Lieutenant General Rochambeau to George Washington, 4 April 1781
From Lieutenant General Rochambeau
Newport. April the 4th 1781.
Sir
I received this instant Your Excellencys Letter of the 31st ulto.1 Our Land forces and naval troops I am sure, will look on your Excellency’s approbation as the most flattering reward of the courage which they shewed in the engagement of the 16th Ulto,2 It is of the highest importance to be thoroughly informed if the Troops on board at New york have set sail, and if the British design vigorous Measures to the Southward.3 I believe that Lord Cornwallis had already resolved on his retrograding movement when he fought with General Greene’s army, and my reason for that belief, is that Lord Cornwallis did not go after him. If I may be allowed to give my opinion of a country that I am not acquainted with, it seems to me, that they should endeavour to Starve him, and avoid an engagement. I speak from the report sent by Governor Jefferson which the Ch. de La Luzerne has sent me.4 The Ch. De Chatellus is got well again, he had paid me5 a visit this morning, in his ordinary dress. I am with respect and personal attachment Sir, Your Excellency’s Most obedient & most humble servant
le Cte de Rochambeau
LS, DLC:GW; LB, in French, DLC: Rochambeau Papers, vol. 7; LB, in French, DLC: Rochambeau Papers, vol. 9. GW’s aide-de-camp Tench Tilghman wrote “Ansd 8th” on the docket of the LS, but GW acknowledged this letter in the postscript of his letter to Rochambeau of 7 April.
2. For the Battle of Cape Henry, see Destouches to GW, 19 March, source note.
3. A British expedition left New York for Virginia on 20 March (see Elias Dayton to GW, 15 March; see also GW to Rochambeau, 18 and 21–22 March).
4. French minister La Luzerne wrote Rochambeau on 5 March and enclosed a copy of Virginia governor Thomas Jefferson’s letter to Samuel Huntington of 26 February. Jefferson provided an overview of the military situation in North Carolina and reported that militia reinforcements to Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene’s army had caused British lieutenant general Charles Cornwallis’s army to retreat toward Hillsborough, N.C. (see CtY-BR:R and FrVinSHD; see also , 5:12). La Luzerne thought the situation would lead to a “Seconde affaire de Saratoga,” meaning the surrender of a British army as at Saratoga, N.Y., on 17 Oct. 1777 (FrVinSHD).
5. The LS has “my” for this word.