Gouvion, Jean Baptiste (1747-1792) to Henry Knox
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.02988 Author/Creator: Gouvion, Jean Baptiste (1747-1792) Place Written: France Type: Autograph letter signed Date: March 1784 Pagination: 2 p. : address ; docket ; 31.5 x 19.7 cm. Order a Copy
Informs Knox that the Society of the Cincinnati is "... sure do well in this country, but the news we have from america give me some uneasiness, the american gentlemen who are in paris and not members of the Society are much against it, chiefly Mr. Jay who went the other day so far as to say that if it did take well in the states, he should not care whether the revolution had succeeded or not." Discusses exclusionary policies of the Society. Describes recent developments in hot air ballooning: two days prior, "a gentleman went in the air as far up as four thousand yards..."
Gouvion was one of the four French military engineers sent to America upon the request of Congress (the others being Duportail, La Rodière, and de Laumoy). He entered the Continental Army on 8 July 1777 as a major. In November 1777 was given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Along with Duportail, he planned and executed the fortifications at West Point. He also built the redoubt at Verplancks Point. He participated in the Battle of Yorktown, was breveted a colonel in November 1781, and retired from the army in October 1783. Although his service was considered exemplary, little is actually known of his activities in America (see Boatner, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution).
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