Lauzun ' s Legion Lauzun ' s Legion was a French regiment in the American War for Independence . Lauzun ' s Legion ' s principal engagements were at White Plains in 1781 , and at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 . Unit history . Lauzun ' s Legion was a specially constructed unit that was formed in March 1780 from various detachments of French and many foreign volunteers in the French army and navy . Much of the Legion was composed of units from the Volontaires étrangers de la Marine created in September 1778 by the naval minister Gabriel de Sartine , and ' propriétaire ' status had been granted to Armand Louis de Gontaut , duc de Lauzun . When in early 1781 the Expédition Particulière was being organized , most of the 1778 organization had been deployed to overseas posts . What remained in France , along with the duc de Lauzun , was reconstituted as the Volontaires - étrangers de Lauzun , and was part of Rochambeau ' s expedition . Lauzun ' s Legion in America . When the Legion arrived in America , they recruited from foreigners , mainly Hessian deserters . There were complaints about their conduct . The troops wintered in Lebanon , Connecticut . Rochambeau sent Brigadier General Marquis de Choisy with Lauzun ' s Legion , as they marched from Rhode Island to Head of Elk , Maryland , traveled by water to Alexandria , Virginia , and marched to Glouster Courthouse . Lauzun ' s Legion in Connecticut . In December 1780 , two dozen Hussar horsemen deserted and discharged themselves from their winter quarters in Lebanon and fled into the woods to the south . They may have wintered in Trumbull , Connecticut , according to Huldah Hawley , who said she cooked for the French for fear they would kill her because her husband was a known Tory . Lauzun ' s Legion or " Hussars " encamped in present - day Abraham Nichols Park in Trumbull from June 28 to June 30 , 1781 . The Legion , an advance party , was ordered to protect the exposed flank of the main army and stayed ahead of and to the south flank of the main French army while encamped in Newtown . The army was marching in the Washington – Rochambeau Revolutionary Route south to reinforce American troops under the command of General George Washington at the Siege of Yorktown . French coins have since been found near the site of their camp in Abraham Nichols Park . At Yorktown . The legion was at Gloucester , Virginia , during the Siege of Yorktown . On October 4 , 1781 , French and British cavalry skirmished at Gloucester . The British cavalry commander , Banastre Tarleton , was unhorsed , and the Lauzun ' s Legion drove the British within their lines , before being ordered to withdraw by the Marquis de Choisy . The Legion suffered three Hussars killed , and two officers and eleven Hussars wounded . Fifty British were killed or wounded , including Tarleton . After the battle . In December 1782 , the Legion moved to Wilmington , Delaware . On 18 March 1783 , in Delaware , their cash payroll was stolen but recovered . On 9 – 11 May 1783 the Legion embarked from Wilmington on five vessels , " la Goire , la Danaë , l " Astree , l ' Active , and Le St . James " , arriving at Brest , France , about 11 June . On 5 October 1783 , the Legion ' s two artillery companies left Baltimore on the " Duc de Lauzun " , and the " Pintade " . The ships , guarded by two French frigates , arrived in Brest on 10 November . However , many soldiers mustered out in America , or deserted . After Lauzun returned to France , the unit became a regular hussar regiment . He remained its proprietor until the French Revolution started , and the army was reformed in the summer of 1791 . When the revolutionary government declared war on Austria , the regiment fell completely apart as the majority of its officers deserted , and handed the regiment ' s funds , supplies , and records over to the enemy .