The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 Part 27

He obtained a furlough and was commissioned as a captain of engineers.

Congress having refused to employ M. du Coudray and the officers who came over with him, almost all of them were discouraged; but M. de Fleury joined the army and served as a volunteer private during a part of the campaign of 1777.

At the fight of Piscataqua he had the good fortune to be remarked while in performance of his duty, and he was promoted to the rank of captain. (_Certified by Colonel Morgan_).

He was afterward employed to make a survey of the environs of (p. 026) Philadelphia, which was to be the seat of the approaching campaign, to take soundings in the Delaware, and to fortify Billingsport.

(_Certified by General Was.h.i.+ngton_).

The enemy having landed at Hith, he joined the army and acted as major of brigade.

At the battle of the Brandywine, he remained on the field after his brigade had been routed, had a horse shot under him, and carried off a piece of ordnance.

On the report of General Was.h.i.+ngton to Congress, it was ordered that a horse be presented to M. de Fleury "as a mark of the high sense Congress entertained of his merits." (_Certified by General Was.h.i.+ngton and General Sullivan_).

N.B. This honour has been paid only to General Arnold and M. de Fleury.

At the battle of Germantown he acted as brigade-major of dragoons, charged several times, and made several prisoners. The horse which had been given to him by Congress was shot under him, and he himself was wounded in the leg. (_Certified by General Count Pulaski_).

Fort Mifflin, on Mud Island, the only defence of the Delaware, was threatened by the British army and squadron. It was a post of the greatest importance, and M. de Fleury was sent there as chief engineer. He sustained a siege of six weeks behind a stockade. A s.h.i.+p of sixty-four guns, the Augusta, and one of 22 guns, the Merlin, blew up under fire from the fort. The commandant and the garrison, numbering 600 men, were relieved three times, but M. de Fleury refused to leave the fort. He was wounded October 15th, and the fort was evacuated that same night. For this action he was made a lieutenant-colonel, and a letter of thanks was addressed to him by the President of Congress. (_Certified by Congress, the General-in-chief, and M. de la Fayette_).

During the winter of 1778 he formed the project of crossing the ice and setting fire to the English squadron. The Delaware not being frozen that year hard enough for his purpose, he invented explosive boats, and he was engaged in constructing them when he received orders to join the Army of the North. (_Certified by General Was.h.i.+ngton and Commodore Hasilwood_).

The Canadian expedition did not take place, and on his return M.

de Fleury was appointed inspector and charged with forming, instructing, and disciplining the troops. (_Certified by General Was.h.i.+ngton_).

At the opening of the campaign of 1778 he was second in command of a select corps (in which was the general's body-guard) of 600 men, 2 pieces of ordnance, and 50 cavalry. He served in this capacity at the battle of Monmouth and afterward.

On the arrival of the French squadron, he was sent to meet Count d'Estaing by General Was.h.i.+ngton, and he went with him to Rhode Island, where an attack was expected.

It was by his advice that the fruitless siege of Newport was raised, and that the retreat to the north part of the island was resolved upon. The corps in which he served repulsed the enemy and covered the retreat. (_Certified by General Sullivan_).

When he returned to the Army of the South, Count d'Estaing kindly wrote to General Was.h.i.+ngton: "Allow me to recommend particularly to your favour M. de Fleury. General Sullivan will tell you what he did at Rhode Island; he is an excellent officer and a useful Frenchman. I should be happy, if the occasion offered, to serve again with him. He is fitted to bring about good feeling among private individuals, and to make them as friendly as our two (p. 027) nations are." (_Letter of M. d'Estaing_).

At the opening of the campaign of 1779 M. de Fleury was in command of a corps of light infantry; he was the first to mount the ramparts of Stony Point, and he took the enemy's flag with his own hand. (_Certified by the General and by Congress_).

On this occasion the President of Congress wrote that Congress hoped he would receive some reward from his own country, and the French minister also expressed a hope that his Court would give America, through M. de Fleury, some token of the satisfaction with which the services of a French officer to America were viewed in France. (_Letter from Mr. Jay_).

When M. de la Luzerne arrived, General Was.h.i.+ngton requested him to call the attention of the French Court to the conduct of M. de Fleury.

At the close of the campaign, by the advice of his general, he asked for nine months' leave. At his departure, General Was.h.i.+ngton wrote to Congress that he desired the return of an officer who had rendered such important services. (_Letter of General Was.h.i.+ngton_).

Though far from rich, M. de Fleury declined any pecuniary recompense on leaving America.

M. de Fleury, having thus by his services risen from the ranks to a lieutenant-colonelcy, and having been honoured by the good will of the nation and of the army, the esteem of Congress and the confidence of his general, ventures to solicit some mark of the approbation of his Prince and of the minister under whose auspices he entered the service of an ally of France.

Though convinced that he owes his success to his good fortune rather than to his talents, and that by his zeal he has alone been enabled to make up for his deficiency, he ventures to hope that his country will not overlook his services, and that his return to a beloved land--which is a source of happiness to every Frenchman--will not prove in his case a misfortune and a loss.

P.S. M. de Fleury has made some surveys and written reports which have met with the approbation of M. Girard; he begs to be allowed to present them to the Minister. (_Letter of M. Girard_).

No. 5. (p. 028) PLATE V.

_July 15, 1779._

Joanni Stewart cohortis praefecto Comitia Americana. [Rx].

Stoney-Point oppugnatum.

MAJOR JOHN STEWART.

[_Taking of Stony Point._]

JOANNI STEWART COHORTIS PRaeFECTO COMITIA AMERICANA. (_The American Congress to Major John Stewart._) America, personified as an Indian queen, leaning on the American s.h.i.+eld, and having at her feet an alligator, presents a palm branch to Major Stewart. GATTEAUX.

STONEY-POINT (_sic_) OPPUGNATUM. (_Stony Point a.s.saulted._) Major Stewart, at the head of his men, is crossing an abatis of trees, in pursuit of the defeated enemy; in the background the American troops are mounting to the a.s.sault of Stony Point Six s.h.i.+ps are on the Hudson River. Exergue: XV JUL. MDCCLXXIX. (_15 Julii, 1779: July 15, 1779._) On the platform, GATTEAUX.[35][36]

[Footnote 35: See INTRODUCTION, pages x, xix, xxviii, x.x.x, x.x.xv; D, xli; and H, xlvii.]

[Footnote 36: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official reports of the taking of Stony Point, are given under No. 3, page 14.]

JOHN STEWART was a major of infantry, served under General Wayne, and for his gallantry at the storming of Stony Point, on the Hudson River, July 15, 1779, Congress voted him a silver medal. No trustworthy information can be found concerning him. He is reported to have died near Charleston, South Carolina, from injuries caused by a fall from his horse.

No. 6. (p. 029) PLATE VI.

_August 19, 1779._

Henrico Lee legionis equit. praefecto. Comitia Americana. [Rx].

Non obstantib fluminibus vallis, etc.

MAJOR HENRY LEE.

[_Surprise of Paulus Hook._]

HENRICO LEE LEGIONIS EQUIT. PRaeFECTO. COMITIA AMERICANA. (_Henrico Lee legionis equitum praefecto Comitia Americana: The American Congress to Henry Lee, major of cavalry._) Bust of Major Lee, facing the right. On edge of bust, J. WRIGHT.

Within a crown of laurel: NON OBSTANTIB FLUMINIBUS VALLIS ASTUTIA & VIRTUTE BELLICA PARVA MANU HOSTES VICIT VICTOSQ. ARMIS HUMANITATE DEVINXIT. IN MEM PUGN AD PAULUS HOOK DIE XIX. AUG. 1779. (_Non obstantibus fluminibus vallis astutia et virtute bellica parva manu hastes vicit victosque armis humanitate devinxit. In memoria pugni ad Paulus Hook, die 19 Augusti, 1779: Notwithstanding rivers and ramparts, he conquered, with a handful of men, the enemy by skill and valor, and attached by his humanity those vanquished by his arms. In commemoration of the battle of Paulus Hook, August 19, 1719._)[37]

[Footnote 37: See INTRODUCTION, pages xxiii, xxviii, x.x.xv; and H, xlvii.]

The original die of the obverse of this medal is in the Mint at Philadelphia, but the original die of the reverse is not to be found there. A new one was engraved for the Mint, some time ago, by Mr. Wm.

Barber.