Rochambeau's Engineers at
Butts Hill Fort
July 1780 - June 1781
Research prepared for
The Battle of Rhode Island Association
Sponsored by the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati
& W3R-US
Table of Contents
Using the comte de Rochambeau’s Livre d’Ordre of 1780 – 1781 as its starting point, this report investigates the presence and the work carried out by French soldiers under the supervision of their engineers at Butts Hill Fort between December 1780 and June 1781. A description of the evolution of the fort until December 1780 and after the departure of French forces in June 1781 is not part of this study.
- The scope of work outlined in the request required the consultant to list, review, and translate from the original French into English all entries relating to Butts Hill Fort in the Orderly Book of Rochambeau’s army from the arrival of French forces in Newport in July 1780 through their departure in June 1781.
- Review the journal of Lieutenant Colonel Henri-Dominique de Palys, chevalier de Montrepos, of the Corps of Engineers and the engineer in charge of the work at Butts Hill Fort, and the papers of Captain of Engineers François-Ignace Ervoil d’Oyré, for any information relating to Fort Butts Hill. Consultant was also tasked to investigate the mss papers or published accounts of other French officers or other personnel whose names might emerge during research for any information that might provide a researchable trail to other primary source materials relating to Butts Hill Fort. That includes reporting on relevant information available in mss held by the library of the Society of the Cincinnati in Washington, DC or other libraries and archives.
- Prepare a report on whatever is found in these primary sources and suggest further avenues of research, recognizing that although the original entries in the Orderly Book do seem to provide trails that could/should be followed, these entries may or may not yield additional results.
Unless otherwise noted all translations are mine.
~Robert A. Selig, Ph.D
The most important primary source for this report is the Livre d’ordre contenant les ordres donnés depuis le débarquement des troupes à Newport en Amérique septentrionale 1780 or Book of Order(s) containing those given since the debarkation of the troops in Newport in North America in 1780. It is held in the Archives départementales of Metz under call number E 235.
The Orderly Book begins with undated orders for the debarkation in Newport.
Order before disembarkation
The corps of troops that His Majesty sends to America is auxiliary to the United States, its allies and under the orders of General Washington. He will be honored as Marshal of France and the President of the Congress. The governors and presidents of the provinces shall be accorded the honors of Marshal of France and the other generals of the allies the honors of their ranks, which shall be assimilated to the others in the following order …
The first order following debarkation is entered as “Au camp de Newport le 14 juillet 1780.” The last entry in the Orderly Book is the Ordre du 17 aout. The next day, 18 August, French forces set out on their march to Virginia:
Les grenadiers de Bourbonnois fourniront demain la garde du qG.
Chaque brigade relèvera ses postes, celle de Soissonnois fournira la garde des boeufs de l’armée et un caporal et 4 hommes chez le grand prévôt de l’armée.
The grenadiers of Bourbonnois will provide the headquarter’s guard tomorrow.
Each brigade will relieve its posts, that of the Soissonnois will provide the for the oxen of the army and a corporal and four men at the headquarter’s provost.
The first entry in the Orderly Book that mentions Butts Hill Fort is dated 9 December 1780, the last entry is dated 7 June 1781.The most important primary source for this report is the Livre d’ordre contenant les ordres donnés depuis le débarquement des troupes à Newport en Amérique septentrionale 1780 or Book of Order(s) containing those given since the debarkation of the troops in Newport in North America in 1780. It is held in the Archives départementales of Metz under call number E 235.
The Orderly Book begins with undated orders for the debarkation in Newport.
Order before disembarkation
The corps of troops that His Majesty sends to America is auxiliary to the United States, its allies and under the orders of General Washington. He will be honored as Marshal of France and the President of the Congress. The governors and presidents of the provinces shall be accorded the honors of Marshal of France and the other generals of the allies the honors of their ranks, which shall be assimilated to the others in the following order …
The first order following debarkation is entered as “Au camp de Newport le 14 juillet 1780.” The last entry in the Orderly Book is the Ordre du 17 aout. The next day, 18 August, French forces set out on their march to Virginia:
Les grenadiers de Bourbonnois fourniront demain la garde du qG.
Chaque brigade relèvera ses postes, celle de Soissonnois fournira la garde des boeufs de l’armée et un caporal et 4 hommes chez le grand prévôt de l’armée.
The grenadiers of Bourbonnois will provide the headquarter’s guard tomorrow.
Each brigade will relieve its posts, that of the Soissonnois will provide the for the oxen of the army and a corporal and four men at the headquarter’s provost.
The first entry in the Orderly Book that mentions Butts Hill Fort is dated 9 December 1780, the last entry is dated 7 June 1781.1
The Corps of Engineers in Rochambeau’s little army consisted of nine engineers, all of them graduates of the Ecole Royale du Génie in Mézières, which was founded in 1748 to meet the need of the French army for specialist engineers. The spark for the creation of the school was the victorious Battle of Fontenoy in 1745 during the War of the Austrian succession, which showed the importance of artillery in battle, of properly sited and prepared defensive works, and the need for a professional evaluation of the battlefield.
Recruitment to the Ecole was through a difficult mathematical exam; only between a third and a quarter of the candidates were admitted. The elitism of the school was apparent not only in the highly competitive entry selection process but also – for better or for worse – in the restriction of entry to members of the nobility, or at least of that part of the bright and ambitious lower French nobility that did not belong to the noblesse de court and could not even dream of ever commanding a regiment. Bright young members of the provincial nobility often derogatorily called hobereaux (‘old birds’) who often lived very modestly on small estates in rural areas, could, however, make a name for themselves in the emerging technical branches. The curriculum was covered over six years and focused on math, physics, and chemistry – basically a precursor of our STEM concept: Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics. Learning English was part of the curriculum as well, which came in most handy once Rochambeau’s engineers arrived in America. The first year at Mézières was dedicated to the learning of theory, the second year to military exercises. There were always more teachers and officers at the school in Mézières than students. Out of the elitist écoles founded in 18th-century France grew the Grandes Ecoles, the elitist schools of France of modern France; out of Mézières grew the Ecole Polytechnique.
After two years at Mézières, the students graduated with the most prestigious diploma of royalist France. The newly promoted lieutenants next spent two years in a regiment and another two years gaining hands-on experience alongside an older engineer officer in the corps of engineers. Rochambeau’s top three officer-engineers had decades of experience.
Its commanding officer was Jean Nicholas Desandroüins. Born on 7 January 1729, he became a lieutenant in the Régiment de Beauce on 23 December 1746. In January 1751 he entered the military engineering school at Mézières and graduated with distinction in February 1752.2
He kept a journal during the Yorktown Campaign, which he lost, however, in the shipwreck of La Bourgogne on 4 February 1783, off Curaçao. The few surviving pages were published in Charles Nicolas Gabriel, Le maréchal de camp Desandrouins (1729-1792) (Verdun: Imprimerie Renvé-Lallemant, 1887), as inserts into a general history of Rochambeau’s American Campaign on pp. 341- 395. They contain no information on Butts Hill Fort. His papers, housed in the Château d’Hannoncelles about 35 miles west of Metz, were destroyed during the First World War.
In their “Checklist of Journals” Rice and Brown report that “Several letters of Desandroüins are preserved in the Archives du Génie, 15-1-7, No. 34: Newport, 10 November 1780; Providence, 17 June 1781; Williamsburg, 24 January 1782; Crompond, 20 October 1782; Providence, 28 November 1782; Porto Cabello, 14 February 1783. … Examples of maps signed by Desandroüins are also extant in the Archives du Génie, including one of Newport.”4
“Enfin on redressa et l’on releva les ouvrages faits par les américaines au Nord de l’isle pour assurer la communication avec le continent.“
“Finally, the works built by the Americans on the north of the island were re-established and repaired to assure communication with the continent.”
This brief overview of the education and careers of Rochambeau’s engineers shows the vast experience these men brought to Butts Hill. Desandrouins and de la Combe had graduated from the engineering school in Mézières in February 1752 and in 1780 had almost 30 years of experience. Palys had graduated in 1755 and 25 years of experience in 1780, Oyré graduated in 1759, and had 21 years of experience. In the second group d’Opterre had joined the artillery as a sous-lieutenant in 1757. From there he entered the school in Mézières on 1 January 1763 and graduated in January 1765. Garavaque joined the navy as a student, i.e., elève ingénieur, in 1746. From there he went on to the school in Mézières as a lieutenant in 1763 and graduated on 1 January 1764. Only two engineers had less than 15 years of experience: Turpin graduated in 1768, Courreneuve in 1776. During the improvements at Butts Hill Fort in 1780-1781, American forces provided the labor, but French engineers provided the expertise that the Americans lacked.
America’s French ally became increasingly nervous about developments on the American theatre of war. As the American political elite was forced to acknowledge that the time had come for French forces to actively engage in the war on the American mainland, France in turn acknowledged that need as well. The decisive shift in favor of sending troops across the Atlantic came in late January 1780. On 2 February 1780, the French king approved the plan, code-named expédition particulière. The spring of 1780 would see the transportation across the ocean to the New World of a force large enough to decide the outcome of the rebellion in America. Naval forces in the Caribbean would be strengthened and put in a position to support the expeditionary force. In Europe, military action would be confined to diversionary actions such as the siege of Gibraltar aimed at binding British land and naval forces to Europe. A few days later the king appointed Charles Louis d’Arsac chevalier de Ternay, a chef d’escadre with 40 years of experience, to command the naval forces. For the land forces the choice fell on 55-year-old Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, a professional soldier with 37 years of experience. On 1 March, Louis XVI promoted Rochambeau to lieutenant general and put him in command of the expedition.
Construction was active from August to October, when the time of service for the Massachusetts State troops expired; payrolls for the Massachusetts ad-hoc regiments all show service up to the 31 October 1780. Throughout September and October, Rochambeau occasionally sent French forces to assist their American allies working at Howland’s Ferry.
The Orderly Book reads for 12 September 1780:
L’artillerie enverra demain matin Deux mineurs d’augmentation aux travaux, de holland’s Ferye, et après demain un chariot chargé de 100 pelles 100 pioches, un Baril de poudre et La Subsistance des Mineurs pour le plus de tems possibles on en previendra demain M L’Intendant.
The artillery will send tomorrow morning two additional sappers to the construction site at Howland’s Ferry and the day after tomorrow a wagon with 100 shovels and pickaxes, a barrel of powder and subsistence for the sappers for the longest time possible.
The notation “two additional sappers” suggests that there were already sappers working at Howland’s Ferry but the Orderly Book provides no information when those men had been sent there or how long they were to remain there.
On 20 October 1780 the Orderly Book contains this entry:
On enverra demain a hollands fery ses mineurs qu’on pourvoira de vivres pour 4 jours ou 5 jours ainsi que ceux qui Sont deja aux travaux mais on leur donnera une tente, une marmitte, deux couvertes et 4 Bottes de pailles et chargera des effets Sur une voiture que le parc fournira.
Ces mineurs n’ont pas Besoin d’outils.
Tomorrow sappers will be sent to Howland’s Ferry who will be provided with foodstuffs for four or five days just as those who are already at the construction site, but they will be given a tent, a cooking pot, two blankets and four sacks of straw and will load these supplies onto a vehicle which the parc will provide.
Those sappers do not need tools.47
Colonel Jean Nicholas Desandroüins left a description of the fort of December 1780, just as Rochambeau’s engineers began their work. Desandroüins wrote:
“Il fallait aussi pourvoir aux moyens d’être secouru en s’assurant de la communication avec le continent. On a construit dans cette vue a l’extrémité […]50 un fort appelé Bootshill sur la hauteur qui domine l’intervalle entre les deux passages ou Ferry de Bristol et de Howlands. Les secours peuvent s’assembler sous sa protection. Ce bon ouvrage est d’un relief élevé, bien flanqué, précédé d’un fossé aussi large et profond, creusé en partie dans le roc. Il est suffisamment garni d’artillerie et peut contenir 500 hommes. Pour sa construction on a profité de deux anciennes redoutes fort imparfaites dont on a rasé les faces qui se battaient mutuellement et qu’on a jointes l’une à l’autre par deux branches avec des brisures et des redans, pour n’en faire qu’une seule pièce d’une bonne défense et d’une capacité convenable.”
“It was also necessary to provide the means of being rescued by ensuring communication with the mainland. With this in mind at the far end (northern-most point) […] a fort called Bootshill was built on the height which dominates (overlooking) the space between the two passes or ferry crossings of Bristol and of Howlands. Assistance can assemble under its protection. This good work is of a high elevation, well flanked, preceded by a ditch as wide and deep, dug partly in the rock. It was sufficiently stocked with artillery and could hold 500 men. For its construction, we took advantage of two older, very imperfect, redoubts, whose mutually supporting fronts were shaved off, and which were joined together by two branches with breaks and redans, to make a single piece of good defence and capacity.”51
A note on manuscript label originally mounted on verso reads:
A joindrê à lettre de M. de Rochambeau au Prince de Montbarey datée 19 juillet 1780.
Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3774n.ar101700/
The explicatory note accompanying the number 13 in the fort reads:
“Fort of Buths-hill containing 200 men and more with 20 large-caliber cannon assuring communication with the continent and protecting the ferries of Bristol and Holland’s.”
As customary in the eighteenth century, the writer of the livre d’ordres used numerous abbreviations such as regt for regiment, Cne for Capitaine, Lt for Lieutenant cte for comte, cmdt for commandant, Royal 2 ponts for Royal Deux Ponts, St. Onge for Saintonge &c. The French text was transcribed as truthfully as possible, but since this report is not intended as a critical edition of the text, annotations were kept to a minimum in the transcription and appended in the English translation only.
Original ms of the first order dated 9 December 1780 mentioning Butts Hill Fort.
Ordre du 9xbre 1780
…
Chaque r[e]g[imen]t fournira deux Escouades et un Sergt, la b[riga]de de Soissonnois, un Lieu[tenan]t et celle de Bourbonnois un C[apitai]ne en second qui commandera le tout, ils S’assembleront à 7 heures du matin près du Corps de Garde à la place d’armes. Ce déttachement marchera avec armes et Bagages au fort Bootshill près de Holand Ferry pour y travailler à ce qu’il lui sera indiqué par l’ingénieur qui s’y trouvera, il emportera marmites, gamelles, Bidons et des Subsistances pour Cinq jours que chaque Re[gimen]t aura soin de se procurer aujourd’hui. Le C[apitai]ne qui commandera le détachement destiné à travailler au fort de Bootshill à un mille d’Holand ferry maintiendra ses soldats en Bonne police et discipline, il ne commandera chaque jour qu’un caporal et 4 hommes de Garde et ne Suffira point qu’il sert employé plus d’un Cuisinier par r[e]g[imen]t ; afin de ne distraire du travail que le moins d’hommes possibles.
L’ingénieur chargé de diriger le travail indiquera les heures ou l’on devra Commencer à se reposer, reprendre et quitter L’ouvrage il est de L’interest du détachement de mettre toute la célérité possible dans ce travail parce qu’il ne sera point relevé que le fort ne soit dans l’état que le géneral a present.
Le Cape commandant ce détachement surveillera les distributions de Bois qu’il fera faire à ses Soldats à raison d’une corde et 3 dixiemes de corde par Cent hommes pour dix jours et d’un douzieme de corde par jour pour son Corps de Garde, il est prévenu que le Surplus de cette consommation retombera à sa charge, il en brulera pour lui et pour l’officier à ses ordres et qu’il sera exactement necessaire, et la retenue lui en sera faite comme à l’armée.
Ordre du 18xbre
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Chaque rgt fera prendre des Subsistances cet après midi pour 5 jours pour les hommes détaches au fort de Bootts hill, ils les enverront Chercher demain matin sur 2 vagons que l’on trouvera prête à la Corderie et qui doivent partir à 7 heures du matin.
Un sergent de la brigade de Soissonnois accompagnera ces vagons à Boottshil et y fera la distribution.
M le Comte de Rochambeau à ordonné qu’il Serait donné à ce détachement un 1/4 de ration de pain par jour de supplement pendant qu’il travaillera pour le quel il lui sera fait la retenue dans la meme proportion que pour la ration.
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Ordre du 23xbre 1780
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Chaque Regt fera prendre des Subsistances cét après midy pour 5 jours pour les hommes détachés aux travaux du fort de Bootshill et les enveront Charger demain matin sur ces 2 vagons qui se trouveront prêt à la Corderie et qui doivent être à 7 h[eures] du matin, un Sergt de La Bde de Bourbonnois accompagnera les vagons à Boottshill et y fera la distribution de ces Subsistances.
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Du 27 du dit mois 1780
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Le détachement des regts de Soissonnois, St. Onge et Royal 2 ponts au fort de Bootshill rentreront demain.
LE regt de Bourbonnois enverra des Subsistances à son détachement qui reste à Bootshill.
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Du 28 xbre 1780 du dit jour
Le Cape qui Commande le détachement de travailleurs au fort de Bootshill, reviendra demain à Newport avec son détachement, à l’exeption d’un sergt et des deux Escouades du Regt de Bourbonnois qu’il Laissera Comme garde dans le fort auquel il fera laisser les fournitures dont elle aura exactement besoin, le surplus sera mis a part et Consigné au Sergt qui le fera charger sur le Vagon qui portera des vivres à cette Garde.
Le capitaine donnera au Sergt restant de Garde les Consignes qu’il jugera nécessaires pour la Sureté du poste la police de la Garde et la Conservation des ouvrages du Fort.
Le détachement prendra au Surplus les ordres de Monsieur de Palise, Major du Corps Royal du Genie et de monsieur Blanchard pour le travail qu’il sera possible de faire.
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Ordre du 31 xbre 1780
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Le regt de Soissonnois fournira demain un Sergt et 2 Escouades qui partiront à 7 h du matin pour aller relever un pareil détachement du regt de Bourbonnois au fort de Bootshill près de Holland ferry on donnera le pret et des subsistances pour 5 jours au détachement et il emportera tout ses ustensiles et fournitures.
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Ordre du 4 janvier 1781
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Le rgt de St. Onge fournira demain un Sergt et 2 escouades qui partiront demain à 7 heures du matin pour relever un pareil détachement de Soissonnois au fort de Bootshill près de Holland ferry. On leur donnera Les Subsistances pour 5 Jours, le détachement emportera ses ustensiles et fournitures.
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Ordre du 9 janvier 1781
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Le Regt de Royal Deux ponts fournira demain un Sergt et 2 escouades qui partiront demain à 7 heures du matin pour aller relever un pareil détachement de St. onge au fort de Bootshill. On donnera le prèt des subsistances pour cinq jours à ce détachement et il emportera tous ses ustensiles (rayé : des effets de Campement) et fournitures tous les Soldats travailleurs employés à la réparation des effets de Campement seront exempts d’appels et auront la permission de travailler jusques à 8 h du Soir.
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Ordre du 16 Jer 1781
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Conformément à La décision de Mr Le Cte de Rochambeau du 18 obre qui accordait un Quart de supplément au Ration de pain par jour aux travailleurs du fort de Bootshill Le détachement d’un Sergt et 2 Escouades qui gardent et y travaillent jouiront de Cet Avantage jusqu’à nouvel ordre.
Quart de ration et Sera faitte la retenue dans la même proportion que pour. [sic]
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Ordre du 19 Jer 1781
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Le Regt de Soissonnois fournira demain un Sergt et 2 Escouades qui partiront à 7 heures du Matin pour aller relever un pareil détachement de Bourbonnois Au fort de Bootshill. on donnera le prèt et des subsistances pour 5 jours à ce détachement et il emportera ses ustensiles et fournitures. Il continuera de fournir le plus grand nombre de travailleurs qu’il sera Possible.
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Ordre d 24 Jer. 1781
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Le Regt de St. Onge fournira demain un Sergt et 2 Escouades qui partiront à 7 heures du matin pour aller relever un pareil détachement du regt de Soissonnois au fort de Bootshill ils prendront le pret et des Subsistances pour 5 jours et emporteront leurs ustensiles et fournitures. Il sera fourni pour ce détachement le plus D’hommes Qu’ils sera possible aux travaux du fort.
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Ordre d 29 Jer. 1781
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Le regt de Royal 2 ponts fournira demain un Sergt et 2 Escouades qui partiront a 7 heures du matin pour aller relever un pareil détachement du regt de St onge au fort du Bootshill ils prendront le pret et des subsistances pour 5 jours et emporteront leurs ustensiles et fournitures. Il sera fourni par Ce détachement le plus d’hommes qu’ils Sera possible aux travaux du fort.
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Ordre du 2 Fer. 1781
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Le regt de Bourbonnois fournira demain un sergent et 2 escouades qui partiront à 7 heures du matin pour aller relever un pareil détachement de Deux ponts au fort de Bootshill. Ils prendront le prêt et des subsistances pour 5 jours et emporteront leurs outils et fournitures, il sera fourni par ce détachement le plus d’hommes qu’il sera possible aux travaux du fort.
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Ordre du 7 Fer. 1781
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Le regt de Soissonnois fournira un sergent et 2 escouades qui partiront demain à 7 heures du matin pour aller relever un pareil détachement du regt de Bourbonnois au fort de Boots hill. Ils prendront (rayé : Le Regt de Bourbonnois) le pret et des subsistances pour 5 jours et emporteront leurs ustensiles et fournitures. Il sera fourni par ce détachement le plus d’hommes qu’il sera possible aux travaux du fort.
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Ordre du 13 Fer. 1781
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Le regt de St Onge fournira demain un Sergt et 2 escouades qui partiront a 7 heures du matin pour aller relever un pareil détachement du regt de Soissonnois au fort de Bootshill, ils prendront le pret et des subsistances pour 5 jours et emporteront leurs ustensilles et fournitures. Il sera fourni par ce détachement le plus d’hommes qu’il sera possible aux travaux du fort.
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Ordre du 18 Fer. 1781
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Le Regt de Royal Deux ponts furnira demain un Sergt et 2 Escouades qui partiront a 7 heurs du matin pour aller relever un pareil déttachement du regt de St Onge au fort de Bootshill ils prendront des Subsitances pour 5 jours ; Ils emporteronts leurs ustensiles et fournitures.
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Ordre du 23 Fevrier 1781
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Le Regt de Bourb four dem un Sergent et 2 escouades qui partiront à 7 h du Mat pour aller relever un pareil détachement au fort de Bots hill ils prendront des Subsistances pour 5 jours ils emporteront leurs ustensiles et fournitures.
…
On 23 February 1781 a new scribe took over the duty of recording the daily orders in Rochambeau’s Orderly Book. His handwriting is atrocious and only gets worse.
Ordre du 28 Fevrier 1781
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Le Brgd de Soissonois fournira un Sergt et 2 Escouades qui partiront demain à 7. H. du Mat. pour aller relever un pareil détachement au fort de Bots hill ils prendront le prèt et des subsistances pour 5 jours et emporteront leurs ustensiles et fournitures.
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Ordre du 5 Mars 1781
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Le Régd de St. onge four un Sergt et 2 escouades qui partiront a 7 h du M pour aller relever un pareil détachement à Boots hill, ils prendront le pret et des subsistances pr 5 jours. Ils emporteront leurs ustenbsiles et fournitures. Ce Détachement se laissera relever par la première trouppe américaine qui viendra s’établir Dans ce fort et le Sergent qui les Command les rammenera aussitôt a Newport.
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There is no mention of relieving the detachment at Butts Hill Fort until 18 March.
Ordre du 18 Mars
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Le Regd de Soisonnois enverra dem mat Les nommés Armand Cap[ora]l et Foucaut Soldats de la Compie de La Boyere fleur D’amour de celle d’Anselme et Bourd et de celle de Scinety au fort de Bots hill ou ils prendront Les ordres de Mr de Turpin, Capt du genie. On leur donnera des vivres pr 4 jours.
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There is no mention of relieving the detachment at Butts Hill Fort until 1 April.
Ordre du premier avril 1781
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Royal deux Ponts fournira dem un Sergt et une Escouade qui partiront à 6. H. du Mat: pour aller au fort de Boots hill, Le Sergt Com. cette Garde prendra La Cosigne qui luy Sera Donnée par Mr de Turpin, Capit Ingénieur, Sera à Ses ordres. Cette garde emportera Ses ustensiles, Ses fournitures et des Subsistances pr 5 jours.
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Ordre du 11 avril 1781
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Le Regd de Soissonois fourn dem 1 Sergt 1 Capl et 6 homs qui partiront à 6 heures du Mat : pour aller au fort de Bots hill où ils resteront 5 jours comme par le passé, on leur fournira le prèt et des vivres pr 5 jours.
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Ordre du 16 avril 1781
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Le Régd de St onge fourn 1 Sergt 1 Capl : et 8 homs au fort de Bots hill ils emporteront le pret et des subsistances pr 5 jours.
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Ordre du 21 avril 1781
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Le Regd de Royal deux ponts fourn : dem : 1. Sergt 1. Capl et 10 hos au fort de Bots hill. ils emporteront le prèt et des Subsistances pr 5 jours.
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Ordre du 25 avril 1781
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Le Regd de Bourbonois four: dem: 1 Sergt 1 Capl et 10 hommes au fort de Bots hill, ils emporteront le pret et des Subsistances pr 5 jours.
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Ordre du 29 avril 1781
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Le Regd : de Sois : four : dem. 1 Sergt, 1 Capl et 10 hos au fort de Bots hill ils emporteront Le pret et des Subsistances pr 5 jours.
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Ordre du 3 may 1781
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Le Regd de St onge four : dem : 1 Sergt : 1 Capl et 10 hos pour le fort de Boots hill ils emporteront Le pret et des Subsistances pour 5 jours.
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Ordre du 8 may 1781
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Le Regd de Deux ponts four : dem : 1 Sergt 3 Capx et 20 hos au fort de Bots hill ils emporteront le prêt et les Subsistances pr 5 jours.
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There is no mention of relieving the detachment at Butts Hill Fort in the orders for 13 May.
Ordre du 18 may 1781
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La Regd De Sois four dem 1 Sergt 3 Capx et 10 hos pr Le fort de Bots hill. Ils emporteront Le prèt et Des subsitances pr 5 jours.
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Ordre du 23 may 1781
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Le Regd de St onge fournira dem 1 Sergt : 3 Capx et 10 hos pr le Fort de Bootshill. Ils emporteront le pret et de subsistances pr 5 jours.
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Ordre du 28 may 1781
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Le Regd de Deux pont four dem 1 Sergt 3 Capx et 10 hos au fort de Buts hill, ils emporteront le pret et des Subsistances pr 5 jours.
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Ordre du 2 Juin 1781
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La Bd de Bourb. four dem : 1 Sergt 3 Capx et 10 hos pour le fort de Bootshill. Ils emporteront le prét et Des Subsistances pour 5 jours.
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Ordre du 7 juin 1781
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Le rgt de Sois: four: dem: 3 Capx et 10 hos pour le fort de But hill. Ils emporteront Le pret et des subsistances pr: 5 jour.
…
Last entry in the Orderly Book concerning “But Hill”. It is written in the margin of the entry for 7 June 1781.
On 9 June the Bourbonnois and Royal Deux-Ponts regiments received orders to prepare to embark; the next morning at 5:00 a.m. the boats sailed for Providence. The Orderly Book contains no further order concerning the detachment at Butts Hill Fort, i.e., when or how, the men were to rejoin their companies.
The sergeants of infantry regiments paid out the prêt to their companies after having confirmed that the soldier had not lost or damaged any piece of his equipment, otherwise he was allowed to withhold 1.5 sols of the soldier’s pay. This deduction was made in addition to prior deductions such as the masse de linge et chaussure, i.e., the regimental fund to pay for a soldier’s uniform and for his shoes. Ordinaires were organized by rank, i.e., the staff NCOs formed one ordinaire, the sergeants of a company formed one or more ordinaires, as did the musicians. Corporals were grouped into an ordinaire with enlisted men in their 12-man chambrée. Chambrée, ordinaire, and éscouade denote the smallest organizational, administrative, and tactical unit in the army of the ancien régime.
Jonquière also provides a breakdown of the income and expenses for an ordinaire of 12 soldiers, adding that any remaining funds « sert pour l’achat des balais, et des chandelles et le loyer des marmites, des gamelles et des cruches ainsi que des poêles pendant l’hiver; enfin, elle supporte la subsistance des trente-un, pour lesquels la troupe ne perçoit pas de solde – is used for the purchase of brooms, and candles and the leasing of cooking pots, mess tins and pitchers just like for the stoves during the winter, it provides subsistence for the thirty-first, for which the troops do not receive pay.”55
French troops were paid for 30 days service per month, independent of how many days a month has. A regular year has seven months with 31 days; since the troops were paid for 29 and 30 February, they usually served for five days without pay, six days in a leap year.
Sometimes soldiers were paid extra for work, viz. on 26 July 1780, Rochambeau ordered that every enlisted man on work detail erecting defenses around Newport was to be paid an extra 20 sols, one whole livre, per day without any deductions. That was more than twice their regular daily pay and the troops eagerly sought the additional income. It is unknown if the soldiers working at Butts Hill Fort partook in the extra income.
Order of 9 December 1780
Each regiment will furnish two squads [at 12 men each] and a sergeant, the brigade of Soissonnois a lieutenant, and that of Bourbonnois a Capitaine en second who will command the whole, they will assemble at 7 o’clock in the morning near the guardhouse on the Parade Ground. This detachment will march with arms and baggage to Butts Hill Fort near Howland’s Ferry to work there,57 as directed to them by the engineer who will be there, they will take with them cooking pots, mess tins, flasks, and provisions for five days, which each regiment will take care to procure to-day. The captain who will command the detachment ordered to work at Butts Hill Fort, a mile from Howland’s Ferry, will keep his soldiers in good order and discipline, he will order each day only one corporal and four men as guards, and will not allow more than one cook be employed per regiment in order to keep as few men as possible from the work.
The engineer in charge of supervising the work will indicate the times when one should begin to rest, resume, and end work; it is in the interest of the detachment to put all possible speed into this work, because it will not be relieved before the fort is no longer in the general condition it is at present.
The Capitaine Commandant of this detachment will supervise the distribution of wood that he will make to his soldiers at the rate of one cord and 3 tenths of a cord per 100 men for 10 days and one twelfth of a cord per day for his guardhouse,58 he is warned that any additional consumption will be at his expense. He will burn of it [the wood] for himself and for the officer, at his command, and exactly what will be necessary, and the deduction will be made to him as in the army.59
Order of 23 December 1780
Each regiment will take provisions this afternoon for four days for the men detached to the works at Butts Hill Fort and will send them to load tomorrow morning onto these two wagons, which will be ready at the rope factory, and which must be at 7 o’clock in the morning, a sergeant of the brigade of Bourbonnois will accompany these wagons to Butts Hill Fort and distribute these provisions there.
of the 27th of the said month 1780
The detachments of the Soissonnois, Saintonge and Royal Deux Ponts regiments at Butts Hill Fort will return tomorrow. The Bourbonnois Regiment will send provisions to its detachment which remains at Butts Hill Fort.
of 28 December 1780 of the said day
The captain who commands the detachment of workers at Butts Hill Fort will return to Newport tomorrow with his detachment, with the exception of a sergeant and the two squadrons of the regiment of Bourbonnois, whom he will leave as a guard in the fort, to whom he will leave the supplies that he [i.e. the sergeant] will exactly need, the surplus will be set apart and consigned to the sergeant, who will have it loaded onto the wagon that will carry provisions to this guard. The officer shall give the sergeant remaining on duty such instructions as he deems necessary for the security of the post, the police of the guard, and the preservation of the fort’s works. The detachment will also take orders from Monsieur de Palisse, Major of the Royal Corps of Engineers, and from Monsieur Planchard for the work that can be done.62
Order of 31 December 1780
The Soissonnois regiment will furnish tomorrow a sergeant and two squads who will leave at 7 o’clock in the morning to relieve a similar detachment of the regiment of Bourbonnois at the Butts Hill Fort near Howland’s Ferry, the prêt and provisions for five days will be given to the detachment, and it will take away all its tools and supplies.
Order of 4 January 1781
The Regiment of Saintonge will furnish tomorrow a sergeant and two squads who will leave tomorrow at 7 a.m. to relieve a similar detachment of the Soissonnois at Butts Hill Fort near Howland’s Ferry. They will be given food for five days, the detachment will take their tools and supplies.
Order of 9 January 1781
Deux Ponts will furnish a sergeant and two squads tomorrow at 7 a.m. to relieve a similar detachment from the Saintonge at Butts Hill Fort. The prêt for five days will be given to this detachment, and it will take with it all its tools (struck out: the camp effects) and supplies; all the working soldiers employed in repairing the camp effects will be exempt from roll call and will be allowed to work until 8 o’clock in the evening.
Order of 14 January 1781
The regiment of Bourbonnois will furnish tomorrow a sergeant and two squads, who will set out at 7 o’clock in the morning to relieve a similar detachment from the Regiment of Royal Deux Ponts at Butts Hill Fort. The prêt and provisions will be given to the detachment for five days and they will take their tools and supplies with them.
Order of 16 January 1781
In accordance with the decision of M. le Comte de Rochambeau of the 18th of October, which granted a quarter supplement to the ration of bread per day to the workers at the fort of Butts Hill Fort, the detachment of a sergeant and two squads who guard and work there, will enjoy this advantage until further orders.
Quarter of a ration and will be made in the same proportion as for63
Order of 19 January 1781
The Regiment of Soissonnois will furnish tomorrow a sergeant and two squads who will leave at 7 o’clock in the morning to relieve a similar detachment of the Bourbonnois at Butts Hill Fort. This detachment will be given the prêt and provisions for five days and they will take their tools and supplies with them. It will continue to provide as many workers as possible.
Order of 24 January 1781
The Regiment of Saintonge will furnish tomorrow a sergeant and two squads who will leave at 7 o’clock in the morning to relieve a similar detachment of the Soissonnois Regiment at Butts Hill Fort, they will take the prêt and provisions for five days and will take their tools and supplies. There will be provided for this detachment as many men as possible for the work of the fort.
Order of 29 January 1781
The Royal Deux Ponts Regiment will furnish a sergeant and two squads tomorrow who will leave at 7 a.m. to relieve a similar detachment of the Saintonge Regiment at Butts Hill Fort, they will take the prêt and provisions for five days and will take their tools and supplies with them. This detachment will furnish as many men as possible for the work of the fort.
Order of 2 February 1781
The Regiment of Bourbonnois will furnish tomorrow a sergeant and two squads who will leave at 7 o’clock in the morning to relieve a similar detachment of Deux Ponts at Butts Hill Fort. They will take the prêt and provisions for five days and will take their tools and supplies, it will be provided by this detachment as many men as possible for the work at the fort.
Order of 7 February 1781
The Soissonnois Regiment will furnish a sergeant and two squads who will leave tomorrow at 7 o’clock in the morning to relieve a similar detachment of the Bourbonnois Regiment at Butts Hill Fort. They will take (crossed out: Le Regt de Bourbonnois) the prêt and provisions for five days and will take their tools and supplies. This detachment will furnish as many men as possible for the work at the fort.
Order of 13 February 1781
The Regiment of Saintonge will provide tomorrow a sergeant and two squads who will leave at 7 o’clock in the morning to relieve a similar detachment of the Regiment of Soissonnois at Butts Hill Fort, they will take the prêt and provisions for five days and will take their tools and supplies with them. This detachment will furnish as many men as possible for the work at the fort.
Order of 18 February 1781
The regiment of Royal Deux Ponts will furnish tomorrow a sergeant and two squads who will leave at 7 o’clock in the morning to relieve a similar detachment from the regiment of Saintonge to Butts Hill Fort. They will take provisions for five days, they will take their tools and supplies with them.
Order of 23 February 1781
The Regiment of Bourbonnois will have a sergeant and two squads who will leave at 7 a.m. to relieve a similar detachment at Butts Hill Fort, they will take provisions for five days, they will take their tools and supplies.
Order of 28 February 1781
The Brigade of Soissonnois will provide a sergeant and two squads who will leave tomorrow at 7 in the morning to relieve a similar detachment at Butts Hill Fort, they will take the prêt and provisions for five days and will take their tools and supplies with them.
Order of 5 March 1781
The Regiment of Saintonge has a sergeant and two squads who will leave at 7 a.m. to relieve such a similar detachment at Butts Hill Fort, they will take the prêt and provisions for five days. They will take their tools and supplies with them. This detachment will be relieved by the first American troop that will establish itself in this fort, and the sergeant who commands them will immediately take them back to Newport.
There is no mention of relieving the detachment at Butts Hill Fort until 18 March.
Order of 18 March 1781
The Regiment of Soissonnois will send tomorrow morning to Butts Hill Fort the soldiers named Armand, Corporal, and Foucaut, soldiers of the Company de La Boyere,64 fleur D’amour,65 of that [i.e., the company] of Anselme66 and Bourdet of that [i.e., the company] of Scinety,67 where they will take the order of M. de Turpin, Captain of the Engineers. They will be given food for four days.
There is no mention of relieving the detachment at Butts Hill Fort until 1 April.
Order of 1st of April 1781
Royal Deux Ponts will furnish tomorrow one sergeant and a squad that will depart at 6 in the morning to go to Butts Hill Fort, the sergeant in command of this Guard will take the Countersign, which will be given to him by Mr. de Turpin, Captain Engineer, and will be under his orders. This guard will take its tools, supplies, and provisions with it for five days.
Order of 11 April 1781
The regiment of Soissonnois furnishes tomorrow one sergeant one corporal and six men who will leave at 6 in the morning to go to Butts Hill Fort where they will remain for five days as in the past, they will be provided with the prêt and provisions for five days.
Order of 16 April 1781
The regiment of Saintonge will furnish one sergeant one corporal and eight men to Butts Hill Fort. They will take the prêt and provisions with them for five days.
Order of 21 April 1781
The regiment of Deux Ponts will furnish tomorrow one Sergeant one corporal and 10 men to Butts Hill Fort. They will take the prêt and provisions with them for five days.
Order of 25 April 1781
The regiment of Bourbonnois will furnish tomorrow one sergeant, one corporal and ten men to Butts Hill Fort. They will take the prêt and provisions with them for five days.
Order of 29 April 1781
The regiment of Soissonnois will furnish tomorrow one sergeant one corporal and ten men to Butts Hill Fort. They will take the prêt and provisions with them for five days.
Order of 3 May 1781
The regiment of Saintonge will furnish tomorrow one sergeant one corporal and ten men to Butts Hill Fort. They will take the prêt and provisions with them for five days.
Order of 8 May 1781
The regiment of Deux Ponts will furnish tomorrow one sergeant three corporals and 20 men to Butts Hill Fort. They will take the prêt and provisions with them for five days.
There is no mention of relieving the detachment at Butts Hill Fort in the order of 13 May.
Order of 18 May 1781
The regiment of Soissonnois will furnish tomorrow one sergeant three corporals and ten men to Butts Hill Fort. They will take the prêt and provisions with them for five days.
Order of 23 May 1781
The regiment of Saintonge will furnish tomorrow one sergeant three corporals and ten men to Butts Hill Fort. They will take the prêt and provisions with them for five days.
Order of 28 May 1781
The regiment of Deux Ponts will furnish tomorrow one sergeant three corporals and ten men to Butts Hill Fort. They will take the prêt and provisions with them for five days.
Order of 2 June 1781
The brigade of Bourbonnois will furnish tomorrow one sergeant, three corporals and ten men to Butts Hill Fort. They will take the prêt and provisions with them for five days.
Order of 7 June 1781
The regiment of Soissonnois will furnish tomorrow three corporals and ten men to Butts Hill Fort. They will take the prêt and provisions with them for five days.
Last entry in the Orderly Book concerning “But Hill”. It is written in the margin of the entry of 7 June 1781.
Rochambeau’s Orderly Book is an important and under-used primary source that allows the reconstruction of the daily lives of the French army in the United States between July 1780 and August 1781. While a detailed study of wages and deductions, discipline, and food supplies, goes well beyond the scope of this study, a follow-up study looking to offer a glimpse into the “Daily Life of a French soldier working at Butts Hill Fort” based primarily on the Orderly Book might be of interest.
The presence of, and the work carried out by, French soldiers at Butts Hill Fort from July 1780 and June 1781 is beyond doubt. The Orderly Book clearly established that within a week of their arrival in Newport, French engineers, most notably Major de Palys, were supervising repairs at the fort. At this point the work was carried out by American militia. It was only in December 1780, that French soldiers began working at Butts Hill Fort, which they did until June 1781, when Rochambeau’s forces deployed to New York.
The Orderly Book, however, has its limitations as well. What exactly were they doing at Butts Hill Fort? Which alterations and improvements did they make to the fort? The Orderly Book provides no answer to these questions, but that is not the purpose of an Orderly Book. The Orderly Book contains the orders, the mechanics, of how many NCOs and enlisted men will work at the fort for how long using which tools under the direction of which engineer.
The fort needed to be repaired and improved, and Rochambeau’s Line Infantry provided the manpower. Neither the Auxonne Artillery nor Lauzun’s Legion are ever mentioned as providing troops to work at Butts Hill Fort.
In his private Journal de Campagne, de Palys mentions his early involvement at Butts Hill Fort but only once. Captain Ervoil d’Oyré in his Notes relatives also mentions Butts Hill Fort only once, and while he wrote 37 letters to a relative in France, his military duties are mentioned but rarely. He, probably correctly, assumed that his family and friends in France would not be interested in learning about his duties supervising the repair of a relatively small earthworks in Rhode Island. Not surprisingly, therefore, consultant’s search in the inventories of private archives in France that are available on-line looking for the private papers of engineering officers known to have served with Rochambeau have been unsuccessful.
Rochambeau was aware of the importance of the fort and may have even inspected the fort as early as 3 August 1780, but he would never have presumed to tell his engineers how to lay out the most effective defense of the northern approach route to Newport. Rochambeau did not micromanage his engineers. Between them they had 100 years of experience. The Orderly Book provides no information on the actual work carried out at the fort. Whatever plans or sketches the engineers may have drawn of the alterations carried out at the fort are NOT found in the Orderly Book. Such information, beyond the maps published by Rice and Brown in their 1976 two-volume study of Rochambeau’s campaign, if it exists, would be found in the official papers of the engineers. Rice and Brown apparently did not conduct research in the Archives du Génie: they list call numbers and identify mss in the archives but none of the maps in Rice and Brown are identified as reproductions of originals found in the Archives du Génie. The maps published in vol. 2 of their American Campaigns were drawn by Crublier d’Opterre, owned (in the 1970s) by the Mellon Library, but now at Yale. Map 6 (p. 126, Newport), Map 43 (p. 136, Reconnaissance New York) and Map 45 (p. 138, Reconnaissance New York) are all in the Library of Congress.
The remaining place to search for information on Butts Hill Fort such as work descriptions, maps, or requests for tools and equipment, are primarily the military engineering archives in Vincennes. Their holdings are huge and span the years from 1415 to 1945. They consist of 611 inventories, a total of 4,334 boxes, and some 3,500 maps. An inventory to the French engineering archives was published by Nicole Salat and Emmanuel Pénicaut, Le dépôt des fortifications et ses archives, 1660-1940 : Archives du génie, répertoire numérique détaillé de la sous-série 1V du Service historique de la Défense (Service historique de la Défense, Vincennes : Archives et culture, 2011). This finding aid has been used in the preparation of this report but the mss listed there have not been researched.
This research, as well as research into the correspondence of Ervoil d’Oyré with the comte de Chastellux, conducted on site in Paris, should be the next step in the investigation of the role of French engineers at Butts Hill Fort in 1780/81.
The most important secondary sources used in the preparation of this report were:
Abbas, Donna K. Rhode Island in the Revolution: Big Happenings in the Smallest Colony 4 vols., 2nd ed. (USDI National Park Service, ABPP, 2006).
Abbass, Donna K. “Butts Hill Fort, Portsmouth” Rhode Tour. It is available at on-line at https://rhodetour.org/items/show/50. Accessed on 12 December 2023.
Ambassade de France. French Engineers and the American War of Independence (New York, 1975).
Bodinier, Gilbert. Dictionnaire des officiers de l’armée royale qui ont combattu aux États-Unis pendant la guerre d’Indépendance 1776-1783 3rd ed., (Chailland, 2001)
“Butts Hill, Chastellux, and Conanicut Island Forts.” In: Allan Forbes and Paul F. Cadman, France and New England, 3 vols. (Boston: State Street Trust Company, 1925-1929), vol. 2, (1927), pp. 61-65.
Cullum, George W. Historical Sketch of the Fortification Defenses of Narragansett Bay since the Founding, in 1638, of the Colony of Rhode Island (Washington, D.C.: priv. printed, 1884).
Field, Edward. Revolutionary Defenses in Rhode Island (Providence: Preston & Rounds, 1896).
Payette, Peter and Phil. “North American Forts, 1526–1956” www.northamericanforts.com.
Rice, Howard C. Jr. and Anne S. K. Brown. The American Campaigns of Rochambeau’s Army 1780, 1781, 1782, 1782. 2 vols. (Princeton and Providence, 1972)
Robertson, John K. Revolutionary War Defenses in Rhode Island (Providence: Rhode Island Publications Society, 2022)
Selig, Robert. The Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route in the Commonwealth of Rhode Island, 1781 – 1783. An Historical and Architectural Survey. (Providence, R.I.: W3R Association of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 2015)
Walker, Paul K. Engineers of Independence, A Documentary History of the Army Engineers in the American Revolution, 1775-1783 (Washington, DC, 1981)
Resources:
(1) A partial transcription and edition of the livre d’ordre was published by Arnaud Blondet, Jeux de Guerre, l’Histoire de l’Armée de Rochambeau au Secours des Etat-Unis 1780-1781. Tome I (Éditions Jean-Jacques Wuillaume: Monfaucon, 2024). It ends with the entry for 13 April 1781.
(2) On the engineering school see Roger Chartier, « Un recrutement scolaire au xviiie siècle : l’École royale du Génie de Mézières » Revue d’histoire moderne et contemporaine, vol. 20 (1973), pp. 375-368 ; Sébastien Pautet, « Produire une élite savante et technicienne à l’École du génie de Mézières : dispositions techniques et scientifiques des élèves ingénieurs » ARTEFACT. Techniques, histoire et sciences humaines vol. 4 (2016) : L’Europe technicienne, XVe-XVIIIe siècle, pp. 119-133; André Robinet, « L’Ecole royale du Génie de Mézières » Revue d’histoire des sciences vol. 2 no. 3 (1949), pp. 267-270, and René Taton, « L’École royale du génie de Mézières » in : René Taton, ed., Enseignement et diffusion des sciences en France au xviiie siècle (Paris : Hermann, 1964), pp. 559-615.
(3) Gilbert Bodinier, Dictionnaire des officiers de l’armée royale qui ont combattu aux États-Unis pendant la guerre d’Indépendance 1776-1783 3rd edition (Chailland, 2001), p. 148.
A maréchal de camp is the equivalent of major general.
(4) Howard C. Rice Jr. and Anne S. K. Brown, The American Campaigns of Rochambeau’s Army 1780, 1781, 1782, 1782. 2 vols. (Princeton and Providence: Princeton University Press and Brown University Press, 1972), vol. 1, pp. 285-348, p. 299.
(5) Blondet, Jeux de Guerre, p. 239, fn 593.
(6) Bodinier, Dictionnaire, p. 454. The entry provides no information why de La Combe graduated after one year already, but like Desandroüins de La Combe had entered Mezieres already as a lieutenant.
(7) Bodinier, Dictionnaire, p. 431.
(8) Society of the Cincinnati, Washington, DC, MSS L2014S1 M [Bound]. The library also owns an undated typed and annotated transcription by comte de Parscau du Plessix, M 75.63 A 6855.
(9) Rice and Brown, American Campaigns, vol. 1, p. 319.
(10) Bodinier, Dictionnaire, p.207.
(11) His Notes relatives have the call number MSS L2008F163.1-5 M.
(12) His 37 letters are catalogued under the call number MSS L2009F30.
(13) Blondet, Jeux de Guerre, p. 130. The letter is held in the Archives Nationales de France, Paris, call number M 1021: correspondance adressée au comte du Chastellux pendant la guerre d’Indépendance. Butts Hill is not mentioned in the quotation printed in Blondet, Jeux de Guerre.
(14) Oyré, “Notes relatives aux mouvemens de l’armee françoise en Amerique”. MSS L2008F1163.1, pages 5 and 7. Oyré refers to the British fleet that had appeared off the coast of Rhode Island.
(15) The ms has the call number DE/2018/PA/120 and is held in the Service historique de la Défense, Château de Vincennes, Vincennes, France.
(16) Bodinier, Dictionnaire, p. 133.
(17) Rice and Brown, American Campaigns, vol. 1, p. 298, write that some papers originating with Crublier d’Opterre, including an annotated version of the official journal of the siege of Yorktown and a map of Newport, RI, are held by the Library of Paul Mellon in Upperville, Virginia. These mss are now (since 2000) held in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Collection at Yale University. The descriptions do not suggest that d’Opterre’s papers contain any information on Fort Butts Hill.
(18) Bodinier, Dictionnaire, p. 239. A chef de brigade was the equivalent of a colonel.
(19) Bodinier, Dictionnaire, pp. 510/511.
(20) Bodinier, Dictionnaire, pp. 71/72.
(21) Bodinier, Dictionnaire, pp. 441/442.
(22) Bodinier, Dictionnaire, p. 527.
(23) For an excellent background on the reasons for French involvement in the War of Independence see John Hardman, The Life of Louis XVI (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016), pp. 101-135.
(24) Beaumarchais’s proposal of 22 January 1776 and submitted by Vergennes to Louis XVI, is in Naval Documents of the American Revolution William Bell Clark, ed. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office 1968), vol. 3, p. 525, quoted from the on-line edition at https://www.history.navy.mil/research/publications/publications-by-subject/naval-documents-of-the-american-revolution.html
(25) Quoted in General Fonteneau, “La période française de la guerre d’Indépendance (1776-1780)” Revue historique des armées vol. 3 no. 4 (1976), pp. 47-77, p. 48. Unless otherwise indicated all translations are mine.
(26) Beaumarchais to Louis XVI, 22 January 1776, Naval Documents of the American Revolution, p. 525.
(27) On French expenditure see Robert D. Harris, “French Finances and the American War, 1777-1783,” Journal of Modern History vol. 48 (June 1976), pp. 233-258, and Claude C. Sturgill, “Observations of the French War Budget 1781-1790,” Military Affairs, vol. 48 (October 1984), pp. 180-187. Hardman, Louis XVI, p.112 points out, however, that within the French budget the “sum was trivial – less than Marie-Antoinette had spent on balls the previous year” (i.e., in 1775).
(28) See my “The Politics of Arming America or Why are there still dozens of Vallière 4-lb Cannon à la suédoise in the United States but only four in all of Europe?” in: New Perspectives on the “Last Argument of Kings” (Ticonderoga, New York: Fort Ticonderoga Press, 2018), pp. 30-51.
(29) The decree was published in Newfoundland on 4 October 1777; an English translation was published in the UNIVERSAL MAGAZINE, vol. 61 (November 1777), p. 275.
(30) Quoted from the on-line edition of the George Washington Papers available at https://founders.archives.gov/?q=tether&s=1111311111&sa=&r=9&sr=
(31) Trentinian provides slightly different numbers, i.e., 5,062 non-commissioned officers and men, 183 civilian employees, 232 domestic servants, 23 women and two children plus a total of 467 male civilian employees performing unspecified tasks “à la table des capitaines”. Jacques de Trentinian, La France au Secours de l’Amérique (Paris: Editions SPM, 2016), p. 170.
(32) For more details see my The Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route in the Commonwealth of Rhode Island, 1781 – 1783. An Historical and Architectural Survey. (Providence, Rhode Island: W3R Association of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 2015), available on-line at https://w3r-us.org/history-by-state/ . On the winter quarters of Lauzun’s Legion see my Hussars in Lebanon! A Connecticut Town and Lauzun’s Legion during the American Revolution, 1780-1781 (Lebanon: Lebanon Historical Society, 2004).
(33) The Diaries of George Washington, 1748-1799. John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., 3 vols., (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1925), vol. 2, pp. 217/18; also available on-line at the website of the George Washington Papers and at https://founders.archives.gov
(34) J. Henry Doniol, Histoire de la participation de la France a l’Établissement des États-Unis d’Amérique 5 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1886-1892), vol. 5 (1892), p. 475.
(35) On the land and water deployment of the Continental Army see my “upwards of 20 Batteaus all in a Body made a fine Appearance coming down the River, and must be very mortifying to those Motionless at a little Distance”. Water Trails of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail in the Hudson River Valley in 1781 and 1782. A Historical Overview and Resource Inventory (Albany, NY: Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, 2020). Available on-line at https://www.hudsonrivervalley.com/trails
(36) John K. Robertson, Revolutionary War Defenses in Rhode Island (Providence: Rhode Island Publications Society, 2022), p. 71. This chapters draws heavily on Robertson history of Butts Hill Fort in his Defenses, pp. 71-76.
(37) Ibid.,p. 75.
(38) Lookouts spied four British frigates off Point Judith on 19 July; the SOLs came in view on 21 July only. Evelyn M. Acomb, tr., The Revolutionary Journal of Baron Ludwig von Closen 1778–1783 (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1958), p. 32. The comte de Lauberdière, another of Rochambeau’s aides-de-camp, similarly wrote the Arbuthnot “appeared in sight of Newport on the 19th”. The French Campaigns in the American Revolution, 1780–1783: The Diary of Count of Lauberdière, General Rochambeau’s Nephew and Aide-de-camp. Translated and edited by Norman Desmarais. (El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beattie, 2020), p. 22.
(39) Stanley J. Idzerda and Linda J. Pike, eds., Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution, Selected Letters and Papers, 1776-1790: Volume III, April 27, 1780 – March 29, 1781 (Ithaka: Cornell University Press, 1981), p. 109.
(40) At the end of the paragraph La Fayette added that he had made the arrangements ”with the approbation and By the orders of Gal. Heath.” Ibid. p. 115.
(41) Ibid., p. 118.
(42) Ibid.,p. 124.
(43) Neither the Rochambeau Papers nor the journals and diaries of Rochambeau’s aides de camp such as Closen, Lauberdière or Axel von Fersen contain information on Rochambeau’s visit to Butts Hill Fort, if it did indeed occur.
(44) Orderly Books of Ebenezer Thayer, Jr. 1776–1791. Book 2, 20 August to 27 October 1780. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA, mss HM 594, quoted in Robertson, Defenses, p. 75. See also Major General William Heath to General Washington, 5 August 1780, ibid.
(45) https://founders.archives.gov/?q=howland%27s%20ferry&s=1111311111&sa=&r=10&sr= The ”Major of Engineers” mentioned by Rochambeau is Henry de Palys.
(46) Details of the deployment of militia can be found in Founders Online and in Robertson, Defenses.
(47) These two are the only entries mentioning soldiers sent to Howland’s Ferry to work there. The last time Howland’s Ferry appears in the Orderly Book is on 8 May 1781. The entry reads:
Au lieu d’envoyer un soldat pour garder les bateaux d’holland ferry, on y enverra un caporal et un fusilier, lesquelles seront relevés de 12 heures en 12 heures.
Instead of sending a soldier to guard the boats at Howland’s Ferry a corporal and a fusilier will be sent there who will be relieved every twelve hours.
(48) Rochambeau to Governor Greene, 4 December 1780, quoted in Robertson, Defenses, p. 75.
(49) Robertson, Defenses, p. 76.
(50) The […] are in the original quote.
(51) Quoted in Blondet, Jeux de Guerre, p. 239. Blondet dates the letter to 9 December 1780.
(52) M.D.L.C.D.B., Dictionnaire Militaire, Portatif, Contenant tous les Termes propres a la Guerre 3 vols., 4th edition (Paris : chez Gissey [et al.], 1758), vol. 3 p. 199. The cavalry followed different rules.
(53) A Paris, chez l’Imprimerie Royale, 1776
(54) Clément de la Jonquière, ed., Le Livre d’ordres d’un Régiment d’Infanterie en 1781 d’après un manuscrit original (Paris: Henri Charles-Lavauzelle, 1898), p. 58.
(55) Jonquière, Livre, page 59, footnote 1.
(56) Food rations and their cost as well as other deductions are listed on page 8 of the ordonnance. See also Jonquière, Livre, p. 58. Like the British monetary system, the pre-revolutionary French monetary system followed the Carolingian monetary standard of 1 livre = 20 sols, 1 sols = 12 deniers.
(57) Howland’s Ferry/Holland Ferry appears only three times in the Orderly Book, the first time on 9 December, then 31 December and 4 January 1781.
(58) One cord wood = 128 cubic feet of wood 8 feet long, 4 feet high and 4 feet wide.
(59) Soldiers were charged for expenses, including the firewood they burned and the rent for stoves.
(60) Soissonnois Brigade = for administrative purposes, and occasionally for tactical purposes during the march to Virginia, Rochambeau brigaded his forces. The Bourbonnois and Royal Deux-Ponts regiments formed the First Brigade, the Soissonnois and Saintonge regiments the Second Brigade.
(61) As explained above under prêt, the soldiers were charged for expenses, that included the firewood they burned and the rent for stoves.
(62) Born on 16 May 1742, Claude Blanchard entered the Department of War in October 1761 and became a commissaire de guerre on 1 January 1768. On 1 March 1780, Rochambeau appointed him his chief supply officer. A member of the Legislative Assembly during the French Revolution, he was dismissed from service on 1 July 1793 but re-integrated in June 1795. He died in the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris on 11 May 1803. (Bodinier, Dictionnaire, p. 60). His journal does not mention work on Butts Hill Fort. See Thomas Balch, ed., The Journal of Claude Blanchard, Commissary of the French Auxiliary Army sent to the United States during the American Revolution (Albany: J. Munsell, 1876).
(63) The entry ends in mid-sentence.
(64) Jean Pierre Berage de La Boyère was born on 26 February 1736, became a lieutenant in the Soissonnois in August 1756 and a captain in June 1776. He deserted his regiment and joined the enemies of the revolution in February 1792, serving in the army of the Prince de Condé. Bodinier, Dictionnaire, p. 45. No other biographical information is available.
(65) « fleur D’amour » is almost certainly a nom de guerre. See Luc Lépine, The Military Roots of the ‘dit’ Names https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/lepine/220/
(66) Mathieu Joseph d’Anselme de La Gardette was born 14 August 1748, lieutenant at the age of 8 on 28 August 1756, he was promoted to captain on 11 May 1769. Lieutenant Colonel in 1791, he left the revolutionary colors and served in the army of the Prince de Condé from 1792 to 1801. He died in Paris in 1820. His father and his brother also served in the regiment. Bodinier, Dictionnaire, p. 12.
(67) Etienne Jean dit François Bernard Sinéty was born either in 1736 or 1743, became a lieutenant in the Soissonnnois in September 1760 and a captain in July 1777. He retired on 1 March 1784. He had joined the revolutionary cause by May 1790 and most likely died from a wound he received in the Battle of Anghiari south-east of Florence in January 1797. Bodinier, Dictionnaire, p. 510.
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