Date: Fri 24-Apr-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Rochambeau-Trail-Flint

Full Text:

All Roads Lead To Rochambeau's Camps

(with cuts, graphics)

BY SHANNON HICKS

Those who know American history, especially of the Revolutionary War period,

are well aware that without the commanding leadership of General Jean Baptiste

Rochambeau and his 6,000 troops and money from France, there is a very good

chance America would not be free today. After marching from Newport to

Virginia in 1781 -- right through Connecticut -- it was Rochambeau's troops

who were pivotal in helping to capture Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va. The

battle, in effect, ended the Revolutionary War and gave America its freedom

from England.

The Rochambeau Foundation, a Connecticut-based organization with a statewide

membership, would like to not only remind citizens of this fact but also have

the general's campsites across the state listed with the National Registry of

Historic Places. Before this can happen, the registry requires certain

archaeological documentation be done.

The Rochambeau Trail of Connecticut's Revolutionary Road goes through 32 towns

in the state. Research would authoritatively identify the location of the

original historic route, military encampments and historic homes along the

Rochambeau Path that existed during the American Revolution. The foundation is

asking the State Legislature to provide the funds necessary for the required

documentation. Projected cost is $30,000.

"We don't want to lose this part of our history," says Mary Linda

Rapelye-Flint, a member of The Rochambeau Foundation. "We're trying to get

people along the route to encourage their legislators to vote for this." A

vote on the pending legislation is scheduled to take place May 1 in Hartford.

In addition to having The Rochambeau Trail recognized, another product of the

proposal would be to have brochures to follow the route, and Revolutionary War

encampments and significant buildings identified as elements of a descriptive

tour route.

According to the report "Proposal Preparation Background Material For The

Revolutionary Road" (The Inter Community Historic Resources Committee; October

1997), long-term benefits of the proposed route include having the route

becoming part of a heritage preservation-based infrastructure for Connecticut

tourism, encouraging historic-based economic growth through tourism, arts,

crafts, and cottage industries along the route.

Goals also include archival research, field surveys and the recording of the

buildings and structures that existed during the Revolutionary War along the

historic route; and the publication of all documentation of the resources,

with copies provided to each town administration and town library along the

route. Local schools would be invited to participate in events along the

trail. Maps and artifacts would become available for display at community

events and historical re-enactments.

"Rochambeau is often referred to as America's neglected founding father," says

Mrs Rapelye-Flint. The Middlebury businesswoman (she owns her own company,

You're A Doll, which makes custom dolls) is a history buff, especially

interested in the 18th century. She and her husband, Jim Flint, live in a

beautiful home just below one of Rochambeau's campsites. The campsite today is

referred to as Breakneck.

"Washington could never have won the war on his own," she contends.

The French In Newtown

By 1780 the American Revolution was foundering. The Continental Army,

numbering approximately 3,000, was impoverished, poorly equipped and

increasingly demoralized. The local militias were available only on a

temporary basis.

"The local militia would come out and fight in the local battle and then they

would go back to their farms. They were armed with pitchforks and muskets...

they were farmers," Mrs Rapelye-Flint said. "They were not a drilled,

professional team."

That year, Louis XVI sent help to America. France desperately wanted to avenge

the loss of her Canadian colonies in the French and Indian war, just 20 years

before. For the Americans, help came in the form of the 56-year-old, highly

respected Marechal Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Count de Rochambeau.

General Rochambeau came to America with 6,000 trained troops, and a large

amount of silver. The French arrived in Newport in July 1780, and were

garrisoned at that post for one year.

Rochambeau was a seasoned general, with over 38 years of military experience

under his belt before undertaking the Revolutionary War campaign. He was a

Colonel before the age of 22, and appointed a Brigadier General in 1756. He

was retiring -- "Post horses were actually at the door of his house in Paris,

to take him to his beloved home in the country, when a courier from Versailles

ordered him to report to the King at once," Arnold Whitridge wrote in his book

Rochambeau (The Macmillan Company; New York, 1965) -- when the King decided to

order him back into service.

After a year in Newport, Rochambeau and his troops began marching southwest on

June 10, 1781. Washington wanted to fight the British at Sandy Hook, N.Y., but

Rochambeau saw that the English would have the upper hand if this were to take

place. The waterways near Sandy Hook were too shallow, which would put the

French ships at a great disadvantage. So Rochambeau convinced Washington to

have the American and French troops go around the British troops, and instead

work their way towards Yorktown, Va.

Before meeting with Washington and his troops in New York State, Rochambeau

and his soldiers marched clear across Connecticut, at a clip of 15 miles per

day. Breakneck (Middlebury) was the ninth campsite for the French soldiers.

The troops began arriving in Newtown, the site of its tenth campsite (and the

41st site upon their return to Newport the following year), on June 28, 1781.

From Newtown, 1705-1918 , by Jane Eliza Johnson: "They encamped at Woodbury

[sic] on the night of June 27, and reached Newtown on the 28th, and remained

until Sunday, July 1, when they broke camp and, proceeding through Ridgebury,

reached Bedford, N.Y., Monday, July 2, ready to join the army at Phillipsburg.

"...They marched in regiments until reaching Newtown, following one another at

intervals of a day's march, or at a distance of about 15 miles. There was no

rest except what was imperatively necessary." Maps drawn by the French field

officers indicate the troops marched towards the Stratford River (now the

Housatonic), came onto land in what is now Sandy Hook, and marched right up

the main hill that is now Newtown's Church Hill Road.

On the evening of June 28, according to Newtown Connecticut: Past and Present

(published by the League of Women Voters in 1975), Count Rochambeau was

established in the inn across from the road from the church with a pock-marked

rooster weathervane. Camp was set up on the hill across the road. The field

officers' maps indicate, when compared to contemporary maps, the camp was very

near to the upper ridge of Castle Hill Road. Mrs Johnson's book describes the

site as "on the plain that stretches westward, from the State road south of

the Middle district school and along the side hill that slopes to the eastward

from what is known as Castle Ronald."

Newtown's Town Historian Dan Cruson says Rochambeau's troops were camped in a

number of locations along the hill that is now Church Hill Road, and up to the

ridge of Old Castle Drive.

"The artillery was at the top of Castle Hill," Mr Cruson said. "If they were

attacked, that was going to be the vantage point. Rochambeau also had a

contingent down on the Sandy Hook flood plain, on the west side of the river.

"They were also at St Rose, on the other side of the railroad tracks," he

continued. "That open area [behind the church and school building] appears to

be where the main encampment was located."

Eventually, Rochambeau and Washington's troops met at Phillipsburg, and

continued to Yorktown, Va. As the French and American troops arrived in

Virginia, Admiral de Grasse and his French naval troops sailed up the

Chesapeake to complete an entrapment of the British forces. It was in Yorktown

where Lord Cornwallis was defeated. This was the defining battle of the

Revolutionary War. Historians have called the trail "the march that won the

battle that won the war that won United States freedom."

"When the French arrived in Newport, the accounts are that everyone looked at

these soldiers and said `Oh my God, look at these guys. Their uniforms are

clean, they're drilled, they were polite...,'" said Mrs Rapelye-Flint.

"The colonists were amazed at this group of people who had come to help them.

They really won the hearts and favor of all the colonists along their way."

After Cornwallis's surrender, Rochambeau used the same route to return to

Newport. The American economy was bankrupt at this point, and Rochambeau's

troops infused it with silver. Rochambeau's massive army is also credited with

keeping British troops in check during negotiations and withdrawal of their

troops. Therefore, the return route of Rochambeau and his encampments is

considered as important to the young America's survival as was his initial

trip to Yorktown.

It is for all these reasons -- especially the major historic significance --

The Rochambeau Foundation wants to have the trail recognized nationally.

"Then this becomes something that is preserved, it's unified and it's

focused," says Mrs Rapelye-Flint. "Of course it's fascinating, too, because it

really follows the main artery through Connecticut. People in the fall, to

come and see the various sites -- there is tremendous attraction on all

levels: historically, educationally and tourist-wise for Connecticut.

"Because people don't know about it, and because there aren't great big tall

buildings marking the locations, they're liable to just go in and put in a

parking lot," she continued. "In the scheme of things, we are asking for a

small amount of money that could have a very large impact. We don't want to

lose this part of our history."