Moving an Army

Bullet molds, used to cast musket 

and pistol caliber balls, were 

among the essential supplies 

issued by the Continental Army. 

COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT 

PROGRAM AND MORRISTOWN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

This iron kettle was used by the 

Americans to melt and pour lead into 

molds to make musket balls or shot. 

COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT 

PROGRAM AND MORRISTOWN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

Every Continental Army soldier received a musket 

and tools to keep the weapon in working order. 

COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 

AND MORRISTOWN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

Each Continental soldier carried 

a powder horn and musket. COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT 

PROGRAM AND MORRISTOWN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

Playing cards, like these French ones, 

provided entertainment in camp. 

COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT 

PROGRAM AND VALLEY FORGE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK 

A woman’s etui, or case, 

contained tools for daily 

use, including scissors, 

pencil, fork, knife, 

corkscrew, bodkin, 

tweezers, ear pick, and 

an ivory writing board. 

COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM

MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AND GUILFORD 

COURTHOUSE NATIONAL MILITARY PARK

The 300-mile trek from New York 

to Virginia took five weeks, during 

which allied troops endured heatstroke, thirst, and fatigue. The French 

and Americans separated for part of 

the route, making road travel easier 

and effectively deceiving British General Clinton, who was still expecting 

an allied attack on New York.

The allies received encouraging news 

that on September 5 French Admiral 

de Grasse’s fleet won the Battle off 

the Capes against British war ships. 

De Grasse established a blockade of 

the Chesapeake Bay, cutting off 

naval support to the British and 

allowing Cornwallis and his men no 

escape route from Yorktown. By 

September 28, 1781, when French 

and American forces arrived, Cornwallis was cornered and allied troops 

immediately opened siege on British 

fortifications.

French and American artillery first 

fired on the British on October 9. By 

October 14 an exhausted French 

soldier wrote in his diary, “The whole 

redoubt was so full of dead and 

wounded that one had to walk on 

top of them.” Days later, with their 

defenses shattered, the British called 

for a ceasefire. On October 19, 1781, 

British troops solemnly walked 

through two lines of soldiers— 

Americans on one side, French on 

the other—and laid down their arms.

The allied victory at Yorktown was 

the last significant mainland battle 

of the American Revolution and 

enabled the 13 colonies to become 

one nation. The cooperation of 

Rochambeau’s forces under the 

leadership of Washington, the 

smart coordination of allied land 

and naval resources, and the soldiers’ perseverance during their 

long journey made the effort a success. When French troops marched 

back north to New England in 1782, 

they were welcomed and thanked 

by grateful Americans.

Allied Victory at Yorktown

“let history huzzah for you.” 

—George Washington, silencing his cheering 

troops at the British surrender of Yorktown, 1781

France Joins the Cause

John Trumbull, Surrender 

of Lord Cornwallis

ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL

When leaders of 13 of the American colonies boldly 

declared independence from Great Britain in 1776, they 

knew that without military supplies, naval power, and 

money their quest would fail. At that time Great Britain 

possessed the greatest navy and one of the best armies 

in the world. Well-trained and better-equipped British 

forces overpowered America’s Continental 

Army troops from the beginning of the 

Revolutionary War. 

Facing a strong enemy with so few resources forced the 

Americans to search for allies to aid them in their cause. 

Beginning in 1775, contacts were underway between the 

Court of Louis XVI and the patriots. France had deep ties 

to North America, establishing settlements there long 

before the French and Indian War of the 1750s. There 

were, however, other motives for the king’s support of 

a colonial rebellion on a distant continent—bolstering 

his nation’s economic and political power worldwide, 

as well as avenging France’s loss to Great Britain in the 

Seven Years War.

The American mission was a success. Louis XVI agreed 

to provide muskets, mortars, gunpowder, and cash to the 

new nation. In 1778 France signed a “Treaty of Alliance” 

with the United States of America. Their recognition of 

the young country as a sovereign power earned the 

fledgling nation respect throughout the world.

French aid helped the Americans, but by March 1780 

the war in the colonies was at a stalemate. France responded by sending thousands of its best soldiers across 

the Atlantic to help George Washington’s patriots hold off 

the British. Their commander was a man of great experience and respect, General Jean Baptiste Donatien de 

Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau. 

The Soldier’s Return by Pamela Patrick White 

© PAMELA PATRICK WHITE

Washington, Rochambeau, 

and Lafayette in the Siege of 

Yorktown by Louis-Charles 

Auguste Couder

RÉUNION DES MUSÉES NATIONAUX / 

ART RESOURCE, NY

Map of the route 

to Yorktown 

ROCHAMBEAU MAP COLLECTION, 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

“The essential and direct End of the present defensive alliance is to maintain...

the liberty, Sovereignty, and independence...of said united States.”

—from the ”Treaty of Alliance,” 1778, National Archives and Records Administration

The allied forces comprised a diverse 

group with a common goal. French troops 

impressed colonists with their professional 

military training and elegantly decorated 

uniforms. The Continental Army, however, 

included able bodies, from boys who were 

barely teens to men who were grandfathers. Some had been trained; others 

had never fired a shot. A man’s social or 

political status often determined his rank. 

Although most American soldiers were of 

British ancestry, some descended from 

Germans, Africans, and American Indians. 

Only one black soldier served under 

Rochambeau but Baron von Closen, a 

member of Rochambeau’s French army at 

Yorktown, noted in July 1781, ”A quarter 

of [the American army] are Negroes, 

merry, confident and sturdy.” Many of 

those African Americans who fought 

under Washington were freedmen and 

former slaves who hoped American 

independence would improve the status 

of their race.

Officers and Men

George Washington 

by James Peale 

INDEPENDENCE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK 

comte de Rochambeau 

by Charles Willson Peale INDEPENDENCE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

Many officers played important roles in the WashingtonRochambeau story, including (l to r) British generals Sir 

Henry Clinton and Lord Charles Cornwallis and French 

Admiral François-Joseph Paul, comte de Grasse.

CLINTON: PRODUCED COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM IN BRITAIN (BATH, UK); CORNWALLIS: 

© NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON

AMERICAN 

TROOPS

FRENCH 

TROOPS

BRITISH 

TROOPS

YORKTOWN

IMPENETRABLE MARSH YO RK R I V ER

WASHINGTON’S AND 

ROCHAMBEAU’S 

HEADQUARTERS

FRENCH ARTILLERY

“the [American] men were with out 

uniforms and covered with rags; 

most of them were barefoot.”

—comte de Clermont Crèvecœur, commenting on 

the appearance of the American troops, 1781

The Long March to Independence

Jean Baptiste Antoine de Verger, Soldiers in Uniform, 1781. Soldiers of 

the Continental Army, sketched by a French soldier at Yorktown.

COURTESY ANNE S.K. BROWN MILITARY COLLECTION, BROWN UNIVERSITY

Siege d’York, 1781

ROCHAMBEAU MAP COLLECTION, 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Many officers played important roles in the 

The 450 officers and 5,300 men of Rochambeau’s Expeditionary Forces landed 

on the coast of Rhode Island in July 1780. 

Generals Washington and Rochambeau 

agreed to wait until the spring of 1781 

to launch a joint military offensive, so 

the French army spent the bitter winter 

camped in Newport, Rhode Island, and 

Lebanon, Connecticut. During that time, 

French officers prepared for the march 

that would unite them with Continental 

troops at the Hudson River. From there 

the allied forces planned to attack British 

General Clinton’s stronghold in New York 

City, a few days’ march to the south. 

The first French forces left Newport on 

June 11, 1781. Moving thousands of men 

and animals over waterways, through 

unfamiliar forests, and across hilly terrain 

was an enormous and risky undertaking. 

Roads were sometimes impassable. Finally, 

on July 4, 1781, the two armies met in 

Phillipsburg, New York. 

There was, however, a change in plans. On 

learning that French Admiral de Grasse 

was steering his warships to the Chesapeake Bay, Washington and Rochambeau 

decided to abandon the offensive on 

Clinton and head south. Allied troops 

departed from Phillipsburg, New York, 

on August 18 and arrived outside Yorktown, Virginia, on September 28. 

Their efforts were worthwhile. The allied 

victory at Yorktown proved to be a turning 

point in the war. American colonists, who 

initially greeted the French with suspicion 

on the 600-mile trip south from Rhode 

Island to Virginia in 1781, hailed them as 

heroes on their return trip north. The 

trail both armies marched is now preserved as the Washington-Rochambeau 

Revolutionary Route and celebrates the 

allies’ joint labors to achieve American 

independence.

From June through September 1781 soldiers 

on the march to Yorktown carried their own 

weapons, utensils, and other personal items. 

A man often hauled 60 pounds or more for 

up to eight hours a day. Troops of both 

armies required food, water, and a safe 

place to rest each night.

A soldier’s lodging depended on his military 

rank. On the way to and from Yorktown 

French and American officers stayed in 

nearby homes or taverns, while the men 

slept outside in tents. A camp of thousands 

required hours to assemble. French Chaplain 

Abbé Robín complained of having to wait 

“until the hottest part of the day for the 

baggage wagons before we can take any 

repose. The sun has sometimes finished 

her course, before our weak stomachs 

have begun to receive and digest the 

necessary food.”

The troops received meal rations and dug 

pits where they could set their cooking 

kettles. Collecting pure water was essential. 

Robín described being “stretched out full 

length upon the ground, panting with 

thirst.” The heat plagued the French. American troops did not have elaborate uniforms, 

but their linen overalls were better suited to 

summer in the eastern United States than the 

wool garments worn by most of Rochambeau’s 

men. To avoid marching at the hottest time 

of day, soldiers were on the road by 4 a.m. 

and walked 12 to 15 miles to their next 

campsite by late morning. 

Wives and children of the Continental Army 

and French troops sometimes followed their 

husbands, brothers, and fathers to camp. 

These civilians, uprooted by war, sewed, 

cooked, and washed clothes for the men, 

often earning a bit of money for their services. They also nursed the wounded. 

American soldiers benefited by the presence 

of women in the camps, but Washington 

noted that these “camp followers” presented 

a physical and financial burden for the army. 

Like the enlisted troops, they needed to be 

fed and sheltered, but did not fight.

very Continental Army soldier received a musket 

and tools to keep the weapon in working or

M

forces overpowered America’s Continental 

Army troops from the beginning of the 

The Long March to Independence

Siege d’York, 1781

The 450 officers and 5,300 men of Rochambeau’s Expeditionary Forces landed 

on the coast of Rhode Island in July 1780. 

Generals Washington and Rochambeau 

agreed to wait until the spring of 1781 

to launch a joint military offensive, so 

the French army spent the bitter winter 

camped in Newport, Rhode Island, and 

Lebanon, Connecticut. During that time, 

French officers prepared for the march 

that would unite them with Continental 

troops at the Hudson River. From there 

the allied forces planned to attack British 

General Clinton’s stronghold in New York 

City, a few days’ march to the south. 

The first French forces left Newport on 

June 11, 1781. Moving thousands of men 

and animals over waterways, through 

unfamiliar forests, and across hilly terrain 

was an enormous and risky undertaking. 

Roads were sometimes impassable. Finally, 

on July 4, 1781, the two armies met in 

forces overpowered America’s Continental 

Army troops from the beginning of the 

Revolutionary War. 

Every Continental Army soldier received a musket 

and tools to keep the weapon in working or

COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM MANAGE

AND MORRISTOWN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

The Long March to Independence

The 450 officers and 5,300 men of Rochambeau’s Expeditionary Forces landed 

on the coast of Rhode Island in July 1780. 

Generals Washington and Rochambeau 

agreed to wait until the spring of 1781 

to launch a joint military offensive, so 

the French army spent the bitter winter 

camped in Newport, Rhode Island, and 

Lebanon, Connecticut. During that time, 

French officers prepared for the march 

that would unite them with Continental 

troops at the Hudson River. From there 

the allied forces planned to attack British 

General Clinton’s stronghold in New York 

City, a few days’ march to the south. 

The first French forces left Newport on 

June 11, 1781. Moving thousands of men 

and animals over waterways, through 

unfamiliar forests, and across hilly terrain 

was an enormous and risky undertaking. 

Roads were sometimes impassable. Finally, 

on July 4, 1781, the two armies met in 

Phillipsburg, New York. 

Bullet molds, used to cast musket 

ach Continental soldier carried 

n and musket. 

Playing cards, like these French ones, 

provided entertainment in camp. 

very Continental Army soldier received a musket 

The Soldier’s Return

© PAMELA PATRICK WHITE

husbands, brothers, and fathers to camp. 

cooked, and washed clothes for the men, 

often earning a bit of money for their serAmerican soldiers benefited by the presence 

of women in the camps, but Washington 

noted that these “camp followers” presented 

a physical and financial burden for the army. 

Like the enlisted troops, they needed to be 

Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route

National Historic Trail Washington-Ro

Massachusetts to Virginia

chambeau 

Revolutionary Route

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior
95

95

95

95

95

Journey Through

Hallowed Ground

National

Heritage Area 

The Baltimore

Heritage Area

Schuykill River

Heritage Area

Star-Spangled Banner

National Historic Trail

Captain John Smith

Chesapeake

National Historic Trail

Crossroads of the

American Revolution

National Heritage Area

Potomac Heritage

National Scenic Trail

Minute Man

National Historical Park

Boston National 

Historical Park

Boston Harbor Islands

National Recreation Area

Roger Williams

National Memorial

Governors Island

National Monument

Hudson River Valley

National Heritage Area

Quinebaug & Shetucket Rivers

Valley National Heritage Corridor

Morristown National

Historical Park

Independence

National Historical Park

Valley Forge

National

Historical Park

Hopewell 

Furnace 

National

Historic Site

Fort McHenry

National Monument

and Historic Shrine

Chesapeake Bay

Gateways Network

Colonial

National

Historical

Park

Prince William

Forest Park

Longfellow

National Historic Site

Return Route Boston

Newport

New York

Newburgh

Trenton

Philadelphia

Elkton

Princeton

Stanton

Annapolis

Washington, D.C.

Fredericksburg

Norfolk

Williamsburg

Yorktown

Baltimore

Wilmington

Providence

Hartford

Lebanon

Mount Vernon

Cape Charles

Cape Henry

NEW YORK

VIRGINIA

PENNSYLVANIA

MARYLAND

NEW JERSEY

VERMONT

MASSACHUSETTS

NEW HAMPSHIRE

CONNECTICUT

MAINE

DELAWARE

RHODE

ISLAND

French Army

NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL ROUTE

French Army–water route

Continental Army

Continental Army–water route

Related NPS units

Interstate 95

0 20 Kilometers

0 20 Miles

North

Lebanon Green, Lebanon, Connecticut

PHOTO BY SUSAN LAVIGNE

View of Hudson Highlands near 

Newburgh, New York ©VESPASIAN / ALAMY

Thomas Clark House Museum, Princeton 

Battlefield, Princeton, New Jersey

ROBERT ROSETTA; ABOUTNEWJERSEY.COM

White Clay Creek near 

Hale-Byrnes House, Stanton, 

Delaware LOWELL SILVERMAN

Boats on the Chesapeake Bay

©BRENDANREALS / SHUTTERSTOCK

Independence Hall, 

Independence National 

Historical Park, Philadelphia, 

Pennsylvania ©DHORSEY / SHUTTERSTOCK

Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon, Virginia

©CAROLYN M. CARPENTER / SHUTTERSTOCK

Soldiers’ cabins, Morristown National 

Historical Park, Morristown, New Jersey

© BALEFIRE / SHUTTERSTOCK

More Information 

The Washington-Rochambeau 

Revolutionary Route

Visit other historic sites and scenic byways along the Washington-Rochambeau 

Revolutionary Route. The places designated on this map are all open to the public. 

For locations, hours, directions, and other 

places of interest, visit http://www.nps.gov.

The National Park Service maintains 

a partnership with the National W3R 

Association (www.w3r-us.org). W3R is a 

nine-state partnership that supports the 

Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary 

Route as a National Historic Trail and 

educates the public about the three-year 

presence of the French Expeditionary 

Force in the United States. 

The National Park Service works with 

federal, state, and local agencies and private organizations along the nine-state 

corridor that constitutes the WashingtonRochambeau Revolutionary Route.

✩GPO: 2011—741-932

Printed on recycled paper.

View of Hudson Highlands near 

Thomas Clark House Museum, Princeton 

Independence Hall, 

Yorktown, Virginia 

©CURTIS KUTZER / SHUTTERSTOCK

Yorktown, Virginia 

Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon, Virginia

Reenactment in historic Colonial 

Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Virginia

©MARVIN NEWMAN / STOCKPHOTOPRO

Boats on the Chesapeake Bay

Lebanon Green, Lebanon, Connecticut

White Clay Creek near 

Soldiers’ cabins, Morristown National 

After the siege of Yorktown, Rochambeau’s forces 

wintered in Virginia. The troops headed north in 

summer 1782, continuing all the way to Boston, and 

departed the United States on Christmas Day 1782.

Having marched all the way from 

Williamsburg to Boston, Rochambeau’s 

infantry sailed out of Boston Harbor for 

the Caribbean on Christmas Day 1782.

French forces under the comte 

de Rochambeau quartered in 

Newport from their arrival on 

July 18, 1780, until their departure 

for New York on June 11, 1781.

Lebanon provided winter 

quarters for some 220 of 

the 300 hussars of Lauzun’s 

Legion from November 20, 

1780, until June 20, 1781. Having spent the winter of 

1780-81 in and around 

Newburgh, Washington 

and the Continental Army 

broke camp on June 28, 

and joined Rochambeau’s 

forces near White Plains 

on July 4, 1781.

Generals Washington 

and Rochambeau 

arrived in Philadelphia 

on August 30, 1781. 

Their forces paraded 

before Congress from 

September 2 to 4.

On September 9-10,1781, about 1,450 

officers and men of the Continental 

Army, as well as about 1,200 of 

Rochambeau’s forces, embarked at 

Elkton for the journey to Virginia.

Late in the afternoon of 

September 21, 1781, the 

rest of the allied forces, 

some 3,800 French and 

200 American soldiers, 

sailed from Annapolis.

Having left Elkton early on September 8, 

Washington covered the 120 miles to 

Mt. Vernon in two days, arriving at his 

estate late on September 9, 1781.

Reenforced by French forces 

under the marquis de St. Simon, 

as well as Continental Army 

troops under the marquis de 

Lafayette, the combined allied 

armies, 9,000 Americans and 

9,000 French strong, set out for 

Yorktown on September 28, 1781.

On October 19, 1781, Lord 

Cornwallis surrendered his 

forces to the victorious allies.

The Battle off the Capes 

occurred near the mouth 

of the Chesapeake Bay 

on September 5, 1781. 

National Historical Park

Hudson River Valley

Quinebaug & Shetucket Rivers

Valley National Heritage Corridor

MASSACHUSETTS

NEW HAMPSHIRE

VERMONT

Along the Allied Route Today

ROCHAMBEAU

WASHINGTON

NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL

Discovering a 

Revolutionary War Trail

The Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route 

comprises a network of roads and waterways used 

by allied forces in the Yorktown campaign. 

Although population growth and urban development have erased almost all traces of the rural 

campsites and small taverns that once sheltered 

Revolutionary War soldiers, the public can still visit 

historic sites that tell the Washington-Rochambeau 

story. Strolling the green in Lebanon, Connecticut, 

taking a sail on the Chesapeake Bay, seeing a 

Revolutionary War reenactment at Colonial 

Williamsburg, or exploring the battlefield at 

Yorktown, are just a few of many opportunities 

to interact with history.

Travelers driving I-95 from Massachusetts to 

Virginia now make the trip in less than a day, 

and GPS systems guide them to lodging, fuel, 

and restaurants. It is worth remembering, however, that in colonial times, most of this land 

was wilderness. If not for the detailed surveys 

by engineers and cartographers during the allied 

campaign, French and American troops might 

not have reached Yorktown. That they did so, 

defeated the British, and returned north—the 

French to go home, the Americans to win the 

war—remains an impressive feat.

This map of Connecticut from Rochambeau’s personal 

collection is titled “Connecticut, from the best authorities.” In 1780-81 his special cavalry—Lauzun’s Legion— 

spent eight months camped just west of Lebanon Green.

ROCHAMBEAU MAP COLLECTION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Time of day and geographic 

location were of basic concern to soldiers on the 

march. To determine both, 

they may have relied on an 

instrument like this pocket 

compass and sundial. 

COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM 

MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AND MORRISTOWN 

NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

This atlas page records a camp 

occupied by Rochambeau’s 

troops in Philadelphia, 1782.

ROCHAMBEAU MAP COLLECTION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

NEW HAMPSHIRE

T

occupied by Rochambeau’s 

troops in Philadelphia, 1782.

RO

LAUZUN’S 

ENCAMPMENT