From George Washington to Major General Du Coudray, 30 June 1777
To Major General Du Coudray
Head Quarters Camp at Middle Brook June 30h 1777.
Sir
I had the pleasure of Your favour of the 28th Instant by Mr Rogers.
The order you mention from the Commanding Officer in the Northern department was without my knowledge or concurrence, and I have desired that it may not be complied with.
I have given directions some time since for the disposal of the Artillery that came in the Amphitrite. The whole of it is come on to Springfield. The heavy pieces will remain there to be cast over upon a lighter construction; as this will not only serve to render them more manageable; but will also increase the number, which is a desireable circumstance. Those of the Swedish make are to proceed to Litchfield; and are to come on from thence as fast as they can be furnished with ammunition, waggons and a proper proportion of men. It would not be adviseable to hasten them forward, sooner than they can be properly supplied with these; as without them, they would incumber us rather than be of any benefit. The French Gentlemen are to accompany them to camp.
As every necessary step has been already taken, it would answer no end to send on Capt: Toussard. He will therefore return to you.1
I shall write immediately for the two Gentlemen, Engineers, you are desirous of having with you, requesting them to repair to you at Philadelphia, with all the expedition they can. With due respect I am Sir Your most obedient servant.
Df, in Alexander Hamilton’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. Anne-Louis de Tousard (1749–1817) of Paris was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery Corps in June 1769 after attending the artillery school at Strasbourg for several years. He was appointed a captain in the French colonial forces in the West Indies in November 1776 and apparently volunteered to serve in the American army the following month. Tousard accompanied Du Coudray to Portsmouth, N.H., in June 1777, hoping to receive a captain’s commission in the Continental army, which he did, but not until the fall of 1777. In 1778 he entered Lafayette’s military family as an aide-de-camp and was promoted to major. In August 1778 Tousard was severely wounded during an engagement with the British army at Rhode Island and lost an arm to amputation (see Lafayette to GW, 1 Sept. 1778, and GW to Lafayette, 25 Sept. 1778). Congress breveted Tousard lieutenant colonel and awarded him a lifetime pension of $30 per month, and following his recuperation Tousard returned to France, where he was decorated with the Cross of St. Louis. In April 1780 he was commissioned major of the Provincial Regiment of Toul. Tousard became an original member of the French Society of the Cincinnati in January 1784. In the 1790s he served as an artillery officer in the U.S. Army and took part in the planning and construction of the fortifications at Fort Mifflin, Pa., West Point, N.Y., and New Port, Rhode Island. Tousard was appointed subcommissary of commericial relations at New Orleans in July 1805 and during the War of 1812 was commissary at the same city.