Journal of a French Quartermaster on the March to Yorktown June 16-October 6, 1781

Journal of a French Quartermaster on the March to Yorktown June 16-October 6, 1781

Mathieu Dumas preceded the army to set up camp on the march to Yorktown. His diary recounts the circumstances of this march in a lively and detailed manner, the communication with the army, his encounters, and the practical difficulties he had to solve. He also provides much information about the logistics of supplying and supporting an army overseas, a topic which is pretty much untreated. His account is filled with descriptions of the natural world through which he passed and of American politics, as well as reflections on the differences between the States and the effects of the war on the American economy. This diary, which was not intended to be published, is a unique source on the direct experience of war since drafts like this have rarely been preserved. Most French accounts on the "American War" have often been written decades after the war. This diary gives an unfiltered and spontaneous account of the immediacy of the war, the logistical issues the French faced, the high level of improvisation, but also of Dumas's personal fears and emotions. It also gives a lively portrait of America during the last phase of the War of Independence, through descriptions of American landscapes, towns, and people. Furthermore, this diary demonstrates the inner workings of the process of producing memoirs and war journals. Dumas's diary is one of only three diaries from a quartermaster's point of view and it is very different from the other accounts. The quartermasters were staff officers who were responsible for the procurement and distribution of food, clothing and supplies as well as for reconnoitering travel routes, the repair and maintenance of roads and bridges; the layout, organization and construction of camps; the supply and maintenance of wagons and teams and of boats for water transport. The book also includes an appendix on Dumas's Reconnaissance of the positions at Portsmouth and of the British works around Yorktown and another on his travels in Virginia in 1782 as well as his observations on places in the West Indies. Norman Desmarais is professor emeritus at Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island, and an active reenactor. He is a member of Le Régiment Bourbonnais, the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment and the Brigade of the American Revolution. He translated the Gazette Françoise, the French newspaper published in Newport, Rhode Island by the French fleet that brought the Comte de Rochambeau and 5,800 French troops to America in July 1780. He also translated and annotated Louis-François- Bertrand du Pont d'Aubevoye, comte de Lauberdière's journal, published as The Road to Yorktown: The French Campaigns in the American Revolution, 1780-1783 (Savas Beatie 2021). Norm also gathered and compiled an extensive, if not exhaustive, collection of Revolutionary War era diaries, journals and memoirs, many of them difficult to obtain. These primary sources include British, Irish, Scottish, German, American, French, Spanish and Swedish perspectives. They have all been digitized in searchable PDF format. Mr. Desmarais served as Vice President of Le Foyer Club and the Richelieu Club (which became the Aram Pothier Club), social organizations for the preservation and promotion of the French language and culture. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Boivin Center, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. He was a pioneer in the CD-ROM industry. He set up and managed the first CD-ROM network in Rhode Island and served as Senior Editor of CD-ROM World, contributing editor of Optical Information Systems, and was the founding editor and editor-in-chief of Electronic Resources Review. He is listed in the International Directory of Distinguished Leadership, the Dictionary of International Biography, Who's Who of Information Technology, 2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 20th Century, and Marquis Who's Who. Norm was inducted into the American French Genealogical Society French-Canadian Hall of Fame in 2015 and received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019 and 2020.