Last name and page number in Smith 1 Heading header at top right of every page. on first James Smith page of paper Ms. Brady only; uniformly English Period 4 double Title centered; not italicized or 20 March 2001 space. in quotation marks.

The Effects of French Military Aid on the American Revolutionary War

While almost all Americans know that the French helped the American cause during the

Revolutionary War, few know any more than that the Marquis de Lafayette was a general in the Typical Continental Army. Yet, French aid to the Colonies was as extensive as it was varied, ranging parenthetical reference: from arms and troops to monetary gifts and loans. The French gave the Americans tons of (Author #)

pounds in specie, and more than half the army’s weaponry was French after 1776 (Matloff 99).

However, even though the French aid to the Colonies was diverse, the physical presence of

skilled officers, troops, and naval fleets enabled the Thirteen Colonies to become the United

States. Thesis at end of introduction.

Although formal French assistance to the Americans began shortly after the signing of the

French-American Alliance on February 6, 1778, many French officers, skilled in engineering or

battlefield leadership, came to America prior to that time to offer their support. Indeed, one

historian says of the foreign officers:

Some were indispensable, and perhaps there could not have Long quotation (4 or more lines) been a competent, balanced American army without them. indented twice; no This is especially true of specialized branches like the quotation marks.

engineers cavalry and staff (Bakshian 187). Smith 2

Among the specialized branches, perhaps the engineers’ help was the most important.

Louis Le Begue Duportail, who arrived early in 1777, led the group of French engineers. These

Author mentionedofficers providedin vital skills and direction to an army that had no one trained in the important text—only page number neededscience in of military engineering. According to historian Elizabeth S. Kite, one key task Duportail parenthetical reference. accomplished was building barracks batteries and fortifications at West Point in the fall of 1779 (145). Duportail, commissioned a brigadier general by Congress, became an important advisor

to General Washington. Washington depended heavily on Duportail and Colonel Gouvion,

another French engineer, for technical information and advice (165). A final area in which the

engineers played a major role was the design of the siege of Yorktown, the culminating battle of

the war in 1781. There, an account by the French Army’s Corps of Engineers reports, the French

experts planned and supervised the building of trenches and redoubts, troop assembly depots,

and fortifications that were crucial to the success of the land operations (12).

Other French officers provided organizational and leadership skills which were lacking in

the Continental Army. The most notable example is the Marquis de Lafayette, who at age twenty No author joined George Washington’s staff and “became a great friend of the Commander –in-chief, and, available; source too ultimately, a trusted field officer” (“The Marquis de Lafayette”). He assisted George Washington short to count pages. after the winter at Valley Forge in transforming a “bedraggled and dispirited army . . . into a

viable fighting force (McGrnahan 34). However, many others led armies and navies in

successful campaigns. The Comte de Rochambeau, a major general, helped Washington in

planning for Yorktown and led a French division there. Colonel Armand, the Marquis de La

Rouerie, although not successful, led a cavalry brigade at Camden, South Carolina, in August

1780 (Bakshian 189). At sea, Admiral Comte d’Estaing captured several West Indies islands and Smith 3

Page rangeparticipated in two convinced land-sea operations (Idzerda 37-39). Admiral Comte de Grasse, indicates a summary. who chose the site of battle for the decisive Yorktown campaign in 1781, outmaneuvered and

defeated Admiral Graves in the Chesapeake Bay (43-44). Thus, experienced French officers

provided much of the necessary leadership for the American army.

However, it takes more than just officers to win a war; the French sent over thousands of

troops who provided the Americans sufficient force to win battles. French troops and ships first

arrived on American shores on July 7, 1778, under the command of the Compte Charles

d’Estaing. According to William B. Wilcox, editor of Sir Henry Clinton’s The American

Rebellion, the entry of France “transformed the whole character of the war” (xxix). AlthoughRoman numerals are early land engagements were largely unsuccessful for the French and American forces, theoften used to in French presence caused the British to change their strategy. introductions.

One of the earliest battles occurred when Compte d’Estaing, anxious to engage the

enemy, sailed into Narragensett Bay, Rhode Island, in late July for a joint land-sea siege of

Newport with forces under General Sullivan. D’Estaing managed to capture only three British

ships before he was forced by weather to withdraw, but his presence caused Britian to divert

some of its forces and to abandon Philadelphia (Matloff 89). Thus, while Sir Henry Clinton

“was crying for reinforcements in New York,” 5,000 British troops were dispatched to the West

Indies to avoid capture by the French (Ricklin 485).

In the South, meanwhile, Colonel Armand and his cavalry brigade participated in the

attack on Camden. Although he was equally unsuccessful, his brigade greatly augmented

General Gates’ forces and, according to Aram Bakshian, enabled the battle to occur in the first

place (194). D’Estaing made another attempt at a siege in September 1779. This time he and Smith 4

General Bejamin Lincoln laid siege to Savannah, Georgia. The allied forces, about 3, 500

French soldiers and 1,000 Americans, attacked on October 9, but were repulsed because, Rupert

Furneaux theorizes, delays in setting up the attack gave the defencers time to prepare for it (295).

This apparent failure, too, had positive effects; historian Stanley Idzera believes, the battle of

Savanah “helped convince the British commander . . . that he should move his main operations to the South” to defend against such attacks (39). Thus, the early battles, although tactically unsuccessful, were strategically important because, as historian William Stinchcombe states in

The American Revolution and the French Alliance, “the mere presence of the French army and fleet altered significantly British military planning” (152). Quotation mark before reference; period after.

Not until the battle of Yorktown in October 1781, however, did the French allies successfully engage the British along with providing highly accurate artillery. Five separate armies, two of them French, converged on Virginia in September. Of the total 15,000 Allied troops at Yorktown, nearly 8,000 were French. These French armies, one of 4,0000 lead by the

Comte de Rochambeau and the other of 3,700 led by the Comte de Saint-Simon, led the assault on the town of York from the western half (Bonsal 139). Ultimately, the American victory at

Yorktown, then, was actually accomplished by a force that was more than one-half French.

While the French armies significantly aided the Continental Army, the French navy constituted nearly all of America’s sea power and was probably the greatest factor in the victory of the

Colonies. The importance was that England no longer ruled the sea uncontested and that she had lost the advantage of mobility by losing control of the sea (Underdal 59).

The French navy, though not always victorious at first, caused a major shift in British sea strategy. The Comte d’Estaing, as previously mentioned, was not tactically victorious, but Smith 5 provided the Americans with a moral victory by his presence. In addition, he managed to capture two British-held islands in the West Indies in early 1781, forcing the British to augment their naval forces there by diverting ships from Admiral Howe’s fleet Wallace 230). At approximately the same time, Admiral Destouches in Newport engaged Admiral Arbuthnot and managed to keep the port there in allied hands (Whitridge 317).

The French navy met with far greater success at the battle of Chesapeake Bay, off

Yorktown. The main French fleet present was that of Admiral Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse.

Admiral de Grasse sailed up from the Caribbean Sea for six weeks to assist the Americans before he had to return to assist the Spanish. Furneaux reports that he arrived in Chesapeake Bay on

August 30, 1781, with a fleet of twenty-nine ships and 3,700 troops, blocking off Lord

Cornwallis’ sea escape (295). When the British fleet of twenty-four ships under the command of

Admiral Graves and Admirals Drake and Hood arrived September 5, it found the bay blocked.

The ensuing battle was a standoff, but de Grasse managed to maintain the blockade. By

September 10, Admiral de Barras had arrived from Newport with seven ships. This additional force made the tally thirty-six to twenty-four against the British. As a result Admiral Graces retreated to New York because the British feared “complete destruction” of their navy and

French naval dominance (Ricklin 75). “The powerful French fleet had intimidated the British fleet away from the Chesapeake. The bay was in French hands” (“Miraculous Convergence”).

Admiral de Grasse’s fleet had prevented Cornwallis’ escape; hence, one can understand why a historian would suggest that “sea power had been decisive in making the surrender of Cornwallis to the Allied armies virtually inevitable” (Wallace 255). Certainly, the outcome of the battle, Smith 6 and perhaps the war, would have been different if the British maintained uncontested control of the sea and if the French navy had not been present.

The French, then, provided many technicians and leaders, thousands of troops, and dozens of ships to the Colonies during the Revolutionary War. Especially at Yorktown, the major allied victory, the dependence on France was evident. French generals and admirals helped plan the battle; French engineers prepared the battle; and French sailors and soldiers fought the battle.

Without this aid, both at Yorktown and earlier, it is improbable that the Americans could have defeated the British and won independence.