Lieutenant General Rochambeau to George Washington, 28 May 1781
From Lieutenant General Rochambeau
New port, May 28th 1781.
Sir,
The British fleet is gone off, and our Squadron is preparing to put under sail by the first fair wind. I have been obliged to give to the Count de Barras 900. men to compleat his crews.1 As soon as the departure of the fleet will have given me Liberty to put into execution the plan We have agreed on, I shall not defer it Long.2 Our convoy is not yet arrived and I wait for it with great impatience. it is absolutely necessary to us, by reason of the Recruits and money, that comes along with it.3 the return of these precious things and my detachment upon the fleet will perhaps oblige me to stay a few days at Providence, which would give more time to Colonel Wadsworth, to prepare for our march, and the Season would be fitter for the pastures. 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 with the greatest speed the inclosed packet to the Chr De La Luzerne.4
LS, DLC:GW; LB, in French, DLC: Rochambeau Papers, vol. 9; LB, in French, DLC: Rochambeau Papers, vol. 12. The LS is partly written in numbered code and lettered cipher. Decoded and deciphered material, in the writing of GW’s aide-de-camp David Humphreys, appears above code and cipher on the LS and is underlined in the transcription. The postscript does not appear on the letter-book copies.
1. The squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Barras did not leave Newport (see Rochambeau to GW, 31 May; see also Barras to GW, same date, and 9 June).
2. Rochambeau refers to the march of the French army to join GW’s army near New York City (see The Wethersfield Conference and Aftermath, 14 May–16 June, editorial note).
3. For the arrival of this convoy, see Barras to GW, 9 June, postscript; see also Rochambeau to GW, 8 May, n.1.
4. GW replied to Rochambeau on 2 June. The packet for French minister La Luzerne was intercepted (see GW to Rochambeau, 3 June). It included Rochambeau’s letter to La Luzerne dated 27 May, covering an extract of the conversations at Wethersfield (DLC: Rochambeau Papers, vol. 9; see also Rochambeau to GW, 9 June). It also included a letter from Barras to La Luzerne dated 27 May (see GW to Lafayette, 4 June, n.1).