#8369 AWI French Infantry

France before the American War of Independence
In the second half of the eighteenth century, France was one of Europe's leading powers. Ruled by King Louis XVI from 1774, the kingdom possessed a large standing army, a growing navy and an extensive overseas trading empire. France and Great Britain were longstanding rivals, competing for influence in Europe, control of the seas and valuable colonies around the world.

That rivalry had most recently culminated in the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763, a conflict fought not only in Europe but also in North America, the Caribbean, Africa, India and on the world's oceans. In North America, the fighting had begun earlier, in 1754, and is commonly known there as the French and Indian War. The conflict ended in a decisive British victory. Under the Treaty of Paris of 1763, France surrendered Canada and its remaining claims to mainland North America, while British influence also became dominant in India.

The defeat was a serious blow to French prestige and revealed weaknesses in both the army and navy. During the following years, France undertook extensive military reforms, reorganising its forces, improving training and rebuilding its fleet in preparation for a possible future conflict with Britain. These reforms affected everything from warship construction and military administration to the organisation, equipment and uniforms of the ordinary infantryman.

When Britain's thirteen American colonies rebelled in 1775, France therefore watched events with particular interest. The French monarchy was naturally cautious about openly supporting subjects in revolt against their king, but the rebellion also offered France an opportunity to weaken its principal rival and restore some of the influence and prestige lost in 1763. France's eventual support for the Americans was consequently driven less by revolutionary idealism than by the strategic realities of its continuing rivalry with Great Britain.

From Secret Assistance to Open Alliance
France did not immediately enter the American rebellion as an open ally. Although the French government welcomed any development that might weaken Great Britain, it was reluctant to risk another major war before the American cause had demonstrated that it could survive. France was still rebuilding its military strength after the Seven Years' War, and openly supporting rebellious subjects against their king also presented an uncomfortable example for an absolute monarchy.

French assistance therefore began discreetly. From 1776, the Americans received French money, muskets, artillery, gunpowder, uniforms and other supplies. Much of this aid passed through commercial arrangements intended to conceal the French government's involvement. These shipments were vital to the Continental Army, which frequently suffered from shortages of weapons, ammunition and clothing. The French government had been secretly providing Congress with military supplies and financial assistance before the formal alliance was concluded.

At the same time, individual French officers crossed the Atlantic to offer their services. The most famous was the young Marquis de Lafayette, who reached America in 1777 and became a major general in the Continental Army. Lafayette's role helped strengthen relations between the two countries, although he served under American command rather than as part of the regular French expeditionary army later sent under Rochambeau.

American diplomats were meanwhile working to turn unofficial assistance into a formal alliance. Benjamin Franklin arrived in France in December 1776 as one of the American commissioners charged with securing French recognition, money and military support. Already internationally famous as a scientist and writer, Franklin became extremely popular in French society and proved particularly effective at presenting the American cause to the royal court and the French public.

The decisive development came with the American victory at Saratoga in October 1777. The surrender of a large British army under General John Burgoyne showed that the Americans could defeat British regular forces and that the rebellion was unlikely to collapse quickly. Saratoga persuaded the French government that an alliance offered a realistic opportunity to weaken Britain rather than merely an expensive gamble on a failing revolt.

On 6 February 1778, France and the United States signed two agreements in Paris: the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance. France formally recognised the United States, established commercial relations with the new nation and committed itself to supporting American independence. The allies also agreed not to make a separate peace with Britain before that independence had been secured.

Within months, France and Great Britain were openly at war. What had begun as a rebellion within the British Empire had now become part of a much wider international struggle. Britain had to defend not only its position in North America, but also its colonies, trade routes and naval interests in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Africa and India. French entry into the war therefore altered the entire strategic situation, even before a large French army arrived on American soil.

The French Army Comes to America
France's entry into the war in 1778 did not immediately bring a large French army to the mainland colonies. The first French operations relied heavily on naval power, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to cooperate with American forces against the British at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1778. It was not until 1780 that Louis XVI's government committed a substantial expeditionary army to serve alongside Washington.

The force was officially known as the Expedition Particuliere, or "Special Expedition." Its command was entrusted to Lieutenant-General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, an experienced professional soldier who had served in earlier European wars. Rochambeau was instructed to cooperate with Washington and to treat the American commander as the senior officer whenever the two armies operated together. This careful arrangement helped prevent the disputes over rank and authority that had troubled earlier allied operations.

Escorted across the Atlantic by a French fleet under Admiral Charles-Henri-Louis d'Arsac, chevalier de Ternay, Rochambeau's army landed at Newport, Rhode Island, on 11 July 1780. National Park Service figures give the expedition approximately 5,300 soldiers and 450 officers, accompanied by artillery, engineers, supplies and supporting troops.

The infantry formed the heart of the expedition. Rochambeau brought four principal line infantry regiments: Bourbonnais, Soissonnais, Saintonge and Royal Deux-Ponts.

Each regiment provided two battalions. The Royal Deux-Ponts was a foreign regiment in French service, recruited largely from the German-speaking lands around Zweibruecken, whose French name was Deux-Ponts. Although its soldiers were mostly German-speaking, it formed part of the French Royal Army and wore a distinctive light-blue uniform rather than the grey-white coats associated with most French line infantry.

The expedition also included French artillery and engineers, whose technical skill would prove particularly important during siege operations. Lauzun's Legion, a mixed formation containing light cavalry and infantry, provided scouting, screening and other mobile duties. Rochambeau therefore possessed a compact but balanced field army rather than merely a body of infantry.

A year at Newport
The French had expected to begin operations soon after landing, but the strategic situation kept Rochambeau's army in Rhode Island for nearly a year. British naval strength threatened Newport, while the French fleet required protection and reinforcement. Rochambeau used the delay to improve the defences of the harbour, maintain his troops' training and establish workable relations with the local population.

The arrival of thousands of foreign soldiers initially caused unease among inhabitants who spoke a different language and remembered France as Britain's recent enemy. Rochambeau imposed strict discipline and instructed his men to respect American property and customs. Relations gradually improved, laying the foundations for the cooperation that would be needed during the following campaign.

In June 1781, Rochambeau's regiments left Rhode Island in stages and marched through Connecticut to join Washington's army near the Hudson River. Bourbonnais departed first, followed on successive days by Royal Deux-Ponts, Soissonnais and Saintonge.

Reinforcements from the Caribbean
Rochambeau's troops were not the only French infantry to fight in the decisive campaign. In 1781, Admiral Francois Joseph Paul, comte de Grasse, sailed from the Caribbean to Chesapeake Bay. His fleet carried approximately 3,000 additional soldiers under the marquis de Saint-Simon, drawn principally from the: Gatinais, Agenois, and Touraine regiments.

These reinforcements joined the allied forces in Virginia and significantly increased the number of French troops available against Cornwallis. Thus, the French army at Yorktown combined Rochambeau's expedition from Newport with Saint-Simon's troops brought north from the Caribbean.

The infantry depicted in this set can represent men from the French regiments that served in North America and the Caribbean during the official French participation in the war. A typical battalion contained four companies of fusiliers, one company of grenadiers and one company of chasseurs. The set therefore includes all three principal types of infantry found within a French line regiment: the fusiliers who formed its main body, the grenadiers selected for elite assault duties, and the chasseurs employed as light infantry.

The first 12 poses.

Box front:
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Test sprue:
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Painted figures
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Size testing:
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Line drawings:
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Sprue set up
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All information on this page subject to change.

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