THE ROAD TO YORKTOWN
The French Campaigns
in the American Revolution, 1780-1783
by
Louis-Franois-Bertrand du Pont dAubevoye,
comte de Lauberdire
Translated and annotated
by Norman Desmarais
Copyright 2021 by Norm Desmarais
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lauberdire, Louis Franois Bertrand Dupont dAubevoye, comte de, 1759-1837. | Desmarais, Norman, editor, translator.
Title: The Road to Yorktown: the French campaigns in the American Revolution, 1780-1783 / edited by Norman Desmarais.
Other titles: Journal de lArmee, aux ordres de Monsieur le Comte de Rochambeau, pendant les campagnes de 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783 dans lAmerique septentrionale. English | French campaigns in the American Revolution, 1780-1783
Description: El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: Serving as aide-de-camp on General Rochambeaus staff, the young and well-educated Count of Lauberdire enjoyed a unique perspective of the war. He rubbed shoulders with some of the Revolutions most important personalities (including George Washington and Lafayette), and was in the epicenter of many of the wars momentous events. Lauberdire kept one of the most remarkable diaries of the entire American Revolutionary War. His journal covers a host of topics and his keen eye and sharp descriptions of the Armys daily activities and movements provide a wealth of information for inquisitive readers and historians. Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020009824 | ISBN 9781611214833 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781611214840 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Lauberdire, Louis Franois Bertrand Dupont dAubevoye, comte de, 1759-1837Diaries. | United StatesHistoryRevolution, 1775-1783Personal narratives, French. | United StatesHistory-Revolution, 1775-1783Campaigns. | United StatesHistory-Revolution, 1775-1783Participation, French.
Classification: LCC E265 J6813 2020 | DDC 973.3/24dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020009824
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To my good friend and fellow researcher Robert Selig, who first introduced me to Count de Lauberdires diary. Bob is the most knowledgeable person I know about the expdition particulire and the one I consult whenever I have a question about it.
LouisFranois Bertrand du Pont dAubevoye, comte de Lauberdire
Reproduced with the permission of The Society of the Cincinnati, Washington, D.C.
Introduction
In early April of 1777, a 19-year-old Frenchman named Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette set sail for America. Upon arrival, he joined the fledgling Continental Army in its struggle against the British empire. Lafayettes name and contributions remain storied lore in the tale of the birth of the United States.
Less well known are the names of those who followed Lafayette to North America. By 1780, hundreds of other young Frenchmen were in the camps and battlefields across America. They included: 25-year-old Donatien Marie Joseph de Vimeur, Vicomte de Rochambeau, son of the general; Mathieu Dumas (27); Count Hans Axel von Fersen (26); Joseph Louis Csar Charles, Comte then Duc de Damas (22); Alexandre-Thodore-Victor, Comte de Lameth (20) and Louis-Franois-Bertrand du Pont dAubevoye, Comte de Lauberdire (21). All of these men served as staff officers for General Rochambeau.
Like all young men in their circumstance, they headed off to war burdened with fear and excitement. The element of fear was because many were leaving home for the first time to participate in combat in an unknown country more than 3,000 miles away. Many would never see their families and friends again, like 13-year-old drummer Franois Gogue, who died at a hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 5, 1780.
Excitement tempered their fear, beckoned as they were to adventure in a foreign land. They would be shoulder-to-shoulder with their countrys former enemies and have a chance to observe these people who spoke a different language, wore unusual clothes, and practiced unfamiliar customs, mannerisms, and styles of dress.
There was great eagerness in France for the war from the very beginning. Brigadier General Louis Duportail made that clear to the Minister of War, the Comte de St. Germain, on November 12, 1777, when he reported: There is a hundred times more enthusiasm for this revolution in a single cafe in Paris than in all the united colonies.
French Involvement
The French Enlightenment thinkers, called the philosophes, laid the ideological foundations for both the American and French revolutions. Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brde et de Montesquieu (1689-1755) developed the idea of the separation of powers and the need to divide power among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, particularly in his book The Spirit of the Laws , which went through eighteen printing in less than two years of its original printing in 1748.
Franois-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), better known by his pen name Voltaire, used sarcasm and irony to advocate intelligent political authority based on the rule of law. During his entire literary and professional life, Voltaire advocated freedom of thought in all of its forms and the ability to ensure social and political organizations do not silence voicesparticularly those of dissent. Most of his political views were based on the ideas of John Locke (16321704) and Isaac Newton (1642-1726/27). Voltaire distrusted democracy, which he saw as propagating the idiocy of the masses and was very critical about other peoples ideas. Essentially, he believed enlightened despotism to be the key to progress and change. Only an enlightened monarch or an enlightened absolutist, advised by philosophers like himself, could bring about change. It was in the kings interest to improve the power and wealth of his subjects and kingdom. He considered the French bourgeoisie to be too small and ineffective, the aristocracy parasitic and corrupt, the commoners ignorant and superstitious, and the church as a static force useful only as a counterbalance since its religious tax, or the tithe, helped to create a strong backing for revolutionaries. Voltaire was a firm advocate of secular rule.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) remains the most celebrated of the French political philosophers. His works, particularly The Social Contract (1762), developed the principles of general will and the importance of a social contract between people and government.
