34 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 
Jean Audubon’s release from captivity in New 
York, in June, 1780, probably marks the period of his 
first intimate acquaintance with the United States. 
We know only that he did not return immediately to 
either Santo Domingo or France, but became an en- 
thusiast for the American cause, and sought the ear- 
liest opportunity to avenge his wrongs at the hands of 
the British. He did not have long to wait, for through 
the exertions of the Ambassador de la Luzerne, he was 
placed in command of the corvette Queen Charlotte. 
With her, in October, 1781, he joined the fleet of the 
Count de Grasse before Yorktown,’® where he soon 
witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis and the humilia- 
tion of his enemies. After this turning point of the 
war Captain Audubon remained in the United States, 
and in April, 1782, commanded a merchantman called 
L’ Annette," in which he was also personally interested, 
and delivered a cargo of Virginia tobacco at the port 
of Nantes. Shortly after his return to America in the 
time; which said person, appearing in said names, in the quality afore- 
said, by these presents has sold, ceded, given up, transferred, and re- 
linquished all his legal rights in the aforesaid ship, to the business-asso- 
ciates Lacroix, Formon de Boisclair & Jacques, three merchants in partner- 
ship, living in this town, purchasers conjointly and severally, for them- 
selves and the assigns of each, to the extent of one third; To wit: the 
said ship Le Comte d’Artois, of the said port of Nantes, of about two 
hundred and fifty tons, at present anchored in this roadstead of Les 
Cayes, dispatched, and at the point of departure for France, with all its 
rigging, outfit, and dependences, which consist among other things of two 
sets of sail, complete, and newly fitted out, all the tools, and the reserve 
sets of these, with the munitions of war, consisting of ten cannon, four 
of them mounted on gun carriages, and all that goes with them... .” 
(Translated from the French original in possession of Monsieur Lavigne.) 
*The fact that Captain Audubon did not accompany Rochambeau’s 
fleet which assembled at Brest in April, 1780, and reached Newport in mid- 
July, may account for the omission of his name from the lists that have 
been recently published. See Les Combattants Francois de la Guerre 
Américaine, 1778-1783 (Paris, 1903). 
“Others interested in this vessel were Messrs. David Ross & Com- 
pany, with whom Captain Audubon later had financial difficulties (see 
Chapter VIII). 
