Читать книгу The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 - J. F. Loubat - Страница 29

[Taking of Stony Point.]

VIRTUTIS ET AUDACIÆ MONUM. ET PRÆMIUM. (Virtutis et audaciæ monumentum et præmium: A memorial and reward of courage and boldness.) Lieutenant-Colonel de Fleury, as a Roman soldier, helmeted, stands amidst the ruins of a fort, holding in his right hand a sword, and in his left the staff of an enemy's flag, which he tramples under his right foot Exergue: D. (sic) DE FLEURY EQUITI GALLO PRIMO SUPER MUROS RESP. AMERIC. D.D. (D. de Fleury equiti gallo primo super muros Respublica Americana dono dedit: The American Republic presented this gift to D. de Fleury, a French knight, the first to mount the walls.) DUVIVIER.

AGGERES PALUDES HOSTES VICTI. (Fortifications, marshes, enemies overcome.) The fortress of Stony Point. Six vessels on the Hudson River. Exergue: STONY-PT. EXPUGN. XV JUL. MDCCLXXIX. (Stony Point expugnatum, 15 Julii, 1779: Stony Point carried by storm, July 15, 1779).[33]

I give an extended biography of the Chevalier de Fleury, the only foreigner to whom a medal was awarded during the Revolutionary War, because no accurate account of him has hitherto been published. The facts were obtained partly from the archives of the French Ministry of War, through the politeness of M. Camille Roussel, member of the French Academy, and at the time historiographer of the Ministry of War, and partly from the archives of the Ministry of Marine. I am also indebted to M. Roussel for the memorial (petition) of M. de Fleury, a translation of which is given below.

François Louis Teisseidre de Fleury, son of François Teisseidre, Seigneur de Fleury, was born at St. Hippolyte, Languedoc, France, August 28, 1749. He entered the French army as a volunteer in the regiment of Rouergue infantry, May 15, 1768; became second-lieutenant, September 15, 1768; lieutenant second class, of rifles, June 11, 1776; first lieutenant, June 2, 1777; major of Saintonge infantry, March 19, 1780; colonel of the Pondichéry (India) regiment, January 16, 1784; maréchal-de-camp, June 30, 1791; and resigned, June 24, 1792. He was made a knight of St. Louis, December 5, 1781. The Chevalier de Fleury served in Corsica during the campaigns of 1768, 1769, and 1770. Having been commissioned a captain of engineers in 1776, he obtained a furlough and entered the American army as a volunteer, was appointed by Congress a captain of engineers, May 22, 1777, and was sent first to General Washington's army, and toward the end of the campaign to Fort Mifflin, where he was wounded. At the battle of the Brandywine, he had a horse shot under him, and was again wounded. Congress presented him with a horse, "as a testimonial of the sense they had of his merits," September 13, 1777, and promoted him to a lieutenant-colonelcy, "in consideration of the disinterested gallantry he had manifested in the service of the United States," November 26, 1777. In the assault on Stony Point, July 15, 1779, he commanded one of the attacks, was the first to enter the main works, and struck the British flag with his own hands, for which gallant deed Congress voted him a silver medal. On Friday, October 1, 1779, Congress passed the following resolution concerning Lieutenant-Colonel de Fleury: "Resolved, That Congress entertain a high sense of the zeal, activity, military genius, and gallantry of Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury, which he has exhibited on a variety of occasions during his service in the armies of these States, wherein, while he has rendered essential benefit to the American cause, he has deservedly acquired the esteem of the army and gained unfading reputation for himself." He continued in America after General Count de Rochambeau's arrival, serving under him in the campaigns of 1780, 1781, and 1782; and received a pension of four hundred livres by royal decree of May 8, 1783, in consideration of his distinguished services, especially at the siege and taking of Yorktown, October 19, 1781. He afterward served in India, commanded in chief the islands of Mauritius and of Bourbon from May to November, 1785, obtained a pension of one thousand livres, in consideration of his services, November, 1786, and returned to France in April, 1790. He held the rank of maréchal-de-camp in the army of the North, and commanded at Montmédy after General de Bouillé's flight in 1791, and at Givet and Cambray in 1791 and 1792. At the breaking out of the war he was at Valenciennes, and served under Marshals de Rochambeau and de Luckner. During the retreat from Mons his horse, which had been shot under him, fell upon him, and, while lying helpless in that position, he was ridden over by the enemy's cavalry. After a long illness he left the army, June 24, 1792, and retired to Rebais, in the Department of Seine-et-Oise.