: "Il s'est fait remarquer ainsi que son frère par son talent à dessiner et lever des plans."
[76] Concerning this correspondence, as continued during the French Revolution, see below, pp. 245 ff.
[77] December 29, 1782.