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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Castries, Charles Eugène Gabriel de la Croix, marquis de (1727-1801) Signaux de Reconnoissance pour servir a tous les vaisseux du Roi, dans les rencontres a la mer, & en se presentant devant les ports appartenans a la France, en Europe & dans les Colonies, pendant l'annee [in French]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04323.02 Author/Creator: Castries, Charles Eugène Gabriel de la Croix, marquis de (1727-1801) Place Written: France Type: Printed document signed Date: 1781 Pagination: 8 p. ; 36.3 x 24.4 cm. Order a Copy

French signal book of the Yorktown campaign. Lists the signals used for recognition by French naval vessels. Ten different sets of signals. Different signals used for night and day, for European and Colonial waters, and for contacting land and other ships. Flags used during the day, lanterns at night. Also includes list of preparatory signals, made by firing canons, to proceed messages. Last paragraph orders that signal book be seen only by the captain, never copied, kept under lock and key in a lead box, be thrown overboard if the ship is in danger of being captured, and be turned in when not at sea. Signed "Castries" by Charles Eugene Gabriel de La Croix Marquis de Castries.

Charles Eugene Gabriel de La Croix Marquis de Castries was the French Minister of the Navy, and later became the Marshal of France.

Castries, Charles Eugène Gabriel de la Croix, marquis de, 1727-1801

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