Excerpt from The French in America During the War of Independence of the United States, 1777-1783, Vol. 2
My father intended to publish the second volume of "Les Francais en Amerique" in France, but after he had received the proofs from the printer, he decided not to do so, because, as he says in the preface: "I received for the second part so large a number of interesting communications that I have found myself obliged to add to my finished manuscript." He purposed also rewriting some of the biographical notices.
The present volume is a translation from these proofs, with the addition of the numerous manuscript notes in the margin. Most of these notes are in my father"s handwriting. These I have inserted as notes, with the explanation: "Marginal note by T. B." A few other notes were added in a revision of the book made at the "Archives" of the French Navy. These I have inserted as notes, with the explanation: "Marginal note." My one aim in translating has been accuracy. I have been as literal as possible, and have tried to get the absolute meaning of every sentence.
The references, Archives of War or Archives of the Navy, refer to the French Archives.
The ranks of marechal de camp, brigadier, and mestre de camp occur frequently in the course of the book. These were ranks in the French army before the French Revolution, of which we have no exact counterparts in English. M. Littre gives the following explanations about them in his dictionary: Marechal de camp: general officer, whose rank is immediately above that of colonel, and who corresponds to the rank of general of brigade. Formerly, their office was to march ahead of the armies to make sure of the road and arrange the camps.
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