The journal of M. Blanchard will give a more correct idea of the character of the man, of his upright and honest nature, and of his strong and good sense. A few words are necessary, however, on the events of which we have to speak, and of the writers who have related them at first hand.
The violent struggle of the English colonies against the mother country began in 1775; Declaration of the Independence of the United States—the hundredth anniversary of which is near at hand—was made on the 4th of July, 1776. Soon afterward, when the Americans were hard pressed, France came to their aid, and the war with England opened with the fight at Ouessant on the 17th of June, 1778. It was at first a naval war which spread over the whole ocean. Subsequently, when the American cause was in a most critical condition, France, at the request of Congress, sent pecuniary assistance, and also a body of troops, who were placed under the chief command of General Washington.
This war, in which we acquired glory at sea, and which raised up our navy—this reappearance of the white flag in the new world, from which the seven years' war had excluded it[293]—the part taken by France in establishing the independence of the United States, and in founding a nation destined for so grand a future—are events of far more than ordinary importance, and which possess the same interest to-day as when they transpired. Nevertheless their details are, as a general thing, but imperfectly known; and particularly the campaign of the corps sent to America, which brought into close contact the soldiers of old France and the militia of the young republic, is in the larger histories usually summed up in a few lines.[294] This doubtless arises from the fact that no work of importance has treated this subject in a special manner. It is true that the little army commanded by General Rochambeau had few opportunities of distinguishing itself. But, although its active services were confined to a few important marches, and to the taking of York town, which was forced to surrender, together with a division of the English army, it gave the Americans no inconsiderable moral support, as well as effective assistance which was most opportune. The revolution which followed soon after, and the twenty-five years of war rendered glorious by so many famous campaigns, effaced the remembrance of the naval combat of Chesapeake Bay and the taking of Yorktown, and turned attention from military operations which are insignificant, if we consider the number of troops engaged, but important, if we look to the result. In fact, these battles between a few thousand men, decided the fate of one of the most powerful of modern nations as well as the future balance of the world.
It is not, however, because documents on the American campaign are wanting; on the contrary, they are numerous and interesting; our archives should possess intact the official reports; while individual reminiscences contained in a number of books published at different times, are valuable sources of information from which as yet nothing has been drawn. Four distinguished officers engaged in this expedition among the French (not to mention American or English writers) have found pleasure in recalling the memory and narrating the incidents of what they considered the noblest or the dearest portion of their career; the Mémoires du Maréchal de Rochambeau, (1809,) the first source of information, give with clearness and precision, but without embellishment, a detailed account of the campaign which above all else has served to render his name illustrious. Next comes the Correspondance et Manuscrits du Général La Fayette, (1837,) although La Fayette took part in the war of independence as a volunteer and an American general, independent of the action of the royal forces. The Souvenirs du Comte de Ségur, (1835,) and those of Comte Matthieu Dumas, (1839,) young and brilliant aides-de-camp to General Rochambeau, also furnish some particulars about this campaign worthy of note. We must not forget the Mémoires du Duc de Lauzun, (1822,) colonel of a regiment in the expeditionary corps, and the Voyages dans l'Amérique Septentrionale de M. le Marquis de Chastellux, (1786,) major-general; this work, though full of description and of anecdote, is of only moderate ability; but the name of its author, a member of the Academy and a friend of Voltaire, gave it a certain degree of success at the time of its appearance, owing to curiosity and to circumstances.
After these works, which possess each a peculiar interest, and without pretending to the importance which they derive from the names of their distinguished authors, the journal of Commissary Blanchard (who is mentioned in all of them) deserves certainly an honorable place. It is remarkable for great exactness, variety of information, and a genial and pleasant tone. Moreover, as it is devoted solely to the American expedition, it is naturally more diffuse on this special subject than books which treat of an entire life.
We shall now let the journal speak for itself:
"Lieutenant-General the Count de Rochambeau, having been appointed to the command of the corps which was under orders to embark, although their destination was not yet positively known, engaged me to serve with these troops, in my capacity of commissary.
"I accordingly repaired to Brest on the 20th of March, 1780. M. de Tarlé, commissary of provisions, who performed the duties of purveyor to the troops, did not arrive for eight or ten days after; he brought me a commission as commissary-in-chief. Finding myself alone at Brest, I assisted both the land and naval commanders to ship all the supplies and whatever would be necessary for the troops after they had landed. As the navy had not been able to furnish a sufficient number of transports, they were obliged to leave in France the regiments of Neustrie and Anhalt, which were to have accompanied the expedition as well as two or three hundred men of the legion of Lauzun. Those who embarked numbered five thousand, consisting of the regiments of Bourbonnais, Soissonnais, Saintonge, Royal-deux-Ponts, about five hundred artillery-men, and six hundred of the legion of Lauzun, of whom three hundred were to form a body of cavalry. These troops, their baggage, the artillery, and other things necessary to an army, were put on board twenty-five to thirty transports or store-ships; they were accompanied by seven vessels of war and seven frigates. La Fantasque, an old vessel, was armed as a store-ship and intended for a hospital; they put on board of her the money, the heavy artillery, and a considerable number of passengers.
"All the general officers slept on board the 14th of April; I was there also, and embarked on the Conquérant, commanded by La Grandière.
"The following are the names of the principal persons who composed our army:
"Count de Rochambeau, lieutenant-general, commander-in-chief.
"The Baron de Vioménil, the Count de Vioménil, the Chevalier de Chastellux, field-marshals, (the last mentioned performs the duties of a major-general.)
"De Béville, brigadier-general and quartermaster, (de Choisy, brigadier, did not arrive till the 30th of September.)
"De Tarlé, general commissary, acting as purveyor.
"Blanchard, commissary-general.
"De Corny, de Villemanzy, chief of ordnance.
"Gau, commissary of artillery.
"D'Aboville, commander-in-chief of artillery.
"Désandrouins, commander of the engineers.
"Daure, purveyor of provisions.
"Demars, purveyor of the hospitals.
"There were yet many other purveyors, for forage, meat, etc.; in general there were too many employed, particularly as purveyors-in-chief; all this was according to the taste of M. de Veymérangers, in whose hands had been left the organization of the commissary department of our army; a man skilful in business matters, but given to expense and extravagance, and who needed looking after.
"M. de Ménonville and the Chevalier de Tarlé, brother of the commissary, were general staff officers; M. de Béville junior, and M. Collot, were assistant quartermasters.
"M. de Rochambeau had for his aides-de-camp M. de Fersey, de Damas, Charles Lameth, Closen, Matthieu Dumas, Lamberdiére, de Vauban, and Cromot-Dubourg.
"M. de Vioménil had also several, among whom were MM. de Chabannes, de Pange, d'Olonne, etc.
"Those of M. de Chastellux were MM. Montesquieu, grandson of the president, and Lynch, an Irishman.
"The colonels were:
"Of the regiment of Bourbonnais, the Marquis de Leval and the Count de Rochambeau, (as second in command,) son of the general in chief.
"Of the Royal-Deux-Ponts, MM. de Deux-Ponts, brothers.
"Of the Saintonge, MM. de Custine and the Viscount de Charlus, son of M. de Castries.
"Of the Soissonnais; MM. de Sainte-Mesme and the Viscount de Noailles.
"Of the legion of Lauzun, the Duke de Lauzun and M. de Dillon."[295]
I have copied this page because it shows to some extent the formation of the staff of an army corps of the last century, and also on account of the names which it gives. They are those of the very highest nobility of France, who threw themselves with enthusiasm into this expedition, which they called the "crusade of the eighteenth century."
Among the companions in arms of M. Blanchard, whose names often recur in his journal, many who were then young afterward became celebrated. Not to speak of two generals already distinguished, Rochambeau and La Fayette, and the Chevalier, later the Marquis, de Chastellux, known by his connection with the encyclopedists, and who died in 1788, the following are worthy of mention: Biron (the Duke de Lauzun) and Custine, two generals of the republic, who shared the same tragic fate; the Prince de Broglie, field-marshal in the army of the Rhine, indicted before the revolutionary tribunal, and executed in 1794; the Count de Dillon, general in 1792, falsely accused of treason, put to death by his troops, and to whom the Convention, in gratitude for his devotion, decreed the honors of the Pantheon; Pichegru, at that time only an artillery-man; the Viscount de Noailles, who, on the famous night of the fourth of August, was the first to propose the abolition of the feudal laws; (his military future promised to be brilliant when he died in consequence of a wound received in the expedition to San Domingo.) By the side of these men, whose careers were cut short by death, we find others whose lives were long and illustrious. Berthier, then an under-officer, destined to become marshal of France and minister of war, Prince of Wagram and Neufchâtel, etc. The Count de Ségur, general, diplomatist, historian, whose son, equally distinguished and still alive, is the author of the Campaign of 1812, that touching recital of an eye-witness. Matthieu Dumas, a general, an able commissary and esteemed military writer, a peer of France in 1830; Aubert-Dubayet, an inferior officer in the expeditionary corps, minister of war under the republic.[296] The Duke de Damas, the faithful companion of the Bourbons during their exile; Charles de Lameth, equally brilliant in speech and in action, a member of the assembly, lieutenant-general in 1814, deputy, and peer of France. The Count de Vauban, aide-de-camp to the Count d'Artois, who fought in the army of Condé and of Quiberon; the Duke de Castries, who died in 1842, a peer of France, etc.
On the 9th of July 1780, after a voyage of sixty-nine days, America was signalled by the French squadron. Nevertheless, the disembarkment did not take place at Newport, Rhode Island, for some days after.