Lieutenant General Rochambeau to George Washington, 11 May 1781
From Lieutenant General Rochambeau
Newport, May 11th 1781
Sir,
My son is arrived the day before Yesterday, and Commodore De Barras yesternight.1 I have decyphered my dispatches and the Commodore’s orders were not to open his, till the 15th of May, at his arrival in rhode island. But I have seen enough by mine to perceive that it is indispensable that we should have a conference with your Excellency as soon as possible.2 I wait for Your answer to my first Letter, that I may know the place and the time fixed by your Excellency.3 I have the honor to repeat that I believe, the soonest will be best. We must not hope for the Chr De La Luzerne, tho’ I think it would be very usefull, but I shall bring the Chr De Chatellus.4 I am with respect and personal attachment, Sir, Your Excellency’s most obedient most humble servant
Le Cte de Rochambeau
P.S. I beg of your Excellency to forward to the Ch. de La Luzerne, with speed, the inclosed Letter.5
LS, DLC:GW; LB, in French, DLC: Rochambeau Papers, vol. 9; LB, in French, DLC: Rochambeau Papers, vol. 12. The letter-book versions omit the postscript.
1. Vicomte de Rochambeau and Rear Admiral Barras had arrived at Boston from France on 6 May (see Rochambeau to GW, 8 May, and Barras to GW, this date).
2. Rochambeau’s dispatches from the French court included a letter dated 25 Feb. in which French minister of war Ségur relayed the king’s approval of Rochambeau’s conduct at the conference held at Hartford (see The Hartford Conference, 20–22 Sept. 1780, editorial note). Letters of 7 March from French naval minister Castries and 19 March from Ségur proposed a secret French expedition to Hudson Bay involving the French forces at Newport.
The packet also contained letters from Ségur of 9 March and Castries of 21 March with instructions to Rochambeau on the coming campaign. The king had determined to send six million livres tournois for the Continental army but not a long-anticipated second division of the French expeditionary force (see John Laurens to GW, 24 March, and n.2; see also GW to Laurens, 15 Jan., n.2). Rochambeau was to consider his army as an auxiliary to GW’s army and largely follow GW’s directives on allied operations. The French army was not to march from Rhode Island unless Barras’s squadron could be secured at Newport or Boston. If GW’s army were unable to conduct combined operations with a French fleet, then Rochambeau could provide troops to cooperate with the French fleet pending GW’s approval.
Castries and Ségur informed Rochambeau that Lieutenant General de Grasse had sailed with twenty ships of the line for the West Indies, where additional such ships would join his fleet. Ségur expected that de Grasse would bring his fleet in July or August to coastal waters to operate with Rochambeau and Barras, but he directed that Rochambeau keep this secret. He was only to advise GW that de Grasse was sailing for the West Indies. Castries related that de Grasse had full authority to take all or some of his warships to the United States. If GW’s army disintegrated, Rochambeau was to withdraw his army to the West Indies or Saint Domingue. Ségur directed that this plan also be kept secret from GW. See Ségur to Rochambeau, 25 Feb., 9 and 19 March, and Castries to Rochambeau, 7 and 21 March, in , 5:465–70; see also Charlus to GW, 12 May, n.2, and Chastellux to GW, same date. These dispatches guided strategic discussions between Rochambeau and GW (see The Wethersfield Conference and Aftermath, 14 May–16 June, editorial note, especially Document V).
3. See Rochambeau to GW, 8 May, and GW to Rochambeau, 13 May.
4. GW chose Wethersfield on 21 May (see his reply to Rochambeau, 14 May).
5. The enclosure was likely Rochambeau’s letter to French minister La Luzerne on this date with the same information sent GW (FrVinSHD). Rochambeau also sent packets for La Luzerne (see GW to La Luzerne and to Rochambeau, both 14 May).