Washington's Engineer by Norman Desmarais (speed reading book TXT) 📕

and they waited three months for Congress to make their appointments. Many had depleted their funds, and all were more or less dissatisfied. Ten days after the arrival of the Royal Engineers, another band of eleven volunteers, led by the Marquis de Lafayette, arrived at Philadelphia. Silas Deane had commissioned several of these volunteers as major generals before they left France.

General Charles Lee said that these engineering officers did not know the difference between chevaux-de-frise and a field of cabbage. Colonel Richard Gridley, a fine draftsman, was appointed commandant of sappers and miners in 1775 and became a topographer. He was trained in the British artillery and then joined the Corps of Engineers, but he admitted to General Thomas during the French and Indian War that he had never read a single page of a treatise on fortification. Colonel Rufus Putnam, twenty-eight years younger, replaced him in 1776, and was among the first to realize the need for a Corps of Engineers for the Army to accomplish its missions.

The army had too many senior officers, and some of the younger men preferred to resign their posts rather than serve under a foreigner, regardless of their training or capability. Duportail arrived on July 5 to present his credentials to Congress, which was torn by factions and not inclined to grant the commissions sought by the volunteers. It faced insubordination on the part of the American officers and the danger of offending America’s newfound ally if the Frenchmen did not receive commissions. Moreover, the army badly needed trained engineers. Most of them spoke only French, and everyone had suffered great hardships before du Coudray’s arrival.

Duportail and his companions fulfilled Congress’s and the army’s needs for a few engineers. They had come with the express consent of the French government, and their demands were modest. Three days after they had presented themselves, Congress resolved to confirm their appointments and appointed Duportail to command all the engineers, while du Coudray directed the field fortifications.7

From this date on, Duportail’s dispatches were written in English, either translated by an American officer knowing French (John Laurens, Washington’s aide-de-camp) or written by himself, as he was learning English, but he always took the precaution of having his messages reviewed. One of the peculiarities of his writing is that he usually wrote in lowercase letters, even for the personal pronoun I and for proper names. He had a tendency to employ what might be considered a capital letter when an R or a C or sometimes a D begins a word. He always dotted the personal pronoun, though it sometimes appears to be a little larger than at others. There was never any recognition of the necessity of beginning a new sentence with a capital. The grammar often reflects French construction, and the spelling of cognate words usually use French spelling: for example, americain for American. French drafts of the documents are rarely located, if they ever existed, and many documents mentioned in his letters have disappeared.

DEFENSE OF PHILADELPHIA

Duportail and his companions arrived at Washington’s headquarters at Coryell’s Ferry on the Jersey side of the Delaware to present themselves on July 29. Du Coudray was already there, constructing defenses. Washington sent the French engineers to General Gates at Philadelphia to assist him and General Mifflin in reviewing the grounds on the west side of the Delaware River and selecting proper places for encampments and defenses so as not to interfere with du Coudray’s work on the Jersey side. He thought a “Jealousy between them, and setting them to work together would only create confusion and widen the Breach.”8 Duportail and his men worked at any odd jobs that were given them during the remainder of the summer. On the morning of September 14, 1777, Washington ordered Duportail to Major General Armstrong to construct “some small Works along the Schuylkill which must be such as can be most speedily executed.”9

DU COUDRAY’S DEATH

Du Coudray, returning from an inspection of Fort Ticonderoga, arrived on the bank of the Schuylkill River on September 18. He embarked on a barge to cross the river but, too proud to dismount, remained on horseback. His mount became frightened during the crossing and darted forward. Du Coudray was unable to control it, and both went into the water. Despite the efforts of his escorts to save them, both the horse and rider drowned. His companions now found themselves in dire straits, as they were deprived of their representative to the American authorities. Congress offered to pay their expenses back to France if they so desired, but most decided to remain under Duportail’s command and served faithfully.

The engineers’ situation might appear more comfortable after du Coudray’s death, but their problems continued to multiply: They were not yet paid, and they incurred the cost of horses for travel and transport.10 Duportail despaired, seeing that Congress was not giving any serious thought to his employment and his reasonable requests. He and his companions seriously considered returning to France at the end of the campaign in January.

In the meantime, Duportail made another attempt to induce Congress to improve their situation. He sent a memorial that was read in Congress on November 13, in which he expressed his frustration at the inaction of Congress in their regard and their intention of returning to France. He also requested the rank of brigadier general for himself, the rank of colonel for Mr. Radière, and the rank of lieutenant colonel for Mr. Gouvion, as previously promised to them. He noted that the chief engineer should have a respectable rank in the army, that army and militia colonels refused to follow his directions, and that soldiers and some officers insult them and their servants using foul language.11

The previous day, he had written to the minister of war, the Comte de Saint-Germain, giving his analysis of the Continental Army. He reported that the American victories were not so much due to the good conduct of the army but to the bad decisions of the British