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were all that was necessary to reach the opponents’ ship[96].The French fleet was made up of 11 ships. The English one was made up of 13 ships. As soon as the battle came to an end[97]each fleet, heavily damaged, went to its port.

denen kleinen Gewehr langen konten. Was das frantzösche Escadre anbelangete bestunde aus 11 Schiffen. Das Engellische bestunde aus 13 Schiffen. Sobald nun diese Schlacht vorbey ware begabe sich jedes Escadre wiedrum mit Schaden nach ihren Häffen.

With the arrival of spring also came that of General Washington[98]of the American army, to whom many honors were given. He came to visit us for the first time. His uniform was composed of a dark blue frock coat with yellow leather epaulets and facing, and a very large hat[99]. At the same time he also inspected the country’s militia regiments that were stationed on the island.

Gegen das Frühjahr kame auch der General Vassingston von der americanischen Armee welchem viele Ehr erzeigt wurde. Dieser kame das erstemal uns zu besuchen. Seine Uniform ware ein dunckelblauer Rock mit ledergelben Klappen und Aufschlagen und einen gantz grossen Huth. Zu gleicher Zeit musterte er auch die Militzen Regimenter vom Lande so auf der Insul waren.

With the arrival of spring, we again provided a detachment unit for the flotilla, but one that did not go out to sea because Admiral Mister Derner[100],who just before had been appointed on land, had died and had been buried in the cemetery of the new Protestant church according to regulation and a royal ordinance.

Gegen das Frühjahr gaben wir noch ein Detachement auf die Schiffe welches aber nicht ausgefahren ist von wegen weil der General zu Wasser gestorben ist mit Namens Mr. Derner welcher kurtz vorher zur Erde bestätiget worden, nach Regel und königlicher Ordonance auf den Kirch-Hoff bey der Neuen Reformierten Kirche begraben worden.

Shortly after, we were told that General Arnold[101]was barbarically punishing the province of Virginia[102], that he was sacrificing homes and farms before disappearing with the troop of scoundrels he had brought together and that had committed barbaric acts against the population, which we later saw with our own eyes. They nailed up women by their hands and feet, their arms spread and they had flayed the men alive. The order was given that we prepare to march in the direction of Virginia.

Bald darauf bekammen wir Ordre daß der General Arnold in der Profintz Virginia so unbarbahrisch haussete daß sie Hauß und Hoff im Stich liessen und davon lieffen weil er ein Spitzbuben-Ross versammlet hatte welche die Leuthe unbarbahrisch traktiereten welches wir hernach selbsten mit unsren Augen sahen. Die Weibs- Leute nagleten sie an Händ und Füßen mit aus-gespanten Armen an, die Manns Leuthe hatten sie lebendig geschunden. Auf diese Order mußten wir uns auf den Marsch nach Virginia rüsten.

den

https://gallica.bnf.fr/iiif/ark:/12148/btv1b10110846m/f17/pct:0,0,50,100/,700/0/native.jpg

Strasbourg, Médiathèque André Malraux, ms f 15, p. 32.

[agrandir]

 Notes

96. Ships of the line had artillery equipment of different calibers and of different ranges. As such, the closer the ships were to one another, the more the larger the number of usable cannons was.
97. This confrontation is named the Battle of Cape Henry or the First Battle of the Chesapeake (as it must be distinguished from the Second Battle of the Chesapeake that occured on September 5, 1781, a larger scale naval combat with a French victory of a much larger impact). The Battle of Cape Henry involved, according to Léonard Lapeyrouse de Bonfils, 8 ships of the line and 4 frigates, among them The London, armed with 90 cannons, on the English side, against 7 ships of the line and 4 frigates on the French side. The combat ended without a real winner, even though the English flotilla left the sea to the enemy after a very well-directed combat on the part of Destouches. The final objective of the expedition was not, however, met, as the troops intending to disembark were forced to return to Newport with the flotilla without being able to assist Lafayette in his fight against Arnold (Histoire de la marine française,volume 3, Paris, Dentu, 1845).
98. At the time, George Washington was General in Chief of the continental (or American) forces. Born on February 22, 1732 in the county of Westmoreland in Virginia to a family of plantation owners of average influence. George Washington was a skillful, physically imposing and well-educated young man. Thanks to family relations, he was named major in the Virginia Militia in February 1753; he was in charge of one of the four districts of the colony. He was involved in the start of the Seven Years’ War in America (The French and Indian War), in a controversial episode in which he was accused of killing a French officer during an ambush before war had been declared. In 1754, he was taken prisoner by the French during the capture of Fort Necessity. In 1755, he participated in the Braddock Campaign where he distinguished himself in particular by organizing the retreat of the British forces. In 1755, he was named colonel by the governor of the Royal Colony of Virginia, and commander of the Virginia Militia. He left his post in 1758 and returned to Mount Vernon, the family farm, married Martha Custis in 1759, and, thanks to this marriage, became one of the richest plantation owners in Virginia. He went on to lead a peaceful life as a high-ranking political and social figure. A widely known patriot, he was the only one with enough military experience and prestige to take charge of the American troops against the English. Though he endured serious setbacks when faced with the British troops (the Battle of Brooklyn, of Brandywine, of Germantown,etc.), he managed to save his army from destruction and breathe hope and determination into Congress and the troops (the Battle of Trenton, and of Princeton). As Flohr pointed out a few pages below, Washington’s stature and leadership were well respected by his troops, but also by the English, as well as by the French. In 1780, Washington camped in the area around New York that was firmly held by the British and waited impatiently for the French reinforcements to take on a new campaign. John R. Alden,Washington, a biography,Southern Biographies, LSU Press, 1996. Cf. Anonymous,George Washington,engraving, late 18th century[reproduction en ligne - RMN].
99. Cf. Samuel King,Portrait de George Washington en costume de général américain, oil on canvas, late 18th century, Blérancourt, musée franco-américain de Blérancourt[reproduction en ligne - RMN].
100. He is speaking of de Ternay and not “Derner”: Charles-Henri-Louis d’Arsac de Ternay, known as “Chevalier de Ternay”, was born near London in 1723. A naval guard in 1738 and ship captain in 1761, he became fleet commander in 1771. He was in command ofThe Saint-Espritin the d’Orvilliers fleet,Le Duc de Bourgogne, and the fleet transporting Rochambeau’s expeditionary corps. “The French corps will do him the justice of saying that it was impossible to direct a convoy with more vigilance and skill than that with which he led his to Newport” (Rochambeau). Admiral de Ternay died on December 15, 1780, his remains were laid in a cemetery in the middle of the town of Newport. “A few years ago, Marquis de Noailles, minister for France in the United States, had a commemorative marble plaque placed in the Church (Methodist, I believe) adjoining the cemetery”, notes Viscount de Noailles inMarins et soldats français en Amérique pendant la guerre de l’indépendance des Etats-Unis (1778-1783),Libr. académique Perrin et cie, Paris 1903, 2nd edition, p. 109 [catalogue de la médiathèque Malraux].
101. This “General Arnold” is Benedict Arnold. His biography is found in a footnote below. Cf. Anonymous, Der Americanische Gener. Arnold,engraving, late eighteenth century [reproduction en ligne - Gallica].
102. In a context of psychological warfare, it is important and convenient to blame barbarity on the other side, when in reality it is shared by all the belligerents. The Americans rely on citizens organized into militias and determined to defend their territory. Since 1777, the British command has been riven by dissension, reinforced by the distance from the metropolis, notably over the choice of waging a war of gentlemen or of attrition. Lee (Wayne E.), Barbarians and Brothers : Anglo-American Warfare (1500-1865), Oxford, OUP, 2011, explains the coexistence of extreme violence ("frightfulness") and restraint by the dual perception of an enemy as both "brother" and "barbarian". The escalation of violence is often due to cultural shock at the enemy's disregard for the customs of warfare, and the desire for retaliation commensurate with what has been done. Violent reprisals following the British invasion were considered legitimate by the militias. In North Carolina between 1780 and 1782, for example, the nature of war changed, as the same Lee (Wayne E.) shows in Crowds and Soldiers in Revolutionary North Carolina: The Culture of Violence in Riot and War (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001). This unbridled violence was felt both by those who suffered it and those who inflicted it, transgressing their own military and moral conventions. However, both sides sought to contain it, with discipline and moderation advocated both by George Washington on the American side, and by the Howe brothers on the English side.