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This painting depicts the first anchorage by the French fleet under Admiral DeTarney which was carrying all of General Rochambeau’s troops. After 77 days crossing from Brest, France, and several encounters with British war ships around the Chesapeake Bay and skirting the coast north in very heavy fog, the 54 ship convoy anchored off Martha’s Vineyard and secured the services of three pilots who could navigate the Bay and Newport harbor. Tarney’s fleet consisted of seven ships of the line, three frigates, a supply transport, which served as a hospital ship, and thirty two transports, which carried the bulk of Rochambeau’s army numbering near 5,000. The crossing left over 800 sick among the land troops, and some 1500 in the fleet. Most were down with scurvy.
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