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Authors: Francine Du Plessix Gray
Tags: Fiction, Historical
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doubt it. Young Count von Fersen’s conduct in this case was admirable for its modesty and moderation, as displayed by his decision to go to America. By taking his distance he prevents all danger. Truly, to surmount temptations in this manner takes a strength of character far beyond his years. During his last days at court the queen could barely take her eyes off him, and grew tearful each time she spoke to him.”
Count Creutz is very accurate in his esteem for my brother’s conduct. Axel was as prudent and discreet in his relations with the queen as he had been with the young Duchess of Södermanland, and the various other women who had been enamored of him. It is his ambition, I believe, as much as his delicacy of character, that has always led him to scrupulously avoid the least taint of scandal. Upon learning that Axel was leaving for America, one of the queen’s more impolitic ladies-in-waiting, the Duchesse de Fitz-James, had the effrontery to address him thus: “Well, sir, is this the way you abandon your conquest?” His reply was a model of tact. “If I had made one, I would not abandon it,” he answered. “I leave as a free man, and, unfortunately, without any regrets.” Indeed, I do believe that his enthusiasm for joining the war prevailed over any chagrin that his separation from the queen might have caused him.
And so it was with joy in his heart that in April of 1780 Axel left for Brest, Brittany, to join the very general under whom he had yearned to serve in America, Comte de Rochambeau, a hero of the Seven Years’ War. In part because of his excellent command of English, Axel wasgiven the post of Rochambeau’s first aide-de-camp. The ship they sailed on was the
Jason,
on which he had managed to get a private cabin where he would spend most of his days reading while at sea.
Axel wished to spare our parents any worries he could possibly cause them. This led him to be an excellent correspondent. He wrote
Père
dutifully every few weeks, whenever he could take time off from his military duties. These missives from America are documents very treasured by our family, and it is a joy to share some excerpts of them.
Brest, April 4, 1780
My dear Father…Our embarkation is getting on; the artillery, ammunition, and commissariat are already on board, and we shall be busy now with the troops. The first regiment arrives today, and all will be embarked by the 8th. M. de Rochambeau wants to be in the harbor by the 10th so as to set sail the 12th or 13th. I’m so happy I don’t know what to do with myself, but my joy will not be perfect till we are off Cape Finistère…. We have provisions for four months at sea, and three months ashore.
August 5, 1780. Newport, in Rhode Island
May 4, left Brest…June 20, off the Bermudas, met five English vessels and fought them two hours without doing ourselves much damage. We intended to head North and anchor in Chesapeake Bay; but July 4, when we were only thirteen leagues away, we sighted eighteen vessels which we took to be men-of-war; this induced us to change our course and sail for Rhode-Island, where we arrived safely on the evening of the 11th and anchored in the harbor.
…We wish to join General Washington, who is only 25 milesfrom New York…. I don’t yet know if this junction can be made…. We’re expecting General [Sir George] Clinton at any moment; he has sailed from New York with 10,000 men; we’re ready to confront him, all dispositions are made. I hope he may come, but I can hardly believe he would commit such a folly.
I WAS IN S TOCKHOLM during the years Axel was in America, bringing up my children and enjoying the company of Evert Taube; and we rushed to whichever of our residences
Père
was living in—Lövstad, Steninge, Blasieholmen, the latter of which was named after the area of Stockholm it was on—to pore over Axel’s letters and his descriptions of the American Revolutionary War.
Newport. September 8, 1780
We have not left our
Count Creutz is very accurate in his esteem for my brother’s conduct. Axel was as prudent and discreet in his relations with the queen as he had been with the young Duchess of Södermanland, and the various other women who had been enamored of him. It is his ambition, I believe, as much as his delicacy of character, that has always led him to scrupulously avoid the least taint of scandal. Upon learning that Axel was leaving for America, one of the queen’s more impolitic ladies-in-waiting, the Duchesse de Fitz-James, had the effrontery to address him thus: “Well, sir, is this the way you abandon your conquest?” His reply was a model of tact. “If I had made one, I would not abandon it,” he answered. “I leave as a free man, and, unfortunately, without any regrets.” Indeed, I do believe that his enthusiasm for joining the war prevailed over any chagrin that his separation from the queen might have caused him.
And so it was with joy in his heart that in April of 1780 Axel left for Brest, Brittany, to join the very general under whom he had yearned to serve in America, Comte de Rochambeau, a hero of the Seven Years’ War. In part because of his excellent command of English, Axel wasgiven the post of Rochambeau’s first aide-de-camp. The ship they sailed on was the
Jason,
on which he had managed to get a private cabin where he would spend most of his days reading while at sea.
Axel wished to spare our parents any worries he could possibly cause them. This led him to be an excellent correspondent. He wrote
Père
dutifully every few weeks, whenever he could take time off from his military duties. These missives from America are documents very treasured by our family, and it is a joy to share some excerpts of them.
Brest, April 4, 1780
My dear Father…Our embarkation is getting on; the artillery, ammunition, and commissariat are already on board, and we shall be busy now with the troops. The first regiment arrives today, and all will be embarked by the 8th. M. de Rochambeau wants to be in the harbor by the 10th so as to set sail the 12th or 13th. I’m so happy I don’t know what to do with myself, but my joy will not be perfect till we are off Cape Finistère…. We have provisions for four months at sea, and three months ashore.
August 5, 1780. Newport, in Rhode Island
May 4, left Brest…June 20, off the Bermudas, met five English vessels and fought them two hours without doing ourselves much damage. We intended to head North and anchor in Chesapeake Bay; but July 4, when we were only thirteen leagues away, we sighted eighteen vessels which we took to be men-of-war; this induced us to change our course and sail for Rhode-Island, where we arrived safely on the evening of the 11th and anchored in the harbor.
…We wish to join General Washington, who is only 25 milesfrom New York…. I don’t yet know if this junction can be made…. We’re expecting General [Sir George] Clinton at any moment; he has sailed from New York with 10,000 men; we’re ready to confront him, all dispositions are made. I hope he may come, but I can hardly believe he would commit such a folly.
I WAS IN S TOCKHOLM during the years Axel was in America, bringing up my children and enjoying the company of Evert Taube; and we rushed to whichever of our residences
Père
was living in—Lövstad, Steninge, Blasieholmen, the latter of which was named after the area of Stockholm it was on—to pore over Axel’s letters and his descriptions of the American Revolutionary War.
Newport. September 8, 1780
We have not left our
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