WASHINGTON’S ENGINEER
WASHINGTON’S ENGINEER
Louis Duportail and the Creation of an Army Corps
NORMAN DESMARAIS
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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Copyright © 2021 by Norman Desmarais
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Desmarais, Norman, author.
Title: Washington’s engineer : Louis Duportail and the creation of an Army Corps / Norman Desmarais.
Other titles: Louis Duportail and the creation of an Army Corps
Description: Lanham, MD : Prometheus Books, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “This is a unique biography about an overlooked, even obscure, French officer that was instrumental in the American cause for independence. As a complete biography, it covers Louis Deuportail’s time as the first Commandant of the Army Corps of Engineers, his return to France, and his service in the French army.”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020033020 (print) | LCCN 2020033021 (ebook) | ISBN 9781633886568 (cloth) | ISBN 9781633886575 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Duportail, Antoine-Jean-Louis Le Bègue de Presle, 1743–1802. | United States—History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Campaigns. | United States—History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Engineering and construction. | United States. Continental Army. Corps of Engineers—History. | United States—History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Participation, French. | Generals—France—Biography.
Classification: LCC E207.D9 D47 2021 (print) | LCC E207.D9 (ebook) | DDC 973.3092 [B]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020033020
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020033021
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
I have a high opinion of his merit and abilities, and esteem him not only well acquainted with the particular branch he professes, but a man of sound judgment and real knowledge in military science in general.
—George Washington, in a letter to the president of Congress, November 16, 1778 (Washington, Papers, 18:168)
CONTENTS
Cover
HalfTitle
Title
Copyright
Contents
Introduction
1 Early Years
2 Valley Forge
3 West Point and the Hudson
4 The Campaign of 1779
5 The Campaign of 1780: Charleston
6 The Corps of Engineers
7 Prisoners of War
8 The Campaign of 1781: Yorktown
9 Peace
10 American Citizen and Farmer
Appendix A: Cargoes of Two of Beaumarchais’s Ships Sent to America
Appendix B: Chiefs of the Corps of Engineers, 1774–1893
Notes
Glossary
Works Cited
Bibliographic Essay
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Guide
Cover
HalfTitle
Title
Copyright
Contents
Introduction
Start of Content
Appendix A: Cargoes of Two of Beaumarchais’s Ships Sent to America
Appendix B: Chiefs of the Corps of Engineers, 1774–1893
Notes
Glossary
Works Cited
Bibliographic Essay
INTRODUCTION
Since the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the British and the French were archenemies; the French victory resulted in a French king ruling England for more than three centuries. In the eighteenth century, American colonists, being British subjects, shared the same prejudices and dislike of the French. Moreover, the French were also their enemy in the colonial wars, particularly the French and Indian War, which was begun by George Washington. As many of the colonists came to America to escape religious persecution, especially the Catholic Church’s Inquisition, they were loath to ally themselves with the French, most of whom were Catholic. So why did the Americans turn to France for assistance in their struggle for independence?
Following the basic military principle “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” the colonists turned to France, hoping that she would desire to avenge her defeat in the French and Indian War and try to regain lost territory. Further, the French had the best military engineers, and the colonists desperately needed engineers. Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633–1707) was generally regarded as the best military engineer in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, his influence extending into the mid-nineteenth century.
Military engineering in the eighteenth century combined the skills of the artilleryman and the engineer and focused on three main areas: fortification, artillery, and cartography. Defensive activities normally involved erecting small, temporary structures, such as earthwork batteries, at vulnerable points along the Atlantic coast and palisaded outposts along the interior frontier. Engineers also created less permanent field fortifications to provide advantage on the battlefield. They also reinforced and strengthened existing houses and constructed blockhouses. Examples of their work include those by British, Hessian, French, American, and Spanish engineers:)
Fort Chambly, Île aux Noix, Les Cèdres, Louisbourg, and Québec (Canada)
Fort Phoenix (Massachusetts))
Fort Butts (Rhode Island))
Fort Griswold (Connecticut))
Forts Clinton/West Point, Montgomery, Niagara, Ontario, Salonga/Slongo, Stanwix/Schuyler, Stony Point, and Ticonderoga (New York)
Fort Lee, Monmouth, Morristown, and Red Bank/Fort Mercer (New Jersey)
Brandywine/Chadds Ford, Fort Mifflin, and Valley Forge (Pennsylvania)
Yorktown (Virginia))
Guilford Courthouse (North Carolina))
Camden, Fort Dorchester, Fort Sullivan/Fort Moultrie, Kings Mountain, and Ninety Six (South Carolina)
Fort George/Fort Morris and Spring Hill Redoubt (Georgia))
Castillo de San Marcos (Florida))
Fort Michilimackinac (Michigan))
Fort Laurens (Ohio))
Point Pleasant (West Virginia)
As it was common to destroy fortifications when they were no longer needed, most of these examples are now reconstructions. A number of Revolutionary War–era fortifications were replaced by fortifications during the War of 1812 and the Civil War.
An engineer’s main duty during battle was to command the artillery. He selected the type of shot (round, grape, canister, bar, sliding bar, chain, star, mortar/bomb) to be used and determined the size of the charge (amount of powder to use). He also calculated the distance and trajectory to the target.
Cartographers in the military were known as topographical engineers, and their job essentially involved making maps. General Washington appointed Robert Erskine as “Geographer and Surveyor-General to the Continental Army” on July 19, 1777. He was commissioned as “Geographer and Surveyor to the Army of the United States” the following week, on July 27.
The military engineer was the most difficult staff officer to obtain because of the highly technical skills required.
