Louis-Antoine de Bougainville journals, 1778-1782.

ArchivalResource

Bougainville, Louis-Antoine de, comte, 1729-1811. Louis-Antoine de Bougainville journals, 1778-1782.

Louis-Antoine de Bougainville journals, 1778-1782.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/702164469

Two sets of holograph journals kept by a French naval commander during the American Revolution. The first set, dated 1778 Apr 13 - 1779 Dec 21, is written in fifteen notebooks numbered 1-16, lacking number 12, and cover the entire cruise of the fleet of Admiral d'Estaing from its departure from Toulon in April 1778 to its return to France in December 1779. The journals are a daily record carrying navigational details and personal observations while recording the movements of the French fleet, including abortive operations against the British at Newport, Rhode Island, the fleet's anchorage in Nantasket Roads [Boston harbor], and operations against Savannah. The missing 12th notebook, lost sometime in the 19th century, covers the period from 18 June to 26 July, 1779, while the fleet was in the Antilles. The journals include English passages from the Boston Gazette and British reports, and include a copy of an order from d'Estaing. They are accompanied by a pen-and-ink and watercolor map of Boston harbor showing the French fleet riding at anchor. The second set, dated 1781 Mar 22 - 1782 May 1, is written in nine notebooks. The journals begin with the departure of the fleet from Brest for the Antilles, where it stayed until August, when it sailed to the North American coast to provide assistance to the French and American armies. The journals carry a description of the battle of the Chesapeake, councils of war on board de Grasse's ship, the battle of Yorktown, victory celebrations, the departure of the fleet for the Antilles, where he records the Battle of the Saintes, later a matter of dispute between Bougainville and de Grasse.

0.63 linear ft. (2 boxes) + 1 map.

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library