[page 69]

where Cornwallis[146], the general of the English, had set up with 12,000 men and where terror reigned; he had entrenched himself so well in a small town called Klein-York[147] that much was lost trying to drive him out, incidentally it was for this reason that we had to come to the aid of the Americans, whose army was impatiently waiting for us.

allwo sich der General Kornwallis von den Engel-länder festgesetzt hatte mit 12 000 Mann und sehr schlimm alda haussete in einem kleinen Städtgen mit Namens Klein-Yorck schantzte er sich der-maßen so vest ein daß es grosse Mühe gekostet ihn wiedrum von dannen zu vertreiben mit diesem Beding aber mußten wir alda hin um Hilff zu leisten, allwo die Americaner schon mit ihrer Armée auf uns wardeten mit grossem Verlangen.

On the 5^th, we marched in Philadelphia and beyond the city crossed the Schuylkill River, which has intense boat traffic and the most remarkable bridge of this region.On the road we passed through a lovely little town on a beautiful plain; this town, called Darby, is only inhabited by Germans. But we drove on to Chester, another German town, on a plain, in a lovely region.

Den 5ten passierten wir die Stadt Piladelfia und hinder der Stadt den Fluß Schwil-Kiel ein schiffreiches Wasser mit einer schönen Brücke versehen welche sehr merckwürdig ist in selbiger Gegend. Unter-wegs traffen wir ein schönes kleines Städtgen an in einer schönen ebenen Gegend mit Namens Tarly welches mit lauder Deutschen bewohnt ist. Wir gin-gen aber noch biß auf Sheßter auch ein deutsches Ort auf der Ebenen in einer angenehmen Gegend.

These 2 provinces, Pennsylvania and Maryland, still called Mary-Engelländ, are mostly populated by Germans, and as for the variety of grain and vegetable cultivation, everything is arranged like it is in Europe[148].

Diese 2 Profinzen Phinsilfania und Mary-Land oder sonsten auch Mary-Engelländ genandt seynd mehrsten-theils mit Deutschen bewohnt und alles überhaubt eingerichtet als wie in Europa mit allerley Früchten und Gärdnerey etc.

Now we come to Philadelphia that can be seen on the following page[149], along with the naval port etc.

Folget nun jetzt die Stadt Philadelphia welche auf der andern Seite zu sehen ist wie auch der Meer-Haffen und dergleichen etc.

https://gallica.bnf.fr/iiif/ark:/12148/btv1b10110846m/f35/pct:50,0,100,100/,700/0/native.jpg

Strasbourg, Médiathèque André Malraux, ms f 15, p. 69.

[agrandir]

Notes

146. Charles Cornwallis, the first marquis of Cornwallis, was born December 31, 1738. The son of an aristocratic family with a powerful network, Charles was brought up in Eton and Cambridge. He joined the army in 1757 as an ensign, participated in the Battle of Minden (where Lafayette’s father was killed). In 1761, he was named lieutenant colonel and had the chance to prove his worth on the battlefields of Germany during the Seven-Years’ War. He entered the House of Commons in 1762, then was promoted to colonel in 1766. At the beginning of the hostilities in North America, Cornwallis was named lieutenant general and participated in a large majority of terrestrial combats, he directed the British forces opposing Washington beginning with the Battle of Trenton, with alternating successes and setbacks. He was actually second in the English hierarchy in North America, behind Clinton. In war, Cornwallis was known for his tendency to be aggressive. Starting in 1779 he commanded the British troops in the southern colonies, took Charleston, but was nonetheless forced to retreat north, where his orders were to establish a base on the shores of the Chesapeake that could welcome a flotilla. Cornwallis chose the small town of Yorktown. [Guns of Independance, op. cit., p. 25]

147. Klein-York, Lettel-York, or York are three names Flohr used indistinctly to refer to the town of Yorktown.

148. The link between the consumption of grains used to make bread (wheat, which appears on the next page of the journal) and a European diet appears several times in Flohr’s manuscript. This diet contrasts with the consumption of corn and potatoes on the other side of the Atlantic, from which pancakes and gruel were made. Bread continued to reign supreme in the European diet, even though the Mesoamerican cultigens were more and more common, including in Europe.

149. The illustrations closely follow the literary description of the places encountered in the account (although they were not all visited by the author). They are not all, however, introduced in the text as is the case here. Flohr gives a visual representation of the places and buildings that he describes without always precisely referring to these illustrated elements in the text. Consequently, the illustrations appear to complement the description, even though they can sometimes replace written explanations. In the manuscript, the images complement the text, all the while providing another point of view that does not strive for faithfulness to reality but rather reflects Flohr’s initial aspirations.