Rochambeau’s March Anniversary Events Begin This Weekend

DANBURY — July 1781: After breaking camp in Newtown, 4,700 French troops and their officers, led by General Rochambeau, began marching through Danbury to gather much needed food and other supplies. Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau was leading the French support for the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War toward the south.

Thanks to its role as a major supply depot for the Continental Army, Connecticut became known as The Provisions State. As a funnel for supplies from the other Northeast colonies of Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, Danbury stored such vital supplies as beef, pork, wheat, salt, and various military items. The French stopover July 1781 was critical to the army’s continued support of the rebels.

The 225th anniversary of Rochambeau’s march through Danbury will be relived on May 6 and 7 in programs organized by the Danbury Museum & Historical Society. On both days at Kenosia Town Park, French and Colonial reenactors, as well as artificers and artisans, will recreate the life and times of that march. The program will include cavalry, surgical, and artillery demonstrations as well as demonstrations by craftspeople.

Between 70 and 100 reenactors from all over the Northeast are expected to participate. Society officials predict the event will draw around 2,000 visitors to the city. “We’re really excited about it,” said Kay Schreiber, a society trustee. “We staged a Revolutionary War reenactment four years ago and we had a good attendance.”

Ms Schreiber said the 225th anniversary celebration was organized because Rochambeau’s march through Danbury was an important event in the city’s history and should be remembered. After the surrender of Britain’s Lord Cornwallis in Yorktown, Va., in the fall of 1781, the French forces wintered near Williamsburg. In 1782 they marched back north to the French fleet anchored in Boston.

The 225th anniversary of Rochambeau in Danbury will take place on Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, and on Sunday from 10 am to 3 pm, at Kenosia Town Park, West Kenosia Avenue.

The museum is asking for a $5 donation per family to attend the living history event, but will not turn anyone away. Organizers are hoping the event will spark interest in the work of the Danbury Museum and in turn get more museum members. It is also serving as a kickoff event for a number of events planned around the 225th anniversary of Rochambeau’s march and the Battle of Yorktown, which was a turning point in the war. Next month a team of reenactors will re-create the march of Rochambeau and his troops from Providence, R.I., to Mount Kisco, N.Y., including an overnight stop (June 29–30) in Newtown.

For information call the museum at 743-5200.