French Troops at Jamestown

On 2 Sept. 1781, about 3,000 French troops of the Gatinois, Agenois, and Touraine Regiments arrived at Jamestown from the West Indies. Commanded by the Marquis de Saint-Simon, they camped near here before participating in the siege of Yorktown. On 14 Oct., Gatinois soldiers and the Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment, under the Comte de Rochambeau, captured the strategically important Redoubt Number 9 at Yorktown. Following the British surrender, Rochambeau's troops established winter camps between the James and York Rivers. Three companies of the Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment occupied quarters near here. In July 1782, the French army departed for New England.