French General Jean Baptiste Donation de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, and thousands of French ground and naval forces arrived in Newport in July 1780 to aid the Americans in the War for Independence. After wintering there, Rochambeau's troops marched through Connecticut to join General George Washington's Continental Army just over the New York border, and the combined forces moved down the eastern seaboard to confront Lieutenant General Earl Cornwallis and the British army at Yorktown, Virginia. After a prolonged siege, Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781, virtually ending the war and ensuring American independence. Along the French route through Connecticut from June 19 to July 2, 1781, and on the return north from October 23 to November 9, 1782, the march brought hardship as some of the 4,700 French soldiers who left Newport fell ill and died. In Waterbury, two soldiers were likely buried in what is now East Farms Cemetery after being cared for at Joseph Beach's inn, and the town paid 15 shillings to buy land for a burying ground there. The army later continued west through Waterbury to Camp 9 in present-day Middlebury, then a hamlet called Breakneck, on June 27, 1781. French officers found the stony roads and steep terrain difficult, and the miles approaching Breakneck strained the animals hauling heavy supply and artillery wagons, so that artillery from the first division reached camp only in the early morning as the infantry prepared to march again, a pattern repeated in all four divisions. The Josiah Bronson Tavern on Breakneck Hill housed French general officers from June 27 to July 1, 1781, and again from October 26 to 28, 1782, and the encampment and nearby tavern became places where the French traded and socialized with local residents before each division resumed the 13-mile march through present-day Middlebury and Southbury to the next camp in Newtown.

Photo: Michael Herrick

Photo: Michael Herrick

Photo: Michael Herrick

Photo: Michael Herrick