[page 44]

36.

36.

In North-Castle, a small town near the mountain, we had some rest. On the 9th, we continued on for 19 miles to Phillipsburg, where we had more rest. On the 12th, General Washington from the American army came for a military inspection[115]. His uniform was dark blue with yellow leather flaps and facing, two golden metal epaulets with a raised design, and a very large hat etc.

Wir hatten Rastag alda zu Nord-Cassel ein klein Städtgen am Gebürge. Den 9ten brachen wir wiedrum auf 19 Meilen biß Philipsburg alda hatten wir wiedrum Rastag. Den 12 passierten wir die Mustrung vor dem General Wassington von der Americanischen Armée. Seine Uniforme ware dunckelblau mit ledergelben Klap-pen und Aufschlägen 2 geschlagene goldne Epaullettes nebst einem grossen Huth etc :

We were at rest there until the evening of the 21st, when we provided a detachment unit of 2,500 men, Frenchmen and Americans, who marched on Königs Britsch and Sandihock. As soon as we approached Königs Britsch and Statten-Eyland, the English noticed that there were Frenchmen on their way; they came immediately to meet us and we underwent a rather violent attack near Königs Brütsch and Statten-Eyland[116]. The next day we returned to Phillipsburg.

Alda hatten wir Rastag biß den 21ten abends, als dan gaben wir ein Detachement von 2500 Mann Franzosen und Americaner welche nach der Königs-Britsch und Sandihock marschierten. Sobald wir gegen der Königs-Britsch und Statten-Eyland kommen seyn, wurden die Engländer schon gewahr daß Franzosen um den Weg seyn, sie kamen uns auch gleich entgegen und wir hatten einen starcken Atack alda bey der Königs- Brütsch und Statten-Eyland. Den anderen Tag kamen wir wiedrum zurück nach Philipsburg.

Shortly thereafter we started the construction of barracks, because we were to stay there for a month[117]. Not far from there, the American army had also set up camp, near West Point, one of the most powerful American[118] fortresses, so powerful that it is almost impossible to take it. There, it happened that an English adjutant general by the name of N—[119] disguised himself as a spy from New York wearing the uniform of an American colonel. When he arrived at the American camp, a soldier

Bald darauf fingen wir an Baracken zu bauen weilen wir ein Monath lang alda verblieben. Nicht weit davon campirte auch die Americanische Armée nahe bey der West-point, welches eine der stärckten Vestung ist in America und fast unmöglich einzunehmen. Es truge sich auch zu alda, daß ein Englischer General Adjudant mit Namens N……. sich als Spion verkleidetete aus Neuyorck in einer Uniform als Americanischer Obrist. Als er an das Americanische Lager kam, hatte ein Soldat vor dem

https://gallica.bnf.fr/iiif/ark:/12148/btv1b10110846m/f23/pct:0,0,50,100/,700/0/native.jpg

Strasbourg, Médiathèque André Malraux, ms f 15, p. 44.

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 Notes

115. Cumberland, oil on canvas, post-1795, New York, The Metropolitain Museum of Art [reproduction en ligne - RMN]
116. The “we” used here by Flohr includes the whole of the allied army, not only the Royal Deux-Ponts as one could think at first. One can wonder to which incident Flohr is referring. According to Stephen Bonsal, in When the French Were Here: A Narrative of the Sojourn of the French Forces in America and Their Contribution to the Yorktown Campaign, Drawn from Unpublished Reports and Letters of Participants in the National Archives of France and the MS Division of the Library of Congress, Doubleday-Doran, New York, 1945, p. 107: “this little encounter which was evidently not regarded as auspicious by the French, was the only clash that took place on the long march from the Hgudson to the James”. It was an improvised attack by Washington near King’s Bridge, north of New York, which contradicts Flohr’s claims as he situates the attack near Staten Island in the South. Soules, in Histoire des troubles de l’Amérique anglaise, in the third volume, refers to an attack on Fort Washington in which the Légion de Lauzun participated, and to a battle against a group of American loyalist soldiers (the Delancey Dragoons), (see Soules p 376 and Closen p. 89) and Guillaume de Deux-Ponts also mentions the event that occurred on July 5th. A second hypothesis is that it is a reference to a reconnaissance expedition led on the 21st, according to Closen, but which did not give rise to “violent” combat. One thing is sure, the Royal Deux-Ponts did not participate in either of these two expeditions.
117. The organization of an army camp depended essentially on the military context in which the campaign took place. If the army was on the move, then the camp was made up merely of tents. However, if the infantry were to settle in a region, then the troops could build themselves wooden barracks.
118. The fortress of West Point was one of the strategic positions occupied by the continental troops throughout the conflict. Located on the banks of the Hudson River, it controlled the crossing of the river and its ship traffic. The Americans installed a chain on the river to prevent any attempt at crossing by any enemy boat. Maintaining this position was vital in preventing the English army from establishing lines of communication between New York and Quebec, but also in keeping control of King’s Ferry, a vital line of communication for the Americans between the northern and southern colonies. The betrayal of Benedict Arnold included in particular his handing over of this fortress to the English.
119. The individual in question is Major John André, a young British officer serving as an intermediary between General Clinton in New York and Benedict Arnold in West Point. He was a protagonist in Arnold's betrayal, a switch of allegiances by one of the best American generals. This scheme failed because of André’s capture by three American militiamen near Tarrytown, an episode that Flohr recounts more or less precisely over the next three pages. The young Major André was tried and then hanged for espionage. This young man was well-regarded in aristocratic circles, ans his death caused a great display of sadness in England.