To George Washington from Captain Destouches, 15 December 1780
From Captain Destouches
A Board the Duke of Burgundy in the Road of New port
the 15: Decemr 1780.
I have the honor to inform your Excellency that this day we had the misfortune to lose the Chevalier de Ternay who died after eight days sickness, which did not appear dangerous till two days before his death.1
My standing in the service of his Majesty leaves me in the command of his Squadron—The first view of so weighty a charge embarrasses me, having so small Means on account of the succours from Europe being so tardy—But your Excellency may be assured of all the Zeal and all the willingness with which a soldier can be impressed, and of the profound Respect with which I am &.
Destouches
Translation, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, DLC:GW; ALS, in French, DLC:GW.
GW replied to Destouches from headquarters at New Windsor on 23 Dec.: “I have had the honor of receiving ⟨your fa⟩vor of the 15th instant, announcing the death of the Chevalier de Ternay, and informing me that you succeed to the command of His Most Christian Majestys Squadron at Newport.
“I shall esteem myself happy in an opportunity of making a personal acquaintance with a Gentleman of your Merit” (LS, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, CSmH; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW; mutilated material on the LS is supplied in angle brackets from the draft).
Charles-Guillaume-Fréderic Dumas, U.S. and French agent at The Hague, wrote John Adams, U.S. minister to the Netherlands, on 7 Feb. 1781: “Mr. Ternay is dead at Rhode Island and was replaced by Mr. Destouches, who will be better than him.” (James Warren to Adams, 19 Dec. 1780, and Mercy Otis Warren to Adams, 28 Dec. 1780, in , 10:424–25, 445–47).
, 11:121–22; see also1. In his journal entry for this date, French chief commissary Claude Blanchard wrote that Rear Admiral Ternay “fell victim to his disease; it was putrid fever” ( , 83). In his journal entry for this date, Lieutenant General Rochambeau’s aide-de-camp Ludwig von Closen described “the sudden death from asthma of M. de Ternay, who had been ill only 6 days. His funeral was held the next day. …
“Opinions as to the talents of this admiral are very divided; most people agree that he was too cautious and too much interested in all the particular expeditions, but very skilled at maneuvering” ( , 47–48). Captain Berthier wrote in his journal entry for 18 Dec. that Ternay “was not popular” and “his death created very little stir” ( , 1:237). For more on Ternay’s funeral and burial, see , 1:125–26; see also, , 338–51.
Major General Vioménil also wrote GW from Newport on 15 Dec.: “In the Absence of the Count de Rochambeau who is gone to Boston, I have the honor to inform your Excellency that we have this Morning lost the Chevalier de Ternay from a Fever of some days—Mr le Chevr des Touches who succeeds him in the command of the Squadron of the King is an Officer of Merit, and who will accord perfectly well with the Count de Rochambeau upon all the dispositions made and agreed upon with your Excellency at Harford in Septemr last.
“It is besides with great earnestness that I seize this opportunity to entreat your Excellency to receive this mark of my admiration of the Virtues and all the other qualities which distinguish you in so particular a manner. … I entreat your Excellency to forward with as much speed as possible the dispatches for the Chevr de la Luzerne” (translation, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, DLC:GW; ALS, in French, DLC:GW; see also Rochambeau to GW, 13 Dec., and The Hartford Conference, 20–22 Sept., editorial note). The enclosed dispatches for French minister La Luzerne have not been identified.
GW replied to Vioménil from headquarters at New Windsor on 23 Dec.: “I have been honored with your letter of the 15th announcing the sudden death of the Chevr de Ternay. I extremely regret this event, as from the short acquaintance which I had an opportunity of making with that Gentleman I had conceived a high opinion of his Merit. I am pleased to hear that the command of his Most Christian Majesty’s squadron devolves upon an Officer of whom you speak so favorably as you do of the Chevalier Destouches.
“I feel very sensibly your expressions of esteem for me . … I immediately forwarded your dispatches by Express to the Minister of France” (Df, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW).
The Providence Gazette; and Country Journal for 22 Dec. printed an item on Ternay’s death under the heading “NEWPORT,” same date: “His talents, zeal, and distinguished services, had merited him the confidence and favour of his government and country.” Destouches was described as “an officer in high estimation among all ranks of the French navy.”