OUR FIRST ALLIANCE 



B y J- J- JUSSERAND 



Ambassador of France; to tpie United States 



At this time, when we are all reading the story of our expeditionary army to 

 France, it is profitable to review the voyage of the French expedition of 137 years 

 ago to America — an expedition undertaken with the same unselfish object as ours 

 of today, but under conditions of travel and life so different. The following con- 

 tribution by Ambassador Jusserand is abridged from his notable volume, entitled 

 "With Americans of Past and Present Days," by courtesy of the publishers, 

 Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons. — Editor. 



THE American war had been for 

 five years in progress ; for two 

 years a treaty of alliance, having 

 as sole object "to maintain effectually the 

 liberty, sovereignty, and independence, 

 absolute and unlimited, of the United 

 States," bound us French to the "insur- 

 gents" ; successes and reverses followed 

 each other in turn : Brooklyn, Trenton, 

 Brandywine, Saratoga. 



Quite recently the news had come of 

 the double victory at sea and on land of 

 d'Estaing at Grenada, and Paris had been 

 illuminated. The lights were scarcely out 

 when news arrived of the disaster of the 

 same d'Estaing at Savannah. All France 

 felt anxious concerning the issue of a 

 war which had lasted so long and whose 

 end continued to be doubtful. 



When, in the first months of 1780, the 

 report went about that a great definitive 

 effort was to be attempted ; that it was 

 not this time a question of sending ships 

 to the Americans, but of sending an 

 army, and that the termination of the 

 great drama was near, the enthusiasm 

 was unbounded. All wanted to take part. 

 There was a prospect of crossing the 

 seas, of succoring a people fighting for a 

 sacred cause — a people of whom all our 

 volunteers praised the virtues ; the people 

 led by Washington, and represented in 

 Paris by Franklin. 



An ardor as of Crusaders inflamed the 

 hearts of French youths, and the intended 

 expedition was, in fact, the most impor- 

 tant that France had launched beyond the 

 seas since the distant time of the Cru- 



sades. The cause was a truly sacred 

 one — the cause of liberty — a magical 

 word which then stirred the hearts of the 

 many. "Why is liberty so rare?" Vol- 

 taire had said, "Because the most valu- 

 able of possessions." 



All those who were so lucky as to be 

 allowed to take part in the expedition 

 were convinced that they would witness 

 memorable, perhaps unique, events, and 

 it turned out, indeed, that they were to 

 witness a campaign which, with the bat- 

 tle of Hastings, where the fate of Eng- 

 land was decided in 1066, and that of 

 Bou vines, which made of France in 12 14 

 a great nation, was to be one of the three 

 military actions with greatest conse- 

 quences in which for the last thousand 

 years the French had participated. 



FRENCH FAITH IN AMERICA 



A striking result of this state of mind 

 is that an extraordinary number of those 

 who went noted down their impressions, 

 kept journals, drew sketches. Never per- 

 haps during a military campaign was so 

 much writing done, nor were so many 

 albums filled with drawings. 



Notes, letters, journals, sketches have 

 come down to us in large quantities, and 

 from all manner of men, for the passion 

 of observing and narrating was common 

 to all kinds of people : journals and 

 memoirs of army chiefs like Rocham- 

 beau, or chiefs of staff like Chastellux, 

 a member of the French Academy, 

 adapter of Shakespeare, and author of a 

 Fclicitc Publique, which, Franklin said, 



518 



