[page 7]

Foreword

Erklärung

concerning the present description of America as I have scrupulously noted it down day after day during the war opposing England and the American colonies[2]; that is to say the cities, boroughs, villages and properties of gentlemen as well as the untamed lands that I crossed at that time; as well as the traditions and customs of the inhabitants, in North America and in Western America. Likewise you will see great and beautiful rivers full of boats as well as fortified seaside ports in West Indies and North America[3]. You will also find a few Antillean islands[4] and West Indian islands illustrated in detail with their fortresses, etc., and the descriptions of all sorts of plants and animals I saw at the time on the seas or on land[5].

Der folgende Beschreibung von America wie solche von mir wärendem Krieg zwischen England und America von Tag zu Tag aufs genaueste ist aufgezeichnet worden; sowohl die Städte, Flecken, Dörffer und Schändelmäns Güther wie auch alle Gegenden welche ich wärender Zeit passiert habe; wie auch alle Gebräuche deren Einwohner, sowohl in Nord- als auch in Westamerica: dabey auch viele schöne große schiffreiche Flüsse; desgleichen auch die Meerhäfen mit ihren Vestungs werden zu sehen sein; sowohl auch in Westindien als auch in Nord- America. Auch seyn einige deren Antillischen Inslen; wie auch in Westindien aufs genauste abgezeichnet mit ihren Vestungen etc; dabey die Meldung von aller Sorten Gewächse und Gethiers welche ich wärender Zeit gesehe habe zu Wasser und zu Land.

The explanation for this foreword is that in the account of the journey to America distances are given in English miles[6], and in general all the names are written down in English, sometimes transcribed phonetically; here they are specified in German: Town or Taun refers to the German Stadt (town); a Tawern or Taweren is a Wirts-Hauß (tavern, inn); a Schändelmän means an Herr (gentleman-farmer, important land owner, planter); a Plantasche is a Hofgut (plantation, agricultural area); a Bourg is a Flecken (village, small town); etc. These day-to-day notes[7] were subsequently written in Strasbourg on the fifth of June in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven[8].

Auch wird erkläret weil diese americanische Reise gantz nach englischen Meilen aufgezeichnet ist und überhaupt alles mit englischen Namen darinnen eingeführet also werden sie folgendlich nach deutscher Art specificiert werden wie folgt: Tawn oder Taun, heißt eine Stadt; ein Tawern oder Taweren heißt ein Wirts-Hauß; ein Schändelmän heißt so viel als Herr eine Plantasche heißt ein Hoffguth, ein Bourg heißt ein Flecken etc. diese Aufzeichnung von Tag zu Tag ist nach gelegner Zeit zusammen gefasst worden in Straßburg im Jahre Christi den fünften Juny ein Tausend siebenhundert sieben und achzig.

June 5, 1787

5 Juni 1787

Georg Flohr

Georg Flohr

https://gallica.bnf.fr/iiif/ark:/12148/btv1b10110846m/f4/pct:50,0,100,100/,700/0/native.jpg

Strasbourg, Médiathèque André Malraux, ms f 15, p. 7.

[agrandir]

 Notes

2. “The war opposing England and the American colonies” is a unique name for the American War of Independence. This shows that Flohr did not know of the name that had been given to the new State — the United States of America — since the Declaration of Independence. This expression never appears in his manuscript.
3. Cf. J. Marianus, Die Vereinigten Staaten von Nord America, map, v. 1783-1785. Matthias Christian Sprengel, Geschichte der Revolution von Nord Amerika, von M.C. Sprengel, Professor der Geschichte auf der Universität zu Halle, mit einer illumirten Charte, Spener, bei der typographischen Gesellschaft, 1785, s. VIII
4. In geography dictionaries published in the 18th century, America, the West Indies, and the New World are three synonymous expressions. The latter two having been judged dated expressions, the word “America” is used most frequently to refer to one of the four parts of the world. It is subdivided into Northern America and Southern America; the Gulf of Mexico is used to distinguish between both of them. Most likely, for Flohr, the Western Indies still refers to the part of the continent where Christopher Columbus landed; he makes the difference between these islands and North America.
5. Geographical knowledge in the 18th century was encyclopedic and descriptive. Writing the geography of a land meant making all aspects of it known. See "Geographic Knowledge and Descriptions in the Late Eighteenth Century".
6. The English mile measures slightly less than the mile used today in the United States. It is 1609 meters long. It most likely refers to the “Statute Mile” passed into law by the English legislature in 1593 under the reign of Elizabeth I. It has the peculiarity of being the equivalent of 1,852 nautical miles according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, 2000. Considering Flohr only uses the term “English mile” in the narrative when speaking of a sea voyage, he most likely wants to differentiate between the two units.
7. The notes Flohr took during the campaign have disappeared, but it seems difficult to call their existence into question because, in the account he composed in 1787, he indicates the precise number of kilometers he traveled each day.
8. Flohr was discharged in August 1784 and settled in Strasbourg in the same year. According to Robert A. Selig, he wrote his war diary there between June 1787 and June 1788. It is possible that in Strasbourg he found himself in the service of Counts de Forbach/Viscounts of Deux-Ponts. The only work that contains a few pages dedicated to the lives of the Counts de Forbach upon their return to America it that of Adalbert de Bavière, who was concerned with establishing the biography of the Duke de Deux-Ponts Christian IV and the children he had with his morganatic spouse, later given the title of Countess de Forbach: Christian and Guillaume. (See Adalbert von Bayern, Der Herzog und die Tänzerin. Die merkwürdige Geschichte Christians IV. von Pfalz-Zweibrücken und seiner Familie, Neustadt, Pfälzische Verlagsanstalt, 1966). There we learn that the Counts de Forbach split their time between Versailles, Paris, and Forbach (in Lorraine) in the years 1784-1789, but their presence in Strasbourg was not impossible, as this was where their cousin, the reigning Duke de Deux-Ponts, Maximilien-Joseph, resided for twelve years much to the pleasure of the people of Strasbourg, with whom he was very popular. At 13 Rue Brûlée he owned a sumptuous private mansion, the Deux-Ponts mansion, purchased in 1770 from the Gayot brothers. Maximilien de Deux-Ponts, the future King of Bavaria, split his life between Strasbourg and Ribeauvillé, where he also owned a luxurious chateau. A small court built up around him, as proven by the presence of numerous German and French noblemen on the day of the baptism of his son in Ribeauvillé at the end of August 1786.