MARQUIS DE ROCHAMBEAU - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 05/15/1883 - HFSID 30384

MARQUIS DE ROCHAMBEAU
The grandson of the general who commanded France's army in North American in aid of the American Revolution wrote this warm personal letter to General Winfield Hancock, who had been his host at the centennial celebration of the victory at Yorktown two years before
Autograph Letter signed: "Marquis de Rochambeau", 3 pages (integral leaf), 3½x4½. Paris, 1883 May 15. On his personal letterhead with coat of arms to "My dear General" [ Hancock]. Original ALS in French, accompanied by a complete translation in an unknown hand. In full: "I have just learned by the public papers that you have just lost your mother in law, Mrs. Russell. Madame de Rochambeau and I wish to say to you as well as to Mrs. Hancock, how much we sympathize with you in the sorrow that has befallen you. Mrs. Russell being only seventy-two of age, you could have hoped to have kept her for many more years, and the grief of Mrs. Russell must have been so much the greater that this death was premature. Tell her, I pray you, how deeply we sympathize. Here we expect, in a few days, a great event in the family! Madame de Rochambeau is preparing to give me a new baby. Her condition during her pregnancy has been excellent and we hope for a no less good delivery. We will take good care to let you learn the result. Respectful remembrances to Mrs. Hancock and will you accept my dear General my most affectionate and devoted regards." Achille de Rochambeau, the Marquis de Rochambeau (1836-1897) was the grandson of the Count de Rochambeau, who commanded the French army sent to America in the later phases of the American Revolution and who shared with General George Washington in the triumph at Yorktown. (The British officer sent by Lord Cornwallis to the surrender ceremony attempted to surrender to Rochambeau, who insisted that the officer's sword must be yielded to Washington.) In 1881, great celebrations were held in Yorktown to commemorate the British surrender there. General Winfield Hancock, the capable Union Corps commander and by then Commanding General of the US Army, presided over the ceremony. (Hancock had been the Democratic nominee for President in 1880.) An obvious second purpose of the elaborate celebrations were to rekindle national patriotism only 16 years after the end of the Civil War. The ceremonies were attended by the descendents of many Europeans who had aided the American cause, including the families of LaFayette and von Steuben. Rochambeau and Hancock had each hosted dinners aboard vessels of their respective navies during the event. At his large estate near Paris, the Marquis kept a large collection of memorabilia from the campaigns of his grandfather and father (an aide to the Count Rochambeau in America). Heavily stained and toned. Corners lightly worn. Multiple mailing folds. Notch near center vertical mailing fold. Staple holes at center top edge. Otherwise, fine condition.