2 Volumes. Octavo
1809 · Paris
by ROCHAMBEAU, Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de (1725-1807)
Paris: Imprimerie de Fain, 1809. 2 Volumes. Octavo. (7 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches). Vol. I: [iv], xii, 437, [1] pp. Vol. II: [iv], 395, [1] pp. Contemporary full tree calf, spines with red and black lettering pieces, tooled gilt, marbled endpapers
An eyewitness military narrative and an important commentary on colonial policy, French-American relations, and the practicalities of coalition warfare.
First edition, published posthumously and prepared by J.-C.-J. Luce de Lancival. The memoirs supply the principal first-hand French account of the Yorktown campaign by its commanding general, set within a full career narrative. Volume I follows Rochambeau from Fontenoy and Clostercamp through the Seven Years' War and Minorca; Volume II is devoted to the American expedition of 1780-1783: the delicate negotiations with Washington, the march from Newport to the Hudson, the rapid pivot to the Chesapeake, and the combined siege of Yorktown. Included are orders of battle, engineering reports, and extensive correspondence, much of which were printed here from Rochambeau's own papers, making the set a cornerstone source for Franco-American coalition warfare, logistics, and command relations. Rochambeau's reflections on logistics, command relations, and the constraints of operating an allied army over an under-developed theatre of war were mined by nineteenth-century American historians (notably Jared Sparks) and remain essential for assessments of Washington, de Grasse, Lafayette, and the mechanics of Franco-American cooperation.
Sabin 72303; Howes R-384; Reese, Revolutionary Hundred 95; Monaghan 1249. (Inventory #: 42326)
An eyewitness military narrative and an important commentary on colonial policy, French-American relations, and the practicalities of coalition warfare.
First edition, published posthumously and prepared by J.-C.-J. Luce de Lancival. The memoirs supply the principal first-hand French account of the Yorktown campaign by its commanding general, set within a full career narrative. Volume I follows Rochambeau from Fontenoy and Clostercamp through the Seven Years' War and Minorca; Volume II is devoted to the American expedition of 1780-1783: the delicate negotiations with Washington, the march from Newport to the Hudson, the rapid pivot to the Chesapeake, and the combined siege of Yorktown. Included are orders of battle, engineering reports, and extensive correspondence, much of which were printed here from Rochambeau's own papers, making the set a cornerstone source for Franco-American coalition warfare, logistics, and command relations. Rochambeau's reflections on logistics, command relations, and the constraints of operating an allied army over an under-developed theatre of war were mined by nineteenth-century American historians (notably Jared Sparks) and remain essential for assessments of Washington, de Grasse, Lafayette, and the mechanics of Franco-American cooperation.
Sabin 72303; Howes R-384; Reese, Revolutionary Hundred 95; Monaghan 1249. (Inventory #: 42326)
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