"Le train de la Reconnaissance Française au Peuple Américain" - "The Train of French Gratitude to the American People" aka "The Merci Train" - By Unknown artist http://www.mercitrain.org/

'Tis the approaching Holiday Season...many of us, especially boys, have fond memories of our childhood wonder upon opening a present with a "choo choo" train. But who remembers this other full-size, real train, loaded with gifts, which crossed the Atlantic as a gesture of friendship and goodwill?

In 1947, when France and Italy were facing hunger and cold, Drew Pearson, an American journalist, launched the idea of a rescue train in his syndicated column "Washington's Merry-Go-Round". Originally thought to be 80 boxcars, it eventually reached the astounding number of 700 boxcars which collected food, clothing, fuel from the 48 States, amounting to $40 million worth of donations (the equivalent of $586 millions today!), collected by high-school students, ordinary citizens, and retirees alike. Prior to boarding the cargo "Friend Ship" and reaching Le Havre, the Friendship Train was celebrated with a ticker tape parade on Broadway. This gesture of popular goodwill and tangible help accompanied the Marshall Plan, which effectively raised Western Europe from its ashes.

To reciprocate, in 1949, a French railroad worker and WWII veteran, André Picard, launched the idea of a "Train de la Reconnaissance Française", affectionately nicknamed the "Merci Train" in the United States. This initiative was quickly endorsed by several associations of French railroad Resistance veterans and French President Vincent Auriol. Composed of 49 boxcars and filled with "gifts of gratitude", the Merci Train arrived in New York City on February 3, 1949 with over 25,000 onlookers in attendance, and was divided amongst the 48 States with the remaining car to be shared by the District of Columbia and Hawaii.

The boxcars' contents (more than a million gifts weighing a total of 250 tons, ranging from dolls, statues, clothes, ornamental objects, furniture, etc..) were opened and turned into exhibits before being distributed as each State saw fit. Most states continued to exhibit the boxcars to the public after their gifts were distributed. Most, but not all, are preserved today and can be visited.

As André Picard declared, “We found ourselves unable to reply in the same manner as you aided us," explaining the plight of a devastated France following the war. "We did wish to send you remembrances which would last forever.” 

Poor is the nation that has no heroes, but poorer still is the nation that having heroes, fails to remember and honor them.  Marcus Tullius Cicero 106-43 BC

GPS: 41.999432, -71.516339

Founded after World War One by returning American soldiers in 1920, this organisation of Veterans, long part of the American Legion, is present in all 50 States. https://www.fortyandeight.org/what-is-the-408/

It is more commonly known as "The Forty and Eight" and is a charitable patriotic association open to US Armed Forces honorably discharged veterans or service members, by invitation only.

They borrow their terminology from the French: they meet at a Promenade Nationale, members are Voyageur Militaire, their chapters are Grande Voiture, and Voiture Locale, they are directed by a Chef de Gare, Directeurs, Sous-Directeurs, Secrétaires. They also follow their own rituals.

France, in appreciation for the articles sent to them on the Friendship Train reciprocated in 1949 with the Merci Train, also known as the French Gratitude Train or the Forty and Eight. Forty-and-eights were French 4-wheel covered boxcars which were used as military transport vehicles. The term refers to the cars' carrying capacity: 40 men or eight horses. Built as regular freight boxcars, starting in the 1870s, they were used by the French army in both World Wars to transport troops and horses as well as other military supplies. Later in World War II, they were used by the German occupation and finally by the Allied liberators.

American troops rode these boxcars to and from battle in WW I and WW II. Think about how uncomfortable they were. The men could be in these cars for days with no toilet facilities. Imagine yourself and 39 other men trying to sleep in this unit at the same time, especially after they had been used to transport horses.

The Merci Train was comprised 49 boxcars, one for each state at the time (Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states) and one for Washington, D.C. and Hawaii to share. Each boxcar carried five tons of gifts, all donated by private citizens. Six million citizens of France and Italy donated all kinds of goods, as an expression of gratitude for the liberation of France and for the relief provided by the Friendship Train. The boxcars must have been designated by State because the contents of some of the cars contained messages to the governor of the state.

Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: "Filled with gifts of gratitude, the treasures included a collection of forty-nine dolls dressed in French fashions designed by prominent couturiers of the time reflecting French dress from the early seventeenth century through the early twentieth-century. Each doll, measuring approximately 24″ tall and made of open wire, was outfitted by a different designer to represent the evolution of French fashion. The figures, which are in the Costume Institute collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, have been photographed by the Museum and have accompanying descriptions for each figurine summarizing the designers and their influences."

• The French citizens donated wooden shoes, hand crocheted doilies, children’s toys, the bugle which signaled the armistice signing at Compiegne in 1918, a Louis XV carriage, the first motorcycle ever built, 49 dolls given by the city of Cognac dressed in the regional costume of Charerette.

• The Society of Parisian Couturiers contributed an exquisite set of 49 little manikins dressed in fashions from 1706 to 1906. One of the Marquis de Lafayette’s descendents presented his ancestor’s walking stick. Another person added the original bust of Benjamin Franklin by the French sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon. A disabled veteran offered a wooden gavel he had carved from a tree in Belleau Wood, site of an intense battle of World War I. There were new and old bicycles and just bicycle wheels. A church in La Courtene offered its bell. The city of Lyon, the second largest silk processing center in the world, gave 49 silk wedding dresses. An anonymous donor added a set of black lingerie intended “for a beautiful blonde.” (The French call a beautiful woman or a girlfriend une blonde.)

• A newspaper account mentions a poor woman rushing past the workmen painting one of the cars. She announced “I have nothing else to send. I will send them my fingerprints.” She then pressed her fingers into the wet paint.

• Arrival

The train’s 49 boxcars were loaded aboard the French freighter Magellan and arrived in New York on February 3, 1949, with over 25,000 onlookers in attendance. "MERCI AMERICA" was painted on the side of the freighter. The Magellan was greeted by a flotilla of small boats while waves of Air Force planes flew overhead in aerial salute. The port resounded with ringing bells, blowing whistles and wailing sirens. Fire boats turned their nozzles skyward, sending columns of spray into the wintry sunlight. The ship docked in Weehawken, New Jersey and local stevedoring companies volunteered to unload the Magellan the following day.

President Truman had signed into law a special resolution permitting the train and its cargo to enter the United States duty-free. Trainmen then sorted the boxcars into three sections for shipment to the South, West, and New England. They were loaded onto flatcars because the wheels were of a different gauge than the American railroads. They were then sent to the capital cities of each state. The flatcar carrying the boxcar bound for Little Rock, Arkansas arrived in the early morning hours of February 13, 1949. People flocked to see the gifts, displayed first at the Rock Island Freight Depot and later the Capitol rotunda.

• Almost all the states had received theirs by February 22 when the state of Washington received hers. Kansas opened hers at a public ceremony on November 11 and Oregon received hers on December 12, 1949. The remaining car was shared by the District of Columbia and Hawaii. That boxcar ended up in Hawaii, but the contents stayed in the District of Columbia.

• Coats of arms of the provinces of France adorned the sides of each boxcar and each one was stamped "40 Hommes - 8 Chevaux" which means it has the capacity for 40 men or 8 horses.

• Many of the boxcars were opened and turned into exhibits before distributing the contents as each state saw fit. Most states continued to exhibit the boxcars to the public after their gifts were distributed.

• The contents of the boxcars included dolls, statues, wine, clothing, art, ornamental objects, furniture, paintings, drawings, handmade clothing, lace, dolls, medals, musical instruments, flags, candlesticks and even thank you letters from children. One car included nine dolls dressed in French provincial costumes. Another contained a Legion of Honor medal purported to have belonged to Napoleon.

• The Illinois car contained a letter from the President of France to then Governor Stevenson among 10 original pieces of art and 8 handwritten letters from French school children. The Idaho car included a replica of the Statue of Samothrace (see Fig. 2) which is on display in the Idaho State Capitol building in Boise. The original statue was sculpted about 400–300 BC on Samothrace, an island in the Aegean Sea. Lost for centuries, the sculpture was rediscovered in 1863 and sent to the Louvre Museum in France.

• Arizona’s boxcar held a surprising array of gifts: a Peugeot bicycle, military helmets, an elegant silk wedding gown, about sixty wind-up toy Renault cars, a handmade lace bonnet, and a mother-of-pearl fan. More striking than the gifts were the emotional notes that accompanied them.

• Rhode Island Boxcar

The Rhode Island General Assembly passed a bill to exempt the train from import taxes on January 27, 1949. The Massachusetts and Rhode Island cars came through Blackstone, Massachusetts to Woonsocket and Manville, Rhode Island where ceremonies were held on February 8, 1949. Crowds stood along the tracks at Albion, Berkeley, Ashton and Lonsdale to see the train, with Gov. John O. Pastore at the throttle, dressed as an engineer. The train slowed to give Valley Falls bystanders a good look and it made an 8-minute stop at the Pawtucket-Central Falls railroad station so the 250 spectators around the station could see the boxcars. However, the throng was not allowed on the station platform because of the danger of overcrowding and possible falls onto the tracks. A crowd of about 5000 people greeted the train when it arrived at Union Station in Providence at 7:45 PM.

A state dinner and ceremonies were held in the ballroom of the Narragansett Hotel that evening. Albert Chambon, the French Consul at Boston said that it was not the material gifts contained in the Rhode Island boxcar which meant the most, but the fact that the gift had come from millions of French homes and included many treasured heirlooms. He concluded, in French, much to the delight of his largely French-Canadian-American audience “Thank you, from France, and all of our affection goes to you the French capital of New England!”

The next morning at 9:30, a parade set out from Memorial Square, proceeding west through Exchange Place. It passed in review before City Hall, returned to Memorial Square, thence under the Promenade Street subway to Pershing Square, where the French boxcar entered the line of march. The parade proceeded up Francis Street to the side of the state house, where a salute was fired, before continuing to Smith Street and into the state house plaza. The Massachusetts boxcar departed for Boston early that morning.

The boxcar (See Fig. 1 at the top of this article) remained at the state house plaza until March 5 when the public exhibit closed. The 41 boxes of gifts were taken by truck to the subbasement entrance of the state house, shifted to an elevator and deposited in the second floor reception room on February 16. Gov. John O. Pastore set up a committee to distribute the gifts, many of which came from children.

Five-year-old Michelle Waechter, of Alsace, pinned her photograph and a note on her gift: a little picture of a boy and girl with a goose. Her note apologized that her parents “were not rich.” Jeanne Riviere, of Paris, sent her parents’ mandolin. The gifts of the French children did not represent great material value but they were worth a fortune in terms of friendship, gratitude and human relations. They included dolls, toys, artworks, statues and hundreds of other items, including a little stuffed dog with blue ears. Most of the notes accompanying the gifts were in French but a thoughtful donor contributed 10 copies of the book French Without Toil.

A “thank you album” from the children of France to the children of Rhode Island, one of 48 such albums, was presented to Gov. John O. Pastore by members of the American Association of teachers of French at a state house ceremony on May 24. The album included watercolors and drawings by French children, letters from a number of youngsters and phonograph records of folksongs and popular tunes of various French provinces.

Gifts included art objects: antiques; historical mementos; books; paintings; photographs; bronze medals; woodcarvings; intricate needlework from Nantes; a chic Parisian hat; lingerie; bottles made of wood and bound in copper; a bottle carved out of a tree limb; a carved figure of a man in a bottle; a walnut carved work table; brandy snifters; a brass dinner gong; two spike-topped German officers’ helmets of World War I; a delicate Sèvres china vase, gift of President Vincent Auriol to Gov. John O Pastore; a bronze seagull, wings outspread, from the residents of Thonon-les-Bains; 100 small cartons of French cigarettes; 25 dolls many of finely detailed linen. The clothing painstakingly handstitched ranged from bright peasant garb to the lace and frills of medieval France.

The memorials went to the Rhode Island Historical Society and similar historical institutions. Paintings, custom designs and museum pieces selected for value and antiquity went to the Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, the John Carter Brown Library and to the Rhode Island Historical Society. Le Theatre Guignol contributed Punch and Judy puppets which went to Sock and Buskin at Brown University. Four pieces of French music and a mandolin were given to the music department of Brown University. Catholic religious subjects and similar items were sent to Bishop Russell J. McVinney. Some of these were then sent to Catholic institutions or agencies.

More than 150 volumes of books were distributed to Rhode Island colleges, universities and libraries. Beechnuts, harvested near Tricourt, France, went to Rhode Island State College to be planted. The seedlings were to be cultivated and the small trees planted on the campus of the college with a French “Merci Train” label. The state library retained an album from a Frenchman in Paris to be loaned to several of the larger libraries throughout the state and special educational institutions for display and study.

One Napoleonic sword and medal went to the Rhode Island Historical Society. Another sword went to the Varnum Continentals in East Greenwich along with some issues of a document with relation to World War I. A doll and creche from the French Red Cross went to the Providence Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Photographs of champagne making and a brochure about the wine went to the state liquor control administrator. The Newport Historical Society received a costume doll for its doll collection.

Moses Brown school requested the painting of Notre Dame Cathedral. Eleven rolls of French velvet in varying shades went to the Bureau for the Blind, Department of Social Welfare, to be used in work for the blind. Three framed designs for a stage production of “La Dame aux Camelias” by Marie-Ange went to The Players, Barker Playhouse. Toys, drawings by schoolchildren of France, a large number of stars in paper and cement were turned over to the public and parochial schools for distribution to honor pupils.

The Rhode Island committee in charge of distribution of the gifts chose a number of persons and groups who served “in aid of France for many years” to receive the remaining gifts and invited them to come to the state house during August to make their choice of what remained.

A card was to accompany each gift. The engraving read:

• Wedding Gown

One of the most interesting gifts in the Rhode Island boxcar (as well as those for the other states) was a wedding gown. The size 12 white satin brocaded bridal gown donated by a bride from Lyon was entered into a raffle. There were two conditions: the bride had to have a 24-inch waist and a wedding in September. The gown should fit with little or no alteration.

The committee received 104 applications. The first of three names drawn from a sealed box was that of 25-year-old Lillian Weimar. By coincidence, she was the first to apply for the gown. Ms. Weimar was born in Paris where she lived until she was five years old. Her mother was French and married an American soldier after World War I. Her great-grandfather was commandant of gendarmeries at Lyon around 1870 and she was a direct descendent of one of Napoleon’s generals. Her parents moved to Westerly, Rhode Island in 1929.

Lillian’s 24-inch waist and 33-inch hips matched the gown exactly but her bust was 30 inches and the gown was 31 inches. In a 1995 interview, she recalled how her mother, whose ancestors were from Lyon, was more determined to get the dress than she was. She noted "it had this shiny finish, buttons up the back, all sewn by hand. The seams were all hand-overstitched. It was beautifully made." Lillian died in 1996 at the age of 72 and her daughter donated the dress to the Museum of Work and Culture.

Hartford, Connecticut merchants donated prizes to the recipient of the Connecticut dress. They included a free honeymoon trip to Lyon so the winning bride could personally thank the donors.

• The Boxcars’ Outcome

Many of the boxcars were given to veterans’ organizations such as the American Legion, 40 & 8, Veterans of Foreign Wars. Some were placed in museums; some incorporated into memorials; others given to fairgrounds and city parks. Many were ignored and fell into disrepair, particularly in the 1960s, following a period of cool relations between France and the United States when France decided to withdraw from NATO. Later, the veterans’ organizations paid to have them restored, preserved and put on display.

The Rhode Island boxcar was turned over to the American Legion 40 and 8 organization along with war trophies for display. Special designs were made for the construction of a chassis upon which the car would be placed for use on patriotic occasions and in parades. It was placed at the American Legion camp in Burlingame State Park in Charlestown which was supposed to be its permanent home. When the park closed, all of the buildings on the site were sold to a junk dealer for scrap, including the boxcar. The boxcar spent more than 20 years in disrepair in the junk dealer’s yard, subject to vandals and the elements.

John Hill, a reporter for the Providence Journal, wrote an article about the unfortunate condition of the boxcar in 1995. That article moved Fred and Betty Tanner of East Greenwich to purchase it. They had it moved to their property, hoping that someday, someone would be interested in restoring it.

Alphonse Auclair and Jacques Staelen met with John Hill two years later and began a search for the boxcar. Their quest led them to the Tanners. The boxcar was restored and donated to the Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket on Nov. 7, 1999. The car returned to the city where it first arrived 50 years earlier.

Forty-three of the boxcars remain today. Some were deemed beyond restoration. In the case of the New Mexico boxcar, the restoration team located a similar boxcar in France and transported it to the US in 1987 for use as a replica, next to the original one which is displayed, unrestored, next to a complete replica of the car as it looked when delivered to the state.

Providence Journal Jan. 27, 1949, Feb. 16, 18, May 25, June 18, July 28, Aug. 2, 1949, Feb. 3, 2005; http://www.mercitrain.org/

It read: "French gratitude train ("Merci Train") bearing gift from France to the United States in appreciation of the friendship train (February 3, 1949)"

GPS: 34.692151, -86.586212

Mississippi boxcar, The old Gulf, Mobile, & Ohio Railroad Depot

GPS: 32.298500, -90.179133

Photo by Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75800144

GPS: 33.538050, -111.923200

Photo: By Marine 69-71 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21978205

Excerpt of marker: "Today, it serves as a remembrance of two countries who always fought “for the liberty and dignity of man.”

Utah boxcar, Ogden Union Station, 2429 Wall Avenue, Ogden UT 84401

GPS: 41.222000, -111.979233

Photo: https://utahrails.net/RLHSGoldenSpikeOgden/specialty.htm

GPS: 37.019638, -76.453635

You can see a list of the locations for all the 43 remaining boxcars at these websites:

And this particularly moving video on YouTube:

• President James Monroe invited Lafayette, the last surviving major general of the American Revolutionary War, to tour the United States, officially to celebrate the nation's 50th anniversary but also to instill the "spirit of 1776" in the next generation of Americans at a time of great political divide. His tour drew large crowds and sparked a renewal of patriotism.

• From July 1824 to September 1825, Lafayette made a tour of all 24 States in the United States. He was received with a hero's welcome everywhere he stopped. Immense crowds, children, old veterans would come from miles away and wait hours to have a chance to see him, approach him, touch him. Many honors and monuments were presented to commemorate and memorialize the visit.

• The 24 states visited were: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine (ex-Massachusetts / North part), Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C.

• The main means of transportation were stagecoach, horseback, canal barge, and steamboat.

• Throughout the years 2024 and 2025 each city will celebrate this most illustrious Frenchman, ranked alongside the Founding Fathers, practically on a par with George Washington. If anyone harbors any doubt about it, one only needs to read the some of the hundreds of local newspapers articles and the accounts or memoirs of contemporary witnesses accounts.

• Several of his stops are memorialized with markers and plaques, some decades-old, and an increasing number of brand new ones, thanks to the energy and enthusiasm deployed by Julien Icher, president of the LafayetteTrail.org, whose goal is to dedicate all 175 markers by 2024.

• These new markers from the LafayetteTrail.org are all made in the same distinctive blue and red cast metal and signed by the William C. Pomeroy Foundation which is generously funding this gigantic project.

• The American Society of Le Souvenir Français Inc. is honored to partner with these two like-minded organizations, all well as all other American patriotic associations and volunteers who are participating in these celebrations.

As we started with August 2022 Bulletin, we will narrate every month some of the most salient episodes of this remarkable journey of the corresponding month 198 years ago, while keeping you abreast of the many celebrations planned by the local committees of the American Friends of Lafayette in 2024 and in 2025.

For this series we will also borrow from the testimonies of a privileged close witness, Auguste Levasseur, Lafayette’s personal secretary, who traveled along with the Marquis and his son, George Washington Lafayette, and who published his extensive daily journal: “Lafayette en Amérique 1824-1825, ou Journal d'un voyage au Etats-Unis" (Published by the Librairie Baudoin, Paris, in 1829), as well as other well-documented sources, such as Samuel Lorenzo Knapp. “Memoirs of General Lafayette : with an Account of His Visit to America and His Reception By the People of the United States; From His Arrival, August 15th, to the Celebration at Yorktown, October 19th, 1824”(Published in November, 1824)

Located in the parlor, Monticello, Virginia (provenance: Thomas Jefferson) Lafayette is depicted in the military uniform of the Parisian National Guard wearing the medals of the Society of the Cincinnati, the Vainqueurs de la Bastille, and the Cross of Saint Louis. Lafayette saw his portrait when he visited Jefferson.

GPS: 38.009432, -78.453156

His grandson Randolph was present and witnessed the historic reunion: "As they approached each other, their uncertain gait quickened itself into a shuffling run, and exclaiming, 'Ah Jefferson!' 'Ah Lafayette!', they burst into tears as they fell into each other's arms."

Marker located at:

GPS: 38.031400,-78.477600 

• Lafayette spent a few days at President Madison at his estate of Montpelier.

“Mr. Madison at the time of our visit was seventy-four years of age, but his well preserved frame contained a youthful soul full of sensibility, which he did not hesitate to show, when he expressed to general Lafayette the pleasure he felt at having him in his house. Although the habit of reflection and application, give to his countenance an aspect of severity, all the impressions of his heart are rapidly depicted in his features, and his conversation is usually animated with a gentle gaiety. Mrs. Madison also contributes much by the graces of her mind, and the amenity of her character to exalt the excellence of that frank hospitality with which strangers are received at Montpelier.

The four days passed with Mr. Madison were agreeably employed in promenades over his beautiful estate, and still more agreeably by our evening conversations, particularly concerning all the great American interests, which are so dear to general Lafayette”...

[...]

...“It was not until sunset on the 20th of November, that we arrived at Fredericksburgh, where the general was received by the little boys formed into a battalion under the name of Lafayette Cadets; the night was already dark, and the town glittered with illumination, when we arrived at the place where the mayor pronounced his welcome. A splendid supper, and a ball in which all the ladies of Fredericksburg were present, terminated the day. Next day being Sunday, we went to the Episcopal church, escorted by the free masons in grand ceremony. The clergyman who officiated was a member of the lodge. On Monday we passed part of the day with Captain Lewis, a nephew of General Washington, and in the evening we set out for Washington, accompanied for several miles by the inhabitants of Fredericksburgh. At the Strafford county line, the extremity of which we crossed, the militia met the general to escort him to the Potomac, where the vessel waited for us, and conveyed us to Washington by a pleasant night voyage.”

Excerpt From: Auguste Levasseur. “Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825 - Vol I.” Apple Books.

• Marker, Lafayette Tour:

• Excerpts of marker:

GPS: 38.303100, -77.459933

Last year we narrated in 5 episodes, from June to October, the long march of the French Army under general comte de Rochambeau from Newport, R.I. to Yorktown, VA, through the States of CT, NJ, NY, PA, DE, MD

We are resuming the series, which will extend from this month until December: "Season 2, Episode 4: November 1782, Connecticut & Rhode Island"

During that time, British forces were still in control of cities such as New York.

The French army spent the most part of the winter of 1781-1782 stationed in Williamsburg, VA, and starting marching north in July 1st, 1782 to reach Boston in December and sail home.

Some units stayed behind, such as the famous Lauzun Legion of hussards, who kept watch during the winter of 1782-1783.

The return march route was in a much lighter mood, understandably so. It is not as well documented than the south-bound march we narrated last year. Still, there are several markers along the way which we will select, as well as a few nice anecdotes which we will tell in future bulletins until December.

Below are a few markers pertaining to the month of NOVEMBER 1782, while crossing the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island.

GPS: 41.726017, -72.824061 

Photo: Image capture June 2019 © Google

GPS: 41.738133, -72.367979 

• Excerpts from the marker:

GPS: 41.71174,-72.02033 

• The First Brigade, now commanded by baron de Vioménil, broke camp in Windham on 7 November and marched through Scotland to its next camp, camp 48, just west of Canterbury. By now it was early November, and winter was upon New England.

e

• The post sign has identical text on both sides:

GPS: 41.849363, -71.397844

• French infantry had encamped on its June 1781 campsite in Providence on November 10 and 11, 1782, but moved to this new camp their fifty-second camp since departure from Williamsburg, Virginia, on July 1, 1782, along North Main Street on November 13 and 14, 1782.

• De Broglie wrote:

" M. de Rochambeau, much vexed with the perpetual delays of the fleet, nevertheless behaved at Providence like a thoroughly good French General: that is to say, in order to divert his army and gratify the ladies of the city, he gave some balls in a handsome and large public apartment intended for such purposes. It was at the first of these balls that I saw for the first time the Misses Bowen, sisters of the Governor of the city. I do not give their portraits because I do not want to turn all the men crazy and render all the women jealous.” (France and New England, page 135)

• Inscription:

Pictured above: Uniforms of the Armies in the War of the American Revolution, 1775-1783. Lt. Charles M. Lefferts. Limited Edition of 500. New York York Historical Society. New York, NY. 1926.

• We started a fund raising campaign for the purpose of providing volunteers from the French military contingent stationed at NATO headquarters in Virginia with period uniforms, to participate alongside American volunteers in joint patriotic ceremonies. These sets of period military uniforms are made in the USA by very skilled specialized tailors and will be exact reproductions, down to the last button.

Please help! Your donation is tax deductible! Suggested donations: $50 - $100 – A recognition medal from Le Souvenir Français will be offered for donations over $500.

Please send your donation via PayPal: https://souvenirfrancaisusa.org/donate/ or by check, payable to "American Society of Le Souvenir Français, Inc"

Please indicate: "Rochambeau Historical Uniforms"

We are pleased to announce the release of episode 18 of Follow The Frenchmen, the Video Series about the Lafayette Trail! The episode takes place in Frankfort, KY.

#followthefrenchmen EPISODE 18 | Frankfort, KY.

The video on the official YouTube Channel includes Closed Captioning. To enable this feature, click on the CC icon on the right side of the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.

The Lafayette Trail, Inc. (thelafayettetrail.org) is incorporated in the U.S. state of Maryland as a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code with the mission to document, map, and mark General Lafayette's footsteps during his Farewell Tour of the United States in 1824 and 1825. It aims to educate the public about the national significance of Lafayette's Tour and to promote a broader understanding of Lafayette's numerous contributions to American independence and national coherence in preparation for the 2024-2025 tour bicentennial celebrations.

“I was so blown away by the gratitude,” says Taylor. “I wanted to know where it came from, and I learned for the first time that the French people have been celebrating their liberation from the moment that it happened, regardless of all the destruction and the damage and the death. And so, as l listened to their stories and learned that 20,000 French people lost their lives in the Battle of Normandy, I realized there was so much more to the story that we never heard as Americans.” Her exploration of that history resulted in the documentary The Girl Who Wore Freedom, available via EST and VOD Nov 1 from Virgil Films.”

You can read the full article here.

For digital/streaming links to watch or share: Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, Vimeo, Google Play and YouTube

For a physical DVD, Visit www.thegirlwhoworefreedom.com

• To promote the appreciation for French culture and heritage in the United States, and the ideals that unite our two nations, in order to pass the torch of memory to younger generations.

JOINING THE TOMB GUARDS TO HONOR THE US UNKNOWN SOLDIER ON BOARD THE USS OLYMPIA, PHILADELPHIA

The upper deck of the famed 1892 cruiser USS Olympia, at the exact spot where the casket of the Unknown Soldier was latched while crossing the Atlantic from Le Havre to Washington, D.C. - Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia, PA.

On October 25, we were honored to join the Society of Honor Guard, Tomb of Unknown Soldier on board the USS Olympia in Philadelphia for the annual commemoration of the transfer of the US Unknown Soldier back home from France.

Photo by Cyril Pefaure / with our appreciation and thanks for your visit in the United States. 

For a list of their names, please visit our Honor Roll in the Society's website:

For permission to reproduce and cite please email Diana Mara Henry

We would like to express our warmest thanks to Ms. Diana Mara Henry for her friendship and support.

The ceremony can be watched on Youtube: https://youtu.be/M0oRG-nMGYw

Alain Dupuis, president of the Federation of French War Veterans, along with Henri Dubarry, French War Veterans, and Thierry Chaunu, president of the American Society of Le Souvenir Français, stood alongside this event's Master of Ceremony and NY Community Leader Howard Teich, Founder & Chairman at The Howard Teich Network.

To continue our well-established tradition, we joined the Federation of French War Veterans, the Association of French Reserve Officers in the United States (ACREFEU), and TheFrenchWillNeverForget.org in the Veterans' Day parade on 5th Avenue, following the band of the Cadets Lafayette led by Jacques Letalon, Mr. Jérémie Robert, Consul General of France, and Ms. Gisèle Grosz who came from France to represent the Union of French War Veterans.

We would like to thank Natalie Yates and the Scouts of Troop #1 and their parents who all braved the rain to deploy the huge US Flag provided by TheFrenchWillNeverForget.

In spite of a heavy rain we proudly showed the Star-Spangled banner and the French Tricolor in the middle of New York's famed Fifth Avenue.

Society of the Honor Guard :

Mass of the Armistice at the Parish of Notre Dame. Father Michael Holloran officiated and the standard bearers of the Federation of French War Veterans were present. After the Mass, a wreath in memory of the dead of the Two World Wars was laid by COL US Army Stephen J. Ryan and LCOL US Army Dyonysios Dionou-Weiss (pictured above with Thierry Chaunu standing at attention behind), to honor the memory of the members of the Federation as well as the 463 French Conscripts and American Volunteers from New York City who "Died For France".

After the traditional photo, a luncheon took place at Restaurant Le Monde.

• To preserve the memory of the French soldiers, sailors and airmen who gave their lives for freedom, and who are buried in the United States.

• To honor French Citizens who did great deeds in the United States, or with a strong connection with the United States, 

• To strengthen the long-standing traditional bonds of friendship between the American and French peoples, and to this end: erect or maintain memorials and monuments and encourage historical research, public presentations and publications in the media. 

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Email: tchaunu@SouvenirFrancaisUSA.org Tel: (212) 328-0150