Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-18
TARDY. HONORS PAID
Tablet to French Who Died at
Annapolis Is Unveiled.
LIE IN UNMARKED GRAVES
Are Nameless and Even Number of
Dead Is Unknown.
ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT
Ambassador Jusserand Also Among
the Speakers-Shaft Was Erected
by Patriotic Societies.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. April 1S-On the
campus OF St. Johns College there was
unveiled here today bronze tablet erect
ed by the General Society Of the Sons of
the Revolution to the memory of the
nameless French soldiers and sailors who
in 1871 laid down their lives in the cause
of American independence.
President Taft and Ambassador JUS
serand both made formal addresses. The
midshipmen of the national Naval Acad
emy did not turn out in honor Of those
who prevented the capture and probable
sack of Annapolis. but representatives of
the Sons Of the Revolution from all parts
of the country. the Sons of the American
Revolution, the Society of the Cincinnati,
the Maryland Historical Society and the
Daughters of the American Revolution
were in attendance.
To Prof. Henri Marion Of the depart
ment of languages of the Naval Acad-
emy is due In large measure the credit
OF awakening interest in the forgotten
allies whose unSelfiSh devotion SO largely
contributed to our freedom.
Suggested in Lecture.
Some years ago. in lecturing before the
Alliance Francaise at altimore, he told
how French troops under Lafayette and
Rochambeau encamped at Annapolis, and
by their presence March. 17S1) prevented
the capture and probable sacking Of that
city. A number of French soldiers and
sailors" he continued, died from their
wounds or from disease, and were buried
at that time on the grounds at st. Johns
College, Annapolis. Could not a monu
ment be erected on the graves of these
forgotten defenders of American tnde-
pendence?
In the audience was a member Of the
General Society of the Sons of the Revo-
luton. He sought out the lecturer. got
from him the needed facts, and when. in
1885, a French fleet came to assist at the
final interment of the first American ad-
miral, John Paul Jones. whose body had
been brought to America the year before
from Paris, Col Oswald Tilghman, q
member of the society and then secretary
of state for Maryland, called attention to
the old military burying. ground. and, as
pediment of the present monument was
laid. and the society pledged itself to
raise the necessary funds for its COM
pletfon. Later design was determined
upon, and the commission to execute 1t
was assigned to ]. Maxwell Miller. 4
Baltimore sculptor.
Shaft of Pink Granite.
The monument is a simple shaft of pink
granite thirteen feet high, bearing on one
face a bronze entablature in alto-relievo.
seven feet seven inches wide. by three
feet nine inches high. The composition
shows sorrowing Memory. crowned with
the olive leaves Of peace and leaning upon
her victorious shield, watching the de-
soldiers, and it is interesting to note how
much more subtle in suggestion is this
treatment than the more usual one of
troops confronting the spectator.
h<xy< I>Do L.
ners are flying in the wind. and in the
background are seen the spars of yes
sells. while in the foreground are two
small gravestones. one inscribed "Ici git
''Ici git un marin de la France" 0Here
lies a soldier. here lies sailor Of
France).
On the shield appears the English in
brave soldiers and sailors of France
buried here. who gave their lives in the
struggle for American independence. The
memory OF their deeds will endure forever.
11S1-11S'." Beneath the tablet Is a leg
end: Erected April 10. 1911, by the
Sons of the Revolution
Exact Number Unknown.
Although David Ridgely in his ANNALS
Of Annapolis published in 1910. says
that traces of the French encampment
still remain" and speaks of mounds
raised to those who died in the service"
the exact spot for the memorial was
chosen only after painstaking research,
and 1t has been impossible to discover
the names of the dead or even their exact
number 1t is only known that alive they
defended the field and dead they still
hold it.
Nearby is another monument erected
by act Of Congress in 1893 to mark the
locality where Maryland forces of the
Continental army and French allies were
encamped In September 1871, while on
their way to report to Lafayette at York
town. Va
The committee in charge of the work
consisted Of Talbot Olyphant, chair
man. New York; Granville Leach, Phil
adelphia; william Gordon McCabe. Rich
mond, Va; William Libbey, Princeton, N.
Dexter warren, Boston. Mass; Julian
Henry Lee, Baltimore. and ]. Appleton
Wilson, secretary, Baltimore.