Blanchard, Claude

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Blanchard, Claude

BLANCHARD, CLAUDE. (1742–1803). Chief commissary to Rochambeau. Blanchard's career began in 1761, when he served in the Ministry of War. Named commissary of wars in 1768, he was sent to Corsica for ten years. Rochambeau appointed him in March 1780 to his general staff as chief commissary. He arrived in Rhode Island in July 1781 and assisted in the Battle of Chesapeake Bay. Blanchard returned to France in January 1783. He was made a chevalier in the Order of Saint Louis (1788), elected commander of the National Guard of Arras (1789), and elected deputy for Pas-de-Calais to the Legislative Assembly (1791). He lost all posts as an "aristocrat" in 1794 but was appointed to the Army of Batavia after the Reign of Terror. His Journal of the French campaigns provides colorful details on the participants not found elsewhere.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blanchard, Claude. The Journal of Claude Blanchard, Commissary of the French Auxiliary Army Sent to the United States during the American Revolution, 1780–1783. Translated by William Duane. 1876. Reprint, New York: New York Times, 1969.

Contenson, Ludovic de. La Société des Cincinnati de France et la Guerre d'Amérique. Paris: Editions Auguste Picard, 1934.

Vaucelles, P. "Claude Blanchard." In Dictionnaire de biographie française. Edited by J. Balteau, et al. 19 vols. to date. Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané, 1933–.

                            revised by Robert Rhodes Crout

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