#general rochambeau

"The arrival of General Rochambeau and the French troops in 1780 ignited the War for Independence once again, and culminated in the American and French victory at Yorktown." National Park Service

Today’s entry is a short one – as in, a really short one.

Some of you might remember, that on December 5th, we had a look at John E. Hagey and concluded that he might have never worked as an aide-de-camp for La Fayette.

Gabriel de Queyssat was a French officer that came to America as part of the force under the command of General Rochambeau. It seems as if he worked as an aide-de-camp for La Fayette for some time around 1780 but nobody can say that for certain. La Fayette mentions de Queyssat once in a letter from October 3, 1780 to the Vicomte de Noailles:

MM. de Queyssats are here; now that they are, I shall try to see that they do not die of boredom; as for hunger, that depends on our provisions. I am sending you a letter for M. Baudouin; I cannot avoid writing it, but try beforehand to discourage him from coming, I beseech you.

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776-1790, Volume 3, April 27, 1780-March 29, 1781, Cornell University Press, 1980, p. 180-186.

Gabriel de Queyssat came to America alongside his brother, the one mentioned in the letter. There were at least three de Queyssat brothers and the one who came to America alongside Gabriel has not been identified.

As little as we do know about the brothers – one thing is certain. They were criminals! In a letter to Benjamin Franklin, dated April 16, 1778, Jean-Baptiste Le Roy made the following comment:

Vous savez mon illustre confrère le jugement des Messrs. De Queissat et qu’il ne leur reste d’autre parti à prendre que de passer dans un service étranger.

“To Benjamin Franklin from Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, 16 April 1778,” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 26, March 1 through June 30, 1778, ed. William B. Willcox. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1987, pp. 301–302.] (10/04/2022)

My translation:

You know my illustrious colleague the judgment of the Messrs. De Queissat and that there is no other course for them to take than to transfer to a foreign service.

The endnotes of the said letter describe the whole “affair” better than I could, so I will quote the passage for you:

The Queyssat affair was a cause célèbre, which had been going on for years and continued into 1779. In 1775 the three Queyssat brothers, all nobles and officers or former officers, assaulted and almost killed a Bordeaux merchant called Damade (the name appears in various forms), and were duly convicted. The case was retried in Bordeaux and then in Toulouse, with the same outcome, and reopened in Paris; confrontation between aristocrats and a merchant aroused strong public feelings.

Endnotes of “To Benjamin Franklin from Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, 16 April 1778,” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 26, March 1 through June 30, 1778, ed. William B. Willcox. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1987, pp. 301–302.] (10/04/2022)

The Middlebury Historical Society invites you to a fascinating evening of history, community, and discovery. On Monday, January 15, at 6 p.m., the Society will host a free public lecture at the Shepardson Community Center Auditorium, located at 1172 Whittemore Road, Middlebury. This is your chance to delve into the historical significance of General Rochambeau’s march through the region during…

….General Rochambeau!