Selected
BIBLIOGRAPHY
for the
FRENCH - AMERICAN MILITARY ALLIANCE of 1778-1783

Working Document: last revised 3 October 2011.

Works are listed in random sequence, by title.
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Exp�dition Particuli�re Mount Vernon Commemorative Cantonment.

General Works.

The American Campaigns of Rochambeau's Army 1780,1781,1782, 1783.
Translated and edited by Howard C. Rice, Jr. and Ann S.K. Brown. Jointly published by Princeton University Press and Brown University Press, 1972. Two volumes: vol I, Journals of French participants; vol II, Itineraries, maps and scenes.
Memoirs of the Marshal Count de Rochambeau.
The New York Times and Arno Press, reprinted 1971. The English translation is based upon one by M.W.E. Wright, published in 1838.
Rochambeau's original memoires are: M�moires militaires, historiques et politiques de Rochambeau, Ancien Mar�chal de France, et Grand Officier de la Legion d'Honneur, 2 vols (Paris, 1809 and 1829). The American campaigns of 1780-1783 are covered in vol I, pp.225-328. The M�moires were reprinted (Paris, Pillet, 1824).
Most of Rochambeau's correspondence from the time he command the expeditionary force to the end of the siege of Yorktown is in volume V of Henri Doniol's Histoire de la Participation de la France � l'�tablissement des �tats-Unis d'Am�rique.
Rochambeau's official report, written 20 October 1781, at camp before Yorktown, is Journal des op�rations du Corps Fran�ais sous le commandement du Comte de Rochambeau, Lieutenant-G�neral des Arm�es du Roi, depuis le 14 d'Ao�t.
Copies of Rochambeau's documents are held at the US Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division: 'Rochambeau Papers', and at Archives de la Guerre, Vincennes, France.
The Writings of George Washington, 1748-1799.
A 39 volumes work edited by John C. Fitzpatrick (Washington, DC, 1931-1944) has many of the letters Washington wrote to Rochambeau. Also useful is John C. Fitzpatrick's edited 4 volumes of The Diaries of George Washington, 1748-1799 (Boston and NY, 1925).
Rochambeau, America's Neglected Founding Father.
Arnold Whitridge; Collier Books [Macmillan Publishers] New York, 1965. Detailed biography, highly informative on personalities and background to major events, and discerning appraisal of historical foundations.
Rochambeau: Washington's Ideal Lieutenant, A French General's Role in the American Revolution.
Jini Jones Vail; Word Association Publishers, Tarentum, PA, 2011. The first book in nearly 50 years devoted entirely to French General Rochambeau, who came to America at the point of her greatest need to aid George Washington in his quest to banish the British." More on the author and how to obtain the book at http://www.jinijonesvail.com/
The French Forces in America 1780-1783.
Lee Kennett, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut,1977; Concise presentation of the strategy and challenges of allied military collaboration.
The Yorktown Campaign and the Surrender of Cornwallis.
Henry P. Johnston, Harper & Brothers, New York 1881 [re-printed edition by Eastern National Park & Monument Association, 1975], Detailed description of the grand strategy and military design, covers Cornwallis' and Lafayette's Virginia maneuvers as well as the siege of Yorktown.
The Wind from America 1778-1781.
Claude Manceron, translated by Nancy Amphoux; Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1978; Part of a series on the French Revolution, vignettes and scenes from the French perspective, very mannerized writing style but stimulating insight.
France and the American War for Independence.
Edited by Stanley J. Idzerda and Roger E. Smith, Associate Editor. Lafayette Papers, Cornell University, undated. Highlights of the alliance with emphasis on political aspects.
"Indispensable Allies: The French at Yorktown."
Stanley J. Idzerda, in The Wilson Quarterly , (Autumn, 1981) pp.166-177.
Lafayette and the Close of the American Revolution.
Louis R. Gottschalk (University of Chicago Press, 1942, 1950, revised 1965). Also by the same author Lafayette Joins the American Army, (Chicago, 1937, 1965. 1974). These provide some of the most heavily researched examinations of Lafayette's military participation in the American Revolution. Gottschalk covers broader aspects of Lafayette's very full life in several other published works, some are: Lafyaette Comes to America (Chicago, 1935, r. 1965); editor of Letters of Lafayette to Wasington, 1777-1799 (revised edition, American Philosophical Society, 1976); Lafayette between the American and the French Revolution (Chicago, 1950, r. 1974); (with Margaret Maddox) Lafayette in the French Revolution: Through the October Days (Chicago, 1969); (with Maddox) Lafayette in the French Revolution: From the October Days through the Federation (Chicago 1973).
Lafayette, Hero of Two Worlds.
Oliver Bernier (New York, 1983). Very readable one-volume work on this most famous French volunteer and youngest American general officer.
"Who Was Lafayette?"
Thomas Fleming, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Autumn 1996, pp.56-69. An overview of the involved and long life of this 'hero of two worlds'. The author is a popular historian on the American Revolution, and does a remarkable job in navigating the complexities of the French Revolution and subsequent political upheavals that were the background of Lafayette's colorful latter life.
"America's Lafayette and Lafayette's America: a European and the American Revolution."
Lloyd S. Kramer, William and Mary Quarterly, 1981, 38(2), pp.228-241. Explaination of LaFayette's remarkable success in both gaining the acceptance of Americans and in furthering French support for theAmerican cause. The article also addresses LaFayette's military leadership in the American Revolution.
Lafayette: Prisoner of State
Paul S. Spalding (University of South Carolina Press, 2010). The book treats Lafayette's five years of incarceration by the Austrians and Prussians (1792-1797). A fuller description is at http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/books/2010/3911.pdf .
Lafayette: Hero of the American Revolution
Gonzague Saint Bris (Pegasus Books, 2010). While addressing the idealism that inflamed the young marquis to serve the cause of the American rebellion, this work offers a more detailed description of Lafayette's later involvement in the French Revolution and later European affairs.
Adopted son: Washington, Lafayette, and the friendship that saved the Revolution
David A. Clary (NY: Bantam Books, 2007 [2008 paperback]). This work goes beyond the generally superficial "father-son" clich� so frequently employed in historical narratives. The author's detailed description � in particular of the marquis often overlooked 1784 return visit to American � distinguishes this work as a special contribution to the historical memory of Lafayette and Washington.
Lafayette in America, in 1824 and 1825 : journal of a voyage to the United States
Auguste Levasseur (1829); translated by Alan R. Hoffman (Manchester, NH, Lafayette Press, 2006). A translation of the entire journal written by Auguste Levasseur, private secretary to General Gilbert du Mortier de Lafayette. The work reports on the Marquis' remarkable "farewell tour" of the United States in 1825-1825 � a 13-month tour took Lafayette to each of the then 24 states. This particular visit as recognized being particularly important in enshrining Lafayette's reputation in the American historical memory.
The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution : with some account of the attitude of France towards the war of independence
Charlemagne Tower, Jr. Originally published in 1895; republished in paperback in 2009.
General and Madame de Lafayette: Partners in Liberty's Cause in the American and French Revolutions
Jason Lane (2004).
General and Madame de Lafayette: Partners in Liberty's Cause in the American and French Revolutions
Jason Lane (2004).
Madame de Lafayette and her family
Mary MacDermot Crawford (1907) (2009 paperback).
Madame De Lafayette
Constance Wright (1959). See: http://www.archive.org/details/madamedelafayett006987mbp
Adrienne, The Life of the Marquise de La Fayette
Andr� Maurois (1961). Translated by Gerard Hopkins.
Ardent Adrienne, The Life of Madame de La Fayette
Lida Rose McCabe (1930).
The Household of the Lafayettes
Edith Sichel (1897).
Les Prisons des La Fayette, Dix ans de courage et d'amour
Ren� de Chambrun (1977).
The Revolutionary Journal of Baron Ludwig von Closen, 1780-83.
Translated and edited with an introduction by Evelyn M. Acomb, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1958; First hand and comprehensive account by an aide-de-camp to General Rochambeau; contains interesting reports on French stay in Virginia following the Yorktown battle, late 1781 to mid 1782.
Travels in North America in Years 1780-81.
Marquis de Chastellux, revised translation by Howard C. Rice, Jr., The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1963. A most readable, personal account by one of the major generals on Rochambeau's staff and a member of the elite French intellectual society; many detailed descriptions of meetings and converstaions with leading figures in the American Revolution.
Diplomacy and Revolution: The Franco-American Alliance of 1778.
Edited by Ronald Hoffman and Peter J. Albert. U.S. Capitol Historical Society, University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville 1981. Analysses from different perspectives of the alliance and is impact on subsequent historical events.
Rochambeau, Father and Son.
Jean-Edmond Weelen, translated by Lawrence Lee. Henry Holt, New York, 1936. This is a very interesting account of the life of the Maréchal de Rochambeau by Weelen, and "The Journal of the Vicomte de Rochambeau'. The latter is a hither to unpublished work of the maréchal's son, who had accompanied the former on his 1780-83 expedition to America. The work is based largely on research in French archives and not the very extensive documentation in the U.S. Library of Congress and the Paul Mellon collection.
My Campaigns in America, A Journal...1780-81.
Comte Guillaume des Deux-Ponts, translated by Samuel A. Green. Boston, 1868.
"Journal of the War in America, 1780-1783."
Lt. Louis de Robenier, translated by E.R. Massey, Rhode Island Historical Society Collections 16 (1923), pp.65-78.
When The French Were Here.
Stephen Bonsal; Doubleday, New York, 1945. A narrative of the French 1780 expeditionary forces in America and their contribution to the Yorktown Campaign, with considerable background from unpublished reports and letters of participants.
"The United States Army and the French Model: The Revolution."
Robert K. Wright, Jr., unpublished paper presented at the Colloquy "Armed Forces and Alliance Systems," International Commission on Military History, Montpellier, France, 3-6 September 1981. Well documented research uncovers many reasons why Rochambeau's forces were able to be so effective in the American Revolution.
The Continental Army; Army Lineage Series
Robert K. Wright, Jr., published by the Center of Military History, US Army, Washington, DC, 1983. Especially chapters 6 and 7: "Professionalism: New Influences from Europe" and "Perseverance to Victory." The entire work is a baseline book for studying the military aspects of the American Revolution.
Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution.
Robert K. Wright, Jr. and Morris J. MacGregor, Jr.; Center of Military History, US Army, Washington, DC, 1987. A valuable and scholarly summary of the roles particular Revolutionary War veterans had in the developing the United States' government. This work is especially valuable for the color prints of contemporary portraits of many of the heros of the American Revolution.
Storm Over Savannah; The Story of Count d'Estaing and the Siege of the Town in 1779.
Alexander A. Lawrence; Tara Press, Savannah, 1979.
Engineers of Independence, A Documentary History of the Army Engineers in the American Revolution, 1775-1783.
Paul K. Walker, published by Historical Division of the US Army's Office of the Chief of Engineers, 1981. An account of the remarkable contribution to the American Revolutionary army by the graduates (or the many who were influenced by the graduates) of Ecole du Corps Royale du Génie, at M�zi�res, France. Equally important theme in the work is how critical professional military engineering was to American success on many occasions.
Les Combattants Fran�ais de la guerre Am�ricaine 1778-1783.
Du Minist�re des Affaires �trang�res, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1969. Listes �tablies d'aprees les documents authentiques d�pos�s aux Archives Nationales et aux Archives de Minist�re de la Guerre.] [58th Congress, 2d Sesssion, SENATE, document No. 77. [Soci�t� des fils de la R�volution am�ricaine]
The French in America During The War of Independence of the United States, 1777-1783.
Translated by Thomas Willing Balch, Vol 1, Gregg Press, Boston, 1972. [Orginally published in Philadelphia by Porter & Coates 1891. French version published in Paris, 1872.]
Guerre d'Am�rique, 1780-1783, Journal de Campagne.
Claude Blanchard, commissaire des guerres principal au corps auxiliaire fran�ais sous le commandement de lieutenant g�neral comte de Rochambeau, Paris, 1881.
The Journal of Claude Blanchard, Comissary of the French Auxiliary Army sent to the United States during the American Revolution.
Translated and edited by Thomas Balch; (Albany, NY) 1876.
The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1805.
Alfred Thayer Mahan. Little, Brown, and Co., 1894/ Prentice-Hall, NJ, 1980. Chapter X describes French naval operations in North America and the West Indies during the American War for Independence. Chapter XI addresses European theater at the time. Chapter XII covers Suffren's "brilliant" operatons in the Indian Seas.
The Major Operations of the Navies in the War of American Independence.
Alfred Thayer Mahan. Published in 1913, reprint by Greenwood Press, NY, 1969.
Decision at the Chesapeake.
Harold A. Larrabee. Published by Clarkson N. Potter, NY, 1964. Detailed description of the 'Battle of the Virginia Capes, 1783.
"Suffren in the East Indies 1782-3."
Oliver Warner, in Great Sea Battles, Macmillan Company, NY, 1963, pp. 120-131.
Admiral Satan; The Life and Campaigns of Suffren, Scourge of the Royal Navy.
Roderick Cavaliero; Saint Martin's Press, 1994.
The French Armies in the Seven Years' War.
Lee Kennett; Duke University Press, Durham; 1967.
Suffren ou les caprices de la gloire.
Jean Figarella; Aubanel, Avignon; 1984.
Documents in�dits sur la campagne du bailli de Suffren.
G. Labat; Libraires Associ�s, Bordeaux Feret, Paris; 1901.
The American Revolution; A global War.
R. Ernest Dupuy, Gay Hammerman, and Grace P. Hayes; published by David McKay, NY, 1977. One of the few works that clearly presents the scope of the 'world war' context of the American War for Independence. A context that is essential to appreciating why Yorktown, 1781, mattered.
"A German Soldier in America, 1780-1783: The Journal of Georg Daniel Flohr."
Robert A. Selig's article in The William and Mary Quarterly, No.3, July 1993, describes a recently discovered 1787 manuscript-journal of an enlisted fusilier of the Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment that was in Rochambeau's Expedition. Some drawings from the manuscript have been published in American Heritage, vol.43, no.8, December 1992, pp.64-71. The German text, written in 1787, was found in Strasbourg in the 1970s. Dr. Selig is finalizing an English translation for publication. He has wrtten several articles dealing with the contents in Flohr's journal.
"Lauberdi�re's Journal. the Revolutionary War Journal of Louis Fran�ois Bertrand d'Aubevoye, comte de Lauberdi�re."
Robert A. Selig, Colonial Williamsburg, vol.8, no.1 Autumn 1995, pp.33-37, reviews another recently uncovered (in 1978) journal. De Lauberdi�re' was the youngest of Rochambeau's aides-de-camp. His views often reflect biases of a smug, young aristocrat, reporting both pleasant and unpleasant experiences and perceptions of America during the Revolution. Dr. Selig excerpts part of the journal, and reports on the later, interesting life of this French nobleman.
"A French Volunteer Who Lived to Rue America's Revolution."
Robert A. Selig, Colonial Williamsburg, vol.21, no.3 June/July 1999, pp.16-25, reviews the journal of Denis Jean Florimond de Langlois, marquis du Bouchet, a French officer volunteer in the US Continental Army, and later staff officer in Rochambeau's 1780-83 expedition. The manuscript, written c.1822, late in du Bouchet's life, was re-discovered in 1959. It is now part of the Rare and Manuscript collection of Cornell Library, where Dr. Robert Selig, inspected it first in 1997. De. Selig's article article provides " ... a rare glimpse into the personalities and motivations of French volunteers fighting for American independence,... [and] many interesting observations about life and customs in colonial America."
"François Joseph Paul Comte de Grasse, the Battle off the Virginia Capes, and the American Victory at Yorktown."
Robert A. Selig, Colonial Williamsburg, vol.21, no.5 October/November 1999, pp.26-32, reviews, from the naval viewpoint, the climatic combined and joint military operation that won the American War for Independence at Yorktown in 1781.
"The Duc de Lauzun and his L�gion."
Robert A. Selig, Colonial Williamsburg, vol.21, no.6 December 1999/January 2000, pp.56-63, provides a brief account of this flamboyant leader of Rochambeau's "most colorful and difficult' unit. The showy uniforms of his hussars rightly reflect the character of Armand Louis de Gontaut, duc de Lauzun, who managed to even impress George Washington as a dashing cavalry leader. Dr. Selig's article makes use of the only known firsthand account of the Legion in America. It is an unpublished work by Lieutenant-Colonel Claude Etienne Hugau, held at the Biblioth�que municipale d'Evreux, France.
Rochambeau's Cavalry: Lauzun's Legion in Connecticut, 1780-1781.
Robert A. Selig. Published by the Connecticut Historical Commission, State of Connecticut, Hartfort, 2000.
Rochambeau in Connecticut: Tracing His Journey, Historic and Architectural Survey.
Robert A. Selig. Published by the Connecticut Historical Commission, State of Connecticut, Hartfort, limited initial printing in 1999. Essentially 'a work in progress' to support identification of historic sites in the state of Connecticut for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. The work provides a guide to be followed by other states in such an initiative. Importantly, the work refelcts the most recent, in depth historical research on the presence of the French 1781-83 military expedition to North America. [Connecticut Historical Commission, 59 South Prospect St., Hartford, CT 06106-1901; tel: 860.566.3005; e-mail [email protected]]
"D�tails int�ressants sur les �v�nements arriv�s dans la guerre d'Am�rique. Hiver 1781 � 1782; Hampton, Charlotte, et suite."
Unpublished manuscript by G�rard-Antoine Massoni, based upon the diary of Claude Hugau, lieutenant-colonel de la L�gion des Volontaires Etrangers de Lauzun. (Besan�on, Universit� de Franche Comt�, 1996,). It is the only know journal by a member of the L�gion about the life of his unit after Yortown, the winter in Hampton (VA), then to Charlotte Court-House (VA), Green Hill Plantation (VA), the 1782's summer in Perterburg (VA), Richmond, Fredericksburg, Colchester (VA), Alexandria, Falmouth, Trenton, Kingston, Rocky Hill (NJ), Staten Island (NY).
"Le corps des Volontaires Etrangers de la Marine."
G�rard-Antoine Massoni, in Carnet de la Sabretache, Paris, no. 135, 1998, pp. 9-14. The history of the 1st, 2nd (Lauzun's L�gion) and 3rd L�gion des Volontaires Etrangers de la Marine.
Memoirs of the Duc de Lauzun.
Translated and edited by E. Jules M�ras; Sturgis & Walton, 1912; Chapter IX covers the years 1779-1781. Edmond Pilon edited a 1928 (Paris) French edition of Lauzun's M�moires.
Journal de la Campayne d'Amerique, 10 Mai, 1780-26 Ao�t, 1781.
Alexander Berthier's journal, edited by Gilbert Chinard (Washington DC, 1951).
Memoirs of His Own Time.
English version of memoir by Lt. General Comte Mathieu Dumas, 2 vols (Philadelphia, 1839).
"Letters of Fersen, Written to His Father in Sweden, 1781-1782."
Letters by Hans Axel von Fersen, in Magazine of American History, 3 (May-July, 1879).
"Lettres d'Axel de Fersen a son père pendant la guerre de l'Indépendance d'amérique."
Edited by F.U. Wrangel, Paris (1929).
"Account of the Campaign of the Naval Armament under the Comte de Grasse."
Fran�ois Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, in Magazine of American History, 7 (1881).
Yorktown: Campaign of Strategic Options.
Theodore Thayer. J.B. Lippincott Co., 1975. Part of "The America's Alternatives Series" Edited by Harold M. Hyman. This is a concise analysis of the military strategies that influenced American, British, and French operations which led to and developed the Yorktown campaign (1781). It is valuable as a very clear and broadly scoped examination of the many decision options facing the military commanders, and for providing the essential supporting historical documents in the book.
"Yorktown 1781: Personalties and Documents."
John Shy, ed. Tocqueville Review, 3 (Fall 1981), pp.249-348.
The Virginia Campaign and the Blockade and Siege of Yorktown, 1781.
H.L. Landers; published by US Government Printing Office, 1931. Includes a brief narrative of the French participation in the Revolution prior to the Yorktown Campaign. Author was a Colonel in the Historical Section, Army War College.
The Campaign That Won America, The Story of Yorktown.
Burke Davis; Eastern Acorn Press, 1970.
"The Yorktown Stratagem."
Don Cook, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Autumn 1995, pp.8-17.
"Storming the Redoubts."
Robert A. Selig, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Autumn 1995, pp.18-27. A detailed description of the attacks on the British Redoubts 9 and 10 during the night of 14 October 1781 at Yorktown. Unfortunately the author puts aside the more credible report written by the commander of the Royal Deux-Ponts participants in the attack on Redoubt 9, and emphasizes the sensational, but dubious claims written by a private in the Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment some years later. The private's recollection of confusion and fratricide among the French units is not supported by either other eyewitnesses who wrote contemporaneous reports, nor the recorded casualty figures in French military archival documents.
"George Washington's German Allies: Das Deutsche K�niglich-Franz�sische Infanterie Regiment von Zweybr�cken Or Royal Deux-Ponts" [in 2 parts/separate issues]
Robert A. Selig, JOURNAL of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association. Part 1: 1756-1780, Vol. 6, No. 4, 2000, pp.52-59; and Part 2: March 1780-June 1781 in Vol. 7, No. 1, 2001, pp.43-53.
"The Long March to Triumph."
Allan Keller, American History Illustrated, 1978, 13(4), pp.4-9, 44-47.
"En avant with Our French Allies to Yorktown Victory."
Sol Stember, Smithsonian, 1977, 8(2), pp.64-70. A detailed description of French 1781 march from Newport (RI) to with the American army north of British-held New York City, and the allies' 500 plus mile trek to Yorktown.
"Decision at Yorktown: the March to Victory."
Joseph R. Goldman, Military Review, 1976, 56(7), pp.56-57. Review of Saratoga 1777 victory and French decision to further commitment in the American Revolution that led to deployment of Rochambeau's expedition and the decisive siege of of Yorktown in 1781.
The French Army in the American War of Independence.
René Chartrand; Osprey Men-at-Arms Series (244), 1991. Fine chronology and description of French military organization, uniforms, and equipment. Emphasis on the global impact of the French colonal and naval infantry forces reminds the reader of the extensive French military involvement in the American War for Independence, which went beyond just that of d'Estaing's and Rochambeau's expeditions.
The Canadian author is one of the foremost experts on the French forces of the era. Tables in the work identify the differences in the French uniform regulations of 1776 and 1779, which should represented the actual dress of the French army in North America from 1777 to 1783. Illustrations of French units that served with Rochambeau's 1780-83 expediton are skimpy in this particular work. The same author and a well-known French researcher-illustrator, Eugène Lelièpvre, provide a little more coverage of Rochambeau's units in The Company of Military Historians' Military Uniforms in America, The Era of the American Revolution 1755-1795 [see below].
Chartrand's other works (published as part of the Osprey series and illustrated by Lelièpvre) on Louis XIV's Army and five small volumes on Louis XV's Army contribute to a better understanding of Louis XVI's army in the Revolution.
Les 2112 français morts aux États-Unis de 1777 a 1783.
Warrington Dawson; Paris, 1936. Prepared by Société des Américanistes. This is a list of names, by regiment, and place of death of troops in the French service in North America during the American War for Independence.
Standards and Colors of the American Revolution.
Edward W. Richardson; University of Pennsylvania Press and the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution and Its Color Guard, 1982. Contains a chapter on "French Forces in America" with color illustrations. Richardson expands and makes some small changes to a previous 1948 edition of this work by Frank Earle Schermerhorn, who in turn drew upon a 1907 work (Regimental Colors in the War of the Revolution) by Gherardi Davis and upon Les Drapeaux Français (1874) by Gustave Desjardins. In addition to describing the flags, the work provides brief summaries of the units' participation in the Revolution.
Military Uniforms in America, The Era of the American Revolution 1755-1795.
Edited by John R. Elting; part of a series produced by The Company of Military Historians, published by Presidio Press, 1974. Valuable introduction provided by Anne S.K. Brown, who contributed considerably to the work. René Chartrand, as writer, and Eugène Lelièpvre were responsible for the descriptions and illustrations of the French uniforms.
Soldats du Roi, les armées de l'ancien régime 1610-1789.
Dugué Mac Carthy; published by Musée de l'Armée, 1984. Illustrated with many quality photographs from the collection of the French Army Museum. Chapter 5 (20 pages) covers the reign of Louis XVI.
L'uniforme et les armes des soldats de la guerre en dentelle.
Written and illustrated by Liliane and Fred Funken; 2 volumes, published by Casterman in Belgium in 1975. The work was published in English at a later date. Descriptions are brief, but the work contains extensive and well executed paintings of European military uniforms of the 'lace wars' era from around 1700 through late 1800s. The very broad span of the work does not permit addressing some of the particulars unique to the uniforms of the French units that served in America. However, the illustrations are valuable to understanding the full structure of the uniforms and equipment of all branches of the armed services.
Histoire de l'infanterie française.
Louis Suzane, 5 vols, 1876 (Paris). A very detailed and authorative work on the French army. Author also wrote on other branches in separate works.
Dictionnaire des officiers de l'armee royale qui ont combattu aux Etats-Unis pendant la guerre d'Independance..
Glibert Bodinier; Service Historique de l'Arm�e de terre [SHAT], Ch�teau de Vincennes, Paris, 1982. Distributed by le librairie de l'Arm�e, 27, rue Charles-Michels, 91740 Pussay.
This work has been updated in 2000, and is now available directly from the author (now retired from the French army). See link at end of this page.
Les officiers de l'arm�e royale, combattants de la guerre d'ind�pendance des Etats-Unis de Yorktown � l'an II.
Glibert Bodinier; Service Historique de l'Arm�e de terre, Ch�teau de Vincennes, Paris, 1983. This work is more of a social analysis based upon research in the previously cited publication by this author.
From Yorktown to Valmy: The Transformation of the French Army in an Age of Revolution.
Samuel F. Scott; University of Colorado Press, 1998. The work covers a very important era in the transformation of the French army, and addresses some questions as to the influence their brief North American expedition may have had upon the French participants. The author examins the tranforamtion of the French military following the American Revolution, and through the Wars of the French Revolution.The conclusions point to many observations important to undersatanding the evolution of European warfare at the end of the eighteenth century. The 'Bibliography' is one of the very best and covers many archival sources, even down to specific folder sections.
"Strains in the Franco-American Alliance: The French Army in Virginia, 1781-1782."
Samuel F. Scott; in Virginia in the American Revolution, a collection of essays edited by Richard A. Rutyna and Peter C. Stewart, published by Old Dominion University; Norfolk, VA, 1983, pp. 80-100. A valuable analysis of how the allied leaders dealt with the tensions associated with coalition warfare and combined operations.
The Revolution in Virginia 1775-1783.
John E. Selby; Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1988. Chapters 14 and 15 cover Lafayette's campaign of 1781 and the allied siege of Yorktown, pp. 265-309.
Rochambeau. A Commemoration by the Congress of the United States of America of the Services of the French Auxiliary Forces in the War of Independence.
Government Printing Press, Washington, 1907. Very comprehensive on the subject history and the many commemorative monuments up to date of publication. Second part gives a detailed history of the French military an naval participation.
The French Contribution to the Founding of the United States.
Marcel Villanueva, Vantage Press, NY, 1975. The best single overview of the French assiatance to the American cause, full of facts and little known details, especially in the non-military areas. It is certainly not all inclusive, and a little dated as to the status of existing memorials.
General de Kalb, LaFayette's Mentor.
A.E. Zucker, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1966. Valuable work on events and background of this American Revolution war hero, whose involvement began as a French agent and ended as an American general. Though born in Bavaria, de Kalb served with distinction as an officer in the French Army before volunteering with other French officers to serve in the American Army.
Siege! Spain and Britain: Battle of Pensacola, March 9 - May 8, 1781.
Editor: Virginia Parks, Pensacola Historical Society 1981. Several authors provide background on the British situtation in West Flordia. Thought separated geographically from the eastern seaboard colonies, G�lvez's remarkable 1779-80 campaign contributed to the American-French allied operations against the English.
"Chastellux et Tocqueville."
Alexandre Mussard, Tocqueville Review, 1992 13(2): 175-179. Canadian journal article that compares Alexis de Tocqueville's observations on America in respect to those reported by Fran�ois Jean de Chastellux (an officer in Rochambeau's army) fifty years earlier.
"Chesapeake: La France au secours de l'Amerique."
Patrick Villiers, Histoire, 1981 (38), pp.91-93.
"Diary of a French Officer, 1781."
In Magazine of American History, vol.4, 1880, pp. 205-214, 293-308, 376-385, 441-452; vol.7, 1881, pp. 283-295.
Brigadier General Louis Lebègue Duportail, Commandant of Engineers in the Continental Army, 1777-1783.
Elizabeth Kite; (Baltimore) 1933.
Marins et Soldats français en Amérique pendant la Guerre de l'independence des États-Unis.
Vicomte de Noailes, published in Paris in 1872, with an English translation published in Philadelphia, 1895.
"Beaumarchais and the American Revolution."
In History Today, vol.17, February, 1967, pp.98-105.
Les Fran�ais sous les treize �toiles 1775-1783.
Andr� Lassery; 2 vols. (Paris) 1935. Biographical sketches of French participants are drawn from archives, official records, and -- to a much lesser extent -- from family records. Gilbert Bodinier's 1983 work cited earlier in this list is more complete in some aspects.
Encyclopedia of the American Revolution.
Mark Mayo Boatner III; McKay, NY, 1974. This 'Bicentennial Edition' is an expanded and revised publication of the 1966 work. There has been a more recent re-publication by Stackpole. This is probably the most comprehensive coverage of military and major political aspects of the war. Boatner includes many of the European links to the American Revolution.
"Rochambeau: Two Hundred Years Later."
George Woodbridge, Newport History, 1980, 53(1). pp.5-21. A military biography of Rochambeau, with emphasis on his 1780-83 participating in the American Revolution, 1780-81.
"The Vernon House."
George Woodbridge; Newport History, 1987, 60(1), pp.28-39. Historical summary of the landmark house occupied by Rochambeau while in Newport (RI) in 1780-81, and its treatment by successive owners up to the present.
"History of the Rochambeau Statue."
A. Curtis LaFrance; 1998, Newport History, 68(4), pp.165-171. Story behind the statue of comte de Rochambeau that was erected in 1934 in Newport, RI. The sculpture is one of four cast from Fernand Hamar's original 1900 piece made in France.
"Fifty Years Ago, When Newport Remembered Rochambeau."
John R. Wadleigh, Newport History, 1981, 54(4), pp.123-125. Review of Newport's 1930 Sesquicentennial celebrating Rochambeau's arrival.
"A New Look at How Rochambeau Quartered His Army in Newport (1780-1781)."
Alan and Mary M. Simpson, Newport History, 1983, 56(2), pp.30-67.
"Le Lieutenant General Robert Dillon."
Fran�ois William VanBrock; Revue Historique des Armees, 1985 (1), pp.14-29. An account of the career of Robert Dillon who served in the duc de Lauzun's Legion with Rochambeau's 1780-83 expedition in the American Revolution. The article identifies where many primary records pertaining to the era are located in various French archives.
"Le corps Rochambeau face aux difficultes financieres et economiques du royaume et des Etats-unis d'Amerique (1780-1782)."
A. Costantini, Revue Historique des Armees, 1976, 3(4 Special), pp.106-137. [also in Revue Internationale d'Histoire Militaire, 1979 (41), pp.107-126.] Article provides valuable background on the financial and logistical challenge facing France in deploying Rochambeau's expedition to America. It also covers how this expeditionary force was derived from a French field army that was being assembled in Normandy and Brittany to invade Britain.
"L'expedition Rochambreau-Ternay: un succes diplomatique".
Lee Kennett Revue Historique des Armees, 1976, 3(4 Special), pp.86-105. Describes one of the most critical decisions made in the war. It was the French government's careful appointment of leaders of the expeditionary force in light of many of the former English colonists perception of the French traditional enemies. See Kennett's excellent book (in English) elsewhere in this page.
"Rochambeau l'oublie."
Michel Peltier, Ecrits de Paris, 1976 (360), pp.20-26.
"Le bilan d'une rencontre: l'armee Francaise en Amerique 1780-1783."
Lee Kennett. Annales Historiques de la Revolution Fran�aise, 1976, 48(4), pp.529-542. As the title ("The result of an encounter: the French army in America, 1780-1783"), suggests, it examines a sometimes uneasy relationship between the French expeditionary army and the American hosts. In particular, the French were more than ready to return to France by 1783. See Kennett's excellent book (in English) elsewhere in this page.
"L'artillerie fran�aise au siege de Yorktown (1781)."
Paul Aussaresses, Revue Historique de l'Armee, 1970, 26(2), pp.34-42. An explaination of artillery's decisive role in the allied victory at Yorktown (1781), and the contribution of the French artillery commander, colonel Fran�ois Marie d'Aboville (1730-1817).
"Rochambeau's memoire de la guerre en Amerique."
Claude C. Sturgill, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 1970, 78(1), pp.34-64. A review of Rochambeau's 1781 report, along with an English translation of the original dispatch.
"Contribution de la marine fran�aise a la victoire de Yorktown."
Y. Fleuriot de Langle, Revue Maritime, 1970 (273), pp.177-183. Promotes the admiral de Grasse's critical role in the Yorktown victory with his action at the Battle of the Virginia Capes (1781), as well as providing other support to the allied land forces.
Kosciuszko in the American Revolution.
By Miecislaus Haiman. Gregg Press, Boston, 1972.
France in America,.
By William J. Eccles, Harper & Row, NY, 1972. Provides in depth background of the French in the Western Hemisphere, with considerable detail on the history of the French in early North America. Though it touches only briefly on the American Revolution, it provides excellent an explaination of the complex relationship the French in Canada (and other parts of North America) had with the Revolt in the English colonies.
Paris: Birthplace of the U.S.A.; A Walking Guide For The American Patriot.
Daniel and Alice Jouve; Gr�nd, Paris, 1995. A 'must have' for any American who appreciates France, history, and the enduring Franco-American alliance. This work is particularly valuable for the graphics provided by Alvin Grossman. The map in back of the book clearly indicates the Paris locations of twenty-three places associated with events of the American Revolution. The book is available in the US from Librairie de France, Rockerfeller Center Promenade, 610 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10020. Tel: (212) 581-8810. Website is frencheuropean.com.
Orders from France.
Roger G. Kennedy. The book deals with various, and most interesting, French ventures in the newly independent United States following the American Revolution up through the time of Napoleon. Published by Knopf, NY, 1989.
The Sinews of Independence: Monthly Strength Reports of the Continental Army.
Charles H. Lesser, ed.; University of Chicago Press, 1975.
The Toll of Independence: Engagements and Battle Casualties of the American Revolution.
Howard H. Peckham, ed.; University of Chicago Press, 1974. Peckham also provides one of the best, concise summaries of the war's military operations in The War for Independence, a Military History. University of Chicago, 1958.
"Extraordinary Measures: Maryland and the Yorktown Campaign, 1781."
Robert W. Tinder, Maryland Historical Magazine, Summer 2000, 95(2), pp.133-59. Author describes Maryland's response to Washington's pleas for help in the Yorktown Campaign that was suddenly launched in mid August of 1781. The colony's response is placed in context of the conditions in Maryland, and particularly Baltimore, during this period.
"Marches and Camp Sites of the French Army in New England During the Revolutionary War."
Alen Forbes, Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, vol.58 (April 1925), pp.267-286.
France and New England.
Allen Forbes and Paul F. Cadman. (Boston, vol.1 1925, vol.2 1927. Surveys sites, buildings, and monuments that exited in the early 1920s along the route Rochambeau's army traveled in New England during the American Revolution.
George Washington, A Biography, Volume Five: Victory With The Help of France.
Douglas Southall Freeman. (Scribners, NY, 1952). A very fine description of the Allied planning and operations.
The French Navy and American Independence, A Study of Arms and Diplomacy, 1774-1787.
Jonathan R. Dull. (Princenton University Press, NJ, 1975). As the author states up front, the work does not dwell on naval combat engagements [See Jenkins and Mahan for such], but rather Dull explores the diplomacy and background associated with French naval organization and deployments. One of the best Anglophone works that has made use of modern access to French archives. Very good on European motives and interactions during the war, as they most all centered around the French policies.
A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution .
Jonathan R. Dull. (Yale University Press, New Haven, 1985). The author examines international aspects of the American War for Independence more broadly than did his earlier 1975 work relating to the French navy and diplomacy. In this study, Dull describes the complex, late eighteenth-century European political structure and dynamics are rarely reported in the general histories of the war. In particular, Dull's account places in context the sometimes labeled �international' support for the American struggle and clearly describes France's dominant role. Dull's examination dispels many simplistic clich�s used in so many Anglophone works to describe the motives of French leaders or to portray the balance of power in Europe in 1775-1783. His annotated bibliography is especially valuable.
The French Navy and the Seven Years' War (2005).
Jonathan R. Dull. (University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 2005). This scholar continues to contribute important insight in understanding the conflict between eighteenth-century France and Great Britain. In this latest work, Dr. Dull examines how the French naval experience prepared France for its effective participation in the American War for Independence. The final chapter, �Epilogue Toward a New War, 1763-1774' is a critical �Prologue' to the American Revolution.
The War For America.
Piers Mackesey. (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1964). A study of the war's strategy from the British perspective. It is one of the few work in English that conveys the seriousness to the British cause in context of the global scope of the war.
Guerre d'Am�rique et libert� des mers.
Paul et Pierrette Girault de Coursac. ( Paris 1991).
Histoire de la Guerre d�Ind�pendance des Etats Unis.
Charles Botta. (Paris, 1830).
Notice sur la vie du Marquis de Bouill�.
Fran�ois Barri�re� (Paris, 1859).
Guerre d�Am�rique et libert� des mers.
Paul & Pierrette Girault de Coursac� (Paris, 1991).
Manuscrit de Claude Hugau 1781-1782.
G�rard Massoni� (Besan�on, 1996).
Yorktown (1781), La France offre l'ind�pendance � l'Am�rique.
Raymond Bourgerie and Pierre Lesouef; in Collection CAMPAGNES & STRATEGIES series, ed by Philippe Ricalens and Guy Pedroncini. (Economica, Paris, 1992). Authors military strategy aspects. They have been in charge of contributions to �cole des Sciences Politiques and �cole Sup�rieure de Guerre.
"R�giments de la Guerre d�Ind�pendance".
Tony de Vibraye in Revue de la Soci�t� des Amis du Mus�e de l'Arm�e [SAMA], vols 62 & 63 (1959).
"L�Arm�e d�Ancien R�gime et la d�fense des Isles 1756-1783".
Tony de Vibraye in in Revue de la Soci�t� des Amis du Mus�e de l'Arm�e [SAMA], vol 104 (1992).
"M�moires du Capitaine Tarragon, (Rt Armagnac 1779)".
in Carnet Sabretache, v. 37 (1934).
"D�tails de la bataille de Gondelour".
In Carnet Sabretache, v. 21 (1913).
The Wild Geese, The Irish Brigades of France and Spain.
Text by Mark G. Mc Laughlin; color plates by Chris Warner. Osprey 'Men-at-Arms Series', London, 1980.
Le commerce colonial atlantique et la guerre d'Ind�pendance des Etats-Unis d'Am�rique a �t� publi� aux Etats-Unis.
Patrick Villiers; published by Arno-Press, NY, 1977 (ISBN 0 405 10804); awarded the Medal of l'Acad�mie de Marine in 1977. A unique work on the �battle of the Atlantic' during the American Revolution: the organization and the role of the convoys so essential to the allied success in the American War for Independence. A related work by the same author is Marine royale, convois et corsaires de Louis XIV � Louis XVI, printed in Lille in 1992; awarded the Medal of l'Acad�mie de Marine in 1992; and re printed in 2002 by the University Presses, North, Lille.
Histoire de la Participation de la France � l'�tablissement des �tats-Unis d'Am�rique.
Henri Doniol, 5 vols, Paris, 1884-92. Selected archival documents published by the French government, and a valuable source of primary documents not otherwise easily available to scholars.
Politiques d'autrefois: Le comte de Vergennes et P.M. Hennin, 1749-1787. .
Henri Doniol, Paris, 1898. Describes the background and motives of the French Foreign Minister, Vergennes, who directed most of the French participation in the American War for Independence, and the performance of the French foreign ministry at the time. This is a reprint of an article which first appeared in Revue d'histoire diplomatique 7 (1893): 528-60."
The Diplomacy of the American Revolution.
Samuel Flagg Bemis, Editor. (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1957). Revision of a 1935 edition. Jonathan R. Dull describes his more modern A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution [listed elsewhere in this bibliography] as "a new synthesis" of Bemis' work.
Soldiers and Sailors of France in the American War of Independence.
Joachim Merlant. Translated from the French by Mary Bushnell Coleman, New York, 1920. The original French version: La France et la Guerre de l'Ind�pendance Am�ricaine: 1776-1783 , published by the Universit� de Montpellier, 1918.
"French `Secret Aid'; Precursor to the Franco-American Alliance, 1776-1777."
Elizabeth S. Kite; in French American Review, vol. 1, April-June 1948, pp.143-52.
"Beaumarchais and the `lost million': A Chapter in the Secret History of the American Revolution."
Charles J. Still�; Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 11, April 1887, pp.1-36.
"Influences which Determined the French Government to Make the Treaty with America, 1778."
Claude F. Van Tyne; American Historical Review, vol. 21, April 1916, pp.528-41.
"French Aid Before the Alliance of 1778."
Claude F. Van Tyne; American Historical Review, vol. 31, October 1925, pp.20-40.
"Beaumarchais and the American Revolution."
Arnold Whitridge; History Today, vol. 17, February 1967, pp.98-105.
Histoire de la marine francaise pendant la guerre de l'independance americaine.
Louis Edouard Chevalier; Paris, 1877.
The British Navy in Adversity: A Study of the War of American Independence .
Ernest H. James; London,1926; reprint 1973.
The American Revolution and the French Alliance.
William C. Stinchcombe: Syracuse, N. Y., 1969.
"The Joint Allied Operation at Rhode Island, 1778,".
Dr. Michael J. Crawford, in New Interpretations in Naval History: Selected Papers from the Ninth Naval History Symposium (Annapolis, MD, Naval Institute Press, 1991), pp.227-242.
Marins et soldats fran�ais en Am�rique pendant la guerre de l'ind�pendence des Etats-Unis .
Vicomte de Noailles (Paris, 1903).
Histoire de Ia marine fran�aise pendant la guerre de l'ind�pendence americaine .
E. Chevalier (1877).
Histoire du bailli de Suffren .
C. Cunat (Rennes, 1852).
A History of the French Navy, From its Beginnings to the Present Day .
Ernest H. Jenkins (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1973).
Admiral De Grasse and the American Independence .
Charles Lee Lewis (Annapolis, US Naval Academy, 1945).
The War at Sea: France and the American Revolution: A Bibliography .
Published by US Naval History Division, Washington, DC; 1976. A forty-eight page booklet that has sections on: �General Works', �Bibliographies', �French Assistance to American Privateers and the Continental Navy', and �The French Fleet in North American Waters' (sub sections: �New York, Rhode Island, Boston, Savannah, 1778-1779', �Rhode Island, 1780-1781', and �Yorktown, 1781'. [US Government Printing Office].
La Chronique maratime de la France d'Ancien R�gime 1491-1792 .
Michel Verg�-Franceschi.(1998).
"Indispensable Allies: The French at Yorktown."
Stanley J. Idserda , in Wilson Quarterly, vol. 5, no. 4, Autumn 1981, pp.166-177.
"The French Artillery at the Battle of Yorktown."
Henri Hure, in Field Artillery Journal, vol 5, no 4, Autumn 1981, pp.166-177.
"Logistics on the Yorktown Campaign."
In Army Logistician, vol. 13, no. 5, Sep./Oct. 1981, pp.2-7.
Duty, Honor or Country, General George Weedon and the American Revolution .
Harry M. Ward, published by The American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia (1979).
"St. George Tucker's Journal of the Siege of Yorktown, 1781."
Edited by Edward M. Riley, in The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., Vol. 5, No. 3 (July, 1948), pp.375-395.

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Notes on Archival Sources

Information on how to obtain Glibert Bodinier's Third Edition of Dictionnaire des officiers de l'armee royale qui ont combattu aux Etats-Unis pendant la guerre d'Independance.

Genealogical Research of French Ancestory.

Expédition Particulière receives occasional requests by individuals seeking to research possible French ancestors who may have participated in the American Revolution. The authors of this website are military historians, and are not capable of advising in this area of study. However, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution are active in promoting such research. Still, the nature of searching French ancestry is quite specialized, and we suggest contacting M. Jean-Mathieu ROBINE, a professional genealogist, operating as Registrar for the Society in France of the SAR. His e-mail address is:

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