This biography begins by exploring why General George Washington chose a Frenchman as his chief engineer, particularly as the French were the archenemies of the British and her American colonies, especially during the French and Indian War. Using primary source material, this volume details the life of the man who founded and served as the first commandant of what would become today’s Army Corps of Engineers.
Washington’s Engineer: Louis Duportail and the Creation of an Army Corps
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1 EARLY YEARS. 1
2 VALLEY FORGE. 17
3 WEST POINT AND THE HUDSON.. 53
DEFENSES OF THE HUDSON.. 54
WEST POINT FORTIFICATIONS>. 55
THE SITUATION IN THE NORTHERN DEPARTMENT.. 57
GENERAL GATES COMMANDS THE ARMY OF THE NORTH.. 59
DUPORTAIL’S SURVEY OF THE WEST POINT DEFENSES. 61
DUPORTAIL SENT TO BOSTON.. 68
DEFENSE OF THE DELAWARE.. 69
4 THE CAMPAIGN OF 1779. 71
DEFENSES OF PHILADELPHIA.. 72
DUPORTAIL AT WEST POINT.. 74
MEMORIALS. 76
WINTER QUARTERS. 81
ARNOLD’S TREASON.. 82
JOINT CAMPAIGN.. 83
STONY POINT AND VERPLANCK POINT.. 87
COLONEL RADIÈRE’S DEATH.. 91
5 THE CAMPAIGN OF 1780 Charleston. 95
RETAINING THE SERVICES OF THE ENGINEERS. 97
DUPORTAIL WANTS TO GO TO THE CAROLINAS. 98
REINFORCEMENTS. 100
DUPORTAIL’S REPORT.. 102
PRISONER OF WAR.. 104
PRISONER EXCHANGE.. 106
6 THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS. 109
7 PRISONERS OF WAR. 139
LAUMOY AND CAMBRAY.. 141
JACOB SCHREIBER.. 145
COLONEL LAUMOY’S EXCHANGE.. 147
ENDLESS NEGOTIATIONS. 148
8 THE CAMPAIGN OF 1781 Yorktown. 151
DUPORTAIL’S MEMORIAL.. 154
LAFAYETTE SENT TO VIRGINIA.. 156
WETHERSFIELD MEETING.. 158
PREPARATIONS FOR AN ATTACK ON NEW YORK.. 158
COMBINED OPERATION AT NEW YORK.. 160
DUPORTAIL’S PLAN TO ATTACK NEW YORK.. 163
THE ARMY MOVES SOUTH.. 165
ARRIVAL IN PHILADELPHIA.. 166
DUPORTAIL JOINS THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.. 168
WASHINGTON AND ROCHAMBEAU REST AT MOUNT VERNON.. 170
SURRENDER AT YORKTOWN.. 174
PROMOTIONS. 177
9 PEACE. 185
PROMOTIONS. 186
RETENTION OF FRENCH ENGINEERS. 187
BRIGADIER GENERAL IN THE FRENCH INFANTRY. 190
RESIGNATION.. 193
REPORT OF A COMMITTEE ON A MILITARY PEACE ARRANGEMENT.. 196
SERVICE IN THE FRENCH ARMY.. 198
MINISTER OF WAR.. 199
10 AMERICAN CITIZEN AND FARMER. 201
PURCHASE OF A FARM... 202
DEATH.. 205
THE ESTATE.. 206
ESTATE SETTLEMENT 208
abatis, 80
academy, 130-132, 137
See also Mézières
Albany, 24, 77, 183
Alexander, William see Stirling, William Alexander (Earl of Stirling)
André, John, 9, 83
Arbuthnot, Marriot, 155
Armstrong, John, 14, 20, 22, 47;
... Valley Forge, 17.
Arnold, 69, 83, 156;
... treason, 126.
Articles of War, 113
artillery, 4, 7, 13, 24, 103, 109, 130-133, 145, 199;
... battalions, 45
... command, 4
... Dobb’s Ferry, 82
... organization, 117
... West Point, 79, 81.
See also cannon
Baldwin, Jeduthan, 92
Balfour, Nesbit, 108
Baltimore, 166, 169
Banister, John, 36
Barras, Jacques-Melchior Saint-Laurent, Comte de, 117, 126, 158, 161-163, 168
batteries, 62, 65, 66, 68, 78, 82, 88, 131, 160, 171;
... New York, 163
... Stony Point, 75
... West Point, 64, 79, 81.
Beaumarchais, 4, 5, 12, 122, 208
Board of War, 57, 58, 72, 97, 99-101, 107, 112-114, 116, 117, 136, 144, 145, 181
Boston, 27, 59, 60, 68-72, 94, 162, 166
Brahm, Ferdinand J. S. de, 118, 121
brevet, 118-122, 124, 148, 180, 181, 198
Burgoyne, John, 53, 104, 118;
... exchange, 143.
Byron, John, 83
Cadwalader, John, 22
Cambray-Digny Louis Antoine Jean Baptiste Chevalier de, 12, 118, 120, 141-42, 183, 186;
... appeal, 148
... exchange, 108, 117, 140-41, 143-44, 147-48, 176
... French service, 149
... pay, 149, 189
... petition, 146
... prisoner, 174
... promotion, 124, 175
... return to France, 149.
Camden, SC, 58, 108, 118
cannon, 75-76, 78, 89;
... West Point, 61, 79-80
... Yorktown, 171,
See also artillery
Cape Henlopen, DE, 85
Cape Henry, VA, 166, 170
Cape May, NJ, 88
Castaing, Peter de, 12, 100, 119,
... promotion, 121, 181-82, 186, 198
Charleston (Charlestown/Charles Town), SC, 68, 72, 83-4, 91, 94-5, 98-9, 100-102, 104-06,
108, 118, 121-23, 139-40, 145-46, 149, 154-56, 174, 182, 198
Charlestown, MA, 68
Chastellux, François-Jean de Beauvoir, chevalier de, 161, 170, 197
Chesapeake Bay, 74, 141, 156, 161-62, 165, 167-69
Chester, PA, 20-1, 23, 51
Choisy, Claude Gabriel marquis de, 126
Clinton, Henry, 53, 56, 78, 92, 99, 106-07, 161
Clinton, George, 58, 104
commandant, 13, 32, 73-74, 113-14, 118, 127, 151, 157, 161, 174
communication, 21, 45, 47, 58, 74-77, 87-88, 92, 172, 182, 188-89;
... West Point, 82.
communication trench, 172
Conciliatory Bills, 36, 48
Connecticut, 56, 60, 117, 126, 158, 207
Conway, Thomas, 36¶Conway cabal, 118
Cornwallis, Charles, 75, 161-62, 167-69;
... Yorktown, 171.
Corny, Ethis de, 174
Corps of Engineers, 2-8, 11, 13, 31-33, 57, 73, 109-10, 112-14, 116-17, 120-21, 125, 133, 137, 149, 157, 179, 180, 182, 188, 196, 200, 203, 209;
... disbanded, 137
... structure, 129.
Coudray, Philippe Charles Jean Baptiste Tronson du, 4, 13-15, 31, 121-22
Council of War, 49, 54, 74
Cox hill, NY, 163
Custis, John Park, 180
Deane, Silas, 5, 13, 33, 44, 46, 48, 70, 109
defense, 24, 26, 33, 36, 53-54, 60, 62-63, 65, 68-9, 73-4, 80-1, 115, 126, 131, 163, 173;
... Boston, 68
... Charlestown, 98, 103, 198
... Delaware, 60, 67, 69
... Gulph, 25
... Hudson, 57, 60, 76
... New York, 87, 163
... principles, 189
... Valley Forge, 24
... West Point, 65, 66, 74, 81.
defenses, 14, 26-9, 50, 53, 69, 74, 84, 94, 170, 171;
... Charleston, 101
... Delaware, 72
... Fort Herkimer, 127, 158
... Highlands, 81-82
... Hudson, 54
... Valley Forge, 28, 35
... West Point, 53, 61-3, 80, 81
... Yorktown, 170, 171.
Delaware River, 14, 20-1, 44-5, 47, 49-51, 59-60, 66-7, 69, 72-4, 85, 88, 185, 201
Delaware Bay, 185
desertion, 44-5
Dorchester Heights, MA, 68
Dumas, Mathieu, 203
Duponceau, Peter Stephen, 122, 208
Ellery, William, 196
Erskine, Robert 33
exchange, 7, 104, 106-8, 122, 140-48, 152, 176, 183
fascines, 29, 86, 110, 158-60, 166, 171
field works, 131
Fishkill, NY, 58
Fleury, François-Louis Teissèdre de, 12, 122
Folger, John, 47-8
Forman, George Foreman, 162
Fort Arnold, 62, 65
Fort Charles, 163
Fort Clinton, 55-6, 66, 78-9
Fort Herkimer, 117, 127, 158
Fort Independence, 63-4
Fort Montgomery, 53
Fort Putnam, 61-3, 65, 78-9
Fort Schuyler, 158
Fort Ticonderoga, 14, 53
Fort Tryon, 163
Fort Washington, 161, 164
Fort Webb, 62
fortification, 4, 13, 23, 29, 39, 40, 57, 69, 70, 72, 124, 131, 134;
memoir, 189
... principles, 8, 189
... system, 67.
French alliance, 5
gabions, 158, 160, 171
garrison, 4, 75, 80;
... Rhode Island, 86
... structure, 129
... West Point, 78.
Gates, Horatio, 14, 17, 36, 47, 57, 58, 59, 69, 74, 85, 86, 87, 89, 94, 108, 118;
... Newport, 87
... North Carolina, 104.
general actions, 39
Genton Jean-Louis-Ambroise.See Villefranche Jean-Louis-Ambroise de Genton Chevalier de
Gérard, Conrad-Alexandre, 51
Germaine, George Germain, 155
Germantown, PA, 17, 53
Gloucester, VA, 126
Gouvion, Jean-Baptiste de, 8, 9, 16, 31, 82, 91, 94, 101, 110, 120, 129, 166, 177, 179, 186, 189, 194,;
... agreement, 11
... alias, 12
... gratitude, 71
... leave of absence, 176, 182, 185, 192
... Newport, 153
... Order of the Cincinnati, 125
... pay, 150, 193
.. promotion, 175, 176, 178, 180
... rank, 15
... retention, 97
... return to France, 117, 193, 195
... school of engineering, 112
... Silesia, 198
... Stony and Verplanck Points, 81, 87
... Virginia, 157
... Yorktown, 170, 174.
Grasse, François-Joseph-Paul Comte de Grasse-Tilly, 141, 146, 152, 154, 156, 158, 161, 162, 165,-170, 174
Graves, Samuel, 162, 163, 168
Greene, Nathanael, 17, 20, 22, 26, 47, 50, 58, 93, 95, 107, 108, 118, 152
Gridley, Richard, 13, 109
Gulph, PA, 24-26, 202
Haldimand, Frederick, 190
Hamilton, Alexander, 72, 73, 87, 88, 90, 98, 148, 149;
... Delaware capes, 85.
Hand, Edward, 126, 198, 205
Hand, Isaac, 205
Hanson, John, 20, 180
Harlem River, NY, 161, 164
Harrison, Robert Hanson, 20
Havard, John Jr., 29
Heath, William, 68, 69, 88, 127, 165
Hood, Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount, 168
Hopewell, PA, 50
Howe, Robert, 83;
... West Point, 101.
Howe, William, 21, 23, 24, 27, 36, 38, 41- 43, 48, 83, 101, 126
Huddleston, Isaac, 204, 206
Hudson Highlands, 51, 53, 54, 56, 57, 60, 64, 81, 84, 87, 91, 120, 125, 126, 151, 157, 160, 161, 186
Hynson, Joseph, 48
independence, 8, 12, 36, 46, 48, 63, 139, 140, 152, 186
Irvine, William, 21, 22
Jay, John, 185
Jefferson, Thomas, 113
Jones, John Paul, 183
Kalb, Johann Baron de, 20, 22, 47, 104;
... Valley Forge, 17.
Kingsbridge, NY, 46, 161, 163
Knox, Henry, 17, 20, 22, 47, 50, 76, 170, 179
Kosciusko, Andrew Thaddeus, 57, 58, 62, 65, 66, 74, 83, 94, 118-120, 126, 157
L’Enfant, Pierre, 13, 118, 122, 190;
exchange, 108, 118, 121, 142, 148¶Order of the Society of the Cincinnati, 125
pay, 189
prisoner, 174
promotion, 120, 122-124, 148, 186.
Lafayette, Marie-Jean-Paul Joseph-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier Marquis de, 5, 13, 17, 20, 22, 47, 50, 108, 126, 157, 165, 168-170, 185, 186, 193, 194;
... leave of absence, 185
... Silesia, 198
... Virginia, 156
... Yorktown, 167, 169.
Lake Champlain, 53, 190
Laumoy, Jean Baptiste Joseph Comte de, 8, 9, 10, 16, 59, 102, 142, 175, 189, 194 ;
... leave of absence, 192
... Agreement, 11
... alias, 12
... Boston, 69
... Charleston, 72, 91, 99, 104
... Delaware, 74
... exchange, 108, 117, 140, 141, 144, 146, 147, 176
... gratitude, 71
... leave of absence, 182, 183, 192
... Order of the Cincinnati, 125
... pay, 193
... petition, 146, 174
... retention, 97
... return to France, 117, 193, 194.
Laurel hill, NY, 163
Laurens, John, 14, 20, 37, 50, 90, 107, 122, 151, 152, 158, 162, 166
Laurens, Henry, 35, 59
Lauzun, Armand Louis de Gontaut–Biron, Duc de, 160, 187
Lee, Charles, 13, 17, 69
Lee, Richard Henry, 85, 88, 100
Lewes, DE, 85, 88
Lincoln, Benjamin, 72, 84, 94, 99, 100, 107, 145, 149, 160, 170;
... Charlestown, 102- 104
... Savannah, 90.
Little Egg Harbor, NJ, 83, 88
Livingston, Robert, 185
Long Island, NY, 87, 88, 164, 165
Luzerne, Anne-César Chevalier de la, 84, 92, 102, 104, 117, 120, 139, 141, 177, 181, 187
magazines, 37, 45, 47, 49, 74, 75;
... West Point, 61.
Malcom, William Malcolm, 60
Marbois, François Barbé-Marbois, marquis de Barbé-Marbois, 91, 93, 94, 104
Martin, Joseph Plumb, 116, 165
Massachusetts, 84, 121, 198, 206
Maxwell, William, 20, 22
McDougall, Alexander, 56- 59, 127;
... Hudson, 76.
McMurray, 115
Mendham, 95, 96
Mézières, military academy, 2, 3, 13, 31, 129
Mifflin, Thomas, 14, 47
... Valley Forge, 17
military academy, 130
See also academy
militia, 15, 23, 42, 86;
... Charlestown, 103
... Pennsylvania, 84.
Mohawk River, 128
Monmouth, NJ, 50, 69, 162
Monroe, James, 198
Morris, Robert, 96, 166
Morristown, NJ, 90, 92-96, 99
Mount Vernon, VA, 170
Muhlenberg, John Peter Gabriel, 20, 22
Murnan, Jean-Bernard Gauthier de, 12, 34, 68, 113, 125, 126, 189
Nevin, Daniel, 116, 117, 120
New Jersey, 48, 50, 90, 94, 96, 165
New Windsor, NY, 54, 65, 92, 154, 156-158, 160
New York (City), 27, 37, 46, 48, 49, 51, 53, 55, 59, 74, 76, 77, 83- 87, 92, 104, 107, 120, 126, 139, 146, 149, 152, 154-158, 160-166, 174, 205';
... evacuation 104;
Newark, NJ, 97
Newburg, NY, 125, 128, 133, 147, 186
Newport, RI, 59, 69, 83, 86, 87, 91,, 93, , 117, 126, 152-154, 158, 161, 162, 165
Noailles, Guy de, 202
Norristown, PA, 202, 204, 207
North Carolina, 12, 58, 104, 107, 174
Order of the Society of the Cincinnati, 125
Osgood, Samuel, 196
Parsons, Samuel Holden, 56-58
Patterson, Samuel, 22
Paulus Hook, NJ, 97
pay, 11, 32, 34, 67, 113, 119, 121, 122, 129, 131, 137, 144-146, 165, 188, 189, 196, 203;
... engineers, 15, 109-111, 113
... sappers and miners, 30.
peace, 33, 36, 130, 135, 185-189, 194, 197
peace establishment, 187-189
Peekskill, NY, 59, 126, 160
Petersburg, VA,108
Philadelphia, PA, 4, 11-14, 17, 21, 22, 24-27, 36, 41, 42, 48-51, 53, 59, 60, 66, 67, 69, 70, 72, 73, 83-85, 88, 91, 99, 100, 104, 106-108, 124, 140, 141, 152, 153, 157, 165, 166, 177, 180, 182, 186, 188, 203, 208
Phillips, William, 105
Phillipsburg, NY, 160
Pin, La Tour du, 199
Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, 144
Pluckemin, NJ, 95
Pontgibaud, Charles-Albert Moré Comte de, 203
Poor, Enoch, 20, 22, 50
Portsmouth, VA 12, 154, 155, 164
Potter, James, 22
Prevost, Augustine, 123, 143
Princeton, NJ, 50
prisoners of war, 118, 140;
... Charleston, 103.
promotion, 8, 33, 106, 113, 119, 121, 122, 124, 127, 129, 130, 175, 177, 179-182, 186, 198
Pulaski, Kazimierz (Casimir), 21
Putnam, Israel, 39, 54-56, 62, 63, 65, 78
Putnam, Rufus, 13, 255
Radière, Louis-Guillaume-Servais des Hayes de la, 8,-10, 16, 54, 57, 58;
... Agreement, 11
... alias, 12
... death, 91
... Delaware, 73
... Fort Montgomery, 53
... gratitude, 71
... Hudson, 55
... pay, 150
... promotion, 110
... rank, 15
... retention, 97
... West Point, 55.
Rawdon, Francis, 155
Read, Jacob, 198
recruiting, 21, 114, 116
redoubt, 32, 68, 78-90, 172
redoubt, Savannah, 90;
... West Point, 61.
Reed, Joseph, 22, 72, 73, 114
Reign of Terror, 190, 201, 203
Rhode Island, 59, 86, 87, 153;
... evacuation, 87.
Rochambeau, Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur Comte de, 83, 93, 117, 120, 122, 123, 146-148, 152, 154, 156-158, 160-163, 165, 166, 170, 186
Rochefontaine, Étienne Nicolas Marie Béchet de Rochefontaine (later known as Stephen Rochefontaine), 12, 118, 124,; 180, 189
... French service, 120
... promotion, 178
... rank, 123
... Yorktown, 174.
Rockhill, NY, 78, 79
Rocky Hill, NJ, 50
Roderigue Hortalez et Cie., 4
Roxbury, MA, 68
Royal Corps of Engineers, 2- 5, 8, 110, 188, 203;
... Agreement, 11.
Sandy Hook, NJ, 85, 88, 154, 162, 168
sappers and miners, 13, 29, 32, 82, 101, 110, 113-115, 117, 132, 156, 160, 165, 183
Saratoga, NY, 36, 37, 53, 57, 83, 107, 118, 143;
... Convention, 143.
saucissons, 158-160
Savannah, GA, 73, 83, 88- 91, 122, 123
Schreiber, Jacob, 145;
... petition, 146
... prisoner, 174.
Schuyler, Philip, 90
Schuylkill River, 14, 21, 23, 24, 201, 202, 207
Scott, Charles, 20, 22;
... Valley Forge, 17.
Ségur, Philippe Henri, marquis de, 149
siege, 29, 89, 110, 121-123, 127, 131, 149, 158;
... Charlestown, 104, 122
... New York, 165
... Yorktown, 113, 123, 144, 155, 174, 177, 178-179.
Skinner, Abraham, 107, 143
Smallwood, William, 20, 22
Sourland Hills, NJ, 50
South Carolina, 59, 72, 84, 94, 98, 118, 141, 149, 152, 182
Spuyten Duyvil, NY, 163
Staten Island, NY, 143
Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm von, 47, 108, 122, 190, 196, 208;
... Valley Forge, 17.
Stirling, William Alexander (Earl of Stirling), 20, 22, 26, 47;
... Valley Forge, 17.
Stony Point, NY, 74-76, 81, 82, 87, 91
subsistence, 21, 34, 42, 45, 47, 92;
... engineers, 113
... Savannah, 90.
Sullivan, John, 20, 22, 26, 50, 59, 60, 85, 94, 126
Swede’s Ford, PA, 24, 201-204
Ternay, Charles Louis d’Arsac Chevalier de, 154;
... death, 158,
Thatcher, James, 160
Thompson, William, 107
Treaty of Alliance, 5, 35, 46, 48
Valley Forge, PA, 24, 26, 28, 29, 35, 36, 49, 50, 55, 57, 59, 68, 96, 125, 201, 202, 208
Varnum, James Mitchell, 20, 22
Vauban, Sébastien Le Prestre de, 2, 81, 136
Vergennes, Charles Gravier, comte de, 4, 117, 149, 152
Verplanck Point, NY, 74, 81, 87
Villefranche, Jean-Louis-Ambroise de Genton Chevalier de, 13, 31, 74, 82, 118, 119, 121, 123, 126,;
... chief of the Corps of Engineers, 117
... Delaware, 73
... Fort Herkimer, 158
... French service, 120
... Lake Champlain, 190
... Newport, 153
... Order of the Cincinnati, 125
... pay, 150, 189
... promotion, 120, 124, 127, 128, 148, 186
... West Point, 94, 126, 128, 147.
Virginia, 36, 108, 113, 154-156, 161, 164-66, 170, 182, 197, 198
Wadsworth, Peleg, 113
Waterbury, David, 107
Wayne, Anthony, 17, 20, 22, 74, 82
Weedon, George, 20, 22
Weibert .See Wuibert
West Indies, 4, 12, 83, 154, 156, 158, 165, 167
West Point, NY, 53, 55-58, 61, 63-66, 74,-78, 80-83, 85, 89-91, 94, 101, 118, 119, 126, 128, 147, 165, 191
Wethersfield, CT, 117, 158, 161
White Plains, NY, 51, 60
Whitemarsh, PA, 17, 23, 24, 39, 202
Williams, Otho Holland, 113
Williamsburg, VA, 170
Williamson, Hugh, 196
Wilmington, DE, 20, 21, 174
Woodford, 20, 22
Woodford, William, 17
Wuibert, 13, 118, 189
York River, 126, 169
Yorktown, VA, 24, 26, 31, 37, 46, 49, 59, 69, 76, 86, 88, 91, 95, 108, 113, 121, 123, 124, 126-128, 143, 144, 151, 155, 161, 165-167, 170-175, 177-180, 182, 198, 205
Yorktown, campaign, 143
