“Myrtille” is French for Blueberry.

It is popular in some so-called patriotic circles to make snarky comments about France and the French, We call them “Frogs” and complain about rescuing them from their foreign exploits like Vietnam when they hold us to high moral standards on our adventures. The fact, however, is that the United States would not exist today if it had not been for France and the Treaty of Alliance and France’s aid during the Revolutionary War.

Signed in February 1778, the Treaty of Alliance between France and the new United States of America is an agreement between the two countries to support each other in war against England. This alliance played a key role in countering the vastly superior British Royal Navy, taking away an advantage the British maintained over America.

Hearing of the withdrawal of the British troops to Yorktown Virginia, Generals Washington and Rochambeau chose to march south. This was a strategic decision, strengthened by the arrival of French Admiral de Grasse in the Chesapeake Bay with a fleet of 28 ships, which cut the British off from any resupply or escape. The combined American and French army arriving at Yorktown had a quarter of all the British forces deployed to the continent
bottled up on a small peninsula.

Unable to break out of Yorktown and unable to sustain the siege, Lord Cornwallis was forced to surrender on October 17, 1781 prompting Parliament to order the withdrawal of all British forces from those lands claimed by the United States and ending the Revolutionary War.

So Praise to the Frogs! Lift a Glass in honor of our great patriots:

  • Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette,
  • Lieutenant Général des Armées Navales François-Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasse Tilly, comte de Grasse, and
  • Marshal Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau

HEROES of the AMERICAN Revolution!

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Published by Michael Carver

My goal is to bring history alive through interactive portrayal of ordinary American life in the late 18th Century (1750—1799) My persona are: Journeyman Brewer; Cordwainer (leather tradesman but not cobbler), Statesman and Orator; Chandler (candle and soap maker); Gentleman Scientist; and, Soldier in either the British Regular Army, the Centennial Army, or one of the various Militia. Let me help you experience history 1st hand!

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